佛祖統紀 54.39

54.39

唐高祖武德九年。太史令傅奕乞廢佛法。凡七上疏。詔僧道戒行虧闕者悉令罷道。月餘停前沙汰。奕惡病死。有人入冥。聞已付越州泥黎○玄宗開元二年。宰相姚崇奏。沙汰僧尼偽濫者萬二千人。並令還俗。禁度僧建寺鑄佛寫經○開元十五年。勅天下村坊佛堂小者。並拆除之。功德移入近寺。公私望風。凡大屋大像亦被殘毀○文宗太和九年。翰林李訓請。沙汰僧尼毀大內靈像。夜大風壞殿屋城門。帝懼勅停沙汰○武宗會昌五年。用道士趙歸真宰相李德裕謀。毀拆天下寺院。僧尼歸俗者二十六萬人。長安人夜見穆王冢吏云。李炎奪壽去位。宣宗即位。捕趙歸真等十三人誅之。李德裕貶死崖州。

In the ninth year of the Wude era of Emperor Gaozu of the Tang, Fu Yi, Director of the Astrological Bureau, petitioned to abolish the Buddhadharma, submitting memorials seven times in total. An edict ordered that all monks and Daoists whose observance of the precepts was deficient be dismissed from the path; after just over a month, the prior purging was halted. Fu Yi died of a foul illness, and someone who entered the netherworld heard that he had already been consigned to the Niraya of Yuezhou. In the second year of the Kaiyuan era of Emperor Xuanzong, Chancellor Yao Chong submitted a memorial, purging twelve thousand spurious and lax monks and nuns and ordering them all to return to lay life, while forbidding the ordination of monks, the building of temples, the casting of Buddha statues, and the copying of scriptures. In the fifteenth year of the Kaiyuan era, an imperial decree ordered that small Buddhist chapels in villages throughout the realm be dismantled, and their meritorious furnishings moved to nearby temples; officials and private citizens, taking cues from this, also mutilated and ruined large halls and large statues. In the ninth year of the Taihe era of Emperor Wenzong, Hanlin Academician Li Xun requested a purge of monks and nuns and the destruction of numinous statues in the imperial palace; that night, a great wind damaged the palace roofs and city gates, and the frightened Emperor decreed the cessation of the purge. In the fifth year of the Huichang era of Emperor Wuzong, adopting the schemes of the Daoist Zhao Guizhen and Chancellor Li Deyu, monasteries throughout the realm were destroyed, and two hundred and sixty thousand monks and nuns were returned to lay status. A Chang'an resident saw an official of King Mu's tomb by night, who said that Li Yan's lifespan was cut short and he would lose his throne. When Emperor Xuanzong ascended the throne, he arrested Zhao Guizhen and thirteen others and executed them; Li Deyu was exiled and died in Yaizhou.