佛祖統紀 44.13

44.13

Earlier, Pan Hua, Magistrate of Zhuji County, relying on the Samantabhadra Repentance Ritual, forbade people from catching fish in the rivers and lakes. In the tenth month of this year, he received an edict to return to the imperial palace. At night, he dreamt of tens of thousands of fish in the rivers and lakes in human form, wailing loudly to the skies, all saying: "The Elder is leaving! We shall not escape being boiled!" Pan Hua was astonished and composed the Record of the Dream of Fish to entrust it to subsequent county magistrates (Dharma Master Fazhi of Siming wrote a colophon for it, recorded in the Record of Teachings and Practices). Court officials stated: "The ignorant populace lack knowledge and flatter the Buddha to excess, claiming that relinquishing wealth can court blessings and performing offerings can extinguish sins; this harms and undermines the governance of the state and ought to be prohibited." The Emperor said to his chief ministers: "Buddhism causes people to turn toward goodness; it truly brings benefit. How could it be prohibited? Furthermore, the reach of the Buddha's Dharma is extremely vast; even the various kingdoms of the barren regions know to believe and revere it. Only Daoism exists in the Central Plains, yet it is not very flourishing." Wang Dan replied: "In recent years, when barbarian envoys ascended the Kaibao Pagoda, they paid homage with great devotion and vowed to abstain from killing; but when they arrived at the Shangqing Palace, they would not bend their knees. Thus we know that the four barbarian peoples only venerate the Buddha and do not respect Daoism." The Emperor said: "Indeed."