佛祖統紀 47.16

47.16

In the seventh year, Left Policy Censor Chen Gongfu submitted a memorial requesting that, in accordance with the established laws of the ancestral emperors, the chief ministers not be permitted to designate temples with official plaques; and that any court officials who had previously requested temples with official plaques to serve as merit cloisters for their family tombs be ordered to correct this and be allowed only small cloisters without plaques. The Emperor approved. Previously, Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of Military Affairs Li Gang had appropriated Puli in Changzhou and Xingsheng in Shaowu; the censorial officials memorialized that because both places possessed official plaques, there was a legal violation. An imperial decree ordered him to appropriate other small cloisters without plaques, which public opinion welcomed with gratification. Furthermore, Signaller of the Bureau of Military Affairs Shen Yuqiu memorialized, stating that although the tomb cloister Miaoyan Cloister had been built by his own family, since it originally had an imperial plaque, it ought not to be granted as a tomb temple. The Emperor considered that as it was a building built by his own family, it did not need to be changed. At that time, the remonstrators said that Yuqiu was able to embody the intent of the ancestral laws and reform present corruptions, so his request should be granted. An imperial decree permitted it.