佛祖歷代通載 11.15

11.15

（七）　帝對群臣太息曰。今大亂之後。其難治乎。魏徵對曰。大亂之治譬飢人之易食。帝曰。古不云乎。善人為邦百年而後勝殘去殺。徵曰。此不為聖哲之論。聖哲之治其應如響。蓋不其難。僕射封德彝曰。不然。三代之澆詭日滋。秦任法律漢雜霸道。皆欲治而不能。非能治而不欲。徵書生好虛論徒亂國家不足聽。徵曰。五帝三王不易民而教。行帝道而帝。行王道而王。顧所行何如耳。黃帝戰蚩尤。七十而戰勝其亂。因致無為。九黎害德。顓頊征之。既克而治。桀為亂。湯放之。紂無道。武伐之。湯武身及太平。若人漸澆詭不復撲。今當為鬼為魅。尚安得而化之哉。德彝不能對。然復以為不可。帝雅以徵對為然。他日帝甞召傅奕。賜之食而謂曰。佛道微妙聖迹可師。且報應顯然屢有徵驗。汝獨不悟其理何也。奕曰。佛是西方桀黠欺詸夷狄。及流入中國。尊尚其教皆邪僻纖人。摸寫莊老玄言飾其妖妄。無補於國家。有害於百姓。帝惡其言不答。自是終身不齒。

(7) The Emperor sighed deeply before his assembled ministers, saying, "After such great chaos, is it not difficult to bring about order?" Wei Zheng replied, "Governing after great chaos is like a hungry person being easy to feed." The Emperor said, "Did the ancients not say: 'Only after good men have governed a state for a hundred years can they vanquish cruelty and do away with killing'?" Zheng said, "This is not the argument of sages. When sages govern, the response comes like an echo; it is not difficult at all." The Vice Director of the Department of State Affairs, Feng Deyi, said, "It is not so. The frivolity and deceitfulness of the Three Dynasties increased day by day. The Qin relied on legal codes, while the Han mixed [benevolence] with the ways of hegemons; all wished to achieve order but could not—it was not that they could achieve order and did not desire it. Zheng is a scholar who is fond of empty theories; he merely throws the state into confusion and is not worth listening to." Zheng said, "The Five Emperors and Three Kings did not change the populace before teaching them; they practiced the Imperial Way and became emperors, practiced the Kingly Way and became kings—it simply depends on what path one follows. The Yellow Emperor fought Chiyou; after seventy battles he overcame the chaos, and thereby brought about [a state of] non-action (asaṃskṛta). When the Nine Li harmed virtue, Zhuanxu campaigned against them, and having conquered them, order prevailed. Jie caused chaos, and Tang banished him; Zhou was devoid of the Way, and Wu attacked him. Tang and Wu achieved Great Peace within their own lifetimes. If human beings gradually became frivolous and deceitful and could never be subdued again, by now they would all have turned into ghosts and demons—how could they ever be transformed?" Deyi could not respond, yet still considered it impossible. The Emperor warmly agreed with Zheng's reply. On another day, the Emperor summoned Fu Yi, granted him food, and said to him, "The Buddhist Way is subtle and wondrous, and its sacred vestiges are worthy models. Moreover, its karmic retribution is obvious, with verified proofs occurring repeatedly. Why are you alone blind to its principles?" Yi said, "The Buddha was a sly and deceitful man of the Western regions who duped and misled the barbarians. When it flowed into China, those who revered and esteemed his teachings were all heterodox, depraved, and petty men, who copied the profound words of Zhuangzi and Laozi to embellish his monstrous fabrications. It brings no benefit to the state and harms the common people." Disgusted by his words, the Emperor did not answer, and from then on, for the rest of his life, he refused to associate with him.