佛祖歷代通載 13.61

13.61

（四十五）　三月己丑。詔天下州郡各置放生池。冬十月昇州刺史顏真卿。撰有唐天下放生池碑銘并序曰。皇唐七葉我乾元大聖光天文武孝感皇帝陛下。以至聖之姿。屬艱虞之運。無少康一旅之眾。當祿山強暴之初。乾鞏勞謙勵精為理推誠而萬邦胥悅。克己而天下歸仁。恩信侔於四時。英威達于八表。功庸格天地。孝感通神明。故得迴紇奚霫契丹大食循蠻之屬扶服萬里決命而爭先。朔方河東平廬河西隴右安西黔中嶺南河南之師虓闞五年椎鋒而効死。摧元惡如拉朽。舉兩京若拾遺。慶緒遁逃。已蒙赤族之戮。思明跧伏。行就沸鼎之誅。拯已墜之皇綱。據再安之宗社。迎上皇於西蜀。申子道於中京。一日三朝。大明天子之孝。問安侍膳。不改家人之禮。蒸蒸然翼翼然。真帝皇之上儀。誥誓所不及已。歷選內禪。生人以來。振古及隨未有如我皇帝者也。而猶嫗煦萬類憂勤四生。乃以乾元二年歲次己亥春三月己丑。端命左驍衛右郎將史元琮中使張廷玉。奉明詔布德音。始于洋州之興道。洎山南劍南黔中荊南嶺南浙西諸道。迄于昇州之江寧秦淮太平橋。臨江帝郭上下五里。各置放生池。凡八十一所。蓋所以宣皇明而廣慈愛也。易不云乎。信及豚魚。書不云乎。洎鳥獸魚鼈咸若。古之聰明睿智神武而不殺者。非陛下而誰。昔殷湯克仁。猶存一面之綱。漢武垂惠。纔致銜珠之答。雖流水救涸寶勝稱名。蓋事止於當時。尚介祉於終古。豈我今日動者植者水居陸居。舉天下以為池。罄域中而蒙福。乘陀羅尼加持之力。竭煩惱海生死之津。揆之前古曾何髣髴。微臣職忝方面。生丁盛美受恩寖深。無以上報。謹緣臯陶奚斯歌虞頌魯之義。述天下放生池碑銘一章。雖不足雍容聖明萬分之一。亦臣之精懇也。碑銘不錄。

(Forty-five) In the third month, on the jichou day, an edict ordered the various commanderies and prefectures throughout the empire each to establish a pool for liberating life. In the winter, the tenth month, the prefect of Shengzhou, Yan Zhenqing, composed the 'Stele Inscription and Preface for the Pools for Liberating Life throughout the Empire of the Great Tang', which said: 'In the seventh generation of our August Tang, our Emperor of the Qianyuan [Era], the Great Sage, Bright and Heavenly, Civil and Martial, of Filial Inspiration, with his peerless sagely endowment, met with a time of hardship and distress. Lacking even the small brigade of Shao Kang, he confronted the initial ferocious violence of Lushan. Trembling with caution, toiling with humility, he exerted his energy to govern; extending his sincerity, the myriad states rejoiced together; conquering self, all under Heaven returned to benevolence. His kindness and trustworthiness matched the four seasons; his heroic majesty reached to the eight extremities. His merits and deeds matched Heaven and Earth; his filial inspiration reached the spiritual luminaries. Thus it was that the Uyghurs, the Xi, the Xi, the Khitans, the Arabs, the Xunman, and their kind prostrated themselves over ten thousand leagues, staking their lives to vie for the vanguard. The armies of Shuofang, Hedong, Pinglu, Hexi, Longyou, Anxi, Qianzhong, Lingnan, and Henan roared like tigers for five years, rushing forward at the sword's point to give their lives. He crushed the arch-evil like snapping withered wood; he recovered both capitals as easily as picking up a dropped item. Qingxu fled and has already suffered the extermination of his clan; Siming cowered and will soon meet the punishment of the boiling cauldron. He rescued the imperial order that had already fallen; he re-established the altars of the dynastic ancestral temples. He welcomed the Retired Emperor back from Western Shu and fulfilled the way of a filial son in the Central Capital. Holding court three times a day, he made resplendently clear the filial piety of the Son of Heaven; inquiring after his health and serving his meals, he did not change the etiquette of a private family. How ardent and reverent! Truly the supreme demeanor of an emperor, beyond what imperial decrees and oaths can describe. Examining all abdicated rulers since the birth of humanity, from antiquity down to the Sui, there has never been one like our Emperor. Yet he still nurtures the myriad beings and labors with concern for the four kinds of born beings. Thus, in the second year of Qianyuan, the year cyclical jihai, in the spring, the third month, on the jichou day, he directly commanded Shi Yuancong, Right Commandant of the Left Brave Guard, and Palace Attendant Zhang Tingyu to uphold the radiant edict and proclaim the virtuous proclamation. Beginning from Xingdao in Yangzhou, through the various circuits of Shannan, Jiannan, Qianzhong, Jingnan, Lingnan, and Zhexi, down to the Taiping Bridge on the Qinhuai River in Jiangning of Shengzhou, along the river for five li above and below the imperial city, pools for liberating life were established everywhere, eighty-one places in all. This was indeed to manifest imperial brilliance and broaden compassion and loving-kindness. Does not the *Book of Changes* say: "Trust reaches even pigs and fish"? Does not the *Book of Documents* say: "Down to the birds, beasts, fish, and turtles, all are in harmony"? As for one of old who was acute, intelligent, sagacious, and wise, divinely martial yet not killing—who could it be if not Your Majesty? Formerly, when King Tang of the Yin achieved benevolence, he still left one side of the net open; when Emperor Wu of the Han extended kindness, he barely obtained the recompense of the pearl held in the mouth. Even when Jalavāhana rescued the drying pond and Prabhūtaratna had his name recited, those matters were confined to their own times, though they still bestowed blessings throughout all ages. How could they compare to our present day, when all moving and planted things, water-dwellers and land-dwellers, have the entire empire as their pond and the whole realm receives blessings? Relying on the power of the dhāraṇīs' empowerment, drying up the ocean of afflictions and the ford of saṃsāra, how could anything in antiquity even faintly resemble this? Your humble servant unworthily holds office over a region; having lived in this glorious and beautiful age and received favors that run ever deeper, I have no way to repay them. Respectfully following the principle of Gaoyao and Xisi singing the praises of Yu and the hymns of Lu, I have composed a chapter of the inscription for the steles of the pools for liberating life throughout the empire. Although it is insufficient to express even one ten-thousandth of Your Sagely Majesty's brilliance, it nonetheless represents your servant's utmost sincerity.' (The stele inscription is omitted.)