佛祖歷代通載 20.98

20.98

（三十）　屏山李居士鳴道集說序。居士年二十有九。閱復性書。知李習之亦二十有九參藥山而退著書。大發感嘆日抵萬松深攻亟擊。退而著書。會三聖人理性蘊奧之妙要。終指歸佛祖而已。江左道學。倡於伊川昆季。和之者十有餘家。涉獵釋老膚淺一二。著鳴道集。食我園椹不見好音。竊香掩鼻於聖言。助長揠苗於世典。飾游辭稱語錄。斆禪惠如敬誠。誣謗聖人聾瞽學者。噫憑虛氣任私情。一讚一毀獨去獨取。其如天下後世何。屏山哀矜作鳴道集說。廓萬世之見聞。正天下之性命。張無盡謂。大孔聖者莫如莊周。屏山擴充渺無涯涘。豈直不叛于名教。其發輝孔聖幽隱不揚之道。將攀附游龍駸駸乎吾佛所列五乘教中人天乘之俗諦疆隅矣。張無盡又謂。小孔聖者莫如孔安國。鳴道諸儒又自貶屈。附韓歐之隘黨。其計孰愈乎尊孔聖與釋老鼎峙也耶。諸方宗匠偕引屏山為入幕之賓。鳴道諸儒鑽仰藩垣莫窺戶牖。輒肆浮議不亦僭乎。余忝歷宗門堂室之奧。懇為保證。固非師心昧誠之黨。如謂不然。報惟嚮影耳。屏山臨終。出此書付敬鼎臣曰。此吾末後把交之作也。子其祕之。當有賞音者。鼎臣聞余購屏山書甚切。不遠三數百里。徒步之燕。獻的[葶-丁+呆]于萬松老師。轉致於余。余覽而感泣者累日。昔余甞見鳴道集。甚不平之。欲為書紏其蕪謬而未暇。豈意屏山先我著鞭。遂為序引以鍼江左書生膏肓之病。為中原之士大夫有斯疾者。亦可發藥矣。甲午冬十有五日。中書湛然居士移剌楚才晉卿序。

(30) Preface to the *Expositions on the Collection for Proclaiming the Way* by Layman Li Pingshan: When the Layman was twenty-nine years of age, he read the *Book on Returning to Nature* and learned that Li Xizhi, also at the age of twenty-nine, had consulted Yaoshan and subsequently retired to compose his work. Deeply moved, he went daily to Wansong, launching profound investigations and sharp assaults. He retired to write this book, harmonizing the subtle essentials and profound mysteries of the nature and principle of the Three Sages, ultimately pointing back to the Buddhas and Patriarchs alone. The Daoxue movement of the Jiangzuo region was initiated by the Cheng brothers of Yichuan, and more than ten schools followed them. Skimming superficially through one or two points of Buddhism and Daoism, they compiled the *Collection for Proclaiming the Way*. Eating the mulberries of our garden, they made no fine sound; stealing fragrance, they held their noses against sacred words; pulling up sprouts to help them grow, they misused worldly texts. Embellishing wandering phrases, they called them 'recorded sayings' (yulu); imitating Chan wisdom, they termed it 'reverence and sincerity'. Slandering the sages, they blinded and deafened scholars. Alas! Relying on baseless bluster and indulging personal prejudices, praising with one breath and defaming with the next, uniquely rejecting and uniquely adopting—what will become of the world and future generations? Pingshan, moved to pity, composed the *Expositions on the Collection for Proclaiming the Way* to broaden the vision and hearing of myriad generations and correct the human nature and destiny of the realm.

Zhang Wujin said, 'None magnified the sage Confucius more than Zhuang Zhou.' Pingshan expanded upon this boundlessly. How could he merely avoid betraying the teachings of proper conduct? His illumination of Confucius's hidden and obscure doctrine is like catching hold of a roaming dragon, rapidly encroaching upon the territory of the conventional truth of the human-and-deva vehicle among the five vehicles established by our Buddha! Zhang Wujin also said, 'None belittled the sage Confucius more than Kong Anguo.' The Confucians who proclaimed the Way further debased themselves, allying with the narrow faction of Han Yu and Ouyang Xiu. Could their strategy surpass having the sage Confucius stand as a tripod with Buddhism and Daoism? Masters from all quarters collectively invited Pingshan as an honored guest to their chambers. The Confucians who proclaimed the Way, boring into and gazing up at the hedge, could not even peek through the doors and windows, yet they indulged in baseless disputation—is this not presumptuous? Having humbly reached the inner sanctum of the Chan school, I earnestly vouch for this. I am certainly not of a faction that relies on its own opinions and obscures sincerity. If one claims otherwise, the retribution will follow like an echo or shadow.

When Pingshan was near death, he brought out this book and entrusted it to Jing Dingchen, saying, 'This is my final handshake; keep it secret. There will surely be one who appreciates its tune.' Dingchen heard that I was eagerly seeking Pingshan's book; not considering three or four hundred li too far, he walked to Yan on foot and presented the draft to the Old Teacher Wansong, who in turn forwarded it to me. As I read it, I wept with emotion for days. In the past, when I saw the *Collection for Proclaiming the Way*, I was greatly indignant and wished to write a book exposing its tangled fallacies, but had not found the leisure. Who could have imagined that Pingshan would strike the whip before me? I thereupon wrote this preface to apply the needle to the incurable sickness of the Jiangzuo scholars, so that it may also serve as medicine for those literati of the Central Plains afflicted with the same ailment. Written on the fifteenth day of winter, the Jiawu year, by Yelü Chucai (Jinqing), Layman Zhanran of the Central Secretariat.