佛祖歷代通載 21.93

21.93

創立劫運年號偽（第三化云。始則太虛之氣。其氣相擊往來亂射。經百億萬氣之後。其氣方慢。往來流行為自然之氣。此偷佛書世界初成風輪下旋之事也。又號彌羅萬梵之氣。又經九萬九千九百九十九億。氣之後。結吉祥之氣成一聖人。自號元始天王。同時生五老五行之主。其劫號延康。年號龍漢。又經如上氣數。乃生道君。時劫號赤明。年亦號赤明。同時生九老。分為九天。又經如上氣數。方生老君。劫號清運。年號上皇。時生八公。又立五運太易太初等。老君乃以陰陽二氣結。為混沌。而分布天地萬物始備矣）辨曰。蓋聞班固律歷之志。史記天官之書。皇甫謐之帝年。陶隱居之帝紀。未聞五運之前先有年號。三氣之內虛立劫名。既清濁之未形。只是洪濛一氣何有老君元始五老九天。雖竊佛主劫之名。而不曉成壞之數。梵云劫波。此云時分。時雖長短皆立劫名。錯謬梵言迷惑體相。釋教未來。此劫但有劫殺劫賊。故許慎說文云。以兵愶人曰劫。又魯將曹沫。劫桓公於壇上。求所侵地。此則逼奪名劫。豈有劫運之言乎。今陳此言妄竊見矣。夫名位既有年號斯張。將以率領萬方整齊四海混同九有同一車書。天子至尊得建年號無名位者不敢立焉。孔子雖然刪書定禮分辨君臣。以無貴位止號素王。矧乎老聃周之柱史臣子之列。而草竊帝王。妄建年號哉。況軒皇之前本無甲子（黃帝臣大撓造甲子）漢武之代始建年號（武帝始立年號）將古標古亦何偽乎。或曰。老子生於天地之前。別立年號。有何乖違。答曰。既在天地之上。乃是太易之前。世界未形。君臣無跡。杳然空寂。唯一溟濛。建立年號統領誰人乎。明知偷佛莊嚴賢劫星宿之意。而立此延康赤明青運之目。彼明三世。此約一時。正同山羗偷。王衣物。迷惑顛倒上下失次爾。下去老子生於天崗李谷字曰光明。則在三皇之後。何得老君以陰陽二氣結為混沌而分布天地耶。首尾兩端穿鑿見矣。

The fabrication of inventing kalpa cycles and era names (The third transformation states: 'In the beginning was the qi of the Great Void. The qi clashed against each other, shooting wildly back and forth. After a hundred billion myriads of qi, the qi slowed down, circulating and flowing as the natural qi. (This is a theft of the Buddhist account of the wind mandala rotating below when the world is first formed.) It was also called the qi of the Miluo myriad Brahmās. After another 99,999 hundred million qi, the auspicious qi coalesced into a sage, who named himself the Heavenly King of Primal Origin. At the same time, the Five Elders, the lords of the Five Elements, were born. His kalpa was named Yankang, and the era name was Longhan. After passing through the same count of qi, the Daoist Lord was born; at that time the kalpa was named Chiming, and the era was also named Chiming. At the same time, the Nine Elders were born and divided into nine heavens. After passing through the same count of qi, Lord Lao was finally born; the kalpa was named Qingyun, and the era name was Shanghuang. At that time the Eight Dukes were born. They also established the five cycles of Great Change, Great Inception, and so forth. Lord Lao then used the two qi of yin and yang to coalesce into chaos, and distributed heaven, earth, and the ten thousand things, which were then complete'). The refutation states: I have heard of Ban Gu's 'Treatise on Pitch Pipes and the Calendar', the 'Book of Heavenly Officials' in the Shiji, Huangfu Mi's Diyuan, and Tao Yinju's Diji; but I have never heard that prior to the Five Cycles there were already era names, nor that within the Three Qi kalpa names were fabricated out of nothing. Since the pure and turbid had not yet taken form, it was merely the one vast, undifferentiated qi—how could there be Lord Lao, Primal Origin, the Five Elders, or the Nine Heavens? Although they stole the name 'kalpa' from the Buddha, they do not understand the calculations of formation and destruction. The Sanskrit says kalpa, translated here as 'time period' (shifen). Regardless of length, they are all designated as kalpas. Confounding Sanskrit words, they confuse the essence and characteristics. Before the teaching of Śākya arrived, 'jie' in this land only meant robbery (jiesha) or brigands (jiezai). Thus Xu Shen's Shuowen states: 'To threaten someone with weapons is called jie.' Furthermore, the Lu general Cao Mo coerced (jie) Duke Huan on the ceremonial platform to demand the seized lands. This refers to extortion and plunder, termed jie—how could there be any talk of 'kalpa cycles' (jieyun)? Presenting such words now clearly reveals their false theft! When titles and statuses exist, era names are thereby promulgated, in order to command all regions, order the four seas, unite the nine domains, and unify the carriage gauges and scripts. The Son of Heaven, being supremely honored, is entitled to establish era names; those without title or status dare not institute them. Although Confucius edited the Documents, fixed the Rites, and distinguished ruler and subject, having no noble rank he was only called the Uncrowned King (Suwang). How much less, then, could Lao Dan—an archival scribe of the Zhou, ranked among ministers and subjects—usurp the position of sovereign and recklessly establish era names? Moreover, before the Xuan Emperor there was originally no sexagenary cycle (the Yellow Emperor's minister Dahao created the sexagenary cycle), and era names were first instituted in the time of Emperor Wu of Han (Emperor Wu first established era names). Using the ancient to label the ancient—how fraudulent! Some might say: 'Laozi was born before heaven and earth; what contradiction is there in establishing separate era names?' I answer: If he was prior to heaven and earth, then he was before Great Change. The world had not yet taken form, ruler and subject left no trace, all was fathomless and empty, nothing but a vast primordial mist—for whom would an era name be established to govern? It is obvious they stole the Buddhist concept of the Glorious Kalpa, the Auspicious Kalpa, and the Constellation Kalpa to establish these designations of Yankang, Chiming, and Qingyun. That [Buddhist system] clarifies the three periods of time; this [Daoist one] is constrained to a single moment. It is precisely like mountain Qiang barbarians stealing a king's robes and ornaments, bewilderingly inverted and losing order from top to bottom. Further below, it says Laozi was born at Tiangang in Li Valley with the courtesy name Guangming, which was after the Three Sovereigns. How could Lord Lao then use the two qi of yin and yang to coalesce into chaos and distribute heaven and earth? The contradiction between beginning and end, and their far-fetched fabrications, are plainly exposed.