佛祖歷代通載 22.102

22.102

帝顯正摧邪。命除道德經外。餘皆焚毀。以絕其妄。宰臣奏。分揀道藏。檢出馬湘詩云。樹連滄海水連雲。昔有殷周李老君。人說是非皆不定。五千言外更無文。符合上意。龍顏大悅。制焚之。

The Emperor revealed the orthodox and crushed the heterodox, ordering that, apart from the Daodejing, all [Daoist texts] be burned and destroyed to cut off their falsehood. The prime ministers submitted that they had sorted the Daoist Canon and discovered a poem by Ma Xiang saying: / 'Trees reach the dark ocean, waters touch the clouds; / Of old in the Yin and Zhou lived Laozi the Li elder. / People speak of right and wrong, but all is unsettled; / Beyond the Five Thousand Words there are no other texts.' / This coincided with the Sovereign's intention; the imperial countenance was greatly pleased, and he decreed their burning.