佛祖歷代通載 4.146

4.146

石室論云。昔西域聖人之教。既非衰周暴秦之君能致。然西漢二三英主有可致之德。而聖教亦不致獨現夢於顯宗。凡近古高僧皆推聖人。去世登千載而後教至。曾未有考著顯宗之德。有必感聖人之理。此予通論所以作也。夫兩漢有天下。傳一十四世。有君德者二祖四宗而已。二祖蓋立極之主。固無可議。若三宗各有其美而不能亡其弊。唯顯宗為至焉。有太宗恭儉之美。而文雅威重過之。有世宗經略四夷之勳。而無世宗淫侈之弊。有中宗政治之明。而崇儒尚德過之。斯蓋兼有三宗之長。而無三宗之短。是以班固傅毅頌其勳德。於漢為最盛。然世之學者不以班傅為信。徒見鍾離意傅謂帝性褊察好以耳目隱發為明。遂以此為顯宗實錄。嗚呼豈篤論哉。昔仲尼平章討論五帝三王治具以貽後世。迨其歿。遭暴秦燔毀之餘。世宗僅能舉之而已。至顯宗乃始躬行儒術尊養三老五更饗社禮畢帝正坐自講諸儒執經問難。於是時冠帶縉紳之士。圜橋門而觀聽者。億萬計。濟濟乎洋洋乎。由三代以來儒風之盛。莫甚於永平時也。及章和之後。諸儒開館授道著籍者。動逾千數。蓋永平之化行。猶周南麟跡之應也。初雖獄訟繁劇。帝臨政刻意裁斷精嚴。蓋善善惡惡之實。猶孔子為司寇七日而誅少正卯。暫臨夾谷而盡誅優倡。此誠不可以少假仁恕也。謂之褊察則過矣。予謂使孔子復生。必曰顯宗吾無間然矣。由顯宗包舉西漢三宗之美。躬行古帝王之道。此所以精爽與吾佛感通。而聖教因之被于中夏。與儒相表裏而廣天下以善也。夫豈偶爾哉。

The Shishi lun states: In antiquity, the teachings of the sage of the Western Regions could not have been brought about by the rulers of the declining Zhou or the tyrannical Qin. However, two or three outstanding rulers of the Western Han possessed the virtue capable of bringing them about, yet the holy teaching did not arrive then, manifesting uniquely in a dream only to Xianzong (Emperor Ming). Almost all eminent monks of recent antiquity have maintained that the sage's teaching arrived only after a full thousand years had passed since his passing away. None have ever investigated or made known that the virtue of Xianzong had the principle that necessarily resonated with the sage. This is the reason why my comprehensive treatise was written. Now, during the reign of the two Han dynasties over all under heaven, fourteen generations succeeded to the throne, but those possessing ruler's virtue were merely the two founders and the four ancestral emperors. The two founders were rulers who established the ultimate standard, so they are certainly beyond dispute. As for the three ancestral emperors, each had his excellence but could not avoid his shortcomings; only Xianzong attained the utmost. He had the excellence of Taizong's (Emperor Wen's) respectfulness and frugality, yet surpassed him in refinement, dignity, and solemnity. He had Shizong's (Emperor Wu's) merit in managing the four barbarian borders, yet was free of Shizong's excesses of extravagance and licentiousness. He had Zhongzong's (Emperor Xuan's) clarity of governance, yet surpassed him in venerating Confucianism and esteeming virtue. He thus combined the strengths of the three ancestral emperors without having their weaknesses. It was for this reason that Ban Gu and Fu Yi praised his merits and virtues as the most flourishing in the Han. Yet scholars of the world do not place trust in Ban and Fu; seeing only Zhongli Yi's biography, which states that the Emperor was by nature narrow and inquisitive, fond of taking the uncovering of hidden matters by ear and eye as perspicacity, they consequently take this as the true record of Xianzong. Alas, how could that be a sound judgment? In antiquity, Zhongni (Confucius) evaluated and discussed the instruments of governance of the Five Emperors and Three Kings to bequeath them to later generations. After he died, having suffered the burning and destruction of tyrannical Qin, Shizong could only barely promote them. It was not until Xianzong that a ruler first personally practiced the Confucian arts, honored and nourished the Elders and Seniors, and performed the sacrifices to the altars of soil and grain. When the rites were finished, the Emperor sat upright and lectured himself, while the various Confucian scholars held the classics and posed questions. At that time, of the capped and robed gentry who encircled the bridge-gate to watch and listen, there were hundreds of thousands. How magnificent and vast! Since the Three Dynasties, the flourishing of the Confucian manner was never greater than in the Yongping era. And after the Zhanghe era, the Confucian scholars who opened academies to transmit the Way and were registered in the rolls constantly numbered well over a thousand. The circulation of the transformative influence of the Yongping era was indeed like the resonance of the footprints of the qilin in the Zhou nan. Although legal disputes were initially numerous and troublesome, when the Emperor attended to governance, he took pains to make judgments with precision and severity. This was essentially the reality of approving of the good and hating the bad, just as when Confucius served as Minister of Justice and executed Shaozheng Mao within seven days, or when he briefly attended the meeting at Jiagu and executed all the performers. This was truly a matter where leniency and forbearance could not be granted in the least. To call it narrow and inquisitive is an error. I say that if Confucius were reborn, he would surely say, 'As for Xianzong, I have nothing to censure!' Because Xianzong embraced the excellences of the three ancestral emperors of the Western Han and personally practiced the Way of the ancient kings and emperors, his refined spirit resonated and communicated with our Buddha, and the holy teaching was thereby spread over the Central Land, complementing Confucianism inside and out to extend goodness throughout the realm. How could this have been a matter of mere chance?