佛祖歷代通載 9.67

9.67

（三十二）　史官魏徵曰。高祖固天攸縱聰明稽古。道亞生知學為博物。允文允武多藝多才。爰自諸生不羈之度。屬昏凶肆虐天倫及禍。糾合義旅將雪家冤。曰紂可伐。不期而會。龍躍樊漢電擊湘郢。剪離德如振槁。取獨夫如拾遺。其雄才大略固不可得而稱矣。既懸白旗之首。方應皇天之眷。而布澤施仁悅近來遠。開蕩蕩之王道。革靡靡之商俗。大修文學盛飾禮容。鼓扇玄風闡揚儒業。介胃仁義折衝樽爼。聲振寰區澤周遐裔。干戈載戢凡數十年。濟濟焉洋洋焉。魏晉以來未有若斯之盛也。然不能息末敦本斵雕為樸。慕名好事崇尚浮華。抑揚孔墨流連釋老。或終夜不寐。或日旰不食。非弘道以利物。唯餙智以驚愚。且心未遺榮。虛廁蒼頭之位。高談脫屣。終戀黃屋之尊。夫人之大欲在乎飲食男女。至於軒冕殿堂。非有切身之慈。高祖屏除嗜欲眷戀軒冕。得其所難而滯其所易。可謂神有所不達。智有所不通矣。

(32) The historiographer Wei Zheng said: Gaozu was truly indulged by Heaven with wisdom, and examined antiquity. In Dao, he was second only to those born with knowledge; in learning, he was encyclopedic. Truly civil and truly martial, he possessed many talents and skills. Ever since his days as a scholar, he displayed an unconstrained bearing. When the chaotic and tyrannical rulers ran amok and catastrophe befell his kindred, he assembled a righteous army to avenge his family's grievance. Saying that King Zhou could be attacked, they gathered without prior arrangement. Like a dragon leaping from the Fan and Han rivers, like lightning striking Xiang and Ying, he pruned the disloyal like shaking dry leaves, and took down the solitary tyrant like picking up a dropped item. His heroic talent and grand strategy truly cannot be fully praised! Having hung up the head at the white banner, he responded to the favor of Sovereign Heaven; distributing benevolence and kindness, he pleased those near and attracted those far away. He opened the broad Kingly Way and reformed decadent customs. He grandly cultivated literature and richly adorned ritual decorum, fanned the profound wind and propagated Confucian teachings. Armor-clad in benevolence and righteousness, he warded off conflict at diplomatic banquets; his fame shook the realm, and his kindness reached remote borders. Weapons of war were stored away for several decades. Splendid and vast, there had been nothing so flourishing since the Wei and Jin dynasties! Yet he was unable to put an end to the secondary and reinforce the fundamental, or carve away adornment to return to simplicity. Yearning for fame and fond of affairs, he esteemed superficial brilliance. He vacillated between Confucius and Mozi, and lingered between the Buddha and Laozi. Sometimes he did not sleep all night; sometimes he went without food until dusk. This was not expanding the Way to benefit creatures, but merely adorning cleverness to astound the foolish. Furthermore, his mind had not relinquished glory, vainly intermingling with the station of common laborers; while speaking loftily of casting off worldly shoes, he remained attached to the imperial majesty of the Yellow Carriage. Man's greatest desires lie in food, drink, and sex; as for carriages, caps of state, and palace halls, they are not intimately bound up with the person. Gaozu cast away appetites and desires yet remained longing for carriages and caps; he achieved what was difficult, but remained trapped in what was easy. It may be said that his spirit had that to which it did not penetrate, and his wisdom had that which it could not comprehend.