佛祖歷代通載 4.145

4.145

(26. Renshen [72 CE]) The contest between Buddhists and Daoists and the burning of the scriptures. On the first day of the first month of this year, the Daoists of the Five Sacred Peaks and various mountains, Chu Shanxin and others, submitted a memorial wishing to compete. At that time, one thousand three hundred and ten men—Daoists of the Southern Peak Chu Shanxin and others, Daoists of the Western Peak Liu Zhengnian and others, Daoists of the Northern Peak Huan Wendu and others, Daoists of the Eastern Peak Jiao Dexin and others, Daoists of Mount Song Lü Huitong and others, and Daoists of various mountains Fei Shucai, Qi Wenxin, and others—memorialized their petition. The emperor issued an imperial order accepting the memorial, dispatching Director of the Department of State Affairs Song Xiang to usher them into Changle Palace, and decreeing that on the fifteenth day of this month they should assemble at White Horse Monastery to erect an altar and test [the scriptures] by fire. At that time, the Daoists brought five hundred and nine fascicles, including the Five Secrets and Talismans of the True Origin, along with two hundred and thirty-five fascicles from twenty-seven masters such as Mao Chengzi, totaling seven hundred and forty-eight fascicles, and placed them on the altar. Chu, Fei, and their followers burned incense and recited incantations, and then set fire to them. The various philosophical and Daoist books were all reduced to ashes. Chu and Fei died of self-reproach and remorse. Next, they set fire to the Sanskrit texts; they blazed gloriously, appearing as if freshly minted and even brighter and cleaner. At that time, Dharma Master Mātaṅga performed supernormal transformations, soaring into the sky, and composed a cool and serene gāthā, saying: 'The fox is no kin of the lion; / A lamp has not the radiance of the sun and moon. / A pool cannot contain the great ocean; / A hill has not the towering height of a mountain peak. / The Dharma cloud descends upon the world; / The good seeds are enabled to sprout and grow. / Revealing the rare and wondrous Dharma, / Everywhere he transforms sentient beings.' Through his preaching of the Dharma, the precepts, the Tripiṭaka, and other astonishing supernormal feats, numerous gentlemen and commoners offered their sincere faith and took the pravrajyā. At that time, more than one thousand people, including Minister of Works Liu Shanjun, Marquis of Yangcheng, entered monastic life to pursue the Way. Six hundred and twenty-eight Daoists of the Four Peaks, including Lü Huitong, removed their hairpins and shaved their heads. More than two hundred and thirty women, including Lady-in-Waiting Wang and palace ladies, grew weary of worldly life and returned to the truth. The Daoists of the Southern Peak buried Chu Shanxin without receiving tonsure. Afterwards, Emperor Ming hosted a feast, personally participated in shaving their heads, and broadly bestowed robes and bowls. He vastly opened the profound lineage, extensively ordained monks and nuns, and elevated ten monasteries: seven monasteries outside the city walls to house monks, and three monasteries inside the walls to house nuns. The title of 'monastery' originated from this, as fully recorded in the Treatise on Buddhism and Daoism.