佛祖歷代通載 5.46

5.46

(10. Guiyou) During the Chuping reign of the Emperor, Mouzi—whose personal name is unknown and who was commonly called Mouzi—had already mastered the classics, commentaries, and various philosophers. Among books, whether great or small, there were none he did not delight in. Although he took no pleasure in military treatises, he nevertheless read them. Although he read books on divine immortals and immortality, he set them aside without belief, considering them fabricated and absurd. It happened that after the death of Emperor Ling, the world was in turmoil; only Jiaozhou was relatively peaceful, and extraordinary men from the north all came to reside there, mostly practicing the arts of divine immortality, grain avoidance, and longevity. Mouzi regularly refuted them using the Five Classics, so that none of the Daoist masters dared to respond to him. Prior to this, Mouzi had accompanied his mother to escape the world; at the age of twenty-six, he returned to Cangwu and took a wife. The commandery governor, hearing of his devotion to learning, paid a visit to invite him to take up an official post. At that time he was in the prime of his youth and his aspirations were devoted to study; moreover, seeing the disorder of the age, he had no intention of pursuing an official career and ultimately did not accept. At this time, commanderies and prefectures were suspicious of each other and cut off from one another. The governor, on account of his erudition and broad knowledge, wished to send him to pay respects to Jingzhou. Mouzi considered that while honorary titles were easy to decline, an official mission was difficult to refuse. Just then, the regional inspector's younger brother, the governor of Yuzhang, was killed by the General of the Household Ze Rong. The inspector dispatched the Cavalry Commandant Liu Yan to lead troops there; fearing that suspicion from adjacent territories would prevent the troops from advancing, he said to Mouzi, "My younger brother was slain by a treacherous rebel; the pain of flesh and blood incites resentment in my heart. I have dispatched Commandant Liu to go, but I fear that doubts beyond our borders will make it impossible for travelers to pass through. You possess both civil and military abilities and have the talent for independent diplomatic response. Now I would like to trouble you to pass through Lingling and Guiyang to open a route; what do you say?" Mouzi, reluctant to go against his wishes, consented. Just then his mother passed away, so the journey was ultimately abandoned. After a long while he sighed, saying, "Laozi renounced sagehood, abandoned wisdom, cultivated his person, and preserved truth; myriad things did not disrupt his intent, and the world could not alter his joy. The Son of Heaven could not make him a minister; the feudal lords could not make him a friend. Hence he is worthy of esteem." Thereupon he sharply set his intent upon the Buddhist Way and concurrently studied the five-thousand-word text of Laozi, taking the profound and subtle as his wine and playing with the Five Classics as his lutes and flutes. Most worldly people criticized him, thinking that he turned his back on the Five Classics and inclined toward a foreign way. If he wished to dispute, it was contrary to the Way; if he wished to remain silent, he could not bear to do so. Consequently, using brush and ink, he briefly cited the words of sages and worthies to verify and clarify it, entitling it *Mouzi's Treatise on Dispelling Doubts* (Mouzi lihuo lun).