唐護法沙門法琳別傳 1.10

1.10

案老子西昇經云。吾師化遊天竺。善入泥洹。符子云。老氏之師名釋迦文。直就孔老經書。師敬佛處文證不少。豈弈一人所能謗黷。昔公孫龍著堅白論。罪三皇非五帝。至今讀之人。猶切齒以為前鑒。良可悲矣。當今主上至聖欽明。方欲放馬休牛軾閭封墓。興皇王之風。開釋老之化。狂簡之說尤可焚之。若言帝王無佛則大治年長。有佛則虐政祚短者。案堯舜獨治不及子孫。夏殷周秦王政數改。蕭牆之內逆亂相尋。爾時無佛何因運短。但琳等預居堯世。日用莫知。在外見傅弈所上之事。恐藩國遠聞。謂華夏無識。夫子曰。言滿天下無口過。行滿天下無怨惡。言之者欲使無罪。聞之者足以自誡。傅弈出言不遜。聞者悉驚。有穢國風特損華俗。謹錄丹款冒以啟聞。伏惟。

According to the Xisheng jing of Laozi, 'My teacher transformed and wandered in Tianzhu, and was adept at entering nirvāṇa.' The Fuzi states, 'The master of Laozi was named Śākyamuni.' Simply examining the scriptures and writings of Confucius and Laozi, passages attesting to their honoring and venerating the Buddha are by no means few. How could Fu Yi alone succeed in slandering and defiling [the Dharma]? In antiquity, Gongsun Long wrote the Jianbai lun ('On Hard and White'), blaming the Three Sovereigns and censuring the Five Thearchs; even down to the present day, those who read it still gnash their teeth, regarding it as a warning from the past. It is truly lamentable! Today, the reigning Sovereign is supremely sagacious and brilliantly discerning; just now, He intends to turn loose the war-horses and rest the oxen, to honor the gateways of the virtuous and mound the tombs of the loyal, flourishing the ethos of august emperors and kings, and inaugurating the transformative teachings of Śākyamuni and Laozi. The wild and reckless discourses [of Fu Yi] deserve all the more to be consigned to the flames! If it is claimed that when emperors and kings lack Buddhism, supreme governance endures and their reigns are long, while when Buddhism is present, tyrannical rule prevails and their reigns are brief: according to history, the solitary rule of Yao and Shun was not passed down to their own sons; during the Xia, Shang, Zhou, and Qin, royal governance shifted repeatedly; and within the palace walls, treachery and rebellion continually followed one another. At that time, there was no Buddhism—what caused their reigns to be so brief? We, Lin and the others, happen to dwell in an era of Yao, yet in our daily use we are unaware [of the subtle workings of governance]. Outside, seeing the memorial presented by Fu Yi, we fear that if distant vassal states hear of it, they will deem that China lacks discerning wisdom. The Master said: 'Though one's words fill the world, there is no verbal transgression; though one's actions fill the world, there is no resentment or malice.' He who speaks wishes to be blameless; he who listens finds sufficient cause to admonish himself. Fu Yi speaks insolently, alarming all who hear him; this defiles the customs of the state and particularly harms the ways of China. Respectfully recording our sincere sentiments, we venture to memorialize and present them. We humbly prostrate ourselves: