唐護法沙門法琳別傳 3.7

3.7

帝因親降問曰。朕本系老聃。東周隱德。末葉承嗣。起自隴西。闡大道為道元。隨迎不測。談上德為德母。視聽莫知。苞四象以運行。括二儀而亭育。既無得而稱矣。信日用而不知。朕所以尊乎祖風。高出一乘之上。敦乎本化。超踰百氏之先。何為詭刺師資。妄陳先後。無言即死。有說即生。法師對曰。琳聞師經對文侯云。堯舜之君唯恐無言。桀紂之君唯恐有言。又東方朔答武帝云。臣生亦言死亦言。琳今屬堯舜之君。何得無言者哉。琳聞。拓拔達闍唐言李氏。陛下之李。斯即其苗。非柱下隴西之流也。謹案。老聃之李。牧母所生。若據隴西。乃皆僕裔。何者燉煌實錄云。桓王三十九年。幸閑預庭與群臣經夜論古今。王曰。老聃父為何如人也。天水大守槖綏對曰。老聃父姓韓。名虔。字元卑。癃跛下賤。胎即無耳。一目不明。孤單乞貸。年七十二無妻。遂與隣人益壽氏宅上老婢字曰精敷。野合懷胎而生老子。又王儉百家譜云。李姓者。始祖皐繇之後。為舜理官。因遂氏焉。乃稱李姓。李氏之興起於聃也。以李樹下生乃稱李姓。至漢成帝時。有李隱抗烈毀上被誅。徙其族於張掖。在路暴死。其奴隷等將其印綬冐涼得仕。所謂隴西之李自此興焉。又老子云。吾不敢為天下先。故述五千之訓。又言。不與物競。處眾人之所惡。既處物不競。又不為先。恕己推人。守雌保弱。老子西昇經又云。乾竺有古皇先生者。是吾師也。綿綿常存吾今逝矣。又符子云。老氏之師號釋迦文。尹喜內傳云。老子曰。王欲出家。吾師號佛。覺一切人也。今受天帝請食。還當為王及群臣等一時受戒。竊以拓拔元魏。北代神君達闍達系陰山。貴種經云。以金易鍮石。以絹易縷褐。如捨寶女與婢交通。

The Emperor thereupon personally descended to question him, saying: 'We originally descend from Lao Dan. In the Eastern Zhou, he concealed his virtue; his later descendants carried on the lineage, arising from Longxi. He expounded the Great Way as the origin of the Way, defying tracking whether following or welcoming; he spoke of Supreme Virtue as the mother of virtue, impossible to know whether looking or listening. Encompassing the Four Symbols, he moves with them; embracing the Two Principles, he nurtures through them. Since he cannot be designated in words, he is truly used daily without people knowing. This is why We revere our ancestral traditions, placing them high above the Ekayāna, and esteem our fundamental transformation, surpassing the hundred schools. Why do you deceitfully criticize the master and disciple, and recklessly fabricate who came first and last? If you have nothing to say, you shall die; if you have an explanation, you shall live!'

The Dharma Master replied: 'Lin has heard that Shi Jing said in reply to Marquis Wen: "A ruler like Yao or Shun only fears having no words spoken; a ruler like Jie or Zhou only fears having words spoken." Furthermore, Dongfang Shuo replied to Emperor Wu: "Your subject will speak if he lives, and will speak if he dies." Lin now belongs to a ruler like Yao and Shun; how could I have nothing to say? Lin has heard that "Tuoba Dashe" translates into the language of Tang as the Li clan. Your Majesty's Li is the sprout of this line; it is not the lineage of the Keeper of the Archives in Longxi. I respectfully submit: the Li of Lao Dan was born of a herdsman's mother; if we go by Longxi, they are all descendants of slaves. Why is this? The Dunhuang Shilu says: "In the thirty-ninth year of King Huan, he visited the Xianyu Pavilion and discussed antiquity and the present with his ministers through the night. The King asked: 'What kind of man was the father of Lao Dan?' Tuosui, the Grand Administrator of Tianshui, replied: 'The father of Lao Dan was surnamed Han, named Qian, and courtesy-named Yuanbei. He was crippled, lame, and base, born without ears, blind in one eye, destitute, and begging for loans. At the age of seventy-two, he had no wife. He then illicitly united in the fields with an old female slave named Jingfu in the household of his neighbour, the Yishou clan; she became pregnant and gave birth to Laozi.'" Furthermore, Wang Jian's Baijia pu says: "The surname Li is the descendant of the ancestor Gaoyao, who was Shun's Minister of Justice (Dali); he therefore took it as a surname, and it was thus called the Li surname. The flourishing of the Li clan began with Dan; because he was born beneath a plum tree (li), he was called the Li surname. In the time of Emperor Cheng of the Han, there was Li Yin, who was executed for unbending defiance and defaming his superior. His clan was relocated to Zhangye, and he died suddenly on the road. His slaves took his seals and ribbons, usurped Liang identities, and obtained official posts. The so-called Li of Longxi began from this." Furthermore, Laozi says: "I dare not take the lead in the world," and therefore set forth the teachings of the five thousand characters. He also says: "He does not compete with things, dwelling where the multitude detests." Since he stays with things without competing and does not take the lead, he pardons himself and defers to others, keeping to the female and preserving weakness. Laozi's Xisheng jing also says: "In Qianzhu (India) there is the Master Guhuang; he is my teacher. Continuing endlessly, he eternally abides; I now depart!" Furthermore, the Fuzi says: "The teacher of Laozi was named Śākyamuni." The Yin Xi neizhuan says: "Laozi said: 'The King wishes to leave household life; my teacher is named Buddha, who awakens all people. Today he accepts the heavenly emperor's invitation to eat; when he returns, he will confer the precepts simultaneously upon the King and all his ministers.'" I humbly consider that the Tuoba of the Northern Wei were divine lords of the northern Dai, and their lineage of Dashe was connected to the Yin Mountains. The Noble Seed Sūtra says: "Trading gold for brass, exchanging silk for rough hemp garments, is like giving away a precious woman to mate with a female slave."