唐護法沙門法琳別傳 2.8

2.8

The Emperor dispatched Cen Wenben, Vice Director of the Secretariat, to proclaim an oral edict, saying: "Say to the monks: an enlightened decree has already been promulgated; if you still do not submit, the state has severe statutes." The Dharma master held his breath and choked down his words, turned to the monks, and said: "The Emperor resides within the ninefold palace; the sacred countenance is difficult to behold. Even if one wished to pull at his robes and break the balustrade, there would be no way. It is not as good as following in the footsteps of Qu Yuan, wandering through the wild grasses, knotting orchids into a pendant and dwelling in purity." Later, in the autumn, the ninth month of the thirteenth year, there was a Yellow Turban named Qin Shiying, who was slightly versed in jiao rituals and spells and had a rough understanding of medical prescriptions. Harboring technical arts, he flattered the times, thereby finding favor with the Crown Prince. Secretly presenting the Dharma master's treatise, he alleged that it slandered the Imperial Ancestry and desecrated the royal forebears, a crime amounting to deceiving the Sovereign. The Emperor was blazing with wrath and purged the monks and nuns, issuing an edict ordering the dark-robed followers to all abide by the bequeathed teachings. [The edict added:] "As for Falin, since he has slandered Our lineage, he should be interrogated and judged at once. If indeed he has no defense, the state possesses penal laws." But the Dharma master, shaking his feathers with a mind to soar into the clouds, did not wait for a summons, but went of his own accord to the government office. The various officials, carrying out the Sovereign's will, harshly investigated the Dharma master, imprisoned him in the prefectural court, and bound him in cords and fetters. Mao Mingsu, the Minister of Works, had long wished to hear the Dharma master's untrammeled elegance and had always longed to see him. As [the master] was now held in confinement, he sent a poem to the Dharma master, saying: / Yezhang grew weary of bonds and fetters; / Han An lamented over the dead ashes. / Only now do we prove the timber in the mountains; / Only now do we know the worth of being useless. / The Dharma master was humbled by Su's poem and replied in gratitude: "This poor monk's capacity is dull and benighted, and I rashly failed to know my limits. With wild simpleness that made a display, I offended