唐護法沙門法琳別傳 3.7

3.7

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."