高僧傳 9.28

9.28

After Fotudeng's conversion of the people took effect, many of the populace revered the Buddha; they vied with one another in building temples and going forth into homelessness, so that the true and the false became mixed together, often giving rise to transgressions. Shi Hu issued an edict inquiring of the Secretariat: 'The Buddha is styled the World-Honoured One, whom the state venerates; should the common people of the lanes and villages who hold neither rank nor stipend be permitted to serve the Buddha or not? Moreover, śramaṇas ought all to be lofty, pure, upright, and steadfast, and able to advance vigorously in their practice, only after which they may become men of the Way. Nowadays, the śramaṇas are exceedingly numerous, and among them are those who commit treachery to evade corvée labor, many of whom are not the right sort of persons. Let them be screened, and let the false ones be thoroughly deliberated.' Wang Du, Assistant in the Palace Library of the Secretariat, memorialized: 'When the ruler offers the suburban sacrifice to Heaven and Earth and makes offerings to the hundred deities, this is recorded in the sacrificial canons, and the rites provide for seasonal offerings and feasts. The Buddha arose in the Western Regions; he is a foreign deity whose merit did not extend to the people, and he is not one who ought to be offered sacrifices by the Son of Heaven and all the Chinese. Formerly, when Emperor Ming of the Han was moved by a dream, that Way was first transmitted; but it was permitted only for men of the Western Regions to erect temples in the capital and cities to make offerings to their deity, while none of the Han people were permitted to go forth into homelessness. The Wei inherited the Han regulations and likewise observed the former precedent. Now the Great Zhao has received the Mandate, and should follow the ancient statutes. The regulations for Chinese and barbarians are different, and the spheres of humans and spirits are distinct. The outer is not the same as the inner, and sacrifices have distinct rites; the offerings of the desolate frontiers and of the Chinese should not be mixed together. The state may prohibit all Zhao people from going to temples to burn incense and bow in veneration, in order to comply with canonical rites. The ministers, dignitaries, and scholars, down to all the bondsmen, should all be forbidden likewise. Those who transgress shall be punished on a par with offering illicit sacrifices. Those Zhao people who have become śramaṇas should return to the dress of the four classes of commoners.' Wang Bo, illicit President of the Secretariat, agreed with Wang Du's memorial. Shi Hu issued an edict saying: 'Wang Du's deliberation states: "The Buddha is a foreign deity, not one whom the Son of Heaven and all the Chinese ought to revere." We were born in the borderlands, yet humbly met with the opportune turn of fortune to rule over all the Chinese lands. As for the sacrifices, We ought concurrently to follow Our native customs. The Buddha is a barbarian deity, and is precisely whom We ought to revere. Regulations proceed from above, to serve as a model for all generations; so long as the matter is without flaw, why be bound by previous dynasties? Let all the various barbarians of the Zhao who wish to abandon their illicit sacrifices and take joy in serving the Buddha be permitted to practice the Way.' Thereupon, those lax in the precepts were emboldened by this.