[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [續高僧傳](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060) › 23.14 # 續高僧傳 23.14 續高僧傳 23.14 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [23.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.23.14) 釋僧勔。未詳氏族。住新州願果寺。周武季世將喪釋門。崇上老氏受其符錄。凡有大醮。帝必具其巾褐同其拜伏。而道經誕妄言無本據。國雖奉事未詳讎校。遂不遠鄉關躬聞帝闕面陳至理。以邪正相參澆情趨競。未辨真偽更遞毀譽。乃著論十有八條難道本宗。又以三科釋其前執賢聖既序凡位晈然。其詞略云。勔以世之濫述云。老子尹喜西度化胡出家。老子為說經戒。令尹喜作佛。教化胡人。又稱是鬼谷先生撰。南山四皓注。未善尋者。莫不信從以為口實。異哉此傳。君子尚不可誷。況貶大聖者乎。今具陳此說非真。人世差錯假託名字。亦乃言不及義飜辱老子。意者勝人達士不出此言。將是無識異道誇競佛法。假託鬼谷四皓之名。附尹喜傳後。作此異論用迷昏俗。竊聞傳而不習夫子不許。妄作者凶老君所誡。此之巨患增長三塗。宜應糺正救其此失。然教有內外用生疑假。人有賢聖多述本迹。故班固漢書品人九等。孔丘之徒為上上類。例皆是聖。李老之儔為中上類。例皆是賢。何晏王弼云。老未及聖此則賢。聖天分優劣自顯。故魏文之博悟也。黃初三年下勅云。告豫州刺史。老聃賢人。未宜先孔子。不知魯郡為孔子立廟成未漢桓帝不師聖法。正以嬖臣而事老子欲以求福。良足笑也。此祠之興由桓帝。武皇帝以老子賢人不毀其屋。朕亦以此亭當路。行來者輒往瞻視。而樓屋傾頹儻能壓人。故令修整。昨過視之殊未整頓。恐小人謂此為神。妄往禱祀違犯常禁。宜宣告吏民咸使知聞。據斯以言。程露久矣。世多愚人不尋前達。故有此弊耳。今考據年月群達誠言區別人世。并內經外典並對條例。覽詳卷首邪正自顯。雖復著論周世垂名朝野。通人罕遇。終以事迷。竟不行用。及後法毀。逃難不測所終。 > Śramaṇa Sengmian; his family name is not known. He resided at Yuanguo Monastery in Xinzhou. In the late years of Emperor Wu of the Zhou, as the Buddhist order was about to be destroyed, \[the Emperor\] venerated Laozi and received his registers and talismans. Whenever there was a grand jiao offering, the Emperor would don the Taoist headcloth and coarse robe and bow alongside them. Yet the Taoist scriptures were fabricated and false, their words lacking any authentic foundation. Although the state venerated and served them, it had not investigated or collated them. Thereupon, Sengmian did not consider his home region distant, but personally sought audience at the imperial palace and presented the ultimate truth face to face. Considering that heterodoxy and orthodoxy were intermingled, frivolous ambitions were competing, and truth and falsehood had not been distinguished while slander and praise were exchanged in turn, he composed an essay in eighteen articles refuting the fundamental doctrines of Taoism. Furthermore, using three categories, he explicated their former clinging, so that the sage and the worthy were ranked, and the worldly station was clearly revealed. His words stated in brief: "Mian observes that the spurious accounts of the world claim: 'Laozi and Yin Xi traveled west to convert the barbarians to leave home. Laozi preached the scriptures and precepts for him, causing Yin Xi to become a Buddha and teach the barbarians.' They also claim this was written by Master Guigu and annotated by the Four Whiteheads of the Southern Mountain. Those who do not examine it carefully all believe and follow it, taking it as conversational proof. How bizarre is this transmission! A gentleman cannot be deceived, so how much less can the Great Sage be degraded! I now set forth in detail that this discourse is not genuine, but an error of the human world that falsely borrows names; its words do not touch upon righteousness and instead bring disgrace upon Laozi. In my estimation, superior persons and attained scholars would not utter such words; this must have been ignorant heterodox practitioners competing boastfully against the Buddhadharma, who falsely borrowed the names of Guigu and the Four Whiteheads and appended it to the transmission of Yin Xi, creating this strange treatise to mislead the deluded populace. I have heard that to transmit without practicing is what Confucius forbade, and to act rashly brings calamity as cautioned by the Old Lord. This great peril nourishes the three miserable destinies; it is proper to correct it and remedy this failing. Now, teachings have the inner and the outer, whence doubt and forgery arise; persons have the worthy and the sage, often described in terms of fundamental ground and manifested traces. Thus, Ban Gu's Book of Han graded people into nine classes, placing Kong Qiu and his peers in the highest of the high class, all of whom were sages; Li Lao and his companions were in the middle of the high class, all of whom were worthies. He Yan and Wang Bi said that Laozi had not yet reached the level of a sage; this means he was a worthy, and the natural difference between sage and worthy reveals itself. Hence the broad comprehension of Emperor Wen of the Wei: in the third year of Huangchu, he issued an edict stating: 'Notify the Regional Inspector of Yuzhou: Lao Dan was a worthy man; he should not be placed before Confucius. I do not know whether the temple built for Confucius in Lu Commandery is completed or not. Emperor Huan of the Han did not model himself on the sacred methods, but merely served Laozi through favored courtiers in order to seek blessings; it is truly laughable. The rise of this shrine stemmed from Emperor Huan. Emperor Wu, regarding Laozi as a worthy man, did not tear down his shrine. I also, because this pavilion stands by the road and passersby invariably visit and gaze upon it, and because the storied building is collapsing and might crush people, have ordered it repaired. Yesterday I passed by and inspected it, but it has not been put in order at all. I fear the common people will consider this a spirit and recklessly go to pray and offer sacrifices, violating the permanent prohibitions. It is appropriate to proclaim this to the officials and people, making it universally known.' Basing oneself on this statement, the manifest truth has long been clear. It is only because the world has many foolish people who do not investigate the former attained ones that this defect exists. Now, collating the years and months, the sincere words of the crowd of attained ones to distinguish the human world, and comparing the inner scriptures and outer classics side by side in categorized articles, if one inspects the head of the scroll, heterodoxy and orthodoxy will naturally become manifest." Although he composed this essay during the Zhou dynasty and made his name known in court and countryside, men of understanding were rarely met, and in the end they remained deluded by worldly affairs; it was never put into effect. When the Dharma was subsequently destroyed, he fled from the calamity, and his end is not known. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 23.13](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.23.13) - [Next: 23.15](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.23.15) - [Up: 23](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.23) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060~en-mt.23.14) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [集古今佛道論衡](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2104.2.15) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.23.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2060.23.14) · Pramāṇa