弘明集 1.64

1.64

正曰。不然。莊周有云。達命之情者不務命之所元奈何審期分之不可遷也。若令性命可以智德求之者。則發旦二子足令文父致千齡矣。顏子死則稱天喪予惜之至也。無以延之耳。且陰陽數度。期運所當。百六之極有時而臻。故堯有滔天之洪。湯有赤地之災。涿鹿有漂槽之血。阪泉有橫野之屍。何不坐而消之救其未然耶。且夫熊經鳥曳導引吐納。輟黍稷而御英蘂。吸風露以代糇糧。俟此而壽有待之倫也。斯則有時可夭。不能無窮者也。沙門之視松喬若未孩之兒耳。方將汎志於二儀之表。延祚於不死之鄉。豈能屑心營近與涓彭爭長哉。難者苟欲騁飾非之辯。立距諫之強。言無節奏義無宮商。嗟夫北里之亂雅。惡綠之奪黃也。其餘嘇之音曾無紀網。一遵先師不答之章。

I rectify this by saying: This is not so. Zhuang Zhou had a saying: 'Those who understand the nature of destiny do not strive for what destiny cannot alter; they examine the allotted span and know it cannot be shifted.' If nature and destiny could be sought through wisdom and virtue, then King Wu and the Duke of Zhou would have been sufficient to grant their father, King Wen, a thousand years. When Yanzi died, [Confucius] cried, 'Heaven is destroying me!'—grieving him to the utmost; yet there was no way to prolong his life. Furthermore, the measures and cycles of yin and yang are what destiny ordains; the extremities of the 'hundred and six' cycles arrive in their due time. Hence Yao faced the deluge that swelled to heaven, Tang faced the drought that scorched the earth, at Zhuolu blood floated pestles, and at Banquan corpses littered the fields. Why did they not sit and dissolve these things, saving them before they occurred? Moreover, hanging like a bear and stretching like a bird, guiding the breath and exhaling and inhaling, abstaining from millet and consuming blossoms, sipping wind and dew in place of provisions—waiting upon these for longevity is of the class of things that depend on conditions. These can still be cut short in due time and cannot be infinite. Śramaṇas regard Song and Qiao as mere infants. They are about to set their aspirations freely beyond the Two Modes (heaven and earth) and prolong their blessings in the realm of deathlessness. How could they stoop to occupy their minds with immediate concerns and contest longevity with Juan and Peng? The challenger merely wishes to display his eloquence in embellishing errors and establish his stubbornness in rejecting remonstrance. His words lack cadence, and their meaning lacks musical pitch. Alas, the tunes of Beili corrupt the court odes; detestable green usurps yellow! The rest of their discordant sounds lack all order and principle; I adhere completely to the former teacher's rule of not answering.