弘明集 1.68

1.68

答曰。石崇之為人。余所悉也。驕盈耽酒放僭無度。多藏厚斂不恤惸獨。論才則有一割之利。計德則盡無取焉。雖託名事佛。而了無禁戒。即如世人貇清心穢色厲內荏。口詠禹湯而行偶桀跖。自貽伊禍。又誰之咎乎。

I reply: As for Shi Chong as a person, I know him well. He was arrogant and full of himself, addicted to wine, unrestrained and transgressive beyond measure, amassing great wealth and taxing heavily without pity for the destitute. In terms of talent, he had the utility of a single cut; in terms of virtue, there was nothing to commend him. Although he used the pretext of serving the Buddha, he had no observance of the precepts at all. He was just like worldly people whose faces show purity while their minds are defiled, appearing stern on the outside while being weak within, chanting Yu and Tang with their mouths while acting like Jie and Zhi. He brought this disaster upon himself; whose fault was it then?