弘明集 1.70

1.70

正曰。尋斯言似乎幸人之災。非通言也。仲智雖有好道之意。然意未受戒為弟子也。論其率情亮直見涉俊上。自是可才。而有強梁之累。未合道家嬰兒之旨矣。以此而遇忌勝之雄。喪敗理耳。縱如難者云。精進而遭害者有矣。此何異顏項夙夭。夷叔餒死。比干盡忠而陷剖心之禍。申生篤孝而致雉經之痛。若此之比不可勝言。孔子云。仁者壽義者昌。而復或有不免。固知宿命之證。至矣信矣。

I rectify this by saying: Looking at these words, they seem to take joy in another's misfortune; this is not the speech of an understanding person. Although Zhongzhi had the intention of loving the Dao, he had not yet received the precepts to become a disciple. In terms of following his feelings with forthright honesty and showing outstanding talent, he certainly was capable, but he had the flaw of being overbearing, which did not accord with the Daoist principle of the infant. Meeting with a rival who was jealous of his superiority, his ruin was entirely natural. Even if, as the challenger says, there are those who make vigorous progress yet meet with harm, how does this differ from Yan Hui and Xiang Tuo dying young, or Boyi and Shuqi starving to death? Bi Gan was completely loyal yet suffered the disaster of having his heart cut out; Shen Sheng was thoroughly filial yet suffered the agony of hanging himself. Cases like this cannot be fully recounted. Confucius said: 'The benevolent live long, and the righteous prosper.' Yet some still cannot avoid calamity. Thus we truly know that the proof of past karma is profound and trustworthy.