弘明集 10.67

10.67

辱告并垂示勅答臣下審神滅義。伏讀周流式歌且舞。夫識慮沈隱精靈幽妙。近步無以追。凡情不能測。外聖知其若此。所以抑而不談。故涉孔父其尚惛經。姬公其未曙。而碌碌之徒妄理信目錐畫。管窺異見鋒起。苟侚離賢之名。遂迷雪霜之實。愚惑到此深可矜傷。我皇道被幽顯明踰日月。窮天地之極。盡終始之奧。忌蕕紫之妨朱氣。珉雉之亂鳳玉。爰發聖衷降茲雅義。信足以光揚妙覺。拯厥沈泥。近照性靈之極。遠明孝德之本。實使異學翦其邪心。向方篤其羨慕。謬以多幸豫奉陶鈞。沐澤飲和有兼慶躍。流通曲被𬽳荷彌深。司馬筠和南。

You have condescended to inform and graciously show me the imperial decree replying to a subject's examination of the meaning of the extinction of the spirit. Respectfully reading it over and over, I chant and dance. Consciousness and deliberation are deep and hidden; the spiritual soul is dark and subtle. Close footsteps cannot overtake it; ordinary sentiments cannot measure it. The external sages knew it was like this, which is why they restrained themselves and did not discuss it. Hence, even when examining Confucius, he was still reserved regarding [spirits in] the classics; the Duke of Zhou had not yet brought it to light. Yet the mediocre sort recklessly rationalize and trust what they see, drawing with an awl and peering through a tube, their deviant views rising like sword-points. Merely courting the reputation of departing from the virtuous, they end up lost regarding the reality of snow and frost. For foolish delusions to reach this point is deeply pitiable and lamentable. Our Sovereign's Dao covers the dark and the manifest; his brilliance exceeds the sun and moon. He exhausts the extremities of Heaven and Earth, and plumbs the secrets of the beginning and the end. Hating that foul weeds and purple might impair the true red hue, or that common stone and pheasants might confuse jade and the phoenix, he thereupon issued this from his sagacious breast, sending down these elegant principles. They are truly sufficient to glorify wondrous awakening and rescue those sunk in the mire. Nearby, they illuminate the utmost reach of nature and soul; afar, they clarify the root of filial virtue. Truly, they make deviant teachings sever their heterodox intentions, and those who face the right direction intensify their longing admiration. Through good fortune, I have mistakenly participated in receiving the potters' wheel of transformation; bathed in beneficence and drinking harmony, I have redoubled rejoicing. That this circulation has reached me so thoroughly leaves me ever more deeply indebted. Sima Jun bows in reverence.