弘明集 12.104

12.104

夫神道茫昧。聖人之所不言。然惟其制作所弘如將可見。佛所貴無為。慇懃在於絕欲。而比者凌遲遂失斯道。京師競其奢淫。榮觀紛於朝市。天府以之傾匱。名器為之穢黷。避役鍾於百里。逋逃盈於寺廟。乃至一縣數千猥成屯落。邑聚遊食之群。境積不羈之眾。其所以傷治害政塵滓佛教。固已彼此俱弊寔污風軌矣。便可嚴下。在所諸沙門有能申述經誥暢說義理者。或禁行修整奉戒無虧。恒為阿練者。或山居養志不營流俗者。皆足以宣寄大化。亦所以示物以道弘訓作範幸兼內外。其有違於此者。皆悉罷遣。所在領其戶籍嚴為之制。速申下之并列上也。唯廬山道德所居。不在搜簡之例。

The spiritual way is boundless and obscure, something the sages did not speak of. Yet considering what their institutions propagated, it seems as if it can be seen. What the Buddha values is non-action, his earnest devotion lying in severing desires. But of late there has been decline, and this Way has been lost. The capital competes in extravagance, and splendid spectacles throw the courts and markets into chaos. The heavenly treasury is exhausted thereby, and sacred vessels are defiled. Evading corvée converges within a hundred li, and runaways fill the monasteries, reaching several thousands in a single county, crowding into settlements. Groups of vagrants gather in the towns, and masses of unbridled crowds accumulate across the borders. That by which this injures governance, harms policy, and contaminates the Buddhist teachings has indeed corrupted both sides and truly defiled the social mores. Let strict orders be sent down: wherever there are śramaṇas who can expound the scriptures and teachings, fluently explaining doctrines and principles; or whose conduct is disciplined, observing precepts without defect, and who are constant araṇyins; or who reside in the mountains nurturing their aspirations without seeking secular ways—all these are sufficient to proclaim the Great Transformation, and also serve to display the Way to beings, broadcasting instruction and providing a model, happily combining internal and external. All those who run counter to this shall be completely dismissed and defrocked; the local authorities shall record their household registers, strictly imposing regulations upon them, and swiftly report down and submit their lists upwards. Only Mount Lu, being the dwelling of Dao and virtue, is not subject to this screening.