[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [弘明集](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102) › 12.30 # 弘明集 12.30 弘明集 12.30 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [12.30](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.12.30) 臣言。奉被明詔。悚懼屏營。管穴偏見不足陳聞。直以事已上達不寧寢默。今勅又令更求其中。是用猖狂復申本懷。臣謂理之所在。幸可不以文害意。五帝不相襲禮。三王不沿其樂。革命隨時其義並大。莊周以今古譬舟車。孟軻以專信書不如無書。是故證羊非直聞。斯兩用大道之行。天下為家臣之區區一堂之同。而況異俗偏制。本非中庸之教。義生觀得象弘接聖旨。脫有下問。望其依理上酬。不敢以多自助取長於人。慧觀答臣都無理據。唯褒臣以過言。貶臣以干非。推此疑其必悔未便有反善怙辭。臣弘亦謂為然。慧義弘陣已崩走伏路絕。恃此為救。難乎自免。況復司契在上。道辭知窮。臣近難慧觀。輒復上呈如左。臣以愚鄙將智而耄。豈惟言之不中。深懼不覺其惛侍衛之臣實時之望。既不能矜臣此意。又不能誨臣不逮。此皆臣自招之自咎而已。伏願。 > Your subject says: Having reverently received the enlightened decree, I am filled with awe and apprehension. My narrow and tube-sighted views are not worthy of being laid before Your Majesty. It is solely because the matter has already reached Your hearing that I could not remain at peace in silence. Now the imperial decree once more orders us to seek the mean further. Therefore, rash as I am, I again state my original thoughts. Your subject maintains that wherever the principle lies, one should happily not let the letter impair the intent. The Five Thearchs did not adopt each other's rituals; the Three Kings did not preserve each other's music. To change mandates in accordance with the times is a great principle in both cases. Zhuang Zhou compared past and present to boats and carts; Meng Ke said that believing entirely in books is worse than having no books at all. For this reason, testifying about the stolen sheep was not uprightness, and hear \[good words and act upon them\] has two applications. When the Great Dao was practiced, the world belonged to all; how much more so with your subject's humble unity under one hall! And how much more so with the partial regulations of a foreign custom, which are fundamentally not the teachings of the Doctrine of the Mean! Huiyi, Daosheng, and Huiguan, receiving the image \[from the words\], widely received Your sagely decree. Should they be questioned from above, I would hope that they would reply upward relying on reason, not daring to bolster themselves by mere numbers or seek precedence over others. Huiguan's reply to me had no basis in principle at all; he merely praised me with extravagant words and censured me as interfering with wrongness. Inferring from this, I suspect he must have regrets, but has not yet turned back to the good, stubbornly defending his words. Your subject Sengyou also considers this to be so. Huiyi's vast battle array has already collapsed; their fleeing path is severed. Relying on this for rescue, it is difficult indeed for them to exempt themselves. How much more so when the Master of the Covenant is above, so that their principled words are known to be exhausted! Your subject recently challenged Huiguan, and I respectfully present it again as follows. Because of my foolishness and meanness, though striving for wisdom I have grown senile. Not only are my words off the mark, but I deeply fear that I am unaware of my own muddle-headedness. The courtiers in attendance are truly the hope of our times; yet they could neither pity my intention nor instruct my shortcomings. All of this was brought on by myself and is my own fault alone. I prostrate myself and pray: > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 12.29](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.12.29) - [Next: 12.31](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.12.31) - [Up: 12](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.12) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102~en-mt.12.30) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.12.30](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.12.30) · Pramāṇa