弘明集 11.4

11.4

On the fifth day of the fifth month in the twelfth year of the Yuanjia era, the relevant officials memorialized: Xiao Mozhi, Governor of Danyang, presented a memorial stating: 'The Buddha's transformation has covered the Central Realm for four dynasties now; stupas, monasteries, and images number in the thousands across the land. Going forward, they serve to fasten the mind; retreating, they suffice to attract and encourage. However, in recent times, devotion and respect have become superficial, taking not sincere purity as ultimate, but rather prizing lavish competition. Dilapidated old dwellings are never repaired, yet each builds new structures to outdo one another. Prime estates and prominent mansions are almost exhausted by this; bamboo groves, timber, bronze, and colored silks are wasted without limit. Violating moderation and exceeding regulations, they should be restrained and restricted. If no precautions are taken against this, the straying will not end. I request that from now on, anyone wishing to cast bronze statues must personally report to the Department of State Affairs; those building stupas, monasteries, or vihāras must first report to the local two-thousand-bushel official, stating the origin and details, which will be reported according to the facts to the commandery. They must await official permission before commencing work. Anyone who arbitrarily casts bronze statues or arbitrarily builds monasteries and dwellings shall be prosecuted for failing to comply with imperial decrees, and all bronze, buildings, timber, and tiles shall be confiscated by the state.' The memorial was approved. At that time, there was a monk named Huilin who, borrowing the vestments of the sangha, disparaged its Dharma and composed the Treatise on White and Black. He Chengtian, Governor of Hengyang, who was intimate with Huilin and warmly promoted his ideas, wrote the Treatise on Penetrating the Nature; both were biased and rigid in their own corner, reviling and rebuking the Śākya teachings. Yan Yanzhi, Governor of Yongjia, and Zong Bing, Household Gentleman to the Crown Prince, were believers in the Dharma. They examined and refuted the two treatises, each writing over ten thousand words. Huilin and the others initially exchanged arguments, but ceased before reaching any result. Zong Bing thereupon wrote the Treatise Clarifying Buddhism to broaden its core doctrine. The Emperor approved of it, and said to Palace Attendant He Shangzhi: 'I do not read the scriptures, and lately have had no leisure; causation and karmic retribution across the three times are matters I have not resolved in my thoughts. Yet the reason I dare not hold heterodox views is precisely that former luminaries and the talents of your generation all revere and believe in it. Fan Tai and Xie Lingyun often said: "The canonical texts of the Six Classics originally aimed merely at helping the worldly and governing; if one truly seeks the profound mysteries of the nature and spirit, how can one not take Buddhist scriptures as a guide?" Yan Yanzhi's refutation of Penetrating the Nature and Zong Shaowen's critique of White and Black, and especially the vast and profound Treatise Clarifying Buddhism, are renowned for their principles; all suffice to enlighten and encourage people's minds. If everyone within the borders were purely transformed by this, I could sit back and achieve great peace! What more would there be to do? Recently, Xiao Mozhi requested regulations; before allowing them to be promulgated, I have shown them to you. I entrust you to adjust them: only when there are ways to curb frivolity and extravagance without harming the broad encouragement of Buddhism should they be made into decrees.' Shangzhi replied: 'The drifting masses mostly do not believe in the Dharma. With my mediocre obscurity, I still offer this foolish reply, fearing that my shortcomings will bring stain upon the Great Teaching. Now that I receive praise and encouragement instead, it is more than I dare accept. As for the worthy men of former generations, they indeed did not disappoint your brilliant decree. The Central Court of the Jin is far removed and difficult to know completely. Since crossing the Yangtze, there have been Wang Dao and Zhou Yi, the pinnacles of the chancellors; Wang Meng and Xie Shang, the models of human excellence; and Xi Chao, Wang Tan, Wang Gong, and Wang Mi, who were either praised as peerless or deemed unique in their step; their clear spirits and upright dispositions also placed them above worldly things. Guo Wen, Xie Fu, Dai Kui, and others all placed their minds between heaven and humanity, elevating their bodies amid the clouds and mists. My late great-great-uncle and his brothers guided the world with their pure understanding; Wang Yuanlin and his brothers topped the court with their talent; among the rest, Fan Wang, Sun Chuo, Zhang Xuan, and Yin Ji—roughly several tens of men—none was not an elite of the time. Furthermore, among the various monks listed in Zong Bing's treatise, Bo Dansui was of the lower tier; yet the one with whom he was compared was Yu Yuangui. From Dansui on up, masters such as Hu and Lan all had transcendent conduct and inner rectitude, or were unfathomable men. This is so even if we merely discuss recent monks and laymen. If we were to enumerate fully both foreigners and Chinese, extending back to the Han and Wei dynasties, how could the extraordinary talents and exceptional virtues ever be fully recounted? Would they ever needlessly cut short their spiritual nature, sit idly abandoning their kin, fall deluded into illusory teachings, and trap themselves in unproven conversions? Your Majesty’s thought penetrates beyond subtle mechanisms, and your contemplation is abstruse beyond external forms; dredging the deep and reaching the far, there is no need to seek only from the near. From this, down to subjects like ourselves, if we can prudently infer from these examples, then pure-faith gentlemen will never be lacking in our time. The saying that "it is humanity that can broaden the Dao"—how could it be an empty phrase? Dharma Master Huiyuan once said that there is nowhere the transformation of the Śākyan teachings cannot be applied. The Dao naturally serves as the fountainhead of teachings, yet succoring the worldly is also an essential duty. If the ruler of this world can cut away what is false and encourage what is verified and true, implementing it alongside imperial governance across the four seas, so that the unseen and seen work in concert to earnestly guide the common people, why should King Cheng, King Kang, Emperor Wen, and Emperor Jing alone be considered marvelous? If the beginnings of the Zhou and Han had additionally combined this transformation, the singing of eulogies and the clearing of criminal punishments would have been twice as swift! I humbly believe this statement accords with profound truth. Why is this so? In a village of a hundred families, if ten observe the five precepts, then ten will be pure and prudent; in a town of a thousand households, if one hundred practice the ten virtues, then one hundred will be gentle and magnanimous. If this standard of conduct is transmitted throughout the realm, and out of tens of millions of households there are a million benevolent people—and this is merely considering those who fully maintain the precepts and virtues. If those who keep one precept or one virtue are counted, they would surely make up two or three tenths. Now, if one can practice one virtue, one eliminates one evil; once one evil is eliminated, one penalty ceases. When one penalty ceases in a household, then ten thousand penalties cease in the state. How could laying aside the four hundred cases in the prisons be difficult? The rising of courtly odes and eulogies ought naturally to be swift; this is precisely what Your Majesty called sitting back and achieving great peace! If we discuss principle, it is like this; if we verify with events, I shall state further: Former histories say that the customs of the Western Regions all revere the Buddha and honor the Dharma; hence large states had tens of thousands of people, and small states had several hundreds, yet in the end they did not annex one another. After becoming subject to the central dynastic realm, their customs became somewhat deteriorated, yet they were still very gentle and weak, rarely carrying out slaughter. Moreover, ever since the Five Barbarians threw the Central Realm into chaos, the common people fell into misery, and those who suffered wrongful, violent deaths were countless. If any found relief among them, they surely relied on the Śākya teachings. Thus, when Fotudeng entered Ye, Shi Hu's slaughter was cut in half; when the precious stupa at Mianchi emitted light, Fu Jian's clubs and saws were stopped. Juqu Mengxun bit back without kin, ruthless as jackals and tigers, yet in his final years he was moved to awaken and ended up becoming a good man. When Faxian was threatened, the monk had the strength of ten thousand men; almost plunging the He and Wei into turmoil, with bound hands he gladly accepted death to face his master's plight. This was due to nothing other than reverence and faith.'