弘明集 12.30

12.30

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: