弘明集 12.39

12.39

"I have examined what was stated; the feelings and intents are complete. Truly, matters of the obscure realm cannot be fully conveyed by parables. Yet their general outline, and the eternal standards of great persons and spirits, roughly have their distinctions and categories. Generally speaking, when the hundred kings instituted laws, although substantiality and refinement varied with the times, none ever mixed governance with disparate customs or mingled transformations with the grandiose and absurd. Could it be that the past sages were not perceptive, while the coming sages are broadly penetrating? Furthermore, the minor goodness of the five precepts roughly resembles human relations, yet should they omit ritual respect toward the lord of the world? Rites are heavy; respect is great; the mainstays of governance are exhausted in this. The lord of ten thousand chariots does not love honor, nor do the people of the realm love humility; yet if the lowly and the honored are not set forth, the king's teaching cannot be unified. If it is divided in two, there will be disorder. This is how the past sages codified laws to embody the state, about which one ought not to be confused. A person of versatile talent may gather broadly and go prepare those affairs; cultivating them at home is acceptable, but cultivating them in the state and the court is unacceptable. How could this not be clear? Examining what was stated, you truly also have not been able to clarify whether it exists or not. Even if you clarified it, I would still hold that it cannot participate in governance; how much more so when it is wholly non-existent, should it be practiced side by side?"