[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) › [廣弘明集](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103) › 11.50 # 廣弘明集 11.50 廣弘明集 11.50 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [11.50](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.11.50) 對曰。案史記歷帝王儉目錄及陶隱居年紀等云。庖犧氏蛇身人首。大庭氏人身牛頭。女媧氏亦蛇身人頭秦仲衍鳥身人面。夏禹生於西羗。文王亦生西羗。簡狄吞燕卵而生偰伯禹剖母胸背而出。伊尹託自空桑。元氏魏主亦生夷狄。然並應天明命。或南面稱孤。或君臨萬國。雖可生處僻陋形貌鄙麁。而各御天威人懷聖德。老子亦託牧母。生自下凡。何得以所出庸賤而無聖者乎。夫子云。君子居之。何陋之有。信哉斯言也。僉曰。有道則尊。豈簡高下。故知聖應無方。隨機而現。尋釋迦祖禰。蓋千代輪王之孫。剎利王之太子。期兆斯訃物感則形出三千世界之中央。南閻浮提之大國。垂教設方。但以利益眾生為本。若言生在羗胡出自戎虜便為惡者。太昊文命皆非聖人。老子文王不足師敬。案地理志西域傳言。西胡者但是葱嶺已東。三十六國。不關天竺佛生之地。若知妄說。何罪之深。若不知浪言。死有餘責。 > It is answered: According to the Historical Records, the Diwang jian mulu, Tao Yinju's Chronicles, and other texts: The Baoxi clan had a serpent's body and a human head; the Dating clan had a human body and an ox's head; the Nüwa clan also had a serpent's body and a human head; and Qin Zhong's \[descendant\] Da Yan had a bird's body and a human face. Yu of Xia was born among the Western Qiang; King Wen was also born among the Western Qiang. Jiandi swallowed a swallow's egg and gave birth to Xie; Boyu emerged by cutting open his mother's chest and back; Yi Yin was entrusted to birth from a hollow mulberry tree; and the Yuan clan rulers of Wei were also born among foreign barbarians. Yet all answered the luminous mandate of Heaven: some faced south and styled themselves rulers, while others reigned over the myriad states. Though their birthplaces may have been remote and lowly, and their appearances crude and coarse, each wielded Heaven's majesty and harbored sage-virtue within. Laozi was also borne by a shepherd woman and born among the lowly commoners; how could one hold that because his origin was humble, he was no sage? The Master said: 'If a gentleman dwells there, what uncouthness can there be?' How true these words are! All declare: 'Where there is the Way, there is nobility; how could one distinguish high from low?' Thus we know that the sage's responses have no fixed direction, manifesting according to the capacity \[of beings\]. Looking into Śākyamuni's ancestry, he was the grandson of a thousand generations of wheel-turning kings and the crown prince of a kṣatriya king. When the prophesied omens foretold his coming and things were moved, his form manifested in the center of the trichiliocosm, in the great land of Jambudvīpa in the south. In conferring teachings and establishing methods, his sole foundation was benefiting sentient beings. If one claims that being born among the Qiang and barbarians or emerging from foreign tribes makes one evil, then Taihao and Wenming were not sages, and Laozi and King Wen are not worthy of reverence. According to the 'Treatise on Geography' and the 'Account of the Western Regions', the 'Western Barbarians' are merely thirty-six states east of the Congling mountains, having nothing to do with India, the land of the Buddha's birth. If he knew this and spoke falsely, how profound is his offense! If he did not know and prated recklessly, even in death he bears remaining blame. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 11.49](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.11.49) - [Next: 11.51](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.11.51) - [Up: 11](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.11) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103~en-mt.11.50) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.11.50](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.11.50) · Pramāṇa