廣弘明集 12.20

12.20

論言。竊見標樹為社。立塼石以稱君。累土成壇。束茅纂而為飾。至於急厄求請微有威靈。雨旱祈誠片致恩福。況佛神儀嶷爾靈相儼然。而欲輕毀。其可得也。自漢明感夢。寺興白馬之名。孫權驗瑞。塔始建初之號。自斯厥後相係而興。向若神道泯無帝王豈應敬事。威靈歇滅國主寧復遵承。並以目驗身臨。故使歸依迴向。未若道家都無承據李老事周之日。未有玄壇。張陵謀漢之晨。方興觀舍。故後漢順帝中。有沛人張陵。客遊蜀土。聞古老相傳云。昔漢高祖。應二十四氣。祭二十四山。遂王有天下。陵不度德遂搆此謀。殺牛祭祀二十四所。置以土壇戴以草屋稱二十四治。治館之興始乎此也。二十三所在於蜀地。尹喜一所在於咸陽。於是誑誘愚民招合兇黨。斂租稅米謀為亂階。時被蛇吞逆釁弗作。至孫張魯。禍亂方興起於漢中。為曹操誅滅。自爾迄今群𭒯相係。依託治館恒作妖邪。故漢順帝中平元年。鉅鹿人張角。自稱黃天部師。有三十六將。皆著黃布巾。遠與張魯相應。眾至十萬。焚燒鄴城。漢遣河南尹何進。將兵討滅。又晉武帝咸寧二年。為道士陳瑞以左道惑眾。自號天師。徒附數千。積有歲月。為益州刺史王濬誅滅。又晉文帝太和元年。彭城道士盧悚。自稱大道祭酒。以邪術惑眾聚合徒黨。向晨攻廣漢門云。迎海西公殿中。桓祕等覺知與戰。尋並誅斬。又梁武帝大同五年。道士袁矜。妖言惑眾行禁步崗。官軍收掩尋被戮滅。至隋開皇十年。綿州昌隆縣道士蒲童。與左童二人在崩溪館。自稱得聖。誑惑人民。重床至屋却坐其上。云十五童女方堪受法。令女登床以幕圍遶。遂便姦匿。如此經月。計所姦女。出數百人。後事發覺。因遂逃亡。又開皇十八年。益州道士韓朗。綿州道士黃儒林。扇惑蜀王令興惡逆云。欲建大事須藉勝緣。遂教蜀王傾倉竭庫。造千尺道像。建千日大齋。畫先帝形反縛頭手。呪而厭之。河北公趙仲卿撿察得實。送身京省。被問伏罪。出市被刑。今大唐革命妖惑尚興。以去武德三年。綿州昌隆縣民李望。先事黃老恒作妖邪。去大業季年。有道士蒲子真。微閑道術。被送東京。至梁漢身死。因葬在彼。而李望矯假云。子真近還。又彼縣山側有一石室。巖穴幽闇人莫敢窺。望乃依憑以作妖詐。在明則張喉大語領納通傳。入闇則噎氣小聲詐說禍福。遂令正直檀越幾致迴心。邪曲愚夫理宜專信。道士傳說達縣聞州。官人初檢。並皆信受。後刺史李大禮云。此事非輕。必須申奏。要假親驗方定是非。遂與闔州官人並道士等一百餘騎。同乘鞍馬競飾衣巾。多料祭槃倍科醮物。酒脯雜味任彼所須。同至窟前再拜祈請。望時詐答。聞者傾心。唯巴西縣令樂世質深達機情。知其誑詐入闇密候。見望咽聲質時呵之。望即款伏。收禁州獄。方欲科罪。未經數日。服藥而終。概緬尋圖史博究古今。記傳所聞眼目所見。左道亂政世有其人。略出五三以為鑒誡。希垂照覽宜簡除之。如概愚見。若行李老清虛之道。依而存之。若習張陵雜穢之法。糺而廢之。此則蕩彼妖邪去其殘賊。可謂止暴息亂。豈非治國安民者乎。

The treatise says: I have observed that marking a tree serves as a local shrine, and setting up a brick or stone is called a lord; piling earth makes an altar, and bundling reeds serves as decoration. When in urgent distress one prays, they possess a slight numinous efficacy; when beseeching with sincerity for rain or against drought, they confer a modicum of gracious blessing. How much more so is the Buddha’s divine demeanor towering and his numinous countenance dignified? Can one then wish to slight and destroy them? How could that be permissible? Since Emperor Ming of the Han was moved by a dream, the monastery took the name 'White Horse'; since Sun Quan verified an auspicious omen, the stupa was first designated 'Jianchu'. From then onward, they arose continuously one after another. If the divine Way were completely non-existent, how could emperors and kings revere and serve it? If numinous power were extinct, would rulers of states still follow and honour it? They all personally witnessed it with their own eyes and approached it in person, which caused them to take refuge and turn toward it. It is not like the Daoists, who have no grounding or authority whatsoever: in the days when Laozi served the Zhou, there was no mysterious altar; only on the morning when Zhang Ling schemed against the Han did Daoist abbeys begin to arise. Thus during the reign of Emperor Shun of the Later Han, there was Zhang Ling, a man of Pei, who traveled as a guest to the land of Shu. He heard an old tradition saying: 'In the past, Gaozu of the Han responded to the twenty-four solar terms and offered sacrifices to the twenty-four mountains, whereupon he came to rule the realm as king.' Ling, not measuring his own virtue, subsequently hatched this plot: he slaughtered oxen to sacrifice at twenty-four places, erected earthen altars, topped them with thatched roofs, and called them the 'twenty-four parishes' (zhi). The origin of parish abbeys began with this. Twenty-three places were located in the land of Shu, and Yin Xi's single place was in Xianyang. Thereupon he deceived and seduced the foolish populace, gathered evil cliques, collected taxes and rice, and plotted to use this as a ladder to rebellion. At that time, swallowed by a serpent, his treacherous offence was not realized. Down to his grandson Zhang Lu, disaster and rebellion then arose in Hanzhong, but he was exterminated by Cao Cao. From then until now, flocks of petty figures have succeeded one another, relying on the parish abbeys to constantly perform strange and sinister arts. Thus in the first year of the Zhongping era of Emperor Shun of the Han, Zhang Jiao, a man of Julu, proclaimed himself Master of the Yellow Sky Department, having thirty-six generals who all wore yellow cloth kerchiefs; from afar he coordinated with Zhang Lu. His multitude reached one hundred thousand, and they burned the city of Ye. The Han dispatched the Intendant of Henan, He Jin, who led troops and exterminated them. Again, in the second year of the Xianning era of Emperor Wu of the Jin, the Daoist Chen Rui deluded the masses with heterodox ways, styling himself Celestial Master; his followers numbered several thousand, and after years had accumulated, he was exterminated by Wang Jun, Regional Inspector of Yizhou. Again, in the first year of the Taihe era of Emperor Wen of the Jin, the Daoist Lu Song of Pengcheng styled himself Libationer of the Great Way; he deluded the masses with heterodox arts, gathered his clique, and toward dawn attacked the Guanghan Gate, declaring that they were welcoming the Duke of Haixi into the palace. Huan Mi and others realized this, joined battle with them, and soon executed and decapitated them all. Again, in the fifth year of the Datong era of Emperor Wu of the Liang, the Daoist Yuan Jin deluded the masses with strange words and practiced binding paces on the ridges; the government troops trapped them, and they were soon slaughtered and destroyed. In the tenth year of the Kaihuang era of the Sui, the Daoists Pu Tong and Zuo Tong of Changlong County in Mianzhou were at the Bengxi Abbey. They falsely claimed to have attained holiness and deceived the people, stacking couches up to the roof and sitting atop them, saying that only fifteen maidens were fit to receive the teachings. They made the maidens climb the couches, surrounded them with curtains, and then secretly committed illicit acts with them. This went on for months; the maidens violated were calculated to exceed several hundred. Later, the matter was exposed, and they consequently fled. Again, in the eighteenth year of the Kaihuang era, the Daoist Han Lang of Yizhou and the Daoist Huang Rulin of Mianzhou incited and deluded the Prince of Shu to commit treachery, saying: 'If you wish to establish a great undertaking, you must rely on superior conditions.' They then taught the Prince of Shu to empty the granaries and exhaust the treasuries, construct a thousand-foot Daoist statue, and hold a grand retreat of a thousand days. They painted the image of the late emperor with head and hands bound backward, uttering incantations to curse him. Zhao Zhongqing, Duke of Hebei, investigated and found the truth, sending them under escort to the imperial ministry in the capital. Upon interrogation they confessed their crimes and were executed in the public marketplace. Now, under the great Tang's mandate, such demonic delusions still arise. In the past third year of the Wude era, Li Wang, a commoner of Changlong County in Mianzhou, had previously served the Yellow Emperor and Laozi and constantly practiced demonic sorcery. In the late years of Daye, there was a Daoist named Pu Zizhen who was slightly versed in Daoist arts; he was sent to the Eastern Capital, and having reached Liang and Han, he died and was buried there. Li Wang falsely claimed: 'Zizhen has recently returned.' Moreover, by the mountain of that county was a stone chamber, dark and secluded in a cliff cave, where no one dared to peer. Wang thereupon relied on this to perpetrate his demonic frauds: in the light, he would stretch his throat and speak in a loud voice to receive and pass on communications; upon entering the dark, he would choke his breath and speak in a small voice, falsely discoursing on misfortune and fortune. He thus led upright dānapatis almost to turn their minds, while crooked and foolish folk naturally believed him implicitly. Daoists spread the report, reaching the county and coming to the hearing of the prefecture. When the officials initially investigated, they all believed and accepted it. Later, Regional Inspector Li Dali said: 'This matter is not light; it must be memorialized to the throne. One must personally verify it before determining truth from falsehood.' Thereupon, together with over a hundred mounted riders consisting of prefectural officials and Daoists, riding saddles and horses together and vying to adorn their clothing and kerchiefs, with abundant supplies on sacrificial trays and doubled allotments of jiao offerings—wine, dried meats, and assorted flavors, whichever was required—they went together to the front of the cave and bowed twice in prayer. At that time Wang gave deceitful replies, and those who heard him were captivated. Only the Magistrate of Baxi County, Yue Shizhi, deeply grasped the human temperament; knowing his deception, he secretly waited inside the dark, and seeing Wang choking his voice, Shizhi immediately rebuked him. Wang forthwith confessed his guilt and was confined in the prefectural prison. Just as they were about to determine his punishment, before a few days had passed, he swallowed poison and died. Looking back into histories and charts, and broadly examining past and present, throughout recorded accounts of what has been heard and witnessed with one’s own eyes, there have always been people in the world who threw the government into disorder with heterodox arts. I have briefly brought forth a few cases as a mirror and warning, hoping you will deign to examine them and properly eliminate such practices. In my humble view, if they practice the pure and vacuous Way of Laozi, rely on it and preserve it; if they practice the impure and defiled arts of Zhang Ling, investigate and abolish them. This will sweep away those demonic heresies and remove those noxious bandits; it can truly be called stopping violence and quelling chaos—how is this not governing the state and pacifying the people?