廣弘明集 2.29

2.29

肅宗熙平中於城內起永寧寺。靈太后親率百僚。表基立剎。塔有九層。高四十餘丈。費用不可勝計。景明寺塔亦其亞也。爾後官私寺塔其數甚眾。神龜元年司空尚書令任城王澄。奏寺塔漸多妨民居事。略云。如來闡教多約山林。今此僧徒戀眷城市。豈湫隘是經行所宜。浮諠是栖禪之地。當由利引其心莫能自止。且住者既失其真。造者或損其福。乃釋氏之糟糠。法門之社鼠。內戒所不容。王典所宜棄矣。奏可。未幾天下喪亂。加以河陰之禍。朝士死者復捨其家為寺。禁令不復行焉。興和二年詔以鄴城舊宮為天平寺。世宗已來至武定末。沙門知名者有慧猛慧辯慧深僧暹道銀僧獻道睎僧深慧光慧顒法榮道長。並見重道俗。自魏有天下至於禪讓。佛經流通大集中國。凡四百一十五部。合一千九百一十九卷。正光已後天下多虞。王役尤甚。於是所在編戶相從入道。假慕沙門實避調役。猥濫之極。自中國有佛法。未之有也。略計僧尼。二百餘萬。其寺三萬有餘。流弊不歸一至於此。識者所以太息矣。

During the Xiping reign era of Emperor Suzong, Yongning Temple was built inside the city. The Empress Dowager Ling personally led the civil and military officials to lay the foundations and erect the mast. The pagoda had nine tiers and was over four hundred feet high, with expenditures beyond calculation. The pagoda of Jingming Temple was second only to it. Thereafter, official and private temples and pagodas grew exceedingly numerous. In the first year of the Shengui reign era, the Minister of Works and Director of the Department of State Affairs, King Cheng of Rencheng, submitted a memorial regarding the issue of temples and pagodas gradually multiplying and impeding the dwellings of commoners. In brief, it stated: "When the Tathāgata expounded his teachings, he mostly stayed in mountains and forests. Now these crowds of monks cling to cities and towns. How could cramped and foul alleys be suitable for walking meditation, and noisy bustle be a place for resting in dhyāna? This must arise because worldly gain entices their minds and they cannot restrain themselves. Furthermore, those who dwell there have lost their truth, and those who build them may diminish their blessings. They are indeed the dregs of the Śākya clan and the rats in the shrine of the Dharma-gate, intolerable to the inner precepts and fit to be cast aside by royal statutes." The memorial was approved. Soon after, the empire fell into turmoil and ruin; in addition, with the catastrophe of Heyin, court officials who died again gave up their residences to make temples, so the prohibitions were no longer enforced. In the second year of the Xinghe reign era, an edict designated the old palace in the city of Ye as Tianping Temple. From the reign of Emperor Shizong down to the end of the Wuding reign era, the celebrated monks included Huimeng, Huibian, Huishen, Sengxian, Daoyin, Sengxian, Daoxi, Sengshen, Huiguang, Huiyong, Farong, and Daozhang, all of whom were esteemed by monastics and laity alike. From the time the Wei possessed the empire down to the abdication, Buddhist scriptures circulated and gathered in great numbers in China, totaling four hundred and fifteen works in one thousand nine hundred and nineteen rolls. After the Zhengguang reign era, the world was full of anxieties and corvée labor was particularly severe. Thereupon, registered households everywhere followed one another in entering the religious life, feigning admiration for śramaṇas while actually evading taxes and labor. The excess and disorder reached an extreme never seen since the Buddhadharma came to China. An approximate estimate reckoned over two million monks and nuns and more than thirty thousand temples. That the corrupt practices could drift unchecked to such a point was the reason discerning people sighed with deep regret.