廣弘明集 6.28

6.28

字道明。陳留人。晉太常彭城王紘表。以肅祖好佛道。手畫形像於樂賢堂。經歷寇難而堂猶存。宜勅著作。咸使作頌。顯宗出紘表博議。謨曰。佛者夷人。惟聞變夷從夏。不聞變夏從夷。先帝天縱多才。聊畫此像。未是大晉盛德之形容。今欲發王命勅史官上稱先帝好佛之志下為夷狄作一像之頌。於義有疑焉。康帝即位拜司徒。永和四年五月詔書下。固執不就。上疏乞骸骨。及孝宗臨軒。徵謨不至。（自且至中。皇）太后詔罷朝。公卿奏送謨廷尉以正刑書。謨率子弟素服詣廷尉待罪。詔免為庶人。便杜門不出。斯並剛愎之鄙夫。井坎之固量也。而奕敘為純臣。未為篤論。何者謨之諷議。局據神州一域。以此為中國也。佛則通據閻浮一洲。以此為邊地也。即目而敘。斯國東據海岸。三方則無。無則不可謂無邊可見也。此洲而談四周環海。天竺地之中心夏至北行。方中無影則天地之正國也。故佛生焉。況復隄封所及。三千日月萬億天地之中央也。惟佛所統非謨能曉。且庸度生常保局氷。執自以古同。謂家自為我土樂。人自以為我民良。不足怪也。中原嵩洛土圭。測景以為中也。乃是神州之別中耳。至時餘分不能定之。江表島夷地卑氣厲情志飛揚。故曰揚州。晉氏奔之更稱文國。變夷從夏斯言有由。則孔子居九夷非陋也。且有德則君人。無道則勃亂。故夏禹生於西羌。文王長於東夷。元魏託跋宗族北狄。並君臨瀆嶽。嚮明南面。豈以生不在諸華。而逆其風化也。至如由余西戎孤臣。秦穆因而霸立。日磾玁狁微類。漢武納而位存。故知道在則尊。未拘於夷夏也。蔡謨鏗固自守。未曰通人。拒詔違命負罪殿廢。正刑可矣。抑又詳之。盈尺徑寸之珠壁本惟絕域。窮神達理之叡聖不限方維。故崆峒非九州之限。崑崙乃五竺之地。而黃帝軒轅并西奔而趣之。李老尹喜又接武而登之。斯何故耶。知可歸矣。且見機而作。無俟准的。至如夏桀之為政也。焚黃圖誅龍逢。秦正之酷暴也。燒經籍坑儒士。時俗傳之。無道之君也。然埏埴塼瓦非曰桀功。起予皇帝未尊呂德。然累葉盛行義須褒貶。古人有言。堯舜未必全聖。桀紂何能極愚。然而並歸咎於夏殷。尊嚴於唐虞者。偏黨不倫之詭經也。蔡氏猵隘何足可稱。

Whose courtesy name was Daoming, was a native of Chenliu. Wang Hong, Minister of Ceremonies and Prince of Pengcheng of the Jin, submitted a memorial stating that because Emperor Suzu took pleasure in the Buddhist way, he personally painted an image in the Lexian Hall; having passed through wars and tribulations, the hall still remained, and an imperial order should be issued to the court historians commanding them all to compose eulogies. Emperor Xianzong presented Hong's memorial for broad deliberation.

Mo said: 'The Buddha was a barbarian. I have only heard of transforming barbarians to follow the Xia, not of transforming the Xia to follow barbarians. The late emperor was divinely gifted with manifold talents and merely painted this image in passing; it is not a depiction of the grand virtue of the Great Jin. Now to issue a royal command ordering the court historians to praise the late emperor's devotion to Buddhism above and compose a eulogy for a barbarian image below—in principle, I find this doubtful.'

When Emperor Kang ascended the throne, Mo was appointed Minister of Education. In the fifth month of the fourth year of Yonghe, an imperial edict was issued; he stubbornly refused to take up the post and submitted a memorial asking to retire his aged bones. When Emperor Xiaozong ascended the court, he summoned Mo, but Mo did not arrive. (From morning until noon, the Empress) Dowager issued an edict to dismiss the court. The high ministers memorialised to deliver Mo to the Commandant of Justice to apply the penal code. Mo led his sons and younger brothers in plain clothes to the Commandant of Justice to await punishment. An edict demoted him to commoner, whereupon he closed his gates and did not go out.

These are all the stubbornness of vulgar men and the narrow perspective of frogs in a well! Yet Yi describes him as a pure minister, which is not a solid evaluation.

Why so? Mo's satirical criticisms were confined to one region of the Divine Continent, regarding this as the Central Kingdom; whereas the Buddha encompassed the entire continent of Jambudvīpa, regarding this [China] as a borderland. Describing it from immediate sight: this country borders the ocean to the east, but there is no ocean in the other three directions; where there is none, it cannot be said to have no visible boundary. Speaking of this continent, it is surrounded by oceans on all four sides. India is the centre of the earth: at the summer solstice, moving northward, there is no shadow at noon; thus it is the central land of Heaven and Earth, and for this reason the Buddha was born there. How much more so as its domain reaches the centre of the three thousand suns and moons and the ten thousand koṭis of worlds! That which the Buddha governs alone is not something Mo could comprehend.

Moreover, ordinary men throughout their lives constantly protect their narrow domain, clinging to the idea of an identical antiquity; they consider their own household to be a land of joy, and their own people to be good—this is hardly surprising. Measuring the shadow with a sundial at Mount Song and Luoyang in the Central Plains to determine the centre: that is merely the separate centre of the Divine Continent, yet when it comes to the seasons and residual fractions, it cannot determine them.

The island barbarians south of the Yangtze live in low-lying land with pestilential air, where people's temperaments are excitable—hence it is called Yangzhou. When the Jin fled thither, it was additionally termed a 'cultured kingdom'. The phrase 'transforming barbarians to follow the Xia' has its origin here; thus, that Confucius wished to dwell among the Nine Barbarians shows they were not vulgar.

Furthermore, one who possesses virtue rules over people; one who lacks the Way brings violence and chaos. Thus Yu of the Xia was born among the Western Qiang, and King Wen grew up among the Eastern Yi. The Tuoba clan of the Yuan Wei were Northern Di, yet all of them ruled over the great rivers and peaks, facing the light and taking the southern throne. How could their lack of birth in the Chinese lands cause them to go against cultural transformation?

As for You Yu, a solitary minister of the Western Rong, Duke Mu of Qin used him to establish his hegemony; Jin Midi was of the lowly stock of the Xianyun, yet Emperor Wu of Han received him and his position was preserved. Therefore we know that where the Way resides, there is honour; it is never constrained by barbarian or Chinese. Cai Mo clung rigidly to his own stance and cannot be called a person of universal understanding. Refusing an edict and disobeying orders, he incurred guilt and was dismissed from the palace; that he received the legal penalty was entirely proper!

Examining it further: a pearl or jade a foot across or an inch in diameter originally comes from distant lands; a sagacious person who penetrates the spirit and reaches the principle is not limited by cardinal directions. Therefore Kongtong is not confined to the Nine Provinces, and Kunlun is in the lands of the Five Indias; yet the Yellow Emperor Xuan Yuan hurried westward to them, and Laozi and Yin Xi followed in their footsteps to climb them. Why was this? Because they knew where to take refuge!

Moreover, one acts upon seeing the opportune moment without waiting for a fixed measure. As for the governance of Jie of the Xia, he burned the Yellow Diagrams and executed Longfeng; as for the cruelty of Zheng of Qin, he burned the classics and buried the scholars alive. Worldly tradition transmits them as unprincipled rulers. Yet the moulding of clay for bricks and tiles is not called Jie's achievement, and Emperor Gaozu of Han's enlightenment did not honour Lü Buwei's virtue. Since these have been widely practiced through successive generations, their meaning must be evaluated. The ancients had a saying: 'Yao and Shun were not necessarily completely sagely, nor could Jie and Zhou be utterly foolish.' Yet to attribute all blame to the Xia and Shang, while reserving all veneration for Tang and Yu, is a biased and disproportionate deception. How could Cai's narrow-mindedness be worthy of praise?