廣弘明集 7.44

7.44

范陽人。仕齊為黃門郎。周武平齊詣京師。作西征記。略云。姚興好佛法。羅什譯經論。佛圖遍海內。士女為僧尼者十六七。縻費公私歲以巨萬。帝獨運遠略罷之。強國富民之上策也。又作周齊興亡論。略云。周祖始位。大冢宰宇文護。太祖之猶子也。負圖作宰。親受顧命。周祖高居深視。一朝折首凡厥黨與咸見夷戮。乃棄奢淫布公道。屏重肉躬大布。始自六宮被於九服。以為釋化立教。本貴清淨。近世已來縻費財力。遂下詔削除之。亦前王之所未得也。思道為論糺其縻費。罷之則謂強國富民之策。斯一代之小識。未遠大之弘略也。夫佛法之行化也。要在清神滅惑也。彼費財崇福者。知身命財終歸散滅。徒為保愛。此厚生守財之奴也。故俗云。多藏厚亡積而能散。石崇以財色而受誅。殷辛亦同之而早戮。自古咸爾。溢於見聞而不能止者。乃貪惑使之然也。

A man of Fanyang. He served the Qi as a Gentleman of the Yellow Gate. When Emperor Wu of the Zhou pacified Qi, he went to the capital. He wrote the Record of the Western Expedition, which roughly stated: 'Yao Xing was fond of the Buddha-Dharma, and Kumārajīva translated sutras and treatises. Stupas spread throughout the realm, and six or seven out of ten men and women became monks and nuns. Public and private resources wasted amounted to tens of thousands every year. The Emperor alone exercised far-reaching strategy and abolished them; this was the supreme policy for strengthening the state and enriching the people.' He also wrote the Treatise on the Rise and Fall of Zhou and Qi, which roughly stated: 'When the Zhou founder first took the throne, the Grand Prime Minister Yuwen Hu, nephew of Taizu, bore the diagrams and acted as regent, personally receiving the testamentary command. The Zhou founder remained aloof and observed deeply; in a single morning he took off his head, and all of his partisans were executed. Thereupon he discarded luxury and licentiousness, promulgated the public way, pushed away excessive meats, and personally wore coarse cloth. Beginning from the six palaces, it extended to the nine domains. Believing that the establishment of the Śākya teaching originally valued purity, yet in recent times had wasted wealth and strength, he subsequently issued an edict to eliminate it; this was something earlier kings were never able to achieve.' Sidao composed this treatise to expose the waste, calling its abolition a policy for strengthening the state and enriching the people. This is the narrow understanding of a single generation, not a grand, far-reaching strategy. The spreading of the Buddha-Dharma's transformation essentially lies in purifying the spirit and eradicating delusions. Those who spend wealth to venerate merit know that body, life, and wealth ultimately disperse and perish, and that guarding and treasuring them in vain is the behavior of slaves who cling to life and hoard wealth. Therefore the common saying goes: 'Hoarding much leads to heavy loss; one who amasses must be able to disperse.' Shi Chong was executed on account of wealth and women, and Xin of the Yin dynasty was likewise early slain for the same reasons. From ancient times it has always been so. That this overflows within sight and hearing yet cannot be stopped is caused by greed and delusion.