廣弘明集 7.47

7.47

北地泥陽人。其本西涼。隨魏入代齊。平入周仕通道觀。隋開皇十三年。與中山李播請為道士。十七年事漢王。及諒反遷于岐州。皇運初授太史令。武德四年。上減省寺塔僧尼益國利民事十一條。高祖聞之竟不行下奕。乃多寫表狀遠近流布。京師諸僧作破邪論以抗之。如後所列。奕表云。一僧尼六十已下。簡令作民。則兵強農勸。易曰。男女構精萬物化生。此則陰陽父子天地大象。不可乖也。今衛壯之僧。婉孌之尼。失禮不婚。夭胎殺子減損戶口。不亦傷乎。今佛家違天地之化。背陰陽之道。未之有也。請依前條尋。老子至聖尚謁帝王。孔丘聖人猶跪宰相。況道人無取德義未隆。下忽公卿抗衡天子。如臣愚見。請同老孔弟子之例拜謁王臣編於朝典者。奕奏如此。未足理論。出處殊途不可一述。易稱構精。佛則絕慾固知李氏道門相結伉儷。日夕共會順易陰陽。不順則與佛何殊。若順固其恒俗。何為學僧守靜絕慾無為。以事討論纏綿自顯。如上已述。迷者未尋。且李耳子孫遍於天下。張陵餘胤散列諸州。祖宗遺緒如何輒異。若異其先斯為絕嗣。三千之罪莫有高之。況復黃書服氣。三五七九之經。上下相和。四眼二舌之教。不可削也。佛教不爾。慾是過原。先必戒之方祛俗滯。此則佛道之分途也。高識者體之。

A native of Niyang in Beidi. His ancestry went back to Western Liang. Accompanying the Wei, he entered Dai. When Qi was pacified, he entered Zhou and served in the Tongdao Monastery. In the thirteenth year of the Kaihuang reign of the Sui, together with Li Bo of Zhongshan, he petitioned to become a Daoist priest. In the seventeenth year, he served the Prince of Han; when [Yang] Liang rebelled, he was transferred to Qizhou. At the beginning of the imperial [Tang] dynasty, he was appointed Grand Astrologer. In the fourth year of the Wude reign, he submitted eleven proposals on reducing temples, pagodas, monks, and nuns to benefit the state and people. When Emperor Gaozu heard them, he ultimately did not put them into effect. Fu Yi then made numerous copies of his memorials and distributed them far and wide. The monks of the capital composed the Treatise on Crushing the Heterodox (Poxie lun) to oppose him, as listed below. Fu Yi's memorial stated: 'First: Let monks and nuns of sixty and below be selected and ordered to return to the laity, so that the army will be strengthened and agriculture encouraged. The Book of Changes states: "When male and female blend their essences, all things are transformed and generated." This is the great imagery of yin and yang, fathers and sons, heaven and earth, which must not be violated. Now, able-bodied monks and delicate nuns, failing in propriety, do not marry; aborting fetuses and killing infants, they decrease the registered households. Is this not deeply lamentable? Now the Buddhist house violates the transformation of heaven and earth and turns its back on the way of yin and yang, something that has never existed before. I request that following the previous articles, we investigate this: Laozi was a supreme sage, yet he still attended upon emperors and kings; Kong Qiu (Confucius) was a sage, yet he still knelt before prime ministers. How much more so for these men of the Way who have no merit to claim and whose virtue and righteousness are not elevated! Looking down, they slight dukes and ministers; holding their own, they rival the Son of Heaven. According to my humble view, I request that following the precedent of the disciples of Laozi and Confucius, they bow before and attend upon kings and ministers, being enrolled into the court statutes.' Such was Fu Yi's memorial. It is not worthy of theoretical debate. Departing and engaging follow different paths and cannot be discussed as one. The Book of Changes speaks of 'blending essences', whereas the Buddha cuts off desire. Thus we know that in Master Li's (Laozi's) Daoist school, they take spouses to form couples, gathering morning and evening in accordance with the yin and yang of the Book of Changes. If they do not accord with it, how do they differ from the Buddha? If they do accord with it, it is simply common custom; why then do they imitate monks in keeping tranquility, severing desire, and practicing non-action? When examined through the facts, their entanglement becomes evident by itself. As stated above, those who are deluded have not investigated this. Moreover, Li Er’s (Laozi's) descendants are spread throughout the realm, and Zhang Ling’s remaining progeny are scattered across the provinces. How can they abruptly deviate from the heritage left by their ancestors? If they deviate from their forebears, it constitutes cutting off their lineage; among the three thousand offenses, none is greater than this. Furthermore, scriptures like the Yellow Book, the Ingestion of Qi, and the Three, Five, Seven, and Nine, and the teachings of the harmonious union of above and below, four eyes and two tongues, cannot be eliminated. The Buddhist teaching is not like this: desire is the source of error, so it must first be prohibited before vulgar hindrances can be dispelled. This is the difference between the paths of Buddhism and Daoism. Let those of high discernment embody this.