[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [廣弘明集](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103) › 8.6 # 廣弘明集 8.6 廣弘明集 8.6 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [8.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.8.6) 帝諱燾。以明元帝泰常八年即位。時年八歲。尚在幼冲。資政所由惟恃台輔。時司徒崔浩尤不信佛。帝訪國事。每以為懷言。佛法虛誕為俗費害。黃老仙道可以存心。浩既雅信仙道。授帝老經。隨言信用曾無思擇。即立道壇四追方士。當時佛法隆盛。浩內嫉之。常求瑕釁。會蓋吳反於杏城。關中騷動。帝乃西伐。時浩從焉。既至長安。有沙門。種麥於寺中。御騶牧馬。帝入觀馬從官入。其便室見有弓矢。出以奏聞。帝怒曰。此非沙門所用。當與蓋吳通謀規害人耳。命有司案誅一寺。閱其財產及州郡牧守富人所寄藏物。蓋以萬計。詔乃焚破佛像。勅留臺下。四方一依長安行事。太平真君五年。帝年二十有九。春秋方富盛於武功。崔浩邪謀相接交扇方士。仙觀日有登臨。釋門清眾將事殲殄。又下詔曰。愚民無識信偽惑妖。私養師巫挾藏讖記。沙門之徒。假西域虛誕。坐致妖㜸。非所以一齊政化布淳德於天下也。自王公以下至於庶人。有私養沙門者。限今年二月十五日。過期不出沙門身死。容止者誅一門。時恭宗為太子監國。素敬佛法。頻上表陳刑殺沙門之濫。又非圖像之罪。今罷其道杜諸寺門。世不修奉。土木丹青自然毀滅。如是再三不許。時有沙門玄高者。空門之秀傑也。太子晃師之。晃敬事如佛。崔浩得倖於帝。恐晃攝政。或見危逐。密讒於帝晃有異圖。若不先慮後悔無及。又晃結納玄高。高又通靈鬼物善得人心。可不猜耶。帝初不從。後且幽之。又夢其先祖云。太子無事。又問百官。咸云。太子仁孝。抂見幽辱。帝乃出晃以政歸之。浩又重譛。帝信之便幽死晃於禁中。縊高於郊南。浩得志於朝廷也。列辟莫敢致言。便以太平真君七年三月下詔。一切蕩除。所有圖像胡經皆擊破焚毀。沙門無少長悉坑之。斯並崔浩之意致也。及後帝遭癘惱。浩被族誅。呼嗟長慨無所及矣。事迹如前釋老志廣之。 > The emperor's personal name was Tao. He ascended the throne in the eighth year of the Taichang era of Emperor Mingyuan, at the age of eight. Being still tender and young, the governance he relied on rested solely on his grand ministers. At that time, the Minister over the Masses, Cui Hao, had a particular disbelief in Buddhism. Whenever the emperor consulted him on state affairs, he always harboured resentment and said, 'The Buddhist teaching is false and absurd, causing waste and harm to the world. The Huang-Lao way of the immortals may be preserved in the mind.' As Hao already had an elegant faith in the way of immortals, he transmitted the \*Laozi\* scripture to the emperor. Trusting and applying his words at face value, \[the emperor\] never gave them critical consideration; he immediately set up Daoist altars and summoned masters of esoteric arts from all around. At that time, the Buddhist Dharma was flourishing. Hao envied it inwardly and was constantly looking for flaws. It happened that Gai Wu rebelled in Xingcheng, and the Guanzhong region was thrown into turmoil. The emperor therefore went on a western punitive expedition, with Hao accompanying him at the time. Upon arriving in Chang'an, there was a monk who planted wheat within the temple grounds, and the imperial grooms pastured the horses there. The emperor entered to inspect the horses, and an attendant official went into an adjoining room where he saw bows and arrows. He came out and memorialized the matter. The emperor was enraged and said, 'These are not things to be used by a monk. He must be colluding with Gai Wu, plotting to harm others.' He ordered the relevant authorities to prosecute and execute the entire monastery. They inspected its assets and found goods deposited for safekeeping by governors, commandery protectors, and wealthy individuals, which numbered in the tens of thousands. An edict was then issued to burn and destroy the Buddha statues, ordering that this be held as an imperial precedent and that the four quarters follow the events of Chang'an in every respect. In the fifth year of the Taiping Zhenjun era, the emperor was twenty-nine years old, in the prime of his life and flourishing in military exploits. Cui Hao's nefarious stratagems followed one after another, fanning the flames alongside the masters of esoteric arts. Day after day \[the emperor\] climbed to the immortal lookouts, and the pure assembly of the Śākya gate was about to be annihilated. He issued another edict, saying: 'The foolish populace lacks discernment, believing in the counterfeit and being deluded by the uncanny; they privately keep shamans and sorcerers and conceal prognostic texts. The company of monks make false use of the absurdities of the Western Regions, giving rise to demonic portents from their idle seats. This is not the way to unify governance and transformation or spread genuine virtue throughout the realm. From princes and dukes down to the commoners, anyone who privately shelters monks must surrender them by the fifteenth day of the second month of this year. If they exceed this deadline and do not give them up, the monks shall be executed, and the families of those who harboured them shall be exterminated.' At that time, Crown Prince Gongzong supervised the realm; he had always revered the Buddhist Dharma, and repeatedly submitted memorials explaining that the execution of monks was arbitrary and excessive, and that the fault did not lie with the painted images: 'Now let their order be disbanded and the doors of all monasteries closed; when the world no longer cultivates and venerates them, the clay, wood, cinnabar, and verdigris will naturally perish.' He pleaded two or three times like this, but was not permitted. At that time, there was a monk named Xuan'gao, who was an outstanding master of the empty gate. Crown Prince Huang took him as his master and revered and served him like a Buddha. Cui Hao enjoyed imperial favour; fearing that Huang would assume the regency and that he himself might be endangered and banished, he secretly slandered him to the emperor: 'Huang has deviant intentions. If you do not plan ahead, regret will come too late. Furthermore, Huang has associated with Xuan'gao, who communicates with spirits and demons and excels at winning people's hearts. Can you not be suspicious?' The emperor initially did not heed this, but later imprisoned him. He then dreamed of his ancestor, who said, 'The Crown Prince has committed no crime.' He also questioned the civil and military officials, who all said, 'The Crown Prince is humane and filial, and has been unjustly disgraced and imprisoned.' The emperor then released Huang and restored the administration to him. Hao slandered him again, and the emperor believed it, imprisoning Huang until he died in confinement and strangling Gao south of the suburbs. Hao had his way at the court, and none of the lords dared utter a word. Thus, in the third month of the seventh year of the Taiping Zhenjun era, an edict was issued to sweep everything clean: all painted images and barbarian scriptures were to be smashed and burned, and monks, regardless of age, were to be buried alive. These were all outcomes brought about by Cui Hao's intentions. Later, when the emperor suffered from a pestilence and Hao's entire clan was exterminated, their long cries and deep laments were of no avail. The events are detailed in the earlier \*Treatise on Buddhism and Daoism\*. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 8.5](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.8.5) - [Next: 8.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.8.7) - [Up: 8](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.8) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103~en-mt.8.6) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.8.6](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2103.8.6) · Pramāṇa