廣弘明集 8.73

8.73

答曰。子之所言。何其陋矣。惟王者興作非詐力所致。必有靈命以應天人。至於符瑞不無階降。上則河圖洛書。次則龜龍麟鳳。此是帝皇之符籙也。今大周馭宇膺曆受圖。出震為神電軒流景。上宣衢室下闢靈臺。列彼三光搖茲二柄。而德侔終古動植効靈。仁並二儀幽明薦祉。故真容表相。不假尋於具茨。澄照淵猷。無惑求於象罔。牢籠語默彈厭名言。超絕有無逈踰彼此。芻狗萬機。不可謂之為有。孝慈兆庶。不可謂之為無。四海一家。不可謂之為彼。九州遼曠。不可謂之為此。故遊之者莫測其淺深。蹈之者未窮其厚薄。加以三足九尾赤雀綠龜。嘉瑞相尋不時而至。茲乃大道弘仁光盈四表。慶靈總萃厚祚無彊。豈聖德之清寧。天朝之多士。尚信鬼錄之談。猶傳巫覡之說者哉。昔神賜虢田。若始求田之義。民供趙雀。由初受爵之徵。此皆委巷鄙言。子從所不許也。

Answer: How shallow your words are! When a sovereign ruler arises, it is not brought about by deceit and force; there must be a divine mandate to respond to heaven and humanity. As for auspicious tokens and omens, they are not without gradations: above are the Yellow River Chart and the Luo River Writing; next are turtles, dragons, qilins, and phoenixes. These are the tallies and registers of emperors. Now the Great Zhou governs the cosmos, receives the calendar, and receives the chart; emerging from the Zhen trigram as a spirit, lightning and chariots stream radiance. Above, it proclaims [virtue] in the ancestral chambers; below, it opens the spirit terrace. Arraying the three luminaries, it wields the two handles. Its virtue equals antiquity, and the animate and inanimate manifest numinous efficacy; its benevolence rivals the two realms, and both the unseen and visible offer auspicious blessings. Therefore, the true countenance and outward marks do not need to be sought on Mount Jici; the limpid illumination of profound plans need not rely on Xiangwang. It encompasses speech and silence, dismisses designations, transcends being and non-being, and far surpasses 'this' and 'that'. Treating the myriad affairs as straw dogs, it cannot be called 'being'; showing filial benevolence to the myriad people, it cannot be called 'non-being'. The four seas being one family, it cannot be called 'that'; the nine provinces being vast and far, it cannot be called 'this'. Hence, those who roam it cannot fathom its shallowness or depth; those who tread it cannot exhaust its thickness or thinness. Furthermore, three-legged [birds], nine-tailed [foxes], red sparrows, and green turtles—felicitous omens follow upon each other, arriving unsummoned. This is the great Dao extending benevolence, its brilliance filling the four quarters, blessings and spirits converging together, and abundant good fortune without end. How could the pure tranquility of sage virtue and the many talents of the celestial court still believe in the talk of ghost-registers, or still transmit the tales of shamans? In the past, when a spirit bestowed the fields of Guo, it was like the beginning of seeking fields; when people offered the Zhao sparrow, it was the omen of first receiving rank. These are all base words from the back alleys; which you should not accept.