廣弘明集 8.77

8.77

答。老子道經朴素可崇。莊生內篇宗師可領。暨茲已外製自凡情。黃庭元陽採撮法華以道換佛。改用尤拙。靈寶創自張陵。吳赤烏之年始出。上清肇自葛玄。宋齊之間乃行。尋聖人設教本為招勸。天文大字何所詮談。始自古文大小兩篆。以例求之都不相似。陽平鬼書於是乎驗。晉元康中。鮑靖造三皇經被誅。事在晉史。後人諱之。改為三洞。其名雖變厥體尚存。猶明三皇以為宗極。斯皆語出凡心寔知非教。不關聖口豈是典經。而張葛之徒。皆雜符禁化俗。怪誕違爽無為。哀哉吁何乃指蟲迹欲比倉文。以毒乳而方甘露乎（依張魯蜀記。凡有二十四治。而陽平一治最為大者。今道士上章及奏符厭。皆稱陽平。重其本故也。以上清為洞玄。靈寶為洞真。三皇為洞神故曰三皇）。

Answer: Laozi's Daodejing is simple and worthy of reverence; Zhuangzi's Inner Chapters are masterly and can be comprehended. Everything outside of these was fabricated out of ordinary passions. The Huangting jing and Yuanyang jing extracted from the Lotus Sūtra, replacing "Buddha" with "Dao", and their alterations were exceedingly clumsy. The Lingbao texts originated with Zhang Ling, only appearing in the Chiwu era of Wu. The Shangqing texts began with Ge Xuan, and circulated between the Song and Qi dynasties. Upon examining how sages established teachings, it was fundamentally to summon and encourage; what do the grand characters of celestial scripts expound? Beginning with ancient script down to the large and small seal scripts, if one seeks by analogy, they bear no resemblance at all. The ghostly scripts of Yangping are verified by this. During the Yuankang era of the Jin dynasty, Bao Jing fabricated the Sanhuang jing (Scripture of the Three Sovereigns) and was executed; the matter is recorded in the Jin history. Later generations tabooed it and altered it to the "Three Caverns"; though its name changed, its substance still remains, continuing to expound the Three Sovereigns as the ultimate source. These words all stem from ordinary minds, and one truly knows they are not sacred teachings. Not coming from the mouth of sages, how could they be canonical scriptures? Furthermore, the followers of Zhang and Ge all mixed talismans and incantations to transform the vulgar; their absurdities transgress non-action. How lamentable! Alas, why point to insect tracks and seek to compare them to Cangjie's writing, or liken poisonous milk to amṛta? (According to Zhang Lu's Shuji, there are twenty-four parishes in all, and the Yangping parish is the greatest of them. Nowadays, when Daoshi submit petitions and present talismans for exorcism, they all claim "Yangping", because they esteem its origin. They consider Shangqing to be Dongxuan, Lingbao to be Dongzhen, and Sanhuang to be Dongshen; hence they are called the Three Sovereigns.)