廣弘明集 1

English (machine translation) 1

Language: English

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Compiled by the Śramaṇa Shi Daoxuan of Ximing Temple in the first year of the Linde era of the Tang.

Ever since the teachings spread from Da Xia and flowed eastward, there have been varying periods of corruption and purity in embracing faith and initiating the Way. This is because passions confound the three stabilities, and wisdom is obscured toward the four illuminations. Consequently, corrupt factions have recklessly stirred up heterodox winds, while pure and upright followers have at times suffered flattery and sophistry. Therefore, although the teachings have moved to Cīnasthāna for over six hundred years, three autocrats raised fierce oppression and ruthlessly eradicated [the Dharma]; yet before their footsteps could even turn, disastrous recompense was already manifested upon themselves, making them the laughingstock of all under heaven. Moreover, faith is the mother of virtue, and wisdom is truly the cause of sagehood; from the foundational origin of the Way, one ultimately aspires to the true fruition. Arguing on this principle, one internally overthrows the delusion of the eightfold pride; investigating this seeking of sentiments, one externally cleanses the obscuration of the six sense objects. Free and aloof beyond worldly entanglements, this is no climbing of petty ways; expansive and soaring high, it is the flight and flocking of supreme benevolence. However, as times passed through the Three Dynasties, people suffered from sinking into the five defilements; their consciousnesses were clouded regarding the heterodox and the orthodox, confounding the heavenly net of persons and dharmas. Therefore, the inner teachings provided warp and weft, establishing doctrines to receive faculties; outside secular worthies and the wise bequeathed treatises to propagate standards. In the past, the Vinaya Master Sengyou of Dinglin Temple on Mount Zhong in the Liang dynasty commanded the scholarship of the Nine Schools and encompassed the doctrines of the ten truths; with heartfelt compassion to save others, his resolve lay in maintaining the Dharma. Thoroughly collecting the writings of the lords and luminaries of the Liang and Jin dynasties who paid heed to Buddhist principles, he composed and arranged texts, compiling the Hongming ji in one work of fourteen fascicles. He investigated the styles of Yan [Yanzhi] and Xie [Lingyun], and integrated the rules of Zhou [Yong] and Zhang [Rong]. With polemical debates and comprehensive discourses, he plumbed the profound depths of fact and reason; exhausting the examination of spiritual nature, it was truly the lofty attainment of the wise. Fully preserved in the secret pavilion, it broadly laid bare worldly minds. Yet the wise are not deluded, and the deluded are not wise. Thus when the wise speak, they raise the essentials to guide through main principles; when the deluded seek awakening, many words are needed to open their spiritual minds. Now, as for the arising of faith and understanding, it truly relies on spiritual capacity; matching it requires clear acuity, and the affair accords with mysterious models. Therefore, faith has three kinds: first, knowing; second, seeing; third, what is called foolish. 'Knowing' refers to innate knowing, bearing the three stabilities and entering the correct assembly. 'Foolish' refers to the foolish elder, clinging to the four delusions and drowning in desire-dust. The lower fools and upper wise cannot be shifted by transformation; if the mediocre see faith, they follow the good like flowing water! Therefore, the obliteration of the Dharma under three dynasties was entirely entangled in scant learning. Hence, relying solely on their own minds, calamities gathered upon their schemes. If they had examined the maps of the eight treasuries, synthesized the established clarity of texts and meanings, investigated the nine consciousnesses, and understood the delusion and awakening of sentiment and wisdom, their orthodox faith would have been like the bright sun, shining ever brighter even if obscured by the five cataracts. Having widely consulted former prefaces and broadly synthesized the Hongming ji, I consider that across the five dynasties south of the Yangtze, the triratna rose repeatedly; rulers, ministers, scholars, and commoners were of one mind, and honored it as a cultured state; their wisdom unfolded by means of culture. In the Central Plains under the Zhou and Wei, governance inherited darkness and brightness; they valued Laozi and slighted the Buddha, faith and defamation alternating, so that while skillful words were uttered, flattering favorites soon followed. Yet the era lacked not for worthies: those who laid bare their hearts in exceptional discernment, standing out above the crowd, were also not without representatives. Thus, darkness and brightness alternately appeared, and the heterodox and orthodox took each other as masters. In terms of appearances, they were separated as clouds and mud; in terms of sentiments, mutual reliance and concealed dangers nurtured each other. Therefore, the six arts flourished in the Buddha's era, and the three Zhangs presumed over the current of the Dharma: all were the expedient schemes of great beings, the adaptive transformations of supreme persons. Thus Pūrṇa practiced the false views of the three poisons, and Vimalakīrti subdued the Māra kings of the six desires. All opened distinct paths of pressing and guiding; each established grand tracks of turning toward or turning away. Now, relying on these deeds, I resolve the stagnations of the multitude, using allegories to illuminate the spring of ignorance and dredging the ocean of nature. As for Kou Qianzhi plotting with Cui Hao, misfortune and fortune were plain as day; Zheng Ai opposing the Zhou ruler, success and failure transpired in a moment. Yao An composed treatises, holding that the Tao resided within Confucianism; Chen Lin penned texts, extolling Śākya above court canons. Such satiric deliberations, 'though steeped in black, were not stained'; yet scattered among various records, they are difficult to gather and weave together. Furthermore, the two Martial Emperors of Liang and Zhou both distinguished rites of manifestation and concealment; the two Ming Emperors of Song and Wei rode together on strategies of broad enticement. The compassionate aid of Shen Xiuwen [Shen Yue], the turning of heart of Yan Zhitui: their literary style was preeminent, extending far beyond worldly matters. I once attempted to cite these in my remaining years, yet plagued by mediocrity and decay, my compilation was sparse. There was the Śramaṇa of Han'yin of broad sight who continuously praised and completed the record; mindful of straight brushwork, I followed and narrated it, naming chapters and entitling sections, opening figures for critique and evaluation. As for pursuing topics and assessing meanings to awaken the worthy and wise, isolated texts and brief records have been selected and appended, entitled the Guang hongming ji, in one work of thirty fascicles. What was compiled under the Liang might not have been fully investigated here; I have briefly followed the sections to list each title in turn, hoping to display them to those who have not yet seen, broadly inspiring faith and dispelling confusion. Comparing persons by categories is truly not done in vain. If there be any corrections, may the reader examine them carefully.

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"Returning to Orthodoxy," Chapter One (explaining that the Buddha is the Great Sage to whom common mortals return, and that the Two Modes and Three-and-Five are insufficient to be revered as masters).
"Discerning Delusions," Chapter Two (explaining the mutual raising of the orthodox and heterodox, the wise and mad encroaching upon each other, and that examining and confirming them requires no tortoise mirror).
"Buddha's Virtue," Chapter Three (the Sovereign Enlightened One's loving decree to rescue according to conditions; those who follow his transformation are distinct in word and deed).
"Dharma-Meaning," Chapter Four (the Precious Vehicle single-handedly operates to ferry across the deluded ford; those who grasp its direction achieve far-reaching mental illumination).
"Monastic Conduct," Chapter Five (carrying on the lineage of the sacred seed, it is the person who propagates the Way; their names grace the triratna, truly matching the single refuge).
"Compassion and Pity," Chapter Six (what is cherished in life is prizing the body and valuing life; having sympathy for oneself brings pity, and compassion is the root of awakening).
"Admonishing Merit," Chapter Seven (feelings are entrusted to restraint, for indulgence leads to pride and oppression; if one wishes to ascend to sacred rectitude, without this one cannot rise).
"Initiating Blessings," Chapter Eight (blessings are called the gate of joy, prized in daily use; weighing and riding the opportune time, one acts without attachment).
"Extinguishing Transgressions," Chapter Nine (transgression is ruin; when it arises, it inevitably brings fleeting gratification, but spilt water cannot be gathered, and regrets follow in succession).
"Comprehensive Return," Chapter Ten (upholding the orthodox and warding off the heterodox, resting on the Way to accomplish virtue; spiritual understanding once unhindered, one expresses it in verses and songs).

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The preface says: The heterodox and orthodox are entangled, the foolish and wise densely mixed; unless one is an ultimate sage, how could one illuminate both? Therefore, the lord of desire, deva-māra, could still transform into the Buddha's likeness—how much more so can anything be said of the remaining realms of form and existence? Thus we know that in a single continent of ten thousand states, with a thousand kings under a single transformation, their mutual rise, fall, establishment, and destruction are not worth discussing. Hence, the ninety-six non-Buddhist schools venerate the heavenly roots of the upper realm; the twenty-five tattvas investigate the primordial darkness of extreme reckoning. All proclaimed their own calendars, styling themselves as the triratna among humans; all claimed great salvation, spreading the four immeasurables throughout the world. Furthermore, there was Master Kong of the state of Lu, who guided ritual and music throughout the Nine Provinces; and Lord Li of the state of Chu, who opened the vacuous and mysterious among the Five Sacred Peaks. Not styling themselves religious founders, both transmitted and composed from ancient kings, assisting the times and embodying the state, each serving as ministers and officials in governing affairs. These all parted ways into distinct domains (meaning the transformations of Confucius and Laozi east of the Moving Sands, and the administration of different schools west of the Congling River); their debate and governance differed, their paths of principle worlds apart, naturally distinct. How do we know this to be so? In Da Xia of the Western Realms, various theories were established upon a self and spirit; in Confucianism and Daoism of the Eastern Land, main outlines were preserved within body and state. Who understood that false conceptions and flowing attachments are entangling across the nine abodes, and that contrary passions and shifting attachments are expelled at the seventh consciousness? This causes the net of delusions to cover the mind, not knowing where to turn; turbid waves dazzle the eyes, how could they discern what to take refuge in? One must not follow bad examples; one must return to the root. Inquiring into the petty ways and great ways, these have been common talk from antiquity; great sages and petty sages have been described together from the beginning. Yet when facing them directly in person, people never recognized them, uncritically conforming, attaching themselves, and rushing along together. Thus, whether subjugating thoughts makes a sage, the mad and the wise were reciprocally acclaimed; but discussing along these lines does not yet accord with the ultimate truth. Formerly, when the Sovereign Enlightened One dwelled in Śrāvastī for twenty-five years, among the nine hundred million households, more than half were rebellious or compliant. When the Plain King was in the Red County, his disciples numbered three thousand; Zixia slighted him and harbored doubts, while Yan Hui alone said he was unfathomable. Discussing the Way in this light, one may again be bewildered. Now, matching the correct is called 'sagely'; there is nowhere it does not penetrate. Sense faculties and objects are unhindered in existence and emptiness; cultivation is not stalled in nature or desire. His form cannot be grasped by marks, yet he displays the golden appearance of thirty-two [marks]; his mind cannot be sought by intellect, yet he manifests the eighteen unshared [qualities]. This pertains to only one person, called the Buddha Sage. Therefore, his Way can rescue all forms of existence; the unseen and the manifest both take refuge in him. As for other wild geese rising, they have not yet ascended the heavenly path; moreover, their regions and positions being distinct, their claims are not unwarranted usurpations. If heaven has no two suns and a state has no two kings, only the Buddha is called the Great Sage, whose light encompasses myriads of worlds. Therefore, today his disciples flourish daily, and no country does not look up to his style; the teachings and doctrines are cultivated, and all who possess consciousness take part in his assembly. Those two, Confucius and Laozi, shared their names and stations with the secular, not differing from ordinary persons; transmitting the ancient kings, they lacked instructions of their own. How could they be compared with the Buddha so as to rival him? Moreover, based on the outlines of yin-yang and the eight destructions, and the sacrifices of looking toward mountains and rivers, the seven assemblies discard them as if abandoned, and the five precepts cast them aside without regard. Observing this single path, the lofty-minded are fully sufficient to surrender their sincerity; how much more so with the sacred seed and worthy traces, which serve as models for devas and humans! From this we know that in heaven above and heaven below, only the Buddha is honored; among the six realms and four forms of birth, none are not suffering. Body and mind are ever plagued by suffering, driven to the end; not pondering this concern, they falsely retain notions of greatness. If that which is great can truly be great, it does not sink into the conditioned; having walked the impermanent, one should surely take refuge in the True Enlightenment. Having matters of this sort, I therefore venture to write this preface.

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Expanded Collection for the Propagation and Clarification of Buddhism, "Returning to Orthodoxy," Chapter One

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Table of Contents for "Returning to Orthodoxy" of the Liang Hongming ji:
Ming Sengshao's "Treatise Rectifying the Two Teachings"
Xie Zhenzhi's "Treatise on Refuting the Barbarian and Chinese"
Zhu Zhaozhi's "Treatise on Questioning the Barbarian and Chinese"
Zhu Guangzhi's "Treatise on Inquiring into the Barbarian and Chinese"
Shi Huitong's "Treatise Refuting the Barbarian and Chinese"
Shi Sengmin's "Treatise on Rong and Hua"
He Shangzhi's "Reply to Emperor Wen of Song on Buddhism"
King of Qiao's "Discourse on the Teachings of Confucius and Śākya" (along with Zhang's reply)

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General Table of Contents for "Returning to Orthodoxy" of the Tang Guang hongming ji:
Master writings: The Grand Minister of Shang asks Confucius about the Buddha being a sage
Laozi and Fuzi: Clearly taking the Buddha as master
Han Xianzong's establishing of the original tradition upon initiating the Buddhist transformation
Hou Han shu: "Treatise on the Suburban Sacrifices"
Sun Quan, Lord of Wu, discusses the three traditions of the Buddhist transformation
Emperor Wen of Song gathers court ministers to narrate Buddhism
Xiaoming of Yuan Wei summons the disciples of Śākya and Laozi to state their traditions
Wei shu: "Treatise on Buddhism and Daoism"
Jiang Yan of Southern Qi: "Suigu pian"
Yan Zhitui of Northern Qi: "Guixin pian"
Ruan Xiaoxu of Liang: Preface to the Qi lu
Wang Shao of Northern Qi: "Qi zhi" clarifying Buddhism
Emperor Gaozu of Liang: Edict on renouncing service to Daoism
Emperor Xuan of Northern Qi: Edict on abolishing Daoism
Shi Yancong of Sui: "Treatise on Reaching the Ultimate"

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Expanded Collection for the Propagation and Clarification of Buddhism, "Returning to Orthodoxy," Chapter One, Part One

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The Grand Minister of Shang asks Confucius about sages, from Liezi, among master writings.
Taking the Buddha as master, from Laozi and Fuzi.
Han faben neizhuan, author unknown.
The original "Treatise on the Suburban Sacrifices" of the Later Han, from Fan Ye's Hou Han shu.
Sun Quan, Lord of Wu, discusses the three traditions of the Buddhist transformation, from Wu shu.
Emperor Wen of Song gathers court ministers to narrate Buddhism (briefly in the former collection), from the Gaoseng zhuan.
Xiaoming of Yuan Wei narrates the precedence of the Buddha, from the Wei shu.

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1. The Grand Minister of Shang asks Confucius about sages

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Lie Yukou (also said to be the Grand Minister of Wu)

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Grand Minister Pi asked Confucius, saying: "Is the Master a sage?" He replied: "Qiu has broad knowledge and a strong memory, but is not a sage." He asked again: "Were the Three Kings sages?" He replied: "The Three Kings were good at employing wisdom and courage; whether they were sages is not known to Qiu." He asked again: "Were the Five Emperors sages?" He replied: "The Five Emperors were good at employing benevolence and righteousness; whether they were sages is not known to Qiu." He asked again: "Were the Three Sovereigns sages?" He replied: "The Three Sovereigns were good at employing timely seasons; whether they were sages is not known to Qiu." The Grand Minister was greatly startled and said: "If so, then who is a sage?" The Master altered his expression for a while and said: "Qiu has heard that in the west there is a sage: he does not govern yet there is no disorder; he does not speak yet he is naturally trusted; he does not transform yet things naturally proceed. Vast and boundless, people cannot name him!" Arguing from this, Confucius deeply knew that the Buddha was the Great Sage. Because the conditions of the time were not yet ripe, he silently recognized it. Having the opportunity, he therefore raised it, though he could not yet proclaim its essence openly.

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2. The Buddha as the Old Master in master writings

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The Laozi xisheng jing says: “My teacher travelled in conversion to India, and was adept at entering nirvāṇa.” The Fuzi says: “The master of Laozi was named Śākyamuni.”

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I observe that through antiquity, the Three Sovereigns and Five Thearchs had occasions of fleeing westward, yet we rarely hear of their going east. Thus Xuan Yuan roamed to the realm of Huaxu—which Wang Shao says was none other than India. He also climbed the heights of the Kunlun Mountains—which are the Gandhamādana Mountains. Laozi concealed his traces in Fufeng, and the histories record his going into the shifting sands, while the various Daoist records all relate that he ascended Mount Kunlun westward and rose up to heaven. Examining this by facts, all followed [the way] to the Buddhist kingdom. Thus Boyi described the country of Shendu in the Shan hai jing as “dwelling close together and loving one another.” The antiquarian Guo Pu said: “Shendu is Tiandu (India), where the Buddha arose.” Now hearing the accounts thereof, it is said: “The land is abundant and situated in the middle of the earth; the soil and its products are precious and magnificent. The people are broadly benevolent and wise; their customs esteem philosophical learning. Their establishing of virtue and enriching of livelihood—how do they fall short of the Chinese lands? It was praised in antiquity as a country that loves people, and through the ages has brought forth sages and worthies.” How could this be a fabricated tale?

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Part Three: The Han Emperor Xianzong’s Original Account of the Beginning of the Buddha's Transformation and Teaching

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Author unknown

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The account says: In the third year of the Yongping reign of Emperor Ming, His Majesty dreamt of a divine person, golden-bodied, sixteen feet tall, with the radiance of the sun at the back of his neck. Having awakened, he questioned his assembled ministers. Fu Yi replied to the edict: “There was a Buddha who appeared in India.” An envoy was then dispatched thither to seek him, and fully obtained scriptures, images, and two monks. The emperor then established a Buddhist monastery for them and painted murals. A thousand chariots and ten thousand cavalry circumambulated the stūpa three times. Furthermore, upon the Qingliang Terrace of the Southern Palace and atop the Gaoyang Gate, and at the Xianjie Tomb, standing images of the Buddha were painted, together with the Sutra of Forty-two Sections, which was enclosed in the stone chamber of the Orchid Terrace, as expounded at length in the previous collection by Mouzi.

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The account says: At that time, there were the śramaṇas Kāśyapa Mātaṅga and Dharmaratna, whose spiritual rank and practices were fathomless, and whose minds were set on spreading conversion. When the envoy Cai Yin arrived, he invited Mātaṅga to travel east. Not confined to any boundary, he accompanied him to Luoyang, explaining the dispositions of beings and venerating the fundamental truth. The emperor asked Mātaṅga: “Since the Buddha’s Dharma appeared in the world, why did its conversion not reach here?” He answered: “The kingdom of Kapilavastu is the center of the chiliocosm with its billions of suns and moons. All Buddhas of the three periods are born there. Down to the heavenly dragons, ghosts, and spirits who possess vows and practice, all are born there, receiving the Buddha’s true conversion and all attaining awakening. Living beings in other places who lack the conditions to evoke the Buddha do not receive his visit. Although the Buddha does not go there, wherever his light reaches, after five hundred years, or one thousand years, or beyond one thousand years, there are always sages who transmit the sound and teaching of the Buddha to convert and guide them.” As he expounded the doctrines extensively, because the text is long, it is abridged here.

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The account says: On the first day of the first month in the fourteenth year of the Yongping era, when the Daoists of the various mountains of the Five Sacred Peaks paid their New Year court audience, they said to one another: “The Son of Heaven has abandoned our Daoist teachings and gone afar to seek foreign doctrines. Now, taking advantage of the court assembly, we can present a memorial of protest.” Their memorial said in brief: “Chu Shanxin and others, disciples of the Great Supreme Three Caverns from the temples of the eighteen mountains of the Five Peaks, six hundred and ninety men, speak under penalty of death. Your subjects have heard that the Great Supreme has neither form nor name, is without limit and without superior, empty, non-existent, and spontaneous. The Great Dao arose before the creation of things; in remote antiquity it was revered by all, and across a hundred kings it has remained unchanged. Now Your Majesty's virtue surpasses the August Fuxi and rises above Yao and Shun. We have stealthily heard that Your Majesty has abandoned the root to chase the branches, seeking teachings from the Western Regions. What is served is a foreign spirit, and what is spoken does not accord with China. We hope Your Majesty will pardon our crime and allow us a contest of verification. Among us, the Daoists of the mountains, many possess clairvoyance and clairaudience and are broadly versed in the scriptures. From the time of the Primordial Emperor onward, in the Great Supreme’s records and the talismans and incantations of the Great Void, there are none we have not mastered to their utmost bounds. Some can command ghosts and spirits; some can swallow mist and drink pneumatic vapor; some enter fire without being burned; some tread water without sinking; some ascend to heaven in broad daylight; some conceal their forms beyond fathom. As for magical techniques, there is nothing we cannot do. We wish to compete against them. First, it will bring ease to the sage sovereign’s mind; second, it will discern the true from the false; third, the Great Dao will find its proper place; fourth, it will not bring disorder to Chinese customs. If our comparison is inferior, we submit to whatever severe verdict is determined; if we prevail, we beg that the vain and false be eliminated.” An imperial decree ordered Director of the Chancellery Song Xiang to usher them into the Changle Palace, [announcing that] on the fifteenth day of this month they could assemble at Baima Temple. The Daoists then set up three altars, each altar opening twenty-four gates. Chu Shanxin, Daoist of the Southern Peak; Liu Zhengnian, Daoist of the Western Peak; Huan Wendu, Daoist of the Northern Peak; Jiao Dexin, Daoist of the Eastern Peak; Lü Huitong, Daoist of the Central Peak; and Qi Wenxin and others, Daoists of the eighteen mountains including Mount Huoshan, Tianmu, Wutai, and Bailu, each brought 509 fascicles of the Numinous Treasure True Scriptures, the Great Supreme Jade Instructions, and the Three Primes Talismans and Registers, placing them upon the western altar. Two hundred and thirty-five fascicles from the masters of the twenty-seven schools, including Mao Chengzi, Xu Chengzi, Huangzi, and Laozi, were placed upon the middle altar. Food offerings and sacrificial rites for the hundred spirits were placed upon the eastern altar. The emperor’s travelling palace was stationed at the south gate of the temple. The Buddha’s relics, scriptures, and images were placed to the west of the path. On the fifteenth day, when the fast concluded, the Daoists used firewood and reeds mixed with sandalwood and aloeswood as torches, and weeping as they circled the scriptures, said: “Your subjects report on high to the Great Ultimate, the Great Dao, the Heavenly Worthy of the Primordial Beginning, all the immortals, and the hundred spirits: Today a foreign spirit brings disorder to China, and the ruler of men believes in the deviant. The orthodox teaching loses its tracks, and the mysterious wind lets fall its lineage. Your subjects dare to place the scriptures upon the altar to test them by fire, desiring to enlighten benighted minds and discern the true from the false.” They then set fire to burn the scriptures. Consumed by fire, the scriptures were completely reduced to ashes and cinders. Looking at one another, the Daoists lost countenance and were seized with great terror. Those who had wished to ascend to heaven or conceal their forms had no power to do so; those who had bound ghosts and spirits called and commanded them without response, each harboring shame and humiliation. Daoist Fei Shucai of the Southern Peak died of bitter regret. Grand Tutor Zhang Yan said to Chu Shanxin: “Your test had no efficacy, which shows it to be false. You ought to turn to the true Dharma coming from the West.” Chu Shanxin said: “Mao Chengzi said: ‘The Great Supreme is the Heavenly Worthy of Numinous Treasure. The creation of things is called Grand Simplicity.’ How could this be false?” Zhang Yan said: “Grand Simplicity has the name of valuing virtue, but no title of verbal teaching. Now, your saying that there is a verbal teaching is precisely what is false.” Shanxin fell silent. At that time, the Buddha relics emitted five-colored light, shooting straight up into the air and whirling like a canopy, everywhere covering the great assembly and outshining the sun's light. Dharma Master Mātaṅga leaped high and flew, sitting and reclining in mid-air, displaying extensive supernatural transformations. At that moment, heavenly jewel-flowers rained down upon the Buddha and the Saṅgha, and heavenly music was heard, moving people's hearts. The great assembly all rejoiced, praising it as unprecedented. All circled Dharmaratna to hear the essentials of the Dharma spoken, while he uttered Sanskrit sounds praising the Buddha's virtues, and caused the great assembly to acclaim the Triratna, explaining that good and bad karma all have retribution, and that the various marks of the six realms and the three vehicles are diverse. He also explained that the merit of renouncing the household life yields the highest blessing, and that founding a Buddhist temple is equal in measure to the blessings of Brahmā. Minister of Works and Marquis of Yangcheng Liu Jun, along with more than a thousand officials, scholars, and commoners, renounced the household life. Lü Huitong and other Daoists of the Four Sacred Peaks and various mountains, six hundred and twenty men, renounced the household life. Lady Yin, Handsome Lady Wang, and other palace attendants and women, two hundred and thirty persons, renounced the household life. Ten monasteries were then established: seven outside the city to house monks, and three within the city to house nuns. From this time onward, it spread widely. The account has five fascicles, and is here abridged without being fully recorded. Some suspect that this account is of recent origin and that there was originally no matter of a contest of powers; but examining the Book of Wu, it clearly states that Fei Shucai died of regret, and thus the account is a true record.

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Part Four: Treatise on the Sacrifices of the Suburban Altar from the Book of the Later Han

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Extracted from Fan Ye’s Book of the Later Han

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The treatise says: “Fo” in Chinese means “awakened,” implying the awakening of all living beings. In unifying its teaching, it takes the cultivation of goodness and a compassionate mind as principal; one who does not kill living beings and devotes himself exclusively to purity and vigor is a śramaṇa. In Chinese this means resting the mind, shaving the hair, leaving home, severing passions, washing away desires, and returning to the unconditioned (asaṃskṛta). Furthermore, they believe that when a person dies, the spirit is not extinguished, but receives a bodily form again according to [karma]. The good and evil done will all have retribution in a later birth. What is prized is practicing goodness to refine the spirit; refining it without end, one reaches the unborn and can become a Buddha. His body is sixteen feet tall, golden in color, bearing the light of the sun and moon at the back of his neck, with transformations unfathomable, pervading everywhere; hence he can convert and penetrate the ten thousand things and broadly save all beings. There are several thousand fascicles of scriptures, taking emptiness as their principle, encompassing the fine and the coarse, unifying everything. They are adept at grand and magnificent words; what they seek is within one’s own body, and what they illuminate is beyond seeing and hearing. The refuge is mysterious and subtle, deep and far-reaching, difficult to fathom. Therefore, when princes, dukes, and great men contemplate the juncture of life and death, and retribution, there are none who are not struck with fear and lose their composure. The Book of Wei says: “Its Buddhist scriptures generally speak of all living species arising on account of actions and karmic deeds, spanning the three periods of past, present, and future. Its stages and ranks of cultivating the Way are not singular; all proceed from the shallow to the deep, relying on the subtle to reach the prominent. In general, it lies in accumulating benevolence and compliance, getting rid of cravings and desires, and practicing emptiness and stillness so as to achieve penetrating illumination.” And so forth.

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Part Five: Sun Quan, Lord of Wu, Discusses the Three Lineages of Buddhism and Daoism

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Extracted from the Book of Wu

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In the fourth year of the Chiwu reign of Sun Quan, the eldest son of the Grand Chancellor of the Kingdom of Kangju abandoned secular life and became a śramaṇa. His name was Senghui, with the family name of Kang. His bearing was upright and stern, and he took travel and conversion as his mission. At that time, the Three Kingdoms stood tripartite, each wielding authority. The Buddha’s Dharma had long covered the Central Plains, but had not yet reached Jiangbiao. Senghui wished to spread the teaching to those who had not heard it, carrying conversion to the southern state. First arriving at Jianye, he built a thatched hut, set up an image, and practiced the Way. When the people of Wu first saw him, they called it bizarre. The relevant officials reported it to the throne. The Lord of Wu asked: “What spiritual efficacy does the Buddha have?” Senghui said: “Since the Buddha hid his miraculous traces, more than a thousand years have passed; yet his remaining bone relics manifest according to conditions without limit.” The Lord of Wu said: “If you obtain a relic, I shall erect a stūpa for it.” After three weeks, he finally obtained a relic. Five colors illuminated the sky; struck, it became even harder; burned, it did not combust, and light emerged from the fire forming a great lotus flower, illuminating the palace halls. The sovereign and his ministers gasped in astonishment at this rare auspicious omen. Great faith arose in him, and on that account he built a stūpa, ordained monks, and founded a monastery, naming the neighborhood where [Senghui] resided “Buddha Village.” Also, because the teaching and Dharma had newly begun, it was named Jianchu Monastery. An imperial order was issued asking Director of the Chancellery Kan Ze: “Since the time of Han Emperor Ming, how many years have passed in all? If Buddhism entered the Han so long ago, on what account has it only now reached Jiangdong?” Kan Ze said: “From the tenth year of Yongping under Han Emperor Ming, when the Buddha’s Dharma first came, down to the fourth year of Chiwu, it is one hundred and seventy years. Formerly, in the fourteenth year of Yongping, when the Daoists of the Five Peaks competed in power with Mātaṅga, the Daoists were inferior. The Southern Peak Daoists Chu Shanxin, Fei Shucai, and others died of bitter regret at the assembly. Their disciples returned to bury them at the Southern Peak; not joining the renunciation, there was no one to spread it. Later, encountering the decline of Han rule and ceaseless warfare, it is only after many years now that it has begun to flourish.” He also asked: “Can Kong Qiu and Li Lao be compared with the Buddha?” Kan Ze said: “Your subject has heard that Master Kong of Lu possessed extraordinary talent and outstanding preeminence; his sage virtue was unexcelled, and his generation styled him the Uncrowned King. He instituted and expounded the classics, instructing and promoting the Zhou Way, converting future generations, and his style of master-scholar has enriched past and present. There were also recluses such as Xu Chengzi, Yuanyangzi, Zhuangzi, and Laozi, with their hundreds of schools of masters’ writings; all cultivated themselves for their own enjoyment, roaming freely in the mountains and valleys and giving rein to their minds. Their study returned to tranquil aloofness, but their deeds ran contrary to human relations. Their rules of senior and junior were also not a style to pacify customs and convert the people. Coming to Emperor Jing of Han, because the doctrines of Huangzi and Laozi were particularly profound, he changed the ‘masters’ into ‘classics’ and first established Daoist learning, commanding the court and countryside to recite them. If one compares the two teachings of Confucius and Laozi to the Buddha’s Dharma, they are far apart indeed! Why is this so? The two teachings of Confucius and Laozi model themselves upon Heaven to institute practice, not daring to oppose Heaven. In the teachings established by all the Buddhas, the laws of Heaven are put into practice without daring to oppose the Buddha. Speaking in this regard, they truly cannot be compared.” (Presently we see Daoist petitions and offerings practiced in imitation of secular wine, dried meat, chess, and zithers.) The Lord of Wu was greatly delighted and appointed Kan Ze as Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince. And so forth.

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6. Emperor Wen of the Song Gathers Court Officials to Discuss Buddhism

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From the Biographies of Eminent Monks and Other Sources

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Emperor Wen was the third son of High Ancestor of the Song. He was intelligent, brilliant, talented, and broad-minded, and was widely praised as fine and perceptive. During his thirty years on the throne, he once leisurely inquired of Palace Attendant He Shangzhi and Minister of Personnel Yang Xuanbao on a day of leisure, saying: "From youth I have not read many scriptures, and recently I have had even less free time. I have not yet determined my mind regarding karmic causality across the three periods of existence. Yet the reason I dare not hold a divergent view is precisely that contemporary talents like you generally revere and believe in it. Xiang Tai and Xie Lingyun often said that the texts of the Six Classics originally aimed at aiding the mundane world and governing, but if one seeks the true mysteries of human nature and spirit, how could one not take Buddhist principles as a compass? Recently I read Yan Yanzhi's 'Refutation of the Treatise on Penetrating Nature' and Zong Bing's 'Refutation of the Treatise on White and Black.' They clarify that the Buddha-Dharma is vast and profound, especially embodying excellent reasoning, and both are sufficient to open and stimulate people's minds. If everyone throughout the land were to cultivate this transformation, I could bring about great peace without moving from my seat. What else would there be to do?"
Shangzhi replied: "The common herd mostly does not believe in the Dharma. That an unworthy and defective minister like myself should receive such praise and favor is more than I dare accept. Yet as for the former generation of worthies, they indeed did not fail Your Majesty's brilliant decree. The Central Court is already distant, and difficult to know fully. Since crossing the Yangtze River, however, there have been Wang Dao, Zhou Yi, Yu Liang, Wang Meng, Xie Shang, Xi Chao, Wang Tan, Wang Gong, Wang Mi, Guo Wenju, Xie Fu, Dai Kui, Xu Xun, as well as the brothers of the late High Ancestor, Wang Yuanlin's brothers, Fan Wang, Sun Chuo, Zhang Xuan, Yin Yi, and others. Some were leaders of ministers and counselors; some were models of human ethics; some lodged their affections between Heaven and humanity; and some raised their traces beyond mist and clouds. All received the aspiration to take refuge and set their minds on reverent belief. As for those among the monks who corresponded to them, there were Lan, Hu, Kai, Qian, Shen, Dun, Chong, and Sui; all followed closely behind those of inner centrality, or were men beyond reckoning. Master Huiyuan once said: 'The transformation of the Śākyan lineage leaves nowhere it cannot apply. Entering the Way is indeed its doctrinal source, yet aiding the mundane world is also an essential task.' In my humble view, this saying accords with the essentials of principle. If every household were to uphold the precepts, crimes would cease and punishments would be cleared away. What Your Majesty described as bringing about great peace without moving from your seat is truly as the sage decree states."
Yang Xuanbao stepped forward and said: "This discussion pertains to the realm between Heaven and humanity; how could a minister like myself presume to take part? I humbly submit that Qin and Chu discussed strengthening the military, while Sunzi and Wu Qi exhausted the arts of annexation. Perhaps there is nothing to be derived from this [teaching]?"
The Emperor said: "These are not instruments of the Warring States period; it is indeed as you say."
Shangzhi replied: "Now, honoring hermits makes soldiers sluggish, and prizing benevolence and virtue weakens military vigor. If one takes Sunzi and Wu Qi as one's aim and merely focuses on swallowing others up, one would also derive nothing from the Way of Yao and Shun. How could this apply only to the teachings of the Śākya?"
The Emperor said: "Having you in the Śākya gate is just like the Confucian gate having Jilu—it can truly be said that 'evil words do not enter one's ears.'"
From this time on, Emperor Wen devoted his attention to Buddhist scriptures. Whenever he met monks such as Sengyan and Huiguan, he discussed doctrinal principles with them. He repeatedly invited them to palace assemblies, personally seating himself on floor mats and taking meals alongside the monks. At that time, there was the śramaṇa Zhu Daosheng, whose outstanding qualities surpassed the multitude and whose brilliant doctrines were singularly preeminent. The Emperor held him in high esteem. Once, when Daosheng's doctrine of sudden awakening was expounded, the monks all raised great objections. The Emperor said: "If the deceased could be revived, how could he be subdued by you gentlemen?" At that time, Yan Yanzhi wrote the 'Treatise on Separating Consciousness.' The Emperor ordered Master Sengyan to evaluate its points of agreement and difference. The exchange went on the entire day. The Emperor laughed and said: "Today you gentlemen need feel no shame before the discussions of Zhi and Xu." And so forth.

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7. Emperor Xiaoming of the Yuan Wei Summons Disciples of Buddhism and Daoism to Debate Priority

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From the Book of Wei

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In the first year of the Zhengguang era, Emperor Ming assumed court robes and granted a general amnesty to all under Heaven. He summoned disciples of both the Buddhist and Daoist traditions before the palace hall. After the vegetarian feast concluded, Palace Attendant Liu Teng proclaimed the imperial decree, asking the Dharma masters and Daoist priests to debate so as to untie the net of doubts for his disciples. At that time, Jiang Bin, a Daoist priest of the Qingtong Daoist Abbey, debated with Tanmoxui, a monk of Rongjue Temple. The Emperor said: "Were the Buddha and Laozi contemporaries, or not?"
Bin said: "When Laozi went west to convert the barbarians, the Buddha served as his attendant at that time. It is clear that they were contemporaries."
Zui said: "How do you know this?"
Bin said: "According to Laozi's Scripture of Opening Heaven, this is how it is known."
Zui said: "Under which king of Zhou and in what year was Laozi born? Under which king of Zhou and in what year did he go west?"
Bin said: "He was born in the third year, an yimao year, of King Ding of Zhou's accession, in Quren Hamlet, Li Village, Ku County, Chen Commandery, Chu State, on the night of the fourteenth day of the ninth month, during the zi hour. In the fourth year of King Jian of Zhou, a dingchou year, he served Zhou as Keeper of the Archives. In the thirteenth year of King Jian, he was promoted to Grand Historian. In the first year of King Jing, a gengchen year, at the age of eighty-five, seeing the virtue of Zhou decline, he went west together with Yin Xi, the magistrate of San Pass, to convert the barbarians. This is sufficient to prove it."
Zui said: "The Buddha was born on the eighth day of the fourth month in the twenty-fourth year of King Zhao of Zhou, and entered extinction on the fifteenth day of the second month in the fifty-second year of King Mu. Calculating from his entry into nirvāṇa, three hundred and forty-five years elapsed before reaching the third year of King Ding, when Laozi was just born. After being born, Laozi lived to the age of eighty-five, and down to the first year of King Jing, four hundred and twenty-five years in total had passed before he fled west with Yin Xi. Based on this, the years are far apart. Is this not entirely erroneous?"
Bin said: "If the Buddha was born during the time of King Zhao of Zhou, what texts record it?"
Zui said: "The Record of Anomalies of the Book of Zhou and the Han Inner Record of the Original Dharma both have explicit statements."
Bin said: "Since Confucius was a sage who established laws, why is there completely no textual record of the Buddha from his time?"
Zui said: "Good sir, your understanding is like looking through a tube, your reading not broad or far-reaching. According to records, Confucius had the Three Preparatory Divination Classics, meaning Heaven, Earth, and Man. The Buddha's textual words appear in the Central Preparation. If you, good sir, had investigated it earlier, you would not have this confusion."
Bin said: "Confucius was a sage who knew without speaking. Why would he need to rely on divination?"
Zui said: "Only the Buddha is the King of All Sages and the Head of the Four Forms of Birth. He penetrates the two extremities of past and future, and the good, bad, end, and beginning of all sentient beings, without relying on divination or prognostication. As for all other lesser sages, even though they understand principles of what has not yet occurred, they must rely on the yarrow stalks and tortoise shells to divine through the spiritual hexagrams."
Palace Attendant and Director of the Department of State Affairs Yuan Cha proclaimed the imperial decree, saying: "Daoist Jiang Bin's arguments lack principle; he should leave his seat." He further asked: "Where was the Scripture of Opening Heaven obtained, and who preached it?" He immediately dispatched Vice Director of the Secretariat Wei Shou, Secretary of the Department of State Affairs Zu Ying, and others to go to the abbey to fetch the scripture. The Emperor ordered that it be deliberated upon. Grand Defender King of Danyang Xiao Zong, Grand Tutor Li Shi, Commandant of the Palace Guard Xu Botao, Minister of Personnel Xing Luan, Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary Wen Zisheng, and others—one hundred and seventy people in all—having read it, memorialized: "Laozi wrote only five thousand words and made no further discourse. We ministers deliberate that Jiang Bin's crime warrants punishment for misleading the multitude."
The Emperor was about to impose the extreme penalty on Bin, but Tripiṭaka Master Bodhiruci bitterly remonstrated, and he was spared, being banished instead to Mayi.

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Expanded Collection for the Propagation and Clarification of Buddhism, Fascicle One

Linked texts (1)

廣弘明集 — Classical Chinese