廣弘明集 1.32

1.32

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.