廣弘明集 10.10

10.10

In the spring of the second year of Chengguang of the Northern Qi, Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou pacified the Gao clan in the east. He summoned previous eminent monks of great virtue to assemble at the palace. The Emperor ascended the throne and laid out his reasoning for abolishing and maintaining teachings, saying: "We have received the mandate of Heaven to bring peace and unity to the realm. The three teachings have been propagated in the world, their traditions reaching far and wide. Yet upon examining their ultimate principles, they largely err in transforming and civilizing people. Now We shall abolish them all. However, as for the Confucian teaching of the Six Classics, its writings broaden statecraft, and its propriety, righteousness, loyalty, and filial piety are suitable for the world; hence it must be preserved and maintained. Moreover, the true Buddha has no image; one may venerate him from afar to express one's heart. Buddhist scriptures lavishly praise the construction of images and pagodas, claiming that magnificent construction produces boundless blessings. Yet these are truly inanimate; how could they bestow grace? Foolish people harbor faith in them, exhausting their precious wealth and spending it in vain. Therefore they must be eliminated. Thus, all scriptures and images shall be destroyed. The kindness of parents is profound, yet the śramaṇas do not pay them respect. This is the height of defiance, intolerable to the law of the state. They shall all be returned home to promote governance through filial piety. This is Our intention. What do you, Virtuous Ones, think of this reasoning?" At that time, the Monastic Prefect and more than five hundred others all thought that the royal awe was terrifying and an opposing remonstrance would be hard to heed; since the teaching had already been eliminated in Guannei, it could not survive alone. Everyone fell silent. An imperial decree was issued urging an answer, and they all looked at each other, their faces drained of color, bowing their heads in tears. There was the Dharma Master Huiyuan, renowned for his shining prestige. He reflected to himself: "The custody of the Buddha-dharma relies upon the four assemblies. How could holding one's tongue be considered penetrating the truth?" He then stepped forward to respond, saying: "Your Majesty presides over the great realm and has attained oneness to dwell in the highest seat. Accommodating common customs, you deliver words and take the three teachings as a model. The edict says: 'The true Buddha has no image.' This is truly as Your Majesty decrees. But living beings who rely on ears and eyes depend on the scriptures to hear of the Buddha, and rely on images to manifest the truth. If you abolish them now, there will be no way to arouse veneration." The Emperor said: "The true Buddha of empty space is known naturally by all; he does not depend on scriptures or images." Huiyuan said: "Before Emperor Ming of the Han, scriptures and images had not arrived. Why did the sentient beings of this land not know the true Buddha of empty space?" The Emperor had no answer. Huiyuan said: "If, without relying on the scriptural teachings, people naturally knew that there is the Dharma, then before the Three Sovereigns, when there was no writing, people should have naturally known teachings such as the five constants. Why, then, did the people of that time only know their mothers and not their fathers, being the same as birds and beasts?" The Emperor again had no answer. Huiyuan said: "If, because images are inanimate and serving them yields no blessing, they must be abolished, then are the images of the state's Seven Ancestral Temples animate, that you vainly honor and serve them?" The Emperor did not answer this objection, but merely said: "The Buddhist scriptures are laws of foreign lands; this country has no need of them, so they are abolished and not used. The Seven Ancestral Temples were established by previous ages; We also do not consider them correct, and shall abolish them likewise." Huiyuan said: "If scriptures from foreign lands are not for use here, then what Confucius spoke came from the state of Lu; in the lands of Qin and Jin they should likewise be abolished and not practiced. Furthermore, if you deem the Seven Ancestral Temples wrong and intend to abolish them, then you do not honor your ancestors. If ancestors are not honored, the Zhaomu ancestral order falls into disarray. If the Zhaomu order falls into disarray, the Five Classics are of no use. What then was the meaning of previously preserving the Confucian teaching? If so, then the three teachings would be abolished together. How then will you govern the state?" The Emperor said: "The state of Lu and Qin and Jin were indeed different in territory, but they were all within the single transformation of the ruler. Therefore, they are not comparable to the objection regarding Buddhist scriptures and the Seven Ancestral Temples." The Emperor could not make his point hold. Huiyuan said: "If Qin and Lu both complied with a single transformation and their scriptural teachings were practiced everywhere, then although the borders of Cīnasthāna and India are different, are they not all within the four seas of Jambudvīpa, under the single transformation of the wheel-turning king? Why not equally comply with the Buddhist scriptures instead of now abolishing them alone?" The Emperor again had no answer. Huiyuan said: "The edict says: 'Return the monks home to promote filial care.' Confucius's classic also says: 'To establish oneself and practice the Way so as to make one's parents illustrious is itself filial conduct.' Why must they return home?" The Emperor said: "The kindness of parents is profound, requiring material support and physical care. Abandoning parents to go to strangers does not constitute utmost filial piety." Huiyuan said: "If it is as you say, Your Majesty's attendants all have parents. Why do you not release them, instead of making them serve long terms of five years without seeing their parents?" The Emperor said: "We also let them return to attend to their parents by turns." Huiyuan said: "The Buddha also permits monks to practice the Way according to circumstances in winter and summer, and return home in spring and autumn to care for their parents. Thus Maudgalyāyana begged for food to feed his mother, and the Tathāgata bore the coffin and attended the burial. This principle is widely unobstructed; it must not be abolished alone." The Emperor again had no answer. Huiyuan raised his voice and said: "Your Majesty now relies on royal power to willfully destroy the Triratna; this is the act of a person of wrong views. The Avīci Hell makes no distinction between the noble and the base. How can Your Majesty not be terrified?" The Emperor flared up in anger, looked straight at Huiyuan, and said: "If only the common people can attain happiness, We shall not refuse any of the sufferings of hell." Huiyuan said: "Your Majesty transforms people with wrong teachings, currently planting karmic causes of suffering; you will head together with them straight to Avīci. Where could any happiness be obtained?" The Emperor's reasoning was defeated. His previous ambitious intentions were spent, and he had nothing more to answer; he merely said: "The monks may temporarily return. Let the officials record the names of the monks who debated." The Emperor had already practiced cruelty for three years, and the Buddha-dharma in Guanlong was practically wiped out. Having conquered the territory of Qi, he destroyed it there as well. At that time, the Buddha-dharma was flourishing in the eastern rivers of Wei and Qi, with over forty thousand established temples and monasteries. All were bestowed upon princes and dukes to serve as residences. The monks of the five assemblies were reduced by three million, all being returned to the military and civilian registers. Buddhist images were melted down or scraped, and scriptural teachings burned. The blessed wealth of the Triratna was registered and taken into the treasury, immediately given out as rewards and completely dispersed. The Emperor thought he had accomplished his ambition throughout the world. Yet before a year had passed, pestilential qi boiled within him and sores broke out on his body. The signs of evil karma were already manifest, beyond any repentance to dispel. He then took refuge in Yunyang Palace; after only seven days, he quickly passed away. Tianyuan succeeded to the calendar, establishing the Zhihu Temples in the eastern and western capitals, appointing bodhisattva-monks to inaugurate the Buddhist transformation. Before long that Emperor died, and the dynastic fortune shifted until Emperor Gaozu of the Sui Dynasty, when it finally flourished broadly, as will be shown later. Recently I saw in the Mingbao ji by Tang Lin, Minister of Personnel of the Great Tang: His maternal grandfather, Duke of Qi, Vice Director of the Left under Emperor Wen of the Sui, personally saw Emperor Wen question a deceased person who had returned to life. The person said: "When I first died, I saw Emperor Wu of the Zhou, who said: 'Send word for me to the Son of Heaven of the Great Sui: Formerly we shared food, and the storehouses, jade, and silk were also accumulated by me. Now, because I destroyed the Buddha-dharma, I am enduring immense suffering. Please perform meritorious deeds on my behalf.' Emperor Wen issued an edict to everyone throughout the realm to contribute one coin to seek subsequent blessings for him."