廣弘明集 13.91

13.91

The Buddhist response says: Now, metal as husband and wood as wife—how can yin and yang be held to unconditionally? Li is south and Kan is north—male and female have no fixed directions. Thus, the reason east of the zi-wu line is considered yang is taken from sons and daughters being born in the east. That west of the zi-wu line is considered yin means parents grow old in the west. This, then, demarcates yin and yang in terms of birth and aging; it does not speak of superiority and inferiority in terms of high and low rank. Even if parents are in the west, they should hardly be lower than their sons; when sons and daughters are in the east, how would they dare be higher than their fathers? Benevolence without righteousness cannot be established; righteousness without benevolence cannot nurture. Therefore, east of the zi-wu line is benevolence, and the father in the west is righteousness. Standards are set according to circumstance; do not be confused about the Great Way! If one were narrowly restricted by birthplace and confined by regional borders, then because the Great Yu came from the Western Qiang, his universally benevolent virtue would suddenly be void; and because King Wen was born among the Eastern Yi, his governance of moral ordering would forever be lacking. Swallowing the Yangtze and receiving the Han is no cramped, vulgar dwelling; floating upon the Wei and commanding the Jing is no miraculous abode for an emperor. (First, refuting the perverse; next, praising the orthodox.) Now, as for Śākya: in heaven and on earth, he pre-eminently occupies supreme dignity; in the three realms and six paths, he stands out towering in his marvel. Moreover, the companions of the Lesser Learning and the Two Vehicles, and the cohorts of the five ranks with minds aspiring to greatness, are like the multitude of stars revolving around the North Star, like golden mountains gracing the azure sea. It is enough to make those with heads like deer and faces like elephants bend their proud and rebellious minds, and to lead the six heterodoxies and ten ṛṣis to express reverent submission. How is this merely subduing Xu Jia among common men, guiding Yin Xi among pass-keepers, receiving instruction on the subject of teeth (the *Gaoshi zhuan* says: 'Chang Songzi opened his mouth; Laozi said, "Is it not that the teeth, being hard, perish, while the tongue, being soft, endures?" Changzi said, "That is everything"'), or gaining renown while keeping the archives? This is the third inferiority of your Dao.