廣弘明集 2

English (machine translation) 2

Language: English

2.1

Compiled by the Śramaṇa Shi Daoxuan of Ximing Temple in the Great Tang

2.3

Yuan Wei History: "Treatise on Buddhism and Daoism," by Wei Shou, Editorial Director of the Qi
Gaogi History: "Treatise Describing Buddhism," by Wang Shao, Editorial Director of the Sui

2.4

Book of Wei: "Treatise on Buddhism and Daoism"

When great men arise, they shepherd the living people. From the era of knotting cords onwards, events were recorded in script. From Fu Xi and Xuan Yuan down to the Three Dynasties, the traces of the ancient records were burned by Qin. The Han gathered surviving books, which once again piled up like mountains and hills, certainly causing the Six Schools and Seven Summaries, Ban [Gu] and Ma [Sima Qian], to differ in their categories. The teachings of the Śākya were first heard of during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Former Han. During the Yuanshou era, Huo Qubing captured the Prince of Kunxie and a golden statue over a zhang tall. The Emperor considered it a great deity, placed it in the Ganquan Palace, and burned incense and prostrated before it. This was the gradual beginning of the circulation of the Buddha's way. When the Western Regions were opened, Zhang Qian was dispatched as an envoy to Daxia; upon his return, he reported that in the states of Shengtu and Tianzhu there were the teachings of the Futu. In the Yuanshou era of Emperor Ai, Jing Xian received oral transmission of the Futu Scripture from the King of the Da Yuezhi.

2.7

Emperor Ming of the Later Han dreamed of a golden man with sunlight around his neck flying in the palace courtyard. Fu Yi first identified him as the Buddha to the Emperor. The Emperor dispatched Gentleman of the Palace Cai Yin, Erudite Qin Jing, and others as envoys to Tianzhu to copy the handed-down model of the Futu, whereupon they returned to Luoyang with the śramaṇas Kāśyapa Mātaṅga and Dharmaratna. They also obtained the Scripture in Forty-Two Sections and standing statues of Śākya[muni]. The Emperor ordered artisans to paint them and placed them on the Qingliang Terrace and atop the Xianjie Tomb, locking the scriptures away in the stone chamber of the Orchid Terrace. "Futu" is sometimes pronounced "Fotuo," which is an alternation of phonetic sounds, translated as "Pure Awakening," meaning the eradication of defilement to achieve clarity, a path of holy awakening. As for the general purport of its scriptures, it broadly states that all forms of living beings arise on account of their actions and karmic deeds. With past, present, and future, traversing the three periods of existence, the conscious spirit is forever indestructible. In all cases, doing good or evil must bring retribution. Gradually accumulating superior karma and refining away the crude and base, across countless kalpas polishing and training the spiritual brightness, one thereby arrives at non-arising and attains the Buddha-way. Along the way, the stages and mental practices are not singular; all proceed from the shallow to the deep, relying on the subtle to reach the manifest. In general, it lies in accumulating benevolence and compliance, eliminating cravings and desires, and practicing emptiness and tranquility to achieve penetrating illumination. Thus, when one first cultivates the mind, one relies upon the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha, which are called the Three Refuges, akin to the three awe-inspirations of the gentleman. There are also the five precepts: abstaining from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and drinking alcohol. Their general meaning is the same as benevolence, righteousness, propriety, trustworthiness, and wisdom. It is said that upholding them leads to rebirth in superior places among gods and humans, while breaching them causes one to fall into the various sufferings of ghosts and beasts. Furthermore, the places where good and evil are reborn comprise in total the six realms of rebirth.

2.8

Those who adhere to its Path shave off their beard and hair, cast aside burdens, and leave the household. They form master-disciple relations, abide by the rules of discipline, and live together in harmony; cultivating their minds, they practice pure conduct and sustain themselves by begging for alms. They are called śramaṇas, or sometimes sangmen, the pronunciations being close to one another. Their faculties and karmic predispositions vary, and are known as the three vehicles: the Śrāvaka, the Pratyekabuddha, and the Great Vehicle (Mahāyāna). The name is taken from the idea that they can serve as vehicles carrying one to the Path. Those of superior faculties cultivate the six perfections and advance through the myriad practices; they deliver countless streams [of beings], passing through vast stretches of time, ascend to the sphere of awakening, and are named Buddhas. [Our Buddha's] original name was Śākyamuni, which is translated here as 'Capable of Humaneness', meaning that his virtue was bountiful, his Path complete, and he was able to rescue the myriad beings. He descended as the son of the king of the realm of Kapilavastu in India. He was born on the night of the eighth day of the fourth month, issuing from his mother's right flank. His extraordinary physical marks were of thirty-two kinds, and thirty-two auspicious omens also descended from the heavens in response. On the fifteenth day of the second month he entered nirvāṇa, translated here as 'extinction-deliverance' or described as permanence, bliss, self, and purity, clarifying that he was free from passing away and all suffering and burdens. It is also said that the Buddhas have two aspects: the first is the real, meaning the supreme ultimate body, which is wonderfully beyond all constraints and burdens. It cannot be localized to any direction or place, nor can it be measured by form or quantity; whenever there is a stimulus it responds, its essence ever tranquil and clear. The second is the expediently responsive, meaning that it softens its glare within the six realms and mingles with the dust alongside the myriad kinds of beings; birth and death conform to the times, and long or short lifespans adapt to beings. Forms arise through stimulus; the body is not ultimately real. Although the expedient form passes away, the true body does not alter; it is merely that when the era lacks a wondrous stimulus, it cannot always be seen. This clarifies that the Buddha's birth was not a real birth, and his passing away was not a real passing away. After the Buddha passed away, his corpse was cremated with fragrant wood, and the numinous bones broke apart into fragments, large and small like grains; striking them would not break them, and fire would not scorch them, while emitting radiant light and miraculous signs. These are called relics (śarīra). His disciples collected and revered them, offering all their incense and flowers, expressing reverence and longing, and built palace-like structures called stūpas (towers), which are like ancestral temples; therefore they were called 'stūpa-temples' in their time. A hundred years later, there was King Aśoka, who with supernatural power divided the Buddha's relics, commanded ghosts and spirits, and built 84,000 stūpas throughout the world, all completed on the same day. Today, Luoyang, Pengcheng, Guzang, and Linzi all possess King Aśoka temples, which presumably inherit these traces. Furthermore, his shadow, traces, claws, and teeth remained in India, and travelers journeying there and back all claimed to have seen them. The doctrines he preached at first were later recorded, gathering together their deep significance without any omission. Thus the three baskets (Tripiṭaka) and twelve divisions of scripture, like the variations of the nine schools [of philosophy], ultimately take the three vehicles as their foundation when unified under their great destination. Later, arhats and bodhisattvas sequentially composed treatises to extol and clarify the meaning of the scriptures so as to defeat non-Buddhists; all relied on the great principles of the various collections and divisions, setting up external questions and resolving them through internal teachings. Transmitted to the Central Land, they gradually spread widely. In the early Han, śramaṇas all wore red cloth; later they changed to mixed colors. As for the subtle words and hidden meanings, they had not yet been thoroughly investigated. There was a śramaṇa, Shi Dao'an of Changshan, who was of an intelligent disposition; daily he would chant more than ten thousand words and investigate the profound purport. Lamenting the lack of a master, he sat alone in a quiet room for twelve years, thinking deeply and gathering his spirit, intuitively realizing the wondrous depths. Because the previously translated scriptures contained many discrepancies and contradictions, he corrected their errors. Thereafter, the śramaṇas' transmission of the Dharma flourished greatly in the Central Plains.

2.9

When the Wei first founded their state, they emerged from the northern regions. Their customs were simple and uniform, completely different from the Western Regions; hence the reputation and teachings of the Buddha had not yet been heard. When Shenyuan exchanged envoys with the Wei and Jin dynasties, Emperor Wen was in Luoyang, and Emperor Zhaocheng was in Xiangguo; they came to thoroughly understand the matters of the Buddhist Dharma in the southern lands. When Taizu pacified Zhongshan, he showed reverence to all the śramaṇas he saw while passing through commanderies and kingdoms, forbidding the military forces from committing any offense against them. There was a śramaṇa named Senglang who dwelt in seclusion on Mount Tai with his disciples; the Emperor sent a letter presenting gifts of silk cloth, felt, blankets, bowls, and tin staffs. Even today it is called 'Master Lang's Valley'. In the first year of the Tianxing reign era (398 CE), an edict was issued saying: 'The rise of the Buddhist Dharma comes from antiquity. Its efficacy in providing aid extends subtly to the living and the deceased, and its numinous traces and bequeathed teachings are truly worthy of reliance. Let the officials in charge be ordered to construct and adorn statues and repair palace buildings in the capital, so that faithful believers may have a place to dwell.' In that year, a five-tiered stūpa, a Vulture Peak (Gṛdhrakūṭa) Hall, and a Mount Sumeru Hall were constructed, lavishly decorated with paintings, and lecture halls, meditation chambers, and śramaṇa seats were additionally built, all fully equipped with solemn adornments.

2.10

When Taizong ascended the throne, he likewise adhered to the heritage of his predecessors, erecting images in the capital and all four quarters, and commanding the śramaṇas to guide and instruct popular customs. During the Huangshi reign era, the śramaṇa Faguo of Zhao commandery, whose monastic conduct was refined and strict, expounded the scriptures of the Dharma. Taizu issued an edict summoning him to be the Śramaṇa-Superintendent to oversee and govern the monastic community; his words were mostly agreeable and fitting, and the offerings bestowed upon him were very generous. Taizong revered him even more than before. During the Yongxing reign era, he was successively granted the titles of General Assisting the State, Viscount of Yicheng, Loyal and Trustworthy Marquis, and Duke of Ancheng, but he firmly declined them all. The Emperor often visited his residence in person; because the gate was too narrow to accommodate the imperial chariot, he had it widened. At over eighty years of age, he died during the Taichang reign era. The Emperor paid personal condolences at his mourning three times and posthumously conferred on him the title of Venerable General and Spirited Duke Zhao Hu. Formerly, when Faguo was forty, he had just become a śramaṇa; he had a son named Meng, and an edict commanded that he inherit the noble ranks previously conferred upon Faguo. (The various writings recording these śramaṇas are too numerous to include.)

2.11

When Shizu [Tuoba] Tao ascended the throne, he likewise adhered to the heritage of Taizu and Taizong, frequently inviting śramaṇas of eminent virtue to engage in discussion with him. On the eighth day of the fourth month, Buddhist statues were borne on carriages through the broad thoroughfares; the Emperor personally went to the gate tower to watch, scattering flowers to pay reverence. When Shizu pacified Helian Chang, he obtained the śramaṇa Huishi. Originally surnamed Zhang, he was a native of Qinghe. Hearing that Kumārajīva was translating scriptures, he went to Chang'an to see him and observe and practice meditation north of the Bai Canal; by day he would enter the city to listen to lectures, and at night he would return to dwell in quietude. Many discerning people throughout the Guanzhong region revered him. When Liu Yu destroyed Yao Hong, he left his son Yizhen to guard Chang'an; Yizhen and his subordinates all revered and respected him. Later, when Yizhen left Chang'an, Helian Quju pursued and defeated him; monastics and laypeople, young and old alike, were buried alive and slaughtered. Huishi's body was struck by naked blades, yet he was not wounded. Quju was furious and summoned Huishi before him, personally striking him with his own precious sword, but again could not harm him. Thereupon, terrified, he apologized. Later Huishi arrived at the capital, where he offered much instruction and guidance, his miraculous traces inscrutable to men. Shizu valued him and continually showed him reverence. From the time he first practiced meditation until his death, for over fifty years he never lay down to sleep. Walking barefoot in mud and dust, his feet were never soiled, and their color became all the more fresh and white; the world called him the 'White-Footed Araṇya'. Knowing the time of his end, having purified himself through fasting, he sat upright. Surrounded by disciples, he peacefully passed away. His corpse was kept for ten days, and his facial expression remained unchanged. More than ten years after his death, when the coffin was opened for reburial, his body had not decayed at all; the whole world marveled at it. Over six thousand people attended his funeral, all deeply moved and weeping. The Director of the Secretariat Gao Yun composed a biography praising his virtuous deeds; upon his tomb, a stone monastery was erected, where his portrait still remains.

2.12

Shizu was naturally fond of Zhuangzi and Laozi, chanting and savoring them morning and night; being in the prime of youth, his ambitions were keenly set on military exploits. Although he took refuge in the Buddhist Dharma and respected śramaṇas, he had not yet perused the scriptural teachings to seek deeply into the principles of karmic retributions. When he obtained the Daoist teachings of Kou Qianzhi, which, with their purity, non-action (asaṃskṛta), and evidence of immortal transformation, he accordingly came to believe in and practice his arts. The Minister over the Masses Cui Hao adhered to the Way of Qianzhi and especially disbelieved in Buddhism, repeatedly slandering it in discussions with the Emperor, calling it false and extravagant waste for the world. Because of Cui's broad eloquence, the Emperor placed considerable trust in him. It happened that Gai Wu rebelled at Xingcheng, and the Guanzhong region was thrown into turmoil; the Emperor marched west on campaign and, arriving in Chang'an, entered a monastery to observe it. Śramaṇas served wine to the imperial attendants; entering their side rooms, they saw property, bows and arrows, and goods deposited and hidden by local governors and wealthy men, counting by the tens of thousands. The Emperor was already incensed by the śramaṇas' unlawful behavior; Cui Hao, who was accompanying the expedition at the time, took advantage of this to advance his arguments. An edict was issued to execute the śramaṇas of Chang'an and burn and destroy the Buddhist images; orders were sent down to the imperial chancellery that the four quarters were to act entirely in accordance with the Chang'an proceedings. Another edict stated: 'Those śramaṇas falsely use the absurd fabrications of the Western Barbarians to produce evil apparitions recklessly, which is not the means to unify governance and propagate pure virtue throughout the world. From princes and dukes down, anyone privately harboring śramaṇas must hand them over; if the deadline passes without presenting them, the śramaṇas shall be put to death, and the harbinger's entire family shall be executed.' At that time, Gongzong was Crown Prince supervising the state; having always revered the Buddhist Path, he repeatedly presented memorials stating the excessive severity of the punishments and executions, and arguing that the statues and paintings bore no guilt. After [Gongzong's] repeated appeals, the Emperor refused to grant them and issued an edict saying: 'Formerly, the dissolute ruler of the Later Han foolishly gave credence to false delusions, absurdly using a dream as a pretext, and believed in the barbarians' bewitching spirits to disrupt the constants of Heaven; since antiquity such a thing had never existed within the Nine Provinces. Their boastful and extravagant big words do not accord with human sentiments; in degenerate times, benighted rulers and rebellious lords were without exception dazzled by them. Because of this, government and moral instruction failed to operate, rites and righteousness were ruined, the way of spirits flourished wildly, and the laws of the king were treated with utter contempt. Ever since then, successive ages of disasters and chaos, extreme visitations of heavenly punishments, have wiped out the common people; the lands within the five zones of submission have been reduced to ruins, and for a thousand li all is desolate without human traces. All this is due to this [heresy]. We have received Heaven's succession in a time confronting the exhaustion of fortunes, and We desire to eliminate the false, establish the true, and restore the governance of Fuxi and Shennong. Let the barbarian gods be swept away completely, their traces eradicated, so that We may perhaps not fall short of the Feng clan! From this time forward, whoever dares to worship the barbarian gods or make their figures as clay men or bronze men shall have their whole family executed. Though they speak of barbarian gods, if one asks current barbarians whether they exist or not, they are all former generations' Han scoundrels like Liu Yuanzhen and Lü Boqiang who adopted the absurd words of begging barbarians, used the falsehoods of Laozi and Zhuangzi, added and expanded upon them—none of it is real! It has even caused the royal law to be abandoned and unenforced; they are indeed the ringleaders of great treachery! The world possesses extraordinary men who can accomplish extraordinary feats; if not for Us, who could purge these false fabrications of successive ages? Let the authorities proclaim: wherever there are Buddhist images or barbarian scriptures, all shall be smashed and burned away; śramaṇas, young and old alike, shall all be buried alive.' This was in the third month of the seventh year of the Zhenjun reign era (446 CE). Although Gongzong's words were not heeded, he nonetheless delayed the promulgation of the edict, allowing those near and far to learn of it in advance and make their plans. Many śramaṇas in the capital and the four quarters fled into hiding and escaped; precious statues and scriptures and treatises of gold and silver were largely concealed in secret. As for the clay and wooden temples and stūpas within reach of the voice of authority, all were completely eradicated and destroyed.

2.13

The compiler of this collection says: The Emperor was originally from a region of horses and warfare, and had always been devoid of any familiarity with literary refinement. Having taken part in military affairs, wherever he went he exterminated and slaughtered; he took only this as governance, without engaging in other matters. Thus he killed the court historians because he felt ashamed of his errors being recorded. When Cui Hao plotted in secret, the Emperor failed to perceive his flattering eloquence, and so carried out the extermination. At the time it was considered the satisfaction of an era's desires. Before long, leprosy afflicted him; he had no way to undo his regrets. He came to regard Cui Hao as a mortal enemy; [his] cruel and excessive punishments became a laughingstock to the whole world.

2.14

Previously, when Hao and Kou Qianzhi both accompanied [the campaign], Qianzhi strenuously debated with Hao, but Hao would not heed him. Qianzhi said: 'You are now cutting short your lifespan and dooming your entire clan to destruction!' In the eleventh year of the Zhenjun reign era, Hao was executed with all five corporal punishments, being seventy years of age at the time. The Emperor felt considerable regret; however, the deed had already been done, and restoration was difficult midway through. Gongzong secretly wished to revive it, but did not dare speak out. At that time the laws were relaxed and unenforced; households that preserved their faith served śramaṇas, and those who secretly donned the Dharma robes and chanted scriptures were abundant. In the second month of the thirteenth year, [the Emperor] died of his affliction. His son Huang died as a result of slander, and his grandson was enthroned.

2.15

Checking a separate biography, [we find that] Hao maligned and attacked the Buddha-Dharma, revered the Celestial Master Kou Qianzhi, and studied the Way of the Immortals. His wife, Madame Guo, reverently had faith in the Buddhist scriptures and recited the *Vajracchedikā-prajñāpāramitā*. Hao took it and burned it, throwing the ashes into the latrine. When he was arrested and sent in a cage-cart to the south of the city, ten guards were ordered to urinate upon him from above. His howling cries were heard along the thoroughfare. Hao said: 'This is my visible karmic retribution for throwing away the sūtra!' At first, Hao was able to give free rein to his flattery and eradicate the Buddhist gate. With deep malice he heaped on slanders, openly proclaiming them in royal edicts, taking them to be the ringleaders of monstrous demons. The Emperor had not fully investigated it; thus it can be called: 'An extraordinary man who could carry out extraordinary deeds.' How true! After Hao's clan was executed, the Cui clan of Qinghe without distinction of close or distant relations, along with the Lu clan of Fanyang, the Guo clan of Taiyuan, and the Liu clan of Hedong—all of whom were Hao's kin by marriage—had their clans entirely wiped out. The *Classic of Poetry* says: 'Slanderers know no bounds, throwing the four states into disorder.' It is truly verified! The compiler of this discourse says: Among the punishments inflicted upon the Three Excellencies since antiquity, this was the most cruel. Was it not because [the Emperor] hated him for feigning deceit and corrupt flattery, excessively harming the shrines of benevolence, which brought leprosy upon his own person with no way to excuse himself? He publicly executed the slanderer, secretly regretting his own past error. Restraining oneself and returning to propriety is indeed difficult to take as a model! Not blaming himself for his dark delusions, he then inflicted cruelty and blamed others. In the end it was not quietly passing over errors, but ultimately suffering what those who 'bite their own navels' [in futile regret] face. Formerly, Guan Longfeng encountered Jie of Xia, and Bi Gan was disemboweled by Xin of Yin; the roasting pillar was set up to establish severe punishments, and the pool of wine was used to please their ministers and concubines. How could the people of that time have called this righteous governance? Indulging it and adorning errors, praising it and proclaiming it good, later on, when [Jie] was exiled to Nanchao and [Zhou's] head was hung from a white banner, no one could substitute for them—they had to face it themselves. Their states were abolished and their persons perished, with nothing that could be reclaimed; disaster did not pause on their heels, but brought its own sorrow. Ever since then, down through the ages, the practice of abdication became the common rule. Emperor Wen of Wei opened its true records, and examined throughout all antiquity, even Yao and Shun still found fault with it. Therefore the Buddhist sūtra says: 'Even the two cosmic bodies [heaven and earth] must perish; what constancy does a state possess?' These are ultimate words! If Shizu could have searched his own heart and reflected upon himself: having originally belonged to the dark realms [of the northern nomads] where ritual decorum and righteousness were not practiced, and merciful salvation had never been known, unaware of what past karma allowed him to suddenly hold the Central Plains, how could he indulge in such murky cruelty and carry out such arrogant tyranny? This was unacceptable. Should he not have used this to encourage himself and put an end to regret?

2.16

At that time there was a śramaṇa named Xuan'gao, who was an outstanding talent of the gate of emptiness [Buddhism]. Comprehending the spiritual, he moved the multitudes. His Way reigned over Hexi, and when Liang was pacified, he returned eastward. Taiwu had faith in and esteemed him, making him the teacher of Crown Prince Huang. Huang’s filial piety and respect came from nature, and he venerated and looked up to the Buddha-Dharma. Cui and Kou enjoyed the Emperor's favor, and fearing that if Huang assumed the regency they might face peril and banishment, they secretly slandered him to the Emperor, claiming that he harbored rebellious designs and asking whether they should not be provided against in advance. The Emperor believed them, and thereupon imprisoned the Crown Prince in the inner palace. The Emperor dreamt of his grandfather holding a sword and angrily saying: 'The Crown Prince’s benevolence, filial piety, loyalty, and sincerity are thoroughly evident. Why do you believe slanders?' When the Emperor woke, he assembled his court ministers to relate this to them. The various grandees said: 'The Crown Prince was without fault, yet was wrongly disgraced by imprisonment.' The Emperor again believed them. In the first month of the fifth year of Zhenjun, he issued an edict stating: 'We have succeeded to the brilliant lineage of Our ancestors, contemplating the propagation of the vast enterprise to glorify it for myriad generations. Although martial accomplishments are illustrious, civil teachings have not yet spread, which is not the means to exalt the governance of great peace. Now the realm is at ease and the common people are prosperous and abundant; it is fitting to establish regulations to serve as a model for myriad generations. Indeed, the yin and yang alternate, and the four seasons succeed each other in sequence. Entrusting [governance] to one's son and delegating the worthy to mutually ensure safety is the way to rest the fatigued and solidify the long-lasting. This is an immutable and excellent canon of ancient and modern times. Let the Imperial Crown Prince succeed to managing the myriad affairs and overseer of all administrative departments; let further worthy and good men be recommended to fill the array of offices, selecting individuals to grant appointments, demoting and promoting them. Let the court officials and the common people all address themselves as subjects to the Crown Prince,' and so forth. Cui Hao again slandered, saying: 'Regarding the Crown Prince’s previous affair, he truly had intentions to plot treason, but he only allied with Master Gao's esoteric arts, which was what caused the late Emperor to descend in a dream. With such public discourse and evidence difficult to clarify, if he is not eliminated early, it will certainly cause great harm.' The Emperor again accepted his words, immediately imprisoning the Crown Prince until his death. He also arrested Gao and strangled him south of Pingcheng; this was in the twenty-first year of the Yuanjia reign of Song. That night, none of the disciples knew of his death, when suddenly a bright light encircled the stūpa and entered the room. A voice said: 'I have already departed.' The disciples rushed to where the corpse lay and pleaded for his final parting instructions. Gao suddenly sat up and said: 'The accommodation of the Great Dharma flourishes and declines in accordance with conditions. Flourishing and declining pertain to traces; the Principle remains constantly serene. I only reflect that you all, before long, will also be like me. After you die, the Dharma shall rise again. Good practitioners, cultivate your minds and do not give cause for regret.' Having finished speaking, he lay down and passed away. Cui Hao's slanderous words were so deep that they could cause a father to suspect his son even unto death by imprisonment—how much more so for a śramaṇa!

2.17

Taiwu passed away on the fifth day of the second month of the thirteenth year of Zhenjun. The Crown Prince had previously died in imprisonment. The Prince of Wu ascended the throne on the ninth day, changing the era name to Yongping. On the first day of the tenth month, the Prince of Wu passed away as well. The Emperor's grandson, taboo name Jun, ascended the throne, changing the era name to Xing'an. This was Emperor Wencheng, with the temple name Gaozong. Now, the Buddhist teachings are vast and grand, illuminating the four seas; among the myriad states of this continent, there is no king who does not venerate them. Although they were abolished in the Northern Wei, in the Southern Song they flourished even more. To call [Taiwu] a 'True Lord' and an 'enlightened ruler'—is that not deluded? Suspecting his own son while believing a traitorous minister—what could be more lamentable? Incurring leprosy and bringing calamity upon himself—is this not the extreme of cruelty? The people yearned for a restoration of governance, and those who sought preservation and survival were not few.

2.18

In the first year of Xing'an, Gaozong ascended the throne. He issued an edict saying: 'Those who act as emperors and kings must revere the luminous spirits and make manifest the way of benevolence. As for those who could bestow benefits upon the living people and succor all kinds of beings, even if in antiquity, their heroic deeds are still recorded in order. Thus the *Spring and Autumn Annals* praises the rites of honoring the luminous, and the sacrificial canons record the clans who bestowed achievements. How much more so for the Tathāgata of the Śākya teachings, whose merits aid the trichiliocosm and whose grace flows to the defiled world! Those who examine life and death praise his penetrating insight; those who peruse the literary doctrines value his wondrous gate. It aids the prohibitive laws of royal governance, augments the good nature of benevolence and wisdom, expels all heresies, and expounds true enlightenment. Therefore, from former dynasties onward, none did not revere it, and it is likewise what Our state has constantly honored and served. Shizu, the Emperor Taiwu, expanded the distant wilderness and his virtuous grace reached far and wide. Śramaṇas and Daoist masters of pure sincerity in good conduct, such as the cohort of Huishi, reached everywhere no matter how distant; moved by their righteous spirit, they were often as numerous as a forest. Now, the depths of mountains and seas harbor many monstrous things; the cohorts of the treacherous and debauched are able to find shelter under false pretenses. Among the various temples, vicious factions came to exist. Consequently, the previous court, because of these flaws and offenses, punished the guilty. However, the authorities misunderstood the intent and banned everything across the board. Emperor Jingmu frequently sighed with regret over this. Yet, facing many affairs of the military and the state, he had no leisure to restore it. Having inherited the great lineage and reigning over the myriad states, We contemplate carrying out the intentions of Our predecessors to promote this Way. Now We decree that in every administrative center of the commanderies and counties of the various provinces, at places where the multitudes dwell, permission is granted to construct one Buddhist stūpa in each place, allowing them to use their own financial resources without setting limits or restrictions. As for those who love the Dharma of the Way and wish to become śramaṇas, regardless of age, provided they come from a good family, are of consistently sincere nature and conduct, and are known to their local community, they are permitted to leave household life: fifty persons for large provinces and thirty for small provinces. This will suffice to transform evil toward good and broadcast the teachings of the Way.' Thereupon, the whole world followed this trend, morning not waiting for evening; the stūpas and temples destroyed in former times were all restored, and Buddhist statues, sūtras, and treatises were all brought out into the open. At that time, a śramaṇa of the royal lineage of Kaśmīra named Shixian traveled east to the city of Liang, and then to the capital. Encountering the abolition of the Buddha-Dharma, he temporarily made use of medical arts while maintaining the Way without change. On the day of the restoration, he immediately became a śramaṇa along with five peers. The Emperor personally shaved his hair, and Xian was appointed Controller of the Clergy, and so forth.

2.19

In the first year of Xingguang, an imperial order was issued to the authorities to cast five statues of Śākyamuni at the Grand Temple of the Five Stages for the five emperors from Taizu downwards, each measuring one *zhang* six *chi* in height, using two hundred and fifty thousand catties of red copper.

2.20

The Emperor treated the śramaṇa Tanyao with the etiquette due a master. Tanyao requested the Emperor to open five cave sanctuaries in the cliff-face of the Western Mountains of Wuzhou, west of the capital, carving one Buddhist statue in each, the tallest being seventy *chi* and the next sixty *chi*. The carving and ornamentation were extraordinarily majestic, surpassing myriad generations. Those who see it nowadays transmit reports saying: 'The valley is thirty *li* deep; on the east is a monastery called Lingyan, and on the west end is a nunnery. In each, niches are carved from the rock, some accommodating a thousand persons, with those of lesser size arranged in dense succession like the teeth of a comb. The middle section of the stone cliff, spanning seven *li*, is extremely tall and precipitous, with Buddhist niches contiguous to one another; elsewhere they are intermittent at times. Who could calculate the number of Buddhist images?' There was an eighty-year-old Daoist [Buddhist] practitioner whose practice was to bow to the statues; making one bow before each image, he reached the middle niche and died. His corpse lay prostrate on the ground, and it was sealed with stones, remaining visible to this day. Its era cannot be determined. It lies three hundred *li* east of Shuozhou and more than twenty *li* west of Heng'an Town. Travelers coming and going often describe it. It is truly an inconceivable work of merit!

2.21

In the first year of Huangxing, Gaozu Xiaowen was born. At the Northern Terrace of Heng'an, the Yongning Temple's seven-tiered stūpa was erected, over three hundred *chi* in height. Its foundation and framework were broad and spacious, ranking foremost under heaven. Furthermore, at Tiangong Temple, an image of Śākyamuni was made, forty-three *chi* in height, using one hundred thousand catties of red copper and six hundred catties of yellow gold. In addition, a three-tiered stone stūpa ten *zhang* in height was constructed, with rafters, beams, lintels, and pillars interlocking above and below, all of stone large and small, solidly built and ingeniously compact, forming a magnificent sight in the capital.

2.22

In the first year of Yanxing, Xianzu Xianwen abdicated the throne to Crown Prince Senggai, also named Hong, who was Emperor Xiaowen. At the age of five, he was sagely and profound in insight, exhausting the wondrous and discerning the subtle. Upon his initial accession, Xianzu moved his residence to the Chongguang Palace in the Northern Park to guide and study the arcane scriptures. He erected the Luye [Mṛgadāva] Stūpa on the Western Mountain within the park, ten *li* to the right of Chongguang, with cliff chambers and dhyāna rooms where meditation monks resided.

2.23

In the first year of Chengming, the Grand Emperor Xianzu passed away, and the Jianming Temple was constructed. After that, the acts of establishing merit, ordaining monks, and erecting temples were not few.

2.24

In the sixteenth year of Taihe, an edict was issued: Every year on the eighth day of the fourth month and the fifteenth day of the seventh month, large provinces are permitted to ordain one hundred monks and nuns, medium provinces fifty, and small provinces twenty, established by decree as the regular standard. In the nineteenth year of Taihe, the Emperor visited Baita Temple in Xuzhou, and looking around at the various princes and attendant officials, he said: 'In recent times this temple had a famous monk, Dharma Master Sengsong, who received the *Tattvasiddhi-śāstra* from Kumārajīva, and later transmitted it to Dharma Master Yuan; Yuan in turn transmitted it to the two Dharma Masters Dao Deng and Tanji. Whenever We study the *Tattvasiddhi*, it can untie one's deepest sentiments, which is why We have come to this temple.' Daodeng was refined in his doctrinal undertakings; Gaozu favored and esteemed him, constantly having him attend upon lectures and discussions within the imperial precincts. When he died, the Emperor mourned him with regret, donating a thousand bolts of silk, holding a vegetarian feast for all the saṅgha, and performing circumambulations of the Way in the capital for seven days. He issued an edict saying: 'Our teacher, Dharma Master Deng, has suddenly passed away; Our grief and sorrowful distress cannot be stayed. Recently We have been taking medicine and are cautious about attending funerals, which does not allow Us to hasten there immediately, but conforming to the propriety due a teacher, We wept outside the gates.' The monastics and laity honored him for this. The Western Regions śramaṇa Batuo possessed profound practice in the Way and was held in deep respect by the Emperor; by edict, Shaolin Temple was founded on the northern slope of Mount Shaoshi for him to reside in, with clothing and requisites provided at public expense.

2.25

In the fifth month of the twenty-first year, an edict stated: 'Dharma Master Kumārajīva can indeed be said to have possessed a spirit surpassing the five faculties and an aspiration conforming to the four modes of conduct. Traces of him still remain at Changzhu Temple. Delighted to trace his footsteps, Our sentiments run deep toward him across time and space. A three-tiered stūpa may be erected for him at the site of his old hall. Furthermore, having been coerced by the tyrannical and violent, he preserved his person for the sake of the Way; since he temporarily conformed to secular rituals, he should have descendants. Let inquiries be made to report them to the throne, so that proper appointments and reception may be granted.' Prior to this, the Bureau for the Supervision of Merit had been established, later renamed the Office of Zhaoxuan, equipped with official staff to adjudicate saṅgha affairs, which is the equivalent of the present-day Chongxuan Office of Tongwen Temple. Prominent śramaṇas during the time of Gaozu included Daoshun, Huijue, Sengyi, Huiji, Sengfan, Daobian, Huidu, Zhidān, Sengxian, Sengyi, and Sengli, all of whom were esteemed for their doctrinal learning and righteous conduct.

2.26

In the Wei dynasty, Emperor Xiaowen was a sage Son of Heaven. At five years of age he received the abdication [of the throne], and at ten he assumed the imperial crown. In the eighteenth year of the Taihe reign era, he moved the capital to Luoyang. In the twentieth year, he changed the imperial surname to the Yuan clan. His literary works numbered more than a hundred pieces, excelling beyond antiquity. When he first ascended the throne, edicts and proclamations were drafted by officials; after Taihe, he personally wielded the brush for all of them. The earlier and later emperors could not match him, as shown in the edicts issued in the chapter on monastic conduct.

2.27

When Emperor Shizong ascended the throne, he issued an edict stating: "Monastics and the laity are distinct, and their laws and regulations also differ. Therefore, the teachings of the Way are clarified through reciprocal illumination, and proscriptions and encouragements each have what is fitting for them. Monks who commit offenses of murder and above shall be judged according to secular statutes. All other offenses are to be remitted to the Court of State Buddhist Affairs (Zhaoxuan) to be adjudicated according to the internal Vinaya and monastic regulations."

2.28

In the first year of the Xiping reign era, an edict dispatched the monk Huisheng as an envoy to the Western Regions to collect sūtras and vinayas. Traveling for seven years, he returned in the winter of the third year of the Zhengguang reign era, having obtained one hundred and seventy works of sūtras and śāstras. In the beginning of the Jingming reign era, Emperor Shizong ordered the Director of the Palace Domestic Service (Dachangqiu qing) to model on the stone caves of Lingyan Temple in the northern capital and excavate two stone caves at Mount Yique south of Luoyang for the deceased Emperor Gaozu and Empress Dowager Wenzhao. They were three hundred and ten feet above the ground. Later, because cutting into the mountain was too high and the labor and expenditure difficult to complete, a memorial was submitted to move them down to a level area, one hundred feet above the ground and one hundred and forty feet from north to south. During the Yongping reign era, one stone cave was made for Emperor Shizong, making three in all. From the first year of the Jingming reign era to the fourth year of the Zhengguang reign era, it took twenty-four years to complete, consuming eight hundred and two thousand three hundred and sixty-six work-units.

2.29

During the Xiping reign era of Emperor Suzong, Yongning Temple was built inside the city. The Empress Dowager Ling personally led the civil and military officials to lay the foundations and erect the mast. The pagoda had nine tiers and was over four hundred feet high, with expenditures beyond calculation. The pagoda of Jingming Temple was second only to it. Thereafter, official and private temples and pagodas grew exceedingly numerous. In the first year of the Shengui reign era, the Minister of Works and Director of the Department of State Affairs, King Cheng of Rencheng, submitted a memorial regarding the issue of temples and pagodas gradually multiplying and impeding the dwellings of commoners. In brief, it stated: "When the Tathāgata expounded his teachings, he mostly stayed in mountains and forests. Now these crowds of monks cling to cities and towns. How could cramped and foul alleys be suitable for walking meditation, and noisy bustle be a place for resting in dhyāna? This must arise because worldly gain entices their minds and they cannot restrain themselves. Furthermore, those who dwell there have lost their truth, and those who build them may diminish their blessings. They are indeed the dregs of the Śākya clan and the rats in the shrine of the Dharma-gate, intolerable to the inner precepts and fit to be cast aside by royal statutes." The memorial was approved. Soon after, the empire fell into turmoil and ruin; in addition, with the catastrophe of Heyin, court officials who died again gave up their residences to make temples, so the prohibitions were no longer enforced. In the second year of the Xinghe reign era, an edict designated the old palace in the city of Ye as Tianping Temple. From the reign of Emperor Shizong down to the end of the Wuding reign era, the celebrated monks included Huimeng, Huibian, Huishen, Sengxian, Daoyin, Sengxian, Daoxi, Sengshen, Huiguang, Huiyong, Farong, and Daozhang, all of whom were esteemed by monastics and laity alike. From the time the Wei possessed the empire down to the abdication, Buddhist scriptures circulated and gathered in great numbers in China, totaling four hundred and fifteen works in one thousand nine hundred and nineteen rolls. After the Zhengguang reign era, the world was full of anxieties and corvée labor was particularly severe. Thereupon, registered households everywhere followed one another in entering the religious life, feigning admiration for śramaṇas while actually evading taxes and labor. The excess and disorder reached an extreme never seen since the Buddhadharma came to China. An approximate estimate reckoned over two million monks and nuns and more than thirty thousand temples. That the corrupt practices could drift unchecked to such a point was the reason discerning people sighed with deep regret.

2.30

The origin of the Daoists stems from Laozi. He himself claimed to have been born before heaven and earth to nurture all beings; above, he resides in the Jade Capital as the ancestor of divine kings, and below, he stays in the Purple Tenuity as the lord of flying immortals. With thousands of changes and myriad transformations, showing virtue or non-virtue, responding to things in accordance with resonance, his traces are never constant. He transmitted [the Way] to Xuanyuan at Mount Emei, and instructed Emperor Ku in pasturing virtue; the Great Yu heard the secret of longevity from him, and Yin Xi received the teachings of the Daodejing. As for cinnabar writings and purple characters, scriptures on ascending to the Mystery and flying paces, or discourses on jade, stone, golden radiance, subtle being, and numinous caverns, they are beyond count. As for their teachings, all profess to purge evil burdens and wash the mind, accumulating deeds, establishing merits, amassing virtue, and increasing good, even ascending to heaven in broad daylight and living eternally in the world. For this reason, the First Emperor of Qin and Emperor Wu of Han set their minds upon it unceasingly, wearing out their minds and exhausting resources to pursue it everywhere, but ultimately attained nothing, feeling resentment in the end; thus occurred the executions of Luan Da and the Xu clan. Yet because their way bewilders people, those who imitated and studied it were not few. Emperor Ling placed a canopy in the Zhuolong Garden and set up an altar to perform rituals. When Zhang Ling received the Way at Heming [Mount], he transmitted one thousand two hundred celestial registers and petitions; his disciples passed them down to one another, and his practices spread widely. Fasts, sacrifices, kneelings, and prostrations each had established rules. Thereupon, the Three Primes, the Nine Offices, the one hundred and twenty officials, and all the various gods were entirely brought under their governance. Furthermore, they spoke of cosmic eons (kalpas), borrowing considerably from Buddhist scriptures; when the eon came to an end, they claimed that heaven and earth would both be destroyed. Their writings contained many esoteric taboos, which were not to be viewed rashly unless by their disciples. As for transforming gold, melting jade, employing talismans, commanding water, and wondrous recipes and arts of myriad sorts, their highest claim was feathering and flying to heaven, and second to that, averting calamities and destroying misfortunes. Hence, those who delighted in the wondrous often revered and served them. Formerly, when Emperor Wendi entered as a guest to the Jin, his attendants said he had ascended as an immortal at Yique. Emperor Taizu was fond of the words of Laozi and chanted them untiringly. During the Tianxing reign era, the Secretary of Rites Dong Mi presented several tens of texts of immortal scriptures on dietary regimens; an Erudite of Immortals was thereupon appointed, an immortal workshop established to boil and refine the hundred medicinal herbs, and the Western Mountains were sealed off to supply their firewood. Condemned criminals were ordered to ingest the elixirs, but most died without any efficacy. Emperor Taizu nevertheless cultivated it specially. The imperial physician Zhou Dan, distressed by the toil of decocting and gathering herbs, wished to abolish the enterprise. He secretly instructed his wife to bribe the concubine of the Erudite of Immortals Zhang Yao and obtain Zhang's hidden crimes. Yao, fearing death, thereupon requested permission to practice grain avoidance on his own. Emperor Taizu granted it, gave Yao provisions, built a quiet chamber for him in the imperial park, and assigned two families of commoners to sweep and clean for him; yet the officials refining medicines still did not cease. After a long time, Emperor Taizu's interest waned slightly, and only then did it stop.

2.31

During the reign of Emperor Shizu, there was a Daoist named Kou Qianzhi, courtesy name Fuzhen, the younger brother of Kou Zan, the inspector of Southern Yong Prefecture. From an early age he loved the Dao of immortality and practiced the arts of Zhang Lu. He consumed dietary drugs for many years without effect. There was an immortal named Chenggong Xing who worked as a hired laborer in Qianzhi's household. Later, when Qianzhi was calculating the movements of the seven luminaries, he was bewildered and could not figure them out. Xing said, "Why do you not solve it?" Qianzhi said, "I have studied calculation for many years, but my extended calculations do not match the cycles." Xing instructed him to arrange the figures according to his words, and in an instant it was resolved. Qianzhi admired him with sighing respect and wished to serve him as a master. Xing firmly declined and instead sought to become Qianzhi's disciple. Before long, Xing entered Mount Hua and lived in a stone chamber. Xing gathered herbs and gave them to Qianzhi to ingest, so that he was no longer hungry. Together they also entered a stone chamber on Mount Songgao, where Xing said, "Someone will surely bring medicine; when you receive it, simply eat it without doubt." Soon someone arrived bringing medicine, but it was all poisonous insects and foul-smelling things. Qianzhi fled in fear. When Xing returned and inquired in detail, he sighed and said, "Sir, you are not destined to become an immortal; you can only be a preceptor to emperors and kings." Xing served Qianzhi for seven years, and then said, "I cannot remain long; I must depart tomorrow at noon." When the time arrived, he indeed passed away. Two boys were seen—one holding monastic robes and the other holding a staff and bowl—coming to the place of Xing's corpse. Xing sprang up suddenly, put on the robes, took the bowl, held the staff, and departed.

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廣弘明集 — Classical Chinese