廣弘明集 2.15

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?