廣弘明集 25.30

25.30

The Liezi states: “In the time of King Mu of the Zhou, a transformed man came from the western extremity. He could overturn mountains and rivers and relocate cities and towns; his thousands of changes and ten thousand transformations were inexhaustible. King Mu revered him like a spirit and honored him like a sage.” This was the very beginning of the Buddha’s transformation reaching [here]. The scriptural catalogues of Zhu Shixing and the Śramaṇa Dao’an state: “In the time of Qin Shi Huang, eighteen śramaṇas from the Western Regions came to convert Shi Huang. He would not comply and imprisoned them. At night, a sixteen-foot golden-vajra man broke open the prison and released them. Shi Huang bowed his head and apologized to them.” The Book of Han states: “During the Yuanshou era of Emperor Wu, the Western Regions were opened, and golden men were obtained, each more than a zhang tall. They were displayed in the Ganquan Palace. The Emperor considered them great spirits and burned incense to worship them. Later, Zhang Qian was dispatched to Daxia to seek them out, and he reported that there was a country called Shendu, which is Tianzhu (India). What they called futu was the Buddha.” This was the first knowledge of the name and form of the Buddha. The Director of Waterways under Emperor Cheng, Liu Xiang, said: “When I inspected the stored books, I frequently came across Buddhist scriptures.” Thus [Buddhism] had already circulated in the Zhou and Qin, and Shi Huang could not burn them all. In the Yuanshou era of Emperor Ai, the envoy Jing Xian went to the Great Yuezhi kingdom and returned having recited the Futu jing. At that time, the Han territory gradually began to observe fasts and precepts. According to this, the Buddhadharma had once been heard of, but it lay hidden midway until this resurgence.