廣弘明集 26.13

26.13

In the twelfth year of his reign over the realm, Emperor Gaozu Wu of the Liang issued an edict abolishing animal sacrifices at the ancestral temples, practicing the Buddhist precepts, eating vegetarian food, and cutting off desires. The śramaṇa Sengyou of Upper Dinglin Temple, the Longhua Village Chief Bai Chaodu, and others submitted a memorial saying: 'The capital commandery is a field of merit, yet families consuming fresh meat still set out fish traps and nets, and travelers riding side by side still race falcons and hounds. This is not the way to look up to and match the imperial court's generous and pervasive purpose. We request that in the two territories of Danyang and Langya, hunting and netting on both water and land be prohibited.' By imperial decree, this was submitted to the Department of State Affairs for detailed deliberation. The Gentleman of Discussion Jiang Kuang considered: 'The Way of the sages takes the mind of the hundred clans as its mind; the transformation wrought by the benevolent covers beings through personal practice. The imperial virtue's love for life harmonizes with above and below; progressing day by day and advancing month by month, it will naturally have pity on mundane customs. To suppress and ban them in a single morning would, it is feared, alarm the ignorant people. Furthermore, those who hunt in the mountains are by habit able to traverse difficult paths, and those who fish in the waters do not fear winds and waves. If Jiangning is banned, they will immediately reach Niuzhu; if Yanling does not permit it, they will go straight to Yangxian. Although the locations where living creatures are taken differ, the number of lives killed is the same. This would merely be an empty regulation of preservation, offering no benefit to the method of preserving life.' Concurrently, the Senior Clerk of the Secretariat Wang Shu considered: 'The capital is grand and dignified, watched by the four quarters. When the people are gradually touched by transformation, it will surely extend to the myriad states. Now in bitter cold and sweltering rain, the people still bear no resentment; how much more so when discarding the mundane to enter the true brings joy! We maintain that prohibiting it is correct.' The Assistant Director of the Left Xie Jiqing said: 'The propriety of non-killing is truly as Wang Shu has deliberated. However, when sages establish teachings, they also adapt to mundane customs. Judging from the circumstances, I fear it is not suitable to ban it only in part. If these two commanderies alone have this prohibition, it would resemble non-Buddhist schools who claim that the precept of non-killing has territorial limits. Following the expediency of the times, I respectfully agree with the deliberation of Gentleman of Discussion Jiang Kuang.' Minister Dan of the Department of State Affairs, Vice Director Ang, Director Ying, and those below all agreed with Kuang's deliberation. The Emperor dispatched Zhou She to challenge Kuang, saying: 'The Book of Rites states: "The gentleman stays far from the kitchen; where there is blood and breath, he does not personally slaughter them; seeing them alive, he cannot bear their death; hearing their cries, he does not eat their meat." These all arise from benevolence in one's immediate presence, not concerning distant reach. In the ritual of the three drives, those who face me are spared, and those who turn their backs to me are shot.' Thereupon, relying on Wang Shu's deliberation, it was finally prohibited.