廣弘明集 5

English (machine translation) 5

Language: English

5.1

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

The delusions of the worldly fall roughly into two kinds. First, they are deluded into taking the Buddha as an illusion and a fabrication designed only to skillfully guide human minds. Second, they are deluded regarding cause and effect, regarding it as obscure and unprovable, and so they cherish and esteem solely their physical bodies and worldly lives. Yet the Buddha is called the Great Awakened One: his illumination reaches to the utmost origins of latent capacities. He scrutinizes the manifold inclinations of nature and desire, and masters the expedient methods of matching medicines to diseases. Thus he could condescend to manifest a golden presence and display a majestic physical form of sixteen feet. His radiant light shone everywhere, penetrating the great trichiliocosm to propagate the transformation, causing those who received his Way to attain the realization as numerous as sands of dust, within overthrowing the entanglements of the ten fetters, and without sweeping away the impairments of the eight māras. Therefore he could tread water and fire without obstruction, and subdue nāgas and ghosts while keeping the spirit at peace. With the three vidyās and the six supernatural knowledges, he gave full play to the marvelous techniques of the spiritual heart; with the four unhindered eloquence-powers and the eight liberations, he opened the broad highway to shelter all beings. His Way is conspicuous and manifest, yet it is utterly hard to recount in full. As for Old Li, who spoke of the "Dao", he merely elaborated two chapters. In name and rank he was a historiographer of the Zhou, and his learning was that of a single Zhou petty clerk. He was born in Lixiang and died in Huaili. Master Zhuang may be taken as a reliable record, and Qin Yi certainly made no baseless discourse. Yet the historian Qian praised him, saying that he fled westward to the drifting sands; Emperor Jing of the Han believed this, and only then was the study of Dao opened in the eastern lands. Thereafter, his lineage gradually spread, but ultimately it remained mired in the Divine Land. Severing wisdom and keeping to the feminine was completely unheard of throughout the seas. Ignorant worldly people, putting their trust in this, embellished falsehood and presented it as truth, and so composed such scriptures as Laozi's Conversion of the Barbarians, mimicking the Buddhist teachings of the four fruits, the ten grounds, and the cyclical revolutions of kalpas. They moulded earth to make humans, had Avalokiteśvara attend upon the Old Master, used Yellow Writings to deliver life, and deployed Red Talismans to ward off calamities by incantations. Such words are reckless and not worth mentioning. Just when they sought to surpass the Buddha, transcend the Dharma and Saṅgha, and distort customs to make themselves the supreme peak, those with penetrating discernment and farsighted knowledge naturally severed themselves from vulgar habits, whereas petty scholars lost in the crossing might together sink and drown. Moreover, the two chapters on Dao and De were spoken by Juanzi, and Boyang transmitted them as Yin; this was transmitting without creating. As for the four fruits and below, they are not of the Daoist stream at all. This was later disciples and students opening broad avenues of arts, citing analogues whenever they spoke, which on the contrary encumbered their original school. Therefore the Biographies of the Immortals states: 'Ignorant Daoists basely transmitted that Laozi was the state preceptor generation after generation—how spurious!' Ge Hong can be said to be a scholar of innate knowledge, an encounter of a thousand years; all the rest are mediocre, claiming equality while running abreast. Buddhist scriptures contain no account of Li Dan, yet Daoist writings draw heavily from the Buddha's teachings. Men of the world admire antiquity—a common saying of ancient proverbs; hating to stay beneath others—the practice of today's vulgar crowd. Thus, whatever forms exist, they mimic them without exception. The Dao is fundamentally qi; it has no image to depict. Now they imitate the Buddha's golden presence, and line up the celestial halls and the hells; continuously copying and practicing the five precepts and the ten good deeds, they have never had any distinct trace of their own. In the end, their talent and capacity are feeble and weak, unable to establish their own doctrinal school, so they steal scriptures and pilfer meanings, leaning on them to speak of the Dao. As for Yang Xiong's Taixuan, it stood distinctly apart; the Baopuzi's discussion of the Dao opened expedients far off. The likes of Zhuang and Hui may be counted as renowned works, and the Nanhuai which emerged recently is also sufficient to name a master. How could these compare to taking the primal secret of the Sovereign of Heaven, adopting the title of Han Che, bursting forth from the left armpit, and using it to emulate the conduct of the Capable and Benevolent One? Paths like these are manifold; all will be shown below. Furthermore, the worldly are deluded about the karma of the three periods of time, and currently make light of retribution in the four destinies. They think human death is the ultimate end of this life, and in living they know not where they go. Due to this they are sunken and mired, with no chance of deliverance. If I do not systematically narrate it, their enduring delusion will wander even farther. Though deeply averse to prolixity, how could I omit it? The preface also states: Now the arising of understanding or delusion resides in broad observation; righteous endeavors rely on transmitted accounts. To put one's trust darkly in uncertain reports makes it difficult to discern the helmsman. Therefore the four kinds of indestructible purity hold the position at the beginning of entering the stream; only the one collection of the properly determined can be called the domain of stepping into rectitude. The rest are like light feathers first dyed: tossed and turned by the wind, they cannot achieve non-retrogression; though black-lacquered wood is polished, it cannot be made white. Therefore, to discern delusion and walk in rectitude opens the capacity for awakening and penetrating; to settle the form and find peace in the Way must rely on the virtue of investigating illumination. Ever since the Dharma flowed into Cīnasthāna, faith and slander have encroached upon one another, mostly stemming from arbitrary judgment and dictatorial decisions born of self-opinion. Matters that are inevitable across the three periods of time they call parables; forms that are manifest in the six realms of rebirth they call empty references. Now, the cycle of birth and death goes and returns according to karma; taking on a physical body according to each thought-moment, consciousness is transmitted through kalpa after kalpa. Therefore the flower of Haoshang wrote the discourse on 'simultaneous birth'; the sage under the pillar declared that 'its ghosts are not spirits'. It can be said that while the long duration has an end, the course of lives is inexhaustible. After Yu's father had transformed into a yellow bear, the King of Han turned into a blue hound. Pengsheng appeared as a boar, an event manifest to the Duke of Qi; Yuanbo's dangling hat-strings made his name exalted in the Han history. Such paths are numerous; it is hard to record them fully upon one's sash. Ignorant folk groundlessly make excuses, straightway saying that 'the three sovereigns in heaven' was merely an elevated rule for exhortation, and that setting out sacrifices for ghosts to feast was an expedient scheme for the way of filial piety. This contravenes the canons and models of human relations, and oversteps the customary actions of the heavenly constancy; deceptive scriptures that disorder vulgar ways are not worth discussing. As for the tales in the line of wandering souls, and the matters of former bodies narrated in the scriptures, the zhaomu order has its proper sequence, revering ancestors and honoring parents; pursuing the distant and being careful at the end has ever been revered in common. Trampling on frost awakens emotion, an enduring ethical norm across the generations. How could one cast aside one's progenitors and exclusively preserve oneself, recklessly propounding the discourse that ghosts do not exist, while boasting of techniques for preserving the physical body? The previous collection already discussed this, and now I clarify and reveal it once more. It is essential to collate terms and principles, and search out the scriptures and treatises: five thousand fascicles have all been scrutinized by my own eyes, with meanings penetrating the eight repositories, marvelously discerning their essential destination. With such wide attainment, one is completely freed from recurring delusions. I submit that the six causes and four conditions, mounting goodness and evil, bring about karma; the four forms of birth and six realms of rebirth continue the retributions of ascent and descent. This path is level and plain, yet without study one cannot reach it. How could one believe the arbitrary surmises of ordinary fools and reject the clear strategies of the Great Sage? What is more, he arrays the benevolent vessel of the ten perfections to ferry those of great mind across the ocean of suffering; he distinguishes the steps of the four truths to guide small wits away from the mountain of heterodoxy; using the three trainings to unify the two vehicles, and the four wheels to crush the eight difficulties. If the outline is like this, there is no ground for delusion. Moreover, because temples and stūpas were lavish and magnificent, wasting wealth and material, and the offerings and alms to the saṅgha were misappropriated and usurped in the fields of merit, offenses became increasingly flagrant, inviting the ridicule and disgust of contemporary customs, so that the Buddha Dharma was collectively defiled and wholly buried. Therefore the two martial emperors of Zhou and Wei were originally born in the dark regions of Youdu; the two rulers of Helian were mere descendants of the Xianyun. Their lands were not realms of benevolence and righteousness, and their natures completely lacked the heart for moral cultivation. That they arbitrarily enacted destruction is truly not to be wondered at. Now I compile and arrange the successive dynasties, editing them in sequence, in the hope that those lost and submerged may open this and attain awakening. This is what the preface says.

5.4

Table of Contents for 'Discerning Delusions' in the Liang Hongming ji:
Mou Rong, 'Discerning Delusions'
Anonymous, 'Treatise Rectifying Falsehood'
Zong Bing, 'Refutation of He'
He Chengtian, 'Treatise on White and Black'
He Chengtian, 'Treatise on Penetrating Human Nature', with Yan Yanzhi's Refutation
Monk Daoliang, 'Treatise Explaining the Rebuttal'
Zhang Rong, 'Rules of the School', with Zhou Yong's Refutation
Monk Xuanguang, 'Treatise on Discerning Delusions'
Liu Xie, 'Treatise on Extinguishing Delusions'
Li Miao
'Treatise Refuting the Buddha's Physical Form Not Appearing' (answered by Monk Gaoming)
Xiao Ziliang, 'Letter Explaining Suspicions and Doubts'

5.5

General Table of Contents for 'Discerning Delusions' in the Tang Guang hongming ji:
'Treatise on Discerning the Dao' by King Cisi of Wei
'Treatise on Sages and Worthies Following the Same Track, and Lao Dan Not Being a Great Worthy' by Sun Sheng of Jin
'Exposition of the Dao, with Inquiries and Doubts concerning Laozi' by Sun Sheng of Jin
'Treatise on Equalizing the Sages', with Refutations and Explanatory Preface, by Shen Xiuwen of Southern Qi
'Resolutions of the Clinging Delusions of Successive Dynasties' Kings and Ministers'
'Edict on the Abolition of the Buddha Dharma' by Emperor Taiwu of Yuan Wei
'Emperor Gaozu of Zhou Convenes Monks to Debate Abolition and Establishment'
'Treatise on the Two Teachings' by Monk Dao'an of Zhou
'Treatise Mocking the Dao' by Zhen Luan of Zhou
'Edict on the Abolition of the Two Teachings' by Emperor Gaozu of Zhou
'Emperor Wu of Zhou, upon Pacifying Qi, Convenes Monks to Debate Abolition and Establishment'
'Treatise Resisting the Emperor' by Former Monk Ren Daolin of Zhou
'Memorial Requesting the Revival of the Dharma' by Former Monk Wang Mingguang of Zhou
'Memorial on Abolishing the Buddha Dharma' submitted by Fu Yi of Tang
'Treatise on the Ten Differences and Nine Delusions' (with answers) by Vice Director Li of Tang
'Treatise on Breaking the Heterodox' (with memorials and petitions) submitted by Monk Falin of Tang
'Memorial on Establishing the Dharma' submitted by Monk Minggai of Tang
'Treatise on Inner Virtue' by Li Shizheng of Tang
'Resolving Doubts' by Dai An of Jin, along with 'Treatise Resolving Doubts' by the Yao Ruler (and external questions and answers exchanged in ten pieces)
'Treatise Shattering Doubts' by Monk Huijing of Tang

5.6

Guang hongming ji, Chapter Two on Discerning Delusions, Part One (Fascicle 5)

5.7

'Treatise on Discerning the Dao' by Cao Zhi, Zijian, King Cisi of Wei
'Treatise on Sages and Worthies Following the Same Track, and Lao Dan Not Being a Great Worthy' by Sun Sheng, Anguo, Director of the Palace Library under the Jin
'Doubts and Inquiries concerning Laozi' by Sun Sheng of Jin
'Treatise on Equalizing the Sages' by Shen Yue, Regular Attendant of Qi (with refutations and explanations by Tao, the Recluse)

5.8

Treatise on Discerning the Dao

5.9

Cao Zhi of Wei

5.10

Now, the books on immortals and the sayings of the Daoists claim that Fu Yue ascended to become the constellation Chenwei, that the Year Star descended to become Dongfang Shuo, that King An of Huainan was executed in Huainan yet they call it attaining the Way and ascending lightly, and that Lady Gouyi died at Yunyang yet they call it the corpse departing and the coffin being empty. How extreme is their falsity! Among the upright scholars of the Restoration there was Huan Junshan, whose writings were mostly admirable. Liu Zijun once asked someone, 'If one can truly curb cravings and desires and close the ears and eyes, could one avoid decline and exhaustion?' At that time there was an old elm tree in the courtyard. Junshan pointed to it and said, 'This tree has no feelings or desires to repress, and no ears or eyes to close, yet it still withers and rots away. For Zijun to say one could avoid decline and exhaustion is not valid discourse.' Junshan drawing on the elm as an analogy was not right either. Why? When I previously served as Wang Mang’s Grandee of Music, the Music Records stated: Emperor Wen acquired Marquis Wen of Wei’s musician, Old Master Dou, who was one hundred and eighty years old and blind in both eyes. The Emperor found him remarkable and asked him what practices he performed. He replied, 'Your servant lost his sight at the age of thirteen. My parents pitied my inability to work and taught me to play the zither. I am unable to perform gymnastics and guiding [qi], and do not know what power has granted my longevity.' Junshan critiqued this, saying, 'He considerably benefited from becoming blind young, focusing inward and enjoying the aid of his vital essence not examining things outward.' Having first refuted Zijun on the grounds that looking inward is of no benefit, he then turned to Dou Gong and used his not examining [outward] as proof; I have not seen any definitive conclusion in this. Junshan also said, 'Among the masters of esoteric techniques there was Dong Zhongjun, who was imprisoned and feigned death. After several days, his eyes sank and maggots emerged, yet he died and revived, only to finally die in the end. That life must end in death is understood by gentlemen, so what need is there of an analogy?' Now, the supreme spirit does not exceed Heaven and Earth, yet they cannot make hibernating insects roam in summer or thunder crash in winter. When the seasons change, things move; when the qi shifts, events respond. That Zhongjun was able to conceal his breath, make a corpse of his body, rot his flesh, and bring forth maggots—is this not a great absurdity? There are esoteric masters in the world, all of whom our King summoned: Ganling had Gan Shi, Lujiang had Zuo Ci, and Yangcheng had Xi Jian. Shi could circulate qi and practice gymnastics; Ci was adept in the bedroom arts; Jian excelled at grain abstention; all were claimed to be three hundred years old. The original reason for gathering them in the State of Wei was genuinely the fear that such people would consort in deceit to dupe the masses and practice sinister sorcery to bewilder the people; thus they were assembled and placed under restraint. Gan Shi was old yet had a youthful appearance, so the other practitioners all turned to him. However, Shi’s words were copious but lacking in substance, and he secretly made strange claims. Had he encountered the First Emperor of Qin or Emperor Wu of Han, he would have been another Xu Fu or Luan Da. Jie and Zhou lived in different ages yet were equal in evil; wicked people belong to distinct dynasties yet are alike in fabrication—could this be the case? Furthermore, the world emptily maintains tales of immortals. Are immortals of the same kind as monkeys and apes, or do people of the world attain the Way and transform into immortals? When sparrows enter the sea they turn into clams, and when pheasants enter the sea they turn into giant clams. While they hover with wings uneven, their feathers still recognize themselves; suddenly casting themselves into transformation, their forms alter, and they instead herd with softshell turtles and tortoises—how could they still recognize the delight of soaring through groves or nesting on walls and houses? Yet monarchs have instead been duped by commoners, accepting empty and false words, believing dazzling and deceptive tales, raising court etiquette to summon those who refuse to be subjects, bankrupting fortunes to supply empty demands, handing out royal titles to honor them, and providing quiet and secluded pavilions for them to live in. Though years pass and harvests accumulate, in the end not a single result is achieved; some died at Shaqiu, others passed away at the Wuzuo Palace. Although at the time they executed their persons and exterminated their clans, it was a messy affair sufficient to become the laughingstock of the world. However, as for the length of life and the strength of the physical constitution, individuals differ: those who nurture it well complete it; those who toil and perturb it cut it by half; those who squander it perish prematurely. Is this not what is meant?

5.11

Zhi, courtesy name Zijian, was the fourth son of Emperor Wu of Wei. He was initially enfeoffed as King of Dong'e Commandery, and after his death was posthumously titled Prince Si of Chen. From childhood he possessed the virtues of jade tablets; at ten years of age he could compose literature, finishing his work as soon as his brush touched the paper, without ever having to make revisions. In all the arts and skills of the world, he excelled completely. Handan Chun was astonished upon seeing him and respectfully hailed him as a heavenly being. Whenever Zhi read Buddhist sūtras, he would linger over them, admiring and savoring them, regarding them as the ultimate consummation of the supreme Way. He then created the rising and falling, undulating melodies of the seven tones for chanting; hence the recitations of the world have all modeled themselves upon them. Once, while roaming Mount Yushan, he heard the praises of the Brahmā heavens in the sky, which he then transcribed and transmitted to posterity, as fully recorded in the Liang collection *Fayuan ji*. Yet having comprehensively examined the source of the Daoist arts and meticulously investigated the records of immortals, [he found them] exceedingly fraudulent and baseless, and therefore composed a treatise to explain this in detail.

5.12

Treatise on the Sages and Worthies Sharing the Same Track and Lao Dan Not Being a Great Worthy

5.13

By Sun Sheng (Anguo) of the Jin

5.14

Recently, having attained leisure, I once again express my reflections, looking up to the mysterious subtleties of former philosophers and examining the spiritual paths of great worthies. Observing their character in detail and investigating their conduct, the distinction between higher and lower can be roughly discerned. The Great Sage rides with the times, and therefore his traces roam according to circumstances; the Great Worthy ranks just below the subtle, and therefore unfolds and folds along with the Great Sage. Because circumstances differ, there is the divergence of abdication versus armed conflict; because his attainment of the Way is second to the subtle, the track of his emerging or retiring does not differ. It is also like the dragon and tiger following the wind and clouds, or shapes and sounds meeting shadows and echoes—the principle is fundamentally natural and not summoned. For this reason, the Viscount of Ji and King Wen shared the same omen, finding supreme fortune in the jaws of tigers and wild oxen; Yan Hui and Confucius both attained ease, roaming freely between Kuang and Chen. Tang of Yao modeled himself on Heaven, and Houji and Xie aided his transformation; Tang and Wu carried out the revolution, and Yi Yin and Lü Shang assisted in their achievement. Speaking from this, the discourse on shadows and echoes regarding employment and dismissal, and the saying 'only you and I'—how could they not be believable? Why? The Great Worthy almost attains [perfection]; he observes signs and knows instruments. Observing signs and knowing instruments, he anticipates and encompasses good and bad fortune. Because he anticipates and encompasses good and bad fortune, the deployment of his actions is unified, his governance accords with conditions, and in engaging all realms he ultimately preserves supreme fortune; in adversity and prosperity, obstacle and hindrance, his measure is one. It is only that his admiration of the Sage and delight in ease require conditions to prosper: he admires the dark but cannot be fully dark, and takes pleasure in stillness but cannot be fully still; it is by this that superiority and inferiority are determined. As for the middling worthies of the third tier, they are separated from the Sage by an interval, so their realization of embodying the dark is incomplete, and in the natural operation they cannot spontaneously achieve mysterious unity. Yet aspiring to antiquity and preserving excellence, with lofty thoughts they stamp their feet, looking up in admiration to the pure customs and exclusively extolling supreme emptiness. Therefore, there are those who dwell in forests and valleys, like the peers of Chaofu and Xu You; and those whose words and deeds hold parallel reins, like the company of Lao Dan and Peng Zu. This too is not intentional, but the natural course of principle. Now, a restless form fond of stillness, a gentle nature loving firmness, being bored with what one is accustomed to and delighting in what is rarely heard—these are the common tendencies of the mundane world. Therefore, seeing one-sided, stubborn rhetoric, they no longer seek the fitness of according and responding; beholding exaggerated and deceitful discourses, they no longer realize the error of exceeding uprightness. Examining Laozi’s writings, what agrees with the sacred teachings is the analogy of hewing wood for the master carpenter and of webbed toes and extra fingers; what deceives compared to the sacred teachings is being far from what is suitable for saving the world and violating the meaning of 'the bright Way seems dim.' How could the Six Classics ever lack instructions on emptiness and tranquility, or admonitions on modesty and deference? Confucius said: 'A transmitter and not a maker, trusting in and loving antiquity, I venture to compare myself to our Old Peng.' If one examines this intent, then the Way of Lao Dan and Peng Zu was already encompassed within the sacred teachings. Moreover, he pointedly spoke of two matters, which were not meant as literal statements. How can this be clarified? The Sage is profound and still—what would he not love? Furthermore, among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors down to later ages, none failed to create: hence the images of the Changes and the classic registers shine brightly and distinctly; buildings and garments arose with the times—how could it be said they transmitted and did not create? Therefore the Changes states: 'The Sage acts, and the myriad things are beheld.' The evidence of these words is merely that in pointedly speaking of the virtue of Old Peng, there was some resemblance to the external traces of his own actions. It is also like: 'To hide resentment and befriend the person—Zuoqiuming was ashamed of it, and Qiu is also ashamed of it.' How could this compare to 'in my words there is nothing he does not delight in,' which is the utmost embodiment of unity? Furthermore, Yan Hui and Confucius did not make health cultivation their business, whereas Lao Dan and Peng Zu cultivated it; Confucius and Yan Hui identified with ordinary people, whereas Lao Dan and Peng Zu distinguished themselves. All these several points are traces showing they did not rank next to the Sage; and moreover, their texts frequently contradict themselves, as roughly listed to the left. May the men of great elegance and the gentry dispel these errors. Moreover, I do not understand Lao Dan’s intent in ascending lightly: did he wish to teach the Rong and Di barbarians and guide distinct customs? If he wished to clearly guide distinct kinds, then the left lapel is not the place for mysterious transformation, and solitary wandering is not the act of auspicious seclusion. The decline of the Chinese states was the foremost priority for disseminating instruction; the teaching of the Sage proceeds from near to far, and there has never been a headlong flight to avoid danger in such wandering. If he feared disaster and fled the land, then within the gate of the Sage one could remain hidden in the Shang court, or in the state of Lu there were those who were unfazed. If one truly attains the Way, the blade roams with room to spare; whatever one encounters yields supreme fortune, so how could one oppose Heaven's mind? If he could not do so among the Rong and Mo barbarians, might he not merely belong to the company of those who seek reclusion from court to pray for immortality?

5.15

Formerly, Pei Yimin composed the two treatises *Exalting Being* and *Valuing Non-being*. Contemporary commentators either thought he did not vacantly attain the superior Way, or that he was correcting the prevailing drift of the times. In my view, to prize non-being is already an error, and to exalt being is likewise not to attain it. As an entity, the Way is indistinct and elusive; responding to circumstances without fixed method, it goes wherever change dictates. Encountering a time of clarity and purity, one holds the tally and folds one's hands in non-action; meeting the transformations of the myriad movements, physical forms vigorously arise. Therefore, although profound insight is the same, the teachings of being and non-being are expounded differently; though the sacred intent is one, the designations and terms have distinct labels. Tang and Yu did not long for knotted cords; Tang and Wu did not emulate abdication. How could they be different? It was because of the seasonal timing. Yet Boyang used holding to the ancient Way to govern present existence, while Yimin wished to hold to present existence to cut off the ancient style. I therefore maintain that those two men did not understand the Way of rounded transformation, and each merely prided himself on his own single perspective.

5.16

Doubts and Inquiries Concerning Laozi

5.17

By Sun Sheng of the Jin

5.18

The Daoist Scripture states: 'Therefore, always be without desire in order to observe its subtleties; always have desire in order to observe its boundaries. These two emerge together yet have different names; together they are called the mysterious. Mysterious and more mysterious, the gate of all subtleties.'

5.19

The old explanations and Wang Bi’s commentary say that 'subtlety' refers to the beginning, and 'boundary' refers to the end. Now, observing the beginning to anticipate the end, and seeing the subtle to know the manifest, is the discernment of the attained person. If one has already clarified the spirit through desirelessness to illumine its subtle beginning, then from this point on one ought to keep it all settled; why would one again need to have desire to obtain its end? If having desire also emerges from the gate of subtleties and together they are called the mysterious, if that is the case, why should one exclusively value being without desire?

5.20

'When everyone in the world knows beauty as beauty, ugliness already exists. When everyone knows good as good, not-good already exists.'

5.21

I, Sheng, hold that the names of beauty and ugliness arise from the realities of beauty and ugliness. When virtue and the Way are pure and beautiful, there is the reputation of goodness; when one is stubborn, obtuse, deaf, and blind, there is the notoriety of evil. Therefore the Changes says: 'If evil is not accumulated, it is insufficient to destroy the self.' It also says: 'Beauty resides within, spreads through the four limbs, and manifests in affairs.' It also says: 'The Shao music is completely beautiful, yet not completely good.'

5.22

If so, then great beauty and great goodness are known by all under Heaven; how can it be said that 'ugliness already exists'? If false beauty is not beauty, and pretended goodness is not goodness, or what is praised as beautiful exceeds true beauty, and what is considered good departs from the mean—such things are what worldly teachings abhor, and what the sage kings sincerely denounced; the world naturally knows this as well. Regarding this saying:

5.23

'Do not exalt the worthy, so that the people do not contend; do not value goods hard to obtain, so that the people do not steal; always cause the people to be without knowledge and without desire, and cause those who know not to dare to act.'

5.24

And also: 'Abandon learning and be free from worry. Between assent and flattery, how much difference is there? Between good and evil, what is the difference?'

5.25

A subsequent chapter says: 'Good people are teachers of those who are not good; those who are not good are the material for good people. If one does not value one's teacher and does not love one's material, though clever, one is greatly deluded.' [Sun] Sheng considers: If the people are truly free of desire, how then would there be anything to model upon a teacher? Since there are mutual teachers and materials, how is this not study? For the not good to take the good as teacher, how is this not esteeming the worthy? When valuing and loving exist, fine and evil cannot help but become distinct; this is not what is meant by 'how much difference is there between them?' Moreover, a subsequent chapter says: 'What others teach, I also use to teach people. My words are very easy to understand, yet no one in the world can understand them.'

5.26

It also says: 'I shall take it as the father of my teachings.' Tracing back this statement, it is not yet abandoning learning. What he calls 'abandoning'—is it the learning of Yao and Confucius? The learning of Yao and Confucius established teachings according to the times; Laozi's words made uniform what he esteemed. Establishing teachings according to the times is the reason the Way pervades a hundred generations; making uniform what he esteemed cannot help but become stuck when adapting to change. This is another obscurity and shortcoming which fails to attain penetration.

5.27

'The Way is empty, yet in using it, it is never full. Soften its glare, settle its dust.' [Sun] Sheng considers: Lao Dan can be said to have known the Way, but he was not one who embodied the Way. Formerly, when the Lord of Taotang ruled the world, was there ever a day he was slack? When it was brilliantly manifested and entrusted to the multitude, the teacher praised a commoner, and he promptly abdicated and passed on the throne. Was this not being empty and using it, softening his glare and sharing his dust with them? Boyang was not so: he occupied a corrupt office and then went far away to guide the Western Rong; his travels and pauses left erratic traces, and his writings contained deceptive words. Is softening the glare and sharing the dust truly like this? I firmly hold that he knew the Way, but as for embodying the Way, not yet. The Daoist classic says: 'These three cannot be scrutinized to the end, blended together into one. Boundless, it cannot be named, returning again to nothingness. The form of the formless, the image of nothingness—this is called the elusive and vague.'

5.28

A subsequent chapter says: 'As for the Way's nature as an entity, it is merely vague and elusive. Elusive and vague, yet within it there is an image; vague and elusive, yet within it there is an entity.' These two chapters: one says there is no entity, and the other says there is an entity. There is an inconsistency from the outset.

5.29

'Grasp the Way of antiquity to govern the existents of today.' The preceding chapter says: 'He who grasps it loses it; he who acts upon it ruins it.' Yet it says again: 'Grasp the Way of antiquity to govern the existents of today.' Sometimes grasping, sometimes not—does this not fall into a contradictory thesis?

5.30

'Abandon sagehood and discard wisdom, and the people will benefit a hundredfold.'

5.31

Sun Sheng says: If there are benevolence and sagehood, there must be the virtue of benevolence and sagehood. If one leaves traces of these and does not venerate them, how can molding and instruction blend together? If benevolence and righteousness are not esteemed, then the way of filial piety and compassion is lost. Laozi already spoke of abandoning sagehood, yet in every chapter he praises the sage. Since he praises the sage, how can his traces be abandoned? If what he wished to abandon were the traces of Yao, Shun, the Duke of Zhou, and Confucius, then as for the sage he praised, what sage's traces were they? If it is as he said, among sages there are those whose traces ought to be obliterated, and those whose traces ought to be praised. Praising and obliterating being inconsistent, whom should we follow?

5.32

'Abandon benevolence and discard righteousness, and the people will return to filial piety and compassion.'

5.33

If we follow this discussion, unless benevolence and righteousness are abandoned, there will be no filial piety and no compassion. Yet it says again: 'In dwelling, find goodness in the place; in association, find goodness in benevolence.' I do not know whether the 'benevolence' in 'find goodness in benevolence' is the same as what he previously spoke of wanting to abandon or not. If it is, then it ought not be praised again; if it is not, then the meaning of these two kinds of benevolence remains unclear: one benevolence ought to be abandoned, and one benevolence ought to be made manifest. This too has not been understood. If he meant an unsaintly sage or an unbenevolent benevolence, then what the teachings condemn does not require high-sounding declarations.

5.34

Further, Zhuang Zhou says: 'Until the sage dies, great robbers will not cease.' He also says: 'Tian Chang stole benevolence and righteousness to seize the state of Qi.' Now, heaven and earth mold and forge, rearing both good and evil; each is endowed with its own nature, their principles having no relation to one another. Owls and poison-birds indulge their venom without needing to learn from phoenixes; jackals and tigers give free rein to harm without borrowing techniques from qilin. These are all natural endowments of heaven that require no external things. Why should cruel and stubborn men alone borrow benevolence and righteousness to further their villainy? When Modun murdered his father, or the Earl of Zheng usurped Kuai, did they first borrow the filial way to achieve their final harm? For Zhuang and Li to strike down and slaughter the roots and defame and contradict orthodox instruction—how is that different from hating thieves and melting down weapons, or choking on food and discarding fine grains? Although subsequent debaters have bent their interpretations to explain and resolve this, none fail to struggle at murdering the sage and to stumble at forgetting their kin.

5.35

'Those who know me are rare, and therefore I am noble.'

5.36

The preceding chapter says: 'When the sage is in the world, all the hundred surnames fix their ears and eyes upon him.' The valuing and loving between teacher and pupil will surely make all things manifest. If this is so, how could those who know him be rare? And why must those who are rarely known be noble? If one's own person is seen as noble, how could the nine domains not turn their back on reality by loudly claiming nobility derives from being rarely known? This was merely intending to repress fluctuating common customs, hence uttering these exaggerated words. The sage's teachings are not like this: their language is balanced and harmonious, instructing and guiding through principle. Therefore it is said: 'At home one will surely be renowned; in the state one will surely be renowned.' This means that being renowned must lead to being eminent. Not seeing goodness yet without distress is the virtue of the hidden dragon; people not knowing him yet he is not resentful is the way of the gentleman. When the multitude likes him, one must examine it; when the multitude hates him, one must examine it. He neither regards being widely known as illustrious, nor regards being little known as noble. His instruction and guidance are generous and accord naturally with principle. How could this be discussed on equal terms with Lao Dan's words regarding their merits and demerits?

5.37

'Ritual is the thinning of loyalty and good faith, and the beginning of chaos. Foreknowledge is the flower of the Way, and the beginning of folly. Therefore, the great man abides in the substantial and not in the thin; he abides in the fruit and not in the flower.'

5.38

Sun Sheng says: Lao Dan fully knew that the rites and music of the sages were not instruments of profound superiority, but were instituted only when there was no choice. Why then did he deliberately disparage them? Therefore, casting aside ritual and learning to preserve his thesis of natural spontaneity—did he not know that in later degenerate ages one can no longer return to the way of natural spontaneity? He merely wished to express what his own inclinations delighted in; thus he could not avoid being guided by personal preference, rather than focusing his mind on saving things. Not only did he fail to save them, but he even encouraged their shortcomings. Some may ask: Why did Zhuang and Lao make such declarations? Perhaps they form the outer and inner with the sages' teachings, and in molding things and clarifying instruction, their conclusion is one. Sheng considers this not to be so. The Way of the sages is vast and all-inclusive; like the sun and moon suspended in the sky, what do they not illuminate? The words of Laozi all emulate the Six Classics; would there still be any flaw waiting for Dan and Zhou to assist? This is what Zhuang Zhou referred to when he said: 'When the sun and moon come out, yet the torch is not extinguished.' As for his false, deceitful, bizarre, and unorthodox words, they are still confined to a single corner, yet rashly praised as extraordinary sayings outside the canon.

5.39

'Princes and marquises attain the One to bring rectification to the world.' 'Zhen' means correct.

5.40

A subsequent chapter says: 'Who knows its limit? It has no correctness. The correct turns into the bizarre; the good turns into the monstrous.'

5.41

Examining these two chapters: one says 'rectification of the world', and the other says 'no correctness'. Having already said that the good person is the teacher of the not good, he then says it becomes monstrous.

5.42

The goodness of the world is one, yet it is now teacher, now monstrous; the correct way of the world is one, yet it is said that the correct turns into the bizarre. This contradiction is something my humble view cannot fathom. Sheng, courtesy name Anguo, served the Jin dynasty as Attendant Gentleman and Director of the Palace Library. In his youth he roamed through the ancient classics and kept historical records in his heart. Therefore he said: 'Worthy men and sages are profound and distant, understood beyond words; benevolence and love proceed from oneself to mold and influence the myriad things; in their gradual permeation, nothing surpasses the classics and histories.' He authored the Jinyang chunqiu in over thirty fascicles, evaluating Laozi as being of the class of middling worthies. Thus we know that when composing texts for the Yin, his ancestral lineage was based on evidence. Master Ji said: 'Laozi studied the arts of the nine immortals from Master Juan.' Investigating gymnastics and nourishing life, these words have proof. As for a sage, it is not said that he learns. Hence the saying goes: 'Those who are born with knowledge are the highest; those who learn and so acquire knowledge come next.' What position did Wang [Bi] and He [Yan] occupy to comprehend such grand designs? Therefore, Ban Gu's classification of people into nine ranks placed Confucius and his peers in the upper-upper rank, all of which are sages; Li Er and his peers were placed in the middle-upper rank, all of which are worthies. Among sages there are supreme sages and secondary sages; among worthies there are great worthies and middling worthies. Because their spiritual capacity can be sharp or dull, the functioning of their wisdom proceeds gradually or suddenly. Sheng described Lao[zi] as not being a great worthy, noting his leisurely detachment and self-discipline, and his inability to universally benefit the world: he sat watching the decline of Zhou and fled to the western border; traveling as far as the Qin lands, he died in Fufeng and was buried in Huaili. That he was not an immortal who fled heaven is truly credible.

5.43

Treatise on Equalizing the Sages

5.44

By Shen Yue, courtesy name Xiuwen, of the Qi

5.45

From the genesis of heaven and earth, when human life first began, it has been distant and vast, beyond what words can convey. Why is it beyond words? It is because [words] rely on expressive phenomena. As for the vast expanse of the Great Void and the obscure boundlessness of the beginningless, not only are they beyond perception through words and forms, but mental deliberation and worldly things are utterly cut off from them. When heaven and earth came into tiny being and settled within it, it was like the tip of a fine hair floating on a vast ocean—even this falls short as an analogy. Thus, the time since this heaven and earth came into being is merely a single thought-moment. The most ancient of our [rulers] do not surpass Xuan[yuan] and [Fu]xi; yet the presence of heaven and earth in that Great Void is just like the presence of Xuan[yuan] and [Fu]xi in this heaven and earth. Petty people merely consider Hexu to be ancient; how trivial and narrow is their conception! When Buddhas appear in the world, their beginning cannot be known. The former Buddhas and the later Buddhas do not differ in their Way. The Dharma-body is serene and still, each responding according to sympathetic resonance. Where resonance summons it, it crosses a great trichiliocosm as though it were but a foot away. If conditions have not yet responded, even though one treads the path, one does not see it. The southern realm of Sahā is called Jambudvīpa. The route west of the Congling Mountains is intimately close. But because the movement of conditions had not yet unfolded, [the East] was naturally separated from the Principle. Why do I say this? Before the Xia and Yin dynasties, written records were scarce. When the Zhou house received the mandate, the classics and canons were fully preserved. The Xiangji and Diwei took up their official posts according to their regions. Through multiple interpreters, tributes entered, encompassing all the distant frontiers. Yet among the Eight Man and Five Di, none were not ignorant and base; they knew no writing and were blind to moral instruction. They all presented their gifts to the royal storehouse, and their music was performed in the Pure Temple. The secluded path to the Western lands is not far. Although the palm-leaf books and horizontal script differ between barbarians and Chinese, profound meanings and subtle principles naturally emerge from them. It is impossible that they did not exist during the times of Tang, Yu, and the Three Dynasties. That the teachings were confined to the West alone and did not flow east—is it not because the resonance of conditions had not yet unfolded in this modest Middle Kingdom? When we trace their convergence and examine their essential purport, how could they ever be spoken of in the same breath as the music of the Four Barbarians? It was not that the Duke of Zhou omitted it; it was simply that this Dharma was meant to remain hidden. In the era of Yan[di] and [Tai]hao, there was as yet no fire and no grain; people ate raw flesh and wore hides. Compassion and pity had not sprouted in their hearts. Without flesh and hides, death arrived instantly. Even if the Great Sage earnestly wished to rescue and spare them, since physical life depended upon these, as a matter of principle it could not be abruptly stripped away. It was truly fitting to guide them gradually and gently open the source. Therefore, Suiren invented the transformation by fire, turning the raw into the cooked. The transformation from raw to cooked was indeed the sprouting sign of the Buddhist teachings. Why so? Turning the raw to the cooked was a gradual difficulty; by accumulating these gradual difficulties, manifest change could be achieved. Coming down to Shennong, guidance was further extended: fine grains were first sown, and the people fed upon grain. A hungry belly was filled; it did not require meat to be sated. Thus, preserving life and reducing slaughter became far more widespread. From this time on, tender care widened day by day. In the spring hunt, pregnant animals were spared; in the summer weeding, pests harming the grain were removed; though much was indeed killed during the autumn cull and winter hunt, the difficulty of eradicating it at once has already been explained. The two sages Zhou and Confucius somewhat expanded these ancestral regulations: seeing it alive, one cannot bear to see it die; hearing its cries, one cannot bear to eat its meat. Felling trees and cutting grass were done in due season; fawns and eggs were not to be recklessly harmed. One did not drain the pond to fish; one did not burn the plains to hunt. One fished with a hook but not a net; one shot at birds in flight but not those at roost. Eating meat and wearing silk were reserved for the elderly; oxen, sheep, dogs, and pigs were not killed without cause. This was opening up one branch among the five precepts. As for being intoxicated with wine, deluded by lust, deceitful to others, and taking what is not one's own, these were prohibited by the outer scriptures without waiting for the Śākya teachings. Four of them offend against human beings, who are the foremost of sentient beings; one harms beasts, who are the lowest order of living things. When the supreme sages opened their doctrines, they naturally proceeded in order; this is also why in the Buddhist precepts, taking human life constitutes the gravest transgression. The inner sage and the outer sages are equal in purpose and unified in principle. Yet those who are blind to this principle cling rigidly to the outer teachings, thinking that boiling sheep and rearing pigs are things that ought to be so by nature. Or others say: 'If it is as the Śākya books say, where all actions bring retributive karmic consequences, then Yu, Tang, Wen, and Wu must all undergo disembowelment, and the Duke of Zhou and Confucius must together enter the boiling cauldrons.' How can their delusion regarding the vision of the Way be so severe? Let us examine these proofs, and one may come to realize.

5.46

Master Huayang's Challenge to the Pacifying Army's Treatise on the Equality of the Sages

5.47

Respectfully inquired by the mountain dweller, Tao the Recluse:

5.48

The treatise states: 'The former Buddhas and the later Buddhas do not differ in their Way. When the Zhou house received the mandate, the Xiangji and Diwei took up their official posts according to their regions. The secluded path to the Western lands is not far. It is impossible that they did not exist during the times of Tang, Yu, and the Three Dynasties. That the teachings were confined to the West alone and did not flow east was not that the Duke of Zhou omitted it; it was simply that this Dharma was meant to remain hidden. Suiren invented fire and grain, turning the raw into the cooked, which was indeed the sprouting sign of the Buddhist teachings. The two sages Zhou and Confucius somewhat expanded these ancestral regulations: seeing them alive, one cannot bear to see them die; hearing their cries, one cannot bear to eat their meat. Felling trees and cutting grass were done in due season; fawns and eggs were not to be recklessly harmed. Furthermore, among the five precepts, four offend against human beings, who are the foremost of sentient beings; one harms beasts, who are the lowest order of living things. The inner sage and the outer sages are equal in purpose and unified in principle.'
I respectfully inquire: Upon carefully examining the Buddhist scriptures, the arising of a single Buddha frequently spans multiple kalpas. I do not know how many kalpas should separate a former Buddha from a later Buddha. The appearance of Śākyamuni occurred only recently, during the reign of King Zhuang; why must it already have existed in the times of Tang, Yu, Xia, and Yin? That the Duke of Zhou did not speak of it was probably because it had not yet appeared, not because it was meant to remain hidden. King Aśoka built stupas starting in the reign of King Jing; since there were four in Jambudvīpa, the Eastern realm could not be utterly without them. Confucius himself promoted teaching based on Chinese ritual; why would it be appropriate for him to expound barbarian methods? Thus, he lamented that the Middle Kingdom had lost ritual and sought it among the Four Barbarians, which also truly had a distinct purpose. Furthermore, the music of the Four Barbarians barely emerged from the distant frontiers, and when they were cast out to the four borderlands, these were also close to the wilds of Mount Wei and Mount Yu. Where Yu's tracks reached did not extend to the source of the Yellow River; the white pheasants of Yueshang were still said to come through multiple interpreters. Thus, India and Jibin were long cut off from the superior country. Only after the decline of Zhou was news occasionally heard. Therefore Zou Yan believed that the Red County (China) within the world was merely one of nine parts. In early Han, there were stupas in Chang'an, yet scriptures and images remained vague and obscure. Although Zhang Qian carried out his mission to Daxia and Gan Ying traveled as far as Anxi, they were still unable to translate and transmit the customs and teachings or elucidate this Dharma. It was only when a dream appeared in the imperial court that it gradually rose and became manifest. This seems to be a case of the times causing openness or blockage, having nothing to do with the rise and fall of karmic cycles. If it must be that the resonance of conditions brings an encounter, then what crime did the pure and simple beings of the past commit? What great fortune do the shallow and frivolous beings of today possess? Supposing that this Dharma was originally meant to rescue the frivolous: of all sins, none is greater than killing. At the time of meat-eating, when was killing ever worse? Yet to wait for fire and grain before this could become the sprout of the teaching—did the supernatural power of Great Compassion not encounter an obstacle here? If round-grained rice had not yet been sown and the business of killing was hard to stop, I wonder what Dharma the past Buddhas of earlier times used for their teaching? In the time of which Buddha did this sprout of teaching arise? In addition, the four precepts offend against humans, yet their retribution is somehow light; the single precept of killing beasts brings retribution that is even heavier. Making the primary light and the secondary heavy is also something I have not grasped. Now, the way of establishing human beings is called benevolence and righteousness. When Zhou and Confucius spoke of 'hearing their cries, one cannot bear to eat their meat' and 'felling trees in due season,' it was to make brilliantly clear the way of benevolence and righteousness: if it is so even for birds, beasts, plants, and trees, how much more so for humans—how could one be cruel and rebellious toward them? It was not out of inner dread of transgression, with the intention aimed at retributive consequences. Observing the traces, they might seem similar; examining their intent, they completely diverge. I do not know whether the inner and outer sages can truly be considered equal in this matter or not. These discrepancies are difficult to resolve through sudden realization. I respectfully set them forth to consult and cleanse my doubts, hoping that you will fully illuminate these obscurities.

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廣弘明集 — Classical Chinese