廣弘明集 5.10

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?