廣弘明集 6.14

6.14

The sixth emperor, Xiaowen, is styled Wenzu. He changed the imperial surname to Yuan, changed the dynastic name from Dai to Wei, discarded barbarian dress, determined official titles, wore the caps and robes of Huaxia, and moved the capital to Heluo, whereupon the Buddha's Dharma flourished grandly. Yet Shizu (Taiwu) was bold in martial strategy and timid in civil greatness, careless in self-examination and heavy in trusting falsehoods. For Fu Yi to describe him as an epoch-making enlightened sovereign is truly a slanderous falsehood! In reviewing Fu Yi's investigation of memorials submitted across the dynasties that touched upon the Buddhist fold, they are broadly five, as already clarified earlier and now debated again in detail: first, that karmic movements are obscure and murky, with recompenses and fruits criss-crossing; second, that the teachings point toward worldly fraudulence, ultimately returning to empty extinction; third, that temple halls are soaring and lavish, looking upon them with envy as rivals to imperial tombs; fourth, that monks engage in mixed practices, plundering wealth and pursuing sex; fifth, that monks originally stem from the common folk, yet their exalted status equals that of rulers in ceremony. Though these five aspects raise many confusions, he mostly dwells upon those of mixed practices. This is the narrow-mindedness of an undiscerning person. As for those who renounce household life, their value lies in setting forth to transcend material forms, their minds and conduct differing from the mundane, upholding the noble lineage and terrifying the māra kings. Even the Heavenly Lord comes down to bow, and the nāga spirits all pay reverence. It is not that there are not three or five who engage in mixed practices, violate the law, and betray their vocation, wallowing in sights and tastes and voraciously craving fame and profit. Such practices run contrary to the Buddha's transformation; they are darnel and weeds among the true Dharma. The Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra calls them shaven-headed men; the Fanwang jing calls them great bandits. The ocean of precepts is like the sea that does not harbor a corpse; under monastic regulations, their wealth and Dharma privileges are revoked—such prohibitions are manifest. To wrongly lay blame upon the Buddha is utterly impermissible. As for mundane scholars and pure ministers, countries have regular laws: those of chaste conduct are honored; those who are corrupt and covetous are punished. One cannot, seeing one scholar deviate, execute the entire country; or seeing one official corrupt, dismiss the whole court. This is intolerable. These matters appear in the Book of Later Wei and the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms. Shizu, seeing a fault arise in a single monastery, beheaded monks throughout the whole country, slaughtering both young and old in an instant. He may well be called a barbarian chieftain! For Fu Yi to blindly agree with his judgments and cite them as an enlightened strategy—from such 'enlightened ones' true discernment flees! Moreover, seeing monks receive lavish offerings in frequent succession, he was unable to pull himself out of jealousy and further exaggerated the facts. Monks are fields of merit; to attend upon them is naturally to reap their recompense. Officials administer government; to grant them stipends is to enhance their achievements. When the king today bestows gifts upon ministers below, who among them declines the stipend? When laypeople give wealth to monks, there are always those who do not accept. Officials without stipends are unheard of in the state, while scholars receiving salaries fill the nine provinces. Could it be that because one scholar accepts a bribe, the imperial court terminates all administration for it, or that because one monk improperly receives alms, the Buddhist fold thereby incurs suspicion? This too is impermissible. Thus we know that the paths of purity and impurity differ, yet both are common to religious and secular realms alike. The Censorate corrects infractions of law; the judicial officers sentence according to gravity—this is secular governance. The vinaya inspects the seven transgressions; expulsion and punishment rectify through the three standards; monastic regulations bar external offenses; statutes encourage the inner mind—this is Buddhist instruction. Thus religious and secular codes and ordinances are fully bright and clear, manifestly shining upon the four classes of laity and flourishing among the five assemblies of renunciants. What is lacking in them that required your memorial?