廣弘明集 6.18

6.18

The Emperor's clan name was Yuwen; his taboo name was Yong. He was the third son of Taizu, the Wei Chancellor Heitai. His clan originally stemmed from the Xianbei. At the end of the Yuan Wei, Taizu took the Prince of Pingyang of Wei and settled west in the Guanzhong region. After four emperors of Wei and twenty-three years, he passed away. His heir, the Duke of Luoyang, received the abdication of Wei and took the title of Zhou; within the same year he was deposed. His younger brother, the Duke of Ningdu, was enthroned; after four years as emperor, he passed away and was posthumously titled Emperor Ming. Because his son was young, his younger brother, the Duke of Lu State, was enthroned as emperor—this was Gaozu (Emperor Wu). He changed the reign era to the first year of Baoding. Deep in plotting and autocratic in decisions, suspicion was in his heart; he concealed his traces from both near and far to obscure his cunning techniques. In the sixth year of Baoding, he changed the era to Tianhe. Before and after, this spanned twelve years. The Grand Chancellor, the Duke of Jin State, Yuwen Hu, was Taizu's nephew. Having personally received the testamentary edict, he assisted the imperial plans; with heroic strategy he maintained control, lending brilliance to the era and aiding the state. Fearing there might be a deposition or enthronement, Emperor Wu lured him into the inner quarters and killed him, along with his ten sons, exterminating the clans of six high ministers. He changed the era to Jiande. Having executed the heroic and destroyed the bulwarks of the state, he looked far ahead with calculated weight, his heroic majesty remaining composure itself. Yet he was able to restrain himself and exert diligence, opening his heart to ministers and subordinates; in cloth robes and frugal fare, he maintained himself in toil and humility, personally marching in the battle ranks and traversing mountains and ravines on foot. Hence, he won the hearts of his soldiers, who did not begrudge dying for him. At that time, there was a prophetic text fearing those in black garments, saying that within the śramaṇas the next would inherit dynastic fortune. Therefore, though the Emperor had initially placed great faith in the Buddha, because affairs pressed closely upon him, he proceeded to abolish and sweep it away. In the third year of Jiande, adopting the flattering eloquence of the Daoist Zhang Bin, he abolished both teachings and further established the Tongdao Monastery to express his original intent. By the fifth year of Jiande, after he had pacified Northern Qi, he considered this to be the blessed protection gained from destroying the Dharma. He changed the era to Xuanzheng. By the fifth month, he passed away from a virulent illness at Yunyang. His son Yun succeeded to the throne, killed the Prince of Qi and his ten sons, and on the first day of the first month changed the era to Dacheng. He abdicated the throne to his son Yan, changed the era to Daxiang, styled himself Heavenly Prime Emperor, and immediately reopened the Buddha's Dharma. Yet his misfortune was deep and his merit shallow; his transgressions eclipsed his achievements. In the fifth month of the following year, he passed away and was posthumously titled Wenxuan. In the first month of the subsequent year, the era was changed to Dading; within the second month, he abdicated the throne to the Sui. Thus Fu Yi stated: 'Observing Emperor Wu's governance, he was resolute and decisive—such was his intent. Having eliminated the demonic and heterodox teaching, he attended solely to strengthening the military; within five years, great achievements were thus assembled. How magnificent! Such was his success.' The compiler says: Fu Yi says that without the Buddha, the state would be peaceful and its fortunes long-lasting; how is it, then, that just after the ancestor of Zhou had completed his extermination, violent death suddenly arrived? Thus Fu Yi was raving mad! However, Emperor Wu was martial only and never hesitated; following his mind's desires, he carried out executions. Murdering his uncle and destroying the Buddha, his deceit and delusion were already deep; that his fortune was cut short and the dynastic calendar shifted was indeed fitting! How much more so when virulent illness struck his person—what could cries and laments avail then? That disasters gathered and calamities assembled upon him is truly sorrowful. Yet Fu Yi took the true Buddha to be demonic and heterodox, and pointed to the false Dao as a master to revere. For benighted rulers and profligate lords, why wait for the Xia and Yin dynasties? Surely the office of posthumous titles gave both the Wei and Zhou rulers who destroyed the Dharma the title 'Wu' (Martial)—is this not appropriate? As for other aspects of destruction and the bitter retribution incurred, they are fully recounted separately.