廣弘明集 6.28

6.28

Whose courtesy name was Daoming, was a native of Chenliu. Wang Hong, Minister of Ceremonies and Prince of Pengcheng of the Jin, submitted a memorial stating that because Emperor Suzu took pleasure in the Buddhist way, he personally painted an image in the Lexian Hall; having passed through wars and tribulations, the hall still remained, and an imperial order should be issued to the court historians commanding them all to compose eulogies. Emperor Xianzong presented Hong's memorial for broad deliberation.

Mo said: 'The Buddha was a barbarian. I have only heard of transforming barbarians to follow the Xia, not of transforming the Xia to follow barbarians. The late emperor was divinely gifted with manifold talents and merely painted this image in passing; it is not a depiction of the grand virtue of the Great Jin. Now to issue a royal command ordering the court historians to praise the late emperor's devotion to Buddhism above and compose a eulogy for a barbarian image below—in principle, I find this doubtful.'

When Emperor Kang ascended the throne, Mo was appointed Minister of Education. In the fifth month of the fourth year of Yonghe, an imperial edict was issued; he stubbornly refused to take up the post and submitted a memorial asking to retire his aged bones. When Emperor Xiaozong ascended the court, he summoned Mo, but Mo did not arrive. (From morning until noon, the Empress) Dowager issued an edict to dismiss the court. The high ministers memorialised to deliver Mo to the Commandant of Justice to apply the penal code. Mo led his sons and younger brothers in plain clothes to the Commandant of Justice to await punishment. An edict demoted him to commoner, whereupon he closed his gates and did not go out.

These are all the stubbornness of vulgar men and the narrow perspective of frogs in a well! Yet Yi describes him as a pure minister, which is not a solid evaluation.

Why so? Mo's satirical criticisms were confined to one region of the Divine Continent, regarding this as the Central Kingdom; whereas the Buddha encompassed the entire continent of Jambudvīpa, regarding this [China] as a borderland. Describing it from immediate sight: this country borders the ocean to the east, but there is no ocean in the other three directions; where there is none, it cannot be said to have no visible boundary. Speaking of this continent, it is surrounded by oceans on all four sides. India is the centre of the earth: at the summer solstice, moving northward, there is no shadow at noon; thus it is the central land of Heaven and Earth, and for this reason the Buddha was born there. How much more so as its domain reaches the centre of the three thousand suns and moons and the ten thousand koṭis of worlds! That which the Buddha governs alone is not something Mo could comprehend.

Moreover, ordinary men throughout their lives constantly protect their narrow domain, clinging to the idea of an identical antiquity; they consider their own household to be a land of joy, and their own people to be good—this is hardly surprising. Measuring the shadow with a sundial at Mount Song and Luoyang in the Central Plains to determine the centre: that is merely the separate centre of the Divine Continent, yet when it comes to the seasons and residual fractions, it cannot determine them.

The island barbarians south of the Yangtze live in low-lying land with pestilential air, where people's temperaments are excitable—hence it is called Yangzhou. When the Jin fled thither, it was additionally termed a 'cultured kingdom'. The phrase 'transforming barbarians to follow the Xia' has its origin here; thus, that Confucius wished to dwell among the Nine Barbarians shows they were not vulgar.

Furthermore, one who possesses virtue rules over people; one who lacks the Way brings violence and chaos. Thus Yu of the Xia was born among the Western Qiang, and King Wen grew up among the Eastern Yi. The Tuoba clan of the Yuan Wei were Northern Di, yet all of them ruled over the great rivers and peaks, facing the light and taking the southern throne. How could their lack of birth in the Chinese lands cause them to go against cultural transformation?

As for You Yu, a solitary minister of the Western Rong, Duke Mu of Qin used him to establish his hegemony; Jin Midi was of the lowly stock of the Xianyun, yet Emperor Wu of Han received him and his position was preserved. Therefore we know that where the Way resides, there is honour; it is never constrained by barbarian or Chinese. Cai Mo clung rigidly to his own stance and cannot be called a person of universal understanding. Refusing an edict and disobeying orders, he incurred guilt and was dismissed from the palace; that he received the legal penalty was entirely proper!

Examining it further: a pearl or jade a foot across or an inch in diameter originally comes from distant lands; a sagacious person who penetrates the spirit and reaches the principle is not limited by cardinal directions. Therefore Kongtong is not confined to the Nine Provinces, and Kunlun is in the lands of the Five Indias; yet the Yellow Emperor Xuan Yuan hurried westward to them, and Laozi and Yin Xi followed in their footsteps to climb them. Why was this? Because they knew where to take refuge!

Moreover, one acts upon seeing the opportune moment without waiting for a fixed measure. As for the governance of Jie of the Xia, he burned the Yellow Diagrams and executed Longfeng; as for the cruelty of Zheng of Qin, he burned the classics and buried the scholars alive. Worldly tradition transmits them as unprincipled rulers. Yet the moulding of clay for bricks and tiles is not called Jie's achievement, and Emperor Gaozu of Han's enlightenment did not honour Lü Buwei's virtue. Since these have been widely practiced through successive generations, their meaning must be evaluated. The ancients had a saying: 'Yao and Shun were not necessarily completely sagely, nor could Jie and Zhou be utterly foolish.' Yet to attribute all blame to the Xia and Shang, while reserving all veneration for Tang and Yu, is a biased and disproportionate deception. How could Cai's narrow-mindedness be worthy of praise?