廣弘明集 7.16

7.16

Ji said: 'Since antiquity, imperial preceptors and guests or friends of the feudal lords have met [their monarchs] once in a thousand years, [fleeting] as morning and dusk; their virtuous sagacity was rare in the world, standing unique throughout the universe. Yet nowadays shaven-headed [monks] in their thousands do not act as subjects, and multitudes in their ten thousands are styled imperial preceptors. This cannot be permitted. The Yao and Shi [clans] offered delicacies of jade to three thousand Buddhist monasteries and built eight hundred jasper palaces, their offerings and veneration being lavish indeed; yet in the end their lineages were slaughtered and annihilated. From the Song and Qi onwards, none have taken warning from past failures. As for his other vile words reviling the saṅgha, they are sufficient to make one stop one's ears; to the last, his words lodged curses against the emperor, like the parables of Zhuang Meng. He further said: 'The monks arise from humble origins, scheming to evade taxes and corvée labor. Having no ambition to attain the Way, their intent lies in greed and lust. They covertly usurp Chinese institutions and subvert imperial authority. In all, there are ten kinds [of abuses]: First, constructing vast halls to usurp the likeness of the imperial palace. Second, erecting great chambers and adorning barbarian images to usurp the likeness of the Mingtang and the ancestral temples. Third, extensively translating bewitching words to encourage their spread, trampling upon the imperial edicts and decrees. Fourth, gathering money and coins to sell the false fruition of the five blessings of heaven, usurping the sovereign's rewards of virtue. Fifth, collecting ransoms in advance to exempt people from the spurious calamities of the six extremities of hell, usurping the ruler's punishments. Sixth, styling themselves as the triratna and falsely relying on the four dependencies to sit arrogantly before the sovereign, which is an artifice for assuming majesty. Seventh, building many temples and images to ordain monks and nuns extensively, which is the foundation for establishing hegemony. Eighth, holding the three-long, six-discipline, and four-great Dharma assemblies, which is establishing a separate calendar and secretly conducting levies. Ninth, performing music to entice the foolish and small, and staging comedic theatricals to summon distant assemblies, proclaiming the peace and joy of the Buddha-land while reviling the perils and hardships of imperial rule, which is altering customs and habits to collect taxes. Tenth, convening assemblies for Dharma seats to hatch evil plots and illicit shifts, rewarding those who please them with gold and slandering those who ruin or censure them, which is the secret strategy of Lü Shang's Six Secret Teachings. Among these ten matters, not a single one can be tolerated; at the slightest emergence of a portent, they should immediately be executed and exterminated. Yet now they are allowed to circulate freely, ousting our imperial culture. Furthermore, striking great bells upon high terraces rivals the water clocks of the imperial palace; hanging banners and canopies on tall spires imitates the imperial insignia filling the courtyard; levying jade delicacies for vegetarian banquets mixes with the feasts of princes and dukes; chanting high and transcendent hymns of praise resembles the songs sung while ascending the hall for the presentation of imperial food; praising merit and virtue rivals the sacrificial invocations of the ritual officers; receiving donations matches the gradations of bundles of silk; establishing solemn deportment emulates the flags, banners, and ceremonial accoutrements. In all their undertakings, they secretly imitate court ritual, and so forth. Your Majesty now empties the storehouses to make offerings to the monasteries; the lord of ten thousand chariots adopts the ritual of a dependent vassal, and reverently bows to monks and nuns, while the Three Excellencies observe the etiquette of subordinate ministers. The favoritism is already excessive, and the humiliation is also extreme. This is the fourth reason why your servant does not accept [this].'