廣弘明集 7.61

7.61

The eleventh clearly showed how frank speech and loyal remonstrance have since antiquity brought ruin upon their speakers the moment they were uttered. The comprehensive explanations for these eleven articles were quite numerous; to save words, he synthesized these various interpretations and submitted them in a memorial. Emperor Gaozu was delighted upon perusing it, and issued an edict to abolish the monasteries and stupas in all prefectures. When it came to the fourth day of the sixth month of the ninth year, His Majesty later said to him, 'You submit memorials on state affairs with extreme candour, not shrinking from having men put to death. From this day forward, fear nothing.' In the sixth year of Zhenguan he submitted another memorial, proposing that monks should be made to blow conch shells and not be permitted to strike bells. He also stated, 'The Buddhist teaching is bewitching and counterfeit.' The emperor decreed that this be shown to Xiao Yu. Yu said, 'Fu Yi denies the sages; he is completely lawless.' Yi retorted, saying, 'Since the time of Yu's ancestors, he has failed to serve the ancestral temple and has devoted himself entirely to venerating barbarian spirits. He who is not filial has no family.' Thereupon, he compiled the writings of literati whose understanding was lofty and far-reaching and who had refuted its deceptive delusion since the entry of the Buddhist teaching into China, composing the *Biographies of Those of Lofty Understanding*. Yi's biography makes such claims. As for the claim that Emperor Gaozu followed his advice and abolished the monasteries, this is deception of the sovereign. How could it be that an affair submitted in the fourth year only resulted in the abolition and reduction of monasteries and stupas throughout the prefectures in the ninth year? In the end, there was no such edict; how could anyone believe it? A single falsehood reveals all the rest. After Yi died, this biography was brought out and sold for profit. Though it forged an imperial decree, he had no life left to forfeit. It also claims that his memorial asked not to allow bells to be struck; this is a fabrication. The scriptures say, 'Beat the drum to caution the troops; strike the mallet to assemble the congregation.' They also say, 'Strike the Buddha's bell.' Is this not a teaching? Furthermore, it relates that Xiao Yu did not serve his ancestral temple and served only the barbarian Buddha; this is to slander the prime minister to his face. The *Records of Liang* states that whenever Emperor Gaozu concluded the sacrifices at the seven ancestral temples, tears and snerivel flowed profusely. What kind of talk is this? Nowadays, both the Eastern and Western mansions in the capital have their ancestral temples. The seasonal sacrifices continue uninterrupted right before our eyes. Righteousness does not permit heedlessly listening to the private fabrication of this biography, which is truly laughable. It can only deceive those of modest intelligence on the periphery, but is insufficient to show to the Central Realm. Alas! Once a pure mind is tainted, it is suddenly weighed down; when can it ever hope to return to its origin? The people listed above are also, as assessed previously, mostly subject to rise and fall; let each be examined in kind.