廣弘明集 8.74

8.74

Moreover, the emperor's veneration exhausts the meaning of heaven and humanity; the king's fame exhausts the achievements of hegemonic merit. He should receive the mandate from the divine ancestors, broaden moral transformation throughout the realm, perform the feng and shan sacrifices on the mountain peaks, and report the completed merit to heaven and earth. One never sees ghostly words participating in the beginning of governing, nor has there ever been deceptive talk reaching the source of far-reaching achievements. They merely mislead the common people and harm the royal teachings; the true and the worldly are unsettled, and there is no way to return to the correct path. Only Confucius valued knowing the mandate; Boyang abandoned strange attachments. Why take up ghostly talismans hoping to attain longevity? If receiving them is said to bring certain benefit, then the Daoshi wearing talismans today should all live to old age, and the common people without registers should all have short lives. Since this is not verified by facts, what Dao is there in it?