廣弘明集 9.14

9.14

It also says: 'Generation after generation he was the national preceptor.' Ge Hong's preface to Shenxian zhuan has already expounded this to strange depths. When sages appear, assisting and saving come first. Yet Jie of Xia oppressed and tormented the people in misery, and Tang of Cheng and Wu Ding thirsted for the worthy; why did Laozi neither assist worthy sovereigns nor instruct tyrannical governments, merely cultivating his body, nourishing his nature, and keeping to himself? As he approached the age of ninety or a hundred, knowing on his own that death was near, he secretly traveled and crossed to the west, speaking solely to Yin [Xi] and only commanding him to read and recite, not encouraging him to instruct others. He died in Guanzhong, where his burial mound still exists. Qin Yi mourned him, wailed three times, and went out. Examining the earlier records and the later scriptures shows the later people's absurd treatises: though called reverent exaltation, they instead become a disgrace to the Dao.