集古今佛道論衡 1.27

1.27

元魏君臨。凡一十七帝一百七十九年。興顯佛教不可勝言。惟太武在位五六年中屏除佛法。自餘光顯具彰魏史。略陳相狀以成信重。獻文即位。興皇元年。於五級大寺太祖已下五帝鑄像。五軀各長一丈六尺。用金二十五萬斤。正光元年。明帝加朝服。大赦天下。請僧尼道士女官等殿前齋訖。侍中劉騰宣勅。請法師等與道士論議以釋弟子疑網。時清道觀道士姜斌與融覺寺法師曇謨最對論。

The Yuan Wei ruled as monarchs for a total of seventeen emperors over one hundred and seventy-nine years; their promotion and glorification of Buddhism cannot be fully told. Only during the five or six years when Taiwu was on the throne was the Buddha-Dharma eliminated; all other glorious manifestations are recorded in detail in the History of the Wei. We briefly set forth the circumstances to confirm its reliability and weight. When Xianwen ascended the throne, in the first year of Xinghuang, statues were cast in the Great Five-Tiered Monastery for the five emperors from Taizu down; five figures, each sixteen feet tall, using 250,000 jin of gold. In the first year of Zhengguang, Emperor Ming donned the court robes, granted a general amnesty to the empire, and invited monks, nuns, Daoist priests, female officials, and others to a fast before the hall. When it concluded, Attendant Officer Liu Teng proclaimed an edict requesting the Dharma masters to debate with the Daoist priests in order to resolve the disciple's web of doubts. At that time Jiang Bin, a Daoist priest of the Qingdao Abbey, engaged in debate with Tanmozui, a Dharma master of the Rongjue Temple.