集古今佛道論衡 1.8

1.8

吳書云。孫權赤烏四年。有沙門康僧會者。是康居國大丞相之長子。神儀剛正遊化為任于時三國鼎峙各擅威衡。佛法北通未達南國。會欲道被未聞開教江表。初達建業營立茅茨設像行道。吳人初見。謂之妖異。有司奏聞。吳主問曰。佛有何神驗也。會曰。佛晦靈迹出餘千載。遺形舍利應現無方。吳主曰。若得舍利當為立塔。經三七日遂獲舍利五色曜天剖之逾堅燒之不然。光明出火作大蓮華炤曜宮殿。臣主驚嗟信情發起。因為造塔度人立寺。以其所住為佛陀里。教法創興。故遂名建初寺焉。尋下勅問尚書令闞澤曰。漢明已來。凡有幾年。佛教入漢既久。何緣始至江東。澤曰。自永平十年佛法初來。至今赤烏四年。則一百七十年矣。初永平十四年。五嶽道士與摩騰角力之時。道士不如。南嶽道士褚善信費叔才等。在會自憾而死。門徒弟子歸葬南嶽。不預出家無人流布。後遭漢政凌遲兵戎不息。經今多載始得興行。又問曰。孔丘老子得與佛比對不。澤曰。臣聞魯孔君者英才誕秀聖德不群。世號素王制述經典。訓獎周道教化來葉。師儒之風澤潤今古。亦有逸民如許成子原陽子莊子老子等百家子書皆修身自翫放暢。山谷縱太其心。學歸淡泊事乖人倫長幼之節。亦非安俗化物之風。至漢景帝。以黃子老子義體尤深。改子為經始立道學。勅令朝野悉諷誦焉。若將孔老二教遠方佛法。遠則遠矣。所以然者。孔老二教。法天制用不敢違天。諸佛設教。天法奉行不敢違佛。以此言之。實非比對。吳主大悅。以澤為太子太傅（餘如晉宗炳明佛論廣之）。

The Book of Wu states: In the fourth year of the Chiwu reign era of Sun Quan, there was the śramaṇa Kang Senghui, who was the eldest son of the grand chancellor of the kingdom of Kangju. His spiritual bearing was upright and stern, and he took traveling and converting as his duty. At that time, the Three Kingdoms stood tripartite like a tripod, each holding its own balance of power; the Buddhadharma had spread to the north, but had not yet reached the southern realm. Senghui wished to cause the Dao to cover those who had not yet heard it and to open the teaching in Jiangbiao. When he first arrived in Jianye, he built a thatched hut, set up an image, and practiced the Dao. When the people of Wu first saw him, they called it something uncanny and bizarre. The relevant officials submitted a memorial about it, and the Lord of Wu questioned him, asking, "What divine verification does the Buddha possess?" Senghui said, "The Buddha concealed his spiritual traces more than a thousand years ago, yet his relic śarīra manifests in response without fixed measure." The Lord of Wu said, "If you obtain a śarīra, I shall erect a pagoda for him." After three times seven days, he finally obtained a śarīra: its five colors illumined the sky; striking it made it ever harder, and burning it did not set it alight. Its radiance issued forth from the fire, forming a great lotus that illumined the palace halls. Ministers and sovereign were astonished and sighed in admiration, and faithful sentiment arose [within them]. Thereupon, he built a pagoda, ordained people, and erected a temple for him; because of his dwelling place, it was called Buddha Lane. The teaching and Dharma first arose [here], and so it was named Jianchu Temple ("Temple of the Founding of the First"). Soon after, he issued an imperial decree asking the Prefect of the Masters of Writing, Kan Ze, "Since Han Ming[di], altogether how many years have passed? Since Buddhism has entered the Han for so long, by what cause has it only now arrived east of the Yangtze?" Ze said, "From the tenth year of the Yongping reign era, when the Buddhadharma first came, until the present fourth year of Chiwu, it has been one hundred and seventy years. Initially, in the fourteenth year of Yongping, when the Daoist priests of the Five Sacred Peaks vied in power with [Kāśyapa] Mātaṅga, the Daoist priests were inferior. The Southern Peak Daoist priests Chu Shanxin, Fei Shucai, and others died of chagrin at the assembly. Their disciples returned to bury them at the Southern Peak; not partaking in pravrajyā, there was no one to disseminate it. Later, they met with the decline of the Han government and the non-cessation of military conflict; only after many years have now passed could it begin to flourish and spread." He further asked, "Can Kong Qiu and Laozi be matched against the Buddha or not?" Ze said, "Your servant has heard that Master Kong of Lu was exceptionally talented and remarkably gifted, a sage whose virtue was unmatched. The world called him the Uncrowned King; he authored and transmitted the classics, teaching and exhorting the Zhou Way, and converting future generations. The style of the teachers and Confucians has moistened past and present. There were also recluses such as Xu Chengzi, Yuan Yangzi, Zhuangzi, Laozi, and the other writings of the hundred masters, all of whom cultivated themselves and enjoyed themselves in leisurely abandon; in the mountain valleys, they indulged their minds. Their learning returned to indifference, their affairs contrary to human relations and the decorum between elders and youths; neither was it a style that brought peace to customs or transformed living beings. When it came to Emperor Jing of the Han, because the meaning and substance of Huangzi and Laozi were especially profound, he changed the 'masters' to 'classics' and first established Daoist studies, issuing a decree ordering both court and commoners to chant them. If you take the two teachings of Kong and Lao and compare them from afar to the Buddhadharma, the distance is great indeed! Why is this so? The two teachings of Kong and Lao model themselves on Heaven and regulate application, not daring to contravene Heaven; when the Buddhas set forth the teachings, Heaven models itself on them and practices them, not daring to contravene the Buddhas. Speaking in this way, they truly cannot be compared." The Lord of Wu was greatly delighted and appointed Ze as Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince (the rest is broadly set forth in Jin Zong Bing's Mingfo lun).