集古今佛道論衡 1.23

1.23

When Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei, Tuoba Tao, ascended the throne, he likewise followed the undertakings of Taizu and Taizong. Although Huang-Lao [texts and practices] existed, he took no relish in their arts. He often invited eminent, virtuous śramaṇas to converse with him on profound principles. On the eighth day of the fourth month, statues of the Buddhas were carried on chariots along the grand avenues; the Emperor personally attended from the gate-tower, scattering flowers and paying homage with the utmost reverence. Later, while occupying Pingcheng, he promoted veneration for the arts of Li [Laozi] and established a Daoist altar for them. Minister of Education Cui Hao had studied heterodox ways in his youth and harboured suspicion and jealousy towards the Buddhist tradition. Occupying the highest ministerial office under this dynasty, he especially disbelieved in the existence of the Buddha, calling it empty falsehood. Seeing anyone reading Buddhist scriptures, he would seize them and cast them into a well, secretly desiring to exterminate them. Because Hao possessed talent and strategic skill, Taiwu trusted and employed him, and the people of the state took him as a model. The Daoist priest whom Tao supported and trusted was Kou Qianzhi, who was on intimate terms with Hao. Hao thereupon submitted a memorial requesting that Qian[zhi] be appointed to high office under the title of Celestial Master. At that time there was the śramaṇa Xuan Gao, whose Dao reigned over Hexi and whose fame was high west of the seas. His spiritual applications were unfathomable, and both noble and base alike revered him. Tao then brought his armies near the border of Liang and summoned Gao to return east. Having arrived at Pingcheng, he greatly propagated the teaching of dhyāna. Crown Prince Huang served Gao as his master, paying him full respect in body and mind. Huang was at that time slandered and suspected by his father. He then said to Gao: 'I am trapped in groundless grievance and suffering; by what means may I escape?' Gao had him perform the Golden Light fast and repentance for seven days with earnest sincerity. Tao then saw his grandfather and father in a dream, all brandishing swords and displaying their majesty, saying: 'Why do you believe slander and groundlessly suspect the Crown Prince?' Tao awoke in alarm. He gathered his assembled ministers and recounted the spirit-dream. The ministers all said: 'The Crown Prince is without fault; it is truly as the imperial ancestral spirits have decreed.' Tao no longer suspected the Crown Prince. This was indeed the power of Gao's sincere resonance. He consequently issued a decree saying: 'We have inherited the illustrious lineage of Our ancestors, and desire to unfold this vast foundation and expand it for ten thousand generations. Although Our military feats are evident, civil instruction is not yet widely spread, which is not the means by which to exalt the governance of Great Peace. Now within the city all is peaceful and at ease, and the common people are prosperous and abundant. We ought to establish regulations to serve as a standard for ten thousand generations. Now, yin and yang ebb and flow; the four seasons follow in succession. Entrusting [governance] to one's son and assigning tasks to the worthy, handing over security and peace to one another, is the means to rest the weary and firmly consolidate what is enduring. This is an immutable and excellent rule from ancient times to the present. The Crown Prince may assist in managing the myriad affairs of state and oversee the hundred bureaus. Let him further recommend the worthy and good to fill the various offices, select men to assign responsibilities, and dismiss or promote them. Let all court officials and commoners declare themselves subjects to the Crown Prince.' At that time, Cui and Kou had already gained Tao's favour. Fearing that Huang would usurp the government and strip them of prestige and power, they again slandered him, saying: 'In the previous matter the Crown Prince truly had treacherous designs, but by enlisting Lord Gao's arts of the Dao, he caused the late emperors to send down such a dream. The rumors and traces of the affair are difficult to clarify; if this matter is not eliminated early, it will surely become a tremendous calamity.' Tao accepted this. He immediately ordered Gao's arrest. On the fifteenth day of the ninth month in the fifth year of Taiping, he was strangled at a corner of Pingcheng. The Crown Prince was also confined and killed. This was the twenty-second year of Yuanjia under the Song. That night, none of his disciples knew of his death. Suddenly, a bright light circled the stūpa and entered the room. A voice from the light said: 'I have already passed away.' The disciples rushed in grief to the place of the corpse, praying for his final instructions. When they finished speaking, Gao's eyes slightly opened, sweat broke out over him, a fragrance arose, and he sat up and said to them: 'The responsive transformations of the Great Dharma wax and wane according to conditions. Waxing and waning lie in traces; the principle is ever tranquil. I only think of you, that before long you too will be like me. After you die, the Dharma will flourish again. Cultivate your minds well, and do not let regret arise midway.' Having spoken, he lay down and passed away. Cui Hao from this point gave free rein to his treacherous heart, constantly maligning [Buddhism] whenever he spoke with the Emperor. Contending that the Buddha-Dharma was of no benefit to governance and harmful to the people's interests, he urged that it be abolished. Later, Taiwu went to Chang'an and entered a monastic temple, where he saw bows and shields. The Emperor was enraged and executed the monks of the temple. Hao seized the opportunity to present a proposal, urging that all śramaṇas be killed and the scriptures burned and statues destroyed. An edict was issued ordering the palace bureaus to eradicate all monastic temples in the four quarters according to the law applied in Chang'an. The Daoist priest Kou Qian[zhi] did not concur with this destruction, and argued bitterly with Hao, but Hao rejected him. Qian[zhi] said to Hao: 'Beginning this year, you will suffer execution and the extermination of your clan!' Tao was deceived by his words, and in the seventh year of Taiping he proceeded to extinguish the Buddha-Dharma universally. Troops were dispatched in four directions to burn and plunder temple buildings; monks and nuns within his domain, young and old alike, were buried alive. Those who fled were captured and beheaded, with their heads exposed on poles. There was a śramaṇa named Huishi who was exceptionally possessed of divine wonders. Formerly, when Helian Chang sacked Chang'an, Shi was struck with naked blades yet his body was uninjured. For over fifty years he had never lain down to sleep. He walked barefoot in mud and sludge, yet his feet were never soiled and their complexion became all the more fresh and white; the world called him the 'White-Footed Upādhyāya.' More than ten years after his death, his bodily form remained as though alive. In the beginning he had entered deep mountains to practice in an araṇya, and only at the end of the Taiping era did he learn of the destruction of the Dharma. When Huishi heard of it, on the day of the New Year assembly he leaned upon his staff at the palace gates. An officer reported: 'There is a man of the Dao whose feet are whiter than his face. He says he wishes to enter for an audience. In accordance with military law we executed him, but he was unharmed. He has now reached the palace courtyard.' Tao was furious, and struck at him himself with the sword he wore at his waist, but his body suffered no injury. At that time tigers were kept in the northern garden, and an order was given to feed Shi to them. The tigers all crouched down and never dared even look at him. When the Celestial Master was made to approach the enclosure by way of trial, the tigers roared at once. Only then did Tao realize the lofty supremacy of the Buddha's teaching, which Huang-Lao could not match. He immediately invited Shi into the hall, prostrated at his feet, and repented of his errors and faults. Shi preached the Dharma for him, clearly explaining cause and effect. Tao thereupon felt great shame and fear. He then contracted a virulent disease; sores broke out all over his body, causing intolerable pain. The assembled ministers discussed it, saying: 'Cui Hao's evil flattery destroyed and harmed the Buddha and the Saṅgha; Your Majesty's affliction is surely due to this.' At that time, both Cui and Kou in succession contracted foul diseases. Tao laid the blame on them. In the eleventh year of Taiping, he placed Hao on an open wagon, and ordered ten officials to take turns urinating into his mouth while on the wagon. After traveling several li, Hao could no longer bear the agony. He was then buried alive up to his mouth, and they urinated on him again. Since ancient times, no punishment or humiliation of the Three Excellencies has ever exceeded the severity of this. He then executed all of his in-laws and clan entirely. He issued an edict throughout the realm to revive the True Dharma. Soon thereafter, Tao died. His grandson Jun succeeded to the throne and greatly promoted Buddhist affairs; this was Emperor Gaozong, Wencheng. This is seen in the History of the Later Wei, the Spring and Autumn Annals of the Sixteen Kingdoms, the Biographies of Eminent Monks, and other works.