集古今佛道論衡 1.38

1.38

Formerly, there was the Jinling Daoist Lu Xiujing, the leader of the Daoist community. Spanning the two dynasties of Song and Qi, he transmitted the teachings of the three Zhangs and broadened those of the two Ges. Scholars of the Xi and Zhang clans closed their doors to receive his registers. Consequently, he made arbitrary additions and forced interpretations, extensively designing fast rituals that were extraordinarily lavish and wasteful, intending for monarchs to follow and revere them. When Emperor Wu of the Liang founded his dynasty, he issued an edict renouncing Daoism. Xiujing could not contain his indignation; thereupon, together with his disciples and outlaws from the frontier, he rebelled and fled into the Northern Qi. He also distributed gold and jade as gifts to noble wanderers, revealing his heart's desires in hopes of reviving the Daoist law. The emperor was misled by him. In the ninth month of the sixth year of Tianbao, [the emperor] issued an edict summoning ten learned and accomplished śramaṇas and Daoist priests to debate and test each other in person. At that time, the Daoist priests chanted spells over the śramaṇas' robes and bowls, causing them either to fly or spin; they chanted spells over the beams and pillars, causing them either to lie horizontal or stand erect. The śramaṇas had never studied magical arts, so they kept silent without a single reply. Men and women crowded around, and noble and base alike shifted their allegiances, all considering the followers of [Lu Xiu]jing to be superior. The Daoist priests jumped about with joy and stood tall, looking askance toward the clouds and Milky Way. Boasting loudly, they showed off their Daoist arts, continuously proclaiming: "Supernatural powers are deployed as expedients to suppress and break the obstinate! If the śramaṇas manifest one, we shall manifest two! Now, having merely shown a petty trick, they have all declined, retreated, and submitted. The matter is already clear!" The emperor commanded Fashang, the Controller of the Clergy, to compete against [Lu Xiu]jing. Shang said: "Magical arts are petty tricks of which even mundane Ru scholars are ashamed, how much more so for home-renouncers! Even so, the Son of Heaven commands us to resist them; how could we remain silent? Let the monk seated at the very lowest place answer them." They immediately went looking, and found a monk named Fojuan, also known as Tanxian. No one knew who he was; his wanderings were unfixed, and his eating and drinking were like those of the mundane world. Occasionally, he let loose grand words that revealed profound understanding. The Controller of the Clergy knew his depth and secretly befriended him. At that time, eminent monks gathered in great numbers, and Xian sat in the last seat, heavily intoxicated with wine, sitting upright and unsteady. The officials did not dare call him, and reported the matter to the Controller of the Clergy. Shang said: "The Daoist libationers follow ordinary ways; only a wine-drinking man of the Way can converse with them. Support him and bring him forward!" Thereupon, the assembly, fearing the authority of the Controller of the Clergy, dared not remonstrate. Two men supported Xian and led him up to the high seat. He stood smiling and said: "I have drunk wine and am heavily intoxicated, but I heard with my own ears someone saying, 'If the śramaṇas manifest one, I shall manifest two.' Is this statement true or false?" A Daoist priest said: "It is true." Xian thereupon stood on one foot and said: "I have already manifested one; you may manifest two." None could answer him. Xian said: "Earlier, when your spells made the robes and bowls fly about, I purposefully left the door open to test your arts." He ordered Master Chou's robes and bowl to be brought and spells to be cast over them. The Daoist priests simultaneously exerted themselves and cast spells together, but [the robes and bowl] did not budge in the slightest. The emperor commanded that the robes be taken, but even ten men pulling and lifting them could not move them. Xian then ordered the robes to be placed on the beams, and again commanded them to chant spells, but in the end there was not a single sign of efficacy. The Daoist priests looked at one another in helplessness, yet still held themselves high through verbal eloquence, saying: "The Buddhists call themselves 'inner,' and what is inner is small. The imperial edict calls our Daoists 'outer,' and what is outer is great." Xian replied without hesitation: "If so, then the Son of Heaven resides inside, so he must surely be smaller than the hundred civil and military officials!" [Lu Xiu]jing and his subordinates sealed their mouths without a word. The emperor witnessed the right and wrong with his own eyes, and thereupon issued an edict: "The Dharma-gate is not two, and the true school is one. Seeking the correct path, quietude and detachment are fundamental. The libationers' Dao is a worldly falsehood; mundane people have not awakened and still revere it. Yeast and malt are their relish—where is their clarity and vacuity? Mutton and dried meat are their sweetness—they are forever alienated from loving-kindness and compassion! Above, it differs from the shrines of benevolence; below, it violates the sacrificial canons. All such practices should be banned and stopped, and no longer followed or served. Proclaim this edict near and far, making it known to all! Those Daoist priests who submit shall all be handed over to the Grand Controller of the Office for Clarifying the Profound, the Master [Fa]shang, who will administer their tonsure and permit them to enter the monastic life. Those who have not yet brought forth the mind [to convert] may be forcibly tonsured." On that day, more than one person was beheaded. Those who called themselves immortals were ordered to ascend the Sanjue Terrace and cast themselves off to fly away, but their bodies were all smashed to pieces upon the ground. Thus were falsehood and deceit brought to an end, with the result that within the borders of the Qi state there were no longer two faiths. Not until the early Sui did their arts gradually revive, and to this day in the eastern river basin this school remains slight and negligible, not worth contending against. The emperor's personal name was [Gao] Yang; he was the second son of the Prime Minister of the Northern Wei, Prince [Gao] Huan. When his legitimate elder brother Cheng was murdered by a servant for his arrogant negligence, Yang inherited his position and served as Minister of State in his place. When the Wei's astrological cycle was exhausted, Yang built an altar in the southern suburbs, and upon divining, encountered the hexagram 'Daheng', the greatly auspicious hexagram of Emperor Wen of the Han. Thereupon he cast a golden image, which was successfully formed in a single pour. Wei Shou drafted the document of abdication, the Wei emperor signed it, and he accepted the abdication to become the Great Qi. Throughout his conduct, no one could fathom whether he was foolish or wise; he entrusted governance to Vice Director Yang Zunyan. The emperor extensively built Buddhist temples, so that monks and nuns filled the provinces, and offerings and liturgical practice went on without ceasing in winter and summer. At that time, Chan Master Chou admonished the emperor, saying: "Donor, you are almost a rākṣasa; look at yourself in the water and see." The emperor followed his advice and saw a host of rākṣasas behind him. Thereupon, he ceased eating meat, banned falcons and sparrowhawks, abolished official fishing and slaughter, and eliminated all pungent roots, prohibiting them from entering the markets. The emperor constantly sat in meditation, not coming out for entire days; when prostrating to the Buddha and circumambulating, he was as swift as the wind. He received the precepts from the Grand Controller of the Office for Clarifying the Profound, Fashang, covering the ground with his face and having Shang step on his hair to confer them. Earlier, when the emperor was in Jinyang, he had a man ride a camel, ordering him: "Go to the temple and fetch the scripture cases." The envoy asked where it was. The emperor said: "Let the camel go out of the city." When he exited, suddenly as if in a dream, he reached a mountain. Halfway up the mountain was a Buddhist temple. A group of novices called out from afar: "Gao Yang has entrusted a camel to come!" They led him in for an audience. An old monk bowed to him and said: "How is Gao Yang as the Son of Heaven?" He replied: "Sage-like and brilliant." The monk asked: "Why have you come?" He replied: "To fetch the scripture cases." The monk said: "Yang was lazy at reciting scriptures while in the temple; go to the eastern end of the northern row and give them to him." The envoy returned to report the mission. Earlier, when the emperor reached the Buddhist temple at Mujing in Gukou, there was a foolish person who gave up his body, unable to speak intelligible words, who suddenly said to the emperor: "I am going; you come after!" That night the foolish person died, and soon afterward the emperor passed away in Jinyang.