集沙門不應拜俗等事 1.49

1.49

沙門不敬王者。既是情所不了。於理又是所未喻。一代大事。不可令其體不允。近八座書今示君。君可述所以不敬意也。此便當行之事。一二令詳遣想。君必有以釋其所疑耳。王領軍大有任此意近亦同遊謝中面共諮之。所據理殊未釋所疑也。今郭江州取君答。可旨付之。

That śramaṇas do not revere kings is something my feelings cannot comprehend, and in principle it remains unexplained. In this great affair of an entire generation, its structure must not be improper. I recently sent a letter to the Eight Ministers and now show it to you; you may state the reason for not showing reverence. This is an affair currently to be carried out. I have given detailed instructions, and I trust you will surely have the means to resolve my doubts. General of the Right Wang has strongly maintained this perspective, and recently we traveled together to Xie'an's garden and consulted him face to face; the reasoning he relied on fell far short of resolving my doubts. Now Regional Inspector of Jiangzhou Guo will collect your reply; you may hand it over directly to him.