集沙門不應拜俗等事 2.26

2.26

初啟　侍中臣嗣之。給事黃門侍郎臣袁恪之等言。詔書如右。神道冥昧聖詔幽遠　陛下所弘者大爰逮道人奉佛者耳。率土之民莫非王臣。而以向化法服。便抗禮萬乘之主。愚情所未安。拜起之禮豈虧其道。尊卑大倫不宜都廢。若許其名教之外闕其拜敬之儀者。請一斷引見啟可紀識。謹啟。

First Memorial: Palace Attendant, your subject Sizhi, and Gentleman Attendant at the Yellow Gates, your subject Yuan Kezhi, and others say: The imperial edict is as above. The spiritual path is dark and obscure; the sacred edict is profound and distant. What Your Majesty magnifies is great, extending even to the men of the Way who revere the Buddha. Within the lands of the realm, there is none who is not a king's subject; yet, relying on the Dharma robes of conversion, they directly match courtesy with the Lord of Ten Thousand Chariots. Our foolish minds are ill at ease with this. How could the ritual of bowing and rising detract from their Way? The great cardinal relations between high and low should not be entirely discarded. If you permit them to be outside the Teaching of Names and omit their rituals of bowing and paying reverence, we request that you decisively refuse audiences to them and memorialize this for the record. Respectfully submitted.