集沙門不應拜俗等事 2.43

2.43

昔在東晉太尉桓玄議。令沙門敬於王者。廬山法師高名碩德。傷智幢之欲屈。憂戒寶之將沈。乃作沙門不敬王者論。論不設敬之儀。當時遂寢。然以緝詞隱密援例杳深。後學披覽難見文意。聊因暇日輒復申敘。更號福田論云。

In the past, during the Eastern Jin, Grand Defender Huan Xuan debated ordering śramaṇas to pay homage to the ruler. The Dharma Master of Mount Lu, possessing eminent renown and vast virtue, grieved that the banner of wisdom was about to be bent and worried that the treasure of precepts was going to sink. He thereupon composed the *Treatise on Śramaṇas Not Paying Homage to Kings*, in which he argued against the propriety of offering homage; at that time, the matter was consequently laid to rest. However, because his woven phrases were subtle and his cited examples profound and remote, later students who open and read them find it difficult to discern the meaning of the text. Taking advantage of some leisure time, I have ventured to expound it once more, changing the title to the *Treatise on the Field of Merit*.