集沙門不應拜俗等事 4.61

4.61

The treatise states: The decline and rise of the profound teaching fundamentally depends on appointed timing, yet the trust of flourishing and decay also relies on human planning. The August Emperor steers the transformation and rides the times, fittingly bearing the entrustment. Therefore, he issued an extraordinary edict to encourage the companions of the Śākya in an enlightened era. The Zuo Tradition states: 'If there is negative where the ruler deems it positive, the minister presents the negative to complete the positive; if there is positive where the ruler deems it negative, the minister presents the positive to eliminate the negative.' I have heard these words, and now I see such men. Looking upon Master Xiu exerting his efforts on behalf of the Śākya Lord to speak openly at the imperial palace, his words and intentions were earnest and sincere; diligent indeed was he! And the memorials submitted by Lord Xuan were detailed, earnest, comprehensive, and broad; I have nothing to criticize. Now, taking the Great Dharma as one's own responsibility, wishing to right what totters, and being able to carry heavy burdens on a long road—could they be such men? Confucius said: 'If someone totters and is not supported, or falls in peril and is not held, of what use is that assistant?' In this manner, one may truly call the Sovereign of supreme awakening great, and his ministers good! The deliberations of the Department of State Affairs, the Princely Bureau of Zhou, and others, though differing in elegance and simplicity, all grasped the crux of the matter. Yet in citing classics, consulting precedents, possessing sharp principles and precedents, and having rich and polished diction, the Ministry of War is called one of grand brush and beautiful prose. If one marks it with clear deliberation and restricts it with correct diction, its style eloquent and clean, and its matter clear and verified, then the Left Gallant Guard captures the main guidelines. May future enlightened judges take their choice from this!