集沙門不應拜俗等事 6.33

6.33

The mysterious teaching has flowed eastward for more than six hundred years; among the emperors and kings of past eras, there were none who did not revere it. Arriving at the present Sage Emperor, compliance with established teachings has grown all the more exalted. Thus monastery towers gaze upon one another and pure abodes stand side by side. People know to admire goodness, and households understand how to seek blessings. We monks are humbled to be among living beings; how could we forget loyalty and filial piety? When the luminous edict was promulgated, all within the empire complied. We only fear that the upright brushes of historians will record that it transgressed the Buddha's teaching, and after myriad generations, it will defile the imperial breeze.