[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [破邪論](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2109) › 1.25 # 破邪論 1.25 破邪論 1.25 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [1.25](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2109.1.25) 後漢書。孝明帝永平三年。上夢金人項佩日月光飛行殿前。顧問群臣。通人傅毅對曰。臣聞西域有神。其名曰佛。陛下所見得無是乎。帝遣郎中蔡愔中郎將秦景博士王遵等。使於天竺而圖其形像。愔仍與沙門攝摩騰竺法蘭東還洛陽。中國有沙門自此始也　後漢郊祀志曰。佛者漢言覺。將以覺悟群生也。統其教以修善慈心為主。不殺生類專務清淨。其精者為沙門。漢言息心。剃髮去家絕情洗欲。而歸於無為也。又以人死精神不滅隨後受形。所行善惡後生皆有報應。所貴行善修道。以練其精神。練而不已以至無生而得為佛也。身長丈六黃金色。項中佩日月光。變化無常。無所不入。故能化通萬物而大濟群生也。有經書數千卷。以虛無為宗。苞羅精麁無所不統。善為宏闊勝大之言。所求在一體之內。所明在視聽之外。歸於玄微深遠難得而測。故王公大人觀生死報應之際。莫不懅然自失也魏書云。蔡愔得佛經四十二章及釋迦立像。明帝令畫工圖寫像形。置於清涼臺及顯節陵上。經文緘於蘭臺石室。愔之還也。以白馬負經而來漢。因立白馬寺於洛陽雍門西。其經旨大抵言生生之類皆因行業而起有過去當今未來三世也。其修道階次心行等級非一。皆緣淺以至深。藉微以為著。率在於積仁順蠲嗜欲。習虛靜而成通照也。其始修心則依佛法僧受三歸也。三歸如君子之三畏。又有五戒。斷殺盜婬妄語飲酒。大意與仁義禮智信同。云奉持之則生人天勝處。離鬼畜諸苦。言善惡之處凡有六道。在其防心正身口斷妄語。總謂之十善道也。能具此者。近獲天報遠得菩提四月八日夜從母右脇而生。當周昭魯莊之世。姿相超異者三十二種。天降嘉瑞以應之。亦三十二。佛既去世。弟子等以香木焚身。靈骨分碎大小如粒。其色紅白。擊之不壞焚之不燋。每有光明神驗。滅後百一十六年。有阿育王。以神力分佛舍利使於諸鬼神造八萬四千寶塔。今洛陽彭城扶風蜀郡姑臧臨淄等。皆有塔焉。並有神異也　漢法本內傳云。明帝遣郎中蔡愔中郎將秦景博士王遵等一十八人。至天竺國與攝摩騰等將釋迦立像。是優填王第四師所作。還明帝問摩騰曰。法王出世。何以化不及此。摩騰對曰。迦毘羅衛國者。是三千大千世界百億日月之中心。三世諸佛皆從彼生。不問天龍鬼神有願行力者。皆生於彼。受佛正化。咸得悟道。餘處眾生無緣感佛。佛不往也。佛雖不往。光明及處。或五百年。或一千年。一千年外。皆有聖人。傳佛聲教而教化之。永平十四年正月一日。五岳諸山道士朝正之次。互相命云。至尊棄我道法遠求胡教。我等今因朝次。各將太上天尊所制經書。盡己之所能。共上一表曰。五岳十八山觀太上三洞弟子道士褚善信等六百九十人。死罪上言。臣聞太上無形無名無極無上。虛無自然大道元首。自從造化道德從生無上。無為之尊。自然之父。上古同遵。百王不易。今陛下道邁羲皇德過堯舜。光宅四海。八表歸仁。臣等竊承。陛下棄本逐末。求教西域。臣觀西域所事者既是胡神。所說者不參華夏。復請胡人令翻其語託同似漢。臣等思忖。陛下雖翻得此語。恐非大道。如不依信。願陛下恕臣等罪。聽與驗試。臣等五岳諸山道士多有聰明智慧。博通經典。從元皇已來。太上經行悉能曉了。太虛符呪並皆明達。或有吞符餌氣。或有策使鬼神。或有入火不燒。或有履水不溺。或有白日昇天。或有隱形於地。至於方藥法術。無有不能者。願陛下許臣等得與比校。一則聖上意安。二則得辯真偽。三則大道有歸。四則不亂華俗。臣等若比對不如。任上重決。若臣等比對有勝。乞除虛偽。勅遣尚書令宋庠引入長樂宮詔曰。此月十五日大集白馬寺南門外。道士等共置三壇。壇別開二十四門南岳道士褚善信等七十人。將靈寶真文太上玉決。崆峒靈章昇玄步虛太上左仙人請問自然五稱諸天內音等經合一百三卷。華岳道士劉正念等七十人。將智慧定志智慧上品戒仙人請問本行因緣明真科等六十二卷。恒岳道士桓文度等七十人。將本業上品法科罪福明真科齋儀太上洞玄真文合八十卷。岱岳道士焦得心等七十人。將諸天靈書度命九天生神章太上說極太虛自然滅度五練生屍度自然劵儀合八十五卷。嵩岳道士呂慧通等一百四十人。將太上安志上品三元品誡太極左仙公神仙本起內傳服御五牙立成朝夕朝禮儀九十五卷。霍山天目山五臺山白鹿山合十八山諸山觀道士祁文信等二百七十人。將太極真人敷靈寶文太上洞玄靈寶天文及五符經步虛文神仙藥法屍解品上天符錄勅禁合八十四卷。都合五百六十九卷。置之西壇。茅成子許成子列子黃子老子莊子惠子合二十七家諸子經書。總有二百三十五卷。置之中壇。饌食奠祀百神置之東壇。明帝設七寶行殿。在白馬寺南門外道西。置佛舍利及經像。十五日齋訖。道士等即以柴荻和栴檀沈水香。積遶西壇經教上啼泣啟告曰。臣等上啟。太上無極大道元始天尊眾仙百靈。今胡神亂夏人主信邪正教失蹤玄風墜緒。臣等謹依三五步剛之法敢以置經壇上。以火取驗。欲開曉未聞以辯真偽。便放火燒經。經從火化悉成灰燼。道士等見火焚經心大驚怖。先時昇天者不復能昇。先時隱形者不復能隱。先時入火者不復能入。先善禁呪者呼策不應。先有種種功能者無一可驗。諸道士等大生慚愧。爾時太傅張衍語褚信曰。卿今所試無驗。即是虛妄宜就西域真法。褚信不答。南岳道士費叔才在眾自憾而死。時佛舍利光明五色。直上空中旋環如蓋。遍覆大眾映蔽日輪。摩騰法師先得阿羅漢果。以慈善力涌身高飛。行臥空中神化自在。還坐本處。怡然而住。于時天雨寶花。在於佛殿及眾僧上。又聞天中諸樂之音。感動人情。大眾觀悅。歎未曾有。法蘭法師於大眾中即說偈言。 > The Hou Han shu (Book of the Later Han) states: In the third year of the Yongping reign era of Emperor Xiaoming, the Emperor dreamed of a golden man with the radiance of the sun and moon佩ering round his neck, flying about before the palace hall. He questioned his assembled ministers. The learned Fu Yi replied: “Your servant has heard that in the Western Regions there is a deity whose name is ‘Buddha’; could what Your Majesty saw not be him?” The Emperor dispatched Attendant within the Yellow Gate Cai Yin, General of the Household Qin Jing, Erudite Wang Zun, and others on a mission to Tianzhu to draw his likeness. Yin then returned east to Luoyang together with the śramaṇas Kāśyapa Mātaṅga and Dharmaratna. The presence of śramaṇas in the Central Plains began with this. The “Treatise on Suburban Sacrifices” of the Hou Han shu says: “Buddha” is in the language of the Han “the Awakened One,” meaning one who will awaken all living beings. His teaching is governed primarily by cultivating goodness and a compassionate mind; it refrains from killing living things and focuses exclusively on purity. Those who are perfected in it are called śramaṇas, which in the language of the Han means “resting the mind.” They shave their hair, leave their families, cut off desires, wash away cravings, and return to the unconditioned. Moreover, they hold that when a person dies, the vital spirit is not destroyed, but subsequently receives a form; the good and evil that one has done in this life will all have retribution in a future birth. What they esteem is practicing goodness and cultivating the Way to refine their vital spirit. They refine it without ceasing until they reach non-arising and are able to become a Buddha. His body is sixteen feet tall and golden in color, with the radiance of the sun and moon behind his neck. He transforms without constancy and penetrates everywhere; hence he can transform and permeate all things, broadly rescuing the multitudes of living beings. There are several thousand fascicles of scriptures, taking emptiness and non-being as their fundamental tenet; encompassing both the subtle and the gross, there is nothing they do not unite. They excel at grand and magnificent speech; what they seek is within one’s own body, and what they illumine lies beyond hearing and seeing. Ultimately they return to what is dark, subtle, deep, and far-reaching, difficult to fathom or measure. Therefore, when princes and grandees observe the juncture of birth, death, and karmic retribution, none fails to feel alarmed and lose their composure. The Wei shu (Book of Wei) says: Cai Yin obtained the Scripture in Forty-Two Sections and a standing image of Śākyamuni. Emperor Ming ordered painters to depict the likeness, placing it on the Qingliang Terrace and on the Xianjie Mausoleum. The scriptures were sealed in the stone chamber of the Orchid Terrace. When Yin returned, he loaded the scriptures onto a white horse and came to the Han. Consequently, the White Horse Monastery was established west of the Yong Gate of Luoyang. The main purport of its scriptures generally states that living beings of all kinds all arise on account of actions and karma, and that there are three times: past, present, and future. The stages of cultivating the Way and the gradations of mental practice are not just one; all advance from the shallow to reach the deep, relying on the subtle to manifest the prominent. They generally consist in accumulating benevolence, compliance, dispelling cravings, and practicing emptiness and stillness so as to accomplish penetrating luminosity. In beginning to cultivate the mind, one relies on the Buddha, Dharma, and Saṅgha to receive the three refuges. The three refuges are like the three dreads of the noble person. Furthermore, there are five precepts: cutting off killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and drinking alcohol. Their general meaning is identical to benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness. It is said that by upholding them, one will be born in superior realms among humans and devas, and be freed from the sufferings of ghosts and beasts. It says that the places of good and evil comprise six paths in all. They consist in guarding the mind, rectifying the body and mouth, and cutting off lying; taken together, these are called the path of ten virtues. Those who can fully possess them will in the near term obtain celestial recompense and in the long run attain bodhi. On the night of the eighth day of the fourth month, he was born from his mother’s right side, during the reigns of King Zhao of the Zhou and Duke Zhuang of Lu. His extraordinary marks of appearance numbered thirty-two, and heaven sent down auspicious portents to correspond to them, also thirty-two. After the Buddha passed away, his disciples cremated his body with fragrant wood. His sacred bones were broken into fragments as small as grains; their color was red and white. Striking them could not break them; burning them could not char them; they constantly manifested radiant, miraculous proofs. One hundred and sixteen years after his demise, there was King Aśoka, who through divine power divided the Buddha’s śarīra and ordered spirits and ghosts to build eighty-four thousand jewel pagodas. Today, in Luoyang, Pengcheng, Fufeng, Shu Commandery, Guzang, Linzi, and elsewhere, there are pagodas, all possessing miraculous phenomena. The Han faben neizhuan (Inner Chronicle of the Origins of the Dharma in the Han) says: Emperor Ming dispatched Attendant within the Yellow Gate Cai Yin, General of the Household Qin Jing, Erudite Wang Zun, and others, eighteen in all, to the country of Tianzhu. Together with Kāśyapa Mātaṅga and others, they brought back a standing image of Śākyamuni, which was made by the fourth master of King Udayana. When they returned, Emperor Ming asked Mātaṅga: “When the King of the Dharma appears in the world, why did his transformation not reach here?” Mātaṅga replied: “The kingdom of Kapilavastu is the center of the three-thousand-great-thousandfold world system with its billions of suns and moons. The Buddhas of the three times are all born there. Regardless of whether they are devas, dragons, ghosts, or spirits, those who possess the power of vows and deeds are all born there, receive the Buddha’s true transformation, and all attain enlightenment to the Way. Living beings in other places lack the conditions to move the Buddha, so the Buddha does not go there. Although the Buddha does not go there, wherever his light reaches—be it five hundred years or one thousand years—after one thousand years, there are always holy persons who transmit the Buddha’s voiced teachings to transform them.” On the first day of the first month in the fourteenth year of the Yongping reign, during the court assembly for the New Year, Daoist masters from the Five Peaks and various mountains said to one another: “The Sovereign has abandoned our Daoist teachings and gone far away to seek the barbarian teachings. Taking advantage of our presence at court, let us each bring the scriptures and texts established by the Supreme Heavenly Worthy, exhaust our abilities, and jointly submit a memorial.” The memorial said: “We, Chu Shanxin and others, six hundred and ninety Daoist disciples of the Three Caverns of the Supreme from the eighteen mountain abbeys of the Five Peaks, under penalty of death submit this memorial: Your servants have heard that the Supreme is formless and nameless, limitless and unsurpassable, the void, natural, and primal head of the Great Way. Since creation, the Way and Virtue have arisen from it; it is the unsurpassed, unconditioned venerable one and the father of nature. From high antiquity it has been revered in common, and through a hundred kings it has not changed. Now Your Majesty’s Way surpasses that of the Sovereign Fuxi and your virtue exceeds that of Yao and Shun; your light illuminates the four seas, and the eight extremities submit to your benevolence. Your servants have heard that Your Majesty has abandoned the root to chase after the branches, seeking teachings from the Western Regions. We observe that what is served in the Western Regions is a barbarian deity, and what is spoken does not accord with Huaxia. Moreover, you have invited barbarians to translate their words, falsely making them resemble Han speech. Your servants reflect that although Your Majesty has had these words translated, we fear it is not the Great Way. If you do not believe us, we pray that Your Majesty forgive our transgression and allow us to hold an empirical test. Among the Daoist masters of the Five Peaks and various mountains, many are intelligent, wise, and widely versed in the classics. From the Primal Sovereign onward, we thoroughly understand the scriptures and practices of the Supreme; we are completely enlightened in the talismans and incantations of the Great Void. Some can swallow talismans and ingest qi; some can command ghosts and spirits; some can enter fire without being burned; some can tread on water without drowning; some can ascend to heaven in broad daylight; some can conceal their forms in the earth. As for recipes, medicines, and occult arts, there is nothing we cannot do. We pray that Your Majesty permit us to compare and contend with them. First, it will set the Sage Sovereign’s mind at rest; second, it will distinguish the true from the false; third, the Great Way will have where it belongs; fourth, Chinese customs will not be thrown into disorder. If in this comparison we are inferior, we submit to whatever severe judgment Your Majesty decides. If we are victorious, we beg that the false and bogus be eliminated.” An imperial decree was issued ordering the Prefect of the Masters of Writing Song Xiang to usher them into the Changle Palace. An edict said: “On the fifteenth day of this month, a great assembly will take place outside the south gate of the White Horse Monastery.” The Daoist masters together erected three altars, each altar having twenty-four gates opened. Chu Shanxin and others, seventy Daoist masters of the Southern Peak, brought scriptures including the Lingbao zhenwen (True Text of Numinous Treasure), the Taishang yujue (Jade Instructions of the Supreme), the Kongtong lingzhang (Numinous Stanzas of Kongtong), the Shengxuan buxu (Ascending to the Mystery and Pacing the Void), the Taishang zuoxianren qingwen ziran wucheng (Questions of the Supreme Left Immortal on the Spontaneous Five Praises), and the Zhutian neiyin (Esoteric Sounds of the Heavens), a total of one hundred and three fascicles. Liu Zhengnian and others, seventy Daoist masters of the Mount Hua Peak, brought the Zhihui dingzhi (Wisdom and Resolved Mind), the Zhihui shangpin jie (Upper Grade Precepts of Wisdom), the Xianren qingwen benxing yinyuan (Questions of the Immortal on the Conditions of Original Conduct), the Mingzhen ke (Rules of Bright Truth), and others, sixty-two fascicles. Huan Wendu and others, seventy Daoist masters of the Northern Peak, brought the Benye shangpin fake (Rules on the Upper Grade of Original Deeds), the Zuifu mingzhen ke zhaiyi (Purification Rituals and Rules of Bright Truth on Sin and Blessing), and the Taishang dongxuan zhenwen (True Text of the Supreme Cavernous Mystery), a total of eighty fascicles. Jiao Dexin and others, seventy Daoist masters of the Eastern Peak, brought the Zhutian lingshu duming (Numinous Writings of the Heavens for Delivering Life), the Jiutian shengshen zhang (Nine Heavens’ Stanzas on Generating the Spirits), the Taishang shuo ji taixu ziran miedu wulian shengshi du ziran quanyi (Rituals of the Spontaneous Contract of the Supreme Teaching the Ultimate Great Void and Spontaneous Deliverance through Fivefold Refinement of the Corpse), and others, a total of eighty-five fascicles. Lü Huitong and others, one hundred and forty Daoist masters of the Central Peak, brought the Taishang anzhi shangpin (Upper Grade of Settling the Mind of the Supreme), the Sanyuan pinjie (Precepts of the Three Primes), the Taiji zuoxiangong shenxian benqi neizhuan (Esoteric Biography of the Origins of the Divine Immortals of the Left Immortal Lord of the Grand Ultimate), and the Fuyu wuya lichen zhaoxi chaoli yi (Rituals for Morning and Evening Audiences through Ingesting the Five Sprouts), ninety-five fascicles. Qi Wenxin and others, two hundred and seventy Daoist masters from the eighteen mountain abbeys including Mount Huo, Mount Tianmu, Mount Wutai, and Mount Bailu, brought the Taiji zhenren fu lingbao wen (Text on Promulgating Numinous Treasure by the Realized Person of the Grand Ultimate), the Taishang dongxuan lingbao tianwen (Celestial Text of Numinous Treasure of the Supreme Cavernous Mystery), the Wufu jing (Scripture of the Five Talismans), the Buxu wen (Pacing the Void Texts), the Shenxian yaofa (Divine Immortals’ Methods for Medicine), the Shijie pin (Section on Corpse Deliverance), the Shangtian fulu chijin (Charms and Injunctions of the Upper Heavens), and others, a total of eighty-four fascicles. Altogether there were five hundred and sixty-nine fascicles, placed on the western altar. The scriptures and books of twenty-seven masters, including Mao Chengzi, Xu Chengzi, Liezi, Huangzi, Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Huizi, amounting in total to two hundred and thirty-five fascicles, were placed on the middle altar. Food, offerings, and sacrifices to the hundred spirits were placed on the eastern altar. Emperor Ming set up a seven-jeweled traveling palace west of the road outside the south gate of the White Horse Monastery, where the Buddha’s relics, scriptures, and images were enshrined. On the fifteenth day, when the fast ended, the Daoist masters surrounded the western altar with firewood and reeds mixed with sandalwood and aloeswood, piled around the scriptures, and weeping, made an announcement: “Your servants report above to the Supreme Limitless Great Way, the Heavenly Worthy of the Primordial Beginning, and all the immortals and hundred spirits: Now the barbarian deity brings disorder to the Xia, and the ruler of men believes in the heterodox. The true teaching has lost its path, and the mysterious lineage has fallen into decline. Your servants, respectfully relying on the method of the Three and Five Pacing the Dipper, dare to place the scriptures on the altar and test them with fire, wishing to enlighten those who have not heard and distinguish the true from the false.” Thereupon they set fire to burn the scriptures. The scriptures were transformed by the fire and completely turned to ashes. When the Daoist masters saw the fire consume the scriptures, they were greatly terrified in their hearts. Those who had previously ascended to heaven could no longer ascend; those who had previously concealed their forms could no longer conceal themselves; those who had previously entered fire could no longer enter it; those who had previously been adept at binding incantations summoned and commanded spirits to no reply; of those who previously had various powers, not a single one proved effective. The Daoist masters were deeply ashamed. At that time, Grand Tutor Zhang Yan said to Chu Xin: “What you have tested today has no efficacy; this shows it is false. You ought to turn to the true Dharma of the Western Regions.” Chu Xin did not reply. The Daoist master of the Southern Peak Fei Shucai died of self-reproach in the midst of the assembly. At that time, the Buddha’s relics radiated five-colored light, shooting straight up into the air and whirling like a canopy, completely covering the great assembly and eclipsing the sun. Dharma Master Mātaṅga, having previously attained the fruit of an arhat, sprang up into high flight by the power of benevolence and compassion. He walked and reclined in midair, transforming miraculously at will, then returned to sit in his original place, remaining serene. At that time, the heavens rained down precious flowers onto the Buddha hall and above the assembly of monks. Celestial music was also heard, moving people’s feelings; the great assembly gazed in delight and marveled at this unprecedented event. Dharma Master Dharmaratna then spoke a verse in the midst of the great assembly: > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 1.24](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2109.1.24) - [Next: 1.26](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2109.1.26) - [Up: 1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2109.1) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2109~en-mt.1.25) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (3) - [釋迦方志](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2088.2.103) — 道宣, Classical Chinese - [集古今佛道論衡](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2104.1.6) — Classical Chinese - [續集古今佛道論衡](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2105.1.17) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2109.1.25](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2109.1.25) · Pramāṇa