破邪論 1

English (machine translation) 1

Language: English

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Composed by the śramaṇa Shi Falin of Jifa Monastery in the Great Tang.

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Preface to the Collected Works of Dharma Master Falin of Xiangyang

The spiritual and marvelous is boundless, beyond the calculation of tallies; ultimate truth is profound and remote, hardly to be grasped by plumb-line and marking-cord. Indeed, the constant Dao is wordless, and wherever bounds exist, it is cut off; how could one rely on innate celestial gifts to fathom its dark depths? Yet as for the sources of the five approaches and the six perfections, the teachings of the half-word and the One Vehicle, the titles of the nine schools and hundred masters, and the texts of the three caverns and four registers—if their plans can be woven together and expounded through standard works, and their realms reached by the power of the mind, then heroic models of lush fruition have appeared in every generation.

Now, Dharma Master Falin, whose secular surname was Chen, was a native of Yingchuan and a descendant of Qun, Minister of Works of the Jin. From the Liang through the Chen dynasties, his lineage held office generation after generation; from his grandfathers down to his uncles, they were Confucian masters of successive ages. In his youth, the Dharma Master studied the Three Treatises, his fame spreading across court and countryside; as he grew older, he mastered the various canons, his renown resounding in distant lands. His deportment was solemn and reverent, his integrity steadfast, and his learning deeply penetrating. Lingering over refined writings, he brought forth the obscure and hidden. His inner measure was like the earth welcoming spring, storing its function while manifesting benevolence; his virtue was like the simple and hesitant, outwardly dim yet inwardly bright. Surely his wisdom was comprehensive enough to measure the sea, and his Dao rivalled that of Dao'an; how could he merely compare in conduct to Shan Tao or in spirit to Yu Liang?

As for his literary style, it was classic without being rustic, ornate yet principled, like the eight timbres played in harmony or the five colours mutually displayed. In religious practice, he introduced right view into the three emptinesses and rescued the confused multitude from the eight sufferings. Although broadly learned, he kept his mind humble; though keeping to a lowly place, his tune was lofty. He was truly a pillar of the Śākya clan and a paragon of human relations. Moreover, he relieved the needy and aided those in peril, placing others before himself. He prized the breeze and sunlight sweeping across the woodland casement, and loved the mist and clouds girding the mountains and waters. His vow and aspiration melting away [worldly entanglements], he concealed his traces and withdrew into seclusion. At the end of the Kaihuang reign of the Sui, he secluded himself in the Guigu Cave on Mount Qingxi. Its towering cliffs obscured the sun and moon, and its airy portals exhaled and inhaled wind and clouds. There, he gathered the five kinds of fungus while at leisure, wandered in the eight dhyānas while at rest, fed on pine and atractylodes along mountain streams, and clad himself in climbing fig amidst the mountain recesses. [People from all around] joined their palms in refuge and touched their crowns [to his feet] to ask about the Way. His walking meditation went on serenely for more than ten years. Yet its layered peaks and perilous summits, tall pines and deep gorges, were places where hermits dwelt and ancient sages had trodden; none did he fail to visit in person and see with his own eyes, scaling caves and discerning their sites. Thereupon he composed the Qingxi Shan Ji (Record of Mount Qingxi) in one fascicle, which is in circulation in the world.

Fu Yi, the Grand Astrologer, whose scholarship was mediocre and shallow and whose insight was not far-reaching, then forced interpretations in a brief essay and insolently assailed the Rightly Awakened One. Fearing that this rattling of a cloth drum might claim comparison with the Thunder Gate, the mediocre took it as an impediment and were confused. Pitying those swarming insects, the Dharma Master further composed the Poxie lun (Treatise Refuting Heterodoxy) in one fascicle. Although knowing that when the music of Yu and Wei are played together, it is the ninefold Shao that manifests distinction, and that when a fly and a fine steed run side by side, it is the thousand-li courser that shows its marvel, ultimately vermilion and purple must each take their own hue, and the clear and the turbid must flow apart. He rebuked the offense of using the common to measure the sacred, and censured the fault of judging the true by the mundane. Citing texts to prove the principles, where it was not Daoist it was Confucian; meticulously conveying his deep feelings, his targets were exact and exhaustive. None of [the opposing arguments] failed to have its tracks thrown into disorder, its banners fallen, collapsing like tiles and melting like ice. In entering their chamber he had the plan of seizing their spears; in knocking their heads on the ground, they had nowhere to hide their faces. Thereupon it was continuously copied and circulated across ages, like parting the clouds to see the sun, or finding the Way after losing one's path.

The Master's habit in writing was swift yet well-reasoned; of what he completed, much has been lost. Now, having gathered from scattered sources what could be found of his poems, rhapsodies, stele inscriptions, hymns of praise, admonitions, records, biographies, memorials, and treatises, as well as the genealogies of the three teachings and the doctrinal origins of Buddhism and Daoism, I have combined them into thirty fascicles. The Dharma Master and I shared an affection as pure as water and a friendship as close as gold and orchids. Although our vestments were different, our mutual expectations were firm. I have boldly used a vine cord to string together these jade tallies, arranging them in order, and these are my words.

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Memorial Presenting the Treatise Refuting Heterodoxy to the Crown Prince

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Falin respectfully states: Reflecting back to the beginning of the three origins and the five movements, the rise of the Heavenly and Human Sovereigns, the script of the tortoise charts and bird tracks, the classics of the golden tablets and cinnabar cases, the standards of the six balances and nine lights, and the books of the hundred schools in ten thousand scrolls—there are none that do not guide the customs of human relations in trustworthiness and righteousness, and recount the teachings of Yao, Shun, Zhou, and Kong. Yet summarizing their essentials, they have not reached the source of birth and death; setting forth their principles, they do not transcend the realm of being and non-being. How could they compare to the fivefold dharmakāya, the three knowledges, and sarvākārajñatā, serenely experiencing constant bliss, free from change and transition? Remote indeed is tathatā, neither arising nor ceasing! Yet its Way can assist all existences, and its compassion covers the hundred spirits, opening the crossing to the other shore of liberation, and unlocking the storehouse of ultimate unconditioned [peace]. It plucks sentient beings out of the ocean of views, and rescues the children from within the burning house.

Yet the teaching was separated across the Pamirs for more than a thousand years, and has flowed into the Han lands for some six hundred years. Niches and stupas face one another; holy persons have followed in succession. Thus Dao'an mounted the carriage of the Qin emperor, and Senghui rode in the chariot of the Wu sovereign; the Dharma Master of the High Seat was able to set forth the eightfold noble path, and the Futu upādhyāya skillfully expounded the five vehicles. The transformation reached across the nine regions, and the blessings moistened the three times. When it comes to benefiting beings, this is indeed what is meant!

When the Sui lost its fortune, warhorses bred in the suburbs; disasters arose from the four malefactors, and the poison flowed to the hundred families. The lamp of wisdom having been hidden, the Dharma rain was about to cease. We rely on our Great Tang, which above responds to the mind of Heaven and below accords with the wishes of the people. It mends the heavens to illuminate the three luminaries, and binds the earth to pacify the five peaks. The living people have received the grace of being remade, and the Buddhist lineage has been granted the gift of revival. We now rejoice that the Five Thearchs have been augmented to six, and the Three Sovereigns have been made four, returning to the customs of purity and simplicity and practicing the transformation of the unconditioned.

I have observed in private the matter of the slander submitted by Fu Yi: although it has not been implemented by the authorities, Yi has openly distributed it far and wide, so that in worldly drinking gatherings it is contested as a source of jest. This impairs the pure wind [of virtue] and truly defiles Chinese customs; it fosters wrong views in beings and damages the state's field of merit. In principle, this must not be permitted. Prostrating, I reflect that Your Highness has long relied on the three refuges and for ages gathered the ten virtues. Fulfilling the hopes of the populace, you have assumed the station of the great treasure. Your virtue harmonizes with peace and prosperity, and your brilliance shines upon the deputy ruler. When you unleash the rumble of redoubled thunder, the hibernating creatures all emerge from their burrows; when you reveal the brilliance of the Fire Hexagram, the dark paths are illuminated as in a mirror. How glorious, how faithful! It is hard to find a name for it. This surely guarantees that the radiance of the Han will double its eras, and the divination of the Zhou will prolong its years. Furthermore, you have deigned to turn your mind to the gate of blessings, and directed your feelings toward the supreme realm, holding the ferry and bridge in your thoughts and taking the rampart and moat as your purpose. I humbly pray that you break down the banner of wrong views and light the torch of the true Dharma; on this rests the provisional teaching, and great indeed is the good fortune!

Unable to quell my indignant and distressed resolve, I reverently present the Poxie lun in two fascicles. Desecrating your majestic presence, I prostrate myself with increasing awe and trembling. Respectfully submitted.

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Submitted on the twenty-seventh day of the first month of the fifth year of Wude by the śramaṇa Shi Falin of Jifa Monastery.

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Eleven Articles on Reducing Monasteries and Stupas and Dismissing Monks and Nuns, Submitted by Grand Astrologer, Gentleman for Court Dispersion, and Subject Fu Yi

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Your subject [Fu] Yi states: Your subject has heard that the governance of [Fuxi], Shennong, Xuanyuan, and Zhuanxu accorded with the ethos of Li Lao. (Rebuttal: The *Classic of Poetry* states: 'Those above use the winds [of influence] to transform those below, and those below use poems to criticize those above.' Laozi was an archivist in the Zhou, like the present directors of the imperial library; he was originally not the Son of Heaven. What transforming ethos did he possess that would cause high sovereigns like Fuxi and Shennong to govern in accordance with him?) The administrations of Yu, the Xia, Tang, and the Ji [clan of Zhou] corresponded to the teachings of Zhou and Kong. (Rebuttal: The Duke of Zhou and Confucius were both ministers of the state. They expounded the teachings of Yu and the Xia above, and transformed the frivolous populace below. They were neither kings of men nor could they become founders of teachings on their own. How could the four lords of Yu and the Xia have corresponded instead to the teachings of Zhou and Kong?) Although sages may come earlier or later, their Dao and virtue do not differ; though monarchs have succession and change, their methods of governance remain the same. I have heard in private that eighty-year-old elders beat the earth and sang, while fifteen-year-old youths clapped their bellies in joy. Farmers could yield the boundaries of their fields, and things dropped on the roads were not picked up. Filial sons sustained the household, and loyal ministers filled the state. Thus, when the ruler of the state faced peril, they sacrificed their lives to repay the enemy; (Rebuttal: Since the state was entirely filled with loyal ministers, how could there be peril? The treacherous ministers of the six clans surely should not have rebelled!) when parents fell ill, they waited upon them at their side for the rest of their lives. Were they not companions of Zeng Shen and Min Ziqian? Schools formed a forest; they were peers of Mo Di and Geng Gong, coming in turn to support like wings! (Rebuttal: In thirty-nine generations there was only one Zeng Shen; before Han Gaozu, Min Ziqian alone was exalted. The statement that they 'formed a forest' lacks truth; the memorial claiming they 'supported like wings' is fundamentally baseless. It exaggerates the facts excessively!) There were those who held to the Dao and harbored virtue, free of desire and seeking nothing; (Rebuttal: Zhouyu and Shuduan could not hold to the Dao; King Jie of Xia and King Zhou of Yin engaged solely in greed and seeking!) they were startled by favor as well as disgrace, and took up positions in the imperial court. (Rebuttal: Pan Chong and Yi of Youqiong were never willing to be startled; the Ji clan and Yang Huo also held seats in the court rows!) Upon the cauldrons of Mount Jing, they climbed alongside the ascending dragon; beside the altar of Goushi, they followed in the retinue riding the crane. Envoys from the Queen Mother of the Jade Pond arrived at court with full propriety; the deity Wuyi of the Azure Sea traveled throughout to have audience with the emperor. Why was this so? It was because at that time, all revered the teachings of Li [Lao] and Kong, (Rebuttal: The Yellow Emperor's ascent upon the dragon belonged to the era of the Three Sovereigns; the Queen Mother of the Jade Pond belonged to the time of King Mu of Zhou. Calculating this, it was before Li Lao had emerged and during the days when Confucius did not yet exist. They could not conversely have revered Lao[zi]'s teachings or studied Kong's books!) and there was no barbarian Buddha! (Rebuttal: Since you claim there was no Buddha, neither could there have been the Dao!) Ever since Emperor Ming of the Han lay down at night and the golden man entered his dream, Fu Yi answered the edict and analyzed it, saying: 'It is a barbarian god.' (Rebuttal: If he had not already arrived in the Zhou era, how would Fu Yi have known there was a Buddha? Clearly he had arrived before; earlier on, members of the Fu clan already knew of him and their ancestors spoke of the Buddha. Yet you contrarily claim there was none; such fivefold heinous karma brings eternal aeons of retribution upon oneself!) In the Later Han, the Central Plains did not yet have faith in him; (Rebuttal: These empty words are excessive!) while during the Wei and Jin, among the barbarian captives, only a small fraction believed. (Rebuttal: Propriety, music, caps, and robes were first perfected in the Jin dynasty; since you slander them as 'barbarian captives', who then was in the central Huaxia?) Ze Rong made a pretext of Buddhist vegetarian feasts to initiate a revolt, and fled in exile east of the Yangtze. Lü Guang feigned a campaign against the barbarians to rebel against his lord, and stood entrenched in the western territories. (Rebuttal: People of that era were jealous of Rong, so they slandered him as having gathered [insurgents]; Lü Guang returned from his campaign, his sovereign Fu [Jian]'s state was destroyed, and so he dwelt right of the River and established hegemony in Liangzhou. His rebelling and dwelling in the western territories was likewise not due to monks!) From that time onward, the sorcerous barbarians grew increasingly luxuriant, mixing with more than half of China. (Admonition: Permeated by compassion, they emerge in the final aeon; in an evil world, those with karmic conditions are delivered precisely in this!) Within the gates of officials, they contrarily receive the bald scoundrels' heterodox precepts; in the studies of Confucian scholars, they inversely utter the sorcerous barbarians' reckless talk. (Admonition: Officials don the robes of forbearance; Confucian scholars value the speech of the Golden Mouth.) Their melodies resemble vulgar songs—hearing them causes one to lose one's foundation; their stench is like a dried-fish market—those passing by lose their fragrance. (Rebuttal: It is you who give voice to vulgar sounds, and you who spread the stench of dried fish! Hearing you, one will surely lose one's foundation; passing by you, how could one not lose one's fragrance? Spitting at the sky with an upturned face, one incurs the disgrace upon oneself—how true these words are!) In addition, they widely establish saṅghārāmas, magnificent beyond measure, (Admonition: This creates karma for rebirth in heaven and plants the causes for escaping suffering!) toiling artisans merely to seat a clay barbarian; (Admonition: They eagerly work their hands and bodies to fashion the image of the Holy Sovereign!) they strike the grand bells of the Huaxia to assemble the counterfeit masses of barbarian monks; (Admonition: They ring divine bells forged a hundred times to summon the three thousand holy assemblies!) they stir the ears and eyes of the simple folk to demand bribes of private gain; (Admonition: They inspire the ears and eyes of the faithful to bring forth offerings from greed and ignorance!) they take the silk and brocade woven by women and cut them into banners for wanton sacrifices; they use the gold and silver of clever smiths and disperse them to engrave tombs for śarīra. (Admonition: They take the silk and brocade woven by women to make life-prolonging banners; they use the gold and silver of clever smiths to erect pagodas for the fragmented relics!) They lavishly lay out nonglutinous rice, fine grain, and flour for assemblies of monks and nuns; they squander fragrant oil and wax candles to falsely illuminate the halls of barbarian gods. (Admonition: They eagerly present nonglutinous rice, fine grain, and flour for assemblies of the field of merit; they offer fragrant oil and wax candles seeking to illuminate the halls of compassion!) They strip away the people's wealth and cleave the treasury of the state; yet the noble ministers of the court have never awakened to this—how truly lamentable! (Rebuttal: The imperial court investigates antiquity, abandons the mundane to return to the real, and reveres the gate of Śākya; it is not like these wrong views!) I prostrate myself hoping that Your Majesty, having determined the opening and closing of Heaven's gate, renewed the precious throne, resolved the obstruction and adversity of the myriad things, and renourished the black-haired people, will spread the unconditioned ethos of Li Lao so that the populace naturally transforms themselves, and uphold the etiquette of love and respect of Kong Qiu so that all under Heaven become filial and kind. Furthermore, the sūtras and teachings of the Buddha wildly preach of sin and merit; (Admonition: The origin and reason for the teachings is to show people the gate of severing evil and open for people the path of practicing good!) soldiers and commoners flee their corvée and shave their heads to hide among them, not serving their two parents and exclusively practicing the ten non-virtues. (Admonition: They renounce the affection of their two parents to cultivate the benevolent breeze of the ten virtues, tolerating a small disobedience to achieve great compliance!) With the passage of time without eradication, their treachery and fraud become ever more extreme. I have surveyed the records from Paoxi down to Han Gaozu: across twenty-nine dynasties and over four hundred rulers, one hears only of the suburban sacrifices to the High God; (Rebuttal: The suburban sacrifices at the Circular Mound do not escape the blame of slaughtering living beasts. How could that compare to the Buddhist precepts, which take non-killing as primary? Measuring the right and wrong, this is readily understood!) the officials governed and the populace was scrutinized, yet never were temple halls and bronze statues seen to establish the altars of the land or bring peace to the state. I request that the barbarian Buddha's heterodox teachings be banished back to Tianzhu, (Admonition: Arising when karmic conditions respond, they cease when the task of salvation is done; their coming and going responds to things, remaining hidden or manifest according to the times!) and that all śramaṇas be sent back to their native places, so that those who evade taxes will universally delight in delivering grain, and those who avoid corvée will constantly rejoice in dedicating their service. Do not ordain shaved juniors who bow from afar to the state! (Rebuttal: In antiquity, Yan Ziling did not bow to the Son of Heaven, and Zhao Yuanshu bowed with folded hands before the Minister of Works; the canonical texts praise their nobility. How much more so is the śramaṇa an otherworldly field of merit, and the clan of Śākya lofty men beyond worldly things! To wish to make them pay obeisance brings deep harm and injury; in principle, it is unacceptable!) If there are sufficient loyal ministers to keep night-watch over the ancestral temple, then the Great Tang will be pacified and secure, acting as the master of creation, and the common people will be untroubled, becoming the people of Sovereign Xi. (Rebuttal: In the era of creation, people did not pay grain taxes; the people of Sovereign Xi patted their bellies and slept. With the sage and illuminated above, how could he believe the words of Cui Hao and Jiang Bin?) Your subject Yi is truly terrified and fearful. (Rebuttal: In serving the sovereign, one must be utterly loyal and truthful in speech. When an imperial memorial is untrue, the blame has its consequence; deceiving the state will ultimately bring execution by the sword—how could terror and fear resolve it?) Respectfully I present eleven articles on benefiting the state and profiting the people, as set forth to the left. Respectfully submitted. (Rebuttal: As in what you memorialized, harming the state and injuring the people is impermissible!)

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Memorial submitted on the twentieth day of the sixth month of the fourth year of Wude by your subject Fu Yi, Court Gentleman for Dispersion and Acting Director of the Astrological Bureau.

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Memorial Submitted to the Prince of Qin

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Śramaṇa Falin and others submit this memorial. Lin has heard that when feelings are poignant, the voice must be mournful; when principle is upright, words must be forthright. For this reason, the impoverished child longs to express his words, and the toiling laborer desires to sing of his affairs. Why so? Privately we observe that in the final years of the Daye era, all under heaven fell into chaos and destruction. Heaven and earth were defiled and darkened; the four seas boiled over. Waves surged and dust flew; hills burned and plains blazed. The five horses severed the route of crossing the river; the seven boys sang of leveling ramparts. Beacon fires sounded alarms at all hours; feathered dispatches raced in competition. Passes and fortresses faced manifold perils; the night watch was never stilled. The Way waned and virtue fell into disarray; fortune was exhausted and the cycle reached its end. Grain transport was indeed onerous; taxes were gathered with strict precision. Piled corpses were like thickets of weeds; shed blood became rivers. The people found no joy in life; creatures were exhausted to the utmost. Having nowhere to lodge appeal, having no ground upon which to lay their bones, the common people suffered the agony of hanging upside down, and the myriad states were distressed by having no master. Who could have expected that the wheel of the Dharma would cease its resonance and the true teaching decline? His Holy Majesty gave rise to a mind of condoling the common folk and complied with the mandate of August Heaven. Thereupon he raised the righteous banner and unified the realms. At that time, religious and secular alike relied upon him; Chinese and foreigners rejoiced together. Thereupon he harmonized heaven and earth, bringing fluency to the eight winds; he fathomed yin and yang, regulating the four seasons. He harmonized states and organized human relations; his merit surpassed mending the heavens, and his spirit equaled establishing the cosmic pole. He brought down clouds and rain to nurture life; he unveiled the sun and moon to shine from above. He gave expression through culture and learning, and recorded it through literary institutions. His favor soaked even the roadside reeds; his kindness reached insects and fish. Just as he intended to expound anew the Nine Categories and spread again the Five Teachings, to revive the learning of the Shiqu Hall and disseminate the mores of schools, tracing antiquity back to Xuanyuan and Fuxi and matching the modern eras of Wen and Jing, with his meritorious enterprise ever flourishing, one could not help dancing with one's hands and stamping one's feet. Privately we have examined the memorial submitted by Fu Yi: before finishing reading it, our five viscera crumbled; once our perusal was completed, our six emotions shattered. Alas! Heterodox words confuse the correct, and demonic eloquence encroaches upon the true. They are unworthy even to be heard by the lowliest fools; how much less should they disturb the celestial hearing on high? Yet Yi holds a vital office of the times and is known to public expectation; how could he run counter to human feeling and generate malice without cause? His written words are shallow and crude, and his factual reasoning is inauspicious. He insults the statutes and canons of former kings and harms the model norms of human relations. Why so? If a person does not speak, well and good; but if he speaks, he must hit the mark. The Master said: 'If a single word accords with principle, all under heaven will submit to it; if a single deed departs from the constant, wife and children will rebel against it.' Examining the matters submitted by Yi, summarizing their general drift and tracing them from beginning to end, they indeed deceive the imperial court and in many places severely revile and insult the Sage. According to Yi's intention, he originally wished to recommend himself through this and recklessly seek advancement; he truly cannot benefit the state or profit the people, but in the end confuses and toys with court and country. Yet Your Majesty, responding to Heaven and complying with the seasons, took hold of the diagrams and received the talismans, fulfilling the aspirations of the myriad realms and embodying the blessings of the One Man. With your power to sustain the imperiled and rescue the world, and your merit in leveling bandits and quelling chaos, your majesty indeed surpasses former kings, and your fame outstrips past emperors. Thereupon you further set your mind upon the Three Jewels and turned your attention to the field of merit. Among all who have left household life, none fails to gratefully revere the imperial grace. Yet because we monks have failed to uphold the precepts and practices and repay the kindness of the state, ignorant fellows have committed transgressions and accumulated offenses, causing Fu Yi to set forth these malicious words. Beating our breasts and aching at heart, we have no place to lay our bones. If monks and nuns are guilty, they willingly accept the utmost penalty; but we lament that Yi treats the Sage with contempt and insult, using words so severe and harmful. We deeply fear that those with wrong views may commit wrongs on this account. According to the Chunqiu: 'In the seventh year of Duke Zhuang of Lu, in the fourth month of summer, the fixed stars were not seen, and the night was as bright as day.' This was precisely the auspicious response at the time of the Buddha's birth. The Buddha possesses the two bodies of tathatā and response, the two wisdoms of provisional and ultimate, the three knowledges, the eight liberations, the five eyes, and the six superknowledges. The spiritual sun is inconceivable; the Dharma is called 'the place where mental activity ceases.' As for his Way, he transports the myriad sages to nirvāṇa; as for his power, he receives the lowly ordinary beings from the sea of suffering. Since the third year of Yongping under Emperor Ming of the Later Han, when he dreamed of the golden man, the image teaching flowed east, and spiritual portents were not just one. They are detailed in the various histories of the Han and Wei, as well as the records of the Yao and Shi dynasties. As for the likes of Dao'an and Daoli, or the company of Fotudeng and Kumārajīva, they all possessed lofty practice and deep comprehension; being famous monks of their eras, they were all recognized by monarchs and revered by nobles. Over the past five hundred years and more, monasteries and stūpas have filled the nine provinces, and monks and nuns have overflowed the three capital commanderies. This was entirely due to the reverent faith of contemporary rulers and the submission of court and country. That the image teaching has flourished and continued without interruption down to the present day is truly indebted to the power of human kings. In the mundane world, between lord and minister, father and son, it is still said that grace is hard to repay and August Heaven cannot be requited; how much more so is the Buddha the transcendent compassionate father of all sentient beings and the excellent physician for ordinary beings and sages alike! To seek to suppress and thwart him, to condemn and insult him, is utterly unprincipled. When examining the Tathāgata's wisdom, it transcends being and non-being; how could the Three Sovereigns fathom it? His power envelops creation; the two cosmic forces cannot compare. Liezi states: In antiquity, Grand Minister Pi of Shang asked Kong Qiu: 'Is the Master a sage?' Confucius replied: 'Qiu has broad knowledge and a strong memory; I am not a sage.' He asked again: 'Were the Three Kings sages?' He replied: 'The Three Kings were good at employing wisdom and valor; whether they were sages is not known to Qiu.' He asked again: 'Were the Five Thearchs sages?' He replied: 'The Five Thearchs were good at employing benevolence and trust; whether they were sages is likewise not known to Qiu.' He asked again: 'Were the Three Sovereigns sages?' He replied: 'The Three Sovereigns were good at employing the seasons and rectitude; whether they were sages is likewise not known to Qiu.' The Grand Minister was greatly astonished and said: 'If so, then who is a sage?' The Master changed his expression after a pause and said: 'Among the people of the West, there is a sage. He does not govern, yet there is no disorder; he does not speak, yet he is spontaneously trusted; he does not transform, yet it is spontaneously practiced. So vast! The people cannot find a name for him.' If the Three Sovereigns and Five Thearchs were necessarily great sages, how could Kong Qiu have concealed it and not spoken of it, thereby incurring the fault of hiding a sage? Weighing it by this, the Buddha is acknowledged as the Great Sage. The Xisheng jing of Laozi states: 'My master transformed and wandered to Tianzhu, skillfully entering nirvāṇa.' The Fuzi states: 'The master of Laozi was named Śākyamuni.' Even when looking directly into the classics and books of Kong and Lao, textual evidence of their venerating the Buddha as master is by no means scarce. How could Yi alone slander him? In antiquity, Gongsun Long composed the Treatise on Hard and White, condemning the Three Sovereigns and censuring the Five Thearchs; even down to the present day, those who read it still gnash their teeth. This has already served as a prior warning—how pitiable indeed! Our Sovereign is supremely sage and profoundly bright; he is just about to release the horses and rest the oxen, pay respect to the village gates and confer honors upon graves, reviving the style of the august sovereigns and opening up the teachings of Śākya and Lao. Wild and simplistic talk should all the more be burned. If one says that when sovereigns have no Buddha, their great governance lasts long, but when there is a Buddha, tyrannical rule brings short reigns, then consider that Yao and Shun ruled alone and did not pass it to their sons; the sovereign governance of the Xia, Yin, Zhou, and Qin changed frequently, with rebellions arising within the screen walls one after another. At that time, there was no Buddha; why were their dynastic fortunes short? Lin happens to dwell in this era of Yao, using things daily without realizing it; seeing inappropriate affairs from outside, I fear that foreign lands far away will hear of it and consider Huaxia to lack understanding. The Master said: 'When speech fills all under heaven, there is no slip of the tongue; when actions fill all under heaven, there is neither resentment nor malice.' He who speaks wishes to be blameless; he who listens takes it as sufficient warning for himself. Fu Yi speaks insolently; all who hear it are shocked. It defiles the national mores and especially harms the customs of Huaxia. I respectfully record my sincere feelings and venture to submit them for your hearing. We humbly reflect that Your Royal Highness, the Prince, is endowed by Heaven with heroic spirit and was naturally precocious in childhood. Your spiritual disposition is outstanding and your capacity is vast and magnanimous. Finding joy in doing good, you surpass that King of Dongping; finding delight in gentleness and affability, you outshine the ruler of Western Chu. Moreover, as Prime Minister coordinating the hundred officials, you regulate the six administrative tracks. Your virtue has cleared away traps, and your benevolence has torn open nets. You open the mansion on the wide avenue, seating guests like Xun Qing; you build the garden of tall bamboo, banqueting refined and elegant guests. None fails to exhaust feelings in poetry or comprehensively depict things in rhapsodies; truly you can be praised in court and country, your excellence uniting the former heroes. But Lin and the others look within ourselves and find shortcomings, of little utility in square or circle. Reflecting upon Fu Yi's extreme folly, we feel ashamed of his rebuking ordinary monks as bald rascals; his malice is extreme, and no offense is greater. Since the times of Zunlu and Hexu, and after the opening of heaven and earth, there has never been one as wildly rebellious as Yi. Unable to bear the utmost heartbreak, I have respectfully recorded the harmful points made by Yi and ventured to express humble words, answering each item as set forth to the left. Defiling your august majesty, I humbly add to my dread of death. Respectfully submitted.

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Submitted on the twelfth day of the first month, the fifth year of Wude, by Śramaṇa Shi Falin of Jifa Monastery.

1.14

Yi says: 'Within the seas, those who toil for the king are few, while those who delight in private gain are many. Outwardly they serve the barbarian Buddha, while inwardly conceiving wrong views. Shaving their hair and skin, they change their garments. Leaving the gates of ministers and sons, they enter the households of monks and nuns. Standing, they present themselves at the royal court; sitting, they look down upon knees. Disloyal and unfilial, they gather in adjoining quarters. Furthermore, the Buddha is in the Western Regions; his words are strange and the road is distant. Renouncing kin, they pursue wealth; fearing the strong, they slight the elderly. Valuing the rich and powerful, they disdain the poor and weak; loving the young and beautiful, they demean the aged. Employing illusions and deceptions as their skills, they take fraud and lies as their宗旨. Indeed, the Buddha is merely the household ghost of a single clan. A ghost cannot encompass other lineages; how can living men of Han be driven to provide for a dead barbarian? How could this reach such an extreme! It can truly be called demeaning this bright pearl and prizing those fish eyes, abandoning one's stern father to revere another man. Where has it ever been that kneeling before ten mud barbarians makes one a high minister, or offering a bowl of leftover rice enables one to become a sovereign? Relying on the Buddha's heterodox doctrines runs contrary to human nature. Furthermore, the Buddha's comical, boastful words do not equal Zhan and Meng; his extravagant fabrications involve sins deeper than those of Jie and Zhou. Entering a family, he ruins the family; entering a state, he ruins the state.' We reply: As for renouncing the household, inwardly one bids farewell to loved ones, and outwardly one renounces official glory. One's aspiration is to seek unexcelled bodhi; one's vow is to escape the bitter sea of birth and death. For this reason, one discards the robes of court attendance and dons the robes of the field of merit, practicing the Way to repay the four kindnesses and establishing virtue to aid the three realms of existence. This is the general purpose. If one says that the Buddha is a barbarian ghost and monks are bald rascals: examining the classics and books of Kong and Lao, and the internal and external historical records since the Han and Wei, we briefly cite passages evidencing Kong and Lao's veneration of the Buddha as master as set forth to the left, in order to answer the heterodox man, hoping he will confess his offense. The Daoist Falun jing (Scripture of the Dharma Wheel) states: 'If one sees a śramaṇa, one should give rise to immeasurable contemplation, wishing to soon leave the household and practice the Buddha's truth.' It also states: 'If one sees a Buddhist stūpa, one should give rise to immeasurable contemplation, and should vow that all beings universally enter the Dharma gate.'

1.15

"The Forty-Nine Vows of the Taishang qingjing xiaomo baozhen anzhi zhihui benyuan dajie shangpin jing (Highest Chapter Scripture of the Great Precepts of the Primal Vow of Wisdom for Purely Dispelling Māras, Treasuring the True, and Calming the Will by the Supreme) state: 'If one sees a śramaṇa or nun, one should vow that all beings clearly comprehend the Dharma regulations and attain the Way like the Buddha.'"

1.16

The Laozi shengxuan jing states: 'The Celestial Venerable told Dao Ling to go east to the Buddha to receive the Dharma.' The Biezhuan of Daoist Zhang Ling states: 'Ling was at Mount Huming, making offerings to a golden image and chanting Buddhist sutras.' The Shengxuan jing also states: 'The Tathāgata of the East sent the Great Being Shansheng to the Supreme One, saying: "The Tathāgata has heard that you are explaining the Dharma to Zhang Ling, and has therefore sent me to see you." He said to Zhang Ling: "Follow me to the place of the Buddha; I will enable you to see what you have never seen and hear what you have never heard." Ling then bowed to the Great Being and followed him to the place of the Buddha.' The Laozi xisheng jing states: 'My master transformed and journeyed through Tianzhu, entering niwhan skillfully.' The Zhihui guanshen dajie jing states: 'Students of the Dao should remember to travel to the Flowing Shadow Palace of Great Brahmā to worship the Buddha.' The Shengxuan jing states: 'If a śramaṇa wishes to come to listen to the scriptures and observe the vegetarian feast, the host must not calculate the expense of food and drink to block or refuse him. He should be placed in the seat of honour, with the Daoist scriptural masters naturally seated below him.' The Shengxuan jing also states: 'When a Daoist hosts a vegetarian feast and a bhikṣu comes, he may be invited to take the seat of honour, and fine offerings should be made to him; the Daoist scriptural masters naturally sit below him. If a śramaṇī comes to listen to the Dharma, she should be settled in a secluded spot and placed in the seat of honour; the host is to make offerings to her in accordance with the Dharma and must not bar or hinder her.' The Huahu jing states: 'May we pick udumbara flowers, may we burn sandalwood incense, to make offerings to the bodies of a thousand Buddhas, and bow our heads to revere Dīpaṃkara.' It also states: 'Why was the Buddha born so late? Why did he enter niwhan so early? Not seeing the Sage of the Śākyas, my heart is always grieved.' (Old manuscripts all say: 'Why was I born so late? Why did the Buddha pass away so early?') The Lingbao xiaomo anzhi jing states: 'The Dao considers the vegetarian feast paramount; by diligent practice one shall become a Buddha.' (New manuscripts all alter this to: 'by diligent practice one shall ascend the Golden Palace.') 'Therefore a great bridge of Dharma is erected, universally delivering all people and creatures.' The Laozi daquanquan pusa jing states: 'Laozi is Bodhisattva Kāśyapa transforming and wandering in Zhendan.' The Lingbao falun jing states: 'A few days after the Immortal Lord Ge was born, a foreign śramaṇa saw the Immortal Lord, embraced him with both arms, and said to the Immortal Lord's parents: "This child is the Bodhisattva Shansi from the West. Now he has come to the land of Han to teach and transform sentient beings; he shall wander the way of the immortals and ascend to heaven in broad daylight." The Immortal Lord himself told his disciples: "My master's family name was Boyue, his courtesy name was Weinahe; he was a man of the Western Regions."' The Xianren qingwen zhongsheng nanjing states: 'The Immortal Lord Ge told his disciples: "In the past, I, along with Shi Daowei, Zhu Fakai, Zhang Tai, and Zheng Siyuan—the four of us—made vows at the same time. The two of them, Daowei and Fakai, vowed to become śramaṇas; Zhang Tai and Zheng Siyuan vowed to become Daoists."' The Xian'gong qiju zhu states: 'At that time, he was born into the house of Minister Ge. The Minister was over eighty years old when he finally had this one son. At that time, a śramaṇa calling himself an Indian monk bought a large amount of incense in the market. The people of the market wondered and asked him about it; the monk said: "Last night I dreamed of Bodhisattva Shansi descending to be born into the house of Minister Ge. I will use this incense to bathe him." When the child was born, the monk arrived, burned the incense, circumambulated him clockwise seven times, bathed him, and stopped.'

1.17

The Xian'gong qingwen shangpin jing states: 'When speaking with śramaṇas and Daoists, have one's mind set upon the Dao.' The 'Chapter on Comparing Merits' in the Shangpin dajie jing states: 'Donating to a stupa or temple of the Buddha yields a thousandfold reward; making donations to a śramaṇa yields a hundredfold reward.' The Shengxuan neijiao jing states: 'Or there may be people who are ordinarily unwilling to cultivate merit, and upon seeing śramaṇas and Daoists preaching the Dharma and encouraging goodness, have absolutely no intention of following them.' The Zhihui benyuan dajie shangpin jing states: 'Giving money of one coin or more for the midday meal of Buddhas and monks, or for stupas and temples, will all receive a reward twenty-four thousand times over; the more merit, the more the reward. Generation after generation they will be worthy and wise, with fine treasures never failing, and seven generations of ancestors will all be able to enter immeasurable Buddha-lands.' The latter section of the Xian'gong qingwen jing states: 'Further, there are ordinary people who perform this merit and vow to become śramaṇas or Daoists. Becoming greatly learned, they then become śramaṇas in subsequent lives, widely studying Buddhist sutras to become Dharma masters of the assembly. There was another person who, seeing a śramaṇa or Daoist observing quiet fasting and reading scriptures, mocked them, saying: "What do they hope to gain by chanting scriptures into empty space? Emptying their stomachs and eating only one meal a day at noon—these are just sinners!" The Daoist admonished him with a compassionate mind, but he still clung to his view without letting go; upon death, he entered hell to suffer the examinations and poisons of the five pains.' The Xian'gong qingwen jing states: 'The High and Supreme Laozi said: "In high antiquity, the people were pure and simple, each harboring the Dao and virtue, with empty minds and mysterious stillness, taking non-action as their practice. Once this ethos dispersed, a hundred rivalries arose like smoke, and ten thousand streams branched apart. Cunning and craft attacked one another; the foolish and the wise encroached on each other. Ghosts and spirits exercised their terrors, and numerous sages appeared together, establishing systems and teachings solely to cause the people to cultivate goodness and guard themselves. Therefore, there are the five classics and the endeavors of Confucian secularity, while Daoism and Buddhism each praise their teachings, the ultimate return of which is goodness."' The Taishang lingbao dongxuan zhenyi quanji falun miaojing states: 'I have observed the heavens successively, and from countless eons past, I have seen the Daoists, sons, and daughters of the common people who have attained the unsurpassed, correct, and true Dao, high immortals, perfected beings, and spontaneous Buddhas of the ten directions; all have endured diligence and suffering in prior lives, seeking the Dao beyond measure.' The Falun miaojing states: 'The Dao states that those who turn in transmigration without extinction and are able to be reborn among humans with great wisdom and clarity, having practiced for countless eons and already become perfected beings, high immortals, and spontaneous Buddhas of the ten directions—there are none whose attainment was not brought about by their deeds and karmic practice, restraining the body, fixing the will, sitting in dhyāna, and contemplating the subtle.'

1.18

The above records the passages from Daoist scriptures in which their masters revere the Buddha, as presented before.

1.19

The Zhoushu yiji states: 'On the eighth day of the fourth month in the twenty-fourth year of King Zhao of Zhou's reign, the year Jiayin, rivers, streams, springs, and pools suddenly flooded, and the waters of wells all overflowed. The palaces, human dwellings, mountains, rivers, and the great earth all shook. That night, a vapor of five-colored light penetrated through the Supreme Subtlety (Taiwei), and everywhere in the west it turned entirely blue and red. King Zhao of Zhou asked Grand Astrologer Su You: "What omen is this?" Su You replied: "A great sage has been born in the west; hence this auspicious omen has appeared." King Zhao asked: "What will become of All-under-Heaven?" Su You said: "At present there is nothing; a thousand years hence, the sound of his teaching will reach this land." King Zhao then sent men to engrave a stone to record it, burying it in front of the heavenly shrine in the southern suburbs. At this time, the Buddha had just been born in the royal palace. In the thirty-second year of King Mu's reign, he saw that there was frequently illuminated vapor in the west. Having previously heard of Su You's record, he knew that a sage was dwelling in the west. King Mu did not grasp its principle, and fearing it was unsuited to the Zhou way, he immediately went west with Chancellor Lord Lü, meeting the feudal lords at Mount Tu to ward off the anomalous light. At this time, the Buddha had already been dwelling in the world for a long time. In the fifty-second year of King Mu, the year Renshen, at dawn on the fifteenth day of the second month, a violent wind suddenly arose, tearing off and damaging human dwellings and snapping trees; mountains, rivers, and the great earth all shook. After noon, the sky clouded over black, and in the west there were twelve white rainbows extending from north to south, which did not fade through the night. King Mu asked Grand Astrologer Hu Duo: "What sign is this?" Hu Duo replied: "A sage in the west has passed into extinction; the signs of decline have merely manifested." King Mu was greatly pleased and said: "I have always feared him; now that he is about to pass into extinction, what worry do I have?" At this time, the Buddha entered nirvāṇa.' The Shilu states: 'Grand Chancellor Pi of Shang asked Confucius: "Who is a sage?" Confucius replied: "Among the people of the west there is a sage. He does not govern, yet there is no disorder; he does not speak, yet is naturally trusted; he does not transform, yet [the way] moves on its own. Vast and boundless! The people can find no name for him!"'

1.20

The above records the passages from Confucian texts praising and admiring the Buddha, as presented before.

1.21

The Upright Faith replies: The Shujing says: 'Seeing good, act as if you could not reach it; seeing evil, act as if testing boiling water.' Thus the highest reveres virtue, and next to it establishes words. Virtue should cause people to turn to it; words should cause people to believe. You have no virtue to shield your person, yet speak words that damage transformation, slighting and insulting the Great Sage—can you be considered human? The sages Kong and Lao themselves still praised and extolled the Three Jewels, instructing Daoists and the like to revere and defer to monks and nuns. Since you take Kong and Lao as your teachers, why do you go against your teachers' instructions and slander the Sacred Venerable? The Fuzi states: 'The teacher of Master Lao was named Śākyamuni.' The two fascicles of Master Mou's book also vigorously discuss the Buddhadharma.

1.22

The Tiandi jing of the internal scriptures says: 'The Buddha dispatched three sages to transform that Eastern Land; the Bodhisattva Kāśyapa is called Laozi there.' The Qingjing faxing jing states: 'The Buddha sent three disciples to Zhendan to teach and transform: the Bodhisattva Rutong is called Kong Qiu there; the Bodhisattva Guangjing is called Yan Hui there; Mahākāśyapa is called Laozi there.' Looking into the Former Han, during the Yuanshou era of Emperor Xiaowu, Huo Qubing attacked the Xiongnu, reaching Gaolan and passing Mount Juyan; he captured Kings Kunye and Xiutu leading their host of fifty thousand to surrender, and obtained their golden men, which were all over ten feet tall, arranging them in Ganquan Palace. Emperor Wu took them to be great spirits, burning incense and worshipping them. When opening the Western Regions, Zhang Qian was sent as an envoy to Daxia; upon his return, he said that there was the state of Shendu, another name for Shendu being Tianzhu, where the teachings of Futu were first heard. The Weishu states: 'Emperor Wu of Han obtained the golden men; he did not offer animal sacrifices, but only burned incense and made prostrations.' This, then, was the gradual beginning of Buddhism's circulation. In the first year of the Yuanshou era of Emperor Ai of Han, Jing Xian was sent to the Da Yuezhi kingdom, where he chanted Buddhist scriptures and returned to Han; at that time, Buddhist fasts and precepts began to be observed gradually.

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破邪論 — Classical Chinese