破邪論 1.41

1.41

It is replied: The Dharma has flowed into the land of Han for more than five hundred years; temple buildings, monks, and nuns have existed for successive generations. Niches, stūpas, halls, and shrines were all established and constructed by former dynasties; chambers, buildings, gates, and corridors were all erected out of faithful devotion. Whether for living or deceased parents, or for rebirth across seven generations, seeking superior retribution in the future and planting fields of merit in the present, these all originated from their good intentions and were not demanded or built by the Buddha or monks. The Book says: "Successful undertakings are not destroyed." Therefore, Zichan of Zheng did not dismantle the temple of Boyu, and Confucius called him a benevolent man. How much more so is the Buddha the fertile field of the three times and the father and mother of the four modes of birth—he must only be venerated and cannot be destroyed! Although the Buddha has departed from the world, the Dharma was entrusted to human rulers. We respectfully reflect that Your Majesty has renewed the living people and revived the Buddhist Way, being none other than the Great Dānapati Lord of the Tathāgata. We pray that you follow the conversion under Han Emperor Ming's Yongping era and emulate in recent times Emperor Wen's Kaihuang era.

To the first point, answering [the claim that] the Hu barbarians of the Western Regions have human faces and animal hearts, are a greedy, rebellious, and evil breed, and that the Buddha was born in the West from bewitching demons and heterodox qi:

It is replied: According to the Records of the Grand Historian, the Catalogue of Successive Emperors and Kings by Wang Jian, and the Chronicle by Master Tao Yinju [Hongjing], Paoxi had a serpent's body and a human head; Dating had a human body and an ox's head; Nüwa also had a serpent's body and a human head; Qin Zhongyan had a bird's body and a human face; Yu of the Xia came from the Eastern Yi; King Wen was born among the Western Qiang; Jiandi swallowed a swallow's egg and gave birth to Xie Bo; Yu split open his mother's chest and back to be born; Yi Yin was found in an empty mulberry tree; and the Wei monarchs of the Yuan clan were also born of barbarian tribes. Yet they all responded to the bright mandate of Heaven, emerged from the Zhen trigram riding the times, and either faced south calling themselves solitary lords or ruled over ten thousand states as monarchs. Although the places of their birth may have been secluded and crude, and their physical appearances base and uncouth, each wielded Heaven's majesty and possessed sage virtue. Laozi was also born through a herdswoman, descending into the mundane from beneath—how could one claim that because one's origin was base and lowly, there can be no sage? Confucius said: "If a noble man dwells there, what crudeness can there be?" Truly trustworthy are these words! All declare that whoever possesses the Way is revered; how could one discriminate between high and low? Thus we know that the sage's responses are without fixed direction, appearing in accordance with capacities. Investigating Śākyamuni's ancestry, he was the descendant of wheel-turning kings for a thousand generations and the crown prince of a kṣatriya king. Answering the promised omen, he manifested when moved by beings; appearing in the center of the three-thousand-world system, he set forth teachings and established methods in the great country of Jambudvīpa, solely taking the benefit of sentient beings as his fundamental aim. If you say that being born among the Qiang and Hu or originating from barbarians and captives makes one evil, then Taihao and Wenming would not be sages, and Laozi and King Wen would not be worthy of reverence as teachers. According to the "Treatise on Geography" and the "Account of the Western Regions," the Western Hu are merely the thirty-six states east of the Pamir Mountains, having nothing to do with Tianzhu, the birthplace of the Buddha. If you knew this and spoke falsely, how deep is your crime! If you did not know and uttered reckless words, even death leaves residual culpability.

To the first point, answering [the claim that] during the twenty-nine generations from Paoxi downward, fathers and sons, rulers and ministers established loyalty and filial piety, guarded the Way and walked in virtue, and were endowed with the correct qi of Huaxia:

It is replied: The Records of the Grand Historian, the Huainanzi, and various books state that in the time of the Yellow Emperor, Chiyou had a bronze head and an iron forehead, brought chaos to all under Heaven, and fought with the Yellow Emperor at Banquan so that the latter ascended the imperial throne; Chiyou rebelled against the mandate, and they fought again on the plains of Zhuolu, undergoing fifty-two battles in all. In the time of Zhuanxu, the Three Miao were again punished with death to the left of Dongting and to the right of Pengli. The Bamboo Annals from the Ji Tomb state that Shun imprisoned Yao in Pingyang and seized his imperial throne; today the City of Imprisoned Yao can still be seen. Yao also fought with the Youmiao at the banks of the Dan River. Yao shot arrows upward at the nine suns, causing their crow's feathers to fall. The Chuci says that ten suns appeared alternately, melting metal and cracking stone; he tied down the Great Gale at Qingqiu, slew the Long Serpent at Dongting, butchered the Great Boar at the Great Marsh, and killed the Nine-headed Beast at the Xionghua River. The Classic of Documents says: "The great waters billowed to heaven, embracing the mountains and overtopping the hills; the common people were distressed and starved, and the populace was bewildered and submerged." In the time of Yu, the common people each followed their own desires, and Master Baigu withdrew to plow in the wilderness. The Three Miao did not cultivate virtuous governance, and Yu personally destroyed them. King Jie of the Xia had the Yellow River and Ji River on his left and Mount Taihua on his right, Yique to his south and the Yangchang defile behind him to his north; he burned the imperial charts, killed Longfeng, imprisoned Tang the Achiever, and indulged Moxi; his governance was not benevolent, so Tang banished and destroyed him. Tang made nine expeditions and fought twenty-seven battles in all; there was a great drought for seven years, the Yellow and Luo Rivers dried up, and metal melted and stones crumbled. Gaozong campaigned against the Guifang for three years. Xin, the King Zhou of Yin, was infatuated with Daji, indulged in the harm of the ten evils, spread the punishments of the five cruelties, cut open the heart of a worthy man, sliced open the abdomen of a pregnant woman, imprisoned King Wen, and incarcerated Jizi. King Wu of the Zhou campaigned against Zhou at Muye, where the blood flowed so deep as to float pestles; he executed him at the Stag Terrace; the King personally shot arrows at Zhou and hung his head beneath the Great White Flag. Yet Bo Yi and Shu Qi condemned him and would not eat his grain. Confucius said: "The Wu music is completely beautiful, yet not completely good." In the reign of King Wu, the Three Overseers rebelled; in the days of King Cheng, the Three Uncles spread rumors. The poem for King Xuan's expedition in the sixth month says: "We marched against the Xianyun, as far as Taiyuan." The poem "Plucking Bracken" on sending troops to garrison duty says: "In the north is the hardship of the Xianyun; in the west is the affliction of the Kunyi." "Plucking the Qicai" also says: "King Xuan campaigned in the south." The Faithful Layman says: All those mentioned above belong to the eras from the Three Sovereigns downward through the Three Kings. If they were truly able to guard the Way, walk in virtue, cherish loyalty, and observe filial piety, and since at that time there was no Buddha, it should have been completely peaceful and tranquil! Why then did they raise armies generation after generation, without a cessation of arms, to the point that poison flowed among the common people and calamity reached the innocent, resembling the eras of Yao, Shi, Murong, and the Yongjia disaster? How could that be called an era of boundless non-action? Your missed words are profoundly mistaken!