辯正論 6.139

6.139

有考古通人與占衡君子。觀李卿誹謗之論。閱開士辯正之談。詳而議之。發憤興歎。欲使邪正異轍真偽分流。定其是非以明得失。冀後進者永無疑焉。通人曰。余觀造化本乎陰陽。物類所生起乎天地。歷三古之世。尋五聖之文。不見天尊之神。亦無大道之像。案靈寶九天生神章云。氣清高澄積陽成天。氣結凝滓積滯成地。人之生也。皆由三元養育九氣經形。然後生也。是知陰陽者人之本也。天地者物之根也。根本是氣無別道神。君子曰。道士大霄隱書無上真書等云。無上大道君治在五十五重無極大羅天中玉京之上。七寶玄臺金床玉机。仙童玉女之所侍衛。住在三十三天三界之外。案神仙五岳圖云。大道天尊治太玄之都。玉光之州。金真之郡。天保之縣。元明之鄉。定志之里。災所不及。靈書經云。大羅是五億五萬五千五百五十五重天之上天也。五岳圖云。都者覩也。太上大道道中上道神明君最守靜居太玄之都。諸天內音云。天與諸仙鳴樓都之鼓。朝宴玉京以樂道君。推此謬談。則道君是天之神明。既屬州縣。則天尊復是天之民伍。如佛家經論。三界之外名出生死。無分段之形。離色心之境。何得更有寶臺玉山州郡鄉里。虛妄之甚轉復難矜。但道家偽說無迹可觀。習俗生常為日已久。眾邪競敘互有不同。如欲正名理須詳悉。今略出緣起隨而判之。案周禮。自堯已前未有郡縣。舜巡五岳始見州名。尚書。禹貢已來方陳州號。春秋之時。縣大郡小鄉屬於縣。漢高已來以縣屬郡。典誥所明。九州禹跡百郡秦并是也。縱有道在天上猶應獨事無為。何因戶屬鄉居與凡不異。既有州縣即有官長。州牧郡守姓何名何。鄉長里司誰子誰弟。並是官學道士無識黃巾。不悉古今未窺經史。見人間置立州縣。亦言天上與世符同。保偽為真。良可羞恥。其根脈本末。並如笑道論中委出也。

There were a versatile scholar who investigated antiquity and a noble gentleman who observed the balances. Observing Minister Li's slandering treatises and reading the bodhisattva's discerning discourses, they discussed them in detail, sighing with righteous indignation. They wished to make the correct and the wrong take different tracks, and the true and the false flow into separate streams, settling what was right and wrong to clarify gains and losses, hoping that future scholars would forever be free of doubt. The versatile scholar said: 'I observe that creation is rooted in yin and yang, and that the generation of all kinds of things arises from heaven and earth. Looking through the ages of the Three Antiquities and examining the texts of the Five Sages, I see no spirit of the Heavenly Worthy, nor any image of the Great Dao. According to the Lingbao jiutian shengshen zhang: "Qi is clear and lofty; the accumulation of pure yang forms heaven. Qi congeals into dross; the accumulation of sluggish matter forms earth. The birth of humanity is entirely nurtured by the Three Primes and given form through the Nine Qis; only then does birth occur." From this we know that yin and yang are the root of humankind, and heaven and earth are the foundation of all things. The fundamental root is simply qi; there is no separate spirit of the Dao.' The noble gentleman said: 'The Daoist works, such as the Daxiaoyin shu and Wushang zhenshu, say: "The Supreme Lord of the Great Dao governs above the Jade Capital in the fifty-fifth-fold Boundless Grand Net Heaven, on a mysterious terrace of seven jewels, with a golden couch and a jade desk, attended and guarded by immortal youths and jade maidens, residing outside the thirty-three heavens and the three realms." According to the Shenxian wuyue tu: "The Heavenly Worthy of the Great Dao governs the Capital of the Supreme Mystery, the Province of Jade Light, the Commandery of Golden Truth, the County of Heavenly Protection, the Township of Primordial Brightness, and the Village of Fixed Will, which cannot be reached by disasters." The Lingshu jing states: "The Grand Net is the heaven above five hundred and fifty-five million, five hundred and fifty-five thousand, five hundred and fifty-five heavens." The Wuyue tu states: "'Capital' (du) means 'to gaze' (du). The Supreme Sovereign of the Divine Light of the Supreme Dao among Daos of the Supreme Dao abides in the utmost stillness, residing in the Capital of the Supreme Mystery." The Neiyin of All Heavens states: "Heaven and all the immortals beat the drums of Loudu, holding morning banquets in the Jade Capital to delight the Lord of the Dao." Inferring from these absurd talks, the Lord of the Dao is merely a divine spirit of heaven. Since he belongs to a province and a county, the Heavenly Worthy is moreover a common inhabitant registered in heaven! According to the Buddhist scriptures and treatises, what is beyond the three realms is termed the transcendence of birth and death, free from physical forms of fragmented existence, and separated from the realms of form and mind. How could there still be jewel terraces, jade mountains, provinces, commanderies, townships, and villages? Such extreme falsehood is all the more difficult to countenance! But the fabricated sayings of the Daoists leave no traces that can be examined; customary habits have become normal for a long time, and the many heterodoxies vie to narrate them, differing from one another. If one wishes to rectify names, the principles must be examined in detail. Now I briefly present their origins and judge them accordingly. According to the Rites of Zhou, before Yao there were no commanderies or counties. When Shun inspected the Five Sacred Peaks, the names of provinces first appeared. Only since the "Tribute of Yu" in the Book of Documents were the designations of provinces set forth. In the Spring and Autumn period, counties were large and commanderies were small, and townships belonged to counties. Since the time of Emperor Gao of the Han, counties have belonged to commanderies. What the canonical records make clear are the "Nine Provinces as traces of Yu" and the "Hundred Commanderies united by the Qin". Even if there were a Dao in heaven, it should still solely engage in wuwei. Why would it be registered in a household and dwell in a township, no different from common mortals? Since there are provinces and counties, there must be official heads: what are the surnames and given names of the provincial governors and commandery protectors? Whose sons and whose brothers are the township leaders and village headmen? These are all official Daoist masters and ignorant Yellow Turbans who do not understand ancient or modern times and have never looked into the classics or histories. Seeing that human beings establish provinces and counties, they also claimed that heaven corresponds identically with the world. Clinging to falsehood as truth is truly shameful! Their roots, branches, origins, and ends are thoroughly exposed, just as set forth in the Xiaodao lun.'