辯正論 2
English (machine translation) 2
- Language
- English
2.1
Composed by the Tang Śramaṇa Shi Falin
2.2
Chapter 2: The Three Teachings and the Way of Governing (Part 2)
2.3
The young gentleman asked: "I have privately examined the fasting rituals of the Daoist tradition, and they comprise roughly two classes: the first is the Ultimate Dao, and the second is Salvation. As for the Ultimate Dao, the *Dongshen jing* says: 'Fasting of the mind and sitting in forgetfulness reach the ultimate Dao.' As for Salvation, according to the scriptures there are three registers and seven classes. As for the three registers: the first is called the Golden Register, which averts heavenly disasters above, protects and preserves emperors and kings, sets proper order and measures, and brings Great Peace to the realm; the second is called the Jade Register, which delivers the myriad people, causes them to abandon evil and follow good, repent transgressions, apologize for sins, and seek grace and blessing; the third is called the Yellow Register, which rescues the ninefold darkness and the ancestors of seven generations, transcends the five sufferings and eight difficulties, saves the souls crying out in the gloomy night, and delivers the long-grieving sinners of the hells. As for the seven classes: the first is the Fast of Dongshen (Cavern Spirit), a method for seeking immortality and preserving the state; the second is the Fast of Ziran (Spontaneity), the Dao of studying truth and cultivating the person; the third is the Fast of Shangqing (Highest Clarity), the marvel of entering sagehood and ascending to emptiness; the fourth is the Fast of Zhi Jiao (Instruction), an urgent rite for saving the sick and averting disasters; the fifth is the Fast of Tutan (Mud and Charcoal), the essential rite for repenting errors and begging for life; the sixth is the Fast of Mingzhen (Luminous Truth), for delivering the consciousnesses in the gloomy night; the seventh is the Fast of Sanyuan (Three Primes), for apologizing for crimes before the Three Officials. These various fasts last either one day and one night, three days and three nights, or seven days and seven nights, fully detailed in the ritual codes. Beyond these, there are also the Six Fasts, Ten Monthly Fasts, the cyclical fasts on Jiazi and Gengshen days, and the Destiny Fast, which generally apply the method of the Fast of Spontaneity. 'Sitting in forgetfulness' alone surpasses the source of life and death; the ten fasts of salvation jointly abandon the root of sorrow and grief. Examining them from beginning to end, their merit is exceedingly great. Moreover, their deportment, rules, halls, and altars model the mysterious void and possess all standards. Their robes, caps, and manners are stately and resonant; their morning salutations and bows are solemn and reverent. Walking in circumambulation while chanting praises, the true qi is spontaneous. Burning incense and scattering flowers, the spiritual presence is magnificent. When body and mind are both concentrated, resonance and response are sure to arrive; when hosts and guests are in mutual harmony, great blessing naturally tallies. The *Mingzhen yi* says: 'Erect a tall lamp with nine flames atop it placed in the center, so as to illuminate the mansions of the long night in the ninefold darkness. On the nights of the first, eighth, fourteenth, fifteenth, eighteenth, twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, and thirtieth days of the first month, erect a tall lamp nine chi in height, and upon the one lamp burn nine flames to shine up to the ninefold darkness.' Now, Buddhist fasts such as the Śāla, Bhaiṣajyaguru, Star-Deliverance, and Fangguang rituals originally had no cosmic archetypes in deportment or rules. When worldly people observe them both, what do they manifest?"
2.4
The Master of Penetrating Knowledge said: "Since I tied my hair and followed a master, I early attended the village schools and district academies. I fully examined the hundred schools and personally practiced the Three Mysteries. From the creation of the world down to the Han and Wei, I have not heard of a monarch revering the Dao and instituting the fasts of the Three Registers on behalf of the state, nor enacting the rituals of the Seven Grades to ward off heavenly disasters. If one were to say that these rituals were already practiced in the world in ancient times: long ago, when the great flood surged to heaven and the four classes of people drowned in misery, or when the blazing heat melted stone and the six directions were engulfed in fire, at those times why were Daoist fasts not used to go and rescue them, instead of looking on at such distress? If they could be rescued by it, then when King Wen was released from Youli or King Wu's illness was cured, should these too have been brought about by the power of the fasts? If they could not rescue them, is it not further proof that Daoist fasts are baseless and false? I have perused Daoist scriptures and fully mastered their essentials. I saw that the Xuanzhong jing says: when Daoist masters receive the precepts and talismans, they all arrange the seats of the Five Sacred Peaks, offer wine and dried meat, and bow twice. Furthermore, examining the practices of the Three Zhangs, at the spring and autumn equinoxes they sacrifice to the stove and make offerings to the altar of the soil; at the winter and summer solstices, following common customs, they make offerings to deceased ancestors. When receiving the registers of dioceses, military tallies, and earth pacts, they all speak of matters of generals, clerks, and soldiers. I also saw that the Shangyuan jinlu jianwen weiyi ziran jing says: the Upper Prime oversees the perfected, the Middle Prime oversees the immortals, and the Lower Prime oversees the spirits. Regularly at dawn, facing one's natal star and redirecting the mind, to pay homage to the thirty-three heavens, one shakes the head, points to heaven with both hands, and flies like a phoenix nine times each; one rubs the forehead with hands, presses both shoulders, and then wipes both eyes, pressing up and down on the two nostrils beside the nose, each seven times to receive the register. One uses five ounces of fine gold, five ounces of plain silk, five sheng of edible rice, and five bundles of firewood; or one uses gold men, gold rings, gold dragons, gold fish, silver men, silver rings, silver tubes, and silver flasks. They never fail to display gold and jade extensively and squander silk fabrics lavishly, merely giving free rein to arts of greed and craving, without having ever heard of the way to liberation. Why is this? I have discreetly investigated: the Daoist master Lu Xiujing arbitrarily fabricated and formulated these fast rituals, intending for monarchs to follow his methods. But when Emperor Wu of Liang initiated his dynastic fortune, Daoist transformation was not practiced. How do we know this? Inquiring into Emperor Wu of Liang's ancestry, they served the Dao; in his days as a hidden dragon he personally venerated Laozi. When he reached the third year of Tianjian and had already attained autonomy, on the eighth day of the fourth month he issued an edict renouncing the Dao. Xiujing could not endure his indignation; thereupon, along with his disciples and outlaws from the frontiers, he rebelled and fled into the Northern Qi. He also expended gold and jade to present gifts to noble wanderers, revealing his inner intentions in hopes of reviving the Daoist teachings. Emperor Wenxuan ordered Master Tanxian to blunt his sharp edge; Xiujing's spirit was instantly exhausted and his tongue tied so that he could not speak. That day, his followers all abandoned the erroneous and returned to the correct, begging with grief to renounce household life; those who had not yet generated the aspiration were ordered by imperial edict to dye their robes and shave their heads, just as is recorded in separate biographies." At that time, there was an obstinate Confucian scholar surnamed Liu, who called himself a descendant of the Yellow Turbans of the late Han, and had recently inherited the dregs of Xiujing's heterodox Dao. Hearing the Master of Penetrating Knowledge explain the reasons for Xiujing's rebellion against the Liang and describe his humiliation upon entering the Qi, his face suddenly flared with anger, he rolled up his sleeves, stood up, and said in a harsh voice: "Sir, how can you speak so carelessly? Have you not heard: 'He cleaves to it in times of sudden change; he cleaves to it in times of downfall'? If one examines them, the Three Registers and Seven Grades all stem from the teachings of Lingbao, Ziran, Dongshen, and so forth. They uniquely transcend the origin of birth and death, and equally leave behind the root of grief and suffering. Transmitted down from the past, practitioners mounted as immortals. For this reason, men who enter the Dao wear caps, official dress, and badges, carry talismans and wear seals; holding fast to tablets and registers, they serve in the courts of immortals. They fan the ancient Dao to assist an enlightened era; they cultivate wuwei and exalt supreme virtue. Advancing, they move the gale-wheels to ascend to the golden portals, or turn their flying canopies to roam the Jade Capital. Retiring, they initiate minor good deeds to rescue those in the three evil paths, and exercise great compassion to deliver the six destinies. Such is their state."
2.5
The Master of Penetrating Knowledge said: "Words that value superficial floridity and speech that is not a true record are like a hen that has no use for heralding the dawn, or a clay dog that has no efficacy in guarding the night. Why is this? Examining the ancient histories and listening far back to the former Confucians, one does not hear the name of Lingbao, nor is there any record of the discourse on the Heavenly Worthy. Inquiring into their origin, they are all what was transmitted from Zhang Ling's fabricated scriptures. The latter-day Daoist masters and narrow-sighted Confucians, not knowing where they come from, venerate them as truth, nor do they understand where the title of 'Daoist master' originated. If you can listen and diligently put it into practice, I will explain it for you." Before the Master of Penetrating Knowledge had finished speaking, the Confucian scholar hastily replied: "I have heard that pearls grow in water and copper is born in stone; those who gather them know them thoroughly, while those who transmit [rumors] are confused about them. If one transmits without knowing thoroughly, I venture that you, Sir, would not accept it. The Minister of the Three Clans had a saying: 'The Dao can be received, but cannot be transmitted.' It refers to this. Now before you, Sir, I shall briefly recount the Great Tradition. Examining the scriptures of the Daoist teachings, they all say: initially responding to the Single Qi, it is named Da Luo. Located beyond the Three Clarities, it established the Mysterious Capital, the Jade Capital, the Jade City, and the Golden Portals, and the Heavenly Worthy rules therein. The Baoxuan jing says: spontaneity's responsive manifestations have ten titles: the first is named Ziran (Spontaneity); the second is Wuji (Boundless); the third is Dadao (Great Dao); the fourth is Zhizhen (Ultimate Perfection); the fifth is Taishang (Supreme); the sixth is Laojun (Lord Lao); the seventh is Gaohuang (High Sovereign); the eighth is Tianzun (Heavenly Worthy); the ninth is Yudi (Jade Thearch); the tenth is Bixia (Imperial Majesty). He governs all things and establishes the way of ruler and minister. The Zhengyi jing says: above, he transformed the Three Clarities to lodge the immortals and perfected beings: the sage kings, the Three Excellencies, Nine Ministers, twenty-seven grand masters, eighty-one principal servicemen, one hundred and twenty administrative bureaus, and one thousand two hundred immortal officials, each governing their palaces and offices. The heavenly bureaus comprehensively govern the stars, constellations, sun, and moon, distinguishing celestial writings and hanging forth signs, causing the sons of heaven in the lower realms to model themselves after them. Therefore it is said: 'Man models himself on Earth; Earth models itself on Heaven; Heaven models itself on the Dao; the Dao models itself on spontaneity.' Therefore, the sage rulers of former generations all modeled their governance on this. Furthermore, from the Single Qi were transformed and generated the Three Qis, to correspond to the Three Lords (to speak of the Three Lords: they were born from the Three Qis; the Dao is qi). The Lingbao jiutian shengshen zhang says: there is the Lord of Heavenly Treasure, who is the spirit of the Great Cavern; the Lord of Numinous Treasure, who is the spirit of the Cavern Mystery; and the Lord of Divine Treasure, who is the spirit of the Cavern Perfection. The Elder of Heavenly Treasure is the ancestor of the Lord of Heavenly Treasure; the Elder's qi is the qi of the High Jade Emperor of the Primal Chaos and Great Origin. After ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine hundred-million myriads of qi, in the first year of Longhan, he was transformed and born; the Lord of Heavenly Treasure brought forth the scriptures, at that time titled High and Supreme, in the Jade Clarity Palace of Great Being. The Elder of Numinous Treasure is the ancestor of the Lord of Numinous Treasure; the Elder's qi is the qi of the Unsurpassed Jade Numinosity of the Red Chaos and Great Origin. After ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety myriads of qi, when the Longhan era unfolded its chart, he was transformed and born; the Lord of Numinous Treasure passed through one kalpa, and in the first year of Chiming, brought forth scriptures to deliver men, at that time titled Upper Clarity, in the Seven Jewels Purple Subtlety Palace of the Mysterious Capital's Jade Capital. The Elder of Divine Treasure is the ancestor of the Lord of Divine Treasure; the Elder's qi is the qi of the Unsurpassed Jade Numinosity of the Dark Quiescence and Mysterious Penetration. After ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety myriads of qi, in the first year of Chiming, he was transformed and born; the Lord of Divine Treasure passed through two kalpas, and in the first year of Shanghuang, brought forth scriptures, at that time titled Three Sovereigns, in the Taiqing Taiji Palace of the Cavern Spirit. It also says: although these three titles belong to different eras and different designations, originally they are one. They are further divided into the three qis of Xuan, Yuan, and Shi to govern the Three Treasures, being the honored spirits of the Three Qis (the Ziran chanxie yi says: 'We, your subjects, take refuge in the Boundless Supreme Numinous Treasure Heavenly Worthy of the East. Your subject now looks up in repentance to the eastern nine-qi pure heaven, the Taiqing Xuan-Yuan Unsurpassed Three Heavens Boundless Great Dao Supreme Lord Lao, Supreme Elder Emperor Lord, Great Emperor Lord, Lord Lao of Shanghuang, the twenty-nine perfected beings, the seventy-two sages, High Mysterious Perfected Lord, Nine Elders Immortal Capital Lord, Nine Qi Elder, First Pure Heavenly Perfected, Jade Treasure High Constellation of the East, Grand Chancellor Green Lad Lord, Primal Elder of the Nine Mysteries, Perfected Ruler of Immortals, one thousand two hundred official lords, Taiqing Jade Imperial Majesty, Green Thearch Nine Qi Jade Gate Spirit Immortals, Perfected Beings of the Four Offices, and all the utmost high sage great spirits of all heavens; and below in repentance to the eastern minister boundless world, the spirit-immortal true perfected of the Five Sacred Peaks and Four Waterways, bowing the head nine times and slapping the cheeks nine times'). The Dongshen jing says: there are three sets of Three Sovereigns, hence they are called the Nine Sovereigns. The initial Three Sovereigns are the transformations of Emptiness, Non-being, and Chaos; the secondary Three Sovereigns are the responsive changes of Xuan, Yuan, and Shi; the latter Three Sovereigns are the changes of the Three Primes, becoming the Three Terraces transforming bodily forms to engage with things. These Nine Sovereigns are all the wondrous functioning of the Great Dao, generating one another through responsive manifestation. Down to the Five Thearchs carrying out transformation, and next the Three Kings, generation after generation practicing the truth, all modeled themselves on the Dao. It also says: above the twenty-eight heavens of the three realms, next are the Four Heavens of the People. From the Four Heavens of the People one reaches the Taiqing Realm; from the Taiqing Realm to the Shangqing Realm; from the Shangqing Realm to the Yuqing Realm; and only from the Yuqing Realm does one reach the Unsurpassed Da Luo, thereby mounting to the ultimate fruition. The palaces and terraces of responsive transformation are difficult to put into words; they are called the Dao within the Dao. Furthermore, it is the seat of the Heavenly Worthy, residing in the Palace of Seven Radiations, dwelling in the Hall of Nine Splendors, sitting upon a golden couch to delight his nature, leaning upon a jade armrest to gladden his spirit. Jade maidens screen him in lines, and immortal boys stand as guards. He distinguishes good and evil, and decides death and life. None among all ghosts and spirits fail to revere and look up to him; he is the master within Heaven, the most honored of sages, trusted and exalted by both ghosts and spirits. Therefore, the virtuous and wise of antiquity uniformly relied on and practiced it. Some concealed their traces in the marketplace and court, while some hid their forms in forests and marshes; some had disciples following them, while some had students making inquiries—such companions of the Jade Terrace numbered three thousand, and the followers of Gengsang were not few. There were none who did not cultivate the mind through the two contemplations, purify thought through the Double Mystery, and discuss emptiness to the utmost marvel, fanning the Great Dao to rectify the times, cultivating goodness and establishing fasts, and deploying mysterious efficacy to aid the state. For this reason, the sons of heaven generation after generation all revered and honored it, and the eminent and worthy through the ages all admired and esteemed it. The response of the Lord of Xia at Mount Zhong, the omen of Han Wendi at the Riverbank—wondrous responses followed in unbroken succession, never ceasing for a moment. Its meaning is not unfounded speech, but originates from ancient sources. Therefore, it is said that the Daoist teaching can hardly be named."
2.6
The Master of Comprehension refuted him, saying: “You can recite texts, but you do not know how to seek the underlying principle. People like those of Huxiang are indeed difficult to converse with! Bitterly shivering freezing ice cannot wither the flowers of the coltsfoot; scarlet gales that melt stone cannot bend the trees of Xiaogiu. To hold up a spark between the sun and the moon is not wisdom; to clasp an earthen pot beside a great bell is not prudent foresight. The texts you have cited shall now be tested at once. Why so? The *Liji* says: ‘The highest reveres virtue.’ Zheng [Xuan's] commentary states that this refers to the kings of antiquity. Laozi says: ‘The highest is known by those below.’ The collected commentaries state: ‘In the era of highest antiquity, they knew there was a ruler above, yet did not serve him as subjects.’ That was the time of the Three Sovereigns. The title of ‘World-Honoured One’ (Tianzun) originated in Buddhist sūtras, while the title of ‘Your Majesty’ (Bixia) began with the First Emperor of Qin. The ministers, grandees, principal officers, and bureaus were all adopted from the systems of the Zhou officialdom and the Qin and Han, merely swapping heads for tails and taking the false to be true. The Three Sovereigns described [in your texts] are all cited from imperial genealogies and the like. The hierarchical grades of the three realms and the layers of the various heavens are all modelled on Buddhist sūtras, falsely establishing names, adding and subtracting, appearing and disappearing, seeming different yet identical. If these methods had truly existed since high antiquity, why did Baoxi not describe them when composing the *Book of Changes*? In bygone eras, sovereign rulers were never heard to have venerated and served them. It was only after the Zhou and Qin that erroneous words gradually emerged. The ‘Heavenly Movements’ chapter of the *Zhuangzi* says: ‘When Confucius was fifty-one years old and had not heard the Dao, he went south to Qingpei and saw Lao Dan, saying: “If the Dao could be presented to others, who would not present it to their ruler?”’ I hope you will reflect on this and not speak so much! Yet to claim that outside the three realms there are separate metropolises, palaces, and walled capitals—men of discernment all lament and marvel at such things; their falsehood is detailed thoroughly in the *Xiaodao lun* (Treatise Laughing at the Dao). Zhuangzi said: ‘Wang Tai was a man with a severed foot; Gengsang Chu was a scholar afflicted with illness.’ They did not perform jiao-offerings with memorials, nor did they issue talismans and registers; they wore the clothes of the contemporary world, and orally transmitted the canons of former kings. They did not become Daoist masters, nor did they wear yellow turbans. What is it that you wish to show by hastily bringing these matters forward? Even if Yu of Xia opened the treasuries of Mount Zhong, he spoke not of a Celestial Venerable. When Emperor Wen of the Han visited the Recluse of the Riverbank (Heshang Gong), there were entirely no traces left. Examining Pan Yue's *Record of Guanzhong*, Ji Kang's and Huangfu Mi's *Biographies of Eminent Scholars*, and Ban Gu's *History of the Han: Biography of Emperor Wen*, as well as inquiring of the elders, there is no event of Heshang Gong binding grass to make a hut or displaying supernatural transformations. These are all false and baseless—how can they be relied upon? Moreover, regarding your claim that the Dao is called a ‘teaching’: generally speaking, for establishing a teaching, there must first be a master. Since the Daoist school has no definite master, how can it be called a Daoist teaching? For three reasons, the Daoist school cannot be separately designated a teaching. First, speaking in terms of Zhou and Confucius: the two men, the Duke of Zhou and Confucius, were merely transmitters of the teaching and could not call themselves masters of the teaching. Why is this so? Because the teaching was the teaching of the Three Sovereigns and Five Thearchs; the masters of the teaching were indeed the Three Sovereigns and Five Thearchs. Second, examining the ‘Treatise on Arts and Literature’ of the *Book of the Former Han*, which discusses ancient and modern canons and records, it classifies a total of nine schools: the first is the Ru school, and the second is the Daoist school. The Dao has no separate teaching; it is entirely subsumed within the nine schools. Based on this, it does not establish a separate teaching. Why? Because it lacks a master of the teaching. If you say Laozi is the master of the teaching, Laozi was not an emperor or king; how could he be called a master of the teaching? If you say there is separately a Celestial Venerable who is the master of the Daoist teaching, examining the orthodox scriptures of the Five Classics, from the Three Sovereigns down to the Duke of Zhou and Confucius, none of them said that there was separately a Celestial Venerable dwelling in heaven who transmitted teachings and spread transformation as the master of the Daoist school. These are all forged scriptures from the Three Zhangs onward, falsely claiming that a Celestial Venerable above is the master of the Dao. Since there is no master, how can it be called a teaching? Third, Yao Dao'an composed the *Treatise on the Two Teachings*, establishing only the Confucian teaching and the Buddhist teaching, without establishing a Daoist teaching. Why so? The Confucians take the Three Sovereigns and Five Thearchs as masters of the teaching. The *Book of Documents* says: ‘The books of the Three Sovereigns are called the Three Tombs; the books of the Five Thearchs are called the Five Canons.’ They used the teaching of the Tombs and Canons to transform all under heaven. The *Mao Commentary to the Classic of Poetry* says: ‘The wind moves them; teaching transforms them.’ The Tombs and Canons are the teaching, and the thearchs and sovereigns are the masters; therefore, Confucianism can be called a teaching. The Buddha is the King of Dharma; the twelve divisions of scriptures he expounded spread transformation across all under heaven. There is a teaching and there is a master. Furthermore, the Buddha is a person who transcends the world, and his scriptures are teachings that transcend the world; hence he can be called a master of the teaching. The Three Sovereigns and Five Thearchs are worldly rulers, and the Three Tombs and Five Canons are worldly teachings. First, one transforms with worldly teachings; later, one transforms with teachings that transcend the world. Affairs are exhausted in this. The containment of phenomena is complete, and the conditions are fulfilled. Why must there separately be a Daoist teaching? Moreover, the *Mao Commentary to the Classic of Poetry* says: ‘The affairs of a single state tied to the basis of a single person are called the wind.’ The Son of Heaven has the wind and can transform all under heaven; therefore it can be called a teaching. The Dao is not the Son of Heaven and cannot possess the wind. Since it has no wind, how could it spread transformation? Lacking the wind to transform, it cannot be separately called a teaching. Judging by this, there are only two teachings. Even if it is claimed that the Dao exists, it is governed and subsumed within the Ru school. Furthermore, Laozi was a worldling who had not severed afflictions; when he spoke, he merely described the teachings and transformations of the Three Sovereigns. Heshang Gong said: ‘In the age of the Great Dao, through wuwei one nourished the spirit, and through having no business one pacified the people.’ This means there was no contrivance and no artificial making; when the sun rose, they arose; when the sun set, they rested—this was called the Great Dao. There was no separate Celestial Venerable dwelling in heaven. This implies that the Dao is a rational principle, a harmonious qi, also without physical form. Moreover, Immortal Lord Ge said: ‘My master’s surname was Boyuecong and his style was Weināhe; he was a man of the Western Regions.’ He also did not say that the Celestial Venerable was his master.”
2.7
The Confucian scholar asked, saying: “The Dao takes spontaneity as its principle and empty non-being as its foundation. The proofs for this are more than one. For instance, the *Supreme Script on the Mysterious and Wondrous* says: ‘That the Dao is called spontaneity is the true reality of the Dao. Wuwei is the culmination of the Dao. Empty non-being is the honor of virtue. Not looking and not listening, one embraces its mystery. Without mind and without intention, as if roots have not yet sprouted, refined essence gathers and transforms into its body.’ Moreover, the *Inner Teaching of Ascending to the Mysterious* says: ‘The Perfected of the Supreme Ultimate asked the Great Dao: “What do you take as your body? Where were you born? Why are you called the Dao?”’ The common reply was: ‘The Dao is mysterious and wondrous, emerging from spontaneity, born from non-birth, and prior to the non-prior.’”
2.8
“Furthermore, the *Oral Instructions on the Spontaneity of Lingbao* says: ‘The Perfected of the Supreme Mysterious Unity said: “The Supreme Limitless Great Dao, the Unsurpassed Supreme True Mystery, dwells in empty non-being, formless and spontaneous, atop the pinnacle of empty non-being. Above, there is no heaven; below, there is no earth; hence it is called the Unsurpassed Supreme True Great Dao. Although the Dao is empty and non-being, it can generate the One and serves as the root of all things.”’” The Master of Comprehension asked: “If the Dao can generate the One, who then generated the Dao? If the Dao does not arise from anything, then the Dao also cannot generate the One. If the Dao is not born from an other, the One is also not born from the Dao. If the Dao is self-born, the One is also self-born. Since the One cannot be self-born, the Dao likewise cannot be self-born. If the Dao generates itself, then the Dao also models itself on the Dao. Why did Laozi say: ‘Humanity models itself on Earth; Earth models itself on Heaven; Heaven models itself on the Dao; the Dao models itself on spontaneity’? Since the Dao does not model itself on itself but models itself on spontaneity, it follows that the Dao is not self-born, but born from spontaneity. If the Dao is not born from spontaneity, then neither is the One born from the Dao. Furthermore, if the One is inferior to the Dao and is born from the Dao, it follows that the Dao is inferior to spontaneity and is born from spontaneity. If the One is born from the Dao and the Dao can be called great, then the Dao being born from spontaneity means spontaneity can be called great, and the Dao cannot be called great. If it cannot be called great, it should be called the small Dao. If the Dao faces toward spontaneity, then the Dao models itself on spontaneity, and spontaneity is the root of the Dao. Since the Dao is rooted in spontaneity, then spontaneity is permanent and the Dao cannot be permanent. Now, if the Dao is called permanent and spontaneity is also permanent, it should also be that just as the Dao models itself on spontaneity, spontaneity should also model itself on the Dao. If spontaneity is the root, the Dao cannot be the root; if spontaneity is permanent, the Dao cannot be permanent. If both are permanent, then both should model themselves on each other. If one models itself on the other while the other does not, then one is permanent and the other is impermanent. If you say both are permanent, then both are spontaneous. Since there is the spontaneous and the non-spontaneous, there is also the permanent and the impermanent. If spontaneity is the fundamental and the Dao is the trace, and both fundamental and trace are called permanent, it should also be that the Dao is the fundamental and Heaven is the trace, and Heaven and Dao are both impermanent. Now, if the fundamental of the Dao is contrasted with the trace of Heaven, the Dao is permanent while Heaven is impermanent. It should also be that spontaneity is contrasted with the trace of the Dao: the Dao is impermanent while spontaneity is permanent. If the Dao is identical to spontaneity, then Heaven is also identical to the Dao. If the substance of Heaven is not the substance of the Dao, then one is permanent and one is impermanent. Now, could it also be that the substance of the Dao is identical to the substance of spontaneity? If they share the same substance, they share the same permanence. Now, if the Dao models itself on spontaneity, how could they have the same substance? Since the Dao models itself on spontaneity and spontaneity does not model itself [on the Dao], it still follows that spontaneity is permanent and the Dao is impermanent. If there is a permanence different from impermanence, how could impermanence not be different from permanence? Because of impermanence there is permanence; because of permanence there is impermanence. Even a permanent phenomenon does not exist—how could there be an impermanent one? If impermanence exists apart from permanence, or permanence exists due to other permanences, then apart from permanence there is no permanence. Therefore, know that both impermanent and permanent phenomena do not exist; how then could there be an impermanent Dao? If it is called permanent, it becomes the foremost among all wrong views; if it is called great, it is again bound within the worldly realm. Hesitating between two extremes like a bat, how can you free yourself? Even if there were a Dao, it would merely be achieving immortality through elixirs. Therefore, Yuan Hong's ‘Treatise on Suburban Sacrifices’ in the *Records of the Later Han* says: ‘The Daoist school emerged from Laozi. It takes purity, emptiness, and detachment as its foundation, and hatred of good and resentment of evil as its teaching. Retribution of fortune and misfortune occurs within a single lifetime. They maintain wives and children, and make use of talismans and writings. If their practice never ceases, they can attain divine transcendence.’”} ],
2.9
The man of penetrating insight said: "When we examine Lord Lao's life in the world, he never abandoned the dust of secular life; his appearance and attire also had nothing peculiar about them. He neither established temples nor gathered disciples. Holding the humble office of Archivist beneath the Pillars, he concealed his dragon-like virtue to cultivate his nature, softened his glare to avoid external perils, and mingled with worldly affairs to preserve his inner life. The foolish saw him and called him foolish; the wise saw him and called him wise. None could recognize him except the Minister of Crime of Lu. Today's Daoist masters do not follow his method; on the contrary, like Zhang Yu, they recklessly recite chapter and verse, merely seeking to enrich their houses in hopes of nourishing their bodies. They abandon the wondrous gate of the Five Thousand [Characters] and practice the foul arts of the three Zhangs. For example, the Maoshan Daoist master Tao, the Recluse, composed the Collective Rites for Offering-Sacrifices in ten fascicles, detailing methods for offering-sacrifices ranging from heaven, earth, mountains, rivers, stars, asterisms, sacred peaks, and waterways, down to pacifying residences, giving thanks at graves, and summoning souls and spirits. It fully displays rare treasures, widely arrays damasks and coloured silks, and abundantly uses steamed fish, dried venison, yellow and white honey pastries, clear wine, mixed fruits, salted fermented beans, oil, rice, and the like. They first present petitions requesting and summoning generals, clerks, and soldiers; the Daoist masters all hold tablets in their hands, address the spirits calling themselves 'subjects', kowtow, and bow twice, seeking grace and begging for blessings—exactly identical to worldly customs. Neither having left household life nor abstaining from evil deeds, they create all kinds of deviant karma. Now, the Purple Subtlety, Supreme Subtlety, and Lesser Subtlety stars are collectively called the Three Officials of the Heavenly Emperor. Examining the former Confucians of antiquity, the Great Emperor of the Heavenly August is the revered spirit of the Purple Subtlety, also named the Treasure of the Shining Soul, which is the central heaven. It is called the Northern Culmen; situated within the Curving Array, it is the master of Heaven and the most revered of all the stars. To the left is the Spirit of Heavenly One, and to the right is the Spirit of Supreme One, serving as the Left and Right Generals, just like the Left and Right Prime Ministers of today. They are principally in charge of attending upon the Heavenly August, to whom human life belongs—the most revered among the revered. According to the Book of Documents and the Rites of Zhou, the state has its own sacrificial rituals, all personally and respectfully performed by the Son of Heaven. The Classic of Filial Piety states that the Duke of Zhou possessed the utmost filial mind, and therefore offered ancestral sacrifices to King Wen in the Bright Hall as the peer of the High Thearch, and performed the suburban sacrifice to Houji as the peer of Heaven. 'Heaven' refers to the heavens of the five directions; 'Thearch' refers to the August High Thearch of Heaven. Ancestors and fathers were sacrificed as peers in the Bright Hall, the Round Mound, and the southern suburb, and so forth. These were originally not deities of the Daoists, nor were they rites performed by Daoist masters. Why then do they today employ Daoist masters for offering-sacrifices? This gravely violates the ritual teachings, and it is deeply to be feared that the heavenly spirits will not partake of what is contrary to ritual. From the end of the Han, when Zhang Ling carried out his conversions through the way of ghosts, there came to be the sacrifices and offerings of Daoist masters; by the time of the Liang and Chen dynasties, they flourished throughout the world. Crude methods are easily assimilated, and habit becomes second nature; nothing under heaven surpasses this in spuriousness and corruption. According to the Rites of Zhou and the 'Single Victim at the Suburban Sacrifice' and similar texts, the state possesses its own ceremonies for sacrificing to Heaven. The jiao is one kind of sacrifice; draining the cup is called jiao. Across the three historical works and the nine philosophical schools, there has never been a Daoist master presenting petitions and performing jiao-sacrifices to avert disaster for the state. In ancient times, when King Wu was critically ill, the Duke of Zhou prayed for his life, erecting an altar and setting out sacrifices to pray to High Heaven; he did not speak of announcing or petitioning Daoist deities or summoning Daoist masters. If Daoist deities were in Heaven, revered by all the sages, and longevity, premature death, good fortune, and misfortune were determined by them, when the Duke of Zhou performed sacrifices, how would he dare not give them priority? (The 'Metal-Bound Coffer' chapter of the Book of Documents states: 'King Wu was critically ill. The Duke of Zhou erected three altars, and through the Great King, King Ji, and King Wen, he prayed for life to Heaven, saying: "I, Dan, possess much talent and many arts, and can serve the ghosts and spirits." He said that the King could not serve the ghosts and spirits, and if he were not saved, he feared that Heaven's precious mandate would fall to the ground. The Duke returned and placed the text into the metal-bound coffer. The King recovered the next day.' If Daoist ghosts and spirits were truly revered and human lives belonged to them, how would the Duke of Zhou have dared not to pray and petition them first? When examined in detail, their falsity and error become self-evident.) If it is said that they exist, why do the classic books not record them? Confucius said: 'He who offends against Heaven [has none to whom he can pray]'; he did not say 'offends against the Dao'. Examining the preface to the Center Scripture on Explaining the Sections of the Five Thousand Characters, it says that he ordered Xi to abstain from cereals and cut off rice, eating porridge once every three days, using nine thousand superior gold coins, and smearing his lips with the blood of a white horse. A gentleman would say: Since Laozi was benevolent and kind, he should not have slaughtered a horse to make an oath; the Dao is praised for having no desires, so why was he greedy for gold when expounding the scripture? Its first chapter, 'The Treasury of Nirvāṇa', explains: 'A way that can be spoken of, a name that can be named, the mother of the ten thousand things, having desires to observe the bounds, lacking desires to observe the subtleties, emerging together with different names, the gate of all subtleties, deep and abyssal like the ancestor of the ten thousand things.' Its sixth chapter, 'The Treasury of Man', explains: 'The valley spirit, the mysterious female, the root of Heaven and Earth, continuous as though remaining', and so forth. 'The Dao' refers to nirvāṇa; the lord's 'name' refers to the spleen; 'the mother' refers to the cinnabar field. 'Nirvāṇa' is the virtue of Heaven; the residence where its spirit governs is within the human head. Five times a year it descends, descending to the cinnabar field. Laozi addressed Yin, saying: 'The spleen is the central yellow one. The yellow qi wanders and governs in the central palace. The Yellow Spirit is one foot tall, wears the sun on its head and treads on the moon, named the Master of the Golden Tendril. It constantly drinks sweet dew and feeds on the dried meat of the juxu beast. Its spirit is Great White, governing the sun and the moon; the five lights cover it, and the Supreme One seals it. The Azure Dragon carries it, and the Vermilion Bird perches by it. Within it is a Spirit One that cannot be left unthought.' Moreover, the cinnabar field is the mysterious female; leaning against the spine, it governs the lower origin. Within it is a divine qi named the Small Child. Traveling on the One, it descends, reaching the cinnabar field, irrigates the nose upward, and enters nirvāṇa. 'Its subtleties' refers to vacuity and non-existence; 'its bounds' refers to the cinnabar field. 'Different names' refers to the various essences; their names are six: first, semen; second, urine; third, sweat; fourth, blood; fifth, tears and mucus; sixth, saliva. Therefore they are called 'different names'. 'Mysterious and yet more mysterious' refers to the left and right eyes. 'The gate of all subtleties' refers to the fact that when a person dies there is no qi, the qi being cut off at the mouth. 'The Dao is empty, yet in use': 'empty' refers to the One; the body of the Dao's One is constantly surging forth, and in practice it is never overflowing. 'Abyssal' refers to the mouth; the mouth contains the Flowery Pool; swish saliva and swallow it, meaning that when the moisture fills the mouth, in a single movement it moistens the one hundred and twenty viscera. The mouth cannot be filled, like an abyssal spring. 'Like the ancestor of the ten thousand things' refers to the mouth eating and drinking to nurture the ten thousand spirits within the mouth. 'The valley spirit' also refers to the mouth; when the spirit enters the mouth, it brings man to life. 'The mysterious female' refers to the nose and the mouth. 'The root of Heaven and Earth' refers to the mouth and nose serving as the gates through which the divine qi exits and enters, acting as the root of life and nurture. The nose neither speaks nor talks; its qi is continuous, serving as the heavenly window, used without exhaustion. Throughout all eighty-one chapters, they are arranged entirely by the Three Primes and the sexagenary cycle; the purports they clarify largely accord with the Scripture of the Yellow Court, all lying in secrets of ingesting qi to nourish the body and sexual practices to retain semen. They are valued by the vulgar, not honoured by the true Dao. They are merely deceitful theories, not genuine practice. To seek immortality by this means is far too wide of the mark! How could indulging in desires instead bring about longevity? Even if they prolong one's years, it is ultimately the root of transgression. (The Yellow Court says: 'Above is the Yellow Court, below is the Primal Beginning; before is the Dark Pass, behind is the Gate of Life. Inhaling and exhaling outside the hut, entering and exiting the cinnabar field. If one can truly practice this, one can attain long life. The person in the Yellow Court wears vermilion clothes; close the gates, shut the bar and female lock with its two doors. The Dark Opening flanks it, lofty and towering; within the cinnabar field, the essence and qi are subtle. The clear water of the Jade Pool nourishes the upper fat; when the spiritual root is firm, one's purpose does not wither. In the Middle Pool is a gentleman clad in red robes, dwelling three inches below horizontally where the spirit resides. Inside and outside oppose each other and double-lock it; the mysterious carbuncle and qi-duct receive the essence-tally. Urgently consolidate your essence to maintain yourself; in the chamber is a gentleman whose garments are entwined. If you can see him, you will not fall ill. Within the square inch, carefully cover and store; the essence and spirit return, turning old age back to vigor. Extend the ruler-length pattern to bind it above; if you can guard it, you will have no distress, inhaling and exhaling at the hut's door to replenish yourself. The son of the Red Spirit stands in the Middle Pool; below is the Long Wall and the city of the Dark Valley. For the essentials of long life, the bedchamber is urgent; constantly visualize the Jade Room to perceive brightness. Always contemplate the Grand Granary, free from hunger and thirst; close the path of your essence, and you can live long. The five phases are uneven yet share the same root and node; the qi of the three and five combine, whose essential root is the One. Embrace the pearl and harbor the jade to harmonize your chamber. The immortals and Daoist masters are not divine spirits; it is brought about by accumulating essence, focusing on harmony and benevolence. When desire and righteousness are mutually attained, open the Gate of Life; if one can constantly practice this, one can attain long life.') In his 'Discourse on Discerning the Dao', King Si of Chen says: 'Now, the books of the immortals and the sayings of the Daoists claim that Fu Yue ascended to become the tail of the Scorpius asterism, while the Year Star descended to become Dongfang Shuo; that King An of Huainan was executed in Huainan, yet they call it attaining the Dao and ascending lightly; that Lady Gouyi died at Yunyang, yet they call it the departure of the corpse with an empty coffin. How extreme is their falsity! Among the rigorous scholars of the restoration there was Huan Junshan, whose writings were largely praised by Liu Zijun. Once, Zijun asked him: "If a person could truly repress desires and close their ears and eyes, could they avoid exhaustion?" At that time, there was an old elm tree in the courtyard; Junshan pointed to it and said to him: "This tree has no feelings or desires to endure, nor ears or eyes to close. Yet it still withers and rots away; for you to say one can avoid exhaustion is not reasonable discourse." Junshan's drawing on the elm tree as an analogy was not correct either. Why? Formerly, when I was Master of Music for Wang Mang, the Records of Music of the Grandees stated: Emperor Wen obtained Master Dou, the musician of Marquis Wen of Wei, who was one hundred and eighty years old and blind in both eyes. The Emperor, marveling at this, asked him: "What practice have you followed?" He replied: "At thirteen I lost my sight; my parents, grieving that I could not attend to ordinary affairs, taught me to play the zither. I know nothing of gymnastics and do not know by what power I gained this long life." Junshan commented on this, saying: "He greatly benefited from losing his sight when young, concentrating entirely on looking inward, with his essence not reflecting outward." First he refuted Zijun by claiming that inner gazing was useless, but in retrospectively discussing Master Dou, he immediately took the lack of outward reflection as proof. I have not seen any definitive conclusion from him. Junshan also said: "Among the fangshi magicians there was Dong Zhongjun, who was imprisoned for a crime. He feigned death for several days, his eyes sunken and maggots emerging; he died and then returned to life, but afterwards he died in the end. That the living must die is understood by gentlemen; what analogy can change this? Even the most divine does not surpass Heaven and Earth, yet they cannot make dormant insects emerge in summer or thunder crash in winter. When the seasons shift, things move; when the qi alters, events correspond. That Zhongjun was able to conceal his breath, corpse his body, rot his flesh, and bring forth maggots—is this not a great anomaly? There were fangshi magicians in the world, all of whom were summoned by our King. Ganling had Gan Shi; Lujiang had Zuo Ci; Yangcheng had Qie Jian. Shi could circulate qi and practice gymnastics; Ci was versed in the arts of the bedchamber; Jian was skilled at abstaining from cereals; all were claimed to be three hundred years old. The reason they were finally gathered in the state of Wei was truly for fear that this sort of person would harbor treachery and deceit to swindle the multitude, and practice baleful anomalies to delude the people; therefore, they were gathered and restrained. Gan Shi was old yet possessed a youthful appearance, so the various magicians all gravitated toward him. However, Shi's words were prolix and sparse in truth, containing quite a few strange statements. Had he encountered First Emperor of Qin or Emperor Wu of Han, he would have been another Xu Shi or Luan Da. Jie and Zhou belonged to different eras yet were equal in wickedness; treacherous men belong to different ages yet are matched in falsehood—is it not just so? Furthermore, the world emptily maintains tales of immortals. Are immortals of the same genus as monkeys and apes, or do worldly humans attain the Dao and transform into immortals? When a pheasant enters the sea, it becomes a clam, and when a swallow enters the sea, it becomes a mussel. When they hover with their wings, darting about, their plumage still recognizes itself; suddenly throwing themselves into divine transformation, their bodies alter, and they instead herd with soft-shelled and sea turtles. Could they still recognize the joy of soaring in forests and nesting in eaves? Yet, being duped by commoners, [rulers] accept deceitful words and believe in dazzling theories, displaying lofty courtesy to summon those who refuse to be subjects, exhausting their property to provide for empty demands, scattering princely ranks to glorify them, and dwelling them in quiet, secluded mansions. Year after year passes, yet ultimately there is not a single confirmation. Some died at Shaqui, or passed away at Wuzha Palace. Though when the time came they executed their persons and exterminated their clans, their chaotic turmoil was enough to make them the laughingstock of the empire. However, regarding the length of life and the strength of physique, each person is endowed differently. Those who nourish it well live out their term; those who toil and perturb it cut it in half; those who wastefully expend it die prematurely. This is what is meant. You may examine it thoroughly.' The Confucian scholar was dazed and did not know how to respond. After a long while, he said: 'Could it really be like this? Could it really be like this? I have heard that the two chapters on the Dao and Virtue have been revered through successive generations; Emperor Wen of Han and Emperor Wu of Wei personally practiced them. The Dongxuan Scripture says: "The Five Thousand Characters is the ancestor of the Dao and Virtue, the truest of the true; if one recites it ten thousand times, one's body will fly." Scholars of immortality have remarked: "Spread the wuwei breeze of Old Li, and the people will transform of themselves; uphold the way of love and respect of Kong Qiu, and all under heaven will be filial and kind." Master, your learning is profound and your vision farsighted; your eloquence is like a cascading river. I beg you to expound what you have heard; I would dare to say I am willing to die this very evening.'"
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- 辯正論 — Classical Chinese