北山錄 10.2.7

10.2.7

'These are not tools for a Warring State. It is truly as you say.' Shangzhi said: 'If one honors hermits, warriors become slack; if one prizes benevolence and virtue, martial spirit declines. If one takes Sunzi and Wu Qi as one's model and has one's mind set on devouring [rivals], one would also have no use for the Way of Yao and Shun—how could it be only with Buddhism?' The Emperor was pleased and said: 'The Buddhist order having you is like the Confucian school having Jilu; of you it can be said that wicked words do not enter your ears.' In the past, Mouzi, Xi Jiabin, Zong Bing, Zhu Haozhi, and Liu Xie all integrated the Dao and steered Ruism, upholding the scriptures to compose instructions, guarding the path of the King of the Dharma, and presenting the merit of capturing the rebellious. Could their words and deeds have arisen merely from external encouragement? The Wei began its cruelty in the fifth year of Taiyan (in the year yimao, the Northern Liang first extinguished the Buddhadharma), and completely annihilated it in the seventh year of Taiping Zhenjun, a bingxu year, which was the twenty-third year of Song's Yuanjia era. In the second month of spring in the second year of Zhengping, a renchen year, the Emperor died. Crown Prince Huang had passed away earlier (previously, when the Emperor campaigned in the south, someone slandered Huang for debauchery within the palace; the Emperor was enraged, and Huang was terrified and plotted rebellion; when the Emperor learned of it, he feigned death and had someone summon Huang; he trapped him with an iron cage and struck him three hundred lashes, and later executed him). The Prince of Wu was enthroned and changed the era name to Yongping; he died in the eleventh month of that year (in the second year of Zhengping of Emperor Taiwu of Wei, he was murdered by the regular attendant Zong Ai; Prince Jingmu's son Huang was enthroned, changing the era to the first year of Yongping; Zong Ai also murdered him, and enthroned Jingmu's son Jun, known as Emperor Wencheng, who changed the era to Xing'an). Wencheng was enthroned and changed the era to Xing'an, restoring [the Dharma] (again reviving the Buddhist teaching). The Zhou deliberated its rise and fall in the fourth year of Tianhe, a jiyou year, and carried out a great slaughter and extermination in the third year of Jiande, a jiawu year, which corresponded to the sixth year of Chen's Xuan's Dajian era (Emperor Wu of Zhou, named Yong, destroyed and eliminated both the Buddhist and Daoist teachings). In the first year of Xuanzheng, a wuxu year, the Emperor died. Tianyuan succeeded to the throne (this was Emperor Xuan, taboo name Yun, the eldest son of Emperor Wu; he levied a tax of one cash on each person entering the marketplace; when he toured Luoyang, relay horses covered four hundred li, and the Empress drove alongside him, those trailing behind being penalized; he called himself Emperor Tianyuan; the waters of Xianyang turned to blood). In the yihai year, it was changed to the first year of Dacheng, and in spring it was revived. Truly, the mandate of Heaven is not constant: through Yu it initiated the mandate of Xia, and through Tang it initiated the mandate of Yin; when they were about to perish, through Jie and Zhou it destroyed them (Yu was of the Si clan, with the personal name Wenming; Tang was of the Zi clan, with the personal name Tianyi; Jie was Yu's seventeenth-generation descendant, and Zhou was Tang's thirtieth-generation descendant). Truly, the supreme Way is not constant: through Han and Wei it was begun, and through Jin and Song it was expanded; when it was about to perish, through the two Emperors Wu it was destroyed. In Heaven's will, the myriad things are not uniform; why must worldly affairs necessarily be raised up by those with good fortune and destroyed by those of misfortune? Without rising, how could it decline? Without declining, who would revive it? Formerly, Xuan Gao was hanged south of the suburbs. His disciples arrived only after a night had passed; he revived and told them: 'The Great Dharma manifests in response, flourishing and declining in accordance with conditions. Flourishing and declining pertain to traces; the Principle is ever serene. I only grieve that you will before long also become like me. After you die, the Dharma will surely be revived' (the Daoist monk Xuan Gao, because he was the master of Crown Prince Huang, died at Pingyang; when Guang reached the monastery, the disciples only then realized and requested the corpse; when the corpse arrived at the monastery, he rose again and spoke to the disciples; later, the Great Dharma was indeed extinguished). Early in the Xing'an era of Wei (a jiawu year of Emperor Wenxuan), Emperor Gaozong decreed: 'Whoever acts as sovereign over people must reverently serve the bright spirits and visibly manifest the way of benevolence. As for those who could manifest beneficence to the living people and benefit and save the multitude of beings, even when they have passed away, we still commemorate their heroic influence. Therefore, the Spring and Autumn Annals praises the rituals of ancestral alliances, and the sacrificial canons record the clans whose merits were bestowed on the people (The Book of Rites says: "Those whose merits were bestowed on the people are sacrificed to; those whose labors reached the people are sacrificed to; those who could ward off great disasters are sacrificed to," and so forth). How much more so for the Tathāgata of the Buddhist teaching, whose merit delivers the great chiliocosm, and whose wisdom flows through the dust-realms! Those who fathom life and death marvel at his penetrating insight; those who examine his texts and meaning value his wondrous gate. It assists the prohibitive statutes of governmental transformation and enriches the benevolent and wise virtuous nature; it sweeps aside the hosts of evil and unfolds correct enlightenment. Therefore, from former eras onward, none failed to venerate it, and it is also what our state has constantly revered and served. Our Ancestral Forefather, Emperor Taiwu, opened up the distant frontiers, and his virtuous benevolence reached far and wide. Śramaṇas and Daoist masters of pure sincerity in good conduct, such as Huishi and his cohort (Huishi's feet were whiter than his face, and he was known at the time as the White-Footed Araṇyaka; when Emperor Taiwu of Wei eliminated the Buddhist teaching, ordering that whoever obtained a monk's head be rewarded with gold, Shi stood at the capital gate and offered his head to all who came; the court had no time to keep up with the rewards, and the persecution ceased because of this), reached everywhere, no matter how far; moved by each other's style and righteousness, they were numerous like a forest. Yet in the depths of mountains and seas, strange creatures are manifold; among them, treacherous and debauched sorts were able to find shelter under false pretexts, so that inside lecturing monasteries there came to be villainous factions. Consequently, the previous court seized upon their flaws to execute the guilty; but the officials misunderstood the imperial intention and banned everything indiscriminately. Emperor Jingmu always lamented this (Emperor Wenxuan's father, posthumously honored as Jingmu); yet amidst the manifold affairs of the military and the state, there was no leisure to restore it. As We have inherited the grand lineage and reign over the ten thousand states, We desire to carry out the ancestral will so as to elevate this Way. It is hereby commanded that in all prefectures, commanderies, and counties where people dwell, each is permitted to erect one stupa, leaving the expenditure to their means and imposing no time limit. Those who take delight in the Dharma and wish to become śramaṇas—regardless of age, provided they come from respectable families, are earnest and pure in character and conduct, and are recognized by their local communities—are permitted to leave household life: fifty persons for large prefectures, and thirty persons for small prefectures. This will suffice to transform evil into good and to spread and proclaim the teaching of the Way' (the above is the edict of Emperor Wenxuan of the Later Wei restoring the religion). When the Zhou first abolished the Dharma, it soon established the Monastery of Channeling the Dao, selecting one hundred and twenty prominent disciples of the Buddhist and Daoist gates of the time, dressing them in caps, robes, hu batons, and shoes, and entitling them Scholars of the Monastery of Channeling the Dao (instituted upon the memorial of Wei Yuansong). But Pukuang shaved his head while keeping his beard (he was an eminent monk), at which the Emperor laughed. In the first month of spring in the first year of Dacheng, Tianyuan decreed (Emperor Xuan): 'We promote the profound style; the Three Jewels are venerable and especially ought to be cultivated and revered. The Dharma's transformation is vast and broad, and its principle warrants our refuge and veneration. Let seven of the former śramaṇas of pure and lofty virtue be accommodated to practice the Way west of the Zhengwu Hall.' In the second month, the era name was changed to the first year of Daxiang.