北山錄 5.2.6

5.2.6

[when Qi was born,] she tore [her body] open as she returned, and Qi's mother transformed into stone); and when Yi Yin was born, his mother became a hollow mulberry tree (Yi Yin was minister to Tang; when he was born, his mother transformed into a hollow mulberry tree). Could this be considered inauspicious? Thus the two teachings [of Confucianism and Daoism] deliberate solely on this present life, whereas the Buddhist teaching comprehensively reveals other lives. In the case of those two mothers who turned into a mulberry tree and a stone, where did their conscious spirits go? The Holy Mother looks down on the sun and moon and pities the human world below; in truth, happiness and good fortune shall accompany them!" The guest said: "Cruel Wei executed households for their inner convictions, and dim-witted Zhou showed no kindness to the dark-clad companions (Emperor Taiwu of the Wei, Tuoba Tao, abolished the Dharma in the fifth year of Taiyan [439]; whoever harboured a śramaṇa was put to death. Emperor Wu of the Zhou, Yuwen Yong, abolished the Buddhist teaching in the second year of Jiande [573]; 'dark' refers to the monks, who were subjected to [suppression]). They caused the entire realm to cry out in anguish and the royal beneficence to be exhausted. At first, they seemed to triumph, but in the end swift disasters struck them (when the two monarchs first abolished the Dharma, it seemed to accord with their aims, but soon they both died of foul diseases). Why did they ever come to this?" The host said: "When noxious vapors steam forth, the five moral duties fall to ruin; when treachery and evil arise, the myriad spirits are enraged (once the Five Phases are disrupted, the hundred spirits grow angry). Therefore, what Heaven assists is obedience; what man assists is trustworthiness. Devoid of trustworthiness and devoid of obedience, Heaven and humanity unite to execute them. How could they not perish? (The *Book of Documents* says: 'Calamities sent by Heaven may still be avoided; calamities brought on oneself cannot be escaped.') At first, Taizu and Taizong of the Wei (Taizu was Tuoba Gui; Taizong was Tuoba Si, styled Emperor Ming, the eldest son of Taizu, Emperor Wu) were devoted to the teachings of causes and conditions. The śramaṇa Faguo was pure and meticulous in his precepts and conduct, and widely expounded the Dharma texts. Taizu decreed that he be appointed Director of Monks. Taizong revered him even more, offering him the titles of Supporter of the State, Viscount of Yicheng, Marquis of Zhongxin, and Duke of Ancheng, all of which he declined. When the emperor visited his residence, the carriage could not enter because the gate was too narrow, so he decreed that it be widened. Faguo died at eighty. The emperor attended his funeral in person and posthumously conferred upon him the title of General of Old Age and Longevity (all marking the emperor's favour). When Duke Ling of Zhao, Shizu, ascended the throne (Emperor Taiwu), he initially followed these practices as well. He frequently summoned eminent śramaṇas of high virtue to converse with them. On the eighth day of the fourth month, statues were paraded through the broad avenues; the emperor went to the tower gate, leaned over the railing, scattered flowers, and bowed his head to pay homage. However, having ascended the pinnacle of power at the age of eight, he consulted Situ Cui Hao on matters of state governance. Hao spoke endlessly of Zhuangzi and Laozi, and deeply subverted the Buddhist school. The emperor had long placed deep trust in seeking magicians and masters of arts; when he obtained the Celestial Master Kou Qianzhi, he decreed that Daoist altars be established in all prefectures and garrisons. It happened that Gai Wu rebelled at Xingcheng, throwing Guanzhong into turmoil. In the fifth year of Taiyan, a *yimao* year [439], the emperor campaigned west against Chang'an (the Northern Wei had its capital at Pingcheng at the time). At that time, there were śramaṇas who planted barley in the monastery where the imperial grooms grazed horses. The emperor entered the monastery to inspect the horses, and his attendants took the opportunity to peer inside: the rooms contained private property, bows and arrows, and tens of thousands of items deposited and hidden by local governors and wealthy magnates. At that time, the emperor was twenty-four years of age; in the full vigor of his years, he was deficient in philosophical learning. Seeing that these matters matched Cui Hao's words, he thereupon issued a decree to burn and destroy scriptures and images, preserving only four monasteries under the Terrace, as in Chang'an. In the fifth year of Taiping Zhenjun [444], he issued another decree: 'From princes and dukes down to the commoners, anyone who privately shelters a śramaṇa must deliver him by the fifteenth day of the second month of this year; if the deadline passes and they are not surrendered, the śramaṇa shall be put to death, and the harbourer's entire household executed.' At that time, Prince Zonggong [Tuoba Huang], supervising state affairs as crown prince, presented a remonstrance stating that the execution of śramaṇas was excessively cruel, and that the statues and paintings were not at fault: 'It would now be appropriate merely to disband their way and close the gates of the monasteries; if the world ceases to worship and maintain them, the works of clay, wood, cinnabar, and verdigris will naturally fall into ruin.' His memorial was not adopted. That year, Crown Prince Huang's master, the śramaṇa Xuangao, was slandered by Hao and executed (as was the crown prince). In the third month, the spring of the seventh year [446], he decreed that the Buddha's Dharma be entirely purged, and that all śramaṇas, young and old alike, be buried alive. Although Zonggong's advice was not heeded, he delayed the proclamation of the imperial decree, enabling those far and near to make secret provisions to hide and flee. Hao died within eleven years. When Emperor Wu was critically ill, he was assassinated by the eunuch Zong Ai (the Northern Wei initially had its capital at Pingcheng with the surname Tuoba. Only when Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital to Luoyang did they change their surname to the Yuan clan. The Western Wei relied on Yuwen Tai and had its capital at Chang'an. The Eastern Wei dismantled the palaces of Luoyang and made Ye its capital). Previously, when Cui and Kou both accompanied the imperial retinue, Kou remonstrated with him, but Cui would not listen. Kou said: 'You will cut short your own years and bring ruin to your household!' (in the end, just before his execution, he was made to have urine poured into his mouth). Emperor Gaozu of the Zhou [Emperor Wu] believed that the śramaṇas matched a prophecy concerning blackness. Formerly, when Taizu Heitai [Yuwen Tai] held the Wei emperor hostage and fled west, all clothing and banners were made black. Later, the śramaṇas all wore yellow robes, which the common people particularly disliked. Yet the people of Zhou thought that 'none is blacker than a crow,' leading to the execution of those surnamed Wu; and 'none is blacker than a bean,' leading to the execution of those surnamed Dou. There was Wei Yuansong, who returned to lay attire (a man of Xinfan county in Shu, who cast off his robes and presented a memorial demanding a purge), and the yellow-capped Daoist Zhang Bin, who joined together to plow the fields (pairing up to plow so as to eradicate the teaching of the Buddhist religion; the *Spring and Autumn Annals* mentions 'two fives paired together' in the State of Jin). The emperor received the registers and tallies in person. In the spring, the third month of the fourth year of Tianhe, a *yichou* year [469], he convened a grand assembly of eminent figures of the three teachings, along with more than two thousand civil and military officials, to jointly debate their rise and decline, but no conclusion could be reached. In the summer, the fourth month, he ordered the Director of Retainers Zhen Luan to examine and compare them in detail. In the fifth year [470], Luan submitted the *Treatise Laughing at the Dao* (preserved in the Canon). Because it exposed the gross distortions and ugliness of the Daoist teachings, the emperor had it burned. Dao'an presented the *Treatise on the Two Teachings*, and the emperor's plan was temporarily shelved. By the summer, the fifth month of the third year of Jiande [574], relying on the two teachings' mutual vilification, his plan was enacted once more. The followers of Śākya and Li [Laozi] were both discarded like straw dogs (straw dogs are dogs made of grass; the *Dao De Jing* of Laozi says that all things are treated as straw dogs). The burying of images and slaughter of people was unspeakable. In the spring of the sixth year [577], the Zhou army conquered the Qi, and the emperor considered this to be the blessing of having abolished the teachings (on the nineteenth day of the first month of the sixth year of Jiande, they conquered the Northern Qi, obtaining the imperial transmission jade seal crafted under the Qin. It measured four inches square, bearing the inscription: 'Having received the Mandate from Heaven, may he have longevity and everlasting prosperity.' They acquired fifty-five prefectures, one hundred and sixty-one commanderies, three hundred and eighty-five counties, 3,002,528 households, and 30,002,886 individuals. In the second month, the army returned). In the seventh year [578], the reign era was changed to Xuanzheng. That year, before the autumn sacrifice could take place, the emperor collapsed at Yunyang (the *chang* is the autumn sacrifice. In the sixth month the emperor collapsed. Crown Prince Yun ascended the throne as Emperor Xuan, changing the reign era to Xuanzheng, and subsequently changed it to Dacheng and Daxiang. Dissolute in wine and women, he levied a tax of one coin on each merchant entering the market. Soon after, he enthroned his crown prince as emperor and styled himself Heavenly Origin Emperor). When greedy men value profit, how could they care for their sovereign or parents?