北山錄 5.2.7

5.2.7

Just as Shangchen and Kuikui had no aversion to evil (Shangchen was the crown prince of King Cheng of Chu; he murdered his father and still gave him an evil posthumous title. His father's eyes would not close. Only when he changed the posthumous title to Cheng did the eyes close and accept the jade in his mouth. Kuikui was the crown prince of Duke Ling of Wei; he wished to kill his mother, Nanzi. Not succeeding, he fled. When the Duke died, they enthroned Kuikui's son, Zhe. Father and son attacked each other, contending for the state and repeatedly killing one another. How could he have had any aversion to an evil name?), the Tuoba killed the eldest son through slanderous words (Crown Prince Huang was slandered by Zong Ai as being licentious within the inner palace. The emperor was enraged. Huang feared execution and plotted rebellion. The emperor then feigned death and summoned the prince to arrive. He trapped him with an iron cage and flogged him three hundred times, then killed him and threw him among thorns. The regular attendant Zong Ai soon murdered the emperor), and the Yuwen harmed the chief minister out of suspicion and jealousy (Duke of Jin, Yuwen Hu, served as Grand Chancellor in charge of state affairs. The emperor suspected and resented him. In the third month of the first year of Jiande, the emperor personally struck and killed him with an ivory tablet inside the palace, after which the emperor personally took charge of all state affairs). When they were as monstrous as killer whales toward their own flesh and blood, how could they have shown benevolence and forbearance toward the Way and virtue? (Whales are large fish that are fond of fighting.) Therefore, today even three-foot-tall children cannot help but slap their palms and sigh deeply over their deeds (slapping the palms means striking the hands together while discussing). Pitiful are those two martial emperors, who could not even attain the status of proper ancestral spirits; how could they have had the brazen audacity to face their ancestors? The guest said: "Empress Dowager Ling of Wei built a stupa, exhausting the fortunes of millions. Towering like the work of the gods, human beings certainly preserved it, yet heaven seemed to cast it aside. Thus, one morning it met with disaster: smoke and flames blazed across the nine boundaries, and scorching heat permeated the multiple horizons. Can we discern what heaven's intention was, which remains unexplained?" The host replied: "Now, all things possess virtue through adhering to proper measure, and incur calamity through losing proper measure. Exhibiting virtue, one endures; incurring calamity, one perishes. Lady Hu incurred calamity because she exceeded the hexagram of Great Strength. How could it be the work of spirits and ghosts? It was simply human effort. It stood a thousand feet tall and had nine stories. The golden vase atop the spire held twenty-five hu, and the dew-catching plates of gold had eleven tiers. At the four corners, four iron chains supported the spire, from which hung golden bells the size of a one-hu vessel. Each of the four sides had three gates interspersed with six windows. Red doors had carved rings; there were embroidered pillars and golden knockers. On clear nights in the autumn wind, it sparkled and illumined the sky, and its clanging resonance could be heard for more than ten li. Expansive and spacious, rising and descending steeply, it was foremost in Jambudvīpa (The Book of Changes says: 'In ancient times, people lived in caves and out in the open. Later sages replaced these with halls and rooms, with upper beams and lower eaves to shelter against wind and rain; they probably drew this from the hexagram of Great Strength.' Never has anyone who contravened modesty and transgressed ritual been able to maintain their strength!). Though it reached the utmost peak of splendor, to the south was a formidable neighbor, dividing the sun and moon equally (at that time, the Empress Dowager resided in Luoyang, and the Emperor Wu was in Jinling), and inside the state were treacherous ministers seeking out the ruler's afflictions (referring to the likes of Erzhu Rong). When gold and jade were exhausted, the people's labor was also bitter. Afterward, Erzhu took advantage of the rift, throwing the Chan and Luo rivers into turmoil, and beneath the river bridge, the robed and capped nobility were buried in the bellies of fish and turtles (The Empress Dowager did not cultivate virtuous governance. Erzhu Rong and others presented a memorial stating: 'Now all within the seas say that the late emperor was harmed by venomous poison, and that they have enthroned a child who cannot yet speak to oversee the realm.' Rong then led his troops across the river and reached Luoyang. He ordered cavalry to arrest the Empress Dowager and the young sovereign, and drowned them all in the river). In ancient times, Ministers Zhang Li and Zhang Liang of the Later Zhao each built a large pagoda. Fotudeng said to them: 'Serving the Buddha consists in purity and freedom from desire, taking compassion and pity as one's heart. You patrons profess to uphold the Great Dharma, yet your greed and stinginess have not ceased, your hunting is unrestrained, and your hoarding knows no bounds. You are about to receive retribution in this present life; what blessed recompense could you hope for?' Later, Li and the other were both executed. It is only because the human heart has nowhere to place its trust that people rely on pagodas and statues to convey the principle; once there, one should see the sage's mind of compassion and forbearance. If outwardly one flaunts flattery and feigned goodness while inwardly concealing cruelty and tyranny, the weight of karmic harm will surely converge, and not even the power of sages can take one's side. Furthermore, the Great Sage, whether his flesh was being sliced or fragrant salve applied to his skin, held equal sentiment without duality (The Tathāgata has three equalities: to one who applies sandalwood paste on the left, to one who slices with a sharp knife on the right, and to one in the middle who neither applies paste nor slices; toward these three persons the Tathāgata's mind is completely equal). How could he condone wickedness merely on account of a pagoda? Therefore, those who do good must reach goodness through good means; one cannot reach goodness through what is not good. The Book of Documents says: 'The hen does not announce the morning; the morning announcement of a hen leads only to the ruin of the household.' How reckless was Empress Hu in ruining the house of the Yuan clan! (This is from the 'Mu shi' chapter: a woman governing the state is likened to a hen crowing in place of a rooster, which brings desolation to a household. It alludes to Empress Hu directing the government.) Though she wished to establish extraordinary merit, she actually brought about the unpropitious downfall of her own family (Empress Dowager Ling of the Later Wei, Lady Hu, was the empress of Emperor Xuanwu and the mother of Emperor Xiaoming. Named Hu Chonghua, she was honored as empress. When Xiaoming was young, the Empress Dowager attended to the court and held royal authority, acting licentiously in the court. She ordered her attendants to shoot arrows, punishing those unable to hit the target, and rejoiced greatly when she herself shot an arrow through a needle's eye. Her minister engaged in open licentiousness; among them was Yang Baihua, who possessed talent and beauty. The empress pressured him, and fearing disaster would reach him, Baihua fled to the Liang. The Empress Dowager longed for him ceaselessly and ordered literati to compose lyrics, having palace maids sing them day and night while stamping their feet in great melancholy. Attendant Gentleman of the Yellow Gate Yuan Shun remonstrated with her. When Emperor Ming died, the Empress Dowager took charge of the court again). The Book of Documents says: 'The millet does not emit a sweet fragrance; illustrious virtue alone is fragrant.' The Book of Changes says: 'The eastern neighbor slaying an ox is not equal to the western neighbor's summer sacrifice.' This means that ghosts and spirits accept what is accompanied by sincerity; how much more so the sage? Some may claim that using illicit wealth to do good is still better than aiding evil, and that it should not be openly condemned. Such people are merely sycophants who accommodate wrongdoing, men who slight the root and prize the branches. When a śramaṇa hoards and trades to make Buddha images, masters of Vinaya do not pay homage (because they do not value illicit means); when Huqiu stole food, a righteous man rejected it and vomited (Yuan Jingmu was once starving on the road. Huqiu saw him and offered him food. Yuan then asked, 'Who are you, sir?' He replied, 'I am Huqiu. Pitying your hunger, I stole my father's food to offer you.' Yuan said, 'I am a righteous man; I will not eat your unrighteous food.' Thereupon, resting his hands on the ground, he vomited it out and died. This comes from Liezi). The Book of Rites says: 'When parents have passed away, one must seek grain from a benevolent person to sacrifice to them.' This is called ritual. From this, we know that wealth derived from unrighteousness does not bring about blessing. If it were truly as they argue, that would merely be petty men differentiating superior and inferior degrees within illicit conduct itself."