北山錄 8.4.3

8.4.3

Since [the government] registers their lands and estates and arrays them among the tributary duties (understanding and knowing; "ji" means "to borrow"; in antiquity, a tithe was taxed: the people plowed ten mu of fields, and the ruler borrowed their labor to cultivate one mu as tribute for the court; when the tribute was filled by the hundred, they offered it), it either treats them as beyond the mundane world or regards them as [transcendent beings] flying through the air (the government offices regard monks either as transcendent gentlemen beyond the mundane or as deities and lofty scholars looking upon one another; they should select the worthy and employ the capable), leaving them outside of governance and transformation, with none who select the worthy and encourage the capable, causing them to uphold and restore [the temples] (this is because the government offices view them as people outside worldly affairs and do not regulate them). This has caused the gate of merit to crumble and fall, and humans and spirits to sigh deeply. Is this not to possess the land yet allow its majesty and beneficence to leak away? When the litigation of the common clergy is judged by government offices, that is the fault of the monastic leadership (when the monks commit crimes and have the government offices correct them, this is the monks' fault); when the leadership seeks good order but the haughty and powerful obstruct it, that is the fault of the secular officials (when monastic lands are disturbed and encroached upon by the state without cause, this is the error of the officials). When these two faults exist yet are not redressed, how can disorder ever cease? Or there are those who falsely assume the official monastic register of the Śākya clan, coveting the legal patronage of monastic lands; when labor and service fall upon them, they skip about and shake their heads, considering only how to live at ease and pamper their bodies (some manage cloisters, or oversee estates, cheating the monastic assembly, encroaching upon the permanent property [of the saṃgha], colluding with prefectures and counties, relying on powerful factions, strictly building up ramparts so that litigants cannot prevail against them, and then donning fine saddlery and carriages, adorning their servants, skipping about and shaking their heads, taking deep pride in themselves). Fulfilling their ambitions and indulging their desires, they care only for themselves. If the monastery suffers loss or gain, they do not gallop or hasten [to help]; if the monastery has property to plant or tend, they do not attend to it personally; if the monastery has bells and chimes, they do not strike or beat them; if the monastery has courtyards and doors, they do not sweep or sprinkle them. Facing wealth or crisis, they merely act opportunistically (merely getting by heedlessly). These are indeed the hanging warts of the Dharma clan, the webbed fingers of humankind (when an extra finger grows among the five fingers, it is called a webbed finger, which is useless; here it is used as a metaphor). Those who leave home must take the practice of their Dharma as their outward form; they must not take plotting for profit as their outward form. Therefore they can adapt to high or low according to the times, bringing benefit to things wherever they are, like the southern breeze that harmonizes the myriad creatures, or like the Azure Essence that blesses a whole region (the horn constellation is called the Longevity Star, and also the Old Man Star; it is the essence of the Azure Dragon; when it appears, it brings good fortune). Why should they merely be like those whose breath stops the drifting wind, whose strength checks a bolting horse, who are bold in securing themselves, and who are stingy in gathering goodness? Thus average persons emulate their inferiors and gradually fall into vulgarity (habits become second nature). This has caused those who rectify, propagate, guide, and govern to be scarce in the end. At the close of the Xia and Yin dynasties, how could it be that everyone was executed, had not all transformed into evil? In the era of Tang and Yu, how could it be that everyone was enfeoffed, had not all transformed into goodness? (The people under Jie and Zhou were so corrupt that every house could be executed; the people under Tang and Yu were so good that every house could be enfeoffed). Now the Great Dharma is about to fall, and our party follows in neglect (neglectful and petty, as well as careless), everyone degenerating into unworthiness. If someone is about to go to the source of the teaching, chisel away its flaws, dredge the currents and guide the waves, bridge the waters with joined boats (joining boats and mooring them to make a bridge), restore the guiding principles of Zhi and Jia (Zhi Dun and others; Jia is Huiyuan), or pursue the foundational works of Yun and Yue (the disciples Fayun and Huiyue)—this is certainly not what is prized today. Or there are those whose practice is meager yet who are slightly revered, whose abilities and reputation are faintly apparent (such as those of today who master a single sūtra or treatise, or scholars who compose poetry and hoard knowledge). When it comes to amassing profits, they are never absent; yet regarding the affairs of the community, they say it hinders the Way, discarding their intention to maintain it and hastily inventing excuses with embellishments (they invariably offer excuses to seek careless evasion). This is indeed the broken blade of the common butcher, having not attained the skilled butcher's effortless insertion of the blade (Zhuangzi's common butcher broke his blade when first learning to carve an ox; the skilled butcher saw no whole ox before him, effortlessly inserting the blade without dulling it). The noble person is not a vessel; these are mere vessels (neither square nor round). The highest excellence is like water; these are not like water. Those who study the Way under heaven put practice first and reserve adherence for later: only when practice is obstructed do they hold fast, and when holding fast is penetrated, they practice. To hold fast when one ought to practice is called affectation. I observe that when the officials govern, they recognize the worthy and confer office on the talented, lessen slander and redress grievances (gaining the right people lessens slander; lacking impediments redresses grievances), cast out harshness and strive for kindness: these six are the utmost in aiding the living populace. Why should the exemplars and Dharma leaders who command respect in their regions not imitate their disciples in behaving like this? As for uniting with the worthy and capable, distributing labor and delegating responsibilities, not enriching oneself, not abusing the assembly, gathering the hundred faults upon oneself, attributing all goodness to others, showing kindness first to those of merit and only later bestowing it on commoners, implementing orders first among those close and only later reaching those who are distant, leveling love and hate in one's heart, equating glory and disgrace in affairs, drifting freely like an untethered boat, wandering carefree as if roaming and sporting—how could this not be the Way? The Grand Master of Yin, the Scribe of the Pillars of Zhou, and the Official of the Lacquer Garden (Pengzu, Laozi, and Zhuangzi) were all men of emolument and rank. In turbidity, they were like pearls dropped into water; walking through favor, they were like the wind passing over the grass. When did they ever let external affairs muddy their virtue and the Way? (Softening their light and blending with the dust). Formerly, when Kong Mie was a magistrate, he lamented three losses (Kong Mie was the son of Confucius's elder brother; together with Zijian, he served Confucius. Confucius visited Mie and asked him, "In your official service, what have you gained and what have you lost?" He said, "I have gained nothing; what I have lost is threefold: royal affairs are like deafness, so how could learning be practiced? Thus learning is obscured. Emoluments are meager, so the porridge does not extend to relatives; thus flesh and blood become more distant. Public duties are many and pressing, so I cannot attend funerals or inquire after the sick; thus the way of friends is neglected. These are the three losses"); whereas when Mi Zijian was a magistrate, he rejoiced in three gains (Mi Buqi. Confucius went to inquire of him, and he said, "What I have gained is threefold: what was previously spoken I now can practice, so my learning has become clearer. What my emolument provides extends to relatives, so flesh and blood are closer. Although I have public duties, I also attend funerals and inquire after the sick, so friends trust and recommend me." Confucius sighed and said, "A gentleman indeed is such a man! If Lu had no gentlemen, where could he have acquired this?"). Zhongni praised Mi as a gentleman, not something Mie possessed. How lamentable is this encumbered existence! In a hundred years of human life, among the common sort, they are registered in government offices and monasteries.