辯偽錄 2
English (machine translation) 2
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2.1
Compiled under imperial order by the Śramaṇa Xiangmai of the Yunfeng Chan Monastery on Mount Daözhe in the Yuan dynasty
2.2
Number 7: The Falsehood of Plagiarizing Buddhist Sūtras and Teachings
2.3
The thirtieth transformation states: The barbarian king saw that the Supreme Venerable's followers were very numerous and suspected that they were ghosts and specters. He thereupon piled up firewood to burn them. The fire flared up, shooting into the sky, and Laozi emitted bodily radiance, expounding the Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra (Golden Light Sūtra) to the king from within the fire. The barbarian king grew even angrier, put him into a great cauldron, and boiled him for three days. From within the boiling cauldron, lotus flowers welled up, and sitting upon a lotus flower, Laozi preached the Nirvāṇa Sūtra. It also says: Laozi made Yin Xi a Buddha to serve as a teacher to the barbarian king, to repent the three karmas, the six sense faculties, the five heinous sins, and the ten unwholesome deeds; he then expounded the five precepts, the ten virtues, and the Sūtra of Forty-Two Chapters.
2.4
The refutation states: When qilin fight, the sun and moon suffer eclipse; when whales die, comets appear; when the bronze mountain collapses, the bell of Luoyang resonates; when the reed ash is depleted, the moon's halo is fractured. This is because the way of sympathetic resonance intersects, and thus the capacity and the teaching correspond to each other. When human hearts thirst and yearn, the fragrant rain of the Dharma moistens their dust of passions and enlightens their ignorance. Therefore Confucius said: 'If one is not eager to learn, I do not enlighten him; if one is not struggling to speak, I do not open the way for him.' This clarifies that teaching awaits questioning before being spoken. How much more so should the teachings devised by a sage be adaptable and multiform—how could he cause another to become enraged and subject himself to being burned and submerged? Having no sense of shame whatsoever, he forces speech upon another; how could he know the principle of 'going empty and returning full'? Gouging and carving out phrases, they cleverly matched the names of the scriptures: since he supposedly sat on flames to preach the Golden Light Sūtra, and sat upon a lotus to preach the Lotus Sūtra, then the two chapters of the Daodejing must have been spoken while sitting on a road, and the three divisions of the Dongxuan must originally have been delivered in a water cavern! If this is not so, how could that be so? Moreover, the Suvarṇaprabhāsa thoroughly reveals both nature and characteristics; the Saddharmapuṇḍarīka refutes the provisional to return to the real; the Nirvāṇa Sūtra clarifies the true and eternal Buddha-nature; and the Sūtra of Forty-Two Chapters is an anthology gathered from various sūtras. Without probing their roots, they secretly eavesdrop and talk wildly; shame arises only from the mouth—how can words be uttered so lightly? This can hardly deceive those of superior wisdom; it only dupes the profoundly foolish. Furthermore, since the above sūtras were ostensibly set forth by Laozi, the Daoist priests ought to rely on them to study Buddhism; why then do they merge their breaths to cultivate the Dao and exclusively chant the Lingbao? May we ask: what meaning do the texts of these three sūtras explain? The Daoist canon neither preserves them nor do the Daoist priests understand them. Stealing the ultimate teachings of the Great Sage and making them the supreme utterance of Laozi matches exactly the Nirvāṇa Sūtra's parable of stealing milk; it is also like a blind man stumbling into a gold mine: though he obtains its treasure, he does not know how to use it. It also states that they 'repented the three karmas' down to the monthly and yearly fasting practices. If that were so, the Daoist priests should comprehend them. Let us ask: what language is 'chanhui' (repentance)? In this present repentance, is it repentance through phenomenon, or repentance through principle? Is sin eradicated through the approach of merit, or is sin eradicated through the approach of turning away from the mind of saṃsāra? How many kinds of mind capable of repenting should there be? Where are the sins being repented to be placed? When even the two characters for repentance (chanhui) are scarcely understood by them, they certainly do not comprehend the principles of the three karmas, the six sense faculties, the five heinous sins, the ten unwholesome deeds, the precepts and virtues, or the names of the monthly and yearly fasts. If these had been spoken by Laozi, Daoist priests should fully know them. Since they do not understand a single word, it is obvious that they stole from the Buddha and spoke wildly. This is just like a thief who, when caught with another's property and recognized by the owner, still refuses to confess and generates further disputes to resist; only when the woodblocks of their forged scriptures are burnt do they become ashamed and panicked. A gentleman repents earlier and does not arrive at such an outcome.
2.5
Number 8: The Falsehood of Laozi Coagulating Pneuma to Form Characters
2.6
The eighth transformation states: The Shengji jing says: 'Formerly, in the year of Longhan, the Supreme Venerable Laozi followed the Heavenly Worthy of Primordial Beginning to the Central Country of the Great Hall of Blessings, where he expounded the ten divisions of the wondrous Lingbao scriptures to produce methods for delivering beings. He also delivered people through methods in the Great Fuli Country at the eastern extreme, writing them in the forest of azurite with a purple brush. He also delivered people through methods in the Shanli Realm at the southern extreme, firing and refining the true texts to illuminate the shapes of the characters. Again, at the Weiluo World at the western extreme, and in the Yudan Country at the northern extreme, he in each case produced methods to deliver beings. Laozi took the essence of the true pneumas of the five directions and coagulated them into precious characters, one zhang square and eight-angled, casting rays in the form of cloud seals and the shapes of flying birds, to establish written compositions.' It also states: 'The ancient canons emerged from me, and the classics and books were born from me.'
2.7
The refutation states: The emergence of script indeed dates back to high antiquity. When Fuxi ruled all under heaven, he first drew the eight trigrams and created tally-writing to replace the governance of knotted cords; from this, written records came forth. Thus there were the stone carvings of the Three Sovereigns on Qingqiu and Zifu, and the texts of the Six Jia and Lingfei on green slips and yellow cords. Later, Cangjie augmented and regulated them. The large seal script arose with Shi Zhou; the small seal script flourished with Li Si; flying white was created by Cai Yong; clerical script was modified by Cheng Miao. The Qin script had eight styles; the Han script had six forms. Slender gold, piled gold, hanging clouds, and hanging dew; the Cai leaf, dragon claws, the Yan style, and the Po script—all followed antiquity by augmenting and perfecting, and were reformed in recent ages. How could they have congealed through genuine qi? What connection do they have to Laozi's transmission? They conceal and steal the talents of others while hawking their own virtue; rolling their eyes insolently, they feel no shame before the untainted. It was said above that the Longhan [era] arose from the primal qi—how then could Laozi have been born? Having said that he wrote on the grove with a purple brush, that was after Meng Tian! Pulling in the present to drag in the past, they deceive our worthy men. Kong Anguo said: 'The books of Fuxi, Shennong, and the Yellow Emperor are called the Three Fen, which speak of the Great Way. The books of Shaohao, Zhuanxu, Gaoxin, Tang, and Yu are called the Five Dian, which speak of the Constant Way.' The Changes was only finalized by three sages; the Odes are the words of a host of heroes; the Spring and Autumn Annals was revised by Confucius; the Rites was established by the Duke of Zhou; the Erya was compiled by the Duke of Zhou; the Guoyu was expounded by Zuo Qiuming; Liu Xi's Shiming; Xu Shen's Shuowen; the Picang and Guangya; the Guiyuan and Zhucong; Gu Yewang's Yupian; Lu Fayan's Qieyun—each has its own lineage and origin, and has nothing to do with Lao Dan. Yet they claim: 'The Fen and Dian issued from me; the classics and records were born from me.' Such wild, absurd talk ridicules and insults the clear-sighted! It is just like Sima Xiangru in his 'Shanglin Fu' stating that loquats ripen in summer, or Yang Xiong's 'Ganquan Fu' having jade trees flourish in winter: listening to their words, they are grand and pleasing to the ear, but examining their facts, they are distant, empty fabrications. Furthermore, their names of countries are falsely invented, recklessly culled from other books. 'Dafutang' was named by altering Datang; 'Dongfuli' was established by imitating Fusang; 'Nanzhanli' was labelled by adapting Chongli; 'Xiweiduo' was stolen from Kapilavastu; and the northern region completely adopted the name of Uttarakuru. They are not included in the Ten Continents; they are not encompassed by the Shenyi jing; the Dilizhi contains no record of them; and the Kuodi zhi has no such shapes or names. Empty talk expounding five cartloads without a single fact—is this not what is meant by 'stealing a bell while plugging one's ears'?
2.8
Refutation of the Falsehood of Number Nine: Serving as Archivist in the Time of King Wen of Zhou
2.9
The nineteenth transformation states: In the time of King Wen of Zhou, Lord Lao was the son of the Xie settlement. At that time, Emperor Zhou was reckless and tyrannical, and all under heaven suffered miserably. He then rode a chariot of whirlwind wheels, with the Wind God as his vanguard and Pengzu as his companion in the carriage, and descended south of Mount Qi. The Western Earl heard of him and appointed him Archivist. When King Wu conquered Shang, he was promoted to Archivist. He composed the Chijing jing to teach King Wen the way of benevolence and righteousness, and composed the Xuanji jing to bestow upon the Duke of Zhou. Through the reigns of King Cheng and King Kang, he served successively as Archivist. In the time of King Zhao, there was an omen of black qi (this refutes the event of the twelve rainbows entering and piercing the Taiwei constellation on the night of the Buddha's birth). Lord Lao bestowed the hidden script of the eight heavens upon King Zhao, but the king did not employ it; later, he met with the disaster of the glued boat.
2.10
The refutation states: We have heard of the annals of the Nine Heads and Five Dragons; the writings on the double pupils and four breasts; the records of Metal Qin and Fire Han; and the canons of Yellow Wei and White Jin. But we have never heard that King Wen took Laozi as his master, or that the Xuanji [jing] instructed the Duke of Zhou. It is only recorded that King Wen took Taigong as his master, and King Wu took Ji Dan as his master. The host of books fully records this, and the former Confucians spoke extensively of it. Why go against the Hundred Schools and fabricate new categories, singing blindly with a confused mind to delude living beings? One who aspires to sagehood should attend to reality; unsubstantiated tales bring worldly mockery upon oneself. According to the Shiji and separate biographies, Laozi was born in the reign of King Ding and had contact with Master Kong; how could he recklessly be placed in the time of the Western Earl? Since he was a sage, upon seeing the licentiousness of Zhou, he should have exerted every effort to admonish and correct his shortcomings; yet instead he mounted a high flying chariot and fled far away into hiding. Is this truly how a loyal minister acts? Formerly, when passing through the pass, he hired Xu Jia as his driver and rode in a thin-covered cart; now he rides a whirlwind chariot with the Wind God as his vanguard and Pengzu as his companion—how could such self-aggrandizement be so uncanonical? Furthermore, Pengzu had already died by this time, and the Wind God would not agree to be his vanguard. From Duke Liu onward, King Wen accumulated benevolence and filial piety through generations; his graceful transformation spread along the Changjiang and Han Rivers, and his benevolence reached even the wayside rushes—why would he need the teachings of the Chijing? The Duke of Zhou established rites and composed music to oversee the realm on the ruler's behalf; he set up the Golden Casket to manifest his oath and crafted the Zhou Rites to spread regulations—what use would he have for the teachings of the Xuanji? King Zhao was called an enlightened ruler of his age, and the histories contain no anomaly of black qi; recklessly altering the omen of the white rainbow, they call it 'black qi', and invoking hidden script, this becomes another reckless fabrication. Previously, they said Lord Lao is the Sect Master of the Nine Heavens, the Sovereign of the Golden Gate, wearing the crown of the seven luminaries, clad in a nine-coloured cape, riding a jade carriage of the eight luminaries drawn by five-coloured divine dragons; seated within a jade canopy in the Golden Gate, attended by immortal youths on the left and accompanied by jade maidens on the right, surrounded by ten thousand sages and assisted by a thousand spirits. Since Laozi possessed such an exalted status, why would he refuse to reside there, but instead stoop to the post of Archivist, humbling himself to become a subject? Standing beside his lord beneath the pillars, rushing in at dawn and bowing at dusk with ivory tablet and sash, abandoning his high perch on the tall tree to cast himself into the humble valley—how preposterous is this inversion of high and low! The title 'son of the Xie settlement' is unrecorded in the Book of Zhou; 'Sovereign of the Golden Gate' is an empty fabrication of the Daoists: having a name without reality, who would believe and transmit it? Sowing wind to seek a shadow, planting lightning to look for roots—is this not what is meant? If it is held that because King Zhao lacked faith he met with the disaster of the glued boat, the First Emperor of Qin sought immortals and went in person to the sea, treading the waves and risking peril in hopes of meeting gods and immortals; vainly yearning for the name of Anqi Sheng, he never saw the face of Xianmen Gao, but died along the road at Sha丘 and stank so foully as to sicken people. Emperor Wu of Han loved immortals: he dressed in feather garments and drank dew from the heavenly canopy, indulging Luan Da's bizarre theories and trusting Li Shaojun's fraudulent arts, yet his body entered Maoling without the least benefit. Emperor Taiwu of Northern Wei trusted the words of Kou Qianzhi and built the Pure-Wheel Heavenly Palace, exhausting his people's labor, only to contract a plague in the end. Emperor Wu of Northern Zhou ingested elixir pills and wore yellow robes, but fever broke out in Jinyang, and he lost his voice and died. Emperor Wuzong of Tang took Zhao Guizhen as his master and ingested golden elixir pills; before the Huichang era ended, he suffered an early death. Recently, the Retired Emperor of Song trusted Lin Lingsu, wandering to the lunar palace, chanting the stanzas of the Great Ultimate, and wearing a demon-quelling sword; yet his state fell, his clan was ruined, and he died in eastern Korea. All these rulers bent their whole hearts and single-minded wills toward hoping for a thousand years of life, yet they met with lingering afflictions and never had any confirmation. To mock King Zhao with the disaster of the glued boat—is that not an erroneous hunt for others' faults? Rejoicing in the misfortunes of others is something a gentleman does not do.
2.11
Refutation of the Falsehood of Number Ten: Inconsistencies in the Successive Descents and Births of Lord Lao
2.12
The first transformation states: Laozi was born prior to the Five Cycles. The second transformation states: Laozi was born amidst the Three Qi. The sixth transformation states: Lord Lao's surname was Li, his taboo name was Hongyuan Yaoling, and his style was Guangming; in the seventh year of Shanghe, the year being gengchen, on the third day of the ninth month, which was jiazi, at the mao hour, he was first born in the Jade Country of the Northern Dark, in the Li Valley between the Celestial Ridge and the Numinous Mirror Mountain. On the night the Holy Mother of Dark Numinosity gave birth, three suns emerged in the east and nine dragons spewed water; the Moon Consort scattered blossoms, and the Sun Youth radiated brilliance. At the age of five he embodied the Way and solidified genuine truth; at twenty he possessed a golden form and jade countenance. Abandoning his home and leaving his kin, he distanced his traces from the worldly dust. Later, moved by Yuanshi's descent to teach, he was bestowed the Yuyi Taizhang Taidong Zhenjing; the Purple Tenuity Celestial Thearch, Lord of Jade Clarity, descended in a carnelian carriage to receive him, granting him the cinnabar seal and talismanic texts, making him Sovereign of the Shangqing Golden Gate, Latter Saint Thearch, commanding the divine immortals of the ten heavens, rivers, and seas. The eleventh transformation states: Lord Lao, on the first day of the seventh month in the first year of Qinghan, lodged his dark spirit and jade essence to descend into the Jade Maiden of the Great Primal for one thousand three hundred years; he was styled the Unsurpassed Laozi, also styled the Dharma King of the Great Chiliocosm. The twelfth transformation states: Lord Lao, in the first year of Qinghan, lodged in the Flying Dark Jade Maiden of the Nine Heavens for eighty-one years; he was styled Laozi of High Ascendancy. The thirteenth transformation states: Lord Lao, on the ninth day of the ninth month, a jiawu day, in the first year of Qinghan, descended into the Jade Maiden of the Primal Element for seventy-three years; he was styled Laozi of Nine Numinosities. The tenth transformation states: Laozi, in the gengchen year of Yang Jia, the eighteenth king of Yin, in the intercalary fifth month, entered the mouth of the Jade Maiden of Dark Subtlety for eighty-one years; on the fifteenth day of the second month in the gengchen year, the ninth year of Wu Ding, the Holy Mother's left armpit broke open as she held a plum tree, and he was born. Immediately at birth he walked nine paces; with each step lotus blossoms grew, and nine dragons spewed water; he was endowed with the seventy-two marks and eighty-one minor signs. Pointing with his left hand to heaven and his right hand to earth, he said: 'Above heaven and below heaven, only the Way is exclusively honored; I shall expound and propagate the unsurpassed Daoist teachings to ferry across all beings universally.' It also states: Li Lingfei attained the way of cultivating longevity; his true wife, Lady Yin of Tianshui, was napping by day in Lixiang and saw the Supreme One descend from heaven, transforming into a dark pearl; she swallowed it and became pregnant, and after eighty-one years he was born with white hair, called Laozi; born beneath a plum tree, he pointed to the plum as his surname.
2.13
The refutation states: Now, a shooting star piercing the Pleiades was truly the auspicious omen marking Wenming [Yu the Great]; lightning encircling the Pivot Star revealed the rejoicing for Xuanyuan [the Yellow Emperor]; a rainbow streaming down to the floral islet was when Shaohao responded to his destined time; a star capping the lunar disc was the auspicious sign by which Zhuanxu answered [heaven's mandate]; a red dragon shimmering and dim foretold Emperor Yao; and dense gathering clouds truly bore witness to the Han progenitor [Gaozu]. These were the divine wonders of sages, fully detailed in genealogical records. One has never heard of Laozi at birth having three suns rise together, walking nine paces in all directions, the lunar consort scattering flowers, or the solar youth displaying brilliance. Furthermore, stars falling like rain and eclipses of the sun were recorded in the Chunqiu as extraordinary events; if Li Er had possessed verifying portents, why would Confucius not have recorded them? Moreover, when Luyang swung his spear, the sun retreated (in the Huainanzi); Duke Jing's good words turned back Mars (in Liu Xiang's Xinxu); when the Ershi General drew his sword, a spring gushed forth (in the Qian Hanshu); and when Geng Gong bowed to a well, water sprang out (in the Hou Hanshu). If there are miraculous occurrences, books make them into splendid tales. Since there are no texts for Lao[zi], this is certainly an empty claim—relying on another's Great Sage and appropriating him to make oneself marvelous. Now, although sages manifest signs through many paths, the matter of taking birth through apparitional transformation has never had a dual nature. The Bhagavān has hundreds of millions of transformation bodies, appearing simultaneously throughout the great thousandfold world, and when the conditions for conversion are finished, he enters nirvāṇa. But Laozi is born in age after age—how could it be so utterly absurd? Originally he was Li Er, yet they falsely changed his taboo name Li Boyang, calling him Guangming ('Bright Light'), concealing his original name and adding flattering titles. Not a single word of this is recorded in the authentic text of the Shiji, yet Daoist fabrications fill it out with a hundred kinds of embellishments. The first two transformations are described as being before the Great Change (Taiyi), while the later ten sequences are recorded as being after Fuxi. Searching out vanity and gathering falsehoods, they deceive and delude later generations. Earlier they said that at five years of age he congealed truth and at twenty entered the Way; later they say he was born at eighty-one with white hair. Self-contradictory in their own words, why wait for others to attack them? They reject the reality of Lixiang in Bozhou and falsely transmit the fictitious Northern Black Jade Country. With drooping ears and disheveled hair, they absurdly claim seventy-two marks; born of an illicit coupling, they flatteringly claim he walked nine paces. Plundering the portents of the Śākya[muni] to serve as the wonders of Lao[zi], they take this noxious weed to confuse those orchids and irises. The Northern Black Jade Country is not recorded in the Shanhai jing; the Tiangang and Li Valleys are nowhere detailed in geography. In Wang Jian's Hundred Families (Grand Commandant Wang Jian wrote the Baijia pu), the name of the Jade Maiden is unheard of; and in He's Xingshi yuan, families of the 'Profound and Wondrous' are rarely mentioned. According to the preface to the Gaodao zhuan by the Daoist Jia Shanxiang: 'Boyang began his traces in the Ji-Zhou.' Since he says that he began his traces in the Ji-Zhou, Laozi was therefore not in the Shang. One clearly knows that in the time of Yangjia there was originally no Li Er; only in the declining Zhou did Lao Dan first appear. (Hu Zeng said: 'The spears and halberds of the Seven Heroes were tangled like hemp; within the four seas, no one could stay at home. Lao[zi] then thought of going to India, and so took Xu Jia across the Flowing Sands.' This clearly shows he was a man of the late Zhou.) Fleeing turmoil, he entered Qin, died, and was buried at Huaili; Qin Yi mourned him with three wails and departed—this is excellent proof! Why doubt it any further? His original biography in the Shiji states that no one knows where he ended; the reckless talk of 'converting the barbarians' says he crossed the Flowing Sands. Conflating the auspicious signs of the Tathāgata's descent and birth with the vapor of Laozi crossing the pass—clever though your joining may be, what reliance is there on false tales? According to the Dunhuang shilu: In the thirty-ninth year of King Huan of Zhou, he visited the court of leisurely repose and discussed antiquity and the present with his ministers. The king said, 'What kind of man was Lao Dan's father?' Suo Sui, the Grand Administrator of Tianshui, replied, 'Lao Dan's father was named Han Qian, courtesy name Yuanbei. He was crippled, base, and born without ears; blind in one eye, he was a solitary beggar. At the age of sixty-two he had no wife, and he had an illicit coupling with an old pig-herding bondmaid named Jingfu in the household of his neighbor, Mr. Yishou. She became pregnant, and after eighty-one years gave birth. Laozi was born with white hair, and thus was called Lord Lao.' These were his original, true traces, yet they conceal and do not transmit them, stealing the abilities of another to aggrandize Lao the sage. 'A worn-out broom in one's own house is cherished like a thousand pieces of gold'—can these words be believed?
2.14
Tenth Falsehood: Becoming the Buddha Three Times
2.15
The thirty-fourth transformation states: Lord Lao told the barbarian king, 'I shall have my disciple become a buddha, and you must take him as your master.' Thereupon he had Yin Xi transform his body into a buddha to be a master to the barbarians, commanded them to become śramaṇas, bestowed on them the Dharma of the Buddha (futu), and preached the Scripture of Forty-Two Sections. It also states: Lord Lao went to the country of Śrāvastī, transformed himself into a buddha seated on a seven-jeweled throne, with a body hundreds of thousands of myriad zhang tall, filling all of empty space. It also states: When Lord Lao wished to reorganize the Buddhist teachings once again, in the ninth year of King Zhuang of Zhou, he commanded King Fantuo (a disciple of Lord Lao) from the Brahma heaven to ride the lunar essence and enter the womb of Lady Māyā in India. In the tenth year, on the eighth day of the fourth month, he was born from her right flank. Later he entered the Snowy Mountains and cultivated the practice for six years; when his Way was accomplished, he resembled a buddha, and the multitudes called him Momouni (Śākyamuni). In the fourth year of King Kuang, shedding this transformation, the Supreme Lord commanded him to ascend to the Jiayi Heaven as the immortal Shanhui (Sumedha).
2.16
The refutation states: When roots are deep, the fruit is abundant; when the source is far, the stream runs long. When the tiger roars, the wind arises; when the dragon chants, the mists gather. The auspicious appearance of a sage always has a deep source: planting good causes in the past, one now receives the marvelous fruit. Our Buddha, the Bhagavān, accumulated practices and piled up merit over three incalculable eons; practicing the six perfections without relinquishing, he sought bodhi. He gave up body and life as many times as the sands of the Ganges, and abandoned realms and cities as numerous as fine dust motes, adorning realms and guiding sentient beings. Only then did he receive the prediction of Dīpaṅkara and succeed to the position of Kāśyapa. He descended to be born in Central India, taking birth through transformation in the royal palace. Walking seven paces in all directions, he pointed to heaven and earth as uniquely noble; his thirty-two marks rivaled the sun and moon in brilliance. The Four Heavenly Kings held his feet as he left the worldly dust; with six years of practice fulfilled, he achieved the Way. He manifested bodies in hundreds of millions of lands and expounded the Dharma for forty-nine years, spreading sound teachings among gods and humans and crushing non-Buddhists beneath the Twin Trees. When his conversion tasks were completed, he returned to non-action (asamskṛta). He manifested thus in response to beings and fitting to the time. Why would he need Laozi to first transform Yin Xi to change his body, concealing another's divine merit and arrogating it as his own triumph? The Buddha was born in the era of King Zhao of Zhou; Lao[zi] descended in the reign of King Ding. They were separated by seventeen emperors and a span of more than three hundred years! His conversion had already filled the world; his teachings had already filled the dragon palaces; every household revered his compassionate ways, and every state observed the Śākya model. Why would he rely on Li Er to reorganize it or Fantuo to appear again, dragging the prior into the posterior to flatter and deceive the foolish and ignorant? When [Laozi] crossed the pass in former days, he hired Xu Jia as his servant—how could there be heavenly beings as an escort? He rode a rough deer cart—where was there a seven-jeweled throne? With a broad forehead and drooping ears, how could he have a body of myriad zhang? Deceitful and absurd, he cheated the worthy and slandered the sages. That the kun transforms into a peng is due to its own change; that a snake molts into a pheasant does not borrow the merit of another. These are all the spontaneous workings of nature: when yin and yang stimulate and respond, they emerge when the time comes, not caused by another. Laozi was originally an ordinary mortal; being a minister and a subject, how could he give birth to another divine sage, let alone make Yin Xi become a buddha? Blinding their own minds and gouging out the eyes of others, rebelling against propriety and slighting the sages, the retribution of disaster is the pulling out of their tongues! The immortal Shanhui (Sumedha) was about to ascend to the eighth stage when he met Dīpaṅkara Buddha and received the prediction of non-arising. This was an epithet of the Bhagavān in a past life! Since he had become a buddha, his merit achieved and his fruit perfected, his conversion tasks completed, he entered nirvāṇa, shifting his spirit to the realm of eternal bliss, permanently entering the sphere of non-action. How could he, after completing the buddha's tasks, become the immortal Shanhui again? Placing the later before the earlier—how utterly confused! Falsely stealing what is not genuine corrupts the eyes and ears of men. Now, heavenly and human realms, although pleasant, are ultimately cyclic existence; one cannot escape the catastrophe of the three disasters, nor flee the suffering of the five decays. Sages transcend birth and death, forgetting both suffering and pleasure; soaring high above the ford of the three realms, walking alone beyond the six dusts, why would he return to heaven and enter back into clamorous dust? Staining our sage and slighting our Great Awakened One! This is identical to abandoning the dignity of the Son of Heaven to yearn for the base labor of grooms and cooks, or leaving the vast halls of a magnificent mansion to delight in the thatched eaves of a humble hut. You rejoice in the glory of the Jiayi Heaven; I am ashamed of the humiliation of dung and dirt. When Yang Su, the Duke of Chu and high minister of Sui, was passing through Louguan, he saw the portraits on the wall and asked the Daoists, 'What picture is this?' The Daoists replied, 'It is the picture of Laozi Converting the Barbarians and Becoming a Buddha.' Su said, 'I have heard that when Laozi converted the barbarians, the barbarians would not accept it; only when Laozi transformed his body into a buddha did the barbarians accept it. Thus the Buddha can convert the barbarians, but the Dao cannot. Why say Laozi converts the barbarians?' The Daoists could make no reply. Excellent were Yang Su's words! This is the discourse of an understanding person. If the barbarians did not already know that there was a buddha, how would they be willing to accept the conversion of a buddha? Examining it by this, India already had the Buddha beforehand. Yet to say that Yin Xi became a buddha and only then did Laozi transform—how deeply do you deceive our tradition! (Louguan is the former residence of Yin Xi, south of the pass, where Daoists still reside today.)
2.17
Twelfth Falsehood: Falsely Claiming Names and Usurping Sages
2.18
The forty-eighth transformation states: The Grand Chancellor of Song asked Master Kong, 'Is the Master a sage?' Confucius replied, 'As for being a sage, how could Qiu dare? Nevertheless, Qiu is one who is widely learned and possesses much knowledge.' The Grand Chancellor said, 'Were the Three Kings sages?' Confucius said, 'The Three Kings were good at employing wisdom and courage; as for being sages, Qiu does not know.' The Grand Chancellor said, 'Were the Five Thearchs sages?' Confucius said, 'The Five Thearchs were good at employing benevolence and righteousness; as for being sages, Qiu does not know.' The Grand Chancellor said, 'Were the Three Sovereigns sages?' Confucius said, 'The Three Sovereigns were good at employing the accord with the seasons; as for being sages, Qiu does not know.' The Grand Chancellor was greatly astonished and said, 'If so, then who is a sage?' Confucius altered his expression, paused for a moment, and said, 'Qiu has heard that among the people of the West there is a sage: he does not govern, yet there is no chaos; he does not speak, yet he is naturally trusted; he does not convert, yet things naturally proceed. Vast and boundless, the people cannot find a name for him! Qiu suspects he is a sage.' The histories and scriptural treatises say: Confucius was in Lu, and Laozi was in Zhou. Looking from Lu toward Luoyang in Zhou, it was in the west; hence it refers to Laozi as the Western Sage. When Confucius inquired about the rites, he previously had the sigh comparing him to a dragon, and therefore this refers to Laozi.
2.19
The Refutation states: Self-praise and self-promotion are the vulgar conduct of low women; lack of boastfulness and lack of vainglory are the deep capabilities of sages. Therefore, Shun praised Yu's achievements, admiring his merits while not competing with him; Master Kong praised Meng Zhifan for retreating to the rear yet choosing to dwell in modesty. On account of this, their good reputations spread for a thousand autumns, and their humble radiance illuminated the four seas. What was quoted above is fully visible in the 'Zhongni' chapter of the Liezi. Universal discussions of ancient and modern times hold that these were Master Kong's words extolling the Buddha as the great sage of the West. (Dharma Master Lin of the Tang in his memorial to Taizong, and Prime Minister Zhang in his Hufa lun, both cited this passage to show that the Buddha is the sage of the West.) One has never heard that because Laozi was in Zhou and Master Kong was in Lu, it referred to Laozi as the sage of the West. Stealing his name and usurping sagehood—how greatly you deceive us! One who usurps the position of sage lacks benevolence; one whose words run contrary to reason lacks wisdom. Furthermore, the ancestral source of the Dao originated with the Yellow Emperor, having nothing to do with Laozi. Laozi took Rongchengzi as his teacher to expound his five-thousand-character text. Even if sagehood is spoken of, it could not begin with Xuan Yuan. Since Master Kong did not extol the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors as sages, would it not be an excess, conversely, to point to Laozi as a sage? Indeed, our Bhagavān perfected the ten thousand practices in merit and verified the ten bodies in fruition. His streaming light pervasively fills worlds as numerous as dust motes, and his emanated bodies respond in realms as numerous as sands. He cannot be measured by human affairs, nor sought in a physical location. He is truly the Great Master of the triple world, the Compassionate Father of the four kinds of born beings. Striding peerless in the world, he is the Dharma King among kings; uniquely transcendent beyond the world, he is the Great Sage among sages. Therefore, with folded hands he sits aloft at the site of awakening, his majestic influence moving through ten thousand nations. Even if we consider the Duke of Zhou's instituting rites and composing music, Master Kong's expounding the Changes and editing the Odes, Bu Shang's literary compositions, Duanmu Ci's rhetoric, Sima Qian's eloquent erudition, Ge Hong's comprehensive understanding, Wang Bi's profound discourse, and Zuo Ci's magical transformations—all of these vied within the mundane realm, yet their words never touched upon the Great Domain. They may be high masters who improve society, but it is difficult for them to be world-transcending sages. Upon examining the sacred quarter of India, where all the worthy gather, all past Buddhas were born there together. Fan Ye's Book of Han states (in the commentary on the 'Western Regions' in the Book of the Later Han): 'Its soil is more fertile than the Central Lands; the seasons are harmonious; it is where spiritual sages descend and assemble, and where virtuous and eminent beings stand forth.' Thus, worthy and capable individuals of ancient times frequently traveled there. Laozi's Xisheng jing states: 'I have heard that in the Way of Tianzhu (now altered to: "Opening the Way to Tianzhu") there is an Ancient August Master who excels at entering non-action, having neither beginning nor end, ever-abiding and continuous. For this reason I travel west.' Moreover, the ancient text of the Huahu jing states: 'Why was I born so late? / Why was his Nirvāṇa so early? / Not beholding Śākyamuni, / My heart is vainly filled with sorrow.' This shows that Laozi himself pointed to the Buddha as the sage of the West. Furthermore, the Yellow Emperor dreamed of wandering to the State of Huaxu, a country lying to the west of Yanzhou. Wang Shao's commentary says: 'This refers to India in the west.' Moreover, during the time of King Mu of Zhou, he heard that a great sage had appeared in the West, and his heart was deeply afraid. He thereupon sent Zaofu to drive the eight steeds of Hualiu to ascend westward to the Kunlun Mountains to observe the setting sun, in order to subdue its aura. Furthermore, a transformed person came from the extreme West who could overturn heaven and alter earth, his sagely power boundlessly vast, his thousand alterations and ten thousand transformations inexhaustible. King Mu revered him like a spirit and built the Middle Heaven Terrace for him to reside in. The transformed person led King Mu on a spirit journey; in a mere moment, it was already as if several years had passed. Furthermore, in the fifty-second year of King Mu, the Tathāgata entered extinction. In the west, there were twelve white rainbows that ran north to south, lasting through the night without fading. The King asked the Grand Astrologer Hu Duo: 'What omen is this?' Hu Duo replied: 'In the West there is a great sage; his signs of decline have merely manifested.' King Mu rejoiced, saying: 'I was always afraid of him; now I have no worries.' This shows that India is a superior land where the sage dwelt, which is why a worthy king sought in the west and a transformed person came to the east. Furthermore, Zhang Qian, commissioned on an envoy mission, traced the source of the Yellow River to the far west and arrived at Bactria. He heard that south of the Snow Mountains there was the kingdom of Shendu, whose people worshipped the Buddha, did not kill or punish, and rode elephants into battle. Shendu is present-day India. This shows that the tradition of benevolence and compassion is clearly detailed in the Han histories. All the citations above point to India as the West, and since the Buddha was born there, they point to the Buddha as the sage of the West. How could they speak of Luoyang as the West, or Laozi as the sage? Furthermore, it was said: 'Master Kong previously sighed that Laozi was like a dragon, and therefore this sagely virtue refers to Laozi.' The intention is to take Master Kong's singular inquiry into ritual as making him Laozi's disciple. Master Kong said: 'I have no constant teacher; whoever is good is my teacher. When three people walk together, there must surely be a teacher for me.' Thus he studied the zither under Master Xiang, inquired about music from Chang Hong, and inquired about official posts from the Viscount of Tan. Entering the Grand Ancestral Temple, he inquired about every matter. When someone asked about farming, he said, 'I am not as good as an old farmer.' When someone asked about gardening, he said, 'I am not as good as an old gardener.' This shows that Master Kong maintained an open mind to receive goodness and was diligently devoted to the Dao. How could a single matter make someone his master? At that time, Laozi was the keeper of the archives and was in charge of the ritual codes of the Duke of Zhou; therefore Master Kong inquired of him. If inquiring about ritual made him Master Kong's teacher, would an old farmer or an old gardener also be Master Kong's teacher? It is certainly not so! To peddle one's fame, show off to the world, and seek to become a master to others—this a gentleman does not do.
2.20
Number Thirteen: The Fabrication of Joining Pneuma to Form the Dao
2.21
The twenty-third transformation states: On the twelfth day of the seventh month in the twenty-third year of King Zhao of Zhou, Laozi reached the Hangu Pass. Yin Xi, upon seeing him, invited him back to his private residence, where Laozi expounded the Daodejing in two fascicles of more than five thousand words. Yin Xi kowtowed and said: 'I wish to be transmitted its essentials.' Laozi said: 'Excellent!' He then explained the essentials of the Daodejing to him, saying: 'The Dao is the Niwan (mud ball); the Niwan is heavenly virtue. Its principle resides in the human head. The purple pneuma descends, going down to the cinnabar field. What is called du refers to the spleen. The spleen is the Central Yellow Great One. The yellow pneuma wanders and manages the central palace. The mother of the myriad things refers to the cinnabar field. The cinnabar field is the mysterious female. It resides in the lower origin. At midnight, one stream of pneuma descends, circulating through the three palaces. "Issued together but having different names" refers to essence. The first is called essence; the second is called sweat; the third is called blood; the fourth is called fluid. Hence it is said they have different names. "Darker than dark" refers to the left and right kidneys. In "the gate of the many wonders, the Dao that can be spoken of," this refers to the morning meal being delicious. "Not the constant Dao" refers to it becoming feces in the evening. (This follows Zhang Daoling's explanation; Daoling spoke thus.) "Being and non-being produce each other" refers to the mouth and the belly. "Difficult and easy complement each other" refers to essence and pneuma.' These are the abridged essentials Laozi transmitted to Yin Xi. He also transmitted to Yin Xi the Shendan jing (Divine Elixir Scripture), the Jinye jing (Golden Liquid Scripture), and the formula for subduing fire through eight-fold refinement and nine-fold cycling of the elixir. His recipe states: 'The cycling elixir of the golden liquid, the immortal blossom flows; / Soaring high like clouds in flight, ascending the heavenly mound. / The red and yellow pneuma forms; / In an instant, the male and female must separate in confusion. / The pearl can transmute; / It summons the traveling kitchen, the numinous youths, and jade maidens. / I am the husband, passing in and out without obstruction. / In accordance with heaven's tally, the true essence congeals like frost, gracefully sinking and floating. / You should treasure and respect it, and you will surely come to roam.' He also transmitted the names of the nine elixirs and a song, which states:
2.22
"Round three and five, an inch and one tenth;
The opening four and eight, with two-inch lips.
Two feet in length, uniform in thickness;
The belly triple-adjusted, calmly emitting warmth.
Yin is above, while yang runs downward;
Martial at head and tail, civil in the middle.
Beginning in seventy, ending in three decades;
Two hundred within, well-tempered and even.
The yin fire is white, the yellow sprouts lead;
The two gather together, assisting humankind.
The child dwells in the palace, preserved in safety;
Roaming to and fro, without leaving the gates."
2.23
The Refutation states: The Dao values purity and quietude; virtue esteems non-action, maintaining tranquility within and shepherding oneself with humility. Not relying on this Dao, they set up various different assertions, relying solely on circulating pneuma and directing internal effort as cultivation. They lose the purity and essence of the Daodejing and run contrary to the wondrous gate of nature. They falsely establish artful words and arbitrarily force interpretations: preserving the cinnabar field as the utmost Dao, guarding the two kidneys as the doubled mystery, using vulgar, foul, coarse, and superficial things to deceive the village commoners. The likes of Wang Qiao and Xianmen did not favor these formulas; the ranks of Baishi and Chisong did not rely on this path. Elixir scriptures and refinement formulas are not seen to prolong life; ingesting minerals and eating mushrooms have rarely brought longevity. Emperor Wu of Zhou ingested elixirs and became mute; Emperor Wuzong of Tang ingested elixirs and died early. How many worthy and good men have been misled by this, failing to preserve the principle of being content with Heaven! Since the true formulas of the Daodejing reached their ultimate limit here, then the remaining texts of the Daoist Canon are not worthy of value. Today's Daoist priests display even shallower arts: some practice spirit writing and scribble wildly, merely craving nocturnal drinking; some exorcise evils and cut off ghosts, deceiving people under the pretense of expelling misfortunes; some enclose themselves within surrounding walls and guard inwardly, which is called 'galloping while sitting'; some begrudge speech and take no action, which is called 'foolish silence'; some perform the bear stretch and bird twist, intending to stand shoulder to shoulder with Pengzu; some drink pneuma and rest their spirits, imitating turtles and cranes for longevity; some circulate essence upward to the brain, calling it 'drawing the river cart'; some consolidate the cinnabar field and seal it within, calling it 'preservation'; some join pneuma to make the Dao, where fathers and sons gather in pollution; some seize essence and pluck spirits, where men and women are promiscuously mingled. Clicking the teeth is called 'heaven's drum'; swallowing saliva is called 'sweet springs'. They call the male root the 'golden stem', merely aiming for firmness; they call the female orifice the 'jade portal', concealing vulgar terms. They call young girls 'true persons'; they call intercourse 'the dragon and tiger', 'the infant and the lovely maiden', 'lead and mercury', and 'the elixir furnace'. Thus they say: 'Open the gate of life and embrace the true person; / The infant returns, and the dragon and tiger frolic; / Three, five, seven, and nine, the net of heaven and earth.' Therefore, Zhang Daoling's Yellow Book states: 'Men and women have the method of harmonious blending, the way of intercourse through three, five, seven, and nine. The true secret of this Dao lies in the cinnabar field, which is the jade gate. One must strictly observe taboos as urgent, not allowing leakage onto the road. The road is the urinary opening.' Moreover, the Daoist Rules of Internal Court state: 'The ritual rule for men and women on the new and full moon days is to pay court to the master and enter the private chamber, visiting the master to establish merit and virtue. Yin and yang advance together; during the six intervals of day and night they constantly establish merit and virtue. They must not lose the order of inner attendants, must not crave external paths and lose the way of middle regulation, and must not jump ahead or fall behind to lose the sequence of stages; nor may they despise ugliness and love beauty.' It also states: 'At the time of the new and full moon, they attend the master in the private chamber, their affections intimate, with male and female engaging in intercourse. They align the four eyes and two noses above and below, and face the two mouths and two tongues against each other. Once yin and yang join, essence and pneuma thoroughly communicate.' Therefore, Laozi said: 'My master taught me the Golden Elixir Scripture, / Bidding me focus my mind on nourishing the jade stem, / Returning the yin essence through three, five, seven, and nine, / Breathing into the jade pool to enter the dark mystery, / Practicing the path with equanimity to ascend to the Great Purity.' The meaning of such songs and formulas is entirely like this. Taking this promiscuous debauchery to be true cultivation, they do not contemplate the words 'returning to the root and recovering life', but solely practice the vulgar and mean arts of joining pneuma. Seeking the Dao through this leads humanity wrongly astray; seeking transcendence through this will never be attained in a lifetime. Extinguishing sin through this, sin cannot be eradicated; eliminating calamity through this, calamity cannot be repelled; seeking blessings through this, blessings cannot arise; renouncing household life through this, the household cannot be renounced. How does this differ from steaming sand to make rice—vainly undergoing toil and hardship? Seeking reality in a mirror, in the end nothing will be gained. Alas! To discard the dragon pearl and pick up gravel, to tip over the Xia cauldrons and envy broken shards! Deluding oneself and deluding others, dying and sinking into the ocean of suffering. How sorrowful! How lamentable!
2.24
Number Fourteen: The Fabrication of Stealing the Buddha's Transmutations and Feats
2.25
The forty-second transformation says: Laozi entered the realm of Magadha and manifested a rare form to convert its king, establishing the Buddhist teaching named Purity, with the Buddha titled Māmānī. Arriving in the realm of Śrāvastī, he transformed himself into a god and descended from heaven, escorted by devas and humans, manifesting a body hundreds of thousands of tens of thousands of yards in height. Further, arriving in Kapiśa, he subdued the barbarian king and the prince. Fire could not burn him, a cauldron could not boil him, and water could not drown him. The barbarian army of one million saw their bows, arrows, swords, and halberds fall and break all at once; flying lightning struck in eight directions with a sound like a thunderclap, and men and horses fell prostrate in terror. Master Beiguo chanted praises from mid-air. Further arriving in the realm of Tiaozhi, with his hand he brushed aside a great mountain. Arriving in Kosala, he subdued ninety-six kinds of non-Buddhist practitioners. Arriving in the realm of Gayā, with his left hand he grasped the sun and with his right hand he grasped the moon, concealing them inside his head: heaven and earth became pitch dark, mountains flew and rocks split asunder, the waters of the ocean flowed backward, and mountains and rivers traversed empty space. Further arriving in Khotan, at Mount Nanqu he gave instruction to the barbarian king, ordering Yin Xi to transform into a golden man, sixteen feet in height, wearing a round halo around his neck and treading upon lotus blossoms, descending from the sky to pay obeisance. Lord Lao said to the barbarian king: 'This is my disciple; he shall be your teacher.' He also left behind a divine bowl so that they might obtain the flavour of the Dharma. Furthermore, in the city of Bhīma the ground turned golden, and he emitted divine light of nine colours that illuminated dust-mote-like lands everywhere. Thereupon the Realised Man of the Red Spirit, the Elder of the Central Yellow, the True Lord of the Great Unity, the Nine Palaces and Six Ding, the Divine Lords of the Eight Trigrams, the Azure Dragon, the White Tiger, and flower-scattering jade maidens arrived on floating clouds. Lord Lao sat on a seven-jewelled throne, burning incense of a hundred blends and playing the music of the Vast Heaven. Furthermore, the kings, consorts, and queens of more than eighty kingdoms all came to listen to the Dharma. Leaving Yin Xi to act as Buddha, along with the bowl, in the city of Bhīma, he then ascended into heaven and departed. Lord Lao also subdued a great venomous dragon in the Pamirs. Wandering through the five Indias, beneath a lone tree on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa he conjured a jade throne and preached the Buddhist doctrine to the king to deliver monks (śramaṇas), bestowing the monastic precepts upon two thousand five hundred people. Furthermore, the sixty-sixth transformation says: The monastery in the city of Bhīma in the kingdom of Khotan is the place where Lord Lao converted the barbarians and became a Buddha. Inside, there is a stone pillar inscribed with an account of the event, saying: 'The sage of the east, titled Lord Lao, came to convert our country.' Below, it cites the deliberations of eight scholars to substantiate his deeds and traces.
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Linked texts (1)
- 辯偽錄 — Classical Chinese