辯偽錄 2.10

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.