辯偽錄 2.27

2.27

Now, to manifest and elucidate the abilities of gods, sages, and consummate men is one thing, but petty pilfering and the artful machinations of cunning knaves are another. Moreover, when sage-kings established teachings, they transformed what was near first and only then reached what was far. Therefore, the Classic of History, in recounting Yao's abundant virtue, states that he first loved the nine branches of his kin, then brought harmony to the common people; when the common people were illustrious, only then did he harmonize the myriad states. Thus, his light was able to cover the four quarters and reach above and below. King Wen's virtue first set an example for his own wife, and only later pacified the four seas; hence, distant lands admired his righteousness and arrived after nine translations. When Lord Lao served as the Archivist, the way of Zhou was not flourishing: the feudal lords usurped power, the grandees controlled the administration, superiors were encroached upon, and inferiors overstepped their bounds; the territory of the realm shrank daily. If Li Er possessed divine sanctity, he should have rescued the falling, supported the weak, enriched the state, and pacified the people, ensuring that lords and ministers kept their proper stations and did not transgress against one another. Why then did he abandon the nine provinces from afar and flee alone to the west? If he could manifest great miraculous feats in his own homeland, bringing glory to the nine branches of his kin and boundless joy to his whole clan, would that not have been wonderful? Yet for eighty-four years he showed no extraordinary wonders at all; he hired someone to drive his cart west past Hangu Pass and died in Fufeng (there is a mound for Laozi in Huaili Township of Fufeng today). They falsely claim that as soon as he went west and set foot among the Qiang and barbarian tribes, he manifested spiritual powers. Yet in the Divine Continent and Central Plains there was not a single sign! Where no one could see him, they boast of myriad feats, pilfering the Buddha's superior powers and craftily concocting forced analogies. The Buddha's divine wonders are fully recorded in Western scriptures and his sacred traces exist today; Lord Lao's miraculous transformations are not recorded in Eastern histories. Testing them against this, the false and the true are clearly seen! Let discerning gentlemen listen to the origins of this: The Bhagavān ascended to the Trāyastriṃśa heaven to preach the Dharma for three months in order to repay his mother's kindness; Li Er imitated him and likewise ascended to the Great Tenuity. When the Bhagavān achieved Buddhahood, without rising from the Tree of Awakening, he ascended to the six heavens; Laozi copied him and likewise wandered through the nine heavens. Under the Bodhi tree, the Bhagavān manifested the subjugation of Māra, and all bows and arrows were transformed; Lord Lao likewise destroyed swords and halberds. The Bhagavān, on the road to Kuśinagara, threw aside a great boulder; Lord Lao likewise brushed aside a great mountain. When the Bhagavān preached the Great Collection Sūtra, all kings gathered together; Lord Lao likewise assembled more than eight thousand kingdoms. When the Bhagavān traveled north, he subdued the dragon king Apalāla and left his shadow; Lord Lao in the Snow Mountains likewise subdued a venomous dragon. In the Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra, the Bhagavān spoke of ninety-six kinds of non-Buddhist practitioners; Lord Lao likewise subdued ninety-six kinds of non-Buddhist practitioners. When the Bhagavān manifested great divine powers, Mount Sumeru submerged and rose, surging up and down; with Lord Lao too, mountains flew, rocks split, and the ocean waters flowed backward. The Bhagavān left behind a divine bowl to bring fortune to living beings; Lord Lao likewise left behind a divine bowl. The Bhagavān was born from the right flank; Lord Lao cut open the left armpit and emerged. The Bhagavān walked seven steps in every direction to symbolize the perfection of the seven noble treasures; Laozi then walked nine steps, spuriously matching the number of utmost yang. The Bhagavān had the thirty-two marks and eighty minor characteristics; Lord Lao had seventy-two marks and eighty-one minor characteristics. The Buddha spoke of the two bodies of truth and response to reveal the provisional and the real; Lord Lao likewise spoke of the true body and the dharmakāya. The Buddha said that bodies are of four kinds, namely the dharmakāya, the saṃbhogakāya (divided into self-enjoyment and enjoyment-for-others), and the nirmāṇakāya; Lord Lao likewise spoke of the Void Sovereign, the Originating Beginning, the Lord of the Dao, and Lord Lao. The Buddha spoke of the three realms; they speak of the Three Purities. The Buddha spoke of the three wheels supporting the world; they speak of the three pneumas descending and circulating. The Azure Dragon and White Tiger mimic the vajra-holders. The Dharma Master of the Mysterious Origin leans upon the holy ones: imitating the Zen hall, they construct an abbot's room; following Buddhist temples, they erect Dharma halls; down to the verses of hymns, praises, and chants, the adornments of bells, drums, and cloud-boards, the rituals for spirits, sending off the dead, repentance, and averting calamity, the Nine Netherworlds Repentance Liturgy, and the Twenty-Four Vow Precepts (now compiled based on the 'Ten Grounds Chapter' of the Avataṃsaka and the ten unwholesome dharmas)—whatever the Śākyan teachings possess, they forthwith establish. If something does not exist here, they are incapable of devising it. Thus we know that in all their undertakings, they have wholly drawn from the Buddhist gate; generation after generation they have made forced interpretations, and one person after another has made baseless fabrications. Gold and brass are mixed together, difficult for the wise to distinguish. Originally wishing to adorn their own house, they have ended up chiseling open Chaos: when ears and eyes are complete, the true spirit is lost! They should glorify the authentic text of the Daodejing and discard the frivolousness of spurious fabrications. If the gate of their teaching has been cut short midway, whose fault is it? Moreover, Master Beiguo originally served Emperor Wu of Han, yet now he is made to follow the ancient Li, which shows all the more that this was added later. Furthermore, Mount Nanqu and the city of Bhīma were originally sacred traces of the Buddha; desiring to match these events, they twisted their accounts to fabricate forced correspondences. Fearing that people do not know this, I now set it forth in detail: According to the Xiyu ji, more than twenty li southwest of the royal city of Khotan, there is Mount Gosṛṅga (now changed to Nanqu), where there is a monastery. The Buddha statues within frequently emit bright light. In the past, the Buddha came here to briefly expound the essentials of the Dharma for devas and humans. In a stone chamber on the cliff, there is currently an arhat who has entered the meditative absorption of cessation to await Maitreya. This clearly demonstrates that it was not Lord Lao! It also says: More than three hundred li east of the royal city, there is the city of Bhīma, where there is a carved sandalwood standing statue of the Buddha, over twenty feet high, possessing many miraculous signs and frequently emitting bright light; whenever someone is afflicted with illness, praying to it brings immediate recovery. This statue was originally made by King Udayana; after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, it flew through the void to come and bring fortune to this land. When the Dharma of Śākyamuni comes to an end, the statue will enter the dragon palace. In evaluation: According to the account of this record, the text is exceedingly clear. Desiring to turn the Buddha's sacred footprints into Lao's traces, though you have made clever contrivances, you should consider this thrice: 'A team of four horses cannot overtake the tongue'; I ask you to keep your conjectures to yourself. Although the eight scholars whose deliberations are cited are called men of the Tang, the biographies in the Tang histories contain none of their names. Moreover, what they discussed was not incorporated into essential policy; seeking both back and forth, there is no evidence whatever. Even if one wished to debate extensively, it would be a waste of ink and words; these are empty assertions by Daoists not worth troublesome rehearsal. Though Yuan Banqian has a biography, it does not mention the Huahu jing. Examining this erroneous scripture in detail, it has been rejected and expelled in both ancient and modern times: Emperor Zhongzong of the Tang prohibited it in an earlier era (see Liu Xu's Jiu Tang shu), and our Shizong eliminated it in the latter dynasty (see the memorial by Wu Liaoran refuting the Huahu jing). If it were indeed an authentic text, who would dare eradicate it? Yet ignorant Daoists constantly follow these footsteps, causing Laozi to incur the sin of usurping holiness and leading Daoists to incur the fault of slandering the Buddha. Wang Fu is already in hell, and Shi Zhijing has also been thrown into prison. Laozi originally wished to live in reclusion, but Zhijing pushed him out of the courtyard; forsaking his original intention of returning to the root, he turned him into a wanderer in other lands. Obstinately clinging to delusion without returning, their entrenched falsehoods are hard to eradicate—just like the stubborn stupidity of wood and stone, or the dizziness caused by medicinal brew. The present refutation and analysis aims to shatter their frenzied minds, returning the correct Dao to its pure source and guiding heterodox followers onto a broad path; to know that the Daodejing consists of the words of a worthy, and to recognize that the conversion of the barbarians is the talk of a monster; to propagate Laozi's style of humility and quietude, and to suppress Daoists' vice of boastful ostentation. If all comply with these instructions, the refined way will prosper for long. If one says otherwise, the overturned chariot will overtake them!