辯偽錄 2.28

2.28

The treatise says: More than a thousand years have passed since the Great Dharma flowed east. The rulers of the times had varying degrees of faith and disdain, and the ages went through rise and decline, yet in the struggle between the heterodox and the orthodox, [the Daoists] never prevailed over the Buddhists. Moreover, Daoist priests were turned into monks across three successive eras. First, Emperor Ming of the Han dreamed by night of a golden person flying to the courtyard of his palace, with sunlight encircling the nape of his neck. Thereupon he sent an envoy west to seek [the teaching]; the Buddha-dharma entered Luoyang from this point on. It was then depicted above the Xianjie Tomb, and scriptures were translated in the Orchid Terrace chamber. But the Daoist priests, priding themselves on their skills, wished to flaunt their meager arts. Kāśyapa Mātanga briefly manifested divine miracles, and there was none who did not submit their hearts. The Buddhist teaching, like refined metal, became ever purer, while the Daoist texts were incinerated and reduced to ashes by fire. Because of this, they turned from heterodoxy to orthodoxy, shaved their hair, and became monks. Emperor Wenxuan, the founder of the Northern Qi, devoted his sincere faith to Buddhist principles and applied his mind earnestly to the Dharma-gate. But the Daoist priests were ignorant and indulged their private grudges, flaunting the glow of a firefly to eclipse the brilliance of the dragon torch. Wenxuan tested them, and not a single proof was demonstrated. The Sage Sovereign did not apply an inch of blade: Lu Xiujing submitted at the military encampment, and shaving their hair and taking off their caps, they all became Buddhists without exception. Our holy dynasty's Möngke Khan possessed deep benevolence and sagacious wisdom, embodying the Way with multifaceted capacity. His heroic counsels fanned out to the eight directions, and his awe-inspiring majesty held sway across myriad states. Paying close attention to Buddhist principles, he thoroughly understood the orthodox and the heterodox. He probed the coarse shallowness of the Daoist religion and attained the profound subtleties of the Buddhist tradition. He first issued an enlightened edict to sweep [the falsehoods] away specifically. Respectfully I reflect that our present Emperor has inherited the primordial substance of the Great Change and the Great Beginning, and is endowed with the spiritual power of the Heavenly Sovereign and the Celestial Thearch. His Way accords with a hundred kings, broadcasting pure customs to nurture virtue; his wisdom encompasses myriad things, expanding paramount governance to succour the age. Like a maṇi jewel, how could he suffer the defilement of a speck of dust? Like Xuanyuan's mirror, how would he allow the deception of a fragment of grime? Thus, with heroic brilliance and independent judgment, he clearly scrutinized right and wrong. He silenced the hollow clamor of the Daoist priests and recognized the real truth of the monks. Reverently receiving the former edicts, he had [the matter] clearly debated again. He summoned both lineages in full to scrutinize their merits and defects. Before the battle banners were even unfurled, [the Daoists] held jades in their mouths and turned their halberds around; idly prating the stratagems of the Six Secret Teachings, they could not remedy the failures of the three dynasties. Stripping off their robes and shaving their hair, they were all committed to the Buddhist fold. This is because heterodox teachings are easily shattered, while the true is difficult to destroy; without passing through the furnace and bellows, how could true gold be shown? The demonic air was thereupon eliminated, and the Buddha sun shone brightly aloft, causing those who had lost their way to return to the path from this point on, and those who were drowning to know their refuge. It serves as a scale for the present era and a clear mirror for later generations. Yet Buddhism is characterized by compassion and benevolence, and fundamentally free of contention; it was only the wild and arrogant heterodox disciples who fabricated varied falsehoods. It was because of your partiality that our distinctions arose; thus Confucius said, 'Must it not be the rectification of names?' It truly lies in this! Now Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism have through the ages been called the Three Teachings. Regarding their chastising of evil and encouraging of good, all three teachings may be followed. But comparing the shallow and profound depths of their primary purports, they cannot be without superior and inferior. Since the Han and Tang dynasties, there have already been settled verdicts, not waiting for other people to fabricate superiorities or inferiorities. Buddhism takes compassion and benefiting sentient beings as its foundation; Lord Lao takes humility, retreat, and distancing oneself from harm as his merit; Confucian law takes succouring the people with loyalty and filial piety as primary. When loyalty and filial piety are practiced, one can preserve one's family and state and diffuse life; when humility and retreat are practiced, one can resolve disputes and eliminate future disasters; when compassion is practiced, one can save the masses of sentient beings and fathom human nature and destiny. Going from the shallow to the profound, inside and outside rescue one another, just as Heaven has the three luminaries that mutually illuminate, or a tripod has three legs that jointly support it. However, the Daoist tradition contains many falsehoods and has set up a separate style, wishing to overshadow antiquity and the present and alone transcend Confucianism and Buddhism. Yet former worthies and later philosophers have each composed canonical treatises, all revering the Buddha and not speaking of Laozi as a sage. Examining the texts provides proof of itself; why must one forcibly contend? Confucius said to the Grand Minister: 'Qiu has heard that in the west there is a sage. He does not govern, yet there is no disorder; he does not speak, yet he is naturally trusted; he does not transform, yet [the Way] is naturally practiced. How vast! The people can find no name for him' (this appears in the 'Zhongni' chapter of the Liezi). Laozi said: 'My master, transformed, wandered to India, skillfully entering nirvāṇa' (this appears in the Lao Tan jing). This is Confucius and Laozi revering the Buddha as a sage. Fu Zi (that is, Fu Lang) said: 'The teacher of Master Lao was named Śākyamuni.' Mouzi of the Later Han (who was Governor of Cangwu) said: 'The transformations wrought by Yao, Shun, the Duke of Zhou, Confucius, Laozi, and Zhuangzi, compared to the Buddha, are like white deer compared to a qilin.' Kan Ze, Prefect of the Masters of Writing, said to the Lord of Wu: 'If one compares the two teachings of Confucius and Laozi to the Buddha-dharma, they are far, far apart! How is this known? Confucius and Laozi established teachings modeling themselves on Heaven to institute functions, not daring to contravene Heaven. The Buddhas established teachings, and the heavenly laws follow and practice them, not daring to contravene the Buddha. Speaking from this, they are truly no match.' The Lord of Wu approved of this and appointed him Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince (this appears in the Old Book of Wu). Yan Zhitui, Grand Master for Splendid Happiness of the Northern Qi, said (in his 'Family Instructions' chapter): 'The matters of the three periods of time of the Buddhist school are trustworthy and verifiable. The myriad practices return to emptiness, and the thousand gates enter into goodness. How could they merely be the breadth of the Six Classics and the hundred philosophers? They are not something that Yao, Shun, the Duke of Zhou, Confucius, Laozi, and Zhuangzi could match.' Yu Shinan, Director of the Palace Library under the Tang, wrote in the historical disquisition to his Imperial Annals: 'The meaning of Laozi is: "The valley spirit never dies, the mysterious female endures forever"; prolonged vision, long life, riding the clouds, and mounting cranes. This is a teaching within this realm. The proclamation of Śākya is: emptiness and existence are not clung to; person and self are both forgotten; transcending birth and death, returning to tranquil extinction. This is discourse beyond the phenomenal realm.' Wang Bao's Ting gao under the Later Zhou, and Li Sishen's Ten Differences between Buddhism and Daoism under the Tang, are profound in purport and meaning; there is no need to cite them extensively, for the wise know them (Wang Bao's Ting gao chapter under the Later Zhou is in the Hongming ji of the Liang, and the 'Ten Differences' is also in the Huayan Great Teaching of Qingliang). The present Emperor once said: 'Worldly people call Confucius, Laozi, and the Buddha the Three Sages. These words are false! The teachings of Confucius and Laozi are of little use in ordering the world; they do not comprehend nature and destiny, but only speak of the present life. They can only be called worthies (this subtly tallies with Ban Gu's Table of Persons of Nine Grades, where Laozi is listed in the rank of worthies, and Jin dynasty Sun Sheng's Treatise on Laozi Not Being a Great Worthy, whose text appears in the Guang hongming ji). The model handed down by the Buddha fathoms the root of birth and death, good and evil, and deeply understands the way of the hidden and manifest, nature and destiny. With myriad transformations, his divinity and sagehood are boundless. He is truly the Great Sage! From now on, in portraits of the Three Teachings, [Confucius and Laozi] may not be placed on an equal footing with the Buddha.' Li Shangyin (courtesy name Yishan) of the Tang said in his Eulogy on the Three Teachings: 'The master of our Ru was Zhongni of Lu. Zhongni took the dragon-like Dan as master; I do not know Dan's master. Dan took the Indian as master, who skillfully entered non-action. Bowing my head to the Correctly Awakened One: my master's (Zhongni's) master's (Laozi's) master is the Buddha.' Comparing them in this way, they are as far apart as heaven and earth; seeking the fundamental by this, orchids and mugwort distinguish themselves. Moreover, their currents are easy to understand: Kan Ze's reply made the heavenly distinction clear (the matter of replying to the Lord of Wu); its principle is hard to obfuscate: Li Sishen's text cleaved the sea (the text of Li Sishen's Ten Differences between Buddhism and Daoism); Yu Shinan's treatise stands like a mountain and rests like an abyss (in the Diwang tongji); Yan Zhitui's composition is like the clouds clearing and the sun shining brightly. It is only because the Sage is far in time that demonic falsehoods confuse the real. If it were not for the right person, the Way would not be established in vain. Reverently I contemplate our present Emperor, who, having received the Buddha's entrustment, does not forget to protect and maintain it. In the leisure left by myriad state affairs, he turns his mind to the Buddhist scriptures. From virtuous masters of the Western Heavens to enlightened teachers of the Eastern Land, he repeatedly inquires into the words of the Tripiṭaka and marvelously attains the purport of the One Vehicle. He especially delights in doctrinal debates and highly esteems the Vinaya. He fathoms the abyss and source of characteristics and nature, and comprehends the superiority and inferiority of Buddhism and Daoism. Dragons and snakes are easily distinguished; the heavenly eye is hard to deceive. He rolls back the ominous vapors into the nine heavens, and spreads clouds of compassion over the four seas. He relights the torch of insight, repeatedly kindling the lamp of wisdom, acting as the ridgepole and beam of the Dharma house, and serving as the sun and moon of the Buddhist heavens. Xiangmai, having unworthy birth in the Semblance Age, rejoices to meet this flourishing era. Whenever there are refined discussions, I am permitted to hear them at the end of the seating. With repeated joy and clapping of hands, I compose this hymn: