辯偽錄 2.35

2.35

By the power of Eternal Heaven and under the aegis of great good fortune, the decree of the Emperor: To the Central Secretariat, the Bureau of Military Affairs, the Censorate, the Pacification Commissions and Surveillance Commissions of all circuits, the darughachi, the civil-governing officials, the military-governing officials, the station officials, the artisans, and the various Daoist masters: Previously, in the imperial decree of Emperor Möngke, in the wuwu year (1258), the Buddhist monks and Daoist masters debated and tested the Buddha-Dharma, and the Daoist masters lost. Thereupon, seventeen masters were ordered to shave their heads and become monks, and the Huahu jing and other scriptures and printing blocks which the masters had falsely concocted were all burned and destroyed, and the Eighty-One Transformations Charts painted in temples of all circuits and engraved on stone stelae were completely burned and destroyed. Now, the Bureau of the Chief Commissioner for Merit and Virtue memorials that the masters of all circuits have kept hidden up to now the scriptures and printing blocks that ought to have been destroyed, and have never destroyed them, and furthermore that at the Patriarch Wang Hermitage in Baoding, Zhending, Taiyuan, Pingyang, and Hezhong Prefecture, as well as Guanxi and other places, there are Daoist printing blocks. Upon this being memorialised, it was commanded that Changchun Administrator Zhang [Xuan], Vice Director Zhang, Minister Jiao, Controller of Buddhism Quan, Qudu Yusi, the academicians of the Hanlin Academy, the Guest Reception Envoys of the Central Secretariat, the Chief Envoy of the Central Secretariat Qusu Dingyuan, the Monastic Recorder Zhenzang, the Monastic Judge, the various Lecture Masters, and the Elders, together with Celestial Master Zhang, Master Qi, Master Li, Master Du, and the Daoist masters, assemble together in the Changchun Palace to sort through them. Now Administrator Zhang and the others have reported back, stating: 'Of the scriptures stored by these masters, apart from the Daodejing which contains the genuine scriptural tenets of Lord Lao, the remainder were all fabricated and propounded by later generations. Many defame the Buddhist teachings and steal the words of the Buddha. Furthermore, they have absorbed books of yin-yang, medicine, and the various masters, often altering their titles; the commentaries and transmissions are erroneous and flawed, losing their original truth. They forge talismans and spells, falsely claiming that wearing them will cause merchants today to gain double profits, husbands and wives to live in harmony like mandarin ducks, offspring to proliferate, sons to be long-lived, and daughters to be chaste—beguiling and deluding the myriad people in more ways than one, with the intention of coveting wealth and seducing wives and daughters. They even instruct people to errantly wear talismans upon their arms, claiming that males will become rulers or ministers, females will become empresses or consorts, and that they will not drown when entering water, will not burn when entering fire, and cannot be harmed by blades or swords. When Celestial Master Zhang, Master Qi, Master Li, and Master Du were ordered to test these in fire, they all pleaded for mercy and their lives, confessing them to be counterfeit and false, not daring to put them to the test. Now it is deliberated and concluded that, apart from Laozi's Daodejing, all lying Daoist scriptures and printing blocks existing across the circuits should be completely burned away.' Furthermore, according to the memorial presented by Master Qi, Master Li, Master Du, and others, they stated: 'Regarding the texts within the Daoist canon, apart from Laozi's Daodejing, all are false writings forged by later generations. We willingly consent that they all be burned and destroyed completely, so that we too may be cleansed.' We approved the memorial. Henceforth, let the masters conduct themselves in accordance with Laozi's Daodejing. If any desire the Buddhist scriptures, let them go and become monks; if they will be neither monks nor Daoists, let them take wives and become commoners. Apart from the Daodejing, all Daoist scriptures and printing blocks falsely concocted shall be burned and destroyed completely. Now the Controller of Buddhism for All Circuits Quan and the Guest Reception Envoy of the Central Secretariat Dulu are dispatched to proceed. On the day the imperial decree arrives, regardless of whether they are officials, Daoist priests, Daoist nuns, scholars, soldiers, civilians, artisans, falconers, hunters, or persons of various professions, whoever holds collections of any Daoist scriptures, the local darughachi and civil-governing officials shall redouble their efforts and conscientiously search and seize them, hand them over according to count in the presence of the dispatched officials, and burn them together. Furthermore, the Eighty-One Transformations Charts painted in temples or engraved on stone stelae shall be completely removed and destroyed. From the promulgation of this decree onward, if anyone anywhere conceals any Daoist writings that are lies, forgeries, defamatory to the Buddhist teachings, plagiarising the words of the Buddha, coveting wealth and gain, seducing wives and daughters, or such talismanic and incantatory texts that beguile the common people, as well as various large and small Daoist scriptures; and if the local officials do not redouble their efforts to search and seize them, they shall be punished as guilty alongside those who conceal them. Books of the various masters, medicine, and the like among the people which have their own original blocks are not within this prohibition. Let it be according to this.