辯偽錄 3.2

English (machine translation) 3.2

Language: English

3.2.1

Now, the teachings of the Three Sages stand in the Central Kingdom like the legs of a tripod, supporting the imperial transformation. Master Kong's discourse on benevolence and righteousness provides a standard for unprincipled scholars; Laozi's adherence to modesty and retreat puts an end to the struggles of restless and contentious fellows; the Buddhist discourse on nature and life seeks to cause them to return to the source. Yet in later ages, contentious discussions have arisen where people follow only their own opinions, boasting of themselves and claiming superiority, deluded about the root and ignorant of the source; this is simply because they fail to fathom the comprehensive path of the Dao and cling to divergent doctrines. Little do they know that when benevolence and righteousness are practiced, every person treads the path of the gentleman; when modesty and retreat are practiced, every person closes the door to greedy and miserly pursuits; and when nature and life are illuminated, every person attains the source of the wondrous Dao. If it were not so, how could they be considered accomplished scholars and gentlemen? This is close to what Zhongni meant by: 'Qi with one change would attain to Lu; Lu with one change would attain to the Dao.' Yet Daoist priests of late antiquity exclusively esteem boastful fabrications, taking the bizarre and unorthodox as extraordinary, and falsehood and deceit as the wondrous gate. They discard the mellow purity of the two chapters [of the Daodejing] and mix in the foul arts of the three Zhangs. Wang Haifeng regarded raving madness as supreme virtue, unaware of the deep source of the Dao; Qiu Chuji regarded performing as a divine phoenix as wondrous and miraculous, losing the essential subtlety of Complete Perfection (Quanzhen). Traveling ten thousand miles to the west, his audience with the sovereign lacked clarity; returning three years to the east, by chance encounters he vaunted his uniqueness. Deceiving people and insulting the Sages, boasting and vaunting himself, he began with groundless talk and ended with unfounded doctrines. Leaving aside for a moment the fraudulent fabrications of ancient times, let us set forth several matters of the present dynasty. When our Taizu, Genghis Khan, flew like a dragon across the northern wastes and strode like a tiger into the Central Plains, he received the precious calendar to govern the realm, answered the auspicious destiny to shepherd the people, accorded with Heaven to change the mandate, and pacified turmoil to establish merit. Although military and state affairs were pressing, he kept his mind fixed on the path of awakening, being the first to promulgate gracious edicts to protect and uphold the Buddhist gate: 'The Great Sage's spiritual transformations cannot be measured; wherever his physical likenesses are, they must not be damaged. With regard to the lands, irrigated top-grade fields, watermills, and utensils used in monasteries wherever they may be, all that belongs to the Buddha is ordered to be returned and must not be encroached upon or seized. All corvée duties, whether great or small, relay-post service, and provisions are completely excused. The monks who have renounced household life are disciples of the Buddha; they recite scriptures and pray to Heaven to help cultivate merit for our imperial house, its sons, and grandsons. Wherever monks go or stay, let them be at liberty, and do not obstruct them. If there are evil persons who rely on their power to disturb Buddhist monasteries, memorialize their names and surnames.' Enlightened monarchs of subsequent generations have all respected this model. Yet the demonical debaters simulate truth to fabricate hierarchies, all claiming that Master Qiu opened the foundation of the Three Teachings and serves as the original ground of Confucianism and Buddhism. Let us briefly recount the beginning and the end, and request that the merits and demerits be examined in detail. Initially, the rise of Quanzhen was not a matter of ancient antiquity. According to Yuan Yuzhi's funerary stele for Chongyang Zhenren: In the Zhenglong reign of the Jin dynasty, there was Wang Shixiong, a native of Sansfu. In his youth he was praised for his knight-errantry; in middle age he suddenly had an awakening, whereupon he abandoned his family affairs, wandered amidst wine, jested without restraint, acted wildly and recklessly, shouted at the empty air and laughed alone. People of the time considered him madly insane, and so called him Wang Haifeng ('the Crazy'). Later he encountered two Daoist priests wearing felt robes, drew water and drank wine with them; his wild abandon grew even greater, and his tricks were difficult to fathom. He dug a grave to the east of the county seat and lived in it, calling himself the 'Living Dead Man'. After dwelling there for two years, he moved to the hermitage of Liu Jiang. Their gathering never assembled more than three people, and the hermitage was built of no more than two rooms. From then on he roosted in earthen caves and lodged in poor lanes, wrapping his body in tattered robes and rotting wadding, holding a staff and carrying a gourd to beg for food to sustain himself. Imitating the silent sitting of foolish Chan, he confined himself within a circular wall. He once said: 'Chan monks comprehend nature but do not understand life; Confucians talk of life but do not speak of nature. I now cultivate both together.' Thus he took the title Quanzhen (Complete Perfection). Begging his way eastward to Ninghai commandery, he obtained seven disciples—Ma Danyang, Qiu Chuji, Liu, Tan, Hao, and others—and the teaching of Complete Perfection then spread widely. Later, his disciple Pan Zhiyuan and others invited Mr. Fan to his military headquarters, and Lord Wang wrote several letters of invitation. Yuan Yuzhi composed the inscription and eulogy for the stele. In Yuzhi's preface, he cited Ge Hong (Zhichuan) of the Jin, Tao Hongjing (Zhenbai) of the Liang, Kou Fuzhen (Qianzhi) of the Wei, Sima Ziwei of the Tang, and Chen Tunan (Tuan) of the Song; describing these several worthies, he considered none of them equal to [Wang], bending over backward to make him appear admirable. Yet the adherents of Complete Perfection considered that it did not glorify him enough; therefore Haowen's text was erected and then destroyed again. Furthermore, his disciples unearthed the interlocking golden bones of the precious stupa of Dushun and buried them in Shixiong's grave mound, claiming they were the śarīra of Wang Haifeng. (Emperor Shizong and Emperor Zhang of the Jin dynasty prohibited their ways and dispatched Minister Yang to Haizhou to beat Master Qiu with eighty blows of the staff, yet the sound was uninterrupted; this is well known to the world and not a false statement.) The Daoist priest Qiu Chuji, styled Tongmi, was a native of Qixia in Dengzhou, known by the title Changchun zi. He took Wang Haifeng as his teacher and continued to advocate Quanzhen, but originally possessed no Daoist arts. There was a certain Liu Wen, styled Zhonglu, who gained the favor of Taizu by making whistling arrows; he was the first to believe his heterodox doctrines, flattering him with sweet words, and when presenting medicines to the Emperor, he said: 'Master Qiu is over three hundred years old and possesses arts for preserving health and attaining longevity.' He thereupon memorialized recommending him. In the wuyin year, answering the summons, he traveled north. Master Qiu grew weary of the journey; hearing that the Emperor was on a western campaign, he submitted a memorial requesting to await his return. Zhongshu Zhanran was dispatched with a gentle edict to summon him, and Master Qiu thereupon set out. Earlier, when the Emperor campaigned westward against the Dashi Linya and the Kipchak kingdom, he took possession of all their lands; only the Sultan Khan, having seized and crushed the Naiman territory, had strong and flourishing troops and horses, and occupied the city of Samarkand (also called Xie-mu-si-gan, the Hezhong prefecture of the Liao). Hearing that the Emperor was launching a western expedition, he fled south through the Iron Gate, escaped south of the Hindu Kush, and secretly hastened toward India. The Emperor led his forces in pursuit and halted south of the Hindu Kush. On the eighteenth day of the eleventh month in the winter of the xinsi year, Master Qiu arrived at the city of Samarkand; because the heavy snow of the Snow Mountains (Hindu Kush) blocked the valleys to a depth of about twenty feet, making them impassable, he temporarily remained in the city. On the fifth day of the fourth month in the summer of the renwu year, he first crossed the Snow Mountains and reached the imperial traveling palace. Arriving before the Emperor, he bowed several times, stepped back to show reverence, and only after the rituals were completed did he enter the tent. The Emperor asked: 'What medicine of immortality do you have to assist our person?' Master Qiu hesitated, cupped his hands, and replied: 'There are ways of preserving life, but no medicine of immortality.' The Emperor, taking his words to be truthful, rewarded him with mare's milk. At that time, Muslim mountain bandits were causing disturbances nearby, so he ordered Master Qiu to return to the city of Samarkand, arranging to summon him again in the tenth month.

3.2.2

In the last ten days of the eighth month, Master Qiu again arrived at the traveling palace. Everything he answered was utterly mediocre and unworthy of being listened to. When asked about his age, he falsely said he did not know. When examined regarding the essentials of divine immortals, he spoke only of conserving essence, nourishing qi, and projecting the spirit into dreams, taking these as the utmost reach of the Dao. He praised Lin Lingsu's spiritual journeys and relished Wang Haifeng's entering of dreams. Moreover, he cited Ma Danyang as constantly saying that he had repeatedly received encouragement from sages and worthies, and that his true nature roamed in foreign lands; and furthermore, he held that the Chan school's frequent bad dreams were merely because their merit was meager, so that they were unable to attain good dreams. He also asked the Layman Zhanran about the meaning of the Eulogy to Avalokiteśvara, but the Palace Secretariat [scholar] dismissed it lightly and did not reply, and none of those who possessed understanding failed to double over with laughter upon hearing it. Afterwards, returning eastward, he submitted a memorial requesting tallies and tablets; on his own authority he issued master titles, secretly granted monastery plaques, and falsely wrote imperial edicts to deceive and hoodwink the sovereign, exempting only the disciples of Master Qiu from labor service, extending neither to Buddhist monks nor to other Daoist assemblies. Matters without precedent in antiquity he willfully sought to carry out! What has been said above, Layman Zhanran compiled into the Xiyou lu (Record of the Journey to the West), clearly demonstrating Master Qiu's ten fallacies. Returning as far as Xuande and other prefectures, he humiliated monks into welcoming and prostrating to him. Later, arriving in Yancheng, his attendants incited and praised him, particularly using force to encroach upon and seize properties, dispatching his Daoist disciple Wang Boping with dozens of mounted attendants, hanging out tablets, riding swiftly back and forth across various prefectures, intending at once to place monks and nuns under his total control. Master Qiu went in person to Jizhou, specifically announcing a pseudo-imperial edict, aggressively wishing to summon and arrest Master Xuan, Benwu of Ganquan, hoping to break his integrity, but ultimately failed to execute it. In the Western Capital, at Tiancheng, he destroyed the temple of Master Kong and turned it into the Wencheng Daoist Abbey. In Jingzhou, he seized Mr. Jia's Longjiaoshan and changed it into the Chongxu Daoist Abbey. Later, when monks wished to dispute this, Master Qiu sent a letter to Layman Congle to gloss over and whitewash his misdeeds. In the main hall of Shuigu Monastery in Pinggu County were [statues of] the Trikāya, all masterworks of Liu Luan; he completely smashed them into the ravine, converting it into a Daoist abbey for his residence. In Taiyuan Prefecture, Master Qiu's disciple Song Defang occupied Jingju Mountain, chiseling the stone into caves, turning it into a Daoist cloister, and setting up steles to establish its title. Mount Huanghua in Xiangzhou was an ancient monastery of the Sui and Tang; its stele inscriptions still remain, but Daoists occupied and seized it. The Western Daoist Cloister of Hunyuan was originally Congfu Monastery, and was occupied by Daoists. In lower counties of Luanzhou, several Buddhist halls were torn down by Daoists, who also destroyed the Buddha images. Lingyan Monastery on Mount Shugu in Tanzhou was formerly the place where Zou Yan blew the pitch-pipes; its halls, buildings, and covered corridors were all fully intact. The Quanzhen followers Jia Zhizu and Wang Zhiqin, relying on Master Qiu's power, swept away the Buddha images, sculpted the Three Purities, pushed the stone dhāraṇī pillars into the ravine, and occupied the fertile fields and gardens as their own tenants and masters, renaming it the Datong Daoist Abbey. On the hanging walls of the main hall of Mulin Monastery in Tanzhou, in the renzi year, the Quanzhen follower Xu Zhiguan demolished and destroyed the molded images, replacing them with the Three Purities, calling it the Tianbao Wanshou Palace. At the lands of Xingchan Monastery in Zhangxie Village, southeast of Liangxiang County—date-tree groves, apple orchards, and outer fallow land—Master Qiu's disciple Kong Zhitong forcefully occupied them for farming, mistreating and humiliating the community of nuns. Cases such as these number several hundred. Even Zhuang Qiao's wolf-like fierceness in Southern Jing, or Robber Zhi's overbearing rampancy in Eastern Lu, would not exceed the plunder of the present day! Taking not morality as their mind, they specialized solely in pillage and extortion. Later, when virulent dysentery broke out, [Master Qiu] lay inside a latrine, remaining there for seven days. When disciples went to move him, he refused to stir; utterly exhausted and emaciated, he then deceitfully told them: 'Lying here flat, how is it any different from sleeping?' Two more days passed, and in the end he died squatting in the latrine. Yet his disciples lied to the outside world, saying: 'Our master sought blessings.' The one who compiled Master Qiu's record (collected by Li Haoran) claimed that on that very day he ascended into the resplendent light and transformed, with strange fragrance filling the room! All of this is widely known to everyone, yet they still alter their account; the rest of their dishonest deeds are all like this. Therefore, the people of that time made a rhyme about it, saying: 'A bundle of flesh and gaunt bones, / Changchun suddenly turns into autumn. / Covered in filth, he perished in the latrine; / one stream flows out, making two streams flow!' This is reliable evidence indeed (these were the words of the Fourth Patriarch of the Dadao school), namely on the ninth day of the seventh month in the dinghai year. Later, the Daoist Zhichang, whose courtesy name was Haoran, styled Zhenchangzi, straightened his hairpins and cap to follow in those former tracks. He extorted wealth from Daoists, bribed princes and ministers, used petty and frivolous craft to flatter contemporary trends, falsely usurped the name of Quanzhen, and practiced nothing of the reality of the Dao and its virtue. Screeching like an owl against the correct path, eyeing the Buddhist house like a tiger, relying on wickedness to exert authority, he encroached upon and seized Buddhist monasteries, following Master Qiu's fraudulent tracks and fanning the lingering embers of cruelty. He indulged his subordinates in pillage and gave free rein to his private whims in tearing down and destroying: smashing Buddha images to install Laozi images, abolishing bodhisattvas to erect Heavenly Worthies. Greedy for gain and oblivious to benevolence, his insatiable ambitions knew no bounds. Since other places are far away and people might not yet believe it, let us relate only the capital city and its subordinate prefectures and counties, where they seized monastery cloisters, usurped fields and gardens, ground down steles and pillars, and obliterated Buddha images. A brief citation of one or two will prove their falsity or truth. The Guanyin Cloister at Tongxuan Gate in the capital had a three-bay main hall, complete with molded statues and paintings. Li Zhichang dispatched Daoists of his own abbey to completely destroy the holy images and sculpt the Three Purities. Although repeated complaints were made, they defied the imperial edict and refused to surrender it. Even now, though it has been reformed, nearly thirty bays of the cloisters west of the street have not yet been handed over. At the Jing'en Chan Monastery in the capital, the main hall, monk cells, abbot's quarters, and storehouses totaled more than fifty bays; inside the hall were Amitāyus and images of the Sixteen Contemplations, dazzling with gold and emerald. Female Daoists changed it into the Xiuzhen Daoist Abbey and permanently occupied it as residents. At the Eastern Pagoda Cloister of Minzhong Monastery in the capital, the female Daoist follower Daoxin of the Dadao school occupied it as her residence. At the Cisheng Cloister in the capital, Daoist Recorder Xue of Changchun Palace converted it into Xuandu Abbey and occupied it. At the Tripiṭaka Cloister of the Baota Monastery in the capital, the female Daoist Futong, a subordinate of Tianchang Abbey, occupied and took up residence. Jisheng Monastery in the capital was an ancient monastery of the Tang and Liao, open to the street both front and back, with more than thirty mu of land and over one hundred and ten rooms of quarters; the Quanzhen followers Gong Zhi and [Gong] Lang altered it into Baozhen Abbey, occupying it as resident abbots. Outside the Haohua Gate of the capital, the main hall of Jinqiao Monastery had a Śākyamuni image cast in solid gold; the Quanzhen follower Zhang Zhiguan demolished the main hall, leveled the foundations, and turned it into a graveyard by placing Mr. Qiu's burial mound there. At Jianfu Cloister in Tongma Lane of the capital, the disheveled-hair Mr. Zhang of the Quanzhen school seized and altered it for his residence. At the Hongjiao Cloister of Wan'ying Lane, west of Chuntai Lane in the capital, the main hall, holy hall, monks' quarters, kitchen, storehouses, vegetable garden, and stone stele were completely demolished and destroyed by Mr. Fan; he then took the timber and stone to the east of Senior Secretary Dai's residence and built the Tianqi Rensheng Temple. At Jixiang Cloister in the northwest corner of the capital, Changchun Palace occupied it as a kiln ground for transmuting cinnabar scriptures; even though an imperial edict has judged it, it has still not yet been handed over.

3.2.3

At Miaofeng Cloister in the northern township of Yutian County, Daoist Rong of the Quanzhen completely demolished it, and at Tianjia Village built [dwellings for] Daoist Nuns Yang and Lu to reside. At the Guanyin Cloister in the city of Tongzhou, its front and rear main halls, kitchen-storerooms, and monk cells were seized by Chen Hetong of the Quanzhen, who destroyed the Guanyin [statue], remodelled it into Laozi, and renamed it Tongxian Abbey. At Lingle Monastery in Zhai Village, Wanping County, Liu the Abbey Director of the Quanzhen sold [the statue of] Prince Śākyamuni to others, cracked the stone stelae with fire, hid away the bronze bell, demolished the Buddha hall, destroyed the precious śarīra stupa, leveled the funerary grove, turned it into Tongxian Abbey, and sculpted the Three Pure Ones. At the Sheji Cloister in the city of Zhuozhou, there was a seven-story śarīra stupa over fifty feet high; Master Jia of the Quanzhen broke off the stupa spire during the night, and when questioned and rebuked by the local official, he fled; in the jiayin year, it was changed into Qixian Abbey. In the Guanyin Hall of Xingman Monastery in Zhuozhou, there was a white jade Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, three feet high in seated posture; Chaff-meditation Ren Zhijian smashed it into a total of eleven pieces during the night, entirely occupied the monastery, turned it into Yongning Abbey, and resided there. At Guangyin Monastery, the permanent property and ancient halls were all intact; Master Liang of the Quanzhen turned it into Shifang Abbey and resided there. As for the sacred image in the main hall of Lixi Monastery in Pinggu County, Abbey Director Wang of the Quanzhen destroyed the sculpted statue, occupied and planted a chestnut orchard, ground down the stone stelae, and plowed up the land. Regarding the hall buildings, triple gates, cloud hall, storerooms, water-powered mill, orchards, and land of Shuigu Monastery in Wenjia Village, Abbey Director Wang of the Quanzhen destroyed the sculpted statues, sculpted Laozi instead, completely demolished the main hall of Dubo Monastery, and occupied and planted its chestnut orchard, turning it into a Daoist abbey. At Longquan Monastery in Nianfeng of Shunzhou, its hemp fields, jujube orchards, and other vacant plots were all occupied by Master of the Law Ma and turned into Dadao Abbey. At Beitai Monastery in Anci County, Sheepskin Li of the Quanzhen took it over as tenant; Puci Monastery was completely occupied by Daoist Nun Yang. The subordinate cloister of Taishan Monastery in Zunhua County and the chestnut orchard on Mount Lingying were occupied by Master Liu. The Luowen Valley chestnut orchard of Jingyin Cloister was occupied by Master Zhang. The main hall of Prajñā Cloister and the cloud hall of Zhongtuan Monastery northeast of Zhi County, as well as the cloud hall and triple gates of Jingjia Valley, were all demolished by Master Zhang, who built Kaiyang Abbey in their place. The chestnut orchards and land of Tianxiang Monastery in Jizhou were all taken over as tenancy by Wang Daozheng; the precious śarīra stupa, forty feet high, was demolished by Wang Daozheng, who also took the iron spire atop the stupa for his own use, and he further demolished thirteen funerary stupas. A water-powered mill belonging to a subordinate cloister of Mount Ganquan was forcibly taken and built upon by Master Sun. The subordinate cloister and chestnut orchard of Baoguo Monastery were occupied by Master Jia. The subordinate cloister, fields, and chestnut orchard on Mount Kongtong were occupied by Master Wu, who built an abbey and guarded it. How could examples such as these be fully set forth? In other circuits such as Dongping, Ji'nan, Yidu, Zhending, Henan, Guanxi, Pingyang, Taiyuan, Wushuo, Yunzhong, Baixi, Liaodong, and Feishui, the demolitions, seizures, smashing of pillars, and grinding down of stelae are more than can be told; those roughly known by name amount to more than five hundred locations. All these were directed and executed by Li Zhichang. Moreover, he took for himself tributes of round rice, fruits, preserves, tea, and ginger, racing along post-horse couriers up and down [the country] every year to fawn on the sovereign and seek glory. Not having a mind of modesty and deference, he made it his sole business to flaunt his reputation. During the renchen year, the Qa'an Emperor consoled the people at the bend of the Luo River and punished the guilty at Bianliang; occupied with military campaigns abroad, he had no leisure to attend to internal governance. Yet Zhichang, with a treacherous mind and lurking malice, sought to deceive Buddhism, held the court in contempt, and dared to commit unruly deeds. Taking advantage of the confusion while the state armies were on campaign, at a time when feathered dispatches were flying thick and fast, he indulged vulgar and despicable followers to fabricate groundless scriptures. Now Hu Zhang first compiled the fraudulent accounts, histories, treatises, and sutras, and further expanded the perverse writings, unable to distinguish beans from wheat, confounding past and present. Borrowing the deceptive claims of Wang Fu and taking up the vulgar talk of the Western Ascension, imitating the eighty-two niches of Buddhism to concoct the eighty-one conversions of Laozi, so as to match the number of nine times nine, they trumpeted the style of the two-scroll work [Daodejing]. Thereupon they asserted that Li Er preceded the formless void, while forcing Kāśyapa [Mātanga] to descend during the reign of King Zhuang of Zhou. Relying on and stealing from the Buddhist teachings, they augmented and elaborated on many points. Wishing to place him above Śākyamuni, they claimed that Li Er was born in the year of Yang Jia; wishing to surpass the Confucians, they instituted nine years preceding the Great Change (Taiyi); wishing to parallel the Five Tathāgatas of the Buddhist tradition, they spoke of the five quarters setting forth teachings to save people; intending to steal the Buddhist scriptural account of the world first forming with the wind-wheel spread below, they said that the vapors darted to and fro and transformed into the vapor of Miluo. Matters such as these are difficult to recount one by one. They only wished to mix their muddy flow into that clear Ji River, mingling brass with gold, making it hard to distinguish the Jing from the Wei. Slandering the sage and deceiving the worthy, they hoodwinked the world, blinding the correct eye of others and darkening their own minds. They stifled the gate of Buddhism and cast the correct path into the ravine, flouting the legal codes and having no fear of the state regulations. They had Daoists of Qinchuan covertly carve woodblocks and distribute them, promulgating them in distant regions to avert harm to themselves. Had they not encountered an enlightened sage, how could the true be distinguished from the false? The resurgence of the Buddhadharma awaited the proper time to become manifest: if not for the right person, the Way is not walked in vain. Our Möngke Khan was exceptionally wise and discerning, truly sagacious and enlightened. His governance was concise yet strict, his perspicacity divine and martial. Practicing the excellent precedents of the ancestral founders and drawing upon the grand regulations of past eras, he followed the old statutes and did not forget to offer external protection. When first casting the national seal, he gave precedence to assisting the Buddhist tradition: all Buddhist monks were exempted from corvée and taxes. By imperial decree, he specially bestowed on State Preceptor Namo two thousand ingots of silver (amounting to two hundred thousand taels of paper currency) to cultivate merit for the Buddhist tradition. He also commanded Master Sheng'an to issue five hundred taels of gold and ten thousand taels of silver to conduct a great Buddhist rite at Haotian Monastery (completed only after seven days, feeding more than ten thousand monks). In the Daoist order, Zhichang, having completed the printing blocks for the Chart of the Eighty-One Transformations, widely distributed the copies. [Thinking,] 'If they are not distributed far and wide, how will people know the supremacy of Laozi? It is best to first present them to the court above, and then the rest will naturally bend like grass,' he sent Master Wang of Jinpo and the Daoist Wendihan to carry the copies widely and distribute them everywhere among the court's close ministers. Tulu, Qitai Buhua, and others were all given copies. At that time, Elder Fuyu of Shaolin built a monastery at Qaraqorum, and the Emperor revered him. Seeing that this copy slandered and mocked the Buddhist tradition, he sent the scholar Anzang to present it to Prince Ariq Böke to complain of its falsehoods and absurdities. The Prince opened the chart, examined its principles, and inspected the facts, finding them entirely empty; he then memorialized the Son of Heaven, setting forth in full detail their fraud and usurpation, destroying the Buddhadharma and corrupting public customs. The Son of Heaven, not yet certain of the truth or falsehood, ordered the Elder of Shaolin and the Daoist Li Zhichang to be summoned beneath the Wan'an Pavilion in the imperial palace.

3.2.4

Together with Chancellor Bolad, the imperial princes, and royal relatives, the interpreters Qaraqsun and Academician Anzang [were present]. The Emperor sat on the main throne, thoroughly examining and cross-examining [the texts] face to face. Following the illustrations, they interrogated and probed. [Li] Zhichang was at a loss for words; clasping his hands and crossing his arms, he could only claim to be an ignorant pauper who did not understand, brushing it off as ignorance. [The Elder of] Shaolin reproached him, saying: 'Since you do not understand, how can you direct the teachings?' Zhichang remained silent and said nothing. Shaolin then said: 'The Daoists deceive the state and dare to commit treasonous acts. Now, these illustrations say that Lord Lao, Li, was born before the Five Epochs. From where did such reckless fabrications come? Moreover, according to the Records of the Grand Historian, Laozi and Confucius were contemporaries who lived during the decline of the Zhou. Thus, the early Tang Xiucai Hu Zeng wrote in his Poem on History: "Halberds and spears of the Seven Heroes tangled like hemp; / Across the four seas, no one could sit at home in peace. / Master Lao thought instead to dwell in India, / So he took Xu Jia and headed for the shifting sands." This clearly shows he was a man of the late Zhou period. Why make up such fabrications to deceive the sovereign?' Zhichang said: 'This was made by bad people below; your disciple truly did not know.' Shaolin said again: 'Since Laozi was a great worthy, he ought to have aided the state, pacified the people, and corrected the sovereign's shortcomings. Why then did he sit by watching chaos and ruin, head west to the shifting sands, and unfeelingly refuse to save them? If he could not even put his own homeland in order, yet wished to go far away to convert the Qiang and Hu barbarians, is that not absurd? This is like having fire burning on one's own head that one cannot put out, while wishing to run far off to extinguish a fire on another mountain. Even a fool would know this is preposterous.' Zhichang stood with folded hands in silence, sweating with shame all over his face. Shaolin submitted another memorial, saying: 'The Daoists deceive the court. Relying on immense wealth from afar, they lavishly bribe ministers to curry human favor; relying on their regional arrogance and obstinacy, they encroach upon and seize Buddhist monasteries, defacing Buddhist statues and smashing stone stupas. The white jade statue of Avalokiteśvara at Yuquan Mountain was smashed by Daoists; stone dhāraṇī-pillars everywhere have been toppled by Daoists. They have seized and planted orchards, pears, chestnuts, waters, and estates belonging to the monasteries. Generally speaking, those whose names are known amount to more than five hundred places. Now before the Son of Heaven, we demand that all of them be returned.' Zhichang was willing to surrender them and offered no other reply. Shaolin said further: 'This Picture of the Conversion of the Barbarians was originally a forgery. If the printing blocks are not burned, it will be difficult to block the source of heterodoxy.' Zhichang only said that he was willing to burn them, offering no further defense. The Emperor said: 'As Emperor, what existed of old before I ascended the throne shall be followed according to antiquity. What did not exist before I ascended the throne should not be added anew. Since this was newly compiled by lying Daoists, it cannot be put into practice.' At that time, Lecturer Sheng glared and reviled them, pointing at them as beasts. They were dumbstruck like clods of earth with nothing to say. The Emperor said to his ministers: 'The Daoists are lacking in reason and dare not reply.' The next day, Shaolin again submitted a memorial, stating: 'The successor ancestor of the northern Shaolin Monastery in Shangdu of Qaraqorum, the rustic Xue Ting, sincerely fearful and trembling, knocking his head again and again, respectfully states: I have heard that promoting the upright and setting aside the crooked can make the crooked upright; promoting the crooked and setting aside the upright can make the upright crooked. These two are the fountainhead of reward and punishment, the pivot of order and chaos; nothing fails to spring from within them. Since the birth of humankind, original simplicity had not yet scattered; thus the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors sat facing south with arms folded in their robes, and their governance and teachings were accomplished without severity, and ordered without strictness. For this reason, the sage observes the heavenly patterns to discern seasonal changes, and observes human patterns to transform and complete the realm under heaven. Coming down to the Three Dynasties and thereafter, treacherous villainy sprouted daily; thus sages and worthies appeared at intervals, establishing teachings in response to the times—either washing them with Dao and De, or fortifying them with benevolence and righteousness, so as to nip in the bud the corruptions of later ages. Thereupon our Great Awakened One, Śākyamuni, was born in India on the eighth day of the fourth month in the twenty-fourth year, jia-yin, of King Zhao, the fifth ruler of the Zhou. His father was Emperor Śuddhodana; his mother was the Sage Queen Mahāmāyā. In a dream she perceived a white elephant bearing the sun-disc suddenly descending into her bosom; upon waking she was pregnant, and when her months were fulfilled, the Sage Mother grasped a branch, and he was miraculously born from her right flank. Constellations supported his feet with red lotuses; nine dragons bathed him with fragrant water. With the thirty-two marks he adorned his body; with the eighty minor characteristics he was endowed. Pointing to heaven and earth, he proclaimed himself supreme; manifesting auspiciousness, he responded to the world. Observing suffering at the four gates, he scaled the city wall at midnight; through six years of ascetic practice, he perfected the causes cultivated over vast kalpas; with ten thousand virtues adorning his person, he achieved the fruits of many lifetimes. He taught at more than three hundred assemblies, and propagated the eighty thousand gateways [of the Dharma]. Receiving the entreaty of Pāpīyas, he entered nirvāṇa; following the capacities of sentient beings, he manifested complete extinction. For this reason, his Way surpasses the ordinary and the holy, and his transformation covers humans and devas. Wherever his teachings reached, none failed to sway like waves and bend like grass to follow him, placing his rank at the head of all sages. Those who study his Way: upholding the five precepts, they are replete with the five constant virtues; cultivating the ten virtues, they block the ten non-virtues. The living are set at peace within the kingly way; the deceased rely upon him for rebirth among humans and devas. In its greatness, it suddenly extinguishes the source of birth and death, uniquely transcending the realm of sages and commoners. Following this, there was a worthy of the Eastern Xia, called Lord Lao. He was born in Quren Hamlet, Li Village, Ku County, State of Chu, on the fourteenth day of the ninth month in the second year, bing-chen, of King Ding, the twenty-second emperor of the Zhou. His father was Han Qian; his mother was Jingfu. She was pregnant for eighty-one years, and he was born under a plum tree; because of this, his surname was Li, his given name was Er, and his courtesy name was Boyang. He was four feet six inches tall, with a protruding forehead, thick eyebrows, upturned lips, an elevated nose, pointed shoulders, broad hips, long earlobes, and disheveled hair. Because he was born with white hair, he was called Lao Dan. He kept the Way of standing alone hidden in his heart, and drew upon the virtues of the Three Treasures for his practice, namely compassion, frugality, and not daring to be first in the world. By the second year of King Jian, he served as the Keeper of the Archives; in the fourteenth year, he was promoted to Grand Historian. Coming down to the twenty-third year, ji-mao, of King Jing, because the Seven Heroes divided hegemony and the world was in turmoil, Master Lao could not bear to sit by and watch its decay; with purple vapor floating over the pass, he wished to travel west across the shifting sands. Arriving at Hangu, he met the Pass Keeper Yin Xi, and transmitted to him the two chapters on Dao and De, probing deeply into the principles of the marvelous Way. Thereafter, he was unable to cross the shifting sands and died in Huaili, where he was buried, which is Xingping of the Jingzhao commandery. Those who studied his Way in later times emptied their minds and filled their bellies, wandering in Dao and De and dismissing cleverness, soaring high amid mist and rosy clouds, far transcending the dust of the world; fame and gain could not bend them, and punishment and force could not sway them. Although these two sages differed in time as earlier and later, and their teachings varied in depth, if we examine the minds of these sages, there was never any difference between them.'

3.2.5

At that time, Lecturer Master Sheng [spoke, quoting Fuyu’s memorial]: “Ever since our imperial dynasty’s Sagely Ancestor established the great line of succession, amid the ash of war, there arose scholars who founded their lineage, called the Quanzhen. Donning the caps and robes of Boyang and calling themselves Boyang’s followers, they abandon Boyang’s ancestral temple and contravene Boyang’s Dao and De. Spreading in all directions beyond count, they demolish monasteries and shrines and destroy holy statues. Spurious pictures and texts they fabricate, and unauthorized codes and rituals they falsely institute. Giving free rein to their heterodox doctrines to pander to the times and delude the multitude, they do violence to the Way of the Sages. Arbitrarily using baseless words, they themselves carve [printing blocks], incorporate them into their canon, and designate them as scriptures—truly laughable indeed! Take, for instance, the newly compiled Laozi’s Eighty-One Transformations Illustrated, the Scripture of the Conversion of the Barbarians, and the like: their countless false and preposterous claims cause those who understand to shiver to the teeth upon reading them, and to cover their noses upon hearing them.
“The Illustrations state: ‘In the gengshen year of Yang Jia, the eighteenth king of Yin, the True and Wondrous Jade Maiden lay asleep by day. She dreamed that the essence of the sun, riding nine dragons, descended and transformed into a five-coloured fluid pearl. She swallowed it and became pregnant. After eighty-one years, arriving at the fifteenth day of the second month in the gengchen year of Wu Ding, the twenty-first king, his mother grasped a plum tree, and he was born from her left flank. Lotuses sprang forth at his nine steps, while he paced in all four quarters. The Sun Boy radiated splendour, and the Moon Consort scattered blossoms. The Seven Luminaries shed flowing light, and auspicious clouds shaded the courtyard. The Four Spirits guarded him, and jade maidens received him in their hands. As his mother grasped the branch, ten thousand cranes soared through the sky, and nine dragons spat water. He possessed seventy-two marks and eighty-one minor signs. Pointing to heaven and pointing to earth, he proclaimed: “Only the Dao is uniquely revered!” When he grew up, he served King Wen as the keeper of the archives. Coming down to [the reigns of] Cheng and Kang, he served as the clerk below the pillar, and then abandoned his rank in Zhou.’ One knows not whence such words could have come!
“It also states: ‘On the eighth day of the fourth month in the twenty-fourth year of King Zhao of Zhou, Laozi ascended to the Great Subtlety. He was reborn in the Li family of Chengdu. Meeting Yin Xi, he ascended once more and went to Western India. He made Yin Xi become a buddha to convert the barbarians, shaving his beard and hair to become a monk, and having bound himself by vows, he took refuge in him.’ Such several varieties of preposterous falsehood are entirely the prattle of children!
“Alas! The Buddha was born under King Zhao of Zhou; Laozi was born under King Ding. Yin Xi received the Daodejing in the yimao year of King Jing. Between them lie five hundred and seven years! How could Yin Xi have become a buddha? This is like ‘setting out for Yue today and having arrived yesterday’—is it not excessively preposterous?
“Now, Laozi’s beginning and end are fully recorded in the annals of the Zhou; yet now they claim that he was born from the True and Wondrous Jade Maiden under Yang Jia of Yin. If so, was this True and Wondrous one a mortal or a sage? If a sage, how could Laozi then have served the Zhou as an official? If a mortal, of what clan was she? Furthermore, if Laozi was a sage endowed with ten thousand auspicious portents, how could the people of his day not have known it, and instead treated him merely as an official? What reason could there be to cast off clear intelligence and act with such vulgarity? Should they not feel ashamed?
“Moreover, his grave mound exists today in Huaili. His followers claim that Laozi ascended in broad daylight—how then could there be a grave mound? Yet they abandon it amid thorns and brambles and offer no sacrifices. This is something that anyone possessing the eyes and brows of a human being would not do.
“Zhuangzi and Liezi were also illustrious secondary sages of Boyang’s lineage. Yet Master Zhuang said that when Lao Dan died, Qin Yi mourned him, uttered three cries, and came out. Why alone did he make no mention of his ascension to the Great Subtlety? Master Lie, although having praise for a single good word from the barrier-keeper Yin Xi, also once set it aside; and he was pleased that Master Kong answered that there was a Great Sage in the West, taking it as an ultimate word. Why alone did he make no mention of the conversion of the barbarians? If we briefly adduce these two examples, the many errors will be dissolved.
“Since what is said before and after completely contradicts their own history, it seems not to refer to Lao Dan. If so, is there outside of Lao Dan another Supreme Lord Lao who attained sagethood? Why fabricate falsehoods to slander the sages in this way? Furthermore, in this world there are also the most worthless people; yet how would even a woodcutter or a cowherd boy dare to casually deceive them? How much less a Great Sage! Master Kong said: ‘One who slanders the sages lacks the law.’ This is the way to great disorder!
“Moreover, a new stele of the Three Teachings has been erected in Xuchang, placing Laozi in the seat of honour with the Buddha and the Ru flanking him. This too is an extreme failure to examine antiquity! For the status of the Three Teachings has stood for over a thousand years from the Han until now, just like fingers set upon the palm: short and long, left and right, naturally have their fixed places. How could ordinary men and women alter them? Observing these followers who knit their brows in imitation and forget their roots, they are intent on destroying the Way of the Great Awakened One! Yet it is not that by slandering it they can destroy it; what is pitiable is that the Way of Boyang is swept down to the dust!
“Why is this? It is like wisteria clinging to a tall pine: its branches and leaves luxuriate and its shade covers acres. When woodcutters and cowherds pass by, they look up and sigh, saying: ‘How vast and lush! How luxuriant and flourishing is the wisteria!’ Speaking thus, they do not mention the great root of the pine and cypress. Before long, when the pine has no way to extend its branches and leaves, it withers; when it withers, the wisteria is cut off and falls to the ground, with nowhere to attach itself. Though its deep roots and firm base remain, if one wishes to view it again reaching up to the Milky Way, would that not be far-fetched?
“Alas! The Way of Boyang has come to just such a pass!
“Fortunately, we have encountered our Sovereign, heroic, inheriting the sagely throne, intelligent and wise, who governs heaven. The mirror of Xuanyuan penetrates the eight quarters; the sun of Shun illuminates the four seas. Discerning the finest hair so that nothing remains hidden, he oversees the great succession with impartiality. I humbly pray that he will rectify the canons, plans, instructions, and proclamations of the Three Teachings to preserve and harmonize the Great Peace, establishing a compass and plumb line for ten thousand generations—this is surely no small remedy.
“Rustic that I am, Fuyu, unable to bear looking up to heaven and gazing upon the Sage, with sincere trepidation and sincere fear, bowing my head again and again, respectfully submit these words.”
This was in the eighth month of the yimao year.
After the Emperor had examined it, fully discerning the rights and wrongs and thoroughly understanding good and bad, he issued an imperial decree, saying:
“Great Master Nama and the Elder of Shaolin have submitted a memorial, saying: ‘The Daoist masters have destroyed the scriptures and teachings of Śākyamuni Buddha and have produced false scriptures; they have destroyed holy statues of Śākyamuni Buddha and sculpted Lord Lao [in their place]; and they have sculpted Śākyamuni Buddha to sit below Lord Lao.’ When confronted together with Perfected Master Li and questioned, Perfected Master Li said, ‘I had no knowledge of this at all.’
“Now I commission the various judges headed by Büchür: those who produced the false scriptures and the printing blocks, whoever may have them, confront them with the evidence. If they have truly newly fabricated these lying scriptures, hand them over to Great Master Nama. As for those Daoist masters who produced the false scriptures, when confronted face to face with all the judges headed by Büchür and refuted, decide their guilt; whether light or heavy, Great Master Nama should determine it. Furthermore, regarding those who destroyed statues of Śākyamuni Buddha and Avalokiteśvara and resculpted them as Li the Lord Lao, order those Daoist masters to sculpt statues of Śākyamuni and Avalokiteśvara again as before.”

3.2.6

'After remodeling [the statues], hand them over to the monks. Those Daoist masters who damaged the Buddhist statues shall be punished according to the law. Have witnesses stand before the judicial court, and let Master Namo oversee it. If any monks have damaged images of Laozi to sculpt Buddhist statues, they too shall be punished according to the former precedent.' This imperial decree was issued at Qunao'er on the twenty-ninth day of the ninth month of the yimao year [1255]. Because of this imperial decree, Master Namo saw that the Daoist masters had usurped Fengfu Monastery and other monasteries, but the masters refused to hand them over; furthermore, the masters had smashed the white jade Avalokiteśvara at Mount Yuquan and refused to pay restitution. He sent the Elder of Shaolin and Elder Jindeng to Dexing Prefecture before the present Emperor to proclaim the former imperial decree and demand restitution at once. The Elder of Shaolin had already drawn up the formal recognizance, yet Zhang Zhijing, the acting head of the Daoist order, deceitfully tried to prevaricate and refused to hand [them] over. The present Emperor was furious and ordered Palace Attendant Liu Hözersü to strike and berate him. With blood streaming down his head and face, [Zhang Zhijing] showed no shame at all. The next year, the envoy Hudu-sun was dispatched down. Following the original intent of the Emperor's decree, when all matters were adjudicated and boundary walls were erected, [the property] was handed over to the community of Fengfu Monastery. Originally, in the imperial decree of Möngke Khan, it was entrusted to the jarquči Bujir and other judicial officials that thirty-seven monasteries and lands in various circuits where Daoist masters were residing and which ought to be returned should all be handed over to the Buddhist order; however, Li Zhichang did not comply with the adjudication. He sent the Daoist Register Fan to submit another memorial requesting an imperial decree, concocting a different pretext that, according to the Noyan Quduqu, once registered, no alterations were allowed. Although this memorial was submitted, it was not granted. Yet the Daoist Fan Zhiying merely spoke to Qitai-buqa and falsely propagated an imperial decree, seizing all of them at once on that pretext and tearing down the boundary walls again. In the fifth month of the binchen year [1256], Master Namo, together with Elder Shaolin, Elder Heng of Fengfu, General Director Master Wen'an, Elder Mai of Kaijue, Elder Jin of Daming, Elder Yun of Shangfang, Lecturer Lang of Zifu, the Lesser Great Master Tabi Somśrī, Director Yao'ashi of Zhongshan, and the Interpreter Mongoltai along with Upper Qara went up to Qaraqorum to await Li Zhichang and the others, in order to face the court together and hold a great debate with the Daoist masters. On the sixteenth day of the seventh month, they had an audience with the Emperor at the Sira Ordo south of the city of Qaraqorum. The Emperor led the masters inside, received them with a warm countenance, and bestowed gold and silk upon them, specifically waiting for the Daoists to debate and clarify the true and the false. But Li Zhichang was cowardly and did not dare to go. He reflected that previously before the Son of Heaven he had only pleaded ignorance, and now, confronting them again, he feared falling into defeat. He therefore dispatched the acting head Zhang Zhijing (style Yiqing), Wei Zhongping, Wendahan, and others to drag their feet and advance slowly, watching the monks from afar and refusing to meet face to face. Spying that the monks had withdrawn from court, they then resumed their journey. The Son of Heaven and Prince Ariq Böke knew that these Daoists were in the wrong; though [the Daoists] spoke much, [the princes] ultimately paid no heed to their words. As Li Zhichang saw the monks journeying upward, his advances and retreats were fraught with distress; brooding within, he developed a carbuncle on the head. His legs trembled and his spirit was terrified; furthermore, he was struck with terror by a thunderclap, and consequently he passed away. Therefore, people of the time composed a poem chanting: 'Before the hawthorn fruit inn, an elixir of immortality, / Old Qiu handed it down to Li Zhenchang. / Three thousand royal maidens in the Pavilion of Everlasting Spring, / Twelve jasper chambers in the Hall of the Reclining Moon. / Swallowing qi transformed into debilitating dysentery, / Ingesting auroras turned into a carbuncle on the head. / The full measure of Quanzhen's karma has been reached over the years; / A thunderclap rips through the eaves, incrimination from the Jade Emperor.' Those who heard it took it as the truth. (This was in the sixth month of the wuwu year [1258].) Because of the grand assembly of princes and the lavish conferral of rewards, as for the matter of the debate between Buddhists and Daoists, the Emperor ordered Prince Ariq Böke to interrogate them on his behalf and report all matters in detail. Originally, regarding Faxing Monastery at Zhongpan on Mount Pan, when the heavenly troops first passed through during the haizi years [1215–1216], there were rarely any monks. Mount Haishan was a descendant of Old Master Benwu; Elder Zhen first resided at the Upper Peak, gathering acorns and chestnuts for food to get by day and night. The disciples of Quanzhen, relying on the power of Old Qiu, plotted to seize Zhongpan. They went to Elder Zhen under the false pretext of borrowing lodgings. Thinking that Daoists sheltering there was still better than desolation, Elder Zhen allowed them to stay provisionally. Having occupied it for a long time, Wang Daozheng, Monastery Supervisor Chen, Master Wu, and others plotted permanent possession. They dismantled the halls and buildings, smashed the Buddha statues, and falsely submitted a memorial to Her Majesty the Queen Mother, erecting a stele and changing the plaque to Qiyun Daoist Abbey. Within it, the precious reliquary stupa of the ancient Buddha, two hundred feet high, was flattened to the ground. The portrait hall, the main hall, the triple gate, and the cloud hall were all torn down and destroyed. Repeatedly the monks contested this, but could not redress it. In the yimao year [1255], an imperial decree adjudicated that it be given to the monks, but [the Daoists] refused to hand it over. Later, Elder Yun of Shangfang, indignant at their lack of reason, shattered their stele and memorialized the present Emperor. He also went with Master Namo and the Elder of Shaolin to have an audience with Möngke Khan and laid out the facts in detail. An imperial decree entrusted the present Emperor with rectifying the abuse and returning it to a Buddhist monastery. This was on the fourth day of the ninth month of the wuwu year [1258]. The old Buddhist statues and the Sixteen Arhats of Shuigu Monastery in Dexing Prefecture were all carved of stone, consummate in miraculous craft. After the fires of war, there were no monks guarding them. Several Daoists stealthily took up residence there. As time passed, fearing that monks would contest them, they obliterated the traces by destroying all the statues and filling the water moat with them. Later, monks contested it; [the Daoists] denied [they were Buddhist], claiming it was originally a Daoist abbey, until the monks searched and dredged up the statues, whereupon the Daoists submitted. Elder Yun, the Director of Shangfang, carried the head of a damaged statue to memorialize the imperial court. Prince Ariq Böke, seeing it, was moved with sorrow. He immediately summoned Master Wang of Jinpo, the Daoist Director of Right Rites, shot at him with whistling arrows, and struck him with stones, until blood flowed from the Daoist's head. He said to the Daoist: 'The true body of the Buddha is utterly beyond form, just like empty space, which cannot be destroyed. Even the eyes cannot perceive it; how could it be harmed? It is only that you in your ignorance produce the seeds of hell. Even though in your perverse folly you could destroy what exists in the worldly realm, have you ever harmed the true body of the Buddha?' Knowing clearly that the Daoists had encroached upon Buddhist monasteries and damaged Buddhist statues, these were not empty words. Furthermore, at Mount Yuquan north of Yan, there was originally a white jade Avalokiteśvara statue; it was smashed by Daoists, with the body and head severed. They broke stone stupas and hollowed out stones into caves, carving Daoist images inside. Flaunting flattery toward the imperial court, they claimed it as a place of cultivating merit for the state and cast slips into the blessed land, wishing to usurp it permanently for fear of future disputes.

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辯偽錄 — Classical Chinese