辯偽錄 4.2.2

4.2.2

The name of the Buddha is heard throughout the world. How could [the virtues of benevolence and righteousness] be equated with the Buddha? Since the Daoists' statements lacked foundation, their faces turned red and they were at a loss for words. Earlier, Shaolin had submitted a memorial to Möngke Khan arguing that Daoism was not genuine. Among [the Daoists] there was one who could not contain his indignation and spoke in a loud voice to Shaolin, saying: 'Your memorial slanders Lord Li Lao, claiming that he actually died, falsely citing Zhuangzi where Qin Yi mourned him. This was merely an allegory by Zhuang Zhou; how can it be relied upon?' Shaolin said: 'The book of Zhuangzi is revered by Daoists as primary. If it is an allegory, then the statements in the Daoist Canon contain nothing truthful.' The Daoist was again confounded. The Emperor asked Perfected Zhang: 'Do you wish to continue the debate?' Perfected Zhang said: 'I dare not continue the debate.' The Sovereign said: 'You often say that among the Daoists there are many who are thoroughly versed in the methods of prohibitions and spells: some enter fire without being burned, some ascend in broad daylight, some summon back the spirits of the deceased, some banish demons and sever ghosts, some ingest qi and never grow old, or retain the essence and live long. Display all such methods today!' Perfected Zhang made no reply at all. As the sun was setting and the pavilion grew dark, the Emperor said: 'The Daoists speak falsely and seize upon vacuity. According to the earlier agreement, take off their robes and remove their caps, and immediately shave their heads!' There were seventeen who were actively debating at the time. When the debate concluded, Master Nama dispatched Ming, General Supervisor of the Western Capital; Ding, Monastic Arbiter of Yanjing; Zhang, Administrative Supervisor of Yutian; Pang, Monastic Registrar of Dexing Prefecture; and the regional monastic officials to escort them under guard to Yanjing. Once they entered the capital gates, Master Tabi, Somaśrī, had the Daoists hang their starry caps and robes on long poles to make it known to all, and ordered that the four hundred and eighty-two monasteries, mountain forests, waters, and lands they had occupied be returned to the Buddhists. Furthermore, the Great Void Sovereign Pavilion occupied by the Changchun Palace of Fengfu Monastery in Yanjing was returned to Elder Jindeng. The aforementioned spurious scriptures such as the Eighty-One Transformations and their printing blocks were all ordered to be burned. As for stele inscriptions, sculpted statues, and painted images throughout the realm that had no basis in Daoism, they were all to be completely eradicated. The Shaolin Elder conferred with the monks, saying: 'If we take them all, people may criticize us for relying on power.' Thus they returned two hundred and eighty places and only took two hundred and two places. Both great and small praised this, lauding the Buddhist fold for its great deference. The reigning Emperor then issued an imperial edict: 'In accordance with the imperial edict previously decreed by Möngke Khan: Earlier, the Shaolin Elder reported that the Daoist masters headed by Perfected Li had carved and manufactured lying texts, such as the Huahu jing, the Treatise on Ten Anomalies and Nine Delusions, the Treatise on Restoring the Pure Transformation, the Treatise on Clarifying the True and Distinguishing the False, the Correction of Slander Against Daoism and Exposition of Scriptures, the Discussion on Expelling Heterodoxy and Returning to the Right, and the Illustrated Eighty-One Transformations. Upon receiving the imperial edict, we have been entrusted with this matter. We assembled everyone together, and the Buddhist monks and Daoist masters debated face to face. Because the masters' foundations were built on falsehoods, the many lying texts of the Huahu jing and the printing blocks carved for them, which the monks pointed out and explained, have been burned and destroyed. Having made this decree, we feared that others might not search them all out exhaustively. Perfected Zhang was ordered to personally dispatch his own men to retrieve the aforementioned scriptures and printing blocks from all places and gather them in Yanjing within two months to be burned and destroyed. Furthermore, wherever there are inscriptions on stelae or pillars, or sculpted or painted wall images derived from these lying texts, the masters in each place shall immediately grind them down and scrape them away. The masters must not conceal them. If anyone conceals them and someone reports it, that master will be guilty of a major crime.' This was promulgated on the eleventh day of the seventh month in the wuwu year. Having listened to the reading [of the edict], Perfected Zhang dispatched men to the Yuntai Daoist Monastery to seize the lying, spurious scriptures—such as the Huahu jing and the Illustrated Eighty-One Transformations—and their printing blocks, as well as the spurious scriptures in Daoist monasteries everywhere, and transported them by cart to Yanjing. To the southwest of the main hall of the Great Minzhong Monastery, in the presence of all the civil and military officials, they were all burned. Monk Jian of Wanshou stepped forward to apply the fire, saying: 'I have humbly heard that since the beginning of the Three Origins and Five Phases, among the writings of the hundred schools and various philosophers, there are none that do not speak of the norms of human relations, trustworthiness, and righteousness, or recount the way of Yao, Shun, the Duke of Zhou, and Master Kong. Yet grasping their essentials, they have not reached the source of the absolute and conventional; expounding their principles, they do not exceed the realm of being and non-being. How could they compare to the unimpeded knowledge of the three comprehending insights, which the hundred spirits cannot match, or the peerless honor of the Ten Powers, which a thousand sages cannot equal? Brahmā looks up to him; Śakra takes him as master. His Path delivers the four modes of birth, and his transformation permeates the trailokya. When his perfect voice sounds once, the heterodox paths lose their vanguard; when the Dharma drum is momentarily struck, the heavenly Māras bow their heads. Therefore the Buddha is called the Teacher of Gods and Men, the Unsurpassed Great Dharma King. How could he vie in virtue or contend in merit with Laozi of the declining Zhou? However, as the flow of the Dharma grew distant, demons and outsiders multiplied. Thereupon, the Quanzhen gathered Daoist canons that fill cases and overflow tables; yet in vain do they contain numerous recipes for cultivation. Piled on desks and packing trunks, they emptily speak of methods of guiding qi. Extending life and warding off old age have been baseless legends since ancient times; how many have there been up to now who ascended as feathered immortals with everlasting life? Helplessly, the Libationer Daoist Wang Fu, his aspirations falling short in canonical learning and his wisdom shameful as measuring the ocean with a conch shell, boasted of the wings of a small bird hoping to shock Mount Tai, and carried the glow of a torch to vie in radiance with the sun and moon. Venting his personal resentments, he spoke out in defiance, falsely uttering the conversion of the barbarians and erroneously proclaiming the 'ten anomalies.' His heterodox words confused the right, and his demonic eloquence resembled the truth. He plagiarized Buddhist scriptures and threw the sacred texts into chaos, entirely devoid of scruple, indulging in his wild madness. Walking on water to preach nirvāṇa had no basis whatsoever; treading on fire to speak of the wondrous Dharma was like the antics of actors. Using Sanskrit as Chinese, and placing the cap upon the feet, his writings contained many errors and the meanings were contradictory. Since his deceit and fabrication are self-evident, why bother to elaborate? Since they were not composed by Laozi, destroying them will benefit the living populace; furthermore, since they were spoken by a vulgar person, eliminating them will bring glory to the former sages. Humbly receiving our sagely dynasty's lord of the realm and the wise kings of the great state, who have met the destiny of a thousand years and settled the fortunes of the sovereign throne, their virtue in aiding the imperiled and rescuing the world surpasses Tang and Wu to stand singularly high, and their merit in pacifying the vicious and eliminating the violent exceeds the Han and Tang to shine uniquely prominent. Vast and majestic, their holy virtue is difficult to name. Moreover, they set their hearts on the Buddhist teachings and fix their intent upon the Buddhist gate; their aspiration is to restore purity and their sentiment is to remove falsehood. When principles are violated and affairs are aberrant, even those who are close will surely be eliminated; when righteousness is fitting and names correspond, even those who are distant will surely be promoted.'