辯偽錄 4.2.3

4.2.3

"Recently, we have heard that Daoist abbeys everywhere have falsely circulated the apocryphal books on the Conversion of the Barbarians along with other chronicles. Their phrasing is base and vulgar, hardly bearable to hear. They utter malicious speech like owls and hawks, and vent bitter venom like scorpion stings. They narrate bewitching falsehoods to mislead people's minds, and spread licentious books to disrupt natural dispositions. They do little good and immense evil, dishonouring the canonical codes of the ancient worthies and corrupting the moral influence of human relations. When the imperial decree arrives, [these texts] shall be seized and brought forward, and in the presence of the gathered crowds in Yanjing, they shall all be incinerated to block the source of heterodoxy. If anyone privately conceals them, they shall be sentenced according to the regulations."
From this moment, leaves fell and branches snapped; clouds dispersed and mists cleared away. It resembled a great furnace consuming fine feathers, or a blazing sun melting thin ice; the side of defeat and victory could be seen here. Temporarily abiding in the samādhi of loving-kindness, the demonic hordes were already vanquished; lightly brandishing the sword of wisdom, the heterodox teaching was instantly eliminated. One may say this swept clean the realm and greatly promoted the profound tradition. The sun of the Buddha thereby increased its brilliance, and the clouds of Dharma therefore spread widely. Thanks to the imperial court opening the path of correct awakening, the common people were delivered from the confinement of heterodox views. Precisely on this day, since [the cart] is fully laden, let them all be promptly burned together! But tell me, after they are burned, what kind of matter will be accomplished? Do all of you understand yet? "The west wind also knows to detest the scattered mess / and blows away the Daoist ashes of that year." (On the seventh day of the ninth month of the jiwei year, a platform was built in front of Minzhong Temple in Zhongdu. Monks, Daoists, officials, and gentry and commoners in the city were assembled to burn all Daoist canonical scriptures and chronicles from every circuit, and the printing blocks for their publication were all destroyed and eradicated, sweeping away their heterodox traces. It was further decreed that Daoist abbeys in the defeated regions must not privately conceal them; violators would be punished.) Now, a platform was built on top to commemorate that place. The monasteries throughout the empire that had been occupied were also immediately rectified. All the star-crowns and robe-vestments were distributed widely among the Western Tibetans, the Muslims (Huihui), and the Kingdom of Dali, letting all hear and witness. The tonsured Daoists were dispersed throughout the monasteries without a single one escaping; if any fled, they were punished as thieves.

When the debate ended at that time, there was a Daoist who concealed his name and surname, unable to contain his wrath. He submitted a memorial claiming he was 380 years old, deceptively alleging longevity to disparage the Buddhist monks. The emperor summoned and asked him, "Since you have lived for so many years, back during the reign of the retired emperor of the Song, what fault did the monks commit that made them wear [Daoist] caps?" The Daoist said, "I lived in the mountains and do not know about this matter." The emperor said, "Since you claim to be three hundred, why do you say you do not know? Since you cannot know, you are a liar." He dispatched his subordinate, the Academician Zhang Zhongqian, to investigate his age thoroughly; he turned out to be in his thirties, originally a man of Xingzhou. The emperor was enraged by his dishonesty; initially he was sentenced to hard labor on the road, and in the end he was fed to leopards. Alas! When cultivating virtue, the mind is at ease and becomes daily more blessed; when manufacturing falsehood, the mind labors and becomes daily more clumsy. Jie and Zhou belonged to different eras yet were equal in wickedness; scoundrels live in different generations yet are equivalent in duplicity. How true this saying is!

Originally, when Master Qiu went west in the renwu year to meet Taizu, he was seventy-four or seventy-five, and by his passing he was barely near eighty. Yet Liu Wen deceitfully told Taizu that Master Qiu was more than three hundred years old; when Taizu asked him his age, he pretended he did not know. Therefore, Upāsaka Zhanran recorded these words in the Record of the Journey to the West to expose his deception of the sovereign. Now, this Daoist has followed in those footsteps again. Once a word has left the mouth, even a team of four horses cannot overtake it. Giving rein to stubbornness and wild talk, his corpse was ultimately buried in the belly of a leopard. An illness reaching the vitals cannot be treated; a mind like an obstinate rock is difficult to turn back. When the cart in front has overturned its shaft, the cart behind still does not change its tracks. Heterodoxies and fabricated falsities have constantly arisen through successive dynasties; let us briefly recount two or three to expose their villainy.

First, in the Later Han, Zhang Daoling, a man of Pei, traveled as a guest to Shu and resided on Mount Heming. He fabricated Daoist books and invented codes and rituals, tethering a crane to the mountain top to entice and deceive the indigenous people. Those who venerated his Dao gave five pecks of rice, and at the time they were called "Rice Thieves." Later he was swallowed by a great serpent, his body buried in a python's belly; his disciples falsely claimed he ascended to heaven in his whole body.

In the Later Wei, Kou Qianzhi, courtesy name Fuzhen, called himself Celestial Master. He flattered and misled Emperor Taiwu, building the Palace of the Pure Wheel Heaven on Mount Songgao. Taiwu personally received talismans and registers; the banners favoured green to match the color of the Daoists, aspiring to long life. Yet Taiwu fell ill with a pestilence, and Kou Qianzhi himself died early, toiling and harassing the myriad commoners without bringing the slightest benefit.

Lu Xiujing, a Daoist of Jinling, with his glib tongue and sharp speech, augmented and formulated talismans and chapters, falsely presenting the Three Registers to save the world and avert misfortunes. When Emperor Wu of Liang renounced the service of Laozi and issued an edict throughout the empire, the Daoist path could not thrive; he thereupon led his disciples north to take refuge with the Northern Qi, generously offering gold and silk to distribute among the princes and dukes in hopes of promoting Daoist methods. Exclusively relying on shallow arts, he wished to enhance his reputation. Emperor Wenxuan tested them, but not a single one proved effective: those who ascended into the sky fell beneath the terrace, and those who entered fire singed their eyebrows.

In the Tang, the sorcerer Ye Jingsheng disturbed the sovereign with bewitching arts, guiding Xuanzong by night to roam the Moon Palace; yet An Lushan brought about disaster, almost destroying the dynasty. The Daoist Zhao Guizhen skillfully sought praise with clever words and misled Emperor Wuzong, practicing filthy arts of harmonizing qi and consuming toxic elixirs of metals and stones; before longevity was verified, he died prematurely from the drugs' scorching heat.

Under the Song, Lin Lingsu showed off petty tricks, flattering the sovereign to gain glory. By night he led the retired emperor in a dream to roam the Divine Empyrean, bewildering ears and eyes, and was named Celestial Master. Soon after, the Bian River flooded and drowned commoners; the emperor ordered Lin to control it, but not the slightest result was achieved. The surging waves boiled up to the Tianjin Bridge; court and countryside were terrified, having nowhere to plead. The retired emperor burned incense, prayed to the Buddha, confessed his faults, and reproached himself. This moved the Great Sage Saṅgha of Sizhou to manifest his form; the cloudy billows naturally subsided, the myriad people rejoiced, and Lin fled into exile.

In the final era of the Jin dynasty, there was Master Wugulun, who always draped a hemp quilt over himself and roved the neighborhoods on foot. Shouting into the void and scolding the crowds, he falsely called himself an immortal. Among the base and foolish rabble, some even believed him. Emperor Aizong was misled by him and placed considerable trust in his vulgar arts, giving free rein to the Daoist's cunning nature to perform lewd and debauched practices in the world. The Daoist was ensnared in the legal net, and Emperor Aizong lost his life in Caizhou.

Such villainies have constantly occurred throughout the dynasties. At first, the calamity spread to the neighborhoods, and ultimately it overthrew the state. It is like an evil fox presenting itself as an omen of fortune, or vipers venting their venom. Using anomalies to breed anomalies, fabricating falsehood upon falsehood; listening to them fills the ears abundantly, but seeking them out is like grasping the wind and chasing shadows. They dissipate the purity of morality, fan the depraved winds of degeneration, defile human relations, and damage the imperial transformation. How much more do they display obstinate blindness, having no fear of the dynastic laws and devoid of supreme goodness!