三教平心論 1.3

1.3

that the effortless Way of the ancient sages turns into a source of contentious dispute. How lamentable indeed! Recently, I examined this treatise on principle composed by Scholar Jingzhai: its words are concise, its principles exhaustive, fully good and fully beautiful. It plumbs the origins of Confucianism and Daoism and opens the profound secrets of the gate of Śākya. In analyzing doubts and discerning right from wrong, it never fails to proceed from impartial judgment. It is like the stars upon a steelyard, leaving no discrepancy in weight; or like a mirror before its stand, making it impossible to conceal beauty or ugliness. The composition of this treatise truly has good reason. Upright Layman Wu Dinglai of Tongcheng, whose wisdom and understanding are transcendent and whose associations are entirely fair-minded (the term “associations” comes from the Shiji, meaning that words and intentions agree, and one associates with them as friends), commissioned artisans to carve it into printing blocks in order to spread its transmission broadly. He wished to cause readers—such as Bai Juyi, Zhang Shangying, and other worthies of the Tang and Song dynasties—to examine its ultimate principle and directly proceed