法苑珠林 55.112

55.112

魏書云。正光元年。明帝加朝服大赦天下。召佛道二宗門人殿前。齋訖侍中劉騰宣勅。請法師等與道士論議。以釋弟子疑網。時清通觀道士姜斌與融覺寺僧曇謨最對論。帝曰。佛與老子同時不斌曰。老子西入化胡。佛時以充侍者。明是同時。最曰。何以知之。斌曰。案老子開天經。是以得知。最曰。老子當周何王幾年而生。周何王幾年西入。斌曰。當周定王即位三年乙卯之歲。於楚國陳苦縣厲鄉曲仁里。九月十四日夜子時生。至周簡王四年丁丑歲。事周為守藏吏。簡王十三年遷為太史。至敬王元年庚辰歲。年八十五。見周德凌遲與散關令尹喜西入化胡。斯足明矣。最曰。佛以周昭王二十四年四月八日生。穆王五十三年二月十五日滅度。計入涅槃後經三百四十五年。始到定王三年。老子方生。生已年八十五。至敬王元年凡經四百二十五年。始與尹喜西遁。據此年載懸殊無乃謬乎。斌曰。若佛生周昭之時。有何文記。最曰。周書異記漢法本內傳。並有明文。斌曰。孔子既是制法聖人。當時於佛逈無文記何耶。最曰。仁者識同筦窺覽不弘遠。案孔子有三備卜經。謂天地人也。佛之文言出在中備。仁者早自披究不有此迷。斌曰。孔子聖人不言而知。何假卜乎。最曰。惟佛是眾聖之王。四生之導首。達一切含靈。前後二際吉凶終始。不假卜觀。自餘小聖。雖曉未然之理。必藉蓍龜以通靈卦也。侍中尚書令元文。宣勅語道士姜斌等。論無宗旨宜退下席。又問。開天經何處得來。是誰所說。即遣中書侍郎魏收尚書郎祖瑩等就觀取經。帝令議之。太尉丹陽王蕭綜大傅李寔衛尉許伯桃吏部尚書邢欒散騎常侍溫子昇等一百七十人讀訖。奏云。老子止著五千文。更無言說。臣等所議。姜斌罪當惑眾。帝加極刑。時有三藏法師菩提流支。行佛慈化。諫帝乃止。配徒馬邑（右二驗出梁高僧傳）。

The Book of Wei states: In the first year of Zhengguang, Emperor Ming put on the court robes, proclaimed a grand amnesty under heaven, and summoned disciples of both the Buddhist and Daoist traditions to the front of the palace hall. After the vegetarian meal was finished, the Palace Attendant Liu Teng proclaimed an imperial decree, requesting the Dharma masters and others to debate with the Daoists so as to resolve the web of doubts among disciples. At that time, the Daoist Jiang Bin of Qingtong Monastery and the monk Tanmoxi of Rongjue Temple debated with one another. The Emperor said, 'Were the Buddha and Laozi contemporaneous or not?' Bin said, 'Laozi went west to convert the barbarians, and at that time the Buddha served as his attendant; clearly they were contemporaneous.' Xi asked, 'How do you know this?' Bin said, 'According to the Laozi Kaitian jing, it is known through that.' Xi asked, 'Under which King of Zhou and in which year was Laozi born? Under which King of Zhou and in which year did he go west?' Bin said, 'In the yimao year, the third year after King Ding of Zhou ascended the throne, in Chen of the state of Chu, in Quren hamlet, Lixiang, Ku county, he was born at the zi hour on the night of the fourteenth day of the ninth month. By the dingchou year, the fourth year of King Jian of Zhou, he served Zhou as Keeper of the Archives. In the thirteenth year of King Jian, he was promoted to Grand Astrologer. By the gengchen year, the first year of King Jing, at eighty-five years of age, seeing that the virtue of Zhou was in decline, he went west with the Guardian of the Sanguan Pass, Yin Xi, to convert the barbarians. This is quite clear.' Xi said, 'The Buddha was born on the eighth day of the fourth month in the twenty-fourth year of King Zhao of Zhou, and entered extinction on the fifteenth day of the second month in the fifty-third year of King Mu. Calculating after his entry into nirvāṇa, three hundred and forty-five years elapsed before reaching the third year of King Ding, when Laozi was only then born. Having been born, by the time he was eighty-five, reaching the first year of King Jing, four hundred and twenty-five years in all had passed before he first fled west with Yin Xi. Based on this discrepancy in years, is it not a sheer falsehood?' Bin said, 'If the Buddha was born in the time of King Zhao of Zhou, what written records are there?' Xi said, 'The Zhoushu yiji and the Han faben neizhuan both contain clear texts.' Bin said, 'Since Confucius was a sage who instituted the laws, why was there utterly no written record concerning the Buddha at that time?' Xi said, 'Your knowledge is like peering through a tube; your vision is not broad. According to the Sanbei bujing of Confucius—referring to Heaven, Earth, and Man—the Buddha's words appear in the middle record [concerning Man]. If you had investigated it early on, you would not harbor this delusion.' Bin said, 'Confucius, as a sage, knew without speaking; why would he rely on divination?' Xi said, 'Only the Buddha is the King of All Sages and the foremost guide of the four modes of birth. He thoroughly comprehends all sentient beings and the good and bad fortune, the beginning and the end of the two extremes of past and future without relying on divination. Other lesser sages, although they comprehend principles that have not yet manifested, must rely on yarrow stalks and tortoiseshells to communicate with the spiritual hexagrams.' Yuan Wen, the Palace Attendant and President of the Department of State Affairs, proclaimed the imperial decree telling the Daoist Jiang Bin and others, 'Your discourse lacked fundamental principles; you should withdraw to the lower seats.' He also asked, 'From where was the Kaitian jing obtained, and by whom was it spoken?' Thereupon the Vice Director of the Secretariat Wei Shou, the Bureau Director in the Department of State Affairs Zu Ying, and others were dispatched to the monastery to fetch the scripture. The Emperor ordered it to be deliberated upon. The Grand Defender and Prince of Danyang Xiao Zong, Grand Tutor Li Shi, Commandant of the Palace Guard Xu Botao, Minister of Personnel Xing Luan, Cavalier Attendant-in-Ordinary Wen Zisheng, and others—one hundred and seventy people in all—finished reading it and memorialized, 'Laozi authored only the five thousand words, and spoke no other teachings. In the deliberation of your subjects, Jiang Bin's crime is deceiving the multitude.' The Emperor was about to impose the supreme penalty, but at that time the Tripiṭaka Dharma Master Bodhiruci, practicing the Buddha's compassionate transformation, admonished the Emperor, who then desisted. Bin was exiled to Mayi. (The above two evidential accounts are drawn from the Liang Gaoseng zhuan.)