法苑珠林 79.39

79.39

昔後周承魏運。魏接晉基。餘則偏王所無依據。而宋齊梁陳之日。自有司存。國亡帝落。遂即從諸筆削。可不然乎。周之先祖宇文覺者。即西魏大丞相黑泰之世子也。泰舉高陽王為魏帝。西遷長安。改衣幡為皂色。號大統元年。一十八載。改年廢帝。立魏齊王。四年而薨。覺承魏禪。當年被廢。立弟毓為帝。四年而崩。立弟邕為帝。太祖第三子也。開闊大度。統御群小。立十二年殺叔大冢宰。晉國公護父子十人大臣六家。改元建德。至三年內。納道士張賓妖佞云。佛法於國不祥。遂滅除之。至建德六年。東平齊國。又殄前代數百年來公私寺塔。掃地除盡。融刮聖容。焚燒經典。州縣佛寺出四十千。盡賜王公。三方釋子減三百萬。還歸編戶。帝以為大周天下無事。不謂禍災身遂大患。志高慮遠。改元宣政五月而崩。太子贇立。殺齊王父子八人。改元大成。二月立子衍為太子。禪位與之。改元大象。自號天元皇帝。立四皇后。威儀服飾倍多於古。大象二年五月天元崩。子衍立。正月一日改元大定。二月禪位於隋。周凡五帝。二十五年。治於長安（右二驗出唐高僧傳記）。

In the past, the Later Zhou inherited the destiny of the Wei, and the Wei succeeded the foundation of the Jin; as for the rest, they were peripheral rulers with no legitimate basis. During the days of the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen, there were official scribes in place; when a state perished and an emperor fell, their records were then subjected to historical editing—could it be otherwise? The ancestor of the Zhou, Yuwen Jue, was the legitimate heir of Black Tai, the Grand Chancellor of Western Wei. Tai raised up the King of Gaoyang as the Wei Emperor, moved westward to Chang'an, changed the color of clothing and banners to black, and designated the first year of Datong. After eighteen years, changing the era name, he deposed the emperor and enthroned the King of Qi of the Wei, who died after four years. Jue received the abdication of the Wei, but was deposed that same year. His younger brother Yu was enthroned as emperor, dying after four years. His younger brother Yong was enthroned as emperor; he was the third son of Taizu. Open-minded and magnanimous, he governed the populace. Twelve years after ascending the throne, he executed his uncle, the Grand Tutor and Duke of Jin, Yuwen Hu, along with his ten sons and six ministerial families, changing the era name to Jiande. In the third year, he accepted the demonic flattery of the Daoist Zhang Bin, who claimed that the Buddha's Dharma was inauspicious to the state, and thereupon eradicated it. By the sixth year of Jiande, having pacified the Qi state in the east, he further obliterated public and private temples and pagodas from several hundred years of preceding dynasties, sweeping them away completely. He melted down and scraped away holy images and burned scriptures. Over forty thousand Buddhist temples across prefectures and counties were all bestowed upon princes and dukes. Nearly three million monastic disciples in the three quarters were returned to the household registers. The emperor believed that the realm of the Great Zhou was without trouble, not foreseeing that disaster and calamity would swiftly bring great suffering to his own person. He had lofty ambitions and far-reaching plans; he changed the era name to Xuanzheng, and passed away in the fifth month. The Crown Prince Yun was enthroned; he killed the King of Qi and his eight sons, changed the era name to Dacheng, and in the second month established his son Yan as crown prince, abdicating the throne to him and changing the era name to Daxiang. He titled himself the Celestial Yuan Emperor and established four empresses, with ceremonial regalia and apparel twice as lavish as in antiquity. In the fifth month of the second year of Daxiang, the Celestial Yuan passed away, and his son Yan was enthroned. On the first day of the first month, he changed the era name to Dading; in the second month, he abdicated to the Sui. The Zhou had five emperors in all, spanning twenty-five years, ruling from Chang'an. (The two evidential accounts above are taken from the *Tang gaoseng zhuan ji*.)