法苑珠林 55.70

55.70

Moreover, examining the fourteenth year of the Yongping era under Emperor Ming of the Later Han, Chu Shanxin and other Daoists, numbering 690 persons, heard that the Buddhist teachings had entered Luoyang and requested a test of skill. They brought together Daoist scriptures and texts, totalling thirty-seven divisions and 744 fascicles; among these, fifty-nine fascicles were Daoist scriptures, and the remaining 235 fascicles were texts of the various philosophers. Furthermore, examining Ge Hong's Biographies of Divine Immortals (Shenxian zhuan) of the Jin, it states that all the methods of Laozi's teaching for crossing the world and averting calamities amount to 930 fascicles, with talismanic texts and the like making seventy fascicles, totalling 1,000 fascicles. Furthermore, examining the seventh year of the Taishi era of the Song, the Daoist Lu Xiujing replied to Emperor Ming that Daoist scriptures along with medicinal formulas, talismans, and diagrams totalled 1,228 fascicles, saying that 1,090 fascicles were already circulating in the world, while 138 fascicles were still in the heavenly palaces. Examining the present Xuandu Catalogue of Scriptures (Xuandu jingmu), it states that according to the catalogue submitted by Lu Xiujing of the Song, they now claim there are 6,363 fascicles, stating that 2,040 fascicles exist in actual copies, while 4,323 fascicles are said not to have been seen. When one investigates the facts in detail based on this, they can be known; the origins of their deceits and fabrications are clearly exposed in the dynastic histories. If one relies on the deliberations of Xiao Wen and others, there are only the two chapters of the Daode [jing]. If one takes Emperor Ming of the Han's collation, there should be over seven hundred fascicles. Following Ge Hong's account of the divine immortals, there are merely one thousand. Based on the catalogue submitted by [Lu] Xiujing, it exceeds the former by ninety. Moreover, checking the Xuandu Catalogue of Scriptures, they become ever more numerous. Since the earlier and later accounts do not agree, their falsity is clear. They added scrolls and padded out chapters, relying on Buddhist sūtras and changing the heads and switching the tails; or they claimed they emerged on their own from famous mountains, or repeatedly proclaimed they had flown in from caves of the immortals. Why is it that only the yellow-collared [Daoists] know of them, while the worthy and prominent do not behold them, writings and histories do not mention them, and the canons and records do not register them? I ask the Daoists of today to investigate and examine the later-emerging scriptures: were they separately expounded by Laozi, or were they further spoken by the Heavenly Worthy? Even if they were spoken, there should be a time, a place, a teacher who inquired, and a location of preaching: in which dynasty, what land, what year, and what month? If there is evidence, they may perhaps be allowed to circulate; but if they are false statements, in principle they must be burned and cut away. At present, the luminous court governs the realm, inheriting and continuing the work of the hundred kings; His Sage Majesty approaches the veranda, meeting the millennial conjunction. Just as he intends to spread widely the Five Teachings and put an end to deceptive and monstrous books, to re-expound the Nine Categories and propagate the instructions of the essential Way, how would we dare use the qilin and roe deer to criticize the sovereign, or the stag and horse to mock the court? It is only that the ignorant Yellow Turbans confound truth and falsehood, and narrow-sighted Daoists do not distinguish right from wrong; therefore we borrow analogies from the people of Qin and draw parables from the customs of Lu. If Qian and Kun are imaged by dragons and horses, could heaven and earth themselves gallop and soar? In principle this is certainly not so; why then should we be blamed?