辯偽錄序
Preface to the Treatise on Distinguishing the True
蓋聞五運未形。元無人物之號。三才既立。乃敘尊卑之名。肇分六爻。始畫八卦。而有書契。定乎訓章。鳳篆龜圖金縢玉字。百家之異轍。萬卷之分區。雖理究乎精微。言殫乎物範。紀情括性。未出乎域中。原始要終。詎該於化內。況乎法身無相。高超於象帝之先。真諦絕稱。逈出乎思議之表。英猷茂實。代有人焉。如意者俗姓乎延氏。太原人也。系乎延讚之裔。世傳纓冕累葉。播遷代郡因為家焉。九歲落紺隨師請業。玉離荊岫。價重之德彌彰。桂去幽巖。馨香之風遠遞。阿師內窮三藏之奧。外覈九流之源。名冠於中華。聲聞於朝野。運談天之口。施不世之才。郁郁間綺錦之文。雄雄聳凌雲之氣。班馬之珠玉未可同年。顧陸之文章。寧堪並駕。至若莊生墨生之學。黃老李老之書。三清謗道之文。十異九迷之論。混元隱月之祕。靈寶赤書之儀。煥若胸膺。明猶指掌。加以禪參於五派。傍閱於群書。既有雄才巨筆。特專著述。運思之外。汲引無窮。挫邪。則有吼石之功。扶正。則具鞭屍之德。固以才侔安遠。學邁生融。實覺海之龍鱗。迺佛門之柱礙。切見全真道士者丘處機。李志常。史志經。令狐璋等。學業庸淺。識慮非長。並為鄙辭。排毀正法。擊茲布鼓。竊比雷門。使中下之流咸生邪見。欽奉薛禪聖明皇帝發大悲心。愍其盲瞽。恐墮泥犁。勅令製斯論耳。震蕩法海摧彼詞鋒。碧鷄之銳競馳。黃馬之駁爭騖。狀鴻鑪之焚纖翼。猶炎日之煉輕氷。負勝之儔於斯可見。暫歸慈定已破魔軍。至元十八年十月二十日。復欽奉先皇帝聖旨。勅令天下偽經一時焚盡。由是佛日重暉於碧漢。法雲廣布於閻浮。右如意所作。文賦注解四經序韓文別傳性海賦等。在世已傳。然茲論五卷二百餘紙。窮釋老之淵源。分邪正之優劣。蓋唱彌高而和彌寡。深可愧焉。余文慚綺麗學匪通圓。覩斯論之嘉言。欽吾皇之鴻護。不勝手舞。勉為斯引。輒以藤綆聯彼珪璋。庶博雅君子詳其致云爾。大雲峯住持襲祖沙門雪谿野老貴吉祥述。
I have heard that before the five primal elements took form, there were no names for humans or things. Once heaven, earth, and humanity were established, then titles for the noble and lowly were arranged. The six lines of the I Ching first appeared, the eight trigrams were drawn, writing and records were created, and rules and teachings were set down—from phoenix-shaped seals, tortoise-shell diagrams, metal-bound texts, and jade-inscribed characters, to the divergent paths of a hundred schools and the distinct categories of ten thousand scrolls. Though these explore the most subtle principles and exhaust all rules and forms, they only describe emotions and capture nature within the worldly realm. Tracing beginnings to ends, how can they fully grasp the process of transformation? How much more so for the Dharma body, which is formless and transcends even the conception of a Creator? The ultimate truth is beyond description and far surpasses thought and speech. Brilliant teachings and abundant truths have had their exemplars in every age.
Thus, the master known as Ruyi was of the Yuting clan, a native of Taiyuan. He was a descendant of Yuting Zan; his family had held noble ranks for generations, but later moved to Daijun, where they settled. At age nine, he shaved his head and entered the monastery to study under a teacher. Like jade taken from the Jing Mountains, his virtue became all the more esteemed; like cassia from a secluded cliff, his fragrant reputation spread far and wide. His teacher inwardly mastered the profound depths of the Three Baskets of scripture and outwardly examined the sources of the nine schools of thought, his name renowned throughout China and his fame reaching both court and countryside. With a mouth that could discourse on celestial matters and a talent beyond his generation, his writings were as lush and ornate as brocade, his spirit towering like clouds sweeping the sky. How could the pearls and jade of Ban Gu and Sima Qian be compared to him? How could the prose of Gu Kaizhi and Lu Ji be equal to his? As for the learning of Master Zhuang and Master Mo, the books of the Yellow Emperor, Laozi, the immortal Li, the Daoist writings that slander the Way, the ten different heresies and nine delusions, the secrets of the Primordial Chaos and the hidden moon, and the rites of the Numinous Treasure and Red Writings—he understood them all as clearly as if they lay in his bosom or on his palm. He also participated in Chan meditation in all five schools and widely studied various texts. With his great talent and mighty pen, he devoted himself to writing. Beyond his contemplations, he tirelessly guided others. When refuting heresy, he had the power to roar like a lion and make rocks tremble; when upholding truth, he possessed the virtue to strike down the dead doctrines. Truly, his talent rivaled that of Dao'an and Huiyuan, and his learning surpassed that of Sengzhao and Daorong. He was a dragon-scale in the ocean of enlightenment; he was a pillar at the gate of the Buddha's teaching.
However, I have seen that the Quanzhen Daoists, such as Qiu Chuji, Li Zhicang, Shi Zhijing, and Linghu Zhang, were shallow in learning and lacking in insight and judgment. They composed vulgar words that slandered the true Dharma, beating their earthen drums and shamelessly comparing themselves to the thunderous gates of Laojun. They caused those of middling and low abilities to give rise to false views. But respectfully following the decree of the Sage Bright Emperor Xue Chan, who, with great compassion, pitied these blind and dimwitted ones and, fearing they would fall into the hells, ordered this treatise to be composed. It shakes the Dharma ocean and crushes the sharp edges of their rhetoric. The disputations of the green pheasant and the yellow horse's fallacies compete furiously, but this treatise is like a great furnace burning a moth's wing, like scorching sun melting a light frost. The victor and vanquished are at once clear. Abiding for a moment in compassionate meditation, the demon army was already defeated. On the twentieth day of the tenth month of the eighteenth year of the Zhiyuan era, we again respectfully received the sacred decree of the former emperor, ordering all heretical scriptures throughout the world to be burned. Thus, the sun of the Buddha shone again in the bright blue sky, and the clouds of the Dharma spread widely over Jambudvipa.
The work that Ruyi has composed—including literary essays, commentaries on four sutras, the *Separate Biography of Hanzi*, and the *Ode on the Ocean of True Nature*—has already spread in the world. However, this treatise in five volumes and over two hundred pages thoroughly explores the sources of both Buddhism and Daoism, distinguishing the good from the evil and the superior from the inferior. Truly, the higher the song, the fewer join in harmony; I am deeply humbled by it. My own writing lacks elegance and my learning is not comprehensive. Gazing upon the fine words of this treatise, I revere the vast Dharma-protection of our emperor. Unable to keep my hands from dancing with joy, I reluctantly write this introduction, linking these jade discs with a vine cord. I hope only that learned and refined gentlemen may understand its purport.
Respectfully written by the humble monk Awild Sage, Old Man of the Brook, Gui Jixiang, abbot of Great Cloud Peak and heir of the patriarchs.
辯偽錄卷第一
Volume 1 of the Treatise on Distinguishing the Genuine
元道者山雲峯禪寺沙門祥邁奉 勅實錄撰
蓋聞法王御世弘正道以濟時。明主臨軒闡皇極而拯物。剪邪扶正崇德辯惑。故堯誅四凶而八紘道泰。佛降六眾而五印歸心。皆所以。整亂救焚啟迪耳目。夫我佛者功成曩劫。為物降靈。無生示生。利見大千之土。絕相現相。頓化百億之方。猶皓月之流空千江普應。若長風之噫氣萬籟聞聲。誘癡子於一極之乘。引迷途於八正之路。拔五濁之熱惱。撤四倒之樊籠。指衣下之明珠。剖塵中之經卷。破魔軍於道樹。不下廟堂。摧外道於金河。折衝無外。恩流萬國。澤及四生。慈雲蔭有頂之天。法雨潤無疆之界。群生無感大聖歸真。聖哲繼輝維持玄範。則有馬鳴龍樹恢教網於西天。提婆愛賢建法幢於南印。世親擅鞭屍之德。陳那騁吼石之奇。挫外道於一時。播嘉聲於萬古。洎乎金容東夢玉馬西來。摩騰顯正於洛陽。道書咸從火化。僧融破邪於關內。梵志結舌無言。懸佛日於昏衢。扇慈風於寰㝢。英髦接武俊彥聯芳。故有大統(齊法上法師)多能。折姜斌於魏闕。法琳博物。排傅弈於唐朝。騰盛德於當時。震佳聲於叔世。但以去聖逾遠魔偽逼真。紫實亂朱珉常混玉。自非上智疇克考明。所以鼠璞濫名。周人一其貴賤。鷄鳳殊狀。楚俗迷其是非。故有守文曲流。拒為異端之說。巧言邪道。引為同己之談。雖至道無損於毫釐。而偽說有塵於視聽。此幽途所以易墜。聖門所以難涉者也。我元之有天下也。慶叶金輪禎符玉曆。掩六合而光宅。統萬國以提封。東盡蟠桃西窮細柳。南移金鼎北抵玉衡。自尊盧赫胥以來秦漢隋唐之後。未有如今朝之盛者也。太祖太宗頒明詔而匡護。元帝明帝捨金寶而修崇。咸思付囑之心。共仰慈悲之訓。免其賦役展其化風。今上皇帝。深仁睿智體道寬明。荷四聖之雄基。纂百王之洪烈。萬機之暇眷顧佛門。諷百千藏之金文。延數萬僧之勝會。植福覺苑修建伽藍。政尚寬仁澤及黎庶。搜揚仄陋黜陟賢愚。明釋道之淺深。達邪正之優劣。道士無識蔑視國家。欺以朔方之居。肆其私臆之辯。丘處機妄言諂上。李志常矯飾媚時。萃逋役之罪徒。集排釋之偽典。令狐璋首編妄說。史志經又廣邪文。效如來八十二龕。集老子八十一化。古今不辯經史匪通。攘竊佛書收為道教。採釋瑞而為老瑞。換姓安名改迦祥而作老祥。擅為己德。偽中生偽。虛上架虛。張李聃出於空洞之前。屈迦文降於周莊之代。立傳圖像行板流通。俾尹喜作佛。尊老聃為釋迦之祖。伏犧授訓。高伯陽為犧農之師。軒皇問道於廣成。認為老子。文王師承於呂望。紐為老君。周公屈膝於床前(老子教以璇璣經)孔子厥角於座下(問禮)滅三教而獨顯。超千聖以居尊。孤高五運之前。作師百代之下。域中獨聖更有誰何。巧飾百端了無一實。詳此圖也。意欲剪除百氏獨擅一宗。掩犧軒之聖功。滅釋孔之洪範。元惡大憝世人不知。雖有窮之亂夏政。王莽之欺漢庭。未足過也。若非主上明聖朗鑒無惑。孰能察辯真偽目識是非。由是特下明詔揀定虛實。萬載凶栽一時而拔。爰有典教宗師少林和尚者。祖庭柱礎梵宇棟梁。心質直而無私。性淵澄而深博。愍其愚瞽蕩彼迷封。掃妖祲於長空。揭佛日而高朗。祥邁側聞斯論不可惜言。嘉聖主之神聰。美少林之雅對。聊憑正典斥破狂談。塞妄說之根源。倒邪山之林藪。使大羅玉帝魂驚於九天之中。元始天尊膽落於三清之上。萬天教主羞𧹞難伸。九府洞仙慚惶無地。且條數件舉一例餘。俾夫金鍮各色涇渭分流。玉液澆腸。使迷涎而蕩散。金錍刮瞙。令智眼以分明。為暗室之夜光。作幽衢之曉鏡。通明達士知此道焉。至元二年歲次旃蒙龍集星紀陽復之月。絕筆於萬壽蘭若。
The Dharma King, when he ruled the world, propagated the true path to rescue people in troubled times. Enlightened rulers, facing the court, expounded the supreme principle to save beings. They cut away heresy, supported the correct, exalted virtue, and resolved confusion. Thus, Yao executed the four evil ones, and peace and good order prevailed everywhere. The Buddha subdued the six classes of beings, and the five regions of India turned their hearts to him. All of this was done to rectify chaos, rescue those in flames, and awaken their ears and eyes.
As for our Buddha, his merit was completed in distant eons. For the sake of beings, he descended with spiritual power. Though unborn, he appeared as a born being, manifesting supremely in the great earth. Though devoid of characteristics, he manifested characteristics, suddenly transforming hundreds of billions of lands. Like the bright moon flowing through the sky, it responds in a thousand rivers. Like a long wind that breathes out air, all sounds hear the sound. He leads foolish children to the one ultimate vehicle, guides the lost onto the eightfold correct path. He pulls out the burning afflictions of the five turbidities, removes the cage of the four inversions, points to the bright pearl beneath the clothes, cuts open the scripture scroll within the dust, defeats the demon king at the Bodhi tree (without leaving the temple hall), conquers non-Buddhist teachers by the Golden River (by repelling them effortlessly). His grace flows to ten thousand countries, his kindness reaches all four kinds of beings. The cloud of compassion shades the heaven of the Summit of Existence. The rain of Dharma moistens the boundless realm.
When beings had no inspiration, the Great Sage returned to truth. Sages and worthies continued to shine, maintaining the mysterious model. There were Aśvaghoṣa and Nāgārjuna, who spread the net of the Dharma in the Western Heavens; Deva (Āryadeva) and Guṇamati (or Sunetra?), who established the banner of the Dharma in Southern India. Vasubandhu possessed the virtue of 'whipping a corpse' (a metaphor for reviving the dead, i.e., re-establishing the teaching); Diṅnāga exhibited the wonder of 'roaring on a rock' (boulders split open by his lion's roar). They subdued non-Buddhist teachers for a time and spread their good reputation for ten thousand ages.
When the golden countenance (Buddha image) came east in a dream, and the jeweled horse came from the west, Kāśyapa Mātanga displayed the correct teaching in Luoyang, and Daoist scriptures all turned to ashes by fire. Sengrong defeated heresy within the Pass, giving non-Buddhist teachers nothing to say, sealing their mouths. They hung the sun of the Buddha in the darkness of the ignorant, and fanned the compassionate wind across the entire world.
Heroic and brilliant figures followed one after another. Talented and excellent men emerged continuously. Thus, Dutong (Great Controller of the Clergy) Fachang, with his many skills, refuted Jiang Bin at the court of the Wei; and Falin, with his broad knowledge, dispelled Fu Yi in the Tang dynasty. They manifested abundant virtue in their own times and caused a formidable reputation to reverberate through the waning ages.
But as we became more distant from the Holy One, demons and falsehoods pressed closer to the truth. Purple confused with vermilion; a mundane stone was often confused with jade. Without superior wisdom, who could verify and know? Thus, for the sake of a mouse pellet, they confused reputation, and the people of Zhou valued the precious and the worthless the same. A chicken and a phoenix have distinctly different forms, but the people of Chu were confused about right and wrong. Therefore, there were those who clung to text and narrow views, rejecting the Dharma as heresy. And there were those with skillful, deceptive speech, drawing others into their own schemes. Although the Ultimate Path loses not a hair [through such claims], deceptive talk creates dust in the seeing and hearing. This is why the dark path is so easily fallen into, and the gate of the Sage is so difficult to enter.
When our Yuan dynasty possessed the world, its celebration corresponds to the Golden Wheel; its auspicious sign matches the Jade Calendar. It covers the six directions in brilliant light; it rules over all countries, possessing their territories. To the east, it extends to Pan Tao; to the west, it reaches Xi Liu. To the south, it reaches Jin Ding; to the north, it touches Yu Heng. Since the time of Zun Lu and Hao Xu, after Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang, there has never been such prosperity as the present court. Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong issued clear imperial decrees to protect and support [Buddhism]. Emperor Yuan and Emperor Ming gave precious things and built temples. All thought to fulfill the trust given them; all revered the teaching of compassion. They exempted [the clergy] from taxes and [military] service, and allowed their transforming influence to unfold.
The present Sovereign is deeply humane, wise, and thorough. He embodies the Path, is spacious, clear, and bright. He bears the heroic foundation of four past sages, continues the mighty achievements of a hundred kings, and in their spare moments from the myriad affairs, he looks upon the Buddha gate. He recites the golden texts of hundreds of thousands of scriptures, and extends the [Holding of] Great Assembly of ten [hundreds] of thousands of monks. He plants blessings in the Enlightenment Garden, and builds Sangha residences. His government values magnanimity and benevolence; his kindness reaches the people and commoners. He seeks out the lowly and the covered-up, and demotes and promotes the worthy and the foolish. He clarifies the depth and shallowness of the Buddhist and Daoist teachings, and understands the superiority and inferiority of heresy and orthodoxy.
Daoists, being without learning/brainless, despise and look down on the state. They deceive the ruler with the claim of a residence in the north, and recklessly engage in the debate of their own private opinions. Qiu Chuji spoke falsely and flattered those above him. Li Zhichang pretended to adorn to curry favor with the times. They gathered together criminals who had fled from service, and compiled pseudo-canonical texts which forbade [Buddhism]. Linghu Zhang first fabricated these false theories. Shi Zhijing further broadened these deviant scriptures. They imitated the eighty-two niches of the Tathāgata, and compiled sixty-eight transformations of Laozi. They cannot distinguish past from present, nor do they understand the classics and histories. They stole Buddhist books, took them for Daoist scriptures. They pilfered Buddhist auspicious signs and made them into auspicious signs of Laozi. They changed family names, substituted personal names, and adapted Buddhist good omens to make them good omens of Laozi. They arrogated this as their own virtue. They produced falsehood within falsehood, and built their edifice on emptiness on top of emptiness. They stretched Li Er (Laozi) out to be born before the Chaos, and they forced Gautama (the Buddha) to be born in the time of King Zhuang of Zhou. They set up biographies and images, carved blocks and circulated this.
They caused Yin Xi to have been Shakyamuni Buddha, honored Li Er (Laozi) as the ancestor of Shakyamuni. They claimed that Fuxi received his instruction from Laozi, and that Bo Yang (Laozi) was the teacher of Shennong and Fuxi. The Yellow Emperor inquired of the Dao from Guangchengzi, and this they claimed was Laozi. King Wen received his teaching from Lü Wang, and this they twisted and turned into [instruction from] Lord Lao. The Duke of Zhou was made to kneel prostrate before a bed. (note: Laozi taught him the Classic of the Jade Pivot/Mirror? ) Confucius bowed his head under the seat (note: seeking instruction on the rites). They wanted to annihilate the three teachings and exalt only one, to go beyond a thousand sages in order to be honored and supreme, to make themselves solitary and supreme [in status] before the five cosmic processes, claiming to be teacher and model for a hundred generations. Unique among their territorial limits as the sole sage, they ask: what other is there? But they artfully decorated hundreds of activities and concocted a thousand false claims, none having any basis of truth.
Examining these images/diagrams, their intention is to excise a hundred schools and claim exclusive authority over the single school [of the Dao]. They seek to hide the sagely merit of [the ancient lords] Fuxi and the Yellow Emperor, and to annihilate the grand model of Shakyamuni and Confucius. They are [truly] arch-criminals in their primordial evil, though the people do not know it. Even the depravity of Youqiong in disturbing the Xia government, or that of Wang Mang in deceiving the Han court, does not exceed it. If the Emperor were not wise and sacred, and his clear awareness free from confusion, who could be able to check and discriminate truth from falsehood, to see with their own eyes what is right and wrong? Therefore, he has specially issued a clear imperial decree to discern and determine the false from the real, thus uprooting in a single moment what had been growing as a maleficent weed for ten thousand years.
Now there was Instruction Leader, the Honored, the Shaolin Monk. He was the pillar of the Patriarch's Hall and the ridgepole of the Buddha's house. His mind was truthful and simple without selfish motives. His nature was deep and pure as an abyss, deep and profound. He felt compassion for the ignorant, the blind, who were deceived (by these Daoist false scriptures?). He shook the people from their confused and blockaded obscurations. He dispelled malevolent emanations from the long sky, and raised high the Buddha's sun making it shine brilliantly above. When I, Xiangmai (the disciple writing the preface), heard this discussion, I thought one cannot refrain from commenting. I praise the sacred intelligence of the Sage-Emperor, I admire the magnificent and appropriate reply of the Shaolin Master. Relying on the correct canonical [scriptures] for a moment, I will scold and break down these wild discussions! I shall stop up the root source of these false doctrines! I shall topple the forest grove of these heretical mountains! Thus, the Great Luo Jade Emperor shall be startled and in terror, high up among the Nine Heavens. The Original Beginning Heavenly Worthy shall lose his gall and have his spirit broken, placed in the [highest] three pure realms. The Lord of the Ten Thousand Heavens shall blush with shame, unable to speak. The Spirits of the Nine Provinces, instructors (of the Dao (shall be) covered in shame, not knowing where to hide.
Therefore, I will list a few items, and using one example I will demonstrate the rest. I will make gold and copper distinguish themselves from each other, and the Jing and Wei Rivers flow separated. With jade liquid, I shall cleanse the intestines, so that the mucus of confusion dissipates; with golden scraper, I shall remove cataracts, causing the wisdom eye to clearly see. It shall be as a night-light in a dark chamber, as the morning mirror on a dark highway. May tolerant, brightness, and enlightened men understand this Path.
This was written down in the 2nd year of the Zhiyuan era (1265 AD), the year of 'Zhanmeng' (Jiazi year is not possible; maybe Gui- Ma? ), the Dragon star was in conjunction, and the month of the winter solstice (full moon, 10th month?), with the brush finished at Wan Shou (hermitage/ temple).