妄立天尊偽第一
Falsely Establishing the Supreme Lord as the First
第一化云。道者萬化之父母。自然之極尊。於此幽玄微妙之中而生空洞。空洞者真一也。真一之氣化生之後。歷九十九萬億九十九萬歲。乃化生上三氣。三氣相去九十九萬億九十九萬歲。三合成德共生無上。乃虛皇天尊。又歷如上歲數。乃生中三氣。三合成德乃生玄老。即元始天尊也。又歷如上歲數。乃生下三氣。三合成德共生太上。即太上道君也。自後又一氣復生三氣。每氣相去八十一萬億八十一萬歲。三合成德共生李老君。雖四聖相次各不相因。謂之獨化。老君生後乃生五運。謂太易太初太始太素太極。第五化云。老君混沌之祖宗。天地之父母。故能分布清濁開闢乾坤。
The First Transformation: The Way is the parent of all transformations, the ultimate and natural sovereign. From within this profound and subtle mystery, the Primordial Void was born. The Primordial Void is the True One. After the True One's energy transformed and came into being, it passed through 990,099,000,000 years before transforming to produce the Three Upper Energies. These three energies were separated by 990,099,000,000 years. The three combined their virtues and together gave birth to the Supreme One, who is the Celestial Worthy of the Void.
After another period of years as described above, the Three Middle Energies were born. The three combined their virtues and gave birth to the Mysterious Elder, who is the Celestial Worthy of Primordial Beginning.
After yet another period of years as described above, the Three Lower Energies were born. The three combined their virtues and together gave birth to the Supreme Lord, who is the Lord of the Dao.
Subsequently, one energy again gave birth to three energies, each separated by 810,081,000,000 years. The three combined their virtues and together gave birth to Lord Laozi. Although these four sages arose in succession, they did not depend on one another. This is called independent transformation. After Lord Laozi was born, the Five Phases then came into being. These are the Great Change, the Great Beginning, the Great Start, the Great Simplicity, and the Great Ultimate.
The Fifth Transformation states: Lord Laozi is the ancestor of primordial chaos, the father and mother of heaven and earth. Therefore, he can distribute the clear and the turbid, and open up and establish the cosmos.
辯曰。蓋聞龍圖鳥篆之文。龜書科斗之典。玉版玉諜之記。金縢金匱之書。秦漢魏晉之章。宋齊梁陳之簡。記事記史直筆直言。靡覩虛皇之名。不聞元始之號。安有手執玉圭。身掛黃褐。頂垂皓髮。頭戴金冠。別號天尊。高拱三清之上。獨稱教主。統御九華之宮。縱有天尊之名。並是偷竊佛語。古經稱佛名為天尊。不關道君之事。竊他美稱妄自尊嚴。取信通人斯言謬矣。案列子及易鉤命訣皆云。天地未生之前有太易。有太初。有太始。有太素。有太極。說者咸云。太易者未見氣也。太初者氣之始也。太始者形之始也。太素者質之始也。太極者質形已具混沌未分也。太極之後乃生兩儀。謂之天地。夫名從實生。實從名起。名實既著。其道乃行。太易之前杳然空洞。溟溟漠漠本絕音容。何得謾張。九氣妄生四人。虛上生虛。似敲空而求響。偽中起偽。如趁影之尋蹤。豈不思。既立其名須有其體。既立其體須有氏族。且道虛皇元始誰人所生。氏族何起居在何處。若有源系出在何書。若無來由即是虛設。又空洞之前本無歲數。今標歲數愈見虛張。蓋數目起於伏犧。甲子唱乎黃帝。將今記古顛倒何多。且上之三尊為有形耶為無形耶。若是有形。不在太易之上。爰從父母而生。須有年代時處姓氏名字。前云三氣共德而生。則是以氣生氣。與氣不殊。何有形名。若是無形。本無名位下第七化乃云。老君以上皇元年九月二日出遊西河。遇元始天尊乘八景玉輿駕九色玄龍。群仙導從手把華旛。獅子白鶴嘯歌嗈嗈。同會西河之上。授老君洞玄玉符。此是誰耶。進退兩求並無準的。則知海棗虛談有名無實。彫氷鏤雪枉廢詞章。山海之所不收。大荒之所不載。庸愚巧飾何足信哉。老君衰周之柱史。誑云混沌之祖宗。避周亂而過函關。妄云天地之父母。既自語之相戾。何函矢之相攻。掩耳偷鈴欲隱彌露。道德章云。吾有三寶。寶而持之。一曰慈。二曰儉。三曰不敢為天下先。老君獻胡王妻子與胡兵格戰。何有慈乎。乘玉衡之輿坐金闕之內。披九色離羅之衣。廕九光偃鶴之蓋。何有儉乎。生於無始起於無因。為萬道之先。作元氣之祖。觀混沌之未判視清濁之未分。為帝王之師。作天地之母。何有不敢為天下先乎。遼陽高憲字仲常。遊東京白鶴觀。見三清像。指其右曰。此何像也。觀主對曰。老君像。曰何代人。曰周定王時。又指左曰。此何像也。主曰。道君像。曰此何代人。主倉惶未答。憲指中尊曰。且饒這元始天尊。聞者傳以為笑。
The argument states: I have heard of the dragon charts and bird seal scripts, the turtle texts and tadpole classics, the jade tablet and jade register records, the golden casket and golden chest writings, the documents of Qin, Han, Wei, and Jin, the bamboo slips of Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen. In these records of events and history, written directly and spoken plainly, I have never seen the name "Xu Huang" nor heard the title "Yuan Shi." How could there be one holding a jade scepter, wearing yellow robes, with white hair hanging down, a golden crown on the head, separately titled "Heavenly Venerable," sitting loftily above the Three Pure Ones, uniquely called the "Teaching Master," ruling over the palace of Nine Splendors? Even if there is the name "Heavenly Venerable," it is all stolen Buddhist language. Ancient scriptures refer to the Buddha as "Heavenly Venerable," unrelated to the Daoist Lord. They steal this fine title and arrogantly exalt themselves, seeking to gain the trust of the learned—such words are utterly mistaken.
Examining the *Liezi* and the *Yijing Gou Ming Jue*, both say: Before heaven and earth were born, there was Tai Yi, Tai Chu, Tai Shi, Tai Su, and Tai Ji. Commentators all say: Tai Yi is when qi has not yet appeared; Tai Chu is the beginning of qi; Tai Shi is the beginning of form; Tai Su is the beginning of substance; Tai Ji is when substance and form are complete but chaos is not yet divided. After Tai Ji, the two modes are born, called heaven and earth. Names arise from reality; reality arises from names. When names and reality are established, the Way operates. Before Tai Yi, there is only vast emptiness, silent and formless, utterly devoid of sound or appearance. How can one arbitrarily expand nine qi and falsely create four persons? Emptiness giving rise to emptiness is like striking the air to seek an echo; falsehood arising from falsehood is like chasing a shadow to find its trace. Have they not considered: once a name is established, there must be a substance; once a substance is established, there must be a clan and lineage. And as for Daoist Xu Huang and Yuan Shi, who gave birth to them? What is their clan and lineage? Where do they reside? If they have a source, from which book does it come? If there is no origin, then it is all fabricated.
Moreover, before the emptiness, there were originally no years or numbers. Now, marking years and numbers only makes the fabrication more apparent. Numbers and counting began with Fu Xi; the sexagenary cycle was initiated by the Yellow Emperor. To use present methods to record ancient times—how many inversions are there? And as for the three venerable ones above, do they have form or are they formless? If they have form, they cannot exist above Tai Yi; they must be born from parents, with a time, place, clan, and name. Previously, it was said that three qi shared virtue and gave birth to them—this means qi giving birth to qi, no different from qi itself. How can there be form and name? If they are formless, they originally have no name or position. Yet in the seventh transformation below, it says: "In the first year of Shang Huang, on the second day of the ninth month, Laozi traveled to the Western River, where he met Yuan Shi Tian Zun riding a jade carriage of eight scenes, driving nine-colored dark dragons, with a retinue of immortals holding flower banners, lions, white cranes, singing harmoniously, all gathering above the Western River, where he bestowed upon Laozi the jade talisman of Dong Xuan." Who is this? Examining both possibilities yields no clear answer. Thus, we know that talk of sea dates is empty—having names but no reality. Carving ice and engraving snow is a waste of words, not recorded in the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* nor in the *Great Wilderness*. How can the clever embellishments of the foolish be believed?
Laozi was a historian of the declining Zhou dynasty, yet he falsely claims to be the ancestor of chaos. He fled the chaos of Zhou and passed through Hangu Pass, yet falsely claims to be the parent of heaven and earth. Since his own words contradict each other, how can his arrows and crossbows attack each other? Covering one's ears to steal a bell only makes the theft more obvious. The *Daodejing* says: "I have three treasures that I hold and cherish: the first is compassion, the second is frugality, and the third is not daring to be ahead of the world." Laozi offered his wife and children to the Hu king and fought against Hu soldiers—where is the compassion? Riding in a jade carriage, sitting within a golden palace, wearing nine-colored robes of Li Luo, shaded by a nine-light crane canopy—where is the frugality? Born from no beginning, arising from no cause, being the first of all ways, the ancestor of primordial qi, observing the undivided chaos, seeing the unseparated clear and turbid, serving as the teacher of emperors, the mother of heaven and earth—where is the "not daring to be ahead of the world"?
Liao Yang's Gao Xian, styled Zhong Chang, once visited the White Crane Temple in the Eastern Capital. Seeing the statues of the Three Pure Ones, he pointed to the right and asked, "What statue is this?" The temple master replied, "It is Laozi." He asked, "From which dynasty?" The master said, "From the time of King Ding of Zhou." He then pointed to the left and asked, "And this one?" The master said, "It is the Daoist Lord." He asked, "From which dynasty?" The master panicked and could not answer. Gao Xian pointed to the central statue and said, "Let's spare this Yuan Shi Tian Zun." Those who heard this spread it as a joke.