老君結氣成字偽第八
Chapter 8: Laozi Forms Characters from Qi
第八化云。聖紀經云。太上老君昔於龍漢之年。從元始天尊。於中央大福堂國。說靈寶十部妙經。出法度人。又於東極大浮黎國。出法度人。以紫筆書於空青之林。又於南極禪離界。以火煉真文瑩發字形。又於西極衛羅世界。北極欝單國。皆出法度人。老君以五方真氣之精結成寶字。大方一丈八角。垂芒為雲篆之形。飛鳥之狀。以立文章。又云。墳典自我而出。經籍自我而生。
At the eighth manifestation, it is said in the *Sacred Chronicles Scripture*: In ancient times, during the Dragon Han era, the Most High Lord Lao, together with the Primordial Heavenly Worthy, was in the central Great Blessing Land, where he preached the ten wondrous scriptures of the Numinous Treasure, revealing the Dharma to save beings.
He also went to the eastern extremity, the Land of Great Floating Brilliance, where he revealed the Dharma and saved beings, writing with a purple brush on the forest of azure crystal.
He then went to the southern realm, the Land of Dhyana Separation, where he refined the true texts with fire, polishing their radiant script forms.
He further went to the western world of Weilu, and to the northern kingdom of Yudan, where he also revealed the Dharma and saved beings.
The Lord Lao, using the essences of the five directions' true energies, formed jewel-like characters—each square measure a zhang, with eight corners and drooping radiance. These became cloud-script patterns and flying-bird forms, establishing written texts.
It is also said: “The canons and classics arose from me; the scriptures and records were born from me.”
辯曰。夫文字之聿興爰從上古。伏犧氏之王天下也。始畫八卦。造書契以代結繩之政。由是籍籍生焉。故有青丘紫府三皇刻石之文。綠檢黃繩六甲靈蜚之字。後有蒼頡因而增制。大篆起於史籀。小篆興於李斯。飛白創於蔡邕。隷書變於程邈。秦書八體。漢字六形。瘦金堆金垂雲垂露。蔡葉龍爪顏體坡書。皆循古以增成。近代而改制。豈假真氣而結。何關老子傳來。掩竊他能衒賣己德。放舒白眼不恥清流。上云。龍漢起於初氣。何有老子而生。既言紫筆書林。乃在蒙恬之後。牽今引古欺我賢人。孔安國云。伏犧神農黃帝之書。謂之三墳。言大道也。少昊顓頊高辛唐虞之書。謂之五典。言常道也。易則三聖方定。詩則群英之言。春秋孔子所修。禮則周公所定。爾雅周公所纂。國語丘明所述。劉熙釋名。許慎說文。埤蒼廣雅。桂苑珠叢。顧野王之玉篇。陸法言之切韻。各有源系。非干老聃而言。墳典自我而出。經籍自我而生。荒唐謬談侮弄明哲。亦由相如上林說盧橘夏熟。楊雄甘泉賦。玉樹冬蒨。聽其言則洋洋美耳。究其事則杳杳空傅。矧乎國名虛設。妄採他書。大福堂改大堂而取名。東浮黎彷扶桑而立號。南禪黎革重黎而標字。西衛羅竊於迦維羅衛。北方全收欝單越名。十洲所不收。神異所不攝。地理無所紀。括地絕形名。空闡五車了無一實。偷鐘掩耳。斯之謂歟。
The response argues: The origin of writing dates back to ancient times. When Fu Xi ruled the world, he first drew the Eight Trigrams and created written symbols to replace the system of knotting cords. From this, records were born. Thus we have the engraved texts of the Three Sovereigns at Qingqiu and Zifu, the talismanic scripts of the Six Jia spirits sealed in yellow silk, and later Cang Jie's expansion of these characters. Great Seal script began with Shi Zhou, Small Seal script arose with Li Si, Feibai script originated with Cai Yong, and clerical script was transformed by Cheng Miao. The Qin dynasty had eight script styles, the Han dynasty six forms. Slender Gold, Stacked Gold, Hanging Cloud, Hanging Dew, Cai Ye, Dragon Claw, Yan Style, and Su Shi's calligraphy—all followed ancient traditions while adding innovations, reformed in later ages. How could they be formed by true qi, or be related to Laozi's transmission? To steal others' abilities and boast of one's own virtue, to show disdain and refuse to be associated with pure streams—this is shameful.
The text you quote claims: "The Dragon Han era began with the primal breath, so how could Laozi have given birth to it?" Since it speaks of "purple brush and forest of texts," this must have come after Meng Tian. To drag the present and cite the past, deceiving our worthy men—it is wrong. Kong Anguo said: "The books of Fu Xi, Shen Nong, and the Yellow Emperor are called the Three Tombs, speaking of the Great Way. The books of Shao Hao, Zhuan Xu, Gao Xin, Tang, and Yu are called the Five Canons, speaking of constant principles." The Book of Changes was settled by three sages; the Book of Songs is the words of many talents; the Spring and Autumn Annals was compiled by Confucius; the Rites were fixed by the Duke of Zhou; the Erya was compiled by the Duke of Zhou; the Discourses of the States were narrated by Zuo Qiuming; Liu Xi's Explanation of Names, Xu Shen's Explaining Graphs and Analyzing Characters, Pi Cang, Guang Ya, Gui Yuan Zhu Cong, Gu Yewang's Jade Chapters, Lu Fayan's Qie Yun—each has its own lineage and origin, unrelated to Laozi. To say that tombs and canons came from ourselves, that scriptures and texts were born from ourselves—this is absurd talk, mocking the wise. It is like Xiangru's "Shanglin Fu" saying that lychees ripen in summer, or Yang Xiong's "Sweet Springs Fu" praising jade trees as lush in winter. Hearing their words, they sound grand and pleasing, but examining the truth, they are empty and false.
Moreover, with country names falsely established and recklessly borrowed from other texts: "Da Fu Tang" (Hall of Great Blessings) was altered to "Da Tang" (Great Hall) for its name; "Dong Fu Li" (Eastern Floating Outskirts) took its name by imitating "Fu Sang"); "Na Chan Li" (Southern Zen Outskirts) changed "Chong Li" to mark its characters; "Xi Wei Luo" stole from Kapilavastu; the north completely took the name "Uttarakuru" from the north. None of these are included in the Ten Continents, not governed by the Divine Transgressions, unrecorded in geography, and without form or name in the records that encompass the earth. They are just empty talk filling five carts, utterly without a single truth. To steal a bell while covering one's ears—isn't this exactly that?