原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
敬道之由 Why the King Favours the Way
國王道：「唐朝僧眾，朕敬道滅僧為何？只為當年求雨，我朝僧人更未嘗求得一點；幸天降國師，拯援塗炭。国王道：「唐朝僧众，朕敬道灭僧为何？只为当年求雨，我朝僧人更未尝求得一点；幸天降国师，拯援涂炭。
逐句解 Line by line
國王道：「唐朝僧眾，朕敬道滅僧為何？
国王道：「唐朝僧众，朕敬道灭僧为何？
The king said, “Monks of the Tang court, why is it that I honour the Way and suppress the monks?
唐朝: 朝 = cháo (the Tang dynasty). 敬道滅僧 “to revere the Way and put down the monks.” 為何: 為 = wèi, “for what reason.”
只為當年求雨，我朝僧人更未嘗求得一點；
只为当年求雨，我朝僧人更未尝求得一点；
It is only because, in years past when we prayed for rain, the monks of our court could never once pray down so much as a drop;
只為: 為 = wèi, “only because.” 當年: 當 = dāng. 我朝: 朝 = cháo, “our court.” 更未嘗求得一點: 更 = gèng, 得 = dé — “never once got a single drop.”
幸天降國師，拯援塗炭。
幸天降国师，拯援涂炭。
and then, happily, Heaven sent down the Preceptors, who rescued us from utter misery.
天降: 降 = jiàng, “Heaven sent down.” 拯援塗炭 “to rescue from mire and coals” — from dire distress (塗炭).
The king lays out the arc's premise in his own words: the Daoists earned their supremacy by succeeding at rain-making where the Buddhist clergy failed. It is a pragmatic, not doctrinal, allegiance — which is exactly why a public rain-contest can, in principle, overturn it. The speech turns the coming ordeal into a fair fight for the king's favour, with the pilgrims' lives as the stake.