Buddhism refers to the works of other schools as apocryphal texts. Some Confucian scholars were very unhappy after hearing this. They thought that classifying Confucianism as a foreign enemy was a slight against Confucianism. Therefore, they retorted and regarded Buddhism and Taoism as two The classics of Christianity are called Apocrypha. Therefore, if you do not know this and do not make detailed analysis when reading ancient books, you will make a joke about Li Daitao's stiffness. For example, "Chen Shu·Fu Chuo's Biography": "If we follow the Wai Canon, before looking for books and deeds, in the time of Chun,...the people would not interact with each other until they grew old and died, and each had his own place, so what's the point of fighting?" Here, "Wai Canon" refers to Taoism. Classics. The meaning of this passage is: If we follow the Taoist classics and trace back to the most simple era before writing, when people did not interact with each other until death, and each enjoyed his own happiness, what would be the quarrel? "Book of Sui: Biography of Li Tuqian": "Shi Qian is good at talking about mystical principles. There is a guest here. He doesn't believe in the Buddhist meaning of retribution, thinking that the external scriptures are unheard of. Tu Qian said in a metaphor: 'The accumulation of good deeds will leave more happiness, and the accumulation of evil will leave more disasters... Isn't it a response to no blame? Evil?" The "outer canon" here refers to Buddhist classics, and this passage means: Li Tuqian is good at talking about mysterious principles. Once, a guest sitting here did not believe in the Buddhist theory of reincarnation and thought that he had never heard of what the Mo Fang Sutra said. Tu Qian used a common saying to make a metaphor and said: "Do more good deeds and future generations will be blessed." If you do more bad things, future generations will suffer. Is this the principle of retribution?" Also, Song Qi's "Epitaph of Zhang Hui" 6I ??"Hui's constant illness is weird, absurd, and the sun is burning in the pagoda and temple. Although he wears Confucian clothes, The six sutras are all secret, and they are called external canons. Therefore, they were analyzed based on the events and recorded dozens of chapters. "The "external canon" here also refers to the Buddhist scriptures. The meaning of this passage is: Zhang Huizhi is often dissatisfied with the absurd and strange way of Buddhism. The number of pagodas and temples is increasing day by day. Even people wearing Confucian clothes put aside the Six Classics of Confucianism and believe in Buddhist scriptures instead. Therefore, He was concerned about these things and wrote dozens of articles to analyze them.
It can be understood from the above examples that the "inner canon" and "outer canon" mentioned in ancient classics must be understood from the context. If the word is used, I think it refers to Buddhist scriptures, otherwise it will make a joke.