The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 1

by Unknown

  6. “Baby name”: literally, a nursing name , which means that the name is bestowed as a nickname of an infant, subject to change in appropriate circumstance.

  7. Since the time of the Song, the most urgent military matters or documents of official pardon were sent by tablets with gold-colored inscriptions or characters. See the Songshi, Yufuzhi , .

  8. Cintāmaṇi, the magic pearl that is capable of responding to every wish and is produced by the ocean’s Dragon King.

  9. In the Xu Bowuzhi , it is recorded that there are nine grades of pearls from Vietnam, the second largest kind named “rolling pearl .” But the name “rolling-pan ” may allude to the term used in an essay of Su Dongpo, which reads, “there are four scrolls of Lengjia [i.e., the Laṅkāvatāra sūtra],” which can stabilize the heart . . . as pearls roll on the pan.” See the Dongpo qiji , j 49: 8, SBBY.

  10. Jiaoxiao : raw silk spun and sold by mermaids, according to Chinese mythology. A bale here (duan) is eighteen Chinese feet in length.

  CHAPTER TEN

  1. The following section is adapted from the encyclopedic chronicle Yongle dadian , compiled in 1403–1408 under the commission of the Ming emperor Chengzu. For the Chinese text, see the facsimile version published by Beijing’s Zhonghua shuju, 1960; for a translation of this particular episode, see Antecedents, pp. 177–79. On the poetic dialogues between the fisherman and the woodcutter, C.T. Hsia in his Introduction, p. 347, note 13, has called attention to its parallel to a similar episode in the well-known seventeenth-century novel, Fengshen yanyi, or Investiture of the Gods (chapter 23), and written that “the Chinese have traditionally associated fishermen and woodcutters with an idyllic life of contemplation detached from worldly cares. The phrase yü ch’iao occurs frequently in T’ang poetry. The Northern Sung philosopher Shao Yung wrote a short dialogue between a fisherman and a woodcutter entitled Yü-ch’iao wên-ta.” Illustrations in the older editions (e.g., the 1592 Shidetang’s version) bear the explicit title Yuchao wenda.

  2. Lyric: now a conventionalized term to translate a genre of premodern Chinese verse named ci 詞, which developed toward the end of the Tang period (907). Originally appearing as popular songs and ballads from the teahouses and brothels, the poems were further influenced by musical modes from central and northern Asia. Their tonal patterns and rhyme schemes followed the established patterns of tonal juxtapositions of the Tang regulated verse (lüshi), but these patterns became much more varied and complex when each “tune” eventually came to possess its own distinctive scheme or set metrical form for tones, length of lines, and rhymes. Most tunes consist of two halves, generally—but not invariably—of matching patterns, of which the lyrics of this chapter offer some ready examples. Later in the Song, longer lyrics developed occasionally with three segments. The segments are named “pieces, or pian ,” in Chinese prosody, but they should not be confused with stanzaic constructions of poetry from other languages.

  3. “Chicken heads”: seeds of Euryale-ferox, so named because of their shape.

  4. Chun leaves: Cedrela sinensio or Cedrela odorata. Lian sprouts: Melia japonica.

  5. This poem is adapted primarily from lines of the first half of another lyric to the tune of “A Courtful of Blossoms, Mantingfang ,” by the Song poet Qin Guan (1049–1100). The pertinent lines read: “Dense flowers of red smartweeds; / Tousled leaves of yellow rushes / . . . The blue sky empty and wide, / Light clouds and a clear Chu River / . . . . With a small golden hook / And a line slowly drawn / I stir a pool of stars , / , / . . . , / . / . . . . , / , / .” See QSC 1: 458.

  6. Circling chess: the game of Go or weiqi .

  7. This is a quotation from the last two lines of the first of two poems on “Small plum blossoms in a mountain garden ” by the early Song poet, Lin Bu (967–1028), better known as Lin Hejing .

  8. The linking-verse is generally a long poem composed by two or more persons, each offering alternate lines. To test the skill of the participants, often regarded as contestants, one particular rhyme scheme will be mandated for use for the entire composition.

  9. The writing of the Chinese text here is a bit ambiguous. The first line of the poem would be spoken presumably by Zhang Shao, the fisherman, to be followed in the next line by the woodcutter, and so on.

  10. Longmen: a place in Shaanxi Province famous for the carp making its annual ascent up the rapids of the Yellow River.

  11. “Frost Descends . . . Double Ninth”: one of the twenty-four solar terms, Frost Descends is approximately 23 October in the calendar. The ninth day of the ninth lunar month is also called Double Yang, a much celebrated festival. For the legends associated with the day, see A.R. Davis, “The Double Ninth Festival in Chinese Poetry: A Study of Variations Upon a Theme,” in Wen-lin: Studies in the Chinese Humanities, ed. Chow Tsetsung (Madison, Milwaukee, and London, 1968), pp. 45–64.

  12. Three Dukes refer to the three chief officials of state (sangong ), traditionally understood to be the Taishi (Grand Turtor), the Taifu (Grand Preceptor), and the Taibao (Grand Guardian or Protector) of the Zhou. For critical reconstruction of the various governmental officers and agencies, see Herlee G. Creel, The Origins of Statecraft in China, Vol. 1 (Chicago and London, 1970), pp. 101–32. For more recent discussion of the term’s usages in imperial China, see Hucker, # 4871, p. 399. My translation here follows Hucker.

  13. These two lines quote from the famous conversation between the strategist Zhuge Liang and his rival of another state, Zhou Yu, before the battle of Red Cliff against the vastly superior forces of Cao Cao, the third contender for the throne of Han. See The Three Kingdoms, chapter 49.

  14. The four proper names mentioned in these two lines refer to Confucius (Kong Qiu), Mencius (Meng Ke), the Duke of Zhou (Zhou Gong), and King Wen (putative founder of the Zhou dynasty).

  15. Unlike the Arabic numeral one, the Chinese graph for one is a single horizontal stroke. Thus the headwrap is quite flat as used in the traditional attire of a student or scholar.

  16. Dragon . . . Tiger: references to the astronomical signs as zodiac animals under which these people were born.

  17. An incense burner.

  18. Guigu or Guiguzi (Master of the Ghostly Valley) was a legendary strategist and expert diviner of antiquity.

  19. Duanxi, a stream in Guangdong Province famous for its stones that can be turned into fine ink slabs.

  20. Famous poet of the Jin (265–419 CE) who was also known to be a master occultist. There is a typographical error in the Chinese text here, as the personal name Pu is given as .

  21. The hours of Dragon, Serpent, Horse, and Sheep are 7:00–9:00 a.m., 9:00–11:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m., and 1:00–3:00 p.m.

  22. The hour of the Monkey is 3:00–5:00 p.m.

  23. Silver stream is a metaphor for the Milky Way.

  24. Time float: a clepsydra or water clock. In this device, water drips from a large jar, and the receding liquid is measured by a bamboo index. By the time the water falls to a certain marking, it will be the first watch.

  25. An allusion to Zhuangzi 2, where the narrator dreams that is transformed into a butterfly.

  26. The hour of the Rat is 11:00 p.m.–1:00 a.m.

  27. Royal flags and banners are decorated with the feathers of kingfishers or halcyons.

  28. Yao and Shun: the legendary sage emperors, two of the five thearchs of antiquity. Shun was said to have served Yao with complete loyalty and obedience before succeeding the latter as ruler.

  29. Mountain-river (shanhe) is usually a metaphor for the world or empire.

  30. The three signs: the sun, the moon, and the stars.

  31. The Chess Immortal is literally the immortal with the rotted ax handle, the allusion used in chapter 1; see note 15.

  32. Jingde: frequently the name of Yuchi Gong in vernacular Chinese fiction. He was a famous general serving at the Tang court.

  33. The last lines of the poem and the immediately following episode of the novel provide a bit of satirical etiology for the
origin of the popular practice of having portraits of these two generals pasted on either side of a house’s main entrance as guardian spirits.

  34. Shen Shu and Yu Lü are also guardian deities of the home, their portraits similarly pasted on either side of the main entrance. See Derk Bodde, Festivals in Classical China (Princeton and Hong Kong, 1975), pp. 127–38.

  35. The poem is actually a lyric to the tune of “Moon Over West River.”

  36. In a famous episode of “The Three Kingdoms,” chapter 85, the dying emperor, Liu Bei, entrusts the affairs of state to his prime minister and strategist, Zhuge Liang. To the faithful and able subject who has served him for nearly three decades, the emperor says, “If my heir can be helped, then help him. But if he turns out to be worthless, then take the throne yourself at Chengdu.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  1. As noted in introduction III, item 4, this regulated poem is actually a poetic paraphrase and partial adaption of a prose ritual text titled, “Shengtang wen (Proclamation upon the ascension of the Main Hall)” by one Qin Zhenren , in Minghe yuyin, DZ 1100, 24: 308–09.

  2. “Termites disband”: an allusion to the Tang short story Nankeji (Story of the Southern Branch), or the Nanke taishou zhuan (The Magistrate of the Southern Branch). A certain man who had a huge locust tree (sophora japonica) in his garden dreamed of journeying to a distant country, where he married the princess and stayed for two decades before returning. When he awoke, he discovered a huge ant hill beneath the tree in his own garden, and close examination revealed that its structure was a miniature replica of the places he had visited in his dream. The sight made the man realize the brevity and vanity of human life, and he became thereafter a Daoist. The story in Chinese literature has been regarded as one of the classic treatments of sic gloria mundi transit.

  3. The cuckoo’s sound is said to imitate the Chinese phrase burugui, which may be translated, “Why not go back?”

  4. Court regalia of officials in different periods generally had a stiff, loose belt worn with hornlike buckles.

  5. Emperor Taizong’s full Chinese name is Li Shimin .

  6. The Chinese characters for thirteen appear thus: . Adding two more strokes to the first graph (meaning ten) should make its appearance thus: , meaning thirty. The two graphs together thus lengthen the emperor’s allotted life to thirty-three.

  7. Eastern melon is actually winter melon, or white gourd, the name here being a pun since east and winter (dong) are homonyms. Western and southern melons are watermelons and pumpkins, respectively.

  8. Shu, historical name for the region that is the modern Sichuan Province, known for its rugged mountains. Lu in the next line refers to another famous mountain in modern Jiangsi Province.

  9. The lowest and deepest of the eight hot hells in Buddhism. See the study by Daigan and Alicia Matsunaga, The Buddhist Concept of Hell (New York, 1972).

  10. The Mass or Assembly, which offered food for both water and land spirits, was a Buddhist ritual said to have been inaugurated by Emperor Wu of the Liang (r. 502–49), but its liturgical popularity arose much later. According to Stephen F. Teiser, The Ghost Festival in Medieval China (Princeton, 1988), p. 108: “the Sung dynasties saw the growth of a liturgical tradition centering on the ‘Assembly of Water and Land’ (shui-lu hui), a kind of mass dedicated to wandering spirits. Offerings to spirits haunting waterways were dumped into streams and rivers, while presents destined for souls suffering recompense in the hells were thrown onto the ground. This ritual too was practiced at irregular intervals throughout the year, including the fifteenth day of the seventh month.” A specific text on this ritual event may be found in Chishengguang daochang niansong yi , written by Zunshi (964–1032), and collected as #1951, in T. For treatment of Ming revival of the ritual by Zhuhong, see Chün-fang Yü, The Renewal of Buddhism in China: Chu-hung and the Late Ming Synthesis (New York, 1981), pp. 184–85.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  1. Royal Xiangguo Temple: literally means “the Xiangguo Temple Built by Imperial Commission.” Xiangguo means “prime minister.” The author of the XYJ apparently invented this episode, constantly punning on the sounds of the two syllables, which could refer to , the fruits of Xiang. The temple of this name allegedly was built in the Kaifeng district of the modern Henan Province during the period of the Warring States (403–222 BCE). Destroyed repeatedly, it was finally rebuilt by the Tang emperor, Ruizong (684 CE).

  2. Historically, Fu Yi was one of the most ardent critics of Buddhis. See Arthur F. Wright, “Fu I and the Rejection of Buddhism,” Journal of the History of Ideas 12 (1951): 33–47; Stanley Weinstein, Buddhism Under the Tang (Cambridge and New York, 1987), pp. 7–9.

  3. Three Ways: the three unhappy gati or paths of evildoers that lead to (1) the hell that burns with fire; (2) the hell of blood where, as animals, they mutually devour themselves; and (3) the hell of swords, where even leaves and plants are actually sharp blades.

  4. Sixfold Path: the six directions or paths of reincarnation. They consist of (1) the way to hell, naraka-gati; (2) the way to that of hungry ghosts, preta-gati; (3) the way to that of beasts, tiryagyoni-gati; (4) the way to that of malevolent spirits, assura-gati; (5) the way to that of humans, manuṣya-gati; and (6) the way to that of celestial beings, deva-gati.

  5. Emperor Ming or Mingdi (58–76 CE) ruled during the Later or Eastern Han.

  6. Wudi of the Northern Zhou ruled during the period 561–78 CE, and he personally sponsored court debates on the merits of the Three Religions.

  7. The Fifth Patriarch of the Chan Order was Hongren (601–74 CE). It is said that when his mother was carrying him, their whole house was illuminated by divine light night and day for over a month. At his birth, he was covered by a strange fragrance. See the Song Gaosengzhuan , j 2, in #2061, T 50: 719 ff., and the Jingde Chuandenglu , j 3, in #2076, T 51: 216 ff.

  8. The abbot’s name here contradicts the Abbot Faming named in chapter 9; it is another textual detail suggesting that the former chapter might have been a composition alien to the 1592 version.

  9. In the Tang period, this tower was established as a sort of national Valhalla, where portraits of meritorious officials were displayed.

  10. A hat with the picture of the Vairocana Buddha on its brim.

  11. A spiritual master or preceptor, used frequently in Chinese writings as a synonym for a Buddhist priest.

  12. Anpapādaka, meaning direct metamorphosis or birth by transformation.

  13. That is, the past, the present, and the future lives.

  14. The most honorable one of the world.

  15. As noted in introduction III, item 12, this proclamation is a modified version of another “Shengtang wen” by Feng Zunshi, collected in the Minghe yuyin, DZ 1100, 24: 308.

  16. Seven Buddhas: they are seven ancient buddhas or Sapta Buddha, including Vipaśyin, Śikhui, Viśvabhū, Krakucchanda, Kanakmuni, Kāśyapa, and Śākyamuni.

  17. That is, silkworms white as ice.

  18. A pearl that glows at night.

  19. The golden or diamond element in the universe, signifying the indestructible and active wisdom of Vairocana.

  20. Luo Bo: the Chinese name for Mahāmaudgalyāyana, one of the chief disciples of Śākyamuni, who was famous for his journey to Hell to save his mother from the marauding hungry ghosts.

  21. Another abode of the Lady Queen Mother of the West.

  22. A metrical piece, one of the twelve classes of sūtras in Hīnayāna Buddhism.

  23. The name of the guardian of the Earth, one of the eight Dhyāni-Bodhisattvas who, with Yama, rule as Ten Kings of the Underworld.

  24. This poem is another lyric to the tune of “Moon Over West River.”

  25. The sexennial assembly of Buddha’s disciples.

  26. See chapter 8, note 18.

  27. Name of a famous Buddhist monastery.

  28. These three texts seem to be the inventions of the novel’s author.

  29. The true, spiritual form or “body”; the embodiment of essenti
al Buddha-hood.

  30. The full name of Guanyin, meaning in popular understanding, “she who hearkens to the voices of the world.”

  31. “Namo”: I yield to or submit to.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  1. Vulture Peak: Gṛdhrakūṭa, a place supposedly frequented by the Buddha and where the Lotus sūtra was preached. The full name of the mountain is Spirit Vulture Mountain.

  2. The Wheel of the Law is dharmacakra, the truth of Buddha able to vanquish all evil and all resistance. It rolls on from man to man and from age to age.

  3. Bamboo sticks were struck by the watchman as he announced the time.

  4. This is a lyric to the tune of “Celestial Immortal.”

  5. Huang Gong, a man of the Han period and a native of Donghai (in modern Jiangsu Province), was reputedly a tamer of tigers. See the Xijing zaji , j 3.

  6. From antiquity, the dream of a bear had been interpreted by the Chinese as a sign of the imminent birth of a male child. See the “Xiaoya ” segment of the Classic of Poetry.

  7. The lion king, or shiman , was supposedly a pastry decoration made of flour and shaped like a barbarian king with a lion head. This ornament also appeared on belt buckles; hence the name.

  8. A mendicant monk. The story is actually named “Bichu Purged from Evil Karma ,” which tells of Buddha’s encountering an ascetic practicing austerities northeast of a stūpa in the Jetavana Garden. When asked why he looked so sad by the patriarch, the man replied that he was ill and had no one to care for him. Whereupon Buddha stretched out his hand and touched the man, who was healed at once. Taking him out of his hut, Buddha bathed and clothed him before urging him to be even more diligent in his religious devotion.