The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 3

by Unknown

  5. Jizi: , the style of Su Qin , master strategist and rhetor in the Warring States period.

  6. Side door: as noted previously, Side Door , is a stock metaphor for heresy or heterodoxy.

  7. A modified translation of the five familiar graphs opening the received text of Classic of Change: , , , , . Older precedent of the first graph could be jian (key). See I Ching: The Classic of Changes, trans. with an Introduction and Commentary by Edward L. Shaughnessy (New York, 1996), pp. 38–39, 287.

  8. Gullet the Gold Dragon: , one of the Twenty-Eight Constellations or Lunar Lodges. In translating this and other names of the starry chronograms (see later in the text), I follow Schafer, pp. 76–77.

  9. Wolf-teeth club: a club with spikes on one end and a long handle on the other. For an illustration of this Song weapon, see Zhou, plate 65.

  10. True Warrior of the North: that is, Zhenwu , a title bestowed during the Song to an older deity by the name of Xuanwu , and referred to several times throughout the novel. See JW, chapter 2, note 9, for more information.

  11. Wudang Mountain: , a famous sacred mountain of the Daoist religion, located in the modern province of Hebei. It was venerated by Ming emperor Chengzu (r. 1402–24) as Mount Tai because Zhenwu, the patriarch, was said to have practiced austerities here.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX

  1. Nine Streams: jiujiang . There are several places in China by this name, which is also the designation for different rivers and their tributaries. In this context, however, it is likely that the term refers to nine rivers in the South: that is, Zhe River , Yangzi River , Chu River , Xiang River , Jing River , Han River , South River , Wu River , and Song River .

  2. References to two prefectures in southeast China: Jingzhou and Yang-zhou .

  3. Zhu and Lu: probably a reference to Zhu Xi (1130–1200) and Lu Jiuyuan (1139–1192), two famous Neo-Confucian thinkers of the Song.

  4. King Shun and King Yu: legendary sage kings of high antiquity. King Shun was noted for his filial piety and King Yu was the Conqueror of the Flood.

  5. Snake and turtle: the legend of Zhenwu told of the god’s defeat of two spirits of turtle and serpent, who then became his disciples. Paintings and icons of the god usually depict him standing on top of the snake and the turtle.

  6. Tai . . . Hua: these are four of the nine sacred mountains in China.

  7. This is a reference to Wuzhiqi , an aquatic monster whom some scholars have regarded as a possible antecedent figure for the novel’s Sun Wukong. See JW 1, introduction I, for further discussion.

  8. Three Lights: that is, the sun, the moon, and the stars.

  9. Three Vehicles: or Triyāna, the three vehicles that ferry living beings across saṁ sāra into nirvāṇa. In the original text of XYJ, the first two graphs of the poetic line are impossible typographical errors, because duoshi means, literally, for a long time. I have thus emended them to duoshi (which means all because of or on account of), and the change of the second graph also corrects the error of tonal metrics in the original line.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

  1. The quotation is taken from the Youyang zazu , j 18, 3b (SBCK).

  2. Respond: For the brilliant witty pun in these two lines on hair and dharma (fa , ) implied in the Buddhist doctrine of mutual union, see our discussion in JW 1, introduction III, “The Uses and Sources of Poetry.”

  3. Triple peaks: Mount Hua of Shaanxi province is famous for its three peaks named Lotus Flowers, Bright Star, and Jade Girl (, , ). See the poetic lines: “, ,” in “Xingjing Huayin ,” by the Tang poet Cui Hao , in QTS, j 130, 2: 1329.

  4. Eight Rules here is quoting from the Record of Rites. See the Liji , j 27 in SSJZS 2: 1462d.

  5. His claws: ordinarily, a python is not expected to have claws. But the mang here is sometimes called a manglong (a “python-dragon”), in which case, whatever it is, may have claws.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT

  1. “Arm broken in three places”: this metaphor for an able physician is based on the Zuo Commentary. See “Duke Ding ,” 13th year, where Gao Jiang of the state of Qi said, “When someone can heal an arm broken in three places, I know he is an excellent physician.” SSJZS 2: 2150d.

  2. This is a lyric written to the tune of “Southern Home Village.”

  3. College of Interpreters: Huitong guan , established during the Yuan in 1276, it was the “principal agency for receiving tributary envoys.” Reestablished in 1292, it was placed under the supervision of the Minister of Rites by 1295. By Ming-Qing times, it became the state hostelry for foreign envoys. See Hucker, #2889, pp. 263–64. The reference here again may be construed as a small hint of the generic context for the 1592 XYJ text.

  4. Yu and Tang: references to the Great Yu , founder of the Xia Dynasty (traditional date of accession 2205 BCE), and Cheng Tang , founder of the Shang Dynasty (traditional date of accession 1766 BCE).

  5. Cheng and Zhou: references to King Cheng (r. 1115–1079 BCE) and his uncle, the Duke of Zhou in the Zhou Dynasty.

  6. Pei of Lu: , the District or Prefecture of Pei in the modern Jiangsu province was part of the state of Lu in antiquity. It was also the birthplace of Liu Bang , the man who successfully challenged the rule of Qin (210–206 BCE) and became the founder of the Han Dynasty.

  7. Sima: , the surname of the family that founded the Jin Dynasty in 265 CE.

  8. Conduits: Jingluo , usually translated as “meridians” or “cardinal and de-cumane tracts” (Nathan Sivin in SCC VI/6: 61), but I follow Porkert in rendering the term as conduits or “sinarteries.”

  9. Submerged or floating: chen or . In the literature of traditional Chinese medicine, various terms are used to describe the character or feeling of the pulse, which in turn will give indication of the state of the body’s health. Thus chenmo , translated by Porkert (pp. 172–73) as pulsus mersus, is “a firm palpation” felt deep within, whereas fumo , pulsus superficialis, is “a delicate palpation” felt “close to the surface.”

  10. In and out: biao and li . According to Porkert (p. 25), “these common technical terms designate the structive and the active halves of a pair of energetic orbs [i.e., visceral systems of function]. . . . These aspects have a close affinity to the (primary) correspondences nei (inner side, inward things) and wai (outside, outward things).”

  11. These several titles are all well-known texts of traditional Chinese medicine. The Candid Questions is the Huangdi neijing suwen (Candid Questions in the Inner Classic of the Yellow Sovereign), a text of the Han period. For a translation of the first thirty-four chapters, see Veith. The Classic of Medical Problems is the Nanjing , now available in English as Nan-Ching: The Classic of Difficult Issues, trans. and annotated by Paul U. Unschuld (Berkeley, 1986). The text’s putative author is Bian Qiao (fl. 255 BCE). The term for pharmacopoeias is bencao , which in modern usage usually refers to the Bencao gangmu , the Great Pharmacopoeia compiled by the Ming erudite Li Shizhen (d. 1593) and published in 1596. Since the earliest known hundred-chapter version of XYJ that we have now dates from 1592, I have refrained from identifying the term with Li’s published text. The Formulas of the Pulse is the Mojue , probably a Song document, and it should be distinguished from the Mojing (Classic of the Pulse), compiled from the text by Wang Shuhe (210–58) in the fourth century CE.

  CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

  1. Inch: in traditional Chinese medicine, the human pulse is divided into three sections on the wrist—the one closest to the hand was called cun or inch; the one further up the arm was called chi or foot; and the one between these two pulses was called guan or pass. These three pulses are translated by Porkert, pp. 128–57, as pulsus pollicaris, pulsus clusalis, and pulsas pedalis, respectively. For the translation of the following passage describing Sun Wukong taking the pulse of the king, I am indebted to the kind assistance of Professor Nathan Sivin.

  2. Made his own breathing regular: according to Veith, p. 45, “the physician was instructed to take as norm of the pulse beats one expiration and one inspiration of his own,
during which time the normal pulse should pulsate four times.” See the Sanyin jiyi bingzhengfang lun (Siku quanshu edition), j 1, 2a: “Those who want to examine the pulse must first make regular their own breathings so that they can take, by means of pressure, the pulse of the patient to determine the energetic levels , , .”

  3. Four Hereopathic Pneumatics: siqi . These are wind (feng ), moist (shi ), cold (han ), and heat (shu ), the four possibly harmful effects of the four seasons. See the Sanyin, j 2, 13a–b.

  4. Five Stases: wuyu . These are stases or blockages of normal (i.e., orthopathic) pneumatic or qi circulation as correlated with the Five Phases and located in the Five Yin () visceral systems of functions (i.e., “orbs”). See the Suwen , j 21, esp. 26b–36a (SBCK).

  5. Seven External . . . and Eight Internal Images of the Pulse: Zhao Shutang , in Zhongyi zhenduanxue qianshi (Taichung, Taiwan, 1975), pp. 8–9, cites Classic of Difficult Issues (Nanjing ) to the effect that qibiao and bali are standard pulse images (, , ). Though I have not been able to locate this passage in the Nanjing, Zhao’s remark is confirmed by the Sanyin, j 1, 25a–27b. According to these sources, the seven external images are fu , kou , hua , shi , xian , jin , and hong . Porkert, p. 30, translates these terms as pulsus superficialis, cepaculicus, lubricus, repletus, chordalis, intentus, and redundans, respectively. Each of these images is applicable to each section of the pulse (i.e., inch, pass, foot). The eight internal images are chen , wei , chi , huan , ru , fu , ruo , and se , translated by Porkert as pulsus mersus, evanescens, tardus, languidus, lenis, subreptus, and invalidus, respectively. Porkert has no term for se, the rough or uneven pulse.

  6. The Nine Pulse Indications: jiuhou . There seem to be two different, albeit not unrelated, explanations for the meaning of this term. In the Suwen, j 6, 9b–11a, the jiuhou refers to the different sections of the entire human body, beginning with the arteries of the forehead and moving all the way down to the feet. Specifically, the term concerns the readings of the pulse at these various points of the body. See Veith, pp. 187–89. This is also the understanding of a modern text on traditional Chinese medicine. See Mojing xuanyao (Shanghai, 1965), pp. 2–3. On the other hand, a text like the Nanjing, j 2, 27b (SBCK), has the the following statement: “As for the Three Sections and the Nine Indications, what do they regulate? The Three Sections are the inch, pass, and foot, while the Nine Indications are the phenomena of floating, medium, and sunken [in each of the pulse sections]. , , , , , .” See also Paul U. Unschuld’s slightly different translation of the passage on p. 244. The primary significance of the term jiuhou and the symptomatic mataphors here thus seem to refer to the characteristic of the pneumatic energy’s circulation as indicated by the pulse. See also the Mojue in Li Yanxing , Mojue huibian (Shanghai, 1963), pp. 34–35.

  7. From light to medium . . . to light: , . From the second explanation of jiuhou may have arisen the concept and the practice of reading with three different finger pressures the three sections of the radial pulse. The three types of readings that vary with pressure are thus called floating, medium, and sunken readings.

  8. Cessation of menses: it is impossible for a king to have menses. This is an obvious slip on the part of the XYJ author in his incorporation of medical materials for this episode of the novel.

  9. Wenhua Palace Hall: or the Palace Hall of Literary Florescence, one of the four within the imperial palace, with designated buildings and duties, staffed by Grand Secretaries subordinate to the Hanlin Academy. See Hucker, “Governmental Organization,” p. 29.

  10. Dahuang: , Rheum palmatum. For a description with illustration, see ZYZ, 1: 43–49.

  11. Badou: , Semen crotonis. For a description with illustration, see ZYZ, 2: 59–60.

  12. Medical supplement: yaoyinzi , a drug or drink added to compound prescriptions and used as a vehicle or conductor to convey the medicine to that part of the body where it is to take effect.

  13. Horse-Saddle-Bell: Madouling , or Aristolochia debilis.

  14. Double Fifth: for a brief description of this festival, which also bears the name of Correct Middle or Correct Yang (, ) see Bodde, pp. 312–16. The most thorough discussion of the customs and activities associated with the festival will be found in Wen Yiduo , “Duanwu kao ,” in Wen Yiduo quanji , 4 vols. (Shanghai, 1948), 1A: 221–38.

  15. Realgar: on this substance used for alchemy or as an aphrodisiac, see SCC 5/2: 284–86.

  16. Mythical Beast: this is the xiezhi , a fabulous animal said to possess a single horn like a unicorn.

  17. Hour of Monkey and that of the Boar: between 3:00 and 11:00 p.m.

  CHAPTER SEVENTY

  1. Trained: literally, practiced self-cultivation.

  2. Hare and Crow: references to yutu (jade hare) and jinwu (golden crow), emblematic metaphors of the moon and the sun which, in turn, are symbolic of the heart and the kidney.

  3. Mysterious Pass: Xuanguan . In internal alchemy, “the Mysterious Pass represents the time and place in which an alchemist joins the complementary antinomies on which he or she works, such as inner nature and vital force (xing and ming), Dragon and Tiger (longhu), lead and mercury, Fire and Water, heart and kidneys.” From the entry on “xuanguan” in ET 2: 1131–32.

  4. The stars’ transportive power: for the Daoist ritual practice of touring space with the help of the Heavenly Guidelines (tiangang ) by walking in patterned imitation of stellar movements, especially in reference to that of the Northern Dipper (budou , or bugang , , or tagang ), see Schafer, pp. 234–69; and the entry on “bugang” in ET 1: 240.

  5. Four Images: sixiang . According to the Dazhuan (Great Commentary, also known as the Xici zhuan ) of the Classic of Change, “there is in Change the ultimate beginning that generates the two structural forms. The two structural forms generate the four images. The four images generate the eight trigrams , , , .” See Zhouyi zhengyi , j 7, in SSJZS 1: 82a–b. Four images here are usually interpreted as the correspondence to either the four seasons of the year or four (metal, wood, water, and fire) of the Five Phases. Either group is further correlated with the configurative pneumatics circling in the body in alchemical literature.

  6. Two Breaths: Erqi , a term usually referring to yin and yang, the two primary cosmic forces. But in alchemical discourse, it may also refer to the primal breath or pneumatic energy (yuan qi or xiantian qi , embryonic breath) and ordinary breath (huxi qi or houtian qi , postnatal breath). Yellow Way (huang-dao ) is one of the three tracts or conduits (the colors of the other two identified as red and black ) that are utilized in the alchemical process to circulate and transport throughout the human body the somatic ingredients (i.e., fluids, secretions, pneumas, etc.) regarded as drugs of replenishment and fortification. Whereas the Red Way and the Black Way are identical with the two tracts named conception (ren ) and superintendent (du ), the Yellow Way is thought to be located in the middle of the body, from the front part of the lower abdomen (huiyang ) all the way up to the “Mud Pill Palace (niwan gong )” on top of one’s skull. See “Huangdao ” in ZHDJDCD, p. 1180. The lines here in Sun Wukong’s autobiographical poem apparently paraphrase a part of the “Preface ” of Zhang Boduan’s Wuzhen pian, a Quanzhen text that has been used repeatedly throughout the novel. The source lines in the “Preface” read: “Now those who practice the smelting of potable gold for reversion to elixir are hard to encounter, but [their art] is easy to accomplish. One must understand thoroughly Yin and Yang for the deepest comprehension of the creative process. Only then can one elevate the Two Breaths on the Yellow Way and unite the Three Inner Natures in the Original Palace, conjoin [or bunch together] the Five Phases and fuse harmoniously the Four Images , , , , , , , .” See DZ 263, 4: 711–12.

  7. Three Parties: sanjia . For the meaning of this term, see JW 1, chapter 2, note 4. In the present context, there is little doubt that Three Parties here refer to the indispensable ingredients for internal alchemy—spermal essence (jing), pneumatic energy (qi), and spirit (shen)—ingredients also specifically mentioned in the o
ral verse formula recited by Sun Wukong’s teacher, the Patriarch Subhodi, also in chapter 2.

  8. Mount Taihang: , a mountain range straddling the modern provinces of Henan and Hebei. See Herrmann, C-2.

  9. Cloud-Transcending Stream or Ferry: Lingyun du , a body of water said to be at the foot of the Spirit Mountain, the abode of Buddha. See JW 4, chapter 98.

  10. Wayside stands: in premodern eras, there were supposedly small pavilions built every ten miles (li) along main roads, especially those leading to and from the imperial capital, for travelers to rest in.

  11. This is a lyric written to the tune of “The Partridge Sky.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE

  1. This is another lyric written to the tune of “Moon Over West River.”

  2. Broken-head incense: duantou xiang , an incense stick with the head snapped off. Popular belief, according to the late Ming poet and commentator, Jin Shengtan (1610–1661), held that if one were to offer such truncated sticks to worship Buddha, the person would be fated in the next incarnation to suffer separation from loved ones. This notion accords with the sentiments expressed in this very poetic line by the captive queen. The metaphor is frequently used in both fiction and drama. See, for example, Wang Shifu , Xixiang ji , ed. Wang Ji’en (Shanghai, 1978), p. 21; The Moon and the Zither: The Story of the Western Wing, eds. and trans., Stephen H. West and Wilt L. Idema (Berkeley, 1991), p. 196.

  3. The two lines of verse here are quotations from the Tang poet, Han Yu (768–824). The first line comes from a poem, “Zeng Zheng bingcao ,” and the second from “Qianxing .” See QTS 5: 3787 and 3852.

  4. External Grandpa: Waigong , the maternal grandfather. The author is punning on the word wai, which can mean external or outward. See the passage following in the novel on the conversation between the lady and the king.