The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 4

by Unknown

  6. Duoluo rhinoceros: duoluo xi , supposedly the largest type of rhinoceros. For a description, see Liu Xun , Lingbiao yilu ji (Taiwan Commercial Press facsimile edition), j 2, 6b. For further discussion of the rhinoceros in Chinese lore, see Chun-chiang Yen, “The Chüeh-tuan as Word, Art Motif, and Legend,” JAOS 89 (1969): 578–99. Duoluo may also be an abbreviation of Duoluobodi (Dvāhapti), an ancient kingdom on the upper Irrawaddy.

  7. “Good’s limit begets evil”: the sentence says literally, the extremity of prosperity produces negativity. It refers to the hexagrams of the Classic of Change, in which the graphic representation of the pi (evil, negativity) reverses exactly that of the tai (prosperity). In this cyclic view of the universe, the end of one phase or condition gives rise to the opposite other.

  CHAPTER NINETY-THREE

  1. Three estrades: santai , three estrades or terraces, allegedly built for ancient rulers for different kinds of observation. The lingtai , spirit terrace or numinous estrade, is for the exclusive purpose of inspecting celestial or astronomical patterns (tianwen ), and this activity is supposedly reserved solely for the ruler. The temporal estrade, shitai , is for observing seasonal transformations. The enclosed estrade, youtai , is for observing wildlife such as beasts, fishes, and fowls. The last two estrades may be used by feudal princes and ministers. Posed in this line of the poem, the rhetorical question seems a tacit critique of the “three estrades” as handed down by the Confucian imperial tradition. The lingming (spiritual understanding, translated here as discernment) should focus only on the lingtai or numinous estrade as heart-and-mind, the cultivation of which, according to the poem, would lead to Buddho-Daoist enlightenment.

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

  3. Eight-word brick walls: see JW 2, chapter 36, note 5.

  4. For a modern account of this story, see Dictionary of Pāli Proper Names, ed. G.P. Malalasekera. Published for the Pāli Text Society by Luzac and Co., Ltd., 2 vols. (London, 1960), 1: 963–66.

  5. On the dialectical relation between our nature and the moon, see JW 2, chapter 36.

  6. On the construction of clepsydras in China and their principle of operation, see SCC 3: 315ff.

  7. Brightest light: literally, jiuhua , a term traditionally associated with decorated ornaments or appointments in the imperial palace—for example, a jiuhua fan or a jiuhua drapery. There was also a jiuhua deng , a specially decorated lantern used for the Lantern Festival, the light of which was supposed to be able to reach a hundred li all around when placed on top of a hill. This last allusion seems more appropriate for the meaning of the text here.

  8. The hour of the Tiger is 3:00–5:00 a.m.; the hour of the Serpent, 9:00–11:00 a.m.

  9. Taizong: this term causes the Indian ruler to have the same name as the Tang emperor, but the Chinese nomenclature is simply the dynastic title, meaning the “Supreme Ancestor.” Any founding ruler of a new reign or dynasty can be given this title. Apparently without any knowledge of historical India, the XYJ author simply imagines that country to be another replica of China.

  10. Yizong means literally the “Pleasant or Agreeable Ancestor,” and Jingyan, the reign title, means “tranquil banquet.”

  11. No-leak: for the meaning of wulou or bulou , see JW 1, chapter 17, note 6.

  12. Three perfections: sanquan , the preservation of the three vital ingredients of the body—(spermal) essence, breath, and spirit (jing, qi, shen)—is a constant theme in internal alchemy.

  13. Six organs: of the senses.

  CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR

  1. The work of two-eights: for the meaning of this term in alchemy, see JW 2, chapter 36, note 23.

  2. The time of three times three: the term sansan is used to depict the correlation between the hexagrams of the Classic of Change and the lunar cycle. As noted in chapter 91, this volume, the tai hexagram is made up of three yin (broken) strokes on top of three yang (unbroken) lines in the bottom, and the pi hexagram is an exact reversal of this representation. The tai is then correlated with the waxing of the moon in the first quarter (qianxian ), and the pi with the waning of the moon in the last quarter (houxian ). For the dialectical relation between the moon and self-cultivation in internal alchemy, see various notes in JW 2, chapter 36, and SCC V/4: 266 ff.

  3. For the meaning of “the baby” and that of “the fair girl” in the line following, see JW 1, chapter 19, note 10.

  4. Four Signs: sixiang . In Buddhism, this term refers to the four avasthā or all states of all phenomena—birth, being, alteration, and death. There are also variations of these states in different schools or divisions. In the discourse of divination (shu ), however, the term refers to specific days during the four seasons (e.g., the day bingding in spring, mouji in summer, rengui in autumn, and jiayi in winter) when they are said to be days of prosperous signs , fit for all kinds of activities such as building, repair, trade, planting, conception, and moving. Understandably, these moments are also specially efficacious for alchemical undertakings. In alchemical discourse, the Four Signs or Emblems (sixiang = ), moreover, refer (among other things) to the correlation of the Gold Squire (jinweng/gong / ) with the secretion of the lungs (), the Fair Girl (cha’nü ) with the hole in the heart (), the Baby Boy (ying’er ) with the spermal essence of the kidneys (), and the Yellow Dame (huangpo ) with the secretion of the spleen (). The way the term is used in Sha Monk’s autobiographical declaration clearly points to a meaning conferred by internal alchemy. “Harmonized (hehe )” in such a context thus means literally to fuse or unite harmoniously or in a balanced manner.

  5. Leopard’s-tail: baowei , a bannerlike ornament hung at the back of an imperial chariot.

  6. Carved dragons: chitou , dragons carved at the entrance to the court or palace.

  7. The hour of the Serpent is 9:00–11:00 a.m.

  8. Bids phoenixes to come, etc.: or beckon the phoenixes to arrive in proper manner , a reference to book “Yi and Ji ” of the Book of Documents. See Shangshu zhengyi , j 5, in SSJZS 1: 144a, where it states: “when fluted harmonies perform the nine parts of the royal music, male and female phoenixes will arrive in proper ritual manner , .”

  9. For the flowers mentioned in the next fourteen lines of the poem, their identities are as follows: moli , Jasminum sambrac; lichun hua , Papaver rhoeas; “Wood-brush” flower, mubi hua , Magnolia conspicua, so named because the flower’s first opening resembles a Chinese brush; fengxian hua , Impatiens balsamina, used in northern regions of China in combination with alum as a nail polish; “Jade-pin” flower, yuzan hua , Funkia subcordata, so named because of its white, pearly blossoms and bracted stems.

  10. Heaven-gate: a metaphor for the imperial gate.

  11. Hanlin Academy: Hanlin yuan , a common variant name for the Institute of Academicians established in the reign of Tang emperor Xuanzong (r. 712–756). At first, the academicians, as officials holding “substantive posts” in different units of the central government, were charged with the clerkly assignments of “drafting, editing, and compiling” of official documents. By the time of the Song and thereafter, the charge in the academy became a substantive post itself. See Items 2142 and 2144 in Hucker, p. 222.

  12. Kui: , malvaceous plants of all varieties.

  13. The pawlonia or wutong , sterculia platanifolia, is a favored tree for symbolizing autumn in both traditional Chinese verse and painting. It is also a convention of the arts that the tree is planted by wells that, in wealthy households, are often constructed with carved, gilded railings.

  14. The library’s four treasures are brush, paper, ink, and ink-slab or ink-stone.

  15. Huai: , Sophora japonica.

  16. Milk: sulao , literally, koumiss and cheese. For the use of milk and other dairy products in traditional Chinese diet, see Edward H. Schafer’s article “Tang,” in Food in Chinese Culture, Anthropological and Historical Perspectives, ed. K.C. Chang (New Haven and London, 1977), pp. 106–7.

  17. Mao Qiang: , a famous beaut
y of the fifth century BCE, said to be a mistress of King Yue.

  18. Women in the ancient southern state of Chu are reputed to be particularly beautiful.

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

  CHAPTER NINETY-FIVE

  1. Numinous Source: lingyuan , another name for the Star Lord of Supreme Yin , the god of the moon.

  2. Gong, etc.: these are the five tones of the Chinese pentatonic scale, , , , , . According to the article “China” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, ed. Stanley Sadie (20 vols., London, Washington, DC, and Hong Kong, 1980), 4: 260–61, these notes “are generally considered to be the earliest known Chinese pentatonic scale.” They are also “the first five of the Pythagorean series. When arranged in an ascending order they are equivalent in terms of relative pitch to C-D-F-G-A.” See also the discussion in SCC IV/1: 160–228.

  3. Three Primes: sanyuan . There are several explanations for the meaning of this term, the most basic being the abbreviated form of sancai zhi yuan , the three primes of Heaven, Earth, and Humans. Another name for these elements is sanguan . See the Biography Pan Ni in the Jin Shu , j 55, Ershiwushi 2: 1229c–d. In the literature of divination, one yuan refers to a cycle of sixty years. Finally, in Daoist writings, the term Three Primes again may have several meanings. Most fundamentally, it may refer to the three precosmic original breaths of the world (yuanqi ). In internal alchemy literature, sanyuan may refer to the “three cinnabar fields (san dantian )” located in the human body, or it may refer to the primary somatic ingredients by which physical immortality is realized. In the Zhonghe ji (thirteenth century, DZ 249 in 4), for example, we have on p. 488 this statement: “The superior drugs are of three kinds: essence (jing ), breath (qi ), and spirit (shen ). There is but one structural substance, but their function are twofold. What is structural substance? They are originally the great matter of Three Primes. What is function? They are the reactive functions of internal and external usage ; , ; ? ; ? .” Thus those who succeed by refining essence and changing that into breath have worked on the Human prime (renyuan ); those by refining breath and changing that into spirit have worked on the Earth prime (diyuan ); and those refining spirit and returning it to the void (xu ) have worked on the Heaven prime (tianyuan ). See ET 2: 1282–83. The monster here in the poem is, of course, eulogizing her cudgel-like pestle. It should be remembered, however, that her particular weapon is vitally linked to her person as a material symbol of her individual character and the state of transcendence realized through self-cultivation. She and the instrument are thus similar to the goldfish and the lotus plant with its unopened bud that became a bronze mallet in the alchemical process (see JW 2, chapter 49), and to Tripitaka’s three disciples with their own weapons (this volume, chapters 88–90). This kind of association is evident in a great number of deities and transcendents throughout the Chinese religious pantheon, most notably perhaps in the familiar group of Eight Immortals (ba xian ), in which each member thereof possesses a particular instrument (a fan, a flower basket, a transverse flute, etc.) marking the owner’s personality and power.

  4. Toad Palace: changong , another name for the Lunar Palace. For an informative account of the moon in Chinese mythology, see Schafer, chapter 9. In the next line of verse, the Cassia Hall, guidian , is the name of a room in the Lunar Palace.

  5. Vast-Cold Palace: another name for the Lunar Palace, first encountered in JW 1, chapter 19. The name has its basis on the fact that the moon sheds light with no heat.

  6. Three rabbit lairs: based on the common saying that the sly hare always has three lairs.

  7. Lady White: su’e and the Blue Maiden are both goddesses of the moon.

  8. Revealing cause: the Chinese, liaoxing , is an abbreviation of liaoyin foxing , the second of the three Buddha-nature causes. The first, zhengyin , is the direct cause of attaining the perfect Buddha-nature, and it is associated with the Dharmakāya. The second is related to Buddha-wsidom, while the third, yuanyin , is the environing cause, associated with the merit and virtue of Buddha, which results in bringing salvation to self and others.

  9. Sea of gold: a likely reference to the name of the monastery, Gold-Spreading.

  CHAPTER NINETY-SIX

  1. Why speak of dream: literally, the line reads, “Why does one need you in a dream to relate a dream ?” The rhetorical question, in turn, derives from the irony of doubled illusion expressed in the saying, “A silly person speaking of a dream ,” and its distant source may be traced back to the ancient Daoist exposition on the interrelated theme of dream and illusion preserved in the Zhuangzi. The novel’s poem is another lyric written to the tune of “Moon Over West River.” As noted in part III, item 20, of the introduction, the poem is also a near-verbatim citation of one of the two-dozen-plus lyrics of the same tune authored by Zhang Boduan of the “Wuzhen pian ,” collected in the Xiuzhen shishu . The main alteration comes in the poem’s first line, where Zhang’s version reads: “The phenomenon of phenomena is originally no phenomenon .” See DZ 263, 4: 748. The identical diction of both poem’s second lines takes on special significance with the alliterative binome, “emptiness [of] emptiness, or empty emptiness, kongkong ,” in the history of pre-modern Chinese fiction. Few students of the genre would miss the remarkable name bestowed on one of the enigmatic figures populating the opening and closing chapters of the full-length Honglou meng (Dream of the Red Chamber or Story of the Stone). It is the Daoist Kongkong , rendered as Vanitas by David Hawkes and John Minford. That the putative author of the Qing novel is acquainted with The Journey to the West in both dramatic and novelistic forms has ample textual evidence. We do not know, however, whether Cao Xueqin had also read Zhang Boduan, but the Quanzhen patriarch’s use of the term kongkong followed specifically by another startling poetic reference to a dreamer speaking of a dream tempts us to speculate.

  2. Five-colored clouds: the wuyun here is short for wuyunti , a metaphor for a calligraphic style stemming from one celebrity scholar Wei Zhi in the Tang, who used to sign his name like a five-petaled cloud. Later, wuyun or duoyun became also a metaphor for letters. See Wei’s biography in the Xin Tang Shu , j 122, in Ershiwushi 5: 3956b. In the present context, the metaphor probably refers to strips of Buddhist writings freshly written to decorate the sacrificial tables.

  3. Scholars: xiucai , literally, young talents. It is the historical name given to students who have taken their first degree in the civil service examination.

  4. A Guide: Shilin guangji , an encyclopedia of the Song compiled between 1100 and 1250 CE, but it was first published in 1325. My translation of the title follows Needham.

  5. Gonche notations: . According to The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 4: 264, this was a form of notation similar to solfeggio in concept. It indicated “pitch and was the most popular form of notation for both vocal and instrumental music” from the thirteenth century to the twentieth. For illustration of the gongche scores, see pp. 265 and 272. See also the discussion in Wang Guangqi , Zhongguo yinyue shi (Shanghai, 1934; reprinted in Taipei, 1974), chapter 5, pp. 7ff.

  CHAPTER NINETY-SEVEN

  1. External Aid: waihu . This term of Buddhism refers to food and clothing provided for clerics, as contrasted with the internal aid of Buddha’s teachings. It is used here as a metonym for the squire.

  2. Three spirits and seven souls: sanhun qipo . Chinese thought from the earliest times has affirmed in an individual human two kinds of souls. According to SCC V/2: 85ff., “the ouranic component, the hun soul, came from the upper air and was received back into it, while the chthonic component, the pho soul, was generated by the earth below and sank back to mingle with it after death.” Around the time of the Later Han, “the number of hun souls was definitively at three and the number of pho souls at seven.” Needham finds it difficult to give a reason for the numbers, but he suspects a “macrocosmic or astrological” association. See also ET 1: 69–71.

  3. Gong and Huang: these refer
to Gong Sui and Huang Ba , two model officials in the Han period noted for their administrative talents. For their biographies, see Han Shu , j 89 in Ershiwushi 1: 0585d–0587a. Their last names are frequently mentioned together in classical poetry.

  4. Zhuo and Lu: these refer to Zhuo Mao and Lu Gong , another two officials in the Later Han period noted for being able administrators. See their biographies in Hou Han Shu , j 55, in Ershiwushi 1: 0749c–0750d.

  5. No-Option Bridge: first mentioned in JW 1, chapter 11, during the Tang emperor Taizong’s journey from Hell back to life, the name Naihe ( = ), “Without alternative or remedy,” may have been a popular corruption of the River Naihe () in Shandong province. According to the Qing yitong zhi , there is another bridge, the Gold-Silver Bridge , southwest of the bridge proper. Popular legends locate the river’s origin in Hell: the blood of damned souls and demons is supposed to flow in the Neihe. The extreme height and narrowness of the bridge are such that anyone trying to walk across it inevitably falls into the river; hence its name.

  CHAPTER NINETY-EIGHT

  1. Yellow cranes bring letters: this refers to the Yellow Crane Letter and Blue Phoenix Script/Letter . Daoist transcendents or immortals are thought to send their communications by means of mythical birds so named.

  2. From antiquity, it has been customary to refer to immortals or transcendents (i.e., xian ) and later, most Daoists, as feathered scholars (yushi ) or feathered travelers (yuke ). Upon success in cultivation, according to textual accounts, the adept would sprout feathers all over his body, sometimes even wings like Christian angels, so that they could ascend to Heaven. See SCC, V/2: 96–113.

  3. Former years: the narrative here refers back to the account in JW 1, chapter 8.

  4. Here a reference to the diamond incorruptible body of Buddhahood.

  5. A small bottomless boat: . The recurrent metaphor that studs the huge corpora of Chan scriptures collected in the Buddhist Canon (Taishō shinshū dai-zōkyō cited as T in this work), the Xuzangjing , and the Dainihon zokuzōkyō is either wudi chuan or meidi chuan . Its various meanings have different references as follows: (a) contradictory functionality (e.g., a bottomless bowl or a stringless zither , in “Shiwu wenda ,” collected in Rentian yanmu , j 6, in #2006, T 48: 331c–32a); (b) the state of religious or spiritual maturity (e.g., natural ripening of fruits , , , , in Jingde chuandeng lu , j 6, # 2056, T 51: 332c); (c) the state of natural transcendence (e.g., “dwelling on hairless ground, mounting a bottomless boat that is carried by the moon and moved by the wind , , ,” in Hongzhi Chanshi guanglu , j 5, # 2001, T 48: 71c); (d) the bottomless boat’s equation with mental purification and the sacred West (e.g., “, ,” in Wuyi Yuanlai Chanshi guanglu , j 20, # 1435, Xuzangjing 72: 313b); (e) as vehicle of soteric crossing to “the other shore” of enlightenment (e.g., “, ,” in ibid., 311a); (f) as metaphor for salvific pefection (e.g., “,” in Wudeng huiyuan xulüe , j 2, # 1566, Xuzangjing 80: 494b); and (g) a metaphor for death (e.g., “, , , ,” in Xu xhiyue lu , j 5, # 1579, Xuzangjing 84: 56c). Virtually all seven shades of metaphoric meaning are discernible in this episode of the novel. I am indebted to Professor Qiancheng Li of Louisiana State University for his timely assistance in tracking the huge cache of references. In a recent essay, “Sacred Teaching and Facetious Talk: Playing with Meanings in the Shidetang Journey to the West —,” Bulletin of the Institute of Chinese Literature and Philosophy Academia Sinica 36 (March 2010): 12–13, Liu Chiung-yun also emphasized the metaphor’s preponderant appearance in Chan writings. What she failed to realize is that this might be exactly why the XYJ author made brilliant use of it in this crucial episode of the novel, given the devotion of Quanzhen Daoists to Chan discourse.