Dramatic literature flourished during the last century of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644). The most popular theatrical genre was the chuanqi play. Chuanqi were long plays that often counted more than forty scenes. While the genre could handle any subject, the basic plot frame was usually provided by a melodramatic love story. Like all other genres of Chinese drama, chuanqi was a form of ballad opera, since the arias were written to existing tunes. In contrast to zaju, the dramatic genre that had been dominant for the two centuries from 1250 to 1450, which employed so-called northern music and, in its standard form, allowed only one actor or actress to sing throughout the play, chuanqi plays employed southern tunes and required all performers (each in turn) to sing. Over the centuries, southern music had developed a number of (local in origin) distinctive performance styles. For most of the sixteenth century, the Yiyang style was predominant, but from the late sixteenth century onward, Kunqu, which had originated as the local style of performance in Suzhou, gained more and more prestige.
While chuanqi dominated the stage in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the same period also witnessed the emergence of a new kind of zaju. Late Ming zaju might vary from one to ten acts in length and use either northern or southern tunes (or even a combination of them) for their arias. These plays, written as closet drama or intended for private performance, could freely experiment with their musical organization and dramatize all kinds of materials that would have been taboo on the public stage of those days. The range of freedom provided by late Ming zaju is suggested by the first major work in the genre, Xu Wei’s (1521–1593) Four Cries of the Gibbon (Sishengyuan). This collection consists of one one-act play, two two-act plays, and one five-act play and deals with subjects as diverse as a monk who is seduced by his foster daughter, a frustrated intellectual who takes off his clothes to shame his master, and young women who cross-dress (one to replace her father in the army and the other just to make a living). Playwrights of the next generation would deal with even more outrageous subjects. Other playwrights of the late Ming, such as Wang Yinglin, opted for the genre because of the leeway it allowed them to voice their social criticism.
Wang Yinglin’s (d. 1644) play Free and East Roaming (Xiaoyao you) follows the basic plot of the legend, but he dispenses with the long questioning of the skeleton by Master Zhuang. The skeleton in fact becomes a quite secondary character in the play as the two main objects of satire become Master Zhuang’s acolyte and Magistrate Liang. The first is so obsessed with money that he tries by every means to get his hands on the coin in the skeleton’s mouth. The second is delighted to be able to judge the case of a resurrected skeleton, since such a case will provide him with the fame that he needs in order to receive a promotion in his bureaucratic career. In the first section of the play, devoted to the acolyte’s obsession with money, all the arias are sung to the tune “Langtaosha” (Waves Washing the Sand). In the second part of the play, devoted to the court case, all the songs are sung to the tune “Huangying’er” (Yellow Oriole). We reencounter the tune “Shuahai’er” (Playing the Child) in the final section of the play, where the acolyte and Master Zhuang’s new disciple, Magistrate Liang, question their teacher and force him to admit that the Buddhist teaching of emptiness might be superior to the Daoist pursuit of eternal life.
Wang was a polymath who never passed the higher examinations. He served in the metropolitan administration for many years in the final decades of the Ming but always in subaltern positions. He committed suicide out of loyalty to the Ming when Beijing was captured in 1644 by the peasant rebels of Li Zicheng. Free and Easy Roaming is his only preserved dramatic composition. The play’s original title was Master Zhuang on Stage: A New Tune (Yan Zhuang xindiao); it acquired its current title when it was included by Shen Tai in the anthology A Second Collection of Short Plays of the Glorious Ming (Sheng Ming zaju erji). The translation presented here is based on this latter version. In his edition, Shen Tai made a careful typographical distinction between the zhengzi (proper words), which are sung to the melody, and the chenzi (filler words), which are spoken quickly. Since the chenzi are printed in smaller-size characters in the original, they are set in smaller-size type in this translation.
(The MO1 enters and opens the scene.)
A lyric to the tune “Xijiangyue” (West River Moon):
What may it be that generates being in nonbeing?
Just for fun we will discuss emptiness from facts.
Lively oh so lively—a butterfly entering into a cluster of flowers
Will wake one up from that single Handan dream.
Chasing and chasing for the juncture of life and death;
Yearning and yearning in the burrow of profit and fame:
Who like a flake of snow can tumble down into the burning stove?
Watch the trick performed of free and easy roaming.
A young acolyte courts disaster by pulling a coin from clenched jaws;
An evil skeleton turns to emptiness by stealing his pack and umbrella.
District Magistrate Liang discards the desire for profit and fame;
Master Zhuang Zhou pierces the juncture of life and death.
[(The MO exits.)]
(The CHOU enters, dressed as an acolyte.)
I go by the name of Aco Lyte;
My face is pockmarked and my hair is a mess.
But even though my appearance may be ugly,
The inside of my belly is truly quite exquisite.
To my regret my father and mother were poor
And had to sell me, so I have now become a servant.
But no more about this. When other people are servants, they can be the advance party, collect the farewell gifts, and with borrowed authority apply some pressure. Or they can collect rents and debts and conduct commercial transactions, so their food is plenty and their families grow rich. But my fortune had to be poor. I had to become the valet of Master Zhuang Zhou. Not only doesn’t he have any authority or power, wealth or status, he also is no gentleman, farmer, merchant, or artisan. Let’s forget how dismal his prospects are, it’s only that his lifestyle is truly lacking in comfort. For food it is only yellowed leeks and bland rice. We never have a good drink or a hearty roast. His clothes are a worn gown and a padded cassock. I’ve never seen a bolt of cloth sent to the tailor’s. But no more about this. That man has no ability at all, but he knows how to tell a lie! Now words are only a puff of wind, but the brush leaves clear traces. Now who has ever seen fish bait made of fifty pairs of oxen?2 Who has ever seen a rooster with three legs?3 Who has ever seen a tree that can shade a thousand miles?4 Who has seen that roc with wings like Mount Tai?5 Who has ever seen a Confucius who at fifty still had not heard of the Way?6 Who has ever seen an infant that can talk at five months?7 Who has ever seen a black turtle that is longer than a snake8 or a black dog that is whiter than snow?9 And who has ever seen a fire than can burn without heat10 or a storm that can strike up a conversation with a snake?11 How can you prove that by the classics and support it with commentary? It’s truly all fantasy without any facts. But later those literati and poets, students and gentlemen would all steal some of his remnant words or leftover phrases and, one by one, insert them in their own writings so they would be praised for the strength of their brush and hailed as skilled writers and literary leaders. Bah, I don’t know how many people in this world he has taught to aim for the absurd, and I also don’t know how many people in this whole wide world he has made adopt mad nonsense as their style. But no more about this. People always speak about “lazy Daoists.” Only lazy people can become Daoists. The only thing I know as an acolyte is to go to bed early and sleep till late. Why should I run to north of the Wei and east of the River? Yesterday he ordered me to ready his pack and umbrella and also this fisherman’s drum and these clappers. I have no clue where he wants to go. Just listen, the man who—cha-cha-cha and dong-dong-dong—is coming out onto the stage is not dredging for the moon with a punting pole but more likely piercing the wind with a bamboo splint.
(The SHENG enters, dressed as Master Zhuang in Daoist garb.)
The invitation gifts from King Wei arrived at my door in vain;
On awakening from the butterfly dream, I drummed on the tub.
Fame and profit, I discovered, are like an illusion and a bubble;
Southern Florescence, once written, contains a million words.
I am Zhuang Zhou. I am also known as Zixiu. My name in religion is the Perfected Man of Southern Florescence. I hail from the city of Meng in Suiyang. I am a descendant of King Zhuang of Chu—our family used the posthumous title as surname. I served as a clerk in Chu, and my office placed me in charge of the Lacquer Grove. Deeply affected by the situation of the times, I roam at liberty beyond the world. At present, following the period of Springs and Autumns,12 the empire has descended into disorder. The seven states expand their territory and revere effectiveness and profit. Because they venerate possession, they commit grand theft, and while displaying ritual, they teach treachery. They adhere to the law of the lord but turn it into depravity and employ their intelligence to hasten chaos. Alas, pure innocence is not embodied anymore! Alas, the dark pearl13 has suddenly disappeared. The result has been that the virtues of Yao and Shun are practiced nowhere14 and even the teachings of Confucius and Mencius are not employed. Filled with frustration and anger and without a way to effect a transformation, I therefore composed my Southern Florescence and lodged my intention in its fables. It’s too bad that all people reject me as a heretic, but I do not view these people as my equals. They do not realize that my words may go against the classics but actually protect the orthodox. Because I hate the muddied nature of the stream, I want to purify the source. It may be compared to ascending a mountain or crossing a river—it equally comes down to wading and climbing. It’s just as with birds’ heads and stalactites—what counts in the final analysis is whether the disease is cured. Ah, the people of this world are plagued by a hundred diseases, but the ones that are most difficult to cure are fame and profit. For me as a monk, compassion is the root, and my intention is to deliver the world, but where in the world is a man who can be delivered? I should try it out once or twice so he might serve as an example. With my eye of wisdom I have found out that District Magistrate Liang Dong of Yancheng in Huai’an prefecture may be tightly caught up in the net of the world and deeply committed to the pursuit of fame but by nature does not belong to the common kind of mortals and has a karmic destiny to become an immortal. I would like to pierce the gate on his cranium and deliver him from the sea of suffering, but I don’t yet know the means to do it. I’ve given it quite some thought, and the only way I have will be to perform some trick. Acolyte, you take the pack and the umbrella and follow me on a cloud-like visit to the Zhongnan Mountains. Give the drum and the clappers and the medicine gourd to me.
CHOU: What is the origin of this fisherman’s drum and these clappers? And what is their use?
SHENG: Acolyte, you may not know this, but this set of drum and clappers was invented by His Imperial Majesty Xuanyuan15 and played by the Immortal Master Guangcheng.16 When you beat them, you can wake up the most stupid delusions; when you beat them, you can put to rest the most devious rage. When you beat them, you can shake the most conceited prejudices, and when you beat them, you can destroy the most despondent sorrows. The thirty-three heavens up above, the eighteen hells here below, and the four great continents in between—all people, whatever their number, have only to hear this drum and these clappers played and in all cases each and every one seems to have a clear lamp in a dark night and to the very last person they seem to be awakened from their yellow millet dream.
CHOU (acts out smiling): Master, it’s difficult to imagine that this drum and these clappers would be so powerful. Why don’t you play them to me?
SHENG (acts out beating the fisherman’s drum and the clappers):
(“Langtaosha” [Waves Washing the Sand])
The fisherman’s drum booms and booms loudly;
These bamboo
Clappers are made of dried qiong,17
But beat them once and they destroy the Jingyang bell.18
I’m afraid
The stick will beat your head to pieces and you’ll be in pain,
And the hidden deer will turn out to be illusionary.19
Just look: The sinking moon is still combing the willows on the dike, / and the idle clouds have already swept the pines on the ridge.
(To the same tune as before)
Practicing the Way, I live in hiding in the hills,
For all the red of the dust of the world,
White clouds slowly so slowly close my gate.
But in this puppet booth I’ll perform a trick,
So let’s not stop in our tracks.
Acolyte, now our road passes through Yancheng district in Huai’an prefecture, I want to pay a visit to District Magistrate Liang Dong.
CHOU: Master, you and Magistrate Liang must be old friends. You must be going there to extract some wealth. But that means you will rile up his rage.
SHENG: Why would we who have left the family need any money and want to extract some wealth? I want to deliver him!
CHOU: Master, today is a perfect day, auspicious for setting out on a journey. I wouldn’t spoil your first idea. If you would want to visit famous mountains or meet with friends in the Way, all would be fine and dandy, but if you want to deliver those officials … Those officials never talk about these matters. They only talk about how to worm their way up and how to manipulate men, how to obtain a recommendation to speed up their promotion or how to fill their bags and increase their property. And if it is not that, they talk about their townsman Zhang, discussing his pros and cons, or they talk about their fellow student Li, evaluating his rights and wrongs. And if it is not that, they talk about a cure for blackening their beards so they don’t have to hide and cover them, or they talk about a fragrance for lifting the blanket so they can engage in sex throughout the night. That kind of talk is what they like to hear. But I’m afraid, my master, that these matters are not your expertise. If you want to go and deliver him, I fear all you will gain from him is a bellyful of foul and stinking rage. That may be easy, but at that time even I, your acolyte, will lose face!
SHENG (acts out walking): Don’t talk nonsense! Acolyte, what kind of man do you think this Magistrate Liang might be?
(To the same tune as before)
He is
Predestined to become an immortal,
But at present he is
Imprisoned and encaged by fame and profit.
I will
With a golden needle pierce the central-trigger peak
And awaken him from the dreams of his midnight stupor,
Not betraying a good friend.
Just look: The clouds and hills that fill your eyes are effective drugs; / A hundred years of toil and effort are useless and empty.
(To the same tune as before)
Walking on, we arrive at the suburban fields.
At leisure I stroke a lonely pine—
How frequent those green willows and red flowers!
I only feared that
In delivering the world I would be hindered by those people,
But it is you
Who has to play the pedant!
Walking on slowly, we have arrived in Yancheng district.
(The CHOU acts out secretly wrapping a skull in the sleeve of his gown.)
SHENG (acts out turning around, seeing this, being taken by surprise, and questioning him): What’s that?
(The CHOU acts out refusing to show it.)
SHENG: It must be melon you stole from that garden!
(The CHOU acts out shaking his head.)
SHENG: You little beast! It must be a pig’s head you stole from a shop.
(The CHOU again acts out shaking his head.)
SHENG (acts out grabbing it, seeing the skull, and being surprised): Bah, so it was a skull! You little beast, why would you pick up such a filthy thing?
CHOU (acts out wiping the mouth of the skull and showing it): Master, don’t you see that it clenches a copper coin between its jaws?20 I want to dig it out. (Acts out picking up a piece of rock in order to smash the skull.)
SHENG (orders him not to do so): You little beast, why would you want this one coin?
CHOU: Master, do you want me to tell you the use of copper cash? What kind of thing between heaven and earth could be better than this? From past to present and from Son of Heaven to commoner, they all use cash as their capital, and once they have capital, they will make profit, so who doesn’t want it? And it is not only living people. Even the ghosts who have died still want it even when they have become gods.
SHENG: How can you say that?
CHOU: How can I say that? According to all your talk, those shops that make sacrificial paper money can all close their doors!
SHENG (to the same tune as before):
The affairs of this world are one murky mess;
They are in love with stupid cash!
From the common people in village and hamlet to princes and dukes,
They all burn with desire
And want
Their bags to be heavy.
This really pisses a hero off!
You coin, I have no clue who produced those four characters, / but throughout our lives we are pestered by you.21
(To the same tune as before)
Your numinous power is truly divine:
You can make
Rivers run dry and mountains fall down,
But you can also
Support filial sons and loyal officials.
Those
Wives will share cushion and coverlet with them,
But without you,
Their passion will have diminished!
Acolyte, please spare him! This skeleton too must have sons and grandsons. Of course they would blame you if they learned of this.
CHOU: Master, my master, from these words of yours it would appear that you do not understand the affairs of this world at all! In this world it is only the old who pity the young, but you never find any young people who pity the elderly. So if you would say that his father and grandfather would blame me if I broke this skull, that still would make some sense. But if you say that his sons and grandsons would blame me, that would never, never happen. In this world all sons and grandsons hate their grandfathers and fathers for leaving them not enough cash. Even this one coin he clenches between his jaws he should have left to his sons and grandsons to buy some tofu. If I now would dig out his coin and give it to his sons and grandsons, they would be greatly pleased with me!
SHENG (to the same tune as before):
When you say so I can only beat my breast:
Because of this
Brother Kong Squarehole,22
They don’t care about
Father and mother or father-in-law.
If you would dig out this coin and give it to them,
Truly
A smile would cover their faces!
When one day Impermanence arrives, you can’t take it with you, / And the sons and daughters before your eyes turn out to be of no avail. When people die, I see,
(To the same tune as before)
It is because
No thread of breath can pass through anymore.
But the weeping and wailing of sons and grandsons
Are gusts of wind beside your ears
As they lament that their inheritance falls short in wealth.
Just watch how
Water drops before the eaves all fall in the same spot:
Their sons and grandsons
Will closely follow their tracks.
(The CHOU acts out hitting the skull.)
SHENG: You little beast! If you want that coin so badly, I will give you one coin. Now please spare that skull.
(The CHOU acts out taking the coin but still secretly digging out the other coin.)
SHENG: Skeleton, O skeleton, you really have to suffer because of this coin! The case of Shi Chong long ago informs us that riches bring trouble,23 so it is best to distribute them as early as possible. In my opinion it does not matter how much money you have, even a single coin spells trouble. Skeleton, O skeleton, why do you so tightly hold on to this coin and refuse to let go? In my opinion the desire for profit by this acolyte is too deeply ingrained, like an illness that has entered the diaphragm.24 I will have to perform a trick to call him to his senses. (Acts out facing the acolyte.) My acolyte, would you believe that I can bring this skeleton back to life?
CHOU: Master, that’s really weird! That’s like buying a dried fish and setting it free!25 (Speaks in an aside.) Just look, I told you that my master likes to perform tricks!
SHENG: Acolyte, lay out the bones of that skeleton to look just like a living person.
(The CHOU acts out being afraid.)
SHENG: How come you were not afraid when you were digging out that coin a moment ago?
CHOU: Master, the old saying is, Others guard their silver as they do their lives, / But when I see their silver, I happily risk my life. So of course my gall was as big as heaven when I was digging out that coin.26 (Acts out arranging the bones.) Master, I am missing three ribs. I’m afraid this skeleton must have had the bad luck to run into someone who wanted his coin and dug through his ribs. That man has taken out three ribs.
SHENG: What to do? (Acts out looking up to heaven.) I have a solution! I will substitute three dried willow twigs. (Acts out plucking the twigs and inserting them.) Acolyte, take off your gown and cover this skeleton.
CHOU: Master, that is impossible. I will need this gown when I am the groom.
SHENG: No problem! I will have a new one made for you.
CHOU: Master, there is still one more matter we have to discuss. When this skeleton is revived, he is bound to open his mouth, and when he opens his mouth, this coin he clenches between his jaws is bound to fall down. This coin will still be mine.
SHENG (acts out smiling): This little beast is so calculating!
CHOU: Master, in this world money is no easy matter. It is all acquired by calculation.
SHENG: Don’t talk nonsense. Let me take a divine cinnabar pill from my gourd and insert it into his mouth through the crack between his teeth.
CHOU: Master, isn’t that the recipe for returning all diseases to spring, the Three-Primes Cinnabar?27 Such a pill should not be used lightly. You may have to waste quite a lot of words later.
SHENG: That’s no problem. You go and get me a ladleful of water from the brook.
(The CHOU acts out fetching water.)
SHENG (acts out taking the cup of water in his hands):
(To the same tune as before)
I contrive a way to display my magical powers;
In order to convert the ignorant,
I show a trick and steal the work of heaven.
When in a moment he revives, it won’t be a lie:
We’ll see
What he looked like in earlier days!
Who claims there is no samadhi28 that revives the dead? / You must believe that there are eight lords who bring back youth.29
(To the same tune as before)
These
Four Elements all turn out to be empty:
Their congregation and dispersal resemble a gust of wind.30
After some acrobatics for a while, you turn to scattered weeds.
Acolyte,
If you want to catch a turtle, just stay close to this vat:
Go and listen at his throat.
(The JING, dressed as the SKELETON, acts out lying down on the ground.)
(The SHENG acts out spitting water.)
(The CHOU acts out bending down to listen—he jumps up in fright when the SKELETON starts to breathe.)
(The SKELETON acts out rising to his feet, opening his mouth, and dropping the coin.)
(The CHOU acts out grabbing the coin.)
(The JING acts out trying to grab it back, shouting, “Agent, a thief!” and grabbing the CHOU’s pack and umbrella.)
(The CHOU acts out grabbing him by the hair and getting into a fight.)
(Extras, dressed as runners, follow the XIAOSHENG, who is dressed as District Magistrate Liang and acts out coming upon this scene.)
“Underlings, arrest this group of fighting criminals and take them to my office.”
XIAOSHENG: Underlings, arrest this group of fighting criminals and take them to my office. (Acts out taking his seat in the hall.)
Day and night the swift current of the Huai River flows on;
Purple clouds drift above the iron pillars of majestic hills.
To my shame I spent three years like a corpse, to no use;
I am worried my final report will list no exceptional case.
I, this lowly official, am Liang Dong. I am also known as Guozhen, and I hail from Huayang. By an act of grace by His Majesty, I have been appointed as district magistrate for Yancheng. Even though I have been at my post for three years, I don’t have a single forte in administration. When a moment ago I paid a visit to the inspecting censor, he said that I have to be reviewed at the end of my term, but for three years not a single case of exceptional administration could be recorded. If I would produce but one or two cases of exceptional administration, he could then report me to the emperor for promotion to circuit level. In my opinion the great secret in being an official is getting your superiors on your side. There is no need to care for the people. You only have to establish a spectacular name. There is no need to devote yourself to routine administration. Alas, all the slopes throughout this district are covered with locusts, but despite all exorcisms, they refuse to leave, and all hills are populated by tigers, but despite all our efforts to chase them, they refuse to cross the river. The people have created a popular ditty, which states that I do not exorcise the man-eating locusts, but that I only exorcise the rice stalk–eating locusts; that I don’t chase away the tigers in the guesthouses, but that I only chase away the tigers in the hills.31 Bah, I busy myself for the sake of a fleeting name. How can I bear this lack of success in exceptional administration! And right when I was in that bad mood on my way home, I come across this bunch of fighting criminals. Underlings, bring those criminals in for questioning.
(The extras reply and act out bringing in the three persons.)
(The SHENG remains standing; the CHOU and JING act out kneeling.)
XIAOSHENG: You fellow over there, what do you have to say?
JING: My name is Wu Zhen and I hail from Fujian. I passed through this place because of my business in gold and pearls. Here I ran into these two bandits, who robbed me of my pack and my umbrella. These stolen goods are here as proof.
(“Huangying’er” [Yellow Oriole])
Me, I hail from Fuzhou;
Trading in gold and pearls, I was traveling along,
Shouldering this umbrella
And
This heavy pack, this bundle.
But I ran into these archenemies,
Who out of the blue used violence.
They blocked my way with their cudgel, so I
Knelt down on both my knees, offering them gold and pearls,
But fortunately I encountered My Lordship.
Your Lordship, this is a clear case of robbery in broad daylight.
Order them to return the stolen goods
So I won’t end up with empty hands.
XIAOSHENG: You little beast, what do you have to say?
CHOU: My name is Aco Lyte, and I do not know from where I hail.
(To the same tune as before)
My father and mother, beset by poverty,
Had me
Sold off to the hills to become an acolyte.
When my master goes on a trip, I have to follow along.
Your Lordship, what do you think you will find in this pack? It’s
A linen gown with some old repairs.
This umbrella is broken,
But it serves as our protection against wind and rain.
Out of the blue he stole these from us and instigated this case.
Your Lordship, these two things are not mine either.
(Acts out kowtowing.)
I hope Your Lordship
Will order him to return these stolen goods
To my dear master, their rightful owner.
XIAOSHENG: You Daoist, how come you are not kneeling?
SHENG: I, this poor monk, have not committed any crime.
XIAOSHENG: I’ll forgive you for the moment. What do you have to say?
SHENG: That fellow over there is actually a skeleton.
XIAOSHENG (acts out standing up in surprise): How is such a weird thing possible? He is clearly a man. How could he be a skeleton? Please explain!
SHENG: Your Excellency, in my cloud-like wanderings I am accompanied by this little guy. When on the road he tried to dig out the coin in the mouth of a skull, I gave him a coin, but he still refused to give up, and so I performed this little trick to instruct him. The bones of this skeleton came back to life after I had inserted a divine pill into his mouth.
(To the same tune as before)
In search of the Way I left the woods
And saw a skeleton on the burrow of foxes and rabbits.
Because I want to deliver others, I was suddenly moved to compassion
And inserted a pill into his mouth,
So his soul returned and his energy developed.
I had promised the coin he clenched between his teeth to this little guy, but because
This coin fell to the ground, they started a fight.
Who could have known that once this skeleton had lost his coin, he would steal the pack and umbrella of this little guy?
I appeal to Your Excellency
To repay this injustice with a favor:
This crime cannot be pardoned by Heaven!
JING: I am clearly a man. How can he say that I am a skeleton? Obviously he is a priest who practices black magic!
SHENG (points to the JING): How can you still talk back like this? A moment ago it was me who gave you that medicine to eat so you could come back to life. How can you now suddenly deny it?
JING: Your Lordship, don’t listen to him. In this world the drugs of physicians can only kill people. They can never revive people.
SHENG: Your Excellency, if you are not convinced, just give me a drink of water. I will spit the water out on him, and he will become a skeleton as before. Then you will know the truth.
SKELETON (acts out panicking): Your Lordship, this evil monk knows a magical method to disappear. On no account can you allow him to even see water.
XIAOSHENG (acts out striking his desk to frighten him): Underlings, this is clearly a priest who practices black magic. Tie him up tightly and fasten him to a tree, because otherwise he might disappear. Tell the secretaries to quickly prepare the documents to inform the provincial governor in all detail and also all the other relevant authorities. This judicial case will not only be a case of exceptional administration such as has not occurred for three years, but it is also something that has never been seen or never been heard of since the beginning of time and throughout the whole wide world! This is great! Really great! If my review is concluded with this case, I can count on an appointment at circuit level!
(The extras act out tying up the SHENG and fastening him to a tree. They act out placing the fisherman’s drum and the clappers on the desk.)
CHOU (facing the SHENG): Back home I told you that if you wanted to visit officials, you would rile up their rage. So what to do now?
SHENG (to the same tune as before):
There is no need for any roaring rage,
These empty words are truly without trace.
(Acts out facing the SKELETON.)
You truly forget favors and betray righteousness. I’m just afraid that when
Your true shape is exposed, you’ll have no hole for hiding!
Your Excellency, if you are still not convinced, then there is still another weird fact. When this little fellow arranged his bones in good order, we missed three ribs, which I replaced with three willow twigs. If you now allow this poor monk to spit a mouthful of water on him, he will resume his original shape, and you will see the ribs that are willow twigs, so you will have additional proof.
XIAOSHENG: On no account loosen his ropes, but fetch some water and let him try.
SHENG:
The ropes must be loosened for a moment
As I hold the water in my mouth:
This miracle is bound to astound you all.
May I ask Your Excellency
To inspect
These dispersed white bones:
There will be three willow twigs
Pressing close to his heart!
(The SHENG acts out spitting water.)
(Others have beforehand placed the bones, wrapped in a Daoist gown, at the foot of the desk.)
(The JING acts out being spat upon, falling to the ground, and going backstage.)
XIAOSHENG (in an aside): How is such a weird thing possible? Now I suddenly see this, my hairs stand on end. Come to think of it, the man became a skeleton, the skeleton became a man, and the man became a skeleton again. The turning wheel of transmigration revolved here in an instant. The tale of man and sheep in the Lankavatara Sutra verily does not deceive us.32 In my opinion human life in this world is not different from a spark from a rock or a flash of lightning; all our efforts for a floating name truly resemble the [wars between the states on the] horns of a snail,33 and our love and attachment for this burning house34 cannot be distinguished from a dream. The hot guts that fill my belly will turn to freezing ice. Why should I have to wait for someone else to release this trigger? What do I wait for if I do not turn around right away? Moreover, this Daoist has the style of an immortal and the bones of the Way, he is not one of us common mortals. If I find out that this set of bones indeed includes three willow twigs, he is bound to be a true immortal and I had better follow him and leave the family. (Turns around.) Underlings, inspect those bones! Are there indeed three willow twigs?
(The extras report.) There are indeed three willow twigs.
XIAOSHENG (stamps his feet): That’s it! I know. Take these bones to the public graveyard for burial. (Acts out untying the SHENG with his own hands, pushing him to the seat of honor, and kneeling down in front of him.) Your disciple is a common fellow with limited eyesight, so I did not recognize you as a perfected person. Just now I behaved most rudely in every imaginable way, so I beg you to be so kind as to forgive and pardon me. From now on I want of my own free will to abandon my office and leave the family. I am determined to convert to your teachings and to call myself your disciple. Great Master, I pray that you will accept me as such.
CHOU (acts out pulling the XIAOSHENG aside): My master is someone who loves to play tricks. You are an official, so you have to consider this carefully. You cannot allow him to deceive you and so easily bow down in front of him!
XIAOSHENG: If you talk about us officials, we play quite a lot of tricks each day, and we play quite a lot of tricks in each case. It is the main craft of us officials to deceive others. So how could I be deceived by him? In delivering people, the master employs cunning expedients. His words are nothing but absurd, but his true desire to save the world is sincere and correct in its main intention. You cannot misunderstand him because of this.
CHOU: At present you’d still better go back home to talk it over.
XIAOSHENG: Whenever there is discussion, there is delay. With a single stroke I cut myself free, and the ten thousand dharmas35 now are all empty. (Acts out taking off his cap and gown and putting on Daoist garb.)
A lyric to the tune “Xijiangyue”:
For ten years I toiled and toiled by the glare of a lamp;
For three years I hurried and worried with ink and seal.36
Leaving by starlight, returning by starlight—it was all in vain:
An appointment as official is just the same as a dream.
To my great fortune my teacher enlightened me
And opened the prison cage of that dusty world.
Discarding my office, I’ll practice the Way in calm serenity,
Together with the full moon and the clear breeze.
(Turns around and acts out making a light bow to the CHOU.)
CHOU: Your Lordship, a moment ago you exuded such authority, and now you are my co-disciple. And I also started out earlier than you. From now on I will call you Brother Liang.
XIAOSHENG: To be an official was only theater—that goes without saying.
CHOU: If you know that being an official is theater, then why did you have to make such a display of your authority and power a moment ago? Brother Liang, when my teacher set out on this trip, he said that your desire for fame was too strong, so when he wanted to deliver you, I initially did not support him at all. I had not imagined that you would now truly allow yourself to be delivered by him. Even so, you have to realize that it was not the teacher who delivered you but the skeleton.
XIAOSHENG (in an aside): I hadn’t thought that this acolyte would show such insight. Now let me use the same trigger to set him going. (Facing the acolyte.) Acolyte, let me ask you. When I was an official, my foremost concern was to avail myself of cash. But now I have suddenly freed myself of that. But why were you having that argument with the skeleton a moment ago about that one coin?
CHOU (acts out stamping his feet): That’s it. I understand! Could it be that that skeleton delivered me? Let me tell this to the teacher. (Facing the SHENG.) Master, I will now accept Brother Liang as my councilor.
SHENG: If you are willing to turn around, I will be greatly pleased.
CHOU: Brother Liang’s lyric to the tune “Xijiangyue” of a moment ago was written quite well. I will now also write such a lyric using the same rhymes. (Acts out bowing.)
A lyric to the tune “Xijiangyue”:
Half my life I toiled and toiled, running here and there;
All my existence I hurried and worried, all calculating.
Hot water was replaced by snow—it was all equally in vain:
To live as the richest man is just the same as a dream.
Fortunately my immortal teacher showed me the way:
A buffalo skin cannot serve as the covering of a lamp.
Because when a moment ago I wanted to dig out that coin and put on a mask with such a big mouth, I will now throw this coin to the eastern end of the big river,37
And happy together the three of us will have great fun.
Master Liang, the two of us may have been delivered by that skeleton, but a skeleton cannot speak. He can be compared to a firecracker: even though it is filled with saltpeter, without the man who lights the fuse, it is no different from a clod of earth or a piece of rock. How could that skeleton without our master have delivered you or me? Of the two of us, you were led by fame and I was led by profit—this goes without saying. Our teacher originally said that he wanted to go to the Zhongnan Mountains. But as we now have some leisure time on the road, you and I should ask our teacher once again to expound on the two concepts of fame and profit.
XIAOSHENG: You are right. (Takes the fisherman’s drum and the clappers.)
(The CHOU takes the pack and the umbrella. They act out asking the SHENG to get under way.)
XIAOSHENG: The two of us were saved by you from the beaten track of fame and profit, just like a glowing oven melts the snow, like a lamp appearing in the dark night. But please instruct us more about the meaning of these two words.
SHENG: Listen to me.
(“Shuahai’er”[Playing the Child])
How many people in this world are not fickle liars?
Scheming for fame and profit, they’re drifting weeds.
But what is the use of their urgent yearning and desire?
In freely roaming, there’s the clear moon and bright wind.38
The dew on grass can be compared to the riches of Tao Zhu;39
A bubble on the water equals all merits of Tang and Wu,40
Because when Impermanence arrives, all becomes a dream.
Who is willing
To bravely retreat from the rushing current?
Who is capable
To rein in the horse that is chasing the storm?
XIAOSHENG: Master, according to you, fame is empty. But in your Classic of Southern Florescence you also say that you have to hold on to your fame, and you also speak about receiving name and fame So isn’t it impossible to say that fame is completely rejected by you?
SHENG: The fame that I do not want is that of those who love fame, who buy fame, who angle after fame, who pay for fame, who steal fame, who crave fame, and those with a false fame. You certainly understand that a name is the guest of a deed, so if you make a name by your deeds, your fame will last for all eternity. So how can you not do any substantial deeds because you want to avoid an empty fame?
Who has accomplishments in learning and scholarship?
Who is truly outstanding because of his merit and deeds?
For a thousand years your example cannot be repeated.
Only if your fame fits the facts will your fame endure;
If the facts do not fit your fame, your fame will be empty.
Who is willing to support evaluations that always change?
Don’t think that
An empty name can be inherited;
You must know that
Common opinion can’t be deceived.
CHOU: Master, according to you, profit is empty, but you must know the case of Confucius. Confucius once upon a time told the man who refused grain to give it to his neighbors and townsmen.42 But I’m afraid that when he ran out of grain in Chen, he must have felt the pangs of hunger and have been quite uncomfortable.43 So it is difficult to imagine that profit is always rejected by you.
SHENG: The profit I reject is that of those who are addicted to profit, those who fight over profit, those who chase after profit, those who lend for profit, those who angle after profit, those who monopolize profit, and those who die for profit. If it is a profit you should receive, there is no harm in taking it. If you would want to say that we can do without profit, it is difficult to imagine that you have no use of the daily necessities of human life such as clothing and food.
“But as we now have some leisure time on the road, you and I should ask our teacher once again to expound on the two concepts of fame and profit.”
(Sixth Coda)
Linen and fur for use in winter and summer;
Drink and food, whether simple or sumptuous:
Instituted by the Sage, of use to the people.
Only when you take profit fairly, it will bring luck,
But when your profit is not fair, it will bring disaster:
Money is that thing that manipulates all people.
But in Yama’s palace
They don’t accept cash or notes,
They don’t despise the destitute.
XIAOSHENG: The people of this time will refuse to act unless it is for fame, and will refuse to act unless it is for profit. And if they do not secretly receive the benefits of profit and fame while publicly enjoying the reputation of avoiding profit and fame, they will also refuse to act. What is the reason for this?
SHENG: Why should the people of this world consider profit and fame a taboo? But the fame they recognize is not a true fame, and the profit they recognize is not a true profit. If we talk about true fame, then fame would follow you even if you would flee it, then fame would pursue you even if you would avoid it. If we talk about true profit, then it all depends on not taking making profit as profit, but on viewing losing profit as profit.
(Fifth Coda)
Who is not deeply concerned about fame and profit?
But they cannot clearly distinguish true from false,
And rarely know how the steelyard weighs light and heavy.
A fame as lofty as the Nine Gifts is snow on an oven;45
Profit amassed in a thousand vats is wind on the river.
In vain you fritter away your mercury and lead.46
Alas,
The baroque pearls in your mouth
All result in
Ice and coal in your breast!
CHOU: Master, in your Classic of Southern Florescence you say that Bo Yi died for the sake of fame at the foot of Mount Shouyang, and that Robber Zhi died for the sake of profit at the foot of Mount Dongling.47 In my opinion, people all have to die eventually, so instead of dying of hunger and starvation, would it not be much better to be a bandit and become a ghost with a stuffed belly? That would seem to have the advantage.
SHENG: You don’t understand. Do you want to leave a fragrant name to the next generations, or do you want to be despised for your foul name for all eternity? That’s why it is said that to die from hunger is an extremely insignificant matter, but to lose your honor is an extremely important matter. The people of this world all consider getting an advantage as acquiring profit. I’m afraid that you still cannot make the distinctions when it comes to dying for fame and dying for profit regarding who has the advantage.
(Fourth Coda)
When it comes to life and death, they both are empty;
When it comes to advantages, they are quite different:
No birth and no nirvana is the Diamond’s message.48
The dispersal of souls and spirits is a common event;
Beheading the devil of evil makes a man a great hero.
How could a macho guy be manipulated by monkeys?
How many people are able
To reverse the beaten track?
Who is capable of
Jumping from the barred cage?
XIAOSHENG: Master, you have expounded on the meanings of fame and profit without anything left unsaid. But this discussion today was all occasioned by that skeleton. Was this skeleton a man or a woman? What kind of occupation did he have? Master, I hope you will instruct me about all of this.
SHENG: The skeleton’s occupation and sex have been exhaustively dealt with by those texts in the world that lament the skeleton. But when it comes to his essential nature, I must say that his theft a moment ago of the pack and the umbrella was a trick that I performed in order to enlighten the two of you. If this skeleton were someone who during his lifetime did good, he would now surely have been reborn in heaven. But if he is someone who committed evil, he is now surely suffering in hell. How would I know?
(Third Coda)
Those who do good ascend to Brahman’s Palace;
Those who commit evil go down to the hells.
Each is punished for his own sins,
And you cannot bother
Other people to come along.
No need to brag about
Your manly strength of years ago—we all turn white,
Your female charms of days bygone—no rosy cheeks.
When the abacus is finished, we will know the total.
Your single mind
Will receive its due reward;
Your hundred bones
Will be abandoned in the wilds.
CHOU: Master, those who do good and those who commit evil each will receive their own retribution, like a shadow that follows the shape, like water reflecting the moon—that goes without saying. But this wheel of transmigration spins around like a capstan or a windlass without any end. Master, even you, who are a true immortal according to the teachings of the Way, will encounter the end of this kalpa and your life eternal will end in no-life. How could you transcend the wheel of transmigration? What to do in the end?
SHENG: This question of yours resembles a mosquito on an iron statue: it has nowhere where it can bite. The ancients said, “In teaching and learning people take one another as elders.” For this question I should bow to you as my teacher. (Acts out sinking in thought, then stamping his feet.) That’s it! I understand. Eternal life is not as good as no-birth. In this respect, the teachings of the Buddha transcend those of the Way. If you want to escape from the wheel of transmigration, you have to finish birth and death. If you cultivate and uphold the substantial dharma, you will be able to escape from the gate of being. And if you want to know a shortcut, the best option is to strictly uphold name and title and to devotedly convert in order to seek rebirth in the Pure Land.49 Then you will have found a raft to carry you across the sea of life and death, and with fame and profit you will have thrown weir and trap away for good.
(Second Coda)
To finish life and death, your vow must be extensive;
To escape from the wheel of transmigration,
You must rely on
The power of deliverance,
So uphold and recite the six characters namo Amituofo.
If you devoutly recite them constantly, without mistake,
The hundred illusions will be removed, so never slacken!
Require
A heart that is sincere.
Once you have achieved
The dharma realm of the blue lotus,
You don’t have to fear
Black waves or violent storms.
CHOU (in an aside to the XIAOSHENG): That is weird! Our master is a man of the Way. So how come his words of a moment ago resembled a Buddhist person?
SHENG: Only because I wanted to enlighten the two of you did I perform this trick of the skeleton. Only because I wanted to take you to the end did I point out the road to the Pure Land. Buddhism and Daoism may be two paths, but they and Confucianism all come down to a single principle. As long as you are willing to work on your mind and nature, what kind of difference can there be between the three teachings?
(First Coda)
Don’t harbor doubts because the teachings are different;
You have to know that the three teachings all converge.
With decomposed reins
You must
Firmly restrain the colt of the spirit.
Without a numinous drug, your illness cannot be cured;
Without a golden needle, you can’t turn the pupil around.51
How often has the setting sun sent people to their graves?
You must realize that
An enlightened teacher is hard to find,
So don’t ignore
This rare meeting with wonderful truth!
(Final Coda)
The dusty net of profit and fame is only so light;
The strict conjuncture of life and death so heavy.
This fisherman’s drum and these clappers
Can by their beating awaken
You from your
Muddled dreams.
Please understand that
Free and easy outrageous jokes
Don’t deceive the people of this world.
By chance I reined in my running horse at the city of Meng;
When I awoke from a butterfly dream, the window was red at dawn.
Leisurely I adapted the old script to new tunes:
Don’t despise its substantial principle as a performance trick.
1. In traditional Chinese plays, the roles are not indicated by the names of the characters but by the role types (stock characters) constituting a theater company. The names of the role types used in this play are the commonly used designations of the seventeenth century. The role of Master Zhuang is played by the sheng, or male lead; the role of Magistrate Liang is played by the xiaosheng, or secondary male lead; the role of Master Zhuang’s boy servant is played by the chou, who specializes in the roles of clowns and fools; and the skeleton is performed by the jing, who specializes in the performance of heavies and villains. The opening scene is entrusted to the mo, who performs more senior male roles.
2. Zhuangzi, chapter 26. “Prince Ren made an enormous fishhook with a huge line, baited it with fifty bullocks, settled himself on top of Mount Kuaiji, and cast with his pole into the eastern sea” (adapted from Zhuangzi, Complete Works of Chuang Tzu, 296).
3. Zhuangzi, chapter 33. “A chicken has three legs” (ibid., 375). This is quoted as one of the statements proposed by logicians such as Hui Shi.
4. Zhuangzi, chapter 4, describes a tree so large that a “thousand teams of horses could have taken shelter under it and its shade would have covered them all” (adapted from ibid., 65).
5. Zhuangzi, chapter 1. “There is also a bird there, named the roc [peng], with a back like Mount Tai and wings like clouds filling the sky” (adapted from ibid., 31).
6. Zhuangzi, chapter 14. “Confucius had gone along until he was fifty-one and had still not heard of the Way. Finally he went south to Pei and called on Lao Dan” (adapted from ibid., 161).
7. Zhuangzi, chapter 14. “Shun ruled the world by making the hearts of the people rivalrous. Therefore the wives of the people became pregnant and gave birth in the tenth month as in the past, but their children were not five months old before they were able to talk” (ibid., 164).
8. Zhuangzi, chapter 33. “The tortoise is longer than the snake” (ibid., 375). This is quoted as one of the statements proposed by logicians such as Hui Shi.
9. Zhuangzi, chapter 33. “White dogs are black” (ibid., 376). This, too, is quoted as one of the statements proposed by logicians such as Hui Shi.
10. Zhuangzi, chapter 33. “Fire is not hot” (ibid., 375). This is yet another statement credited to logicians such as Hui Shi.
11. Zhuangzi, chapter 17. “The snake said to the wind, ‘I move my backbone and ribs and manage to get along, but I still have some kind of body. But now you come whirling up from the North Sea and go whirling off to the South Sea, and you don’t seem to have any body. How is that?’ The wind said, ‘It’s true that I whirl up from the North Sea and whirl off to the South Sea. But if you hold up a finger against me, you’ve defeated me, and if you trample on me you’ve likewise defeated me. On the other hand, I can break down big trees and blow over great houses’ ” (ibid., 184).
12. The “period of Springs and Autumns” refers to the centuries covered by the Annals of Spring and Autumn (Chunqiu), a chronicle of the ancient state of Lu for the years from 721 B.C.E. to the early fifth century B.C.E.
13. The “dark pearl” refers to wisdom. See Zhuangzi, chapter 12. “The Yellow Emperor went wandering. … When he got home, he discovered he had lost his Dark Pearl. He sent Knowledge to look for it, but Knowledge couldn’t find it. … At last he tried employing Shapeless, and Shapeless found it” (Zhuangzi, Complete Works of Chuang Tzu, 128–29).
14. Yao and Shun are proverbial sage-rulers from China’s mythic past. Yao ceded the throne to Shun, and Shun ceded the throne to Yu, but the last was succeeded by his son and so became the founder of the Xia dynasty (ca. 2100–1600 B.C.E.).
15. Xuanyuan is one of the names of the Yellow Emperor, a sage-ruler from the mythic past who in later times was credited with many inventions.
16. Guangcheng taught the way of immortality to the Yellow Emperor.
17. Qiong is a type of bamboo.
18. The Jingyang Tower was one of the buildings in the inner quarters of the imperial palace of the fifth-century Qi dynasty. The sounding of the bell alerted the palace ladies to the imminent arrival of the emperor.
19. Liezi, chapter 3. “There was a man of Zheng who went to gather firewood in the moors and came on a frightened deer. He stood in its way, struck it, and killed it. Fearing that someone would see the deer, he quickly hid it in a ditch and covered it with brushwood. His joy overwhelmed him. But soon afterward, he could not find the place where he had hidden it and decided that he must have been dreaming” (adapted from Liezi, Book of Lieh-tzu, 69).
20. Ancient Chinese funerary ritual demanded that body openings of the deceased be blocked by objects of value in order to safeguard the integrity of the body. In its simplest form, a coin was placed in the mouth of the deceased before burial.
21. Traditional Chinese copper coins are round with a square hole in the center, and they usually carry a four-character inscription along the lines of Kaiyuan tongbao (common currency of the reign period Kaiyuan).
22. Kong is a common surname (it is the surname of Confucius), but as a common word it means “hole.” Kong Squarehole (Kong Fangxiong) is a common designation for the traditional copper coin with its square hole.
23. Shi Chong (249–300) was the richest man of his time, but his competitive display of conspicuous consumption created jealousy among the members of the imperial family and soon resulted in his downfall.
24. An illness that has entered the diaphragm is said to be incurable.
25. One of the good works in Buddhism is buying captured animals that are destined for consumption and setting them free.
26. The gallbladder is considered to be the seat of courage.
27. Cinnabar is the prime ingredient of the elixir of life in Chinese alchemy. Ingesting such an elixir heals all diseases and returns one to the prime (the springtime) of one’s life.
28. The Sanskrit word samadhi refers to superior wisdom.
29. The “eight lords” are the teachers of Liu An (179?–122 B.C.E.), the compiler of the Huainanzi, which, despite the diversity of its contents, is often classified as a Daoist book.
30. The Four Elements are earth, water, fire, and wind.
31. The “man-eating locusts” and the “tigers in the guesthouses” refer to rapacious clerks and runners.
32. “Again, Mahāmati, what is meant by the emptiness of mutual [nonexistence]? It is this: when a thing is missing here, one speaks of its being empty there. For instance, Mahāmati, in the lecture-hall of the Mõigarama there are no elephants, no bulls, no sheep, but as to the Bhikshus [monks] I can say that the hall is not devoid of them; it is empty only as far as they [that is, the animals] are concerned” (Suzuki, Lankavatara Sutra, 67).
33. Zhuangzi, chapter 25. “Dan Jinren said, ‘There is a creature called the snail—does Your Majesty know it?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘On top of its left horn is a kingdom called Buffet, and on top of its right horn is a kingdom called Maul. At times they quarrel over territory and go to war, strewing the field with corpses by the ten thousands, the victor pursuing the vanquished for half a month before returning home’ ” (adapted from Zhuangzi, Complete Works of Chuang Tzu, 284).
34. The burning house as an image for our life in this world with all its attachments derives from a fable in chapter 3 of the Lotus Sutra, in which the teachings of the Buddha are compared to the promises a father makes to his children in order to entice them to leave their burning house.
35. The “ten thousand dharmas” refer to the innumerable elements that, in their temporary combinations, make up the visible world in which we live.
36. The “ten years” refer to the long years of study in preparation for the state examinations; the “three years” refer to the common term of office as a magistrate.
37. A lyric to the tune “Xijiangyue” consists of two stanzas of four lines each; in each stanza, the first, second, and fourth lines consist of six syllables each, whereas the third line has seven syllables. In this case, the acolyte has expanded the number of characters in the third line of the second stanza way beyond that number.
38. This line is not found in the Yan Zhuang xindiao edition of the play and would seem to be out of place here.
39. After Fan Li had assisted King Goujian of Yue in annihilating the state of Wu, he abandoned the court and became a traveling merchant, amassing incredible riches. In his new life, he was known by the name Tao Zhu.
40. Tang is Cheng Tang, the founder of the Shang dynasty (ca. 1600–1050 B.C.E.). Wu is King Wu, the founder of the Zhou dynasty (traditional dates, 1122–249 B.C.E.).
41. Codas are conventionally counted in reverse order.
42. Lunyu, VI.5. “On becoming [Confucius’s] steward, Yuan Si was given nine hundred measures of grain, which he declined. The Master said, ‘Can you not find a use for it in helping the people in your neighborhood?’ ” (adapted from Confucius, Analects, 81).
43. Confucius’s distress in Chen is noted in Lunyu, XI.2, and XV.2 (ibid., appendix 1, “Events in the Life of Confucius,” 173–75). It is a well-known theme in ancient literature and is often referred to in the Zhuangzi—for instance, chapters 14, 20, and 28.
44. The Lotus World is the Pure Land of the Amitabha Buddha.
45. The Nine Gifts are the nine exceptional gifts bestowed by an emperor on a minister to whom he intends to cede his throne.
46. In inner alchemy, mercury and lead are the basic components of the immortal embryo and eternal life.
47. Zhuangzi, chapter 8. “Boyi died for reputation at the foot of Shouyang Mountain; Robber Zhi died for gain on top of Mount Dongling. The two of them died different deaths, but in destroying their lives and blighting their inborn nature, they were equal” (adapted from Zhuangzi, Complete Works of Chuang Tzu, 102).
48. The Diamond Sutra was one of the most popular sutras in Chinese Buddhism. As a “Perfection of Wisdom” sutra it teaches that both being and nonbeing are equally illusionary, or “empty,” and that therefore the pursuit of nirvana is equally illusionary. It is a relatively short text that was often recited at funerals. This may not be unrelated to the gatha that concludes the teaching of the Buddha in this sutra:
All existing phenomena
Are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a show;
Are like the dew and like a flash of lightning:
This is the way they should be viewed.
For translations of the Diamond Sutra, see Mu, Diamond Sutra, and Red Pine, Diamond Sutra. See also Yong, Diamond Sutra, and Wood and Barnard, Diamond Sutra.
49. The Amitabha Buddha had made the vow that he would receive all those who sincerely call on him in his Pure Land in the West. Devotees recite his name as Namo Amituo fo (Hail Amitabha Buddha).
50. The six paramitas are charity, purity, patience, zealous progress, meditation, and wisdom.
51. This image is derived from cataract operations.
