Baojuan (precious scrolls) may well constitute the most long-lived and most prolific genre of prosimetric storytelling. The genre’s history can be convincingly traced back to the yinyuan (tales of causes and circumstances), one of the genres of bianwen (transformation text) literature of the ninth and tenth centuries discovered at Dunhuang, while the earliest texts calling themselves precious scrolls date from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In many parts of China (Gansu, Hebei, Zhejiang) the genre is still practiced. In some places, it has even been recognized by the authorities as an “intangible cultural heritage.”
Baojuan are religious texts, and under normal circumstances they are performed as a constituent part of a religious ritual. In origin, the precious scrolls are a genre of Buddhist preaching through pious stories and their lessons. From the fifteenth century on, new religions (often designated as “sectarian movements”) also used the genre to spread their teaching by composing their own baojuan, but that does not alter the fact that the most popular precious scrolls throughout the centuries told well-known Buddhist tales such as the legend of the filial monk Mulian, who saved his mother from hell, and the legend of the pious princess Miaoshan, who achieved enlightenment, saved her father from a debilitating disease, and manifested herself as the bodhisattva Guanyin. Since the genre is often said to have appealed to women in particular, it comes as no surprise that many precious scrolls detail the steadfast piety of devout women who are eventually rewarded for their sufferings. Values that are strongly stressed in these texts are filial piety, strict vegetarianism, and the suppression of desire. From the eighteenth century on, we have many baojuan that adapt stories without a strong Buddhist nature, even though as a rule they open with an invocation of the buddhas and bodhisattvas and end with sending them off. By this time, even explicitly Daoist tales could be called baojuan.
The Precious Scroll of Master Zhuang’s Butterfly Dream and Skeleton (Zhuangzi diemeng kulou baojuan) is one such Daoist baojuan. It is known from only a manuscript in the collection of the library of the Institute for Chinese Literature of the Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing. It starts with an adaptation of the story of Master Zhuang’s meeting with the widow fanning her husband’s grave and of his own widow’s even stronger desire to be remarried. It also provides an explanation for the troubled relationship between Master Zhuang and his wife that results in her suicide. Master Zhuang’s disappointment in human nature results in his decision to roam the world and his subsequent encounter with a skeleton. The precious scroll then includes in Master Zhuang’s teachings to the district magistrate (and later also to his wife) a long text said to have been revealed through a planchette by the immortal Liu Qi. This text, which also circulates independently, emerged from one of the many spirit-writing cults that flourished in late imperial China (and continue to flourish in the present day). If earlier adaptations of the legend of Master Zhuang resulted in an urgent plea to reject the world and all its attachments (to begin with, the family), the morality preached to men and women in this spirit-writing text stresses moral life within family and society as the means to transcendence. It has been claimed that precious scrolls and spirit-writing texts are different genres that do not mix, but this quite likely rather late text that has been preserved only in manuscript proves that the rule has its exceptions.
The first part of the text, which narrates the two legends concerning Master Zhuang, is written in an alternation of prose and verse. The sections in verse are written in the standard seven-syllable ballad verse. The spirit-writing text is composed in lines of ten syllables. Such ten-syllable lines, while not uncommon in earlier prosimetric literature, tend to become more and more common over the course of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), especially in texts from northern China. The ten-syllable lines tend to have a strongly marked tripartite structure of three, three, and four syllables (more rarely three, four, and three syllables), which I have tried to suggest by typographical means in my translation.
Newly composed by the Study of Nourishing Nature [Fengcao]
To the tune “Xijiangyue” [West River Moon]:
Status and wealth are a single night’s spring dream;
Merits and fame are floating clouds of one moment.
Even your own flesh and blood right before your eyes are not true:
Love and affection turn into enmity, result in hatred!
Don’t lock your neck in shackles of gold;
Don’t tie your body with chains of jade.
A pure heart, free of desire, transcends the mortal dust,
And sights of pleasure are your due share.
Light and shadow are like an arrow, faster than a shuttle,
But who thinks of reciting Amitabha Buddha’s name?
All day long feelings of love fill them with affection;
Wine, sex, money, and rage: these four wear them out.
It isn’t sex that seduces people: they seduce themselves;
It isn’t desires that wear them out: they do so themselves.
Constantly occupied by the myriad affairs of this world,
Their hearts are filled with greed and lust without any rest.
Let me recite the scroll of Master Zhuang of the Zhou:
The fanning of the grave had the wife reopen the coffin.
Outside the city of Luoyang he lamented the skeleton—
He personally preached to us songs in praise of filial piety.
Now tell that during the Warring States period of the Zhou dynasty there lived a lofty noble by the name of Zhuang Zhou, also known as Xiu. He hailed from the town of Meng in the state of Song and at one moment served as a gentleman clerk in this age of the Seven States. Later he achieved the Way and became known as the Realized Person of Southern Florescence. His teacher was the founder of Daoism. This was Li Er, also known as Boyang. After his mother had carried him for eighty-one years, he was born under a pear tree, and that is why he is called the Old Master. This Master Zhuang had been a white butterfly that was born when chaos first parted. Feeding on the hundred flowers, it had obtained eternal life by practicing self-cultivation. One day, when it was roaming by Jasper Pond and stealing nectar from the flowers of the peaches of longevity, it was killed by the luan bird serving in front of the throne of the Queen Mother that caught it in its beak. The butterfly’s true spiritual nature was reborn [as Master Zhuang] here in the world below, where he had the good fortune to be fully instructed by the Old Master in the secret message of the five thousand words of the Classic of the Way and Its Virtue. Thereupon, he was able to multiply his body and to change his shape; his supernatural powers were large and extensive, and his magical powers were unlimited. When later he visited Qi, Qi’s chancellor, Tian Zong, admired his talents and gave him his daughter as wife. Husband and wife lived in harmony and respected each other like guests. Who could have known that King Wei of Chu would want to invite him to become his chancellor? He stubbornly refused the offer and did not accept it. Together with his wife he lived in hiding on Mount Hua, enjoying a free and easy life of liberty.
One day as he walked through the abandoned fields, he came across a beautiful woman who was dressed in the white of mourning. With a fan made of banana leaves, she was fanning her husband’s recent grave in order to dry it since she was eager to marry some other man. She said that her husband had been a scholar famous for his teaching and had loved her exceedingly well. But before he had died of consumption, he told her on his deathbed that she should wait until the earth of his grave had dried if she wanted to marry someone else. But now after almost a hundred days, the earth of his grave was still not dry! When Master Zhuang saw this woman so faithless as this, he was truly amazed. On her behalf, he dried the earth of the grave with her fan and then took the fan home with him, where he told his wife what had happened. When his wife heard this story, she reviled that woman as absolutely and totally wrong. When she had reviled her in this way, Master Zhuang heaved a sigh and recited the following four lines:
“Only predestined mutual enemies1 will be brought together;
When enemies are brought together, when comes the end?
If you know that upon death all love and duty will be gone,
You should do away with attachments while you are alive!”
And he also said,
“While you’re alive each and every one declares her love,
But once you are dead, they are all eager to fan your grave.
When painting a dragon or tiger, you can’t paint the bones;
I may know hairstyle and face, but I don’t know the heart.”
When his wife had heard this, she replied to him as follows:
“This type of person is really rarely found in this world.
Even though we may equally belong to the human race,
Smart and intelligent and stupid and foolish are different.
Don’t treat all women of the world with hairpins and skirts
As if they would not be worth even half a hair. As for me,
I fully understand the purport of the Odes and the Rites:
Loyal to a single man all my life, I will never betray him!”
Hearing this, Zhuang Zhou couldn’t suppress a smile:
“Don’t make such an excessive claim in such clear words.
In case I would now pass away, how could you ever
Remain such a faithful widow for the rest of your life?
With your looks like a flower and face like the moon,
How could you keep it up till three or five springtimes?
It is women who have no feeling of morality and duty;
From birth their nature is that of willow floss, of water.”
Upon these words, his wife was filled with angry rage:
“A woman’s determination surpasses that of a man—
Don’t mention three years, don’t mention five either:
For all my life, till my dying day, I will live all alone!”
She thereupon snatched the fan from Master Zhuang,
And she tore the fan to shreds, which scattered all over.
“You are presently in good health, you’re still alive,
But you haven’t deserved such a fine woman like me!”
Master Zhuang immediately apologized with a smile:
“There is no need at all to fly into such a terrible rage.
Throughout past and present many were loyal and true,
Leaving behind them a fine reputation for all eternity.
Only if you display the mettle of women like these
Can you be considered a determined and loyal wife.”
When by and by more than ten days had passed,
The master contracted an illness that affected his body.
Time and again, that woman voiced her complaints:
“Why did you go for a walk? And why fan that grave?”
But with every day his illness became more serious
And he started to spit out fresh blood from his mouth.
Master Zhuang thereupon addressed her as follows:
“My disease is such that very soon I will have to die.
But you have torn that fan of some days ago to pieces—
Otherwise, it could have helped you to fan the grave!”
His wife immediately replied to him as follows:
“My master, there is no need at all to be worried.
In case you would suffer the unpredictable, I will
Stick to a vegetarian diet, practice self-cultivation.
During the day I will recite the name of Amitabha,
And at night the Diamond Sutra to save your soul!
If I would ever waver in my chaste determination,
May a cruel death immediately end my rotten life!”
Master Zhuang thereupon spoke to his wife, saying,
“A couple’s attachment may be as deep as the ocean,
But husband and wife are like birds sharing a grove:
When the Great End comes, they fly off and away.
A man depends on his fame to establish himself;
For a woman chastity surpasses self-cultivation.
Your husband treated you with love and affection,
Please do not ruin my good name and reputation.”
His disease became more serious with every day:
Master Zhuang eventually passed from this world.
The corpse was encoffined and laid out for mourning;
Some monks and priests were hired to save the soul.
The farmers living behind and in front of the mountain
Also came to mourn him and offer their condolences.
There was also a prince, the king of Chu’s third son:
He had traveled a thousand miles to visit the master.
Now tell that Master Zhuang had divided his body and hidden his shape and that his spirit had left his body to manifest a transformation: he had assumed a magical body apart from his body in order to test his wife, Madam Tian. She was actually the green luan bird that had been reborn in this world in order to pay back its debt to Master Zhuang. Now today their affinity had come to an end, and their feud would be dissolved as the karma of their earlier lives was paid off. That’s why as soon as she saw how exceptionally talented this prince was and what a handsome figure he cut, she immediately abandoned her determination of earlier days and was occupied by the evil notions of lust and love and improper desire. She tried to lead him on in many ways and displayed her love to him a hundred times. The prince rebuffed her repeatedly and his servant warned her off a number of times, but she did not come to her senses at all. In the end she made a scandal of herself and acted against all morality: she even arranged for flowers and candles in the wedding room and the exchange of the wedding toast. But the very moment they were to undo their sashes and take off their clothes, the prince coughed up sputum and complained of a chest pain. Yet even after he had died, she did not show any remorse: she went so far as to open the coffin to take out the brain, concerned only to save her new groom in her desire for the joys of fish and water.2 Fortunately, Master Zhuang was an immortal, so he was able to return from death and come back to life. Only then did she realize the nature of her mistake, and said with a sigh, “Smart and intelligent all my life, I was deluded for just a moment. Earlier I cursed that widow who fanned the grave, but now I have been the wife that opened the coffin. How could I have the face to confront the people of this world?” Eventually she hanged herself from a high rafter and died after committing suicide. What a laugh!
Master Zhuang now was the one who had the last laugh:
He encoffined his wife in the casket she’d opened before.
He thereupon put the torch to their straw-thatched cottage
And left for the Zhongnan Mountains to practice religion.
When the elixir had been completed, his virtue perfected,3
He roamed on clouds and mists to deliver human beings.
One day he arrived in this manner in the area of Luoyang,
Where he discovered a skeleton in an abandoned grave.
He saved him and that very moment he returned to life:
A pile of bleached bones had become a man once again!
But on his left side the skeleton was missing three ribs,
So these had been replaced with three willow twigs.
Once the immortal elixir was placed on the dried bones,
He grew a skin, acquired flesh, and was filled with energy,
And then he addressed his benefactor in these words:
“Now be so kind as to give me my luggage and money!”
Master Zhuang replied, “You were a pile of bleached bones, without any clothes or luggage or umbrella!” But that man said, “That’s because you and your acolyte stole my stuff.” And he dragged him to the district office of Luoyang. That district magistrate was She Cheng, also known as Kexin. He hailed from Jingzhou in Guangxi and had passed the metropolitan examinations in the renxu year. He had just opened the gate to admit claimants. These two people both claimed they had been wronged, and there was no end to their dispute. When the district magistrate heard that Master Zhuang called himself a divine immortal who had turned bleached bones into a man, [he asked,] “What proof do you have?” Master Zhuang replied, “There are three willow twigs that fill out his left side. Now we have come to this pass, it has to be done this way. If I show no humaneness, it’s because he lacks all decency.” He told the servants to bring some pure water and spat out a mouthful of water on Wu Gui’s body. The latter’s skin and flesh turned to ashes again, and inside his clothes they found a pile of bleached bones and three willow twigs. Master Zhuang said, “Your Excellency, look at this man! He was originally an evil criminal, and after I had saved him, he has now turned into dried bones once again.”
When the district magistrate saw this, he exclaimed in amazement, “You are indeed a divine immortal! Your disciple would like to abandon his office and follow you in order to practice religion.” But Master Zhuang replied, “When it comes to practicing religion, it doesn’t matter whether you remain a layperson or become a monk. Since ancient times there have been many people who achieved enlightenment as members of society. If you enter on the road of right practice, you have to treat loyalty and filial piety as taught by the Confucians as your root. As an official, you have to exhaust loyalty; as a son, you have to exhaust filial piety. If you make this your basis, entering the Way and practicing religion will be easy! In the Three Teachings, there are no sages and saints, immortals, buddhas and bodhisattvas who were disloyal or unfilial! In our Daoism, there is a major disciple of Patriarch Lü by the name of Liu Qi. He is the Perfected Person for Expanding the Teaching. At the order of his teacher, he descended into the luan board4 in Wu and taught a ‘Song Exhorting to Filial Piety,’ which is extremely detailed and pertinent. Since ancient times it is said, Lechery is the leader of the ten thousand sins; / Filial piety is the first of the hundred virtues.
Your Excellency
And all you others,
Please lend me your ear and listen:
The Perfected Person Liu
Left us this message
That I will now urge on all of you.
Let’s not discuss the present,
Let’s not talk about the past:
None of that will bring any benefit at all.
There is one thing
That is extremely important,
A value you all have to practice.
Now let each of you think
From where
You received this physical body:
Who among you
Did not receive his life
From his father and his mother?
That body of yours,
The seed of your parents,
Originated from one small lump:
One chunk of flesh,
A mouthful of breath,
And one drop of blood and seed.
They separately
Gave these to you
So this body of yours could be formed,
But how can you
Consider them as two,
Separate them from each other?
Now let me tell
How your parents
Raised you from this beginning:
For ten months [your mother]
Carried you in her womb,
Filled with worry, anxious at heart.
In her belly
She felt a weight
Of a hundred pounds, a thousand ounces:
At the moment of birth
She suffered
Ten thousand hardships, a thousand pains.
Had received your life,
Your chance of survival was very slim,
And for three years
She carried you around,
Taking good care of you in every way.
Cold or warm,
Fed or hungry:
Not the slightest mistake was allowed,
And when you fell ill,
She would blame herself
For having been careless in your care.
She would far prefer
To substitute for you
And suffer your pains with her body—
At such a moment
She wouldn’t dare slacken
And in the slightest be unconcerned.
She looked after your food,
She looked after your clothes,
Happy to go hungry and freezing herself,
And once you grew older,
She hired a teacher
To teach you to read books and essays,
And when you had become an adult,
She invited a matchmaker
To find you a bride for your marriage,
Hoping that you
Would revive the family fortune
And bring glory to your family home.
If you resembled
A human being only a little,
Your parents were overfilled with joy,
And if you didn’t show progress,
They were overcome by grief,
Their innards wracked by great pain.
They didn’t close their eyes
Since they were still worried about you:
This is the way in which
Your father and mother
Treated you with love and affection!
To consider it well:
This body of yours
Is your parents’ branches and leaves:
These branches and leaves
Have been born from
Your parents, who are trunk and root.
If you tend them well,
These roots will give rise
To flourishing branches and leaves,
And later you yourself
Will naturally have
Fine sons and filial grandsons too.
If you in this life
Enjoy any blessing,
It’s due to your parents’ protection;
If you are smart and intelligent,
If you are capable and skilled,
It’s due to your parents’ instruction.
Which single thing,
Which single quality
Was not the concern of your parents?
So how could you treat
Your father and mother
As outsiders, as strangers and aliens?
Just think of it:
For every day
That your body grew and increased,
The physical bodies
Of your father and mother
Aged and weakened one more day!
Hurry up and
Serve them filially as soon as you can,
You will, once
Your parents have died,
Regret that you can’t do so anymore.
Alas,
The people of this world
Do not show any understanding at all,
Because they
Have darkened their hearts
And turn their backs on duty and love.
You may have raised them,
You may have nurtured them,
But they don’t remember that at all;
You may have instructed them,
You may have found them a bride,
But to them it all seems so simple.
They do not remember
That the crow feeds its parents,
The lamb kneels down to suckle:
You may be a human being,
But you do not live up to
Running beasts and flying birds!
Those unfilial acts
Are way too many
To allow me to enumerate them,
So I will take
Only the most common
And list them for you, so listen.
When your parents
Ask for something
That doesn’t cost you anything,
You are still too stingy
To give it to them,
Valuing money over your parents.
Want something done
That is easy for you to perform,
You come up with excuses
And don’t want to go,
Saying that you’re unable to do it.
But when you see
Wealthy and powerful people,
You flatter them in a hundred ways;
Even if they curse you,
Even if they beat you,
You most happily suffer the abuse.
But when your parents
Curse you but once,
You talk back to them most angrily,
And if your parents
Hit you but once,
You rage at them with bulging eyes.
You love only
Your wife and concubines,
Beautiful as flowers, pretty as jade;
You treasure
Your sons and daughters
As precious jewels and rare pearls.
When your wife and concubines die,
Your sons and daughters pass away,
You weep in a heartrending manner,
But when your parents die,
You don’t shed a tear,
And you weep without any emotion.
Why don’t these people
Compare
Wives, concubines, sons, daughters
Together with
Wealth and glory
To their father and mother for once?
Heaven will not accept them,
Earth will not carry them:
While alive they’ll suffer execution,
And upon death
They will go to hell
To suffer most gruesome tortures:
Dismembered by saws,
Burned to ashes by fire,
Pulverized by millstones and mortars,
They’ll be reborn as birds,
They’ll be reborn as beasts,
And never again as a human being!
So I urge all of you
To practice filial piety
For all the rewards it will bring you:
While alive you’ll do well,
Upon death you’ll do well,
And you’ll not suffer any hardship.
During your lifetime
People will respect you
And you’ll be decorated by officials;
You will enjoy wealth,
You’ll enjoy long life,
And have many sons and grandsons.
At the moment of death
Immortal maidens and lads
Will surround you, holding banners,
And escort you
As you see King Yama,
Who’ll welcome you most friendly.
When your merits are great,
You can even
Become an immortal or a buddha;
If your merits are smaller,
You will be reborn
To high position and rich income.
To your father and mother,
I tell you, consists of two things,
And these two things
Definitely are not
Difficult to do or hard to practice.
The first thing is
That you must make
Your father and mother feel at ease,
And the second thing is
That in their old age
You must feed your father and mother.
If you are a good person
And do good deeds,
You will not bring down any disaster;
By teaching your wife and concubines,
And teaching your sons and daughters,
You’ll ensure your family’s fortune.
If you on your side
Serve your grandparents
And feed them in a filial manner,
Then your younger brothers and sisters
Will on their side
Treat you with honor and respect.
Make sure that your parents
Each day they are alive
Are without a worry for that day,
And one cup of tea
Or one cup of water
Will fill their minds with pleasure.
According to your strength
And depending on your wealth—
Spare them from hunger and cold;
Support them while they walk
And make them sit safely,
Don’t leave them alone and lonely.
Answer them quickly
As soon as you hear their request,
And if by chance
They give you an order,
Rise immediately to your feet.
If your parents
Are in the wrong,
Explain it in a gentle manner;
Don’t use coarse language,
And don’t fly into a rage
So that you anger your parents.
In case your parents
In a moment of passion
Raise their fists and strike you,
You must always
Show a smile on your face—
Never raise your voice in anger!
There are good relatives
Or good friends and neighbors
You can ask to talk them around
So your parents
Will repent of their ways
And come to a different opinion.
And if unfortunately
Both your old parents
At the age of one hundred pass away,
Give them a fine coffin,
Give them a fine shroud,
Build them a sturdy and solid tomb!
Exert all your strength
And consider durability—
Far more important than appearance.
Be filled with sadness
Since in this life
You’ll not be able to meet them again.
And on their death day
Offer the proper prescribed sacrifices,
Regretting that your parents
Have departed forever
And that you’ll not see them return.
For a son
These actions are
The duties of filial piety and obedience.
On no account
Ignore my words
As of no concern to you at all!
Alas, in this world
There are unfilial people
Who commit the following mistake:
They say, ‘My parents
Don’t love me at all,
Despite all the filial piety on my part.’
If you say this,
You commit a blunder
That you cannot explain away.
How can you
Competitively
Compare yourself with your parents?
You may be compared
To a grass or weed
That has been created by Heaven:
Moistened by spring rain,
Killed off by autumn frost—
Who would dare to show anger?
Your parents raised you,
So even if they kill you,
You should still accept your fate:
Throughout this world
There is no person
Who doesn’t come from parents!
Still understand they must
Revere the Buddha, serve the gods,
But you fail to grasp
That your father and mother
Are the highest divinities of all.
Only if you revere them
Will buddhas and immortals
Be pleased by your sacrifices
And from the sky
Protect and support you,
Increasing blessings and longevity.
If you have a son
And want him to be filial,
You have to set an example yourself:
Filiality repays filiality;
Disobedience repays disobedience—
This is a rule that always applies.
To the tune “Langtaosha” [Waves Washing the Sand]:
In this world there are many people
Who talk all kinds of nonsense:
They want to study the Way and practice religion
But experience no feelings of filial piety—
What kind of religion is that?
You are the people’s magistrate
And your age is still young.
If you’re determined to study the Way and practice religion,
This ‘Song of Filial Piety’ provides you with guidance—
Make sure to follow that road!
Practice only with a proper mind
As taught by the Sage Confucius.
Your Excellency, don’t look for any other way at all;
First treat your father and mother really well:
That’s practicing true religion!
The affairs of this world depend on your actions:
You may have the loftiest talents,
But if you treat your father and mother without respect,
You may go to Zhongnan Mountains and study the Way,
But immortals and buddhas won’t come!”
Master Zhuang said, “Your Excellency, each and every word of the ‘Song of Filial Piety’ pierces the bone; each and every phrase penetrates the heart. If people have heard it and still do not repent and filially serve their parents, they are no different from birds and beasts and upon death fall into hell. Even if a thousand buddhas would appear in this world, they would not be able to save them from there!”
Even before he had finished speaking, he saw two servant girls enter from behind the curtain. They greeted him and said, “We two have been ordered by our mistress to ask you, Great Immortal, how a woman should practice religion.” Master Zhuang said, “While still at home a woman should filially serve her parents and, following her marriage, a woman should filially serve her parents-in-law and not disobey her husband. As far as threefold obedience and fourfold virtue are concerned, all depends on her true intention and not on the outer traces. That’s why the Buddha said that a woman, in practicing religion, will achieve the Good Fruit by way of her eightfold reverence. First, she must revere Heaven and Earth. Second, she must revere the Three Jewels.5 Third, she must revere the divinities. Fourth, she must revere her father and mother. Fifth, she must revere her parents-in-law. Sixth, she must revere her husband. Seventh, she must revere the poor and indigent, the weak and the old. Eighth, she must revere orphans and widowers, the maimed and the handicapped. Once upon a time, the Perfected Person Liu composed a ‘Song to Urge Women on to Filial Piety.’ I remember it very well. Indeed: If we would only strictly adhere to the personal teaching of Master Liu, / Each and everyone would be seated in a house of purple-gold.
A story
That dates back to ancient times,
I will tell it
To all of you here,
So please listen, each and every one!
The Perfected Person Liu
Was originally a tree,
Generated by Heaven, fed by Earth:
At the beginning of time
Heaven and Earth
Created it by their seed and breath.
Down here on earth
Was planted
This one willow tree,
While up in the sky
Was displayed
The Willow Asterism.
After some
Tens of thousands of years,
His spirit fixed, his breath gathered,
He had the good luck,
During the Tang dynasty,
Of meeting with Master Lü Dongbin.6
This master
Took pity on him
For his sincere study of the Way,
And for that reason
Delivered him
So he could become an immortal.
How could it be possible
That a mere tree
Would have such a stroke of luck?
Only because
Never obscured its original root.
He had no father
And also no mother,
So whom did he filially serve?
In the morning he bowed to Heaven,
At evening he bowed to Earth,
Repaying them for their favors.
His mind was determined,
His ambition was fixed,
He firmly held on to his origin,
And because of his
Single-minded devotion,
He moved the sages and deities.
When he met with his master,
He promptly treated him as
His stern father and doting mother—
For thousands of years
He never once slackened
In his perfect filial piety and respect.
Once he was an immortal,
His teacher ordered him
To amass merits to a high degree
And wanted him
To urge the common people
To filially serve both their parents.
If there are people
Who can exhaust filial piety,
He will come and deliver them—
Whether a man
Or a woman,
He will make them immortals!
He has converted
Many thousands
Of both male and female persons,
And at present they live
A life of eternal happiness
On the eastern island of Penglai.
There are also men
Who have been reborn
To high office and noble titles,
And then there are women
Who have all become
Titled ladies of the highest rank.
Because he amassed
These many merits
By urging people to filial piety,
He therefore later
Was awarded the title of
Perfected Lord of Expanded Teaching.
At the behest of his teacher,
He till this very moment
Preaches his sermons to women;
Descending in the luan brush,7
He expounds and explains
The Classic Book of Filial Piety.8
Even though you
May have received
The physical body of a woman,
Your father and mother
In feeding you and raising you.
While in the womb,
While still in the belly,
The baby’s sex cannot be distinguished,
And at your birth
Your mother suffered
The same unbearable hardships.
Carrying you in her arms,
Your mother never once said,
‘A daughter has no importance.’
Feeding you at her breast,
You mother never
Held back in the least.
You women
Will later
All have that experience,
And once you women
Have had that experience,
It doesn’t mean you’ll forget.
Who can say
That people don’t want
To feed and raise girls?
Your father and mother
Treat their daughters
With even greater care!
Combing your hair
And binding your feet,
They do not shirk effort;
Teaching you how to cook,
Teaching you needlework,
They are so very attentive!
If they are too strict,
They consider that you
But if they pamper you,
They are also afraid
You may end a failure.
Apart from you for a moment,
They are afraid
That you’ve lost your honor;
If something goes wrong,
They are afraid
You’re hiding something.
When choosing a groom,
They want him to be
A fitting partner in talent and looks;
When selecting a family,
They consider its wealth,
Afraid you might suffer poverty.
Following the engagement,
They fret and worry
How to provide you with a dowry,
But on the day of the wedding,
Despite all their efforts,
You are still not happy at heart.
They can’t let you go,
They can’t let you stay:
They really have a terrible time:
With a broken heart,
Eyes filled with tears,
They see you off at the gate.
When over there
Husband and wife live in harmony
And parents-in-law are happy at heart,
Then your father and mother
Will show on their face
Quite a glow of satisfaction,
But if something goes wrong,
They’ll be filled with vexation
As soon as they learn of the case,
And this will only increase
For the rest of their lives—
Worry and sorrow without end!
From your birth
Your marriage partner
Has been fully predetermined,
So how can you
Blame your parents
When things do not work out?
When you have a good life,
You will thereupon say
That it’s due to your own good fortune,
But when life is hard,
You will curse your parents
Because their eyes have been blind;
You will curse your parents
For marrying you
To a family that is absolutely wrong,
And your parents-in-law
You will treat
As the archenemies you want to kill!
When dealing with your parents-in-law,
You will say that they are
The father and mother of someone else,
But when it comes to your own parents,
You will say again
That by marrying you left that home.
This would mean
That you women
Do not belong to either side,
Which would completely
Free you from filial piety—
It doesn’t stick to your person at all!
Who would know
That you women
Have two sets of father and mother,
And both you have
To serve filially
With utmost respect and sincerity.
In the first part of your life
Your physical body
Is fed and raised by your parents;
In the second part of your life
You rely on your husband
In order to live, till your final day.
Your parents-in-law,
By feeding your husband,
Were actually raising you too.
The heavenly ordained couple
Of husband and wife
Must be counted as one person.
You have always been
The bride of the son
Of your parents-in-law
But were temporarily
Lodged at your mother’s place
To grow up into an adult woman,
And only after your marriage
Did you come home
To the place to which you belong:
Your parents-in-law
Actually are
The two parents that gave you life.
In offering tea
And presenting presents,11
They incurred many expenditures;
In inviting matchmakers
And entertaining guests,
They undertook much hard work.
They love their son
And love his wife
Without any distinction in kind
Since they hope that you,
Husband and wife,
Will provide for them in old age.
That a good lad,
Who originally was a filial son,
Will not care at all
For his father and mother
Once he has been married to you?
Even though you
May not sow dissension
Between flesh and blood with your words,
It will be because
He dotes on you
And so damages his ambition and energy.
You should therefore
Speak to your husband
And explain to him in clearest terms,
‘If my parents-in-law
Brought me here
To assist and support you, my master,
That was first of all
Because they wanted me
To help you in serving your parents,
So how can you,
Because of me,
Be remiss in feelings of filial piety?’
This is the way
In which women
Should try to speak to their husbands;
This is the way
To love your husband
And help him fulfill his filial duties.
How can you
Flaunt your power
And treat everyone without respect?
Eventually
You don’t pay
Any attention to your parents-in-law!
That their son
Will make, you will hide at your place
To buy clothes
And have food
While keeping that couple in the dark.
Concerned about appearances,
You are obsessed
By the clothes and jewels you’ll have,
So when you have cash,
You only make plans
For the profit of your own little family,
Or you have your mother
Or younger brother and sister
Lend the money out to gain interest,
Afraid that when your parents-in-law
Get their hands on it,
His brothers will all divide it evenly.
You say that it was you,
Your diligent spinning and weaving,
Together with your colorful embroidery—
But who could know
That by hiding this money
You’re a witch that calls down disaster!
You are unwilling to lend
Your parents-in-law
A single yarn, half a grain of rice;
Among sisters-in-law
These trifling matters
Fill your eyes with a furious hatred.
Abusing your husband,
You’re ‘a chicken that crows at dawn,’
A woman who wants to be the boss,
And when all matters
Mostly go wrong,
It is all because of your meddling.
In the temple
At the hell for pulling out tongues:
The majority there
Are all women
Who suffer those atrocious tortures!
And then there are
Those foul-mouthed women
Who loudly commandeer their men,
Each day causing
Their parents-in-law
To have no moment of peaceful rest.
If her parents-in-law
Revile her but once,
She returns to them their curses tenfold;
If they beat her once,
She immediately threatens
To wet her pants, hanging from a rope!
This kind of person
Seeks her own
Punishments in the underworld courts,
And if she doesn’t die,
She definitely will be
Struck dead by thunder and lightning!
So I urge you,
Women in the inner apartments,
To listen to your parents and obey them:
If they say one thing,
You do that one thing
Without displaying any nasty temper.
If you claim
That taking care
Of parents is not your responsibility,
Your regret
Will come too late
Once you have been married off.
While still at home
For those many days
You may have lacked all filial respect,
But now when you’re called
To serve tea or water,
You’ll have to give it all your attention.
In case your husband
Is traveling abroad
In order to make some money by trade,
Your old parents-in-law
Will expect that you
In his place will take care of their needs.
These old people
May not need much food,
But the dishes have to meet their taste,
And their worn clothes
Have to be carefully washed
And repaired in a neat and nice manner.
Don’t believe
The words of the vulgar,
Who argue you’ll never be treated fairly—
As a daughter-in-law,
You are their daughter,
And they’ll not compare you with anyone.
At all times
Serve them their
Tea and soup with your own hands, and
Since they have difficulty walking,
What’s the problem
In supporting them in rising and walking?
If there is something
That you have bought,
Think how it might benefit the elderly,
So promptly give it
To your parents-in-law
When they ask for it, without any delay!
That your parents-in-law
Are pleased with you and happy at heart;
It’s none of your business
If later they give to others
What earlier they had received from you.
If you respect your husband’s brothers,
Love his sisters, and
Live in harmony with your sisters-in-law,
Your parents-in-law will be pleased
Because this daughter-in-law
Really knows how to be a capable person.
If you help your husband,
Instruct your children,
And work hard at the household chores,
Your parents-in-law will be pleased
Because this daughter-in-law
Manages to bring glory to their family!
If you filially serve your parents-in-law,
Your own father and mother
Will also be pleased with you and happy,
And later,
When you have a daughter-in-law,
She will also serve you in a filial manner.
Moreover,
If you, on behalf of your husband,
Serve his parents in a most filial manner,
Your husband too
Will show filial respect
To his mother-in-law and father-in-law.
I cannot relate in full
Women’s duties
Of filial piety and of obedience too
But hope that you, milady,
Will follow this model
And uphold it in the most careful manner.
Only one-half
Of the Book of Filial Piety for Women,
But that good breath
Has already been transmitted to
Bodhisattva Guanyin of the Southern Sea.
She summons me
To give me a reward
And to award me the title of buddha,
So let me tell
That bodhisattva’s life
As yet a further inspiration to you all.
This bodhisattva
Was born as
The daughter of King Miaozhuang,
But from her birth
She was determined
To devote herself to a life of religion.
When the bodhisattva’s father
Saw that his daughter
Loved the Way with all her heart,
He subjected her
To hundreds of hardships
Because he wanted her to marry.
Who could have known
That this bodhisattva’s
Mind was as firm as iron and stone:
Her only desire was
To obtain the Way
And then to deliver both her parents.
At a later date
Her father developed a disease,
Evil ulcers covering all of his body,
But this bodhisattva
Donated her hands and eyes
To save her father from his ordeal.
She moved
The Jade Emperor, the god of heaven:
Bathed in a golden light,
She was seated on a lotus throne,
Manifesting myriad transformations.
Her thousand eyes
Widely observe
The ten directions and the three worlds;12
Her thousand hands
Uphold and support
The sun, the moon, and the moving stars.
In the school of the Buddha,
This bodhisattva’s
Supernatural powers are most extensive;
Throughout eternity
She manifests her compassion,
Saving and delivering people on earth.
If only milady
Can practice filial piety,
There is no need to honor the gods,
And after a hundred years
You will be able
To walk into the gate of the Buddha.
You, milady, and you, servant girls, now listen carefully:
When it comes to practicing religion, it’s all in the heart.
A man can by practice become a duke or a marquis,
A woman can by practice become Guanyin herself!
When born in a rich family, cherish your blessings!
When your blessings are used up, you’re still a man.
If you are born in a poor family, a lowly profession,
You didn’t tend the field of blessings in earlier lives.
Your Excellency and milady, please listen carefully:
In this world there are few who live to a hundred.
From infancy to old age is just like a single dream:
Once in the coffin, the lid is sealed, a tomb erected.
Even a loving husband and wife can’t change places;
Young sons and infant grandsons cannot follow you.
Good fields and fine houses turn into a spring dream;
Embroidered brocade won’t cling to your body then.
Inside the grave, alas, the situation is even worse:
Your seven organs, swelling, turn purple and black.
Blood flows from the corpse as skin and flesh rot
And red and green maggots bore through the bones.
Once blood and flesh are gone, the skeleton remains:
Each and every one will exhibit this kind of shape,
While your single soul will follow your evil karma
As demon escorts take you in chains to King Yama.
The Two Judges of Good and Evil examine your deeds;
The Three Corpses13 report on your actions without fail.
If you practiced the ten virtues, heaven will be yours;
Loyal vassals and filial sons become gods upon death.
If you practiced in earlier lives, you now enjoy blessing;
But if in this life you stumble, your sins will be heavy.
You may fall into the three pathways of hungry ghosts,
Or you may sink into hell with its unbearable torments.
In this world there are a million kinds of gradations,
But each will be reborn in accordance with his sins.
Only those who sincerely practiced great filial piety
Ascend, free from karma and sin, to the Pure Land!”
Master Zhuang said, “Your Excellency, ‘The sea of suffering stretches endlessly with its waves of karma, / But the bank is there when you turn around, so don’t worry.’ Husband and wife, you should follow these two songs of filial piety. That is the critical juncture in the practice of religion. Without filial piety, you may practice all you want and blindly refine your body, but you will be unable to realize the Way even if you practice for ten thousand generations.” Then Master Zhuang pointed and said, “Over there two immortals are coming this way. You should follow them.” When the district magistrate turned around to have a look, he saw only how the Immortal Zhuang rose up into the sky on colored clouds and slowly disappeared. The district magistrate knelt down and kowtowed, but the great immortal never looked back, having left for the Zhongnan Mountains.
Indeed:
When the whale has freed itself from the golden hook,
It flaps its tail and wags its head, never to come back!
The Precious Scroll of Zhuang Zhou has been recited:
You who live in this world should understand it well.
Filial piety has always been the root of humaneness,
And the practice of religion dates back to antiquity.
Filial piety is the method of entrance for all practice;
Don’t say that it’ll ever be obliterated or annihilated.
May all of you, having heard this, once you are home
Serve and please your father and mother most filially.
I urge you all to practice virtue and to do good deeds
So that your sons and grandsons may become officials
Who will bring peace to country and people and state,
And establish a reputation that will last for all eternity!
1. Lovers and marriage partners are often considered to be archenemies (yuanjia), people who still have to settle a score from a previous life.
2. The expression “fish and water” is a common image for happy sex.
3. The “elixir” refers to the elixir of immortality.
4. The luan board is the spirit-writing tablet.
5. The Three Jewels are the Buddha, the sangha (the community of monks and nuns), and the dharma (the teachings of the Buddha).
6. Here designated by his celestial title, Fuyou Dijun.
7. The luan brush is the spirit-writing tablet.
8. For a study and translation of this text, see Rosemont and Ames, Chinese Classic of Family Reverence.
9. The same as in raising a boy.
10. Because a girl leaves her parents’ home upon marriage, her parents have to prepare her well for her life with her parents-in-law and her husband.
11. Offering tea and presenting presents are two steps in the engagement procedures.
12. The three worlds of present, past, and future.
13. The Three Corpses are gods inhabiting the body. They are parasites that cause disease, invite other disease-causing agents into the body, and report their host’s crimes and sins to heaven so as to shorten his life span.