Wang Wei's Translation of the Inscriptions of Six Ancestors and Monks

Master Huineng, the sixth ancestor, is a representative figure in the history of Zen in China. After the death of Zen master Huineng, Wang Wei, Liu Zongyuan and Liu Yuxi successively wrote epitaphs for him and discussed his life achievements. Among them, Wang Wei's Six Ancestors of the Zen Master is the most admired by later generations. In this inscription, Wang Wei used a lot of allusions to demonstrate the excellent understanding of Zen master Huineng and the mystery of his statement. At the same time, he also made a comprehensive exposition of the deeds of Hongren, the fifth ancestor, and Shenhui, a disciple of the sixth ancestor. The use of a large number of allusions not only powerfully illustrates the fact that the six ancestors were in parallel, but also makes the content of the inscription more solemn, elegant and well-founded.

There are two kinds of allusions in Six Ancestors Ming (hereinafter referred to as Ming): one comes from Buddhist stories; The other is allusions from ancient celebrities or masterpieces. The functions and reasons of these two kinds of allusions are as follows:

The first kind of allusions come from Buddhist stories. Some of these Buddhist stories come from Buddhist classics and some from ordinary Buddhist stories. Most of them are stories from Buddhist classics. For example, in the first paragraph of Inscription, when discussing that Master Huineng had little wisdom and was enlightened by Taoism and made contributions to all beings, he used Buddhist allusions. "Ming" says: "The drum master doesn't know the trip to Bodhi; Scattered flowers can change their voices. " Among them, the allusion of "a scattered girl can change her voice and smell" comes from Vimalakīrti Classic? The audience produced the product: "One day in Vimalakīrti's room, a woman saw an adult, heard what she said, and revealed herself, that is, the smallpox scattered on the Bodhisattva and his disciples. ..... Sharifutsu said,' Why don't women turn to women?' The goddess said,' I have been a woman for twelve years and I can't get it. What should I do? For example, a magic teacher turns into a magic girl. If someone asks, why not turn into a female body? It's because people ask, right? "Sharifutsu said,' No, hallucinations have no fixed stages. What shall we do? "The goddess turned Sharifutsu into a supernatural goddess, and the goddess herself became Sharifutsu, which shows that Sharifutsu is a virgin, but not a real woman. Then the goddess also used her magical powers to make Sharifutsu feel the same. The goddess asked Sharifutsu again: "Where is the female body color now? Sharifutsu said: "Women's body colors are everywhere. "The goddess said," All laws are the same. They are everywhere. "This allusion turns into a goddess, which shows that there is no phasing of all laws (all laws are in the process of birth and death, empty and unreal). )

In the second paragraph of Inscription, when describing the teachings of the Five Ancestors, the disciples of the Five Ancestors did not get rid of their troubles and did not know that all the teaching methods were empty, so they asked about their traces. Several allusions are quoted in the article. As a cloud said, "He still yearns for a deer, and the traces of birds, fragrant rice and rotten clothes are still covered up. It is said that it is a pearl of the Yellow Emperor and worthy of the seal of the French king.

Seven allusions were used in these statements, including Buddhist scriptures and allusions from ancient China. Now take "I still yearn for deer, but I still seek bird tracks" as an example to explain its origin: the allusion of "I yearn for deer" comes from the second volume of Shurangama Sutra: "I don't know my heart, I am stupid and ordinary ... I am obsessed with delusion, like a deer, and driven by thirst, I see the flame of spring (that is, the sun flame, which refers to the dust floating in the wild sunshine in spring). To express delusion. The allusion of "The Trace of Birds" comes from Volume 50 of Hua Yan Jing: "If we know that all laws are silent, it is like a bird flying in the air without a trace". In this article, it is used as a metaphor that all laws are empty.

There are also many allusions from ordinary Buddhist stories. For example, Master Huineng, the sixth ancestor, was invited by Tang Zhongzong and Wu Zetian to come to Beijing to support him, but the master refused politely. "Ming" refers to the allusion cloud: "The Zen master Zi Mou Xin dares to forget the wind que, which is far from fair, but it is just a tiger flow."

The story of "being far away from the public, but being a tiger" comes from the story of Hui Yuan, a master of Lushan Mountain in the Eastern Jin Dynasty: Master Hui Yuan lived in seclusion and couldn't get out of the mountain when he was in Tuolin Temple in Lushan Mountain. At that time, there was a river named Huxi in front of Tuolin Temple in Lushan Mountain. He agreed that his activities were limited to Huxi. On one occasion, after talking with Tao Yuanming, a poet of the Jin Dynasty, and a Taoist priest in his apartment, Hui Yuan sent two guests out. Because the three of them talked very speculatively, before you know it, Master Hui Yuan has set foot on the Huxi Bridge. The tiger in the mountain saw it and kept roaring. Master Hui Yuan immediately realized that he was walking on the Tiger Creek Bridge, violating his own regulations, so the three men smiled at each other, and Master Hui Yuan immediately returned. Therefore, this allusion is called "Tiger Creek San Xiao".

In the inscription, the author used the allusion that "the foot is far from the public, but it is just a tiger's flow" to describe that Master Huineng was willing to follow the example of Master Hui Yuan and was determined not to leave Caoxi.

The second kind of allusion comes from ancient folk stories in China. The Chinese nation has a long history and a long culture. There are many philosophical stories in every dynasty in history, and * * * has become a treasure house of China culture. A large number of China ancient popular stories are used in the inscription, which implies that Master Huineng is not only superior in wisdom, but also unmoved by fame and fortune, and persists in his firm determination to spread Buddhism in Lingnan. For example, in the second paragraph of the inscription, when Hong Ren, the fifth ancestor, said in the Dharma Hall, many disciples listened to the Dharma, and Hong Ren observed it privately and found that only Huineng got his will. The inscription says: "Every master ascended the throne and learned from others. There are three roots. * * * After listening to the method of one voice, the Zen master was taught silently, but he never gave up, retired from private affairs and returned to the superego. "

The allusion to "retiring from private life" in the article comes from The Analects of Confucius? Politics: "Confucius said: I talk back all day, and I am not a fool." If you retire, it's enough to keep your privacy. It's not stupid to retire. "This passage means that when Confucius was talking with his disciple Yan Hui, Yan Hui never raised any objection to his remarks, which seems a bit stupid, but Confucius observed Yan Hui's words and deeds privately and found that he could express his views completely. So Confucius thought Yan Hui was very wise. The author Wang Wei used the story of Yan Hui, a disciple of Confucius' view, as a metaphor to prove his understanding of Huineng, the sixth ancestor. He thinks Huineng is his rare disciple.

There are many examples of using China's ancient popular allusions in the inscriptions, such as "climbing into the room" and "seizing the pearl of the Yellow Emperor", so I won't list them one by one.

In the inscriptions, the author is good at listing and using Buddhist allusions and ancient China allusions to express special meanings. After receiving a letter from Hou, Huineng, the sixth ancestor, decided to insist that Cao would not go to Beijing to preach the Dharma, but it was difficult to violate the imperial edict, so Master Huineng euphemistically expressed his determination to preach the Dharma to the south to stabilize the people's hearts. On this matter, Wang Wei wrote in "Inscription": "The Zen master Zi Mou's heart dares to forget the phoenix que; Away from the public, but the tiger creek. With this speech, I don't even have clothes. "

Here's "the heart of the child seeks, dare to forget the phoenix que" from "Zhuangzi? Jean Wang: "So-and-so, the son of the State of Wei, was sealed in Zhongshan, hence the saying" Yun ") said Zhan Zi in the mountain,' I am above the rivers and seas, but my heart is below Wei Que. What can I do? "It means that although Wei Gongzi wants to be an official in the Jianghu, he has always been concerned about the capital of Wei. There are ancient China allusions "Zi Mou Xin dares to forget the Phoenix Que" and Buddhist allusions "Far away from the public's feet, but a tiger is flowing" to show Huineng's determination to spread Buddhism in Lingnan.

When Master Huineng politely said goodbye, Tian Wu Huanghou expressed his sincerity and sent someone to bring him robes, money and silks to support the master. When it comes to this matter in the inscription, it says: "The heavenly king gave gifts and jade clothes to the phantom; After the queen stayed, she gave the money to the Buddha. Suntech is precious, and different generations have the same symbol. "

These words quoted an ancient China allusion and a Buddhist story respectively. The first allusion is "the gift of the heavenly king, the jade clothes offer the magic man", quoting Liezi? Zhou Muwang: In Zhou Muwang, in the country of the West Pole, people come, and they go through fire and water, wear out stones, fight against mountains and rivers, move to cities, take advantage of the situation, fail to fall, touch the reality, be ever-changing and inexhaustible. Now things have changed, living in it, alkalinity has been introduced to respect it, and women have been chosen to entertain it ... jade clothes for the month, jade food for the day. This means that Hehou is very polite to Master Huineng, just like favoring magicians and giving him jade clothes and food. The second allusion, "My daughter stays for a long time and gives money to Buddha", comes from Volume 4 of Zabao Jing: Once upon a time, in a dark mountain, there lived a monk. At that time, there was a poor girl begging in the mountains. When she saw the elders begging from the monks, she thought: These people were blessed in the past, rich today, and now they are doing it again, and their happiness will improve in the next life; I didn't write good news in my last life, and I was poor in my life. If I don't fix the blessings now, poverty will increase in the afterlife. The poor girl used to pick up two pence from dry dung, but she usually loathed to use it. When she can't buy anything, she is going to buy food to satisfy her hunger. At that time, the poor girl thought that if I gave the money to the monk now, I wouldn't starve to death without eating for a day or two. She waited until the monk's fasting was over, and then gave all the monks two dollars. At that time, the king had just died, so he sent someone to visit the lucky people to continue. At that time, the poor woman, the fortune teller, had a fortune, so the king married her as the queen. This allusion is used to praise Wuhou for giving money to the monk like a poor girl in his last life, so there are blessings in this life, and there will be great blessings in the next life with money to support his six ancestors.

The two allusions are used together, praising Zhongzong and Wuhou for supporting Hui Neng's kindness with expensive gifts, and wishing them better fortune when they meet monks in Imbusch in the future.

In the inscription, when talking about Huineng's disciple Shenhui, he also used the same allusions. As the saying goes: "As the master knows, there is a kind of wish to offer pearls; The world does not know that there are still many sorrows in jade. " The story of "wishing to offer pearls" comes from the Legend of Jingdezhen Lantern, Volume II: "When Fang (the great monk) was seeking legal heirs, he met an elder and asked his son to ask the venerable one,' This son's name was punched with his left hand when he was born. Now he has grown up, but he can't relax. I hope this respected man can explain his reasons for staying. "When the venerable saw it, he took it by hand and said,' You can give me my pearl back'. The boy then opened his hand to offer pearls, and everyone panicked. The venerable said,' I used to be a monk, and there was a boy named Shiva House. I tried to pay for Xihaizhai, and I paid with beads. It is reasonable to return my beads now. Lao she's son became a monk, and the venerable one got a gift. In the past, she was a famous woman. "This paper uses Stowe to compare God, which shows that God and Huineng seem to have a long-term relationship and can be regarded as legal heirs. The allusion of "mourning for jade" comes from "Han Feizi? When: "Bian He, a native of Chu, got a jade shop on Chu Mountain and presented it. Wang Li showed it to the Jade Man, who said, "Shi Ye." The king aimed at harmony, but cut off his left foot. And Qi, inherited the throne, but sacrificed for his purity ... The king also died of harmony and cut off his right foot. King Wei of Wen succeeded to the throne, and He Nai cried at the foot of the mountain for three days and nights, followed by blood. Wang Wenzhi was asked why ... He said,' I'm not sad, I'm sorry for Baoyu, and I named him after him. This is why I am not sad. I asked the jade people to manage their treasures, and I got a treasure, so I ordered them to say,' Jade of Harmony'.

In this paper, the allusion of "the sorrow of holding jade" is quoted, which is a metaphor for the sorrow of how precious God is and how unknown it is to the world.

The allusions in the inscriptions not only make the profound truth easy to understand, but also visualize the abstract truth. A large number of allusions make the inscription more solemn, elegant and intriguing. But also help us to accurately understand master Huineng's life achievements, so as to make a pertinent evaluation of master Huineng's life.

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Sorry, landlord, this is all I can find. I suggest you buy an ancient Chinese dictionary for easy reference at any time.