觀音義疏 1.10

1.10

偏袒右肩者，外國以袒為敬。露右者，示執奉為便，表弟子事師充役之儀，是故以袒為恭也。此方以袒為慢，然古有須賈肉袒謝於張儀，露兩髀也，此方亦不一向是慢也。觀解者，覆露表空、假二諦，又表權實，實不可說，如覆左表有冥益；權於化便，如露右表有顯益也。

As for "baring the right shoulder," in foreign lands baring is considered respectful. Exposing the right shows convenience for carrying out service, expressing the disciple's deportment of serving the teacher and fulfilling duties; therefore, baring is used for reverence. In this land, baring is considered insolent; however, in antiquity Xu Jia bared his flesh to apologize to Zhang Yi, exposing both thighs, so in this land it is not uniformly insolent. In contemplative interpretation, covering and exposing represent the two truths of emptiness and conventionality; they also represent the provisional and the real. The real cannot be spoken, like covering the left represents having hidden benefit; the provisional is convenient for transformation, like exposing the right represents having manifest benefit.