北山錄 1.9.1

1.9.1

The Venerable Ruist, acting as a Ruist, roused himself to fine renown (The Venerable is an elder. One who is old, possesses the Way, and is valued by his contemporaries is called venerable. The so-called "devoting one's will to esteeming conduct, departing from the world and avoiding heterodoxy, possessing the style of high antiquity" refers to a gentleman of the mountain valleys, not what ordinary people favor. To rouse is to strike. Fine is beautiful). The assembly of Ruists approached him and admired his instruction (Assembly means the crowd. To approach means to go near. Because the Venerable Ruist had broad knowledge and fine excellence, the assembly of Ruists approached him to study and learn. This evaluates the admirable nature of those who travel, dwell, and love learning along the way of worldly teaching). I, this petty youth, having some doubt about the first beginning of the cosmos, bowed twice and conveyed my sentiments (I, this petty youth, is self-effacing. Having some doubt means being uncertain. Cosmos means heaven and earth. First beginning means the initial inception. This means that having doubts about the initial division of heaven and earth, I bowed twice and expressed my feelings). The Venerable Ruist said: "How rich is your inquiry! (Rich means abundant and grand). I know the person from the vast and turbid origin of heaven and earth (Vast and turbid describes the vast, boundless, and indistinct state before division). It is brilliantly clear! (Brilliantly clear means plainly understood, like saying the three luminaries shine brightly). Sit down, and I shall tell you (To sit means to be seated. Because he had risen to pose the question, he had him sit back down to show him). The Changes has the Taiji, which generated the Two Modes (The Gouming jue states: "The Changes has five Tais. First is Taiyi, where qi and form are not yet divided. Second is Taichu, where the primordial qi sprouts. Third is Taishi, the beginning of physical form. Fourth is Taisu, where physical form transforms to have substance. Fifth is Taiji, where physical form and substance are already complete." From the Taiji were generated heaven and earth, the Two Modes of the clear and the turbid). In its first inception before any sign, it was surging and formless, vast and cavernous; the clear and turbid were of one principle, hundun without form (The character hong is pronounced hu and kong; it describes vast waters. Inception means its beginning. The Huainanzi states: "When heaven and earth were not yet formed, it was surging and formless, cavernous and indistinct"; all of these speak of form and shape not yet being divided. Hundun describes the state before opening and penetrating). It was near the time when the primordial qi in its primordial chaos sprouted and began to provide sustenance (Near means reaching. To provide means to assist. Primordial chaos is the qi of the chaotic origin; this is from the Zhuangzi). Thereupon Pangu was born in its midst, living for eighteen thousand years (Before heaven and earth were divided, it was like a chicken's egg. Once the clear and turbid showed their signs, they were called the Two Modes. The clear qi became heaven, the turbid qi became earth, and the harmonious qi became humankind; these are the Three Powers. Then Pangu was born in their midst and ruled for eighteen thousand years). Heaven and earth split open: heaven daily grew one zhang higher, earth daily grew one zhang thicker, and Pangu daily grew one zhang taller. His head reached the extreme east, his feet the extreme west, his left hand the extreme south, his right hand the extreme north. Opening his eyes made daybreak, closing his eyes made night; his exhalation made heat, his inhalation made cold; his blowing breath formed wind and clouds, and the sound he emitted formed thunder (Once heaven and earth split open, heaven daily grew one zhang higher and earth daily grew one zhang thicker. Pangu's four limbs were extraordinarily large. Extreme means reaching the limit. Daybreak means brightness). The four seasons moved therein, and the myriad things were born therein. As for the greatness of the eight expanses and nine regions, who could match its abundance? (The eight expanses are the four directions and four corners. The nine regions are the nine provinces, or the eight directions and the center). As for the venerability of the Three Sovereigns and Five Periods, who could come before them? (The Three Sovereigns are Fuxi, Shennong, and Huangdi. The Five Periods are metal, wood, water, fire, and earth: Fuxi was the wood period, Shennong the fire period, Huangdi the earth period, Jintian the metal period, and Zhuanxu the water period; through the mutual generation of the five phases, the receipt of the mandate through a hundred generations can be known). In the times of remote antiquity, people roasted grain and tore apart pork, drank by cupping water from hollowed-out earth, and drummed on earthen drums with clod beaters (To roast means to burn with fire. In middle antiquity there were not yet cauldrons and steamers; they chose grain and tore meat, placing them on heated stones to eat them. A hollowed vessel means digging the ground to make a vessel. To cup is pronounced bu and hou, scooping with the hand. Clod is pronounced kuai; it refers to a drumstick, using clods of earth as drumsticks). In winter they lived in dugouts and caves, and in summer they lived in nests of piled wood (In cold they piled earth, and in heat they gathered firewood to live upon). There was not yet cooking by fire: they ate the fruits of grasses and trees, the meat of birds and beasts, drank their blood, and swallowed their fur (The Wenxuan says: swallowed means devoured). There was not yet silk or hemp; they clothed themselves in feathers and skins (This was the time of high antiquity). Later sages arose, and only then did they cultivate the benefits of fire (Cultivate means to order). They cast metals and combined earth (Casting and firing implements and vessels) to make towers, pavilions, palace halls, doors, and windows; they roasted (placing on fire), scorched (boiling in caldrons), and broiled (skewering over fire); they made sweet spirits and fermented curds (steaming and brewing them; curds means fermented vinegar-beer; vinegar is pronounced cu, and beer is pronounced zai; some editions lack this sentence). They processed silk and hemp to make cloth and silk fabrics, so as to nourish the living, bury the dead, and serve the ghosts and spirits. From remote antiquity down to the present, the years and generations cannot be fully recorded. After Fuxi, there were altogether more than four hundred thousand years. Transformations were fashioned and completed: becoming rulers and ministers, becoming lords and commoners (Commoners is a term for the lowly). Calamities and benefits, rises and falls (Calamity means loss)—former Ruists recorded them (To record means to register), and later Ruists inherited them, vast and multifaceted, not to be exhausted in a single day (To exhaust means to finish. The above is what the Venerable Ruist related concerning the opening of heaven and earth). At the banks of the Fushui River, a rustic fellow of North Mountain turned his back on worldly splendor and departed from convention for a long time (Rustic fellow is a humble term. Shenqing, styled Lingyu, had the surname Zhang. He was a native of Changming County in Mianzhou. Three brothers went forth from the household; the master was the second, uniquely outstanding. Upāsaka-turned-preceptor Fayun of Kaiyuan Monastery in Mianzhou was his teacher. At the end of the Jianzhong era, he passed away at Huiyi Monastery in Zizhou. He composed the Fahua xuanjian in ten fascicles, the Shishi nianzhi in thirty fascicles, the Lüshu yaojue in ten fascicles, Recorded Sayings in ten fascicles, as well as Initial Instructions for the Two Assemblies, Calming the Mind and Purifying Contemplation, resolutions on the Abhidharmakośa, and other treatises and commentaries totaling over a hundred fascicles). Setting his intent on antiquity, his knowledge was nevertheless not vast; guiding his conduct along the Way, he was yet obstructed when it came to its ultimate directions. Thus, when beginning his studies, he was placed at the tail of the local school (A school is an academy. The Rites says: "Townships had academies, and neighborhoods had schools"). Hearing the Ruist teachings, he delighted in them, saying: 'How great are the words of Ru!' When he altered his vocation to that of the Buddhist teaching, upon wading onto its shores, he was awestruck, as if gazing at the Milky Way without boundary—how could there be any weariness or dissatisfaction? (To alter means to change. Shores means the margins. The Zhuangzi says: 'He was startled and awestruck, as if at the boundless Milky Way.' Weariness means satiety, and dissatisfaction means resentment). He only worried about not having heard it earlier, saying: 'How was this?' It was said: 'The sage of Tianzhu' (Tianzhu is India).