Canonical Classics ← 第十一回
第十一回
yóutàizōnghuánhún
jìnguāguǒliúquánpèi

Touring the Underworld, Taizong Returns to Life · Presenting Melons and Fruit, Liu Quan Renews the Marriage Bond

給散餓鬼
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

給散餓鬼 The Hungry Ghosts Are Paid

tàizōngshènqíngyuànchūmíngjièyòngsuìlewénshūpànguānjièjīnyínzhuótàiwèijìnxínggěisànpànguānfēndào:「zhèxiējīnyínděngjūnfēnyòngfàngtángguòdeyángshòuháizǎolǐngleshíwángjūnsònghuánhúnjiàodàoyángjiānzuòshuǐhuìděngchāoshēngzàixiūshēngshì。」zhòngguǐwényánlejīnyínwéiwéiér退tuìpànguānlìngtàiwèiyáodòngyǐnhúnfānlǐngtàizōngchūlewǎngchéngzhōngbēnshàngpíngyángpiāopiāodàngdàngértàizōngshènqíngyuànchūmíngjièyòngsuìlewénshūpànguānjièjīnyínzhuótàiwèijìnxínggěisànpànguānfēndào:「zhèxiējīnyínděngjūnfēnyòngfàngtángguòdeyáng寿shòuháizǎolǐngleshíwángjūnsònghuánhúnjiàodàoyángjiānzuòshuǐhuìděngchāoshēngzàixiūshēngshì。」zhòngguǐwényánlejīnyínwéiwéiér退tuìpànguānlìngtàiwèiyáodòngyǐnhúnfānlǐngtàizōngchūlewǎngchéngzhōngbēnshàngpíngyángpiāopiāodàngdàngér


逐句解 Line by line

tàizōngshènqíngyuànchūmíngjièyòng tàizōngshènqíngyuànchūmíngjièyòng

Taizong, greatly pleased, was willing to sign his name and borrow.

甚喜 shèn, 'greatly pleased.' 情願 to be willing of one's own accord.

suìlewénshūpànguānjièjīnyínzhuótàiwèijìnxínggěisàn suìlewénshūpànguānjièjīnyínzhuótàiwèijìnxínggěisàn

So he drew up a document for the magistrate, borrowed one vault of his gold and silver, and had the marshal distribute it all.

文書 the written bond. here zhuó, 'to cause, to direct.' 盡行給散 to dole out entirely; jìn, xíng.

pànguānfēndào:「zhèxiējīnyínděngjūnfēnyòngfàngtángguòdeyángshòuháizǎo pànguānfēndào:「zhèxiējīnyínděngjūnfēnyòngfàngtángguòdeyáng寿shòuháizǎo

The magistrate charged them further, 'This gold and silver you may share out equally for your needs. Let your Great Tang lord pass through — his allotted span is yet far from spent.'

均分 jūn fēn, to divide equally. 爺爺 a familiar honorific, 'lord, sire.' 還早 hái, 'still early.'

lǐngleshíwángjūnsònghuánhúnjiàodàoyángjiānzuòshuǐhuìděngchāoshēngzàixiūshēngshì。」 lǐngleshíwángjūnsònghuánhúnjiàodàoyángjiānzuòshuǐhuìděngchāoshēngzàixiūshēngshì。」

'I bear the Ten Kings' august command to send him back to life, and I shall have him hold, in the world of light, a Grand Mass of Land and Water to ferry you all to rebirth. Make no more trouble.'

鈞語 'august words,' a respectful term for the Kings' decree. 還魂 huán hún. 水陸大會 the Grand Mass of Land and Water (水陸法會), the great Buddhist rite of universal deliverance — the goal toward which the whole chapter drives. jiào, 'to have (him).'

zhòngguǐwényánlejīnyínwéiwéiér退tuì zhòngguǐwényánlejīnyínwéiwéiér退tuì

Hearing this, the ghosts, having got the gold and silver, all withdrew with murmurs of assent.

唯唯 'yes, yes,' murmured compliance.

pànguānlìngtàiwèiyáodòngyǐnhúnfānlǐngtàizōngchūlewǎngchéngzhōngbēnshàngpíngyángpiāopiāodàngdàngér pànguānlìngtàiwèiyáodòngyǐnhúnfānlǐngtàizōngchūlewǎngchéngzhōngbēnshàngpíngyángpiāopiāodàngdàngér

The magistrate bade the marshal wave the soul-guiding pennant, and led Taizong out of the City of the Wrongfully Dead, hastening onto the broad level road, drifting and floating away.

引魂幡 the soul-guiding pennant. 平陽大路 'the broad road of level Yang,' the way back toward the light. zhōng.


總評 Commentary

The transaction concludes with the loan disbursed and the war-dead pacified — but the magistrate's charge introduces the chapter's ultimate purpose. The 水陸大會, the Grand Mass of Land and Water, is named here for the first time as the rite Taizong must sponsor to deliver these unransomed souls; it is the hinge on which the whole novel turns, for it is at that Mass that the quest for the scriptures will be set in motion.