Canonical Classics ← 第十二回
第十二回
tángwángbǐngchéngxiūhuì
guānyīnxiǎnshènghuàjīnchán

The Tang King, Sincere in Faith, Convenes the Grand Assembly · Guanyin, Manifesting Her Holy Form, Transforms the Golden Cicada

引僧見駕
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

引僧見駕 The Audience Before the Throne

xīnráncóngzhīzhuāizhuǎnjìngjìndōnghuáménhuángménguānzhuǎnzòuméngzhǐxuānzhìbǎo殿diànjiànxiāoyǐnzheliǎngjièlàisēngrénjiēxiàtángwángwènyuē:「xiāoláizòushì?」xiāojiēqiándào:「chénchūledōnghuáménqiánǒuèrsēngnǎimàijiāshāzhàngzhěchénshīxuánzàngzhuólǐngsēngrénjiàn。」tàizōng便biànwènjiāshājiàzhíchāshìjiēxiàgèngxíngyīnwènjiāshāzhījiàdào:「jiāshāqiānliǎngzhàngèrqiānliǎng。」tàizōngdào:「jiāshāyǒuhǎochùjiùzhíduō?」xīnráncóngzhīzhuāizhuǎnjìngjìndōnghuáménhuángménguānzhuǎnzòuméngzhǐxuānzhìbǎo殿diànjiànxiāoyǐnzheliǎngjièlàisēngrénjiēxiàtángwángwènyuē:「xiāoláizòushì?」xiāojiēqiándào:「chénchūledōnghuáménqiánǒuèrsēngnǎimàijiāshāzhàngzhěchénshīxuánzàngzhuólǐngsēngrénjiàn。」tàizōng便biànwènjiāshājiàzhíchāshìjiēxiàgèngxíngyīnwènjiāshāzhījiàdào:「jiāshāqiānliǎngzhàngèrqiānliǎng。」tàizōngdào:「jiāshāyǒuhǎochùjiùzhíduō?」


逐句解 Line by line

xīnráncóngzhīzhuāizhuǎnjìngjìndōnghuámén xīnráncóngzhīzhuāizhuǎnjìngjìndōnghuámén

The Bodhisattva gladly assented, turned on her heel, and went straight in through the Donghua Gate.

拽轉步 ('turned on her heel') reads as zhuài; 東華門 (the Donghua Gate) is an eastern gate of the palace.

huángménguānzhuǎnzòuméngzhǐxuānzhìbǎo殿diàn huángménguānzhuǎnzòuméngzhǐxuānzhìbǎo殿diàn

The gate-officer relayed the report, and by imperial command they were summoned to the treasure-hall.

黃門官 is a palace gate-officer who conveys messages to the throne.

jiànxiāoyǐnzheliǎngjièlàisēngrénjiēxiàtángwángwènyuē:「xiāoláizòushì?」 jiànxiāoyǐnzheliǎngjièlàisēngrénjiēxiàtángwángwènyuē:「xiāoláizòushì?」

Seeing Xiao Yu leading two scabby, mangy monks who stood below the steps, the Tang king asked: 'What does Xiao Yu come to report?'

in 引著 ('leading') is the durative zhe.

xiāojiēqiándào:「chénchūledōnghuáménqiánǒuèrsēngnǎimàijiāshāzhàngzhě xiāojiēqiándào:「chénchūledōnghuáménqiánǒuèrsēngnǎimàijiāshāzhàngzhě

Xiao Yu prostrated himself before the steps and said: 'As your servant was leaving the Donghua Gate, I chanced upon two monks who were selling a cassock and a staff.'

in 臣出了 takes the aspectual le.

chénshīxuánzàngzhuólǐngsēngrénjiàn。」 chénshīxuánzàngzhuólǐngsēngrénjiàn。」

'I thought the Dharma Master Xuanzang might wear this garment, and so have brought the monks to present themselves.'

in 可著此服 ('might wear this garment') is zhuó ('to wear').

tàizōng便biànwènjiāshājiàzhí tàizōng便biànwènjiāshājiàzhí

Taizong was greatly pleased, and asked what the cassock was worth.

in 那袈裟 is the demonstrative .

chāshìjiēxiàgèngxíngyīnwènjiāshāzhījiàdào:「jiāshāqiānliǎngzhàngèrqiānliǎng。」 chāshìjiēxiàgèngxíngyīnwènjiāshāzhījiàdào:「jiāshāqiānliǎngzhàngèrqiānliǎng。」

The Bodhisattva and Moksha stood in attendance below the steps and did not even perform obeisance; and when asked the cassock's price, answered: 'The cassock, five thousand taels; the staff, two thousand.'

更不行禮 ('did not even perform obeisance') is a telling detail: the disguised Bodhisattva does not bow before the emperor, a subtle sign of her true rank. is gèng and in 行禮 is xíng.

tàizōngdào:「jiāshāyǒuhǎochùjiùzhíduō?」 tàizōngdào:「jiāshāyǒuhǎochùjiùzhíduō?」

Taizong said: 'What virtue has that cassock, to be worth so much?'

in 那袈裟 is the demonstrative . The emperor's question is the cue for the descriptive rhapsody that follows.


總評 Commentary

The disguised Bodhisattva is brought before the throne, and the storyteller plants a quiet marker of her hidden status: she and Moksha 'did not even perform obeisance' to the emperor — an impertinence that would be unthinkable in a true mendicant, and a sign, legible to the reader if not to the court, that these are no ordinary monks. Xiao Yu's recommendation frames the cassock as destined for Xuanzang, and Taizong's question — what makes it worth so much? — sets up the two great descriptive set-pieces that form the chapter's ornamental climax: the rhapsody of the cassock and the verse of the staff.