第十二回
唐王秉誠修大會
觀音顯聖化金蟬
The Tang King, Sincere in Faith, Convenes the Grand Assembly · Guanyin, Manifesting Her Holy Form, Transforms the Golden Cicada
原文 Original text
繁體 Traditional
Reader's edition
七日正會
The Seventh-Day Assembly
光陰撚指,卻當七日正會。玄奘又具表,請唐王拈香。此時善聲遍滿天下。太宗即排駕,率文武多官、后妃國戚,早赴寺裡。那一城人,無論大小尊卑,俱詣寺聽講。光阴撚指,却当七日正会。玄奘又具表,请唐王拈香。此时善声遍满天下。太宗即排驾,率文武多官、后妃国戚,早赴寺里。那一城人,无论大小尊卑,俱诣寺听讲。
逐句解 Line by line
光陰撚指,卻當七日正會。
光阴撚指,却当七日正会。
Time slipped by at a finger's snap, and it came to the seventh day, the main assembly.
正會, the main assembly, is the seventh-day session that crowns the forty-nine days; 正 is zhèng.
玄奘又具表,請唐王拈香。此時善聲遍滿天下。
玄奘又具表,请唐王拈香。此时善声遍满天下。
Xuanzang again drew up a memorial, inviting the Tang king to offer incense. By this time the fame of the good work filled all under heaven.
善聲, the good report of the work, has run through the empire, and is now bringing the whole city to the temple door.
太宗即排駕,率文武多官、后妃國戚,早赴寺裡。
太宗即排驾,率文武多官、后妃国戚,早赴寺里。
Taizong at once ordered his equipage, and led his civil and military officers, his consorts and imperial kin, and came early to the temple.
The entire imperial household attends the climactic session in person.
那一城人,無論大小尊卑,俱詣寺聽講。
那一城人,无论大小尊卑,俱诣寺听讲。
The whole city, high and low, noble and base without distinction, all came to the temple to hear the exposition.
那 in 那一城人 is the pointing nà; 一城 takes yì. Note how carefully the crowd is assembled — high and low, noble and base, without distinction. Whatever happens next is going to need witnesses.
總評 Commentary
The seventh-day session gathers the largest possible audience: not only the emperor and his whole household, but the entire city, high and low, noble and base without distinction.
The storyteller assembles this crowd deliberately, because what is about to happen must be public — Guanyin's challenge to Xuanzang, and the revelation of her true form, will be witnessed by all Chang'an, which converts a private doctrinal correction into a founding public event. The passage is pure narrative setup: clear the ground, fill the hall.