Canonical Classics ← 第十三回
第十三回
xiànxuéjīnxīngjiěè
shuāngchālǐngqīnliúsēng

Trapped in the Tiger's Den, the Gold Star Dispels the Peril · At Twin-Fork Ridge, Liu Boqin Takes In the Monk

誦經薦亡
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

誦經薦亡 The Service for the Dead

zǎojiālǎoxiǎodōuláijiùzhěngzhāiguǎndàizhǎnglǎoqǐngkāiniànjīngzhèzhǎnglǎojìngleshǒutóngtàibǎojiātángqiánniānlexiāngbàilejiātángsānzàngfāngqiāoxiǎngxiānniànlejìngkǒudezhēnyányòuniànlejìngshēnxīndeshénzhòuránhòukāiwángjīngjuànsòngqīnyòuqǐngxiějiànwángshūdàozàikāiniànjīngāngjīng》、《guānyīnjīng》。lǎngyīngāosòngsòngchīlezhāiyòuniànhuájīng》、《tuójīng》,sòngjuànyòuniànjuànkǒngquèjīng》,tánchúdeshìzǎoyòutiānwǎnxiànguòlezhǒngzhǒngxiānghuǒhuàlezhòngshénzhǐshāolejiànwángwénshūshìyòuānqǐnzǎojiālǎoxiǎodōuláijiùzhěngzhāiguǎndàizhǎnglǎoqǐngkāiniànjīngzhèzhǎnglǎojìngleshǒutóngtàibǎojiātángqiánniānlexiāngbàilejiātángsānzàngfāngqiāoxiǎngxiānniànlejìngkǒudezhēnyányòuniànlejìngshēnxīndeshénzhòuránhòukāiwángjīngjuànsòngqīnyòuqǐngxiějiànwángshūdàozàikāiniànjīngāngjīng》、《guānyīnjīng》。lǎngyīngāosòngsòngchīlezhāiyòuniànhuájīng》、《tuójīng》,sòngjuànyòuniànjuànkǒngquèjīng》,tánchúdeshìzǎoyòutiānwǎnxiànguòlezhǒngzhǒngxiānghuǒhuàlezhòngshénzhǐshāolejiànwángwénshūshìyòuānqǐn


逐句解 Line by line

zǎojiālǎoxiǎodōuláijiùzhěngzhāiguǎndàizhǎnglǎoqǐngkāiniànjīngzhèzhǎnglǎojìngleshǒutóngtàibǎojiātángqiánniānlexiāngbàilejiātángsānzàngfāngqiāoxiǎngxiānniànlejìngkǒudezhēnyányòuniànlejìngshēnxīndeshénzhòuránhòukāiwángjīngjuànsòngqīnyòuqǐngxiějiànwángshūdàozàikāiniànjīngāngjīng》、《guānyīnjīng》。lǎngyīngāosòngsòngchīlezhāiyòuniànhuájīng》、《tuójīng》,sòngjuànyòuniànjuànkǒngquèjīng》,tánchúdeshìzǎoyòutiānwǎnxiànguòlezhǒngzhǒngxiānghuǒhuàlezhòngshénzhǐshāolejiànwángwénshūshìyòuānqǐn zǎojiālǎoxiǎodōuláijiùzhěngzhāiguǎndàizhǎnglǎoqǐngkāiniànjīngzhèzhǎnglǎojìngleshǒutóngtàibǎojiātángqiánniānlexiāngbàilejiātángsānzàngfāngqiāoxiǎngxiānniànlejìngkǒudezhēnyányòuniànlejìngshēnxīndeshénzhòuránhòukāiwángjīngjuànsòngqīnyòuqǐngxiějiànwángshūdàozàikāiniànjīngāngjīng》、《guānyīnjīng》。lǎngyīngāosòngsòngchīlezhāiyòuniànhuájīng》、《tuójīng》,sòngjuànyòuniànjuànkǒngquèjīng》,tánchúdeshìzǎoyòutiānwǎnxiànguòlezhǒngzhǒngxiānghuǒhuàlezhòngshénzhǐshāolejiànwángwénshūshìyòuānqǐn

Early the next morning the whole household, old and young, rose and set about a vegetarian feast to entertain the elder, and asked him to begin reciting the scriptures. The elder washed his hands, and together with the Guardian burned incense before the family shrine and made his obeisances to it. Then Sanzang sounded the wooden fish, and first recited the True Words for cleansing the mouth of its karma, and next the divine spell for purifying body and mind, and after that opened the Sutra for the Deliverance of the Dead, a single scroll. When he had finished chanting, Boqin asked him further to write out a memorial petition for the departed, and then to begin reciting the Diamond Sutra and the Guanyin Sutra, all in a clear, ringing voice. When these were done, they took their midday meal, and then he recited the Lotus Sutra and the Amitabha Sutra, several scrolls of each, and one scroll of the Peacock Sutra as well, and told the story of how the bhikṣu washed away his karma; and soon it was evening again. When they had presented every kind of incense and offering, burned the paper horses for the host of spirits, and burned the memorial petition for the departed, the Buddhist rites were complete, and each of them went again to rest.

苾蒭 (bì chú) is a transliteration of the Sanskrit bhikṣu, a fully ordained monk; the graph is preserved in its original form here rather than converted. The service is a genuine Buddhist requiem, its sequence of purifying spells, sutra-recitations, written petition, and burned offerings faithfully set down; the sutras named — the 度亡經, 金剛經, 觀音經, 法華經, 彌陀經, and 孔雀經 — all belong to the repertoire of merit-making for the dead.


總評 Commentary

The memorial service is described with a documentary particularity that is itself part of the novel's meaning. Sanzang, the helpless traveller of the chapter's first half, is here shown in his proper office as a master of ritual: he cleanses mouth and mind with spells, sounds the wooden fish, recites in order a whole sequence of sutras, writes out the petition for the dead, and oversees the burning of offerings. The passage functions almost as a catalogue of the rites of Buddhist merit-transfer, and its very thoroughness lends weight to what follows — for the efficacy of these rites is about to be confirmed, in the plainest possible way, by the appearance of the freed soul itself. The scene also completes the reversal the chapter has staged: the monk who could do nothing to save his own life proves able to do a great deal for the salvation of another's soul.