第二十四回 · 殿懸天地 “Heaven and Earth” in the Hall — Journey to the West

原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition

殿懸天地 “Heaven and Earth” in the Hall

那nà童tóng子zǐ控kòng背bèi躬gōng身shēn，出chū來lái迎yíng接jiē道dào：「老lǎo師shī父fù，失shī迎yíng，請qǐng坐zuò。」長zhǎng老lǎo歡huān喜xǐ，遂suì與yǔ二èr童tóng子zǐ上shàng了le正zhèng殿diàn觀guān看kàn。原yuán來lái是shì向xiàng南nán的de五wǔ間jiān大dà殿diàn，都dōu是shì上shàng明míng下xià暗àn的de雕diāo花huā格gé子zi。那nà仙xiān童tóng推tuī開kāi格gé子zi，請qǐng唐táng僧sēng入rù殿diàn處chù，只zhǐ見jiàn那nà壁bì中zhōng間jiān掛guà著zhe五wǔ彩cǎi裝zhuāng成chéng的de「天tiān地dì」二èr大dà字zì，設shè一yì張zhāng朱zhū紅hóng雕diāo漆qī的de香xiāng几jǐ，几jǐ上shàng有yǒu一yí副fù黃huáng金jīn爐lú瓶píng，爐lú邊biān有yǒu方fāng便biàn整zhěng香xiāng。那nà童tóng子zǐ控kòng背bèi躬gōng身shēn，出chū来lái迎yíng接jiē道dào：「老lǎo师shī父fù，失shī迎yíng，请qǐng坐zuò。」长zhǎng老lǎo欢huān喜xǐ，遂suì与yǔ二èr童tóng子zǐ上shàng了le正zhèng殿diàn观guān看kàn。原yuán来lái是shì向xiàng南nán的de五wǔ间jiān大dà殿diàn，都dōu是shì上shàng明míng下xià暗àn的de雕diāo花huā格gé子zi。那nà仙xiān童tóng推tuī开kāi格gé子zi，请qǐng唐táng僧sēng入rù殿diàn处chù，只zhǐ见jiàn那nà壁bì中zhōng间jiān挂guà着zhe五wǔ彩cǎi装zhuāng成chéng的de「天tiān地dì」二èr大dà字zì，设shè一yì张zhāng朱zhū红hóng雕diāo漆qī的de香xiāng几jǐ，几jǐ上shàng有yǒu一yí副fù黄huáng金jīn炉lú瓶píng，炉lú边biān有yǒu方fāng便biàn整zhěng香xiāng。

逐句解 Line by line

那nà童tóng子zǐ控kòng背bèi躬gōng身shēn，出chū來lái迎yíng接jiē道dào：「老lǎo師shī父fù，失shī迎yíng，請qǐng坐zuò。」那nà童tóng子zǐ控kòng背bèi躬gōng身shēn，出chū来lái迎yíng接jiē道dào：「老lǎo师shī父fù，失shī迎yíng，请qǐng坐zuò。」

The boys, bowing low with rounded backs, came out to receive them: "Venerable Master, forgive our tardy welcome — pray be seated."

控背躬身, kòng bèi gōng shēn — back drawn in, body bent. A deep, formal bow, offered without hesitation to a Buddhist monk by two Daoist acolytes. 失迎, shī yíng, "forgive our failure to meet you" — the polite formula of a host caught unprepared.

長zhǎng老lǎo歡huān喜xǐ，遂suì與yǔ二èr童tóng子zǐ上shàng了le正zhèng殿diàn觀guān看kàn。长zhǎng老lǎo欢huān喜xǐ，遂suì与yǔ二èr童tóng子zǐ上shàng了le正zhèng殿diàn观guān看kàn。

The Elder was pleased, and went up with the two boys into the main hall to look about.

觀看 takes the verb guān again. 童子 here is the full zǐ, the titular "boy-adept."

原yuán來lái是shì向xiàng南nán的de五wǔ間jiān大dà殿diàn，都dōu是shì上shàng明míng下xià暗àn的de雕diāo花huā格gé子zi。原yuán来lái是shì向xiàng南nán的de五wǔ间jiān大dà殿diàn，都dōu是shì上shàng明míng下xià暗àn的de雕diāo花huā格gé子zi。

It proved to be a five-bay great hall facing south, all of carved-flower lattices, bright above and dark below.

A five-bay hall facing south — the orthodox orientation for a principal building. 上明下暗 describes the standard Ming lattice window: open latticework above to let light in, solid panelling below. 格子 ends in the light suffix zi.

那nà仙xiān童tóng推tuī開kāi格gé子zi，請qǐng唐táng僧sēng入rù殿diàn處chù，只zhǐ見jiàn那nà壁bì中zhōng間jiān掛guà著zhe五wǔ彩cǎi裝zhuāng成chéng的de「天tiān地dì」二èr大dà字zì，設shè一yì張zhāng朱zhū紅hóng雕diāo漆qī的de香xiāng几jǐ，几jǐ上shàng有yǒu一yí副fù黃huáng金jīn爐lú瓶píng，爐lú邊biān有yǒu方fāng便biàn整zhěng香xiāng。那nà仙xiān童tóng推tuī开kāi格gé子zi，请qǐng唐táng僧sēng入rù殿diàn处chù，只zhǐ见jiàn那nà壁bì中zhōng间jiān挂guà着zhe五wǔ彩cǎi装zhuāng成chéng的de「天tiān地dì」二èr大dà字zì，设shè一yì张zhāng朱zhū红hóng雕diāo漆qī的de香xiāng几jǐ，几jǐ上shàng有yǒu一yí副fù黄huáng金jīn炉lú瓶píng，炉lú边biān有yǒu方fāng便biàn整zhěng香xiāng。

The immortal boys pushed open the lattice and led the Tang Monk into the hall; and there he saw, hung in the midst of the wall, the two great characters "Heaven-and-Earth," worked in five colours, with a cinnabar-lacquered incense-table set below, a golden censer-and-vase upon it, and beside the censer sticks of fine incense.

And here is the oddity that will start the next conversation. Where an image of a god should hang, there are two characters: 天地, Heaven and Earth. Nothing else. No Three Pure Ones, no buddhas, no named deity at all — just the two oldest words in the cosmos, worked in five colours, with a lacquered incense-table beneath. 掛著 takes the durative zhe.

總評 Commentary

The reception is faultless. Two Daoist acolytes bend double to a Buddhist monk, apologise for not having met him further out, and invite him to sit. Whatever the boys said about Confucius and incompatible ways a few passages ago, their manners are perfect the moment there is an actual guest. Then the hall, described with an architect's eye — five bays, facing south, lattices open above and panelled below.

And at the centre of it, the thing that stops the reader as much as the monk. There is no image. Where a deity should be enshrined there hang two characters, 天地, Heaven and Earth, in five colours, with a cinnabar incense-table and a golden censer set beneath. It is a genuinely strange arrangement, and the novel knows it: an abbey of this rank should be crowded with the named gods of the Daoist pantheon, and worshipping the bare abstraction instead looks either very austere or very odd. Tripiṭaka is about to ask which, and the answer will tell him — and us — precisely how far above the gods this household considers itself to stand.