Canonical Classics ← 第八十八回
第八十八回
禪chán到dào玉yù華huá施shī法fǎ會huì
心xīn猿yuán木mù土tǔ授shòu門mén人rén

Chan Reaches Yuhua and a Dharma Assembly Is Held · The Mind-Ape and the Wood and the Earth Take Disciples

神兵精銳
模式 Mode Read Study
拼音 Pinyin Off
字體 Script 繁
原文 Original text 繁體 Traditional Reader's edition 含詞賦 With rhapsody

神兵精銳 Divine Weapons Show Their Keenness

神shén兵bīng精jīng銳ruì隨suí時shí顯xiǎn,丹dān器qì花huā生shēng到dào處chù崇chóng。神shén兵bīng精jīng锐ruì随suí时shí显xiǎn,丹dān器qì花huā生shēng到dào处chù崇chóng。
天tiān竺zhú雖suī高gāo還hái戒jiè性xìng,玉yù華huá王wáng子zǐ總zǒng歸guī中zhōng。天tiān竺zhú虽suī高gāo还hái戒jiè性xìng,玉yù华huá王wáng子zǐ总zǒng归guī中zhōng。

逐句解 Line by line

神shén兵bīng精jīng銳ruì隨suí時shí顯xiǎn,丹dān器qì花huā生shēng到dào處chù崇chóng。 神shén兵bīng精jīng锐ruì随suí时shí显xiǎn,丹dān器qì花huā生shēng到dào处chù崇chóng。

The divine weapons show their keenness as the moment asks; the cinnabar vessel flowers, and is honoured wherever it goes.

神兵, divine weapons, is the phrase the chapter will use for the three arms right through to the closing lines. 丹器 is alchemical vocabulary again — the vessel in which cinnabar is refined — and 花生, flowers coming forth, is what the elixir is said to do when it is working. The poem keeps folding weapons and alchemy into the same image.

天tiān竺zhú雖suī高gāo還hái戒jiè性xìng,玉yù華huá王wáng子zǐ總zǒng歸guī中zhōng。 天tiān竺zhú虽suī高gāo还hái戒jiè性xìng,玉yù华huá王wáng子zǐ总zǒng归guī中zhōng。

India stands high, yet still it disciplines the nature; the princes of Yuhua come home to the centre in the end.

The closing pair of lines names the place and the people, which is how these poems usually land. 戒性 is to keep the nature under precept — the disciplining of one's own character, which is what the princes are about to submit to. And 中, the centre, is the Earth position in the five-element scheme, so saying the princes come home to the centre puts them in the same diagram as the disciples. It also just means they come round.


總評 Commentary

Two lines to close, and both of them turn the display into a lesson. The weapons appear as needed, the elixir flowers, and the princes end up where they belong.

The last line is the one that matters for the story. Whatever the poem has been doing with elements and vessels, it finishes by saying that these three boys have been brought round, and the next scene is their father hearing about it.