The Yan Man

So, before I begin this post, I have a few announcements:

1) THANK YOU! to everyone who has read any or all of my blog.  I know this is a really niche subject area, so I'm so happy to see that people (people -- not just one person, but multiple people!) have been reading my blog.

Special shout-out to those of you who are reading my blog from a country other than the US or UK -- getting views from continental Europe and Asia was a special delight (是亦樂乎!)

2) Apologies about my formatting errors/inconsistencies.  I'm new at this whole blog thing -- I'm still learning! And further apologies for my not including the sources of these texts -- if you're desperate to know where a passage is from, comment and I'll find the original source for you because I'll be thrilled to no end that someone cared enough to comment on my post(s).

3) As of 8am EST tomorrow (6/13), I will be leaving for Guangzhou （广州／廣州） in Guangdong （广东／廣東）Province, China （中国／中國）. I'll be there for 2 WHOLE MONTHS (!)  This will be my first time in China, or anywhere in Asia, actually (!!).  I'm so so excited, if you couldn't tell.

BUT unfortunately all Google-related sites, including Blogspot, are banned in China. :(  :(  :(

But fear not! I have started a new blog (which is exactly like this blog), and I'll be posting on there from China and including photos and some thoughts about my trip.  You can see my new blog at http://chineseintranslation.blog.com/. All of the older posts are already on there, and I'll be adding this newest post as well (minus this long introduction).

Now, on to the good stuff.

This piece is a really funny one, and one close to my heart right now because I'm about to be leaving home for a long time. It's about a man who for some reason let's a stranger tell him all about the country he was born in.

燕人 （Yan Man)

燕人生於燕，長於楚，及老而還本國。過晉國，同行者誑之，指城曰：“此燕國之城。”其人愀然變容。指社曰：“此若里之社。”乃喟然而嘆。指舍曰：“此若先人之盧。”乃涓然而泣。指壟曰：“此若先人之冢。”哭不自禁。同行者啞然大笑曰：予昔紿若。此晉國耳！”其人大慚。及至燕，真見燕國之城社，真見先人之盧冢，背心更微。

     A Yan man was born in Yan and grew up in Chu; when [he was] old [he] returned to [his] original country. Passing through Jin, a fellow traveler deceived him: [he] pointed to the city wall, saying, “This Yan country's wall.”

     The [Yan] man's expression became sad.

     [The fellow traveler] pointed to the altar to the god of soil, saying, “This is your village's altar.”

     Thereupon [the Yan man] sighed sighingly.

     [The fellow traveler] pointed to dwellings, saying, “These are your ancestors huts.”

     Thereupon [the Yan man] cried a stream.

     [The fellow traveler] pointed to burial mounds, saying, “These are your ancestors graves.”

     [The Yan man] cried uncontrollably.

     The fellow traveler laughed loudly, saying “I have cheated you! This is only Jin country!”

     The [Yan] man was greatly embarrassed. When [he] reached Yan, and really saw Yan country's wall and altar, and really saw his ancestors huts and graves, [his] sadness was smaller [than it had been before].

The moral of this story? Well, to be honest, I'm not quite sure.  One moral of this story is definitely don't trust anything a stranger tells you. But I'm pretty sure that's not what Liezi (列子）our writer had in mind...

But I think this piece also raises some critical philosophical questions: What is 'home'? Why do we feel attached to home? What makes us consider a place home? And why might we feel less emotionally invested in a 'home' when we've mistaken somewhere else for home?

You decide! (And feel free to comment below, or on the other blog).

Owl and Dove

Before we delve into this (very short) parable, a quick note on Classical Chinese, for those who don't know much Chinese or only know Modern Chinese:

Classical Chinese is a very terse language -- words like "if", "when", "I", subjects, objects, etc. are often omitted.  From what I can tell, whereas in English, and Modern Chinese, the onus is on the writer to be clear in all aspects of her writing, in Classical Chinese the onus is on the reader to properly interpret the writer's implications.  In my translations, I sometimes include added words in brackets -- I try not to do this too often, as it can be a bit distracting. 

This is the first piece of Classical Chinese that I ever translated, and it's probably my favorite.  It's short, sweet, and totally hilarious to read in modern times, especially as a Westerner.

枭逢鸠，鸠曰：“子将安之？”枭曰：“我将东徙。” 鸠

曰：“何故？” 枭曰：“乡人皆恶我鸣。以故东徙。” 鸠

曰：“子能更鸣，可矣；不能更鸣，东徙，犹恶子之声。”

Owl meets Dove; Dove says, "Where are you going?"
Owl says, "I am going to move eastward."
Dove says, "Why？"
Owl says, "The village people all hate my shriek. For this reason [I am] moving eastward."
Dove says, "If you can change your shriek, then do it; if you cannot change your shriek, [and instead] move eastward, [people will] still hate your sound."

The moral: if people don't like you the way you are, then change yourself.

More stories like this to come!

Peng Zu - Part 2

When we last left our friend, Peng Zu, he was giving the courtesan a lecture on the incredibly complex and nuanced system of living forever -- although he noted that there is no chance in hell that either the king or the courtesan would become a Daoist immortal... Personally, that doesn't sound too bad: immortality - horns growing out of one's face = suitable situation. 

In this section, which is quite a bit shorter than the previous section, Peng Zu continues to tell this super-old-but-weirdly-young-looking courtesan all about the Human Way, the Dao, idiots who will never succeed, and his apparently prolific former master. Let us once again revel in his wisdom and sass.

Note: All of the text up to (2) is Peng Zu speaking.

彭祖 （Peng Zu）

凡遠思強記傷人，憂恚悲哀傷人，情樂過差傷人，忿怒不解傷人，汲汲所願傷人，戚戚所患傷人，寒暖失節傷人，陰陽不交傷人，所傷人者甚眾，而獨責於房室，不亦惑哉？男女相成，尤天地相生也，所以導養神氣，使人不失其和，天地得交接之道，故無終盡之限。

To tie [one's] thoughts to [someone who is] far away is harmful; to give preference to sorrow is harmful; to feel happy at mistakes is harmful; to be angry [and] not understand [the reason] is harmful; to be impatient [to obtain] that which is desired is harmful; to be distressed by that which is concerning is harmful; to be cold or warm [but] lose [one's] morality/chastity is harmful; to have Yin and Yang without intercourse is harmful. That which are harmful are very many, but to only regulate the bedroom, is that not absurd? Men and women are made for each other, just as heaven and earth are born together; the reason why [one should] guide and nourish the vital spirit, is to cause people [men and women] to not lose their harmony; If [people of] heaven [and] earth obtain the way of intercourse, for this reason they will not be subject to the limits of death and deterioration.

人失交接之道，故有殘折之期，能避眾傷之事，得陰陽之術，則不死之道也。天地晝離而夜合，一歲三百六十交，而精氣和合者有四，故能生育萬物，不知窮極。人能則之，可以長存。

People lost the way of intercourse; for this reason there comes a time to die. [If one is] able to avoid the many injurious matters and obtain the method of Yin and Yang, then [this is] the way to avoid death. Heaven and earth part in daytime and join at night; in one year there are 360 of these intercourses, and of those who join the harmony of vital energy, there are four [seasons], for this reason they are able to give birth to 10,000 things, unaware of exhausting [limits and] extremes. If [one] is able to follow it [the way of intercourse], then one can by these means live forever.

次有服氣得其道，則邪氣不得入，治身之本要也。其余吐納導引之術，及念體中萬神，有含影守形之事，一千七百余條，及四時首向。責己謝過、臥起早晏之法，皆非真道，可以教初學者，以正其心耳。愛精養體，服氣錬形，萬神自守，其不然者，則榮衛枯瘁，萬神自逝，非思念所留者也。

Next there is to imbibe vital breath to obtain its Dao, then evil energy will not obtain entry [into the body]; to govern the body's source is essential. In excess of [all things previously mentioned], there is the method of accepting Daoist exercises [breathing, stretching, massage], imagining 10,000 spirits within the body, and holding this image [within the body but not incorporated into the body] to protect the body's affairs. There are over 1,700 conditions [to achieve the Dao], and the four seasons [are] the initial step [towards achieving the Dao]. Taking responsibility for oneself and apologizing for excess; the method of laying and rising daily; this is all not the true Dao, [but] it can be used to teach beginning students, to correct their heart-minds. If one loves energy and nourishes the body, imbibes vital energy to refine appearance, the 10,000 spirits will protect oneself; if one is not thus, then this flourishing [vital energy] will dry up and wear out, the 10,000 spirits within oneself will die, and one will not be one who stays (on Earth) forever.

愚人為道，不務其本，而逐其末，告以至言，又不能信。見約要之書，謂之輕淺，而晝夕伏誦。觀夫太清北神中經之屬，以此疲勞，至死無益也，不亦悲哉？

When foolish people practice the Dao, they do not concern themselves with its elementals, but pursue its inessential details; when they are told the final words, again they cannot believe in it. When they see books of the important covenants, they call it light and shallow, and day and evening they avoid recitation [of it]. However, [when they] observe such types as the Scriptures of Central Taiqing, through this they become weary and reach death without any benefit; is that not sad?

又人苦多事，又少能棄世獨住山居穴處者，以順道教之，終不能行，是非仁人之意也。但知房中之道、閉氣之術，節思慮，適飲食，則得道矣。吾先師初著九都節解韜形隱遁無為開明四極九室諸經，萬三千首，為以示始涉門庭者耳。

Again, people suffer many matters; again, a few [people] are able to reject the world [and] live alone as mountain-dwellers and cave-dwellers; if you use the Dao to teach them, [still] in the end they cannot do it [achieve the Dao]; right and wrong [are] the ideas of Benevolent Ones. But [if one] knows the Dao within the bedroom, the method of holding vital breath, to part from concerns, to properly drink and eat, then [one can] obtain the Dao. When my first master was beginning, [he] wrote Nine Metropolises, Releasing the Nodes, Pointers and Instructions, Sheathing the Body, Concealing and Guarding [Oneself], Taking No Action, Opening and Clarifying, Clear Regulations from the Four Bournes, and Nine Chambers, these various classics, [in total] 13,000 articles; [I would] use [these] to show those starting to cross the threshold [to achieving the Dao]”

2.

采女具受諸要以教王，王試為之，有驗，欲秘之，乃令國中有傳彭祖道者，誅之，又欲害彭祖以絕之。彭祖知之，乃去，不知所在。其後七十余年，聞人於流沙之西見之。王能常行彭祖之道，得壽三百歲。力轉丁壯，如五十時。鄭女妖淫，王失其道耳殂。俗間相傳，言彭祖之道殺人者，由於王禁之故也。彭祖去殷時，年七百八十歲，非壽終也。

The woman took down the various essentials in order to teach the King, [and] the King tried to practice it; [he] had tests [to verify its success]. [The King] desired to make it [the knowledge of longevity] secret; therefore [he] commanded that if there was anyone in the country who spread the Dao of Peng Zu, [he would] kill them. [The King] also desired to harm Peng Zu in order to remove him [so he could not share his ways of longevity]. Peng Zu knew it, thereupon [he] left to a place unknown. 70 years after that, a famous person West of the Flowing Sands saw him [there]. The King was able to often follow Peng Zu's Dao [and] obtained longevity of 300 years. [He had the] power to transform [himself to have] robust appearance, as if 50 years old. The vulgar woman [used her] feminine witchery [to trick the King]; the King lost his Dao and died; among common sayings, it is said that the Dao of Peng Zu [was] a killer [and] thus the King forbade its occurrence. When Peng Zu left the Yin era at 780 years old; [it was] not the end [of his] longevity.

Bibliography

1. Ge Hong. "神仙傳." Chinese Text Project. N.p., n.d. Accessed Web. 14 Apr. 2014.
2. Campany, Robert Ford, and Ge Hong. To Live as Long as Heaven and Earth: A Translation and Study of Ge Hong's Traditions of Divine Transcendents. Berkeley: University of California, 2002. Print.http://books.google.com/books?id=U1oLPR5VzIYC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
3. Pregadio, Fabrizio. The Encyclopedia of Taoism. London: Routledge, 2008. Print.

Next time: some quirky parables of ancient China.