好個孫猴子! (the end) (Literary figure)

from RoamAure flickr.com

So the monkey was imprisoned under the mountain. Before the Buddha left, he asked the deities of the mountain to feed the monkey, and said that five centuries later when his time was done, someone would come to his rescue.

Under the instruction of 觀世音菩薩(guan shi4 yin pu2 sa4), Bodhisattva Guan Yin, the monk 唐三藏(tang2 san zang4) or 玄奘(xuan2 zang4)was given the task of obtaining sacred text from the western regions. To protect the monk, 悟空 was assigned as one of his disciples to go with him.

Aware of how悟空was hard to discipline, Guan Yin gave Xuanzang a magical headband, which could never be removed once put on the monkey. The monkey was tricked to put it on, and when he became hard to control, the monk would chant 緊箍咒(jin3 gu zhou4), Tightening-Crown spell, which would tighten the headband and cause an unbearable headache to悟空.

Relating this緊箍咒 stuff to what a nagging mom or teacher can do with their “chanting,” you’re in the monkey’s shoes. This expression has been frequently used in our daily life referring to those effective measures to attack someone’s Achilles’ heel.

Literally the monkey’s name 悟空 means aware of emptiness. Some critics analyze the character from a religious point of view, asserting that the monkey is a symbol of our heart, which is so active, unleashed and uncontrollable. Before his journey to the west, he has been “monkey around” causing trouble and gone through the imprisonment. In some way, the journey to the west is a journey of the heart.

Others see it as a reflection of the political situation in Ming Dynasty, when the author 吳承恩(wu2 cheng2 en)was born. In the later half of Ming Dynasty, like any other precedent dynasties before they ended, it was a time of corruption and chaos. Through the novel, a fictional description of the deities and monsters on the surface, while in fact a reflection of the real world, Wu revealed his indignations and dissatisfactions.

However you see it, 孫悟空is a living image in the Chinese’s heart, with his brilliance, vividness, braveness and knight-errantry 行俠仗義(xing2 xia2 zhang4 yi4), though he did not emerge as so at first. In Min Nan, or Taiwanese, we often call little naughty boys 猴因仔, monkey boys, which sometimes also expresses parents’ or teachers’ affection towards them the same time when they’re accusing them as wild and undisciplined.

觀世音菩薩=观世音菩萨

緊箍咒=紧箍咒

吳承恩=吴承恩

行俠仗義=行侠仗义

好個孫猴子! (II) (Literary figure)

   

 RoamAure flickr.com

From the picture above, you see 悟空 standing on his 筋斗雲with his unique weapon, 如意金箍棒(ru2 yi4 jin gu bang4) in his hand, which he got from the undersea palace of Dragon King of the East Sea 東海龍王(dong hai3 long2 wong2) after he messed up the palace. When the weapon is not in use, the monkey would shrink it to the size of a sewing needle and keep it in his ear.

With his supernatural abilities and the unparalleled weapon, this wild wily money had really rocked the world upside down. Aside from the undersea palace, he went to 地府(di4 fu3), the nether, or underground world of the dead, and robbed the 生死簿(sheng si3 bu4), Book of Life and Death, which is believe to be the record of everyone’s 壽命(shou4 ming4), longevity. He crossed out his name so that he could live forever.

The Dragon King of the East Sea and the Pluto 閻(羅)王(Yian2 luo2 wong2)went to the Emperor of the Gods, or Jade Emperor to tell on the monkey‘s misbehavior. The latter sent some divine corps to conquer the bold monkey, but in vain. To ease and coax the monkey, the Emperor of the Gods conferred the title of 弼馬溫(bi4 ma3 wun), the horse protector, the lowest rank among the heaven officials, upon him.

At first悟空 was happy with the title, but when he learned about the fact he turned furious and went back to 花果山(hwa guo3 shan), Mt. Flowers & Fruit. He conferred himself as 齊天大聖(qi2 tian da4 sheng4), Great Sage, Equal of Heaven.

To avoid any more casualties or havocs the monkey could cause, Jade of Emperor gave him the title齊天大聖 as he wished but endowed him with no substantial power. 悟空 thus came to heaven again, as the keeper of 蟠桃園(pan2 tao2 yuan2), Garden of Peaches of Immortality.

In the Bible, we have a story of Adam’s and Eve’s eating the forbidden fruit. In the Chinese literature, we have a story of the peaches of immortality taken illegally by the monkey, who, as the keeper of the garden, was supposed to keep them from stolen. He went further to the feast of the Gods, drinking the wine and taking the pills of immortality. Again he left himself with no other options but to run away.

When I was younger, whenever I went to a scenic spot in Taiwan, I would find many subscriptions carved on trees or stones that went as “xxx 到此一遊(dao4 zi3 yi4 you2),” meaning “xxx (someone’s name) paying a visit here.” This practice of marking one’s visit certainly comes from the story of悟空.

To capture the runaway monkey, 如來佛(ru2 lai2 fo2), the Buddha, was sent for. He offered a bet to 悟空 that if he could escape from his palm, he would ask Jade Emperor to step down and crowned him in replace. The monkey accepted it with delight and considered it a piece of cake with his筋斗雲.

大聖 took a great leap and ran to the other end of the world in a blink of an eye. He saw five flesh-red pillars and took them as pillars to hold the sky, surmising that he’d been to the end of the heaven. To mark his trace, he wrote on one of the pillars “齊天大聖到此一遊” with a brush pen. He even peed on one of them as a mark.

The triumphant monkey went back to the Buddha and asked him to fulfill his promise. To his surprise, the Buddha showed him the evidence that he’d never left his palm. The five fingers then were turned into five mountains with the names of 金(jin) gold、木(mu4) wood、水(shui3)water、火(huo3) fire、土(tu3) earth respectively, together as 五行山(wu3 xing2 shan). The monkey, who considered himself equal to heaven, was oppressed and imprisoned under the mountains.

That’s why we always say, you can’t escape from the Buddha’s palm. 逃不出如來佛掌心(tao2 bu4 chi ru2 lai2 fo2 zhang3 xin), which has been part of our philosophy of life. Can you escape from the law of nature? The smug monkey thought he was insurmountable with the weapon and the jutsu. His 十萬八千里(shi2 wan4 ba qian li3) , a hundred and eight thousand li, after all has been proved to be within the palm of the Buddha.

Or, the Buddha’s palm could be that of a mean boss, a strict teacher, a tiger mom, a nagging wife, a violent husband . . . .

(TO BE CONTIUNED)

東海龍王=东海龙王

壽命=寿命

閻(羅)王=阎(罗)王

弼馬溫=弼马温

齊天大聖=齐天大圣

蟠桃園=蟠桃园

到此一遊=到此一游

如來佛=如来佛

觔斗雲=觔斗云

十萬八千里=十万八千里

好個孫猴子! (I) (Literary figure)

(from RoamAure flickr.com)

I recently read a review on the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, where the critic mentions how Mad-Eye Moody insists upon replicating Harry sevenfold so that the Death Eaters won’t know which the real one is when they come after him. Wow, did Rowling ever read Journey to the West 西遊記 (xi you2 ji4), a Chinese classical novel and get inspired?

In my previous writing豬八戒照鏡子in Feb, I talked a little bit about this novel. Aside from the pig豬八戒, the monkey 孫悟空(sun wu4 kong), is also a household name in the Chinese world. Of the three pupils accompanying the monk to the west, he ranks the first. We certainly have lots of daily expressions that are related to him.

One of his famed “kung-fu” is that he can replicate his own figure by pulling off his own hair, chewing them and spitting them out. Then he’s surrounded by hundreds, even thousands of “himself,” depending on how much hair he has pulled off. Each of this figure is called his分身(fen shen), clone, or incarnation, who is at his service. Imagine several of you working at the same time when you’re juggling around. How nice will it be?! Sometimes we’ll praise someone who just waltzes around finishing many things at the same time by saying that he’s 分身有術(fen shen you3 shu4). On the contrary, when you’re tied up, you can say you’ve been 分身乏術(fen shen fa2 shu4) to mean you can’t take more tasks or show up in two places at the same time.

In the past when people were more conservative, when kids asked the birds-and-bees questions, lots of Chinese parents would tell them, “You just popped out from a stone.” 從石頭裡蹦出來(zong2 shi2 tou2 li3 beng4 chu lai2). I think the parents were inspired by the way孫悟空was born.

In the beginning of the novel, the author introduced to us a very big rock on the top of a beautiful mountain long long ago, which absorbed the essence of the sun and the moon and would glimmer in the moonlight. One day, a thunderstorm hit and the rock was stricken by a thunder. It split open and a stone monkey emerged. The monkey just opened his eyes and became alive. Strong golden lights shot from his eyes that even Emperor of the Gods 玉皇大帝(yu4 huang2 da4 di4) in the heaven noticed it.

Originally the monkey lived happily as the chief of a community of monkeys. Like a lot of protagonists in the wuxia novels, he decided to get far away from home to a master to learn 法術(fa3 shu4), jutsu, supernatural abilities, after some bullies outside invaded to his territory. (But in wu-xia novels, it’s usually kungfu that the protagonists resort to.)

One of the monkey’s well-known jutsu is 七十二變(qi shi er4 bian), the seventy-two transformations, with which 悟空 has transformed into objects such as a bug, a tree, an old man etc. The jutsu has now often been used to refer to unpredictable tactics or strategies. Or sometimes it refers to a changeable situation such as a policy or a law.

In kungfu movies, you often see those kungfu fighters striding across the plain or above the water swiftly and lightly at an amazing speed, which is called 輕功, qinggong. What 悟空 does is to ride a “somersault cloud,” 觔斗雲(jin dou3 yun2), on which he travels a hundred and eight thousand li (里(li3), a unit of distance which equals about a third of a mile) with a somersault.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

好個孫猴子=好个孙猴子

西遊記=西游记

豬八戒照鏡子=猪八戒照镜子

孫悟空=孙悟空

分身乏術=分身乏术

從石頭裡蹦出來=从石头里蹦出来

七十二變=七十二变

輕功轻功

觔斗雲=觔斗云

潘金蓮, the bad bad woman (III) (Literary figure)

When Jin-lian met 西門慶 in front of her house, her next-door neighbor 王婆(wang2 po2), who ran a teahouse, witnessed everything. Being a widow who had to raise kids on her own, she wouldn’t give up any chance to gain benefit. Perceiving what was on these two’s mind through their flirting, she offered to help and solicited the two into having an affair. Not only did she spare her place for the two to date, but she incited Jin-lian to kill 武大郎 when the he discovered the adultery. In fact, She taught Jin-lian how to do it and joined in the act. She was the devil. Jin-lian would haven’t gone so far without her.

In 水滸傳, Jin-lian was cut open by武松after he came back from a business trip and found out what happened. After that, he also beheaded西門慶. The justice was done immediately. But in金瓶梅, jin-lian wasn’t brutally murdered by 武松 until much much later. Instead she married西門慶, entered his big family and led a well-off life for a while. Thus we get to have a colorful story.

Jin-lian ranked the fifth among 西門慶’s women. Compared with the other concubines, she was not outstanding in terms of her family background or wealth she possessed. It had never been easy for a woman to win the favor of the only man in the family and become his pet among the numerous concubines, let alone those outside of the family. For an ambitious and diplomatic woman like Jin-lian, maneuvers and tactics and back-stabbing 暗算(an4 suan4) were inevitable. Actually, they were inevitable for all the women, be it a concubine or a maid, or a geisha who tried to get into the family.

Beauty美色(mei3 se4) was never enough, for there were always prettier women out there. And sooner or later you got old and the man would get tired of your beauty. That was why those women had to do everything to please the man, sexually or non-sexually.

I remember there was a scene when Jin-lian and西門慶were in bed in a freezing cold winter night. When西門慶had to get up from the warm bedding, Jin-lian offered to be his urine bucket by allowing him to pee in her mouth, so that he didn’t have to suffer the cold air. 西門慶later told another concubine about this, without hesitation she offered to do the same. Imagine this, you guys living in post-women’s liberation days, have you started to regret not being born earlier?

Some people compare the women’s strife to the political condition in the end of Ming Dynasty. Different parties fought over each other, trying every means to win the emperor’s favor and grab power. I think it also makes sense to see this way. Politically or not, this novel successfully reveals human nature 人性(ren2 xing4), worldly life and wisdom 人情世故(ren2 qing2 shi4 gu4). Succeeding水滸傳, the novel is part of the major tradition and inspires the later authors to continue the tradition. For the Chinese people, it creates household names such as潘金蓮, 西門慶, 武大郎and武松, who are living in our mind and always a part of our language and life. (Perhaps later I’ll introduce Xiehouyu related to those names as a proof.)

As to Charlie Sheen, the modern version西門慶, honestly speaking, I’ve asked myself, what would I be like if I were a cash cow like him, who makes a million dollars for one episode of a sit-com? ( If the report I read was not exaggerating.) Will I still live such a “boring” life as I’m living? Will I be a philanthropist like Bill Gates, or a Charlie Sheen? Or somewhere in between? Or both, with Bill Gates during the day, and Charlie Sheen at night? – I’ll never get to know. But, what is it that makes the difference?

By the way, we call a cash cow 搖錢樹(yao2 qian2 shu4), a tree where you get money only by shaking it.

(THE END)

搖錢樹=摇钱树

潘金蓮, the bad bad woman (II) (Literary figure)

Though “borrowed” from水滸傳, 潘金蓮’s story has some variations in金瓶梅. She was named金蓮 because of her well-bound feet. In ancient China’s foot binding 纏足(chan2 zu2) custom, beautifully bound feet were called 三寸金蓮 (san cun4 jin lian2), literally meaning three-inch golden lotus. Pan’s bound feet told us that she was not from a poor family. If so, she wouldn’t have had bound feet, which was a privilege to women from well-off families, who didn’t have to labor themselves.

Unfortunately Jin-lian’s dad passed away young. To make both ends meet, Jin-lian’s mom sold her to an official’s as a 樂妓 (yue4 ji4), which was something like Japanese geisha. They were taught to read and write and given musical training, so they could perform on social occasions when government officials or scholars got together drinking and feasting. 

According to the novel, Pan was not only attractive but smart and quit-witted. (Of course she was. How could a woman be “bad” if she’s not attractive or not smart?) She tried hard to excel in her line of business. But she seemed to have been doomed when her boss died as she was 15. She was sold again to a family surnamed Chang as a maid 婢女(bi4 nu3) or 丫環(ya huan3).

It was hard for such a young and attractive maid not to be paid attention by her lord Chang, the 老爺(lao3 yie2). It was nothing uncommon for a老爺 to deflower those maids that attracted him. And through this move the maids would be “promoted” to somewhere between the concubines and maids.

But Jin-lian was too charming for the wife not to be jealous of her. Jin-lian’s lord, who was in his 60s, showed some symptoms of an old man, such as backache and dripping urine from the enlarged prostate gland. The wife accused Jin-lian of causing her husband’s ail. The lord had no other choice but married Jin-lian off to 武大郎, who was short and ugly and sold steamed cakes for a living.

Not only did Chang marry Jin-lian to武大郎for free, but he gave money to this cowardly man as a sponsor for his business, so he could maintain a relationship with Jin-lian without any barriers. When武大郎 knew about what was going on with his wife and Chang, he chose to keep his mouth shut and continued to accept Chang’s sponsor.

So you can imagine how Jin-lian felt when she and武大郎were expelled out of Chang’s when Lord Chang passed away. The only support the in-her-20s Jin-lian had got was武大郎, a short and ugly and cowardly husband.

Had she been a mediocre woman without so much ambition, who was willing to come to terms with her fate and accepted it as it was, (認命)(ren 4 ming4) we would be surprised to see what happened later in her life.

But before she got forced out of Chang’s, she really didn’t have much choice in her life. She was sold around like merchandise. She was forced to marry a man she had despised. Though arranged marriages were commonly practiced back then, she would at least have a chance to marry someone who was a match, as what we call 門當戶對(men2 dang hu4 dui4) had her father hadn’t died so early.

With that in mind, it seemed natural for Jin-lian to have seduced her brother-in-law, who, unlike武大郎, was tall and masculine and a tiger-killing hero. And when she seemed to “hit it off” with a good-looking well-off young man like西門慶and did all she could to please him, she was trying to find her way out of this seemingly miserable life from an “aspiring” woman’s perspective.

(TO BE CONTINUED)

纏足=缠足

樂妓=乐妓

丫環=丫环

老爺=老爷

認命=认命

門當戶對=门当户对

潘金蓮, the bad bad woman (I) (Literary figure)

Abundant news about Charlie Sheen are widely spreading on the paper and the radio. I don’t know why, but the news of this “bad man” just keeps reminding me of 潘金蓮(pan jin lian2), the “bad bad woman” in Chinese literature.

潘金蓮made her debut emergence in the Classical novel 水滸傳(shui3 hu3 zhuan4), Water Margin. To realize her more, you have to go to another classical novel, 金瓶梅 (Jing ping2 Mei2), which was labeled as an obscene porn 淫書(yin2 shu) and forbidden. (A forbidden book is called 禁書jin4 shu) The title of the novel is generally considered a combination of three women’s names, 潘金蓮、 李瓶兒(li3 ping2 er2) and 春梅(chun mei2), three of the many concubines of the protagonist’s,  西門慶(xi men2 ching4)

The brick-thick novel is about the life of the protagonist 主角(zhu3 jiao3)and his big family; how he had achieved success, made a big fortune and died young in the “bad woman” Pan’s bed; how his wife 妻(qi) and concubines 妾(qie4) had maneuvered and fought against each other to get his favor, as well as the power to control the whole family.

My friend Spenser told me something interesting about this novel. He said that the author 蘭陵笑笑生(Lan2 ling2 Xiao4 xiao4 Sheng) wrote the book to revenge for his father, who had been killed by a corruptive official. He wrote those pornographic stuff that was rarely seen back then and presented it to this feud. As he had expected, the official was lured by this 淫書and absorbed himself in it. The enemy was poisoned to death by the arsenic that had been applied all over the pages of the book.

I’d never heard of such a story before. If it is true, I think that’s quite a smart way to get even. At a time when you couldn’t count on the judiciary (the official himself WAS the judiciary!), you were totally on your own. Such a story sounds so much like one from a Kung-fu novel, with feuds, revenge, poisons. . . etc. These days, all we can do to our “enemy,” I guess, is sent him an email with bugs in it to crash his computer. (And pray that all his “vital” info is in it!)

In Chinese literature, 潘金蓮 is typical of a promiscuous devil woman. (We use the adjective 水性楊花(shui3 xiang4 yang2 hwa) to refer to a promiscuous woman.) She is水性楊花 because she not only seduced her brother-in-law 武松(wu3 song), the famous tiger-killer hero, but also committed adultery with several men, such as西門慶, who later became her husband, and her son-in-law 陳經濟 (chen2 jing ji4). She is devil because she not only murdered her husband 武大郎(wu3 da4 lang2), 武松‘s brother, to marry西門慶, but led to 西門慶’s death by luring him to take too much aphrodisiac 春藥(chun yao4).

(TO BE CONTINUED)

西門慶=西门庆

潘金蓮=潘金莲

水滸傳=水浒传

淫書=淫书

禁書=禁书

李瓶兒=李瓶儿

蘭陵笑笑生=兰陵笑笑生

水性楊花=水性杨花

春藥=春药