Faithful to Buddha, Faithful to You — Chapter 63

T/N: Any notes at the end of relevant paragraphs that are indicated with an asterisk * are usually my own translation notes, unless I say otherwise in square brackets [  ], and whatever’s written in square brackets are words I added on for clearer meaning.

As always, a million thanks to my friend, vvatson, for being my beta reader. Any remaining typos or errors are all mine, so feel free to point out any glaring ones you see.

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Chapter 63: Hexi Corridor of a Thousand Years

We get stopped at the walls of Yumen Pass. Rajiva and I, along with the thousands of craftmasters from Kucha, are at the rear end of the caravan so aside from me, nobody else knows what is happening. That same day, we are ordered to set camp outside of the walls of Yumen Pass—this [living situation] would last for more than ten days.

The Fu Jian-appointed Governor of Liang Province, Liang Xi, refuses to let Lü Guang enter Yumen Pass. He reproaches Lü Guang¹ for not following [Fu Jian’s] order by leading his troops to return without permission. Actually, Lü Guang is returning on Fu Jian’s edict, but Liang Xi most likely wants to take advantage of Fu Jian’s current crisis to stand on his own and set up an independent regime, so he finds this unreasonable charge to use against Lü Guang. Liang Xi sends his son, Liang Yin, and his general, Yao Hao, along with 50,000 troops to stop Lü Guang.
¹ [T/N: I have been writing his name incorrectly as “Lu Guang” without the umlaut previously and just came to realization today OTL. The correct spelling of his name in pinyin is “Lü Guang” or “Lv Guang” if one cannot type umlaut. I will have to go back and edit the previous chapters…]

“What will happen?”

We are hugging each other in our tent and talking in whispers; my head is lying on his arm, extremely comfortable.

“Although Lü Guang is not a good person, he is nevertheless adept at fighting battles, not to mention that he also has the formidable Du Jin, who knows how to judge the hour and size up the situation¹.” I burrow deeper into his arms and sniff his unique sandalwood scent with satisfaction, “Liang Xi is soft-mannered but not very quick-witted, is not good at utilizing troops, and does not obey the correct flow². Du Jin will advise Lü Guang to meet the enemy head-on without delay, taking advantage of their internal conflict, and attack when they are not prepared³. Du Jin will even go so far as to offer the back of his neck on the line as a guarantee.”
¹ 审时度势 (shěn​ shí ​duó​ shì): chengyu, to describe taking stock of a situation and act accordingly.
² 从善如流 (cóng​ shàn ​rú​ liú): chengyu, meaning to follow good advice.
³ 攻其不备 (gōng​qí​bù​bèi): from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. The full line is 攻其无备，出其不意 / “attack when he is not prepared, appear where he does not expect.”

We are in the rear, yet we can still hear the sound of fighting from the front. As expected, within the day, report of Du Jin’s victory arrives. A few days later, unwilling to give up, Liang Yin comes to fight again and gets utterly defeated¹ by Du Jin. Liang Yin then leads hundreds of cavalry eastward to escape, but gets chased after by Du Jin and captured alive. Du Jin’s calm and collected commanding during that ravine incident plus his two victories over Liang Yin—with such great credit, his good name gets spread everywhere in the army. Ai, my heart is saddened. Du Jin is actually more intelligent than Lü Guang, but him possessing more merit than his master² leads to Lü Guang being jealous of him and causing him to lose his life within a few years [from now].
¹ 落花流水 (luò​ huā​ liú ​shuǐ): chengyu, lit. “falling flower, flowing water”, originally was an expression to describe the scenery of late spring, and later used as a metaphor to describe the state of unruly and dishevelled appearance of someone after being defeated.
² 功高震主(gōng gāo zhèn zhǔ): chengyu, describing someone whose merits are too high that it threatens the monarch/higher authority’s status.

With Rajiva’s character, it is impossible to stay behind in one place. So these days, we are both very busy. Rajiva would recite sutras for the soldiers who died in battle and heal the wounded. I become his assistant. My scant knowledge about modern hygiene practices plays a role. At the very least, it helps reduce the chance of infection spreading in this hot summer.

“One day, Buddha Shakyamuni [the Buddha] led his disciples on a trip. Suddenly, they saw a pile of dry bones on the roadside. The Buddha bowed respectfully towards those bones. His disciple, Ananda, was puzzled. The Buddha said: ‘This pile of dry bones could have belonged to my ancestors or my parents from former lives. That is the reason I now bow to them. Ananda, divide these bones into two groups. If they are the bones of men, they are heavy and white in colour. If they are the bones of women, they are light in weight and dark in colour.’”^1
1 [T/N: This is of course scientifically untrue, but this sutra was written thousands of years ago so…]

There are forty to fifty soldiers squeezed in our tent. There is no space to sit, so they can only stand and listen to Rajiva’s recital. Rajiva originally wanted to use the sutras to comfort the wounded, but the news spread quickly and within a few days, many soldiers keep begging Rajiva to recite sutras. In the end, it has become a common occurrence where every evening, they would come to our tent to listen to Rajiva lecture for half an hour.

Rajiva is talented in using stories to explain Buddhist philosophical ideas. After the ravine tragedy, his reputation in the army has suddenly risen, and the soldiers now revere him as if he is a deity. His followers in the army quickly amass.

I put a cup of water in front of him. The tent is packed full of people and there is no air circulation, so it is very stuffy. But the soldiers are still enraptured; none of them wants to leave. Rajiva’s face is covered with sweat. He uses a hand to wipe the sweat and continues:

“The Venerable Ananda asked: ‘After death, the bones of men and women are the same in appearance. How does one tell them apart?’ The Buddha said: ‘When men are alive, they enter temples, listen to the teachings of sutras and precepts, and thus their bones are heavy and white. In contrast, women are saturated with emotions. They give birth to and raise children, feeling that this is their natural duty. Every child that is born relies on their mother’s milk for life and nourishment, and that milk is a transformation of the mother’s blood. Each child drinks eight hu¹ and four dou¹ of the mother’s milk. Because of this, the mother becomes haggard and worn, and her bones turn darker in colour and lighter in weight.”
¹ 斛 (hú) and 斗 (dòu) are ancient volume measurement units. Before the Tang Dynasty, 1 斛 = 10 斗 (after, it was 5 斗). 1 dou is equal to about 10 litres today, so 8 hu and 4 dou are roughly 840 litres (or 220 US gallons).     

Already, someone is sobbing and wailing: “Today, I learned how heavy a mother’s love¹ is.”
¹ 恩 (ēn): this is a complex word and there is no English equivalent. Depending on context, it can mean ‘favour / grace / kindness/ benevolence’. However, ‘love’ is more fitting in this context about mothers and filial piety. 

Rajiva looks at the soldiers around him with compassion and slowly says:

“Far more than suckling, there are ten great acts of kindness [恩 (ēn)] by a mother: The first is the kindness of protection and care during pregnancy. The second is the kindness of enduring the pain of childbirth. The third is the kindness of forgetting said pain after the child is born. The fourth is the kindness of swallowing the bitter and saving the sweet for the child. The fifth is the kindness of keeping the child dry while lying in the wet herself. The sixth is the kindness of suckling and raising the child. The seventh is the kindness of washing away the filth from the child. The eighth is the kindness of worrying when the child travels far. The ninth is the kindness of deep affection and care. The tenth is the kindness of unending love and devotion.”

“But how do sentient beings repay their parents for their kindness?” He pauses, shakes his head and sighs softly, “There are widowed mothers and lone fathers, all alone in empty halls, treated like guests by their children. Some care only for their wives and concubines and neglect their parents. Some leave their parents to travel far and do not send any news, making their parents feel uneasy and worried. Is there such a person amongst everyone here?”

Some are covering their faces as they weep; some are beating their chests and feet; and some are shouting: “We are all sinners! I have never understood the kindness of our parents, and today I learned the crime of unfilial piety. I can only hope that the Master is merciful and will teach us how to repay our parents’ kindness.”

Rajiva nods at me. I give him the sutra that we have prepared beforehand.

“What Rajiva taught today was the Sutra as Spoken by the Buddha on the Profound Kindness of Parents and the Difficulty in Repaying Them¹. Rajiva has just completed translating this sutra yesterday, so there is only one copy. If you want to repay their kindness, you can copy this sutra and recite it on their behalf, and repent offences. For the sake of your parents, make offerings to the Three Jewels². For the sake of your parents, observe the precepts and fast, and practice giving and cultivate good deeds. Even though you all are far from home, from your parents, but your filial mind is unchanged, so you are still filial children.”
¹ also commonly known as the Sutra of Filial Piety. This sutra holds similar ideals as the Confucian Classic of Filial Piety. Translation of the above passages that Rajiva quoted (up to the description of the ten kindnesses) was done by consulting the translation by Bao Liu Chan Monastery. This translation provides Chinese text side-by-side, and given how closely said text mirrors what is written here in the novel, it is most likely that their English translation is based on Kumarajiva’s translation.

² The Three Jewels of Buddhism are: the Buddha, the Dharma (the Buddha’s teachings), and the sangha (the monastic order). 

The past few days, he had been discussing with me on what sutra to teach. Most of the soldiers are illiterate, so it is more sensible to teach a simple sutra that is easy to understand. Therefore, he thought of this sutra on filial piety and spent several nights translating it. Although this sutra is short, he was still very meticulous and scrutinized it with me word for word. After the translation was complete, I was extremely happy. This is the great translator Kumarajiva’s first work. The words are elegant but still easy to read and understand. The Buddhist gatha flow right off the tongue and have a sense of musical rhythm. Already, you can see a glimpse of the translation style that he will develop during the coming Chang’an days.

“Master, please give this sutra to me first. I once attended private schooling for some years, so I know a few letters. I will return the sutra to you once I have copied it.” It was Captain Cheng Xiong. He is in his thirties and although he is a stout and burly man, he loves to read and is very pious, and loves to ask Rajiva about Buddhist philosophy.

Rajiva nods and gives Cheng Xiong the result of our hard work the past several nights. He receives it with reverence and is immediately surrounded by people, asking him to make more copies. That is the end of today’s lecture.

After everyone has left, Rajiva and I smile at each other. I take a damp cloth and wipe the sweat on his face.

He takes my hand and sighs softly, “I wonder if my father and mother are safe in the sky…”

Thinking about my in-laws, Kumarayana and Jiva, vivid memories of them appear in front of me.

I also sigh and take his hand, “They did good deeds all their lives and devoted themselves to Buddha. Buddha is merciful, so he will definitely allow them to be together. I believe that they are watching from above and giving us blessings.”

He looks back at me and nods in agreement. Feeling comforted, he smiles brightly.

Someone suddenly barges into our tent while we are still facing each other. We immediately separate. It turns out to be Cheng Xiong. We do not know why he has returned.

Cheng Xiong suddenly kneels down and kowtows:

“Master, having been taught by the Master these past days, Cheng Xiong wishes to serve Buddha and asks that Master accept me as a disciple. Please shave my hair.”

Rajiva shakes his head: “You have a wife and a son, and your parents still live in your home, so it is not appropriate for you to leave home¹.”
¹ 出家 (chū​jiā): lit. ‘leave home’, meaning to leave home to become a monk/nun.

He shuffles to Rajiva’s feet while still kneeling and begs earnestly: “Master, this disciple is truly devout and willing to abandon his wife and family, only seeking to become a Buddha.”

“Abandoning one’s wife and son is not the way to become a Buddha. Being a son, a husband, and a father are all important duties bestowed by heaven. How can you be so unprincipled and unfilial?” Rajiva frowns, “It is good that your heart has Buddha, but you do not have to leave home to become a Buddha. You can practice at home.”

Cheng Xiong is confused and refuses to get up: “How one can practice at home? Master, please guide the way.”

Rajiva helps him up and solemnly asks: “The five precepts for laymen are: no killing, no stealing, no sexual misconduct, no lying, and no drinking. Can you observe these five precepts, do good deeds, and cultivate your character?”

“This…” he hesitates, looks up at Rajiva, eyes full of regret, “This disciple’s hands are bloodied with dozens of lives, and killing is my vocation, so this disciple is aware of how serious the crimes he has committed are. From now on, this disciple will definitely follow teacher’s orders, observe the five precepts, give more, and do many good deeds every day, hoping to achieve [self-] liberation one day.”

“Having the Buddha in your heart, that is the foundation,” Rajiva nods, “I will bestow these precepts onto you and allow you to become a lay practitioner.”

After receiving the precepts, Cheng Xiong leaves happily. This is the first lay practitioner that Rajiva has ordained in the army.

When there are only the two of us left, I ask Rajiva: “He is a soldier. It is not probable for him to not kill. If one breaks a precept, the crime of breaking a precept is more severe than him not being a lay practitioner.”

Rajiva nods and sighs, “If he has the heart to keep the precepts and does not take the life of his enemy, it will be the greatest merit.”

Sure enough, Cheng Xiong makes several copies of the Sutra as Spoken by the Buddha on the Profound Kindness of Parents and the Difficulty in Repaying Them, and after that, this sutra quickly circulates in the army. Many people would come to Rajiva for explanations about the sutra or ask me about words they do not know. Because of the simple but profound meaning of the sutra, filial piety and virtue resurge in the army.

The summer of 385 CE is extremely hot, and there is no rain for a couple months straight. That August, when we thought we could no longer breathe in the heat, Lü Guang’s army has completely wiped out Liang Xi’s main force and entered Yumen Pass.

王之渙《凉州詞》/ 《出塞》
黃河遠上白雲間
一片孤城萬仞山
羌笛何須怨楊柳
春風不度玉門關

Song of Liangzhou / Frontier Pass by Wang Zhihuan (688 – 742)
The Yellow River stretching far into the white clouds,
a single solitary city
silhouetted against thousands of mountains.
Why should a Qiang flute<
play that heartrending melody
of Parting Beneath the Willows?
Oh, the spring wind has never crossed the Yumen Pass.
[English translation by Qiu Xiaolong]

Standing tall amongst the mountains, this cold and desolate pass was named after the Khotan jade that passed by here to enter the Central Plains. In ancient times, the concept of borders was not as clear as in modern times. Yumen Pass was merely known as the boundary that separates the Western Regions from the Central Plains. To enter through Yumen Pass is to set foot on the Central Plains.

王維《送元二使安西》
渭城朝雨浥輕塵<
客舍青青柳色新

勸君更盡一杯酒
西出陽關無故人

Seeing off Yuan’er on a Mission to Anxi by Wang Wei (701-761)
Morning rain dampens the dust in Weicheng
New willow catkins turn an inn green
Drink one more cup of wine my friend
West of Yang Pass there’s no one you know<
[English translation by Red Pine – Bill Porter (Red Pine is his penname)]
[T/N: Both of the poems quoted above were from Tang Dynasty]

Before entering the most prosperous city on the westernmost side, Dunhuang, one must go through Yang Pass. Emperor Wu of Han had “arranged into four counties, in accordance with the two passes” along the Hexi Corridor. The four counties were Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, and Dunhuang; and the two passes were Yumen Pass and Yang Pass. The aforementioned counties are also the four most important cities in the Hexi Corridor. Those four cities continue to exist in the 21^st century and even their names have not changed for more than two thousand years.

However, these two important strategic passes—Yumen Pass and Yang Pass—were no longer Song’s territory by the time of the Song Dynasty. Together with the decline of the Silk Road, these two passes were gradually abandoned and eventually became buried in the sand. By the 21^st century, there are only ruins of a few fire beacon towers left, standing lonesome in the vast Gobi Desert, so the later generations can only weep as they read the Tang poems about the frontier and pay homage to those prosperous and glorious years once past.

I step foot into Dunhuang with a heart close to worshipping, for this is a sacred place that everyone in the 21^st century wants to visit. ‘Dun’, meaning ‘big’, and ‘Huang’, meaning ‘prosperous’. To the people in modern times, the significance of Dunhuang is in the splendidness of its thousands of grottoes, is the great shame of losing the cave of manuscripts [aka Library Cave] to the plunder of Marc Aurel Stein and others; and the grief and anger when reading《道士塔》[Daoist Tower] by Yu Qiuyu¹.
¹ Yu Qiuyu (1946 – ) is a famous Chinese writer and scholar who wrote a series of “cultural essays” after travelling all across China, visiting all the important cultural sites. In this essay, he lamented about loss of the manuscripts found in the Library Cave, particularly about Wang Yuanlu (a Daoist)’s sale of them to Marc Aurel Stein.

My eyes are flashing as I describe the exquisite murals found in the Magao Caves to Rajiva. These grottoes were built during the Tang Dynasty, so I cannot see them right now. This is the greatest regret I have in this trip along the Silk Road. I flail my arms and legs around in the narrow carriage, while my husband just smiles as he listens to my stories, occasionally reaching out to help steady me. In a moment of giddiness, I sing the main theme song of《大敦煌》The Great Dunhuang (2005-2006). When I was watching this drama, I was mesmerized by this moving and tragic song.
[T/N: the lyrics of the titular song, 《大敦煌》by 刀郎 Dao Lang are then quoted, but I cannot find a Chinese-English translation and do not want to attempt to translate from the Vietnamese translation. So unfortunately, I will have to leave it unquoted. However, you can listen to the song here.]

In the era that I am in, in about ten years from now, there will be a major historical event at Dunhuang. In the year 400 CE, Li Hao (a Han) will crown himself here in Dunhuang and establish Western Liang. This will be the first time that Dunhuang becomes a capital of a state. Li Hao will devote himself to repairing the internal affairs, reduce compulsory service, hold Confucianism in high esteem, and promote education. That is why, in the ten plus years or so of his life, Li Hao has turned the chaotic Liangzhou into a relatively stable region, and more and more Han people will flock here to take refuge. Dunhuang’s culture will then flourish and become the top of Liangzhou for a long time. Western Liang existed for over twenty years, and then was destroyed by Northern Liang state of Juqu Mengxun, a Xiongnu.

At the end of August, we arrive at Jiuquan and stay here for eight days. One of the happiest events that happened to Lü Guang is his rival, Liang Xi, gets captured. Liang Xi fled to Guzang but was captured by Wuwei prefect, Peng Ji, who then surrendered him to Lu Guang. Lu Guang kills Liang Xi and his son in Jiuquan. We then enter September, but it is still hot, and there is no sign of autumn anywhere. In this hot and sweaty weather, we enter Guzang – the final destination in this eastward trip, and also the most important city in Liangzhou.

Guzang is a county in Liangzhou and also an important military post in Hexi Corridor. Guzang was originally built by the Xiongnu but later became a place where many ethnicities live together: the Han, the Qiang, and the Xiongnu. There are more than two hundred people in the city. During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, Guzang was considered a big city. Outside of the city is the snowy Qilian Mountain; the grass is green and the land is fertile. It is also the junction between the farming area and the nomadic area. Former Liang of the Zhang family has explored and developed this land for over sixty years. Because the Zhang is of Han ethnicity, so when war broke out in the Central Plains, many talented Han and big families would come to Liangzhou to take refuge. Guzang therefore became a place of gathering where humanities and economy flourish, of which Han culture dominated.

When the carriage rolls into the city, I pull the curtains aside to watch. The first king of Former Liang – Zhang Gui, was credited with expanding Guzang by building four satellite cities to surround the original city. Thanks to that, Guzang’s size is much larger than many other kingdoms in the Western Regions. The familiar Han architecture is unfolding before my eyes. It has been a long while since I have seen the traditional Han hip-and-gable roofs. There are many stalls set up on both sides of the road, and in the centre of the city are a drum tower and a bell tower, which is a typical Han city layout.

Even though the Zhang family in the later period will be the same as other Sixteen Kingdoms, filled with internal fights, yet when compared to Later Zhou of Shi Le and Shi Hu, the Former Liang of the Zhang was still much better. So when Liangzhou fell into Lü Guang’s hands, this land has not suffered much damage, allowing him to quickly establish his regime. From that, one can discern that one of the biggest factors that helped Lü Guang become a monarch during the Sixteen Kingdoms period is luck.

In the year 401 CE, Later Liang of the Lü family will surrender to Later Qin. Two years later, Tufa Rutan of Southern Liang will settle in Guzang. Soon after, Juqu Mengxun of Nothern Liang will attack Guzang and make it the capital until it is destroyed by Northern Wei in the year 439. Northern Wei will receive the two hundred thousand residents of Guzang and rename the city to Wuwei.

An arm wraps around my shoulder. I turn around and see that he is also looking at outside. His eyes seem far away, lost in thoughts. I hold his hand. This is where we will live for the next seventeen years. In the 21^st century, there is no trace of Lü Guang left in this city. It is also at this place, 1,650 years later, where a temple named Kumarajiva will be built to commemorate his seventeen years of obscurity.