Approaches to "self-cultivation" in Two Chinese Fiction Texts

Approaches to "self-cultivation" in
Two Chinese Fiction Texts:
"Journey to the West"
and "Plum in the Golden Vase"

by Sean Hillman
East Asian Studies Department
University of Toronto
July 2008

In keeping with the ongoing existence of a spiritual demographic found in Chinese culture in general, both "Journey to the West" and "Plum in the Golden Vase" feature characters who are engaged in personal development. From amongst the traditions and methods found in modern and earlier periods in Chinese history, and therefore those reflected in the fiction written at these times, it is the practice of Buddhism that can be found in both of these texts. In both stories we find those who are practicing Buddhists, or if not actively practicing in the truest sense there are at least those who use Buddhist methods such as developing a relationship with or devotion towards Buddhist cosmological figures such as a Buddha or Bodhisattva and making offerings to such beings. In both works we find Buddhist monastics, or those who have committed themselves to a life of cultivating virtue, wisdom and compassion. It might be a bit of a misnomer to say that such Buddhist, or even the Buddhistic, characters are engaged in "self-cultivation" as a way of describing the act of treading the path or using Buddhist techniques to transform themselves. This is because, simply, from the Buddhist perspective there is a refutation of the existence of a "self" as an independent and isolated entity. Although conventionally existent, this self which is referred to as a mere nominal designation has no inherent existence from its own side. In other words, because this so-called self relies on causes, is comprised of parts and is imputed by mind, it is independently originated and is thus empty of ultimate existence. Because of this position, Buddhism is often said to hold to a doctrine of "no-self," or a "no-soul" theory known as "Anatman" in Sanskrit. The word "self" is only used for convenience to point to an individual, but it mainly appears in the Indian scriptures (from which all other Buddhist texts originate) as the object of negation in the process of discovering reality. Although found in some Zen Buddhist texts, at least in translation, it seems that the term "self-cultivation" comes from the Taoist tradition and has crept into Chinese vernacular to refer to any process of inner development. For this reason, we will replace this term and refer instead to inner development, or mind training, when discussing the methods used by various characters in the texts in question to gain mastery over the mind to further their evolution towards Buddhahood. In particular we will look at the similarities and differences in how the particular methods of inner development found in Buddhism, and the practitioners of such, are presented in these fictional texts. Although both "Journey to the West" and "Plum in the Golden Vase" present Buddhist characters to the reader, and both point out various personal flaws of such practitioners, for the most part the former has a tone of reverence towards the Buddhadharma whereas the latter is not only irreverent but engages in unabashed belittling of members of the clerical order. The difference in attitude towards Buddhism is particularly evident in how monastics are portrayed in these works. The way they manifest in these fictional accounts are vastly different, and the way that non-monastics view them is also quite dissimilar. Additionally, "Journey to the West" is painted within a broad Buddhist cosmological context which includes other realms and other beings (both benevolent and malevolent) beyond that of the mundane human world, whereas "Plum in the Golden Vase" is completely bereft of such a scope. This further separates the texts in terms of their approach to personal development. On one side of the spectrum we have a colorful and multi-layered universe which leaves ample room for the display of karmic actions and their consequences, the accordance with which being the most crucial component in mental training for the Buddhist, and on the other side we have a rather bleak and narrow world of hedonism, petty scheming and all-out fighting. Despite the various attempts to suppress the dissemination of "Plum in the Golden Vase," that such divergence exists within the body of Chinese fictional work is a testament to literary freedom.

Monastics in "Journey to the West" often demonstrate atypical and admirable deportment. An excellent example of this is Sun Wu-Kung's refusal to accept money or lavish material from the Queen of Western Liang. Pilgrim's behavior is absolutely in accordance with the monastic ethical Code of Conduct Basket (Skt: Vinaya) of Buddhist scriptures (one of the three from amongst the Tripitaka, Sanskrit for 'Triple Basket', which is the collection of scriptures to which the our protagonist monk's name refers and which includes Dissertations or Sutra, Metaphysics or Abhidharma, and Ethics or Vinaya) in which monks are indeed prohibited from even touching precious substances such as gold and silver, and from even touching extravagant clothing, let alone wearing it. Another example of praiseworthy behavior is Venerable Tripitaka's refusal to break his celibacy vow with the scorpion demon, and all of his inner resources upon which he relies on to prevent this from happening, despite the monster-spirit's relentless attempts at seduction. In addition, the pilgrims often use the ideal of the tamed monastic as a way of tempering their own behavior. Many times the pilgrims talk about the importance of protecting life, and practice such with vegetarianism and in the case of sparing the life of the Taoist who guarded the abortion-water well. Conversely, the monastics in "Plum in the Golden Vase" display extremely bad behavior. At the ritual in honor of Wu the Elder, P'an Chin-lien's entrance causes the monk's minds to become so distracted that they lose control of their senses and are unable to perform the ritual properly. The eavesdropping monk, lingering while washing his hands so that he can hear the sounds of a couple's ecstasy, is breaking the vow to not listen to female voices. How much more so one moaning with pleasure! This is a lesser vow to guard the celibacy vow, the breaking of which is one of the symptoms of having "cracked celibacy."

There is also great disparity in how the "Journey to the West" and "Plum in the Golden Vase" present the view of householders towards monastics. In "Journey to the West" there are many occasions where laypeople show veneration to monastics. One of the many examples of this is the fact that Lady Yin is able to fool her captor by saying that her reason for going to the temple is to offer shoes to the monks. He believes her because this is an indisputably common practice by Buddhist householders. In "Plum in the Golden Vase" the very institution of Buddhist monasticism is scathingly deprecated by the text itself, as well as by householders. Associating the order with demonism, referring to clergy as sex-starved hungry ghosts, and the presentation of a formula that the tonsured are necessarily vicious and vice versa, all put monasticism in a terrible light. Aunt Yang even suggests that some of them have sex. As one who spent more than one-third of my life as a Buddhist monastic, it is somewhat disturbing to hear such despicable language directed at mendicants, even though I know that the criticism of members of the order holds some water. There are virtuous monks, there are those who have intact vows but a degenerate mind, and those who merely wear the costume because the vows have no root in their mind (either from never having a basis for taking root, or having been severed by breaking one of the major vows). Putting aside the censure garnered by the text due to its explicit sexuality, this text would be rejected by many devout Buddhists. I am not in favor of white-washing the existence of degeneracy within religion out of piety, and so perhaps it can be said that a practitioner who has accepted that there is degeneracy within their own tradition and within their own mind would see this text as telling the hard truth, and being a cautionary tale of the downfalls of practicing religion outwardly while neglecting inner development.

This is not to say that monastics do not have their foibles exposed in "Journey to the West." Tripitaka's classmates hurtful teasing regarding his ignorance of his heritage shows the temple monks to be very mean-spirited. The text also shows monastics acting in opposition to their vows but, within the limitations of the author's Buddhist purview, such actions are often not explicitly highlighted as a breach of conduct and may go unnoticed by the reader. When the bandits who killed Tripitaka's father and kidnapped his mother are brought to justice, the monk himself is both a key player in bringing this to fruition, by giving the letter exposing the travesty to his grandfather the chief minister, and takes part in the carrying out of their sentence of disembowelment by the river. Although not directly causing their death by exposing them to the authorities, even merely being an indirect cause of someone's death is a gross breach of conduct for a monk. When comparing translations of the live disembowelment of Liu Hung, there is discrepancy as to the level of participation of Tripitaka in the carrying out of this act. In Yu's translation the monk takes part in offering the bandit's organs, and perhaps in the disembowelment itself, but this is unclear. In Waley's translation he is merely present for the event. In the former, Tripitaka would be karmically accountable for the murder, and would no longer be a monk as the vows would have been severed from his mindstream by the act of killing. In the latter, it would still be unbecoming of a monk to witness such an event, and reprehensible to not prevent it from occurring. From the outset, when Tripitaka learns the truth, his enmity and drive for vengeance for the harms done to his family may seem natural in a worldly context, but are totally in opposition to Buddhist training.

Interestingly, with the adoring Buddhist tones in "Journey to the West" comes also a certain naiveté that perhaps exposes the author's lack of understanding of Indian Buddhism and the non-Buddhist elements that, over time, have been assimilated into the Chinese practice of Buddhism. Tripitaka praying to heaven is one example of this, as the heaven and earth dichotomy of mundane and supramundane planes of existence does not exist in Indian Buddhism. Another example is the Immortal Subhuti being described as "compassionate" and yet not caring about the harm that Monkey could do with the power he enabled him with, which are clearly mutually exclusive states of mind. Additionally, the many references to the anthropomorphic animals who accompany the monk Tripitaka on his journey as 'monks', although part of the fantasy aspect of the book, is inconsistent with the fact that only human beings can be ordained Buddhist monastics. Similarly, "Plum in the Golden Vase" displays some misunderstanding of Buddhist practice. When the monks lose their cool during the ritual for P'an Chin-lien's husband, the text poetically states that "all the merit of their former austerities comes to nothing in a moment." There is indeed a Buddhist scriptural precedent for anger destroying accumulated merit. The great Indian scholar-saint Shantideva states that merit "amassed over a thousand aeons will all be destroyed in one moment of anger." Even though the cause seems incommensurate with the effect, there is no such statement about attachment or lust destroying merit in such a way. Although anger and attachment are both considered to be poisonous states of mind, attachment is seen as being more entrenched whereas anger is held to be much more destructive. If in this poem the meaning is that despite all of the monks' former abstention from negative acts of body, speech and mind they still were unable to maintain their composure, this would be acceptable.

The vastly different worlds in "Journey to the West" and "Plum in the Golden Vase" shows a transition from a very strong system of values, as seen by the virtues admired by the players in "Journey to the West," to a complete abandonment of such with the brooding, spiteful characters in "Plum in the Golden Vase." If a text such as the "Dream of the Red Chamber," which returns to incorporating elements of both the supernatural and Buddhist, is any indication of the attitude of society at large, the shift between the three texts could be an indication of a middle period of neutrality, openness and disillusionment between two intervals of Chinese society at large relying more heavily on the supernatural in general, and religion in particular.