Chinese Literature

"Within our impure mind the pure one is to be found."

"To illumine our gloomy tabernacle, which is stained by defilement, We should constantly set up the Light of Wisdom. Erroneous views keep us in defilement While right views remove us from it, But when we are in a position to discard both of them We are then absolutely pure."

"A foolish passing thought makes one an ordinary man, while an enlightened second thought makes one a Buddha."

"What the ignorant merely talk about, wise men put into actual practice with their mind."

"Our very nature is Buddha, and apart from this nature there is no other Buddha."

"You should know that so far as Buddha-nature is concerned, there is no difference between an enlightened man and an ignorant one. What makes the difference is that one realizes it, while the other is ignorant of it."

"The wisdom of enlightenment is inherent in every one of us. It is because of the delusion under which our mind works that we fail to realize it ourselves, and that we have to seek the advice and the guidance of enlightened ones before we can know our own Essence of Mind."

"As to the Dharma, this is transmitted from heart to heart, and the recipient must realize it by his own efforts."

"For him who does not know his own mind there is no use learning Buddhism. On the other hand, if he knows his own mind and sees intuitively his own nature, he is a Hero, a 'Teacher of gods and men', 'Buddha'."

"Don`t despise a beginner," said I, "if you are a seeker of supreme enlightenment. You should know that the lowest class may have the sharpest wit, while the highest may be in want of intelligence. If you slight others, you commit a very great sin."

"菩提本無樹 明鏡亦非台 本來無一物 何處惹塵埃"

"身是菩提樹 心如明鏡臺 時時勤拂拭 勿使惹塵埃"

"偶然間心似繾，梅樹邊。這般花花草草由人戀，生生死死隨人愿，便酸酸楚楚無人怨。待打拼香魂一片，月陰雨梅天，守的個梅根相見。"

"那書生可意呵，咱不是前生愛眷，又素乏平生半面。則道來生出現，乍便今生夢見。生就箇書生，恰恰生生抱咱去眠。那些好不動人春意也。"

"昨夜見軍帖，可汗大點兵。 軍書十二卷，卷卷有爺名。 阿爺無大兒，木蘭無長兄。 願為市鞍馬，從此替爺征。 東市買駿馬，西市買鞍韉。 南市買轡頭，北市買長鞭。 朝辭爺孃去，暮宿黃河邊。 不聞爺孃喚女聲，但聞黃河流水鳴濺濺。"

"原来姹紫嫣红开遍，似这般都付与断井颓垣。良辰美景奈何天，赏心乐事谁家院。"

"Tang Yireng's A Dream of the Peony Pavilion became so popular upon its debut that it overshadowed The Romance of the West Chamber."

"這里黛玉見寶玉去了，聽見眾姐妹也不在房中，自己悶悶的。正欲回房，剛走到梨香院牆角外，只聽見牆內笛韻悠揚，歌聲婉轉，黛玉便知是那十二個女孩子演習戲文。雖未留心去聽，偶然兩句吹到耳朵內，明明白白一字不落道：“原來是奼紫嫣紅開遍，似這般都付與斷井頹垣。”黛玉聽了，倒也十分感慨纏綿，便止步側耳細聽。又唱道是：“良辰美景奈何天，賞心樂事誰家院。”聽了這兩句，不覺點頭自嘆，心下自思：“原來戲上也有好文章，可惜世人只知看戲，未必能領略其中的趣味。”想畢，又后悔不該胡想，耽誤了聽曲子。再聽時，恰唱到：“只為你如花美眷，似水流年。”黛玉聽了這兩句，不覺心動神搖。又聽道“你在幽閨自憐”等句，越發如醉如痴，站立不住，便一蹲身坐在一塊山子石上，細嚼“如花美眷，似水流年”八個字的滋味。"

"In world drama there is no more extensive or beautiful exploration of love than Tang Xianzu's Mudan ting (The Peony Pavilion). In 55 scenes and a performance time of more than 18 hours, The Peony Pavilion merits the designation of epic. Its central character, the young woman Du Liniang, embarks on a journey of discovery to reach her heart's desire, facing down life-and-death obstacles in this world and the next. Along the way an entire culture's values and traditions are displayed. In a Western context The Peony Pavilion combines elements of Homer's Odyssey, Virgil's Aeneid, Dante's Divine Comedy, and John Milton's Paradise Lost. Moreover, it is arguably the first great epic with a complex, believable woman protagonist. Despite its vast scope, The Peony Pavilion is anchored by a remarkable psychological depth and earthy realism. In turns lyrical, philosophical, satirical, fantastical, and bawdy, interweaving sentiment and humor, The Peony Pavilion provides one of the great entry points for an understanding of Chinese culture and Chinese classical dramatic traditions."

"Pao-yu began to feel restless and discontented. He did not know exactly what he wanted, but something was clamoring within him, undefined and yet insistent. Ming-yen sought to relieve his boredom, securing for his master some novels [...] and plays such as Record of the Western Chamber. To Pao-yu these were great discoveries. Ming-yen asked him not to take the books into the Takuanyuan, where they might be discovered and traced to him. But what use were the books if Pao-yu, who lived in the Takuanyuan, could not take them with him? So he selected a safe corner in his room and, when no one was around, he would take them out and pore over them. One day about the middle of the Third Moon, Pao-yu sat reading Record of the Western Chamber in a peach grove by the brook that wound its way through the Takuanyuan. As he reached the passage containing the line "petals falling into patterns of red," a gust of wind seemed to respond to the words and scattered the peach blossoms all around him, covering his lap and the book. He hesitated to shake them on the ground lest he trample on them. Instead, he carefully gathered them in the broad folds of his garment and shook them into the brook."

"愿天下有情的都成了眷属。"

"好句有情怜皓月，落花无语怨东风。"

"我是个多愁多病身，怎当你倾国倾城貌。"

"月色溶溶夜，花阴寂寂春。 如何临皓魂，不见月中人。"

"兰闺深寂寞，无计度芳春。 料得高吟者，应怜长叹人。"

"花落水流红，闲愁万种。"

"The most important lyrical drama in the history of Chinese literature."

"A masterpiece of the first order in Chinese literature."

"[Yun] had not yet gone to bed. She was bending her beautiful white neck before the bright candles, quite absorbed reading a book. I patted her on the shoulder and said, "Sister, why are you still working so hard? You must be quite tired with the full days we've had." Quickly Yun turned her head and stood up saying, "I was going to bed when I opened the book-case and saw this book and have not been able to leave it since. Now my sleepiness is all gone. I have heard of the name of Western Chamber for a long time, but today I see it for the first time. It is really the work of a genius, only I feel that its style is a little bit too biting." "Only geniuses can write a biting style," I smiled and said."

"The Western Wing is not a work written by an individual named Wang Shifu alone; if I read it carefully, it will also be a work of my own creation, because all the words in The Western Wing happen to be the words that I want to say and that I want to write down."

"'...if I do let you look, you must promise not to tell anyone. It's marvellous stuff. Once you start reading it, you'll even stop wanting to eat!' He handed the book to her, and Dai-yu put down her things and looked. The more she read, the more she liked it, and before very long she had read several acts. She felt the power of the words and their lingering fragrance. Long after she had finished reading, when she had laid down the book and was sitting there rapt and silent, the lines continued to ring on in her head. 'Well,' said Bao-yu, 'is it good?' Dai-yu smiled and nodded."

"子不學，非所宜。幼不學，老何為。"

"人之初，性本善。性相近，習相遠。"

"首孝弟，次見聞。知某數，識某文。"

"Chinese literature in the twentieth century time and again was worn out and indeed almost suffocated because politics dictated literature: both the revolution in literature and revolutionary literature alike passed death sentences on literature and the individual. The attack on Chinese traditional culture in the name of the revolution resulted in the public prohibition and burning of books. Countless writers were shot, imprisoned, exiled or punished with hard labour in the course of the past one hundred years."

"Metaphor is frequently to be met with in their writings, and similes are abundant. They are fond of alliteration, and attention to rhythm is with them an essential part of composition. Gradation and climax are sometimes well sustained, while in description and dialogue they seem quite at home. But the most remarkable feature of Chinese composition, is the antithesis. Most of the principal words are classed in pairs, such as heaven and earth, beginning and end, day and night, hot and cold, &c. From antithetical words, they proceed to contrast phrases and sentences, and draw up whole paragraphs upon the same principle. In these antithetical sentences, the number of words, the class of expressions, the meaning and intonation, together with the whole sentiment, are nicely and exactly balanced, so that the one contributes to the perspicuity and effect of the other. Such a counting of words, and such a mechanical arrangement of sentences, would be intolerable in European composition, but are quite elegant and almost essential in Chinese."

"The Chinese have no epic, and the drama did not originally exist in China. It was introduced by the Mongols, who held the throne of China for a century (1264-1368), and during this time all the best works were written for the stage. Novels, too, were not indigenous in China, but are said to have been introduced from Central Asia. Both novels and theatrical plays are written in a style approaching the colloquial language and are, therefore, not considered to form part of serious Literature. Nevertheless novels are devoured by the people, and plays are performed all the year round."

"As a foreign literature it is studied also by the Coreans, the Japanese, and the Annamites; and it may therefore be quite appropriately called the Classic Literature of the Far East. The civilization of all these nations has been affected by its study, perhaps even in a higher degree than that of the nations of Europe has been by the literatures of Greece and Rome. Millions received from it, in the course of centuries, their mental training. The Chinese who created it have through it perpetuated their national character and imparted some of their idiosyncrasies of thought to their formerly illiterate neighbors."

"高山仰止，景行行止。"

"他人有心，予忖度之。 躍躍毚兔，遇犬獲之。"

"高岸为谷，深谷为陵。"

"佌佌彼有屋，蔌蔌方有穀。 民今之無祿，天夭是椓。 哿矣富人，哀此惸獨。"

"彼有旨酒，又有嘉殽。 洽比其鄰，昏姻孔云。 念我獨兮，憂心慇慇。"

"它山之石，可以攻玉。"

"昔我往矣，杨柳依依。 今我来思，雨雪霏霏。"

"伐柯伐柯，其則不遠。"

"月出皎兮，佼人僚兮。 舒窈纠兮，劳心悄兮。"

"遡洄从之，道阻且长。 遡游从之，宛在水中央。"

"蒹葭蒼蒼，白露為霜。 所謂伊人，在水一方。"

"山有漆，隰有栗。 子有酒食，何不日鼓瑟。 且以喜樂，且以永日。 宛其死矣，他人入室。"