Chapter 5: 5

On the 8th of April was the day of the Bathing of the Buddha Festival. On this day, more specifically the 8th day of the Chinese lunar calendar, was celebrated Gautama Buddha’s birthday, which was the most important day of the year in Buddhism. This annual celebration was held to commemorate the birth of the historical Buddha and his first shower by water-bearing dragons.

On this day, many people in Bianliang would bathe, change their clothes and visit the temple to worship Buddha and offer incense. Moreover, due to the secular evolution of the Bathing of the Buddha Festival, many folks not only prayed for blessings and their children, but also went shopping.

In addition to bathing the Buddha statues with fragrant water, monks also boiled herbal syrup for the worshippers for luck in marriage. This sugary water was named yufoshui[1].

This kind of event was rarely seen after the Southern Song Dynasty.

On that day, Zheng Ping woke Yun Yanhui and Shuangyi up early; she had already changed into a man’s dress to walk more easily. She then took Xiaobao to Third Sister Hu’s house next door and led the two children to Xiuxiang.

Because of the Bathing of the Buddha Festival, the streets were bustling with people, but few were still around on Xiuxiang. Most of them had all gone to Daxiangguo Temple. Zheng Ping managed to quickly sell her work.

After receiving the money, Zheng Ping chatted joyfully with the merchants and, finally, went to Daxiangguo Temple.

The temple covered more than 500 acres of land, with carved, glistening beams supporting the structure and painted buildings spanning across the property. It was a resplendent sight to behold. Because of this important day, each and every crevice of every place rivaled in splendor with each other. The viridescent glazed tiles sparkled brightly in the rays of the morning sunlight. The traditional gazebos sat parallel to each other, and the ancient trees nearby soared into the sky, towering over the people proudly. It was truly magnificent.

People might not gasp at the beauty of the view, yet Yun Yanhui, having transmigrated from modern times, witnessing the grandeur of the place firsthand got him shocked speechless.

There was already a crowd of people gathered; however, Zheng Ping was not in a hurry. She bought the children some snacks and calmly held them in her hand.

By this time, the Bathing of the Buddha ceremony was halfway through.

Zheng Ping had no intention of bringing the children inside; instead, she surveyed the panorama along with the youths from a distance.

Yun Yanhui craned his neck forward and caught sight of monks praying to a Buddha statue, placed in a large golden basin, its fingers pointing to heaven and earth.

 For everyone watched like a hawk agog, the trembling voices of the monks adulating were the only sounds echoing in the surrounding area.

“…As you took seven steps,

Clusters of lotus flowers appeared,

And you used the pure Dharma water

To wash away the stains of the earth…”

Afterwards, the Buddhist monks’ voices intertwined in the chorus:

“Oh great, compassionate Buddha!

It was you who broke the castle system,

You who preached the doctrine of dependent origination and the equality of all beings,

You who opened all beings’ minds to Buddha’s wisdom and views,

You who awakened all sentient beings from ignorance.”[2]

The monks bathed the Buddha with perfumed water sprinkled with flower petals, bowed to the statue and offered their prayers.

The believers listened intently, however Yun Yanhui and Shuangyi eventually grew bored of this and clasped Zheng Ping’s hand, tugging her to another direction.

Zheng Ping was riveted by the monks’ veneration, her expression revealing a stupefied look. When she came to, she guided them somewhere else.

***

The Daxiangguo Temple was bustling with people spiritedly selling goods.

As Yun Yanhui ambled and scrutinized everyone, he thought of himself as a tourist. The Daxiangguo Temple was of such a tremendous size, that no wonder stupendous temple fairs were held. It was even devised in a mind-boggling way, in order for the fair to be divided in multiple different categories.

To give an instance, at the entrance of the big three gates, merchants were putting up for sale from domesticated critters, to exotic animals ━ from dogs and cats, to tigers and leopards. Some of them had been trained and others were led by street vendors to perform, drawing applause from the crowd.

In the front of the gateway, pens, ink, pieces of calligraphy and paintings were sold like hot cakes. This area was generally frequented by scholars.

Other items, such as jewelry, clothing and comestibles were diverse, fit to everyone’s liking.

In another location, people were passionately singing opera, doing acrobatics and narrating stories. Yun Yanhui also spotted a puppet play, where wooden sculptures were carefully and skillfully controlled to perform in front of the wonderstruck public, kicking a ball or dancing.

Yun Yanhui and Shuangyi gawked at the show.

The amount of outlandish matters Yun Yanhui had stumbled upon in this world kept adding; thankfully, he was still a child and wouldn’t attract the unwanted attention of any ill-natured individuals, nor their suspicion.

For that very day, Zheng Ping saved some money to pamper the children, giving them the opportunity to choose three things. Shuangyi, who was level-headed despite her age, and Yun Yanhui, bearing in mind that he was an adult mentally, opted for the affordable items they truly wished for.

Shuangyi settled on toys, while Yun Yanhui picked supplies that could be stored away.

After their short promenade, Zheng Ping led them back to the main hall. “When the process of bathing the Buddha is over, monks usually will begin to distribute the water. Mother will take you to get some of it.”

Though the water shared by the monks was sweetened, it was mixed with the redolent brew used by them to bathe the Buddha and was rumored to bring fortune and riches to those who drink it.

Zheng Ping guided them to another road, connected to the gate of the temple. Sure enough, rows of monks were handing out water from the bathing of the Buddha.

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Yun Yanhui glanced around, lukewarm about this whole affair. Lining up to receive some sickly sweet water that wasn’t procured in the most sanitary ways, why would they do that?

Even so, Zheng Ping exuberantly found a place at the rear of the line.

However, after a few steps, an old monk called to them, “benefactor, wait a moment.”

There were so many people that Zheng Ping was unsure whether he was talking to her or not, until Shuangyi stated, “mother, that master is speaking to you.”

Zheng Ping slowly turned around and walked over to the old monk tentatively, “what happened?”

The old monk, who had been watching them like a hawk for some time, pointed to Yun Yanhui who was peeking at the man from behind his mother. “Benefactor, it’s Buddha’s birthday. I’ve been waiting to give out this water for luck in marriage, but it seems to this poor monk that your son has a special connection with Buddha.”

His posture and manner of communicating gave the impression of being remarkably cultivated when it came to this aspect.

Zheng Ping was nonplussed. “This, this…”

Yun Yanhui stared firmly at the old monk. In a split second, he darted his eyes to his mother enthusiastically, as if nothing had just happened, and yelled happily, “auntie[3] wants sugar water!”

The old monk paused and continued despairingly, “benefactor, although this is not your son, he’s still very much a Buddhist.”

Zheng Ping: “…”

When Zheng Ping finally comprehended the old monk’s muddle, she sighed helplessly. “Master, this is really my son. She wasn’t speaking about me, he just told me that my daughter Yiyi wanted some sweet water.”

Well, that’s awkward…

The old monk’s face twisted in frustration, stating that they looked alike, just like a mother and her son.

The old monk and Zheng Ping both deemed it as a mere misunderstanding caused by a homonym[4]. To alleviate the discomfiture, he handed Zheng Ping the saccharine water and gazed at her drinking it. “This poor monk is a Buddhist.”

“Is this old master a Zen master?!” exclaimed Zheng Ping.

He nodded immediately.

There were monks from the Daxiangguo Temple nearby. Obviously, since he confirmed his identity, no one dared contradict him.

Zheng Ping’s manner instantaneously underwent a change. Just a mere moments ago, she desperately tried to escape from the conversation. Knowing that he was a Zen master, she immediately warmed up, as if the previous events were nothing but an illusion.

Yun Yanhui wondered, why, is he a famous monk?

How odd it was for a monk of the Daxiangguo Temple to cheat people like a charlatan. If you want to get money quickly, what other good location was there except for this place? There were monks diligently selling their items in the temple; this one, who was apparently famous, wanted to trick women and children?

Yun Yanhui, at long last, realized that there was an ounce of truth in the monk’s words and had a so-called ‘special’ connection with Buddha. The old monk must’ve examined his relationship and kinship, his actions and disposition, and concluded this suited him to a T. The old monk ‘fell in love at first sight’ with his temperament, and naturally, wanted him to enter the walls of monastic life.

From Zheng Ping’s chitter-chatter, Yun Yanhui learnt that this old monk was a prominent figure because of his excellent medical skills. Daxiangguo Temple was renowned for its frequent relief of the poor, and for its volunteer medical treatment for the common people.

For this reason, Yun Yanhui understood the old monk a little better, though he still couldn’t sympathize with him, when it came to his air of haughtiness and attempted con… Well, forget about it. This was the age when monks could own brothels.

Besides, who would refuse to make the acquaintance of a doctor? Specifically during ancient times, when most doctors had laughable medical knowledge.

Noticing how Zheng Ping’s conversation had gotten longer than necessary, the old monk dropped the idea of giving out the water and, instead, asked to check the pulse[5] of the three individuals.

If his eyes hadn’t been so innocent, Yun Yanhui would have thought the old man had taken a fancy to his mother!

Then he realized that he was awfully interested in him, not his mother, and was checking his pulse to see wherever he was worthy of becoming a monk.

Fortunately, Zheng Ping’s gentle but determined refusal sealed his fate. Faith in Buddhism was one thing, urging his son to become a monk was another.

Because it was obvious, she also assured that Yun Yanhui would come by in the future for enlightenment. She encouraged him to believe in Buddhism, despite not being a monk.

Though he was down in the mouth, the old monk did not continue to persuade them and offered them several packs of traditional Chinese medicine, giving his word that those could prevent the epidemic; Zheng Ping expressed her gratitude.

Yun Yanhui was staggered ━ such medicine that resembled that of Amway Corporation[6], he was certain the old monk really wished for him to become a monastic.

This caused Yun Yanhui to cackle and cry. He couldn’t see why he’d be qualified for being a monk. Could it be that he had accidentally done something resembling the etiquette of a monk?

***

[1]Literally translated as ‘bathing Buddha water’, however because it’s apparently different from the water used to bathe a statue of Buddha, I couldn’t find more info on this on google so I kept it as its pinyin equivalent instead; also I’m a bit uncultured when it comes to Buddhism so I tried to search for this ‘boiling herbal syrup’ tradition but nothing came up…

[2]A Buddhist chant/poem that when I tried to translate it was pretty difficult to understand. Therefore, my old friend… Chinese google, along with my buddy google…… helped me find the English version of it… and I added a few more verses from it, because the Chinese version, again, didn’t make much sense

[3]from 姨姨 which is a polite form of address to a woman of one’s mother’s age, basically someone’s aunt. Haha’ing at this because he was talking about Shuangyi (pinyin of 姨姨 is yiyi); from my understanding, the old monk wanted to convince Zheng Ping to make Yun Yanhui a monk. What is even happening anymore…..

[4]Again, the yiyi from the word ‘aunt’ and Yiyi as a nickname sound the same. For anyone who doesn’t know the meaning of the word, a homonym is when two or more words sound the same but have different meanings (new and knew).

[5]Taking the pulse of a patient is a symbol of (traditional) Chinese medicine; it’s believed that general health condition and a particular organ can be fully recognized

[6]Chinese google tells me Amway is pretty popular in the pharmacy market, more info could be easily found on the internet!

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