In this post I shall present the first draft of my translation of a fairly popular chinese morality tale, that for some reason has completely escaped the notice of English translators of such literature.
The story is simple: Yu is an apaprently moral man who has suffered a string of misfortunes. One New Year's Eve. the stove god visits him. the stove god, you should know, is responsible for recording the good and bad deeds of every household, and more generally overseeing their destiny. The stove god reprimands him for his hypocrisy- in particular his performance of good deeds for mere show. Yu reforms and his life is set back on track, finally dying at the age of 88, surrounded by grandchildren.
This lack of attention is extremely surprising. The tale has been translated into French way back in 1836, by Eugène-Vincent-Stanislas Jacquet https://books.google.pl/books?id=M1xHAAAAYAAJ&hl=pl&pg=PA143#v=onepage&q&f=false. An English translation of this tale does circulate, but it is not from the original Classical Chinese, but rather from a vernacular Chinese paraphrase. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Yui_Jing_Yi_Meets_the_Kitchen_God
I will forbear from commenting on the religious implications of this text for now. Just that for context, this tale is written as a criticism of a strand of chinese religiosity that emphasised collecting meritorious deeds. In some cases good and bad deeds were each given a positive and negative score, and one could calculate one's karmic balance by recording one's good and bad deeds in a ledger.
The main texts associated with this form of religiosity are Wenchang's treatiese on Secret Merit https://edwardwhite123.blogspot.com/2022/03/wenchangs-treatise-on-secret-merit.html and the Taishang Ganying Pian. https://edwardwhite123.blogspot.com/2022/05/taishang-ganying-pian-three-translations.html.
The Liaofan's four lessons is another text of a tale of moral reform, albeit with less miraculous elements. For a short discussion of the text see https://edwardwhite123.blogspot.com/2022/03/preliminary-remarks-on-liao-fans-four.html; for more about this expression of religiosity, see Brokaw's The Ledgers of Merit and Demerit: Social Change and Moral Order in Late Imperial China.
尤惜陰居士曾說，《了凡四訓》是奉行《感應篇》與功過格的事實。了凡先生所用的功過格，我們在《德育古鑑》裡刊出來了。《德育古鑑》就是一部功過格的感應錄，完全是依功過格而編的，不但教我們修行，且加強我們的信心。 The Householder who loves the Yin saud ‘ “Liaofan’s four lessons the practical results of practising the ledgers of merit and demerit in the Ganying Pian. The ledgers that Liaofan used, can be found in the ancient mirror for cultivatin virtue.. This book is a ledger to record the karmic effects of merits and demerits, [and indeed is] entirely comprised of these [lists of?] merit and demerit. It does not only teach us to cultivate, but also to strengthen our hearts. 《俞淨意公遇灶神記》，這一篇是補充《了凡四訓》沒有說到的地方。都是於世道人心很有利益的好文章，我們同樣把它當做寶典來受持。讀過之後，自己更應當深深的反省、檢點。尤其是生活在現代的社會，必須認真修學，才能趨吉避凶，轉災禍為吉祥。 The tale of Yu Jingyi meeting the stove god, supplements a situation where liaofan’s four lessin did not speak of. It is a work that would bring much benefit to the minds of those in secular life世道人心很有利益的好文章; we should also uphold it as a treasure to receive and uphold. After reading it, one should often reflect, and thoroughly check one’s behaviour [against it] Especially in this modern society, we should seriously cultivate ourselves; only then can we attract auspiciousness and repel evil; turn disaster into auspiciousness.
明嘉靖時。江西俞公。諱都。字良臣。多才博學。十八歲為諸生。每試必高等。 IN the Jiaqing period of the Ming, [there lived] Sire Yu of Jiangxi; named Du (Capital) . His style name was Liangchen (good minister). He had much talent and was broad of learning; at the age of 18 he became a zhushen. At every test, he proved to be of high [ability?]
年及壯。家貧授徒。與同庠生十餘人。結文昌社。惜字。放生。戒淫殺口過。行之有年。前後應試七科。皆不中。When he reached maturity, his family was poor. With ten of his schoolmates, they made a Wenchang Society. They treasured written paper, released lives, and abstained form lust, killing and sins of the mouth. He practised thus for some years. Front and back, he tried for seven exams. He passed none.
生五子。四子病夭。其第三子。甚聰秀。左足底有雙痣。夫婦寶之。八歲戲於里中。遂失去。不知所之。生四女。僅存其一。妻以哭兒女故。兩目皆盲。公潦倒終年。貧窘益甚。自反無大過。慘膺天罰。 He had five sons. Four died young. His third son—who was very clever—had two moles on the bottom of his feet, and was treasured by the couple. Aged 8, in the course of playing outside. He got lost, and nobody knew where he went. He had four girls. Only one survived. His wife cried so much for her lost children that she became blind in both eyes. At middle age his fortunes did not improve. His poverty and hardship multiplied. Even though, on reflection he did no great sin, he continued to bear Heaven’s punishment
年四十外。每歲臘月終。自寫黃疏。禱於灶神。求其上達。如是數年。亦無報應。至四十七歲時。除夕與瞽妻一女夜坐。舉室蕭然。淒涼相弔。 For over 40 years, in the end of the 12th month, he would write a petition on yellow paper, and burn it to the Stove God, hoping that [the stove god] would bring it above. For all these years, there was no response. When he was 47 On New year’s eve, he, his blind wife, and sole surviving daughter were sitting up at night. Their whole house was bleak, and cold; all were mourning each other’s tragedies.
忽聞叩門聲。公秉燭視之。見一角巾皂服之士。鬚髮半蒼。長揖就座。口稱張姓。自遠路而歸。聞君家愁嘆。特來相慰。 He suddenly heard the sound of knocking. Yu, holding a candle inspected it. He saw a scholar wearing a cornered headcloth, and with dark clothes. His beard and hair were half gray. After a long salute he sat down. The Scholar said he was surnamed Zhang, and had returned after a long journey. After hearing the sighs of Yu’s family, he came over to comfort him
公心異其人。執禮甚恭。 Yu found this rather strange, but nonetheless welcomed him with politeness.
因言生平讀書積行。至今功名不遂。妻子不全。衣食不繼。且以歷焚灶疏。為張誦之。 [Yu said] “I am an ordinary man of letters. To this very day, my accomplishments do not go as they should. Both wife and children are incomplete, my clothes and food not certain. I have ever burnt petitions to the stove god. I call him Mr. Zhang too.
張曰。予知君家事久矣。君意惡太重。專務虛名。滿紙怨尤。瀆陳上帝。恐受罰不止此也。 Zhang said “I have already known your family for long. Your evil intents are most great; your reputation is wholly unfounded. The whole paper is filled with wrongs and complaints, constantly insulting the Uppermost Thearch; I fear that your punishments would not stop”
公大驚曰。聞冥冥之中。纖善必錄。予誓行善事。恪奉規條。久矣。豈盡屬虛名乎。 Yu was most frightened. He said “I have heard that in the darkness, all acts of good will be recorded; I have constantly done good , respectfully following the prohibitions—and for long, oh! How can I have a baseless reputation?
張曰。即如君規條中惜字一款。君之生徒與知交輩。多用書文舊冊。糊窗裹物。甚至以之拭桌。且藉口曰勿污。而旋焚之。君日日親見。略不戒諭一語。但遇途間字紙。拾歸付火。有何益哉。 Zhang said “Take for example the rule for treasuring written paper. Your students and relations often use old books, to paste up windows and wrap things, and indeed, to wipe tables. [[Even straw mats 藉 are dirty places, and they should be burnt?]] You have seen such things daily, but did not so much utter a word of complaint. The only thing you did do is to pick up scrap paper on the path and cremate it. What good is that?
社中每月放生。君隨班奔逐。因人成事。倘諸人不舉。君亦浮沉而已。其實慈悲之念。並未動於中也。且君家蝦蟹之類。亦登於庖。彼獨非生命耶。 Your society releases animals every month. You follow them in doing so. You do it on their prompting, but what if they do not bring up this matter? Then you will continue to rise and sink. True thoughts of compassion come unprompted. Meanwhile, your family takes shrimps, crabs and suchlike creatures, and cooks them— are they not living things too?
若口過一節。君語言敏妙。談者常傾倒於君。君彼時出口。心亦自知傷厚。但於朋談慣熟中. 隨風訕笑。不能禁止。舌鋒所及。觸怒鬼神。陰惡之註。不知凡幾。乃猶以簡厚自居。吾誰欺。欺天乎。
As for your wrongs of speech, Your words are ingenious 敏妙, and those discussing with you are often completely enthralled. Whenever you talk, in your heart you know in your how much violence you are doing [with your sophistry]. When talking familiarly with your friends. You mock and laugh at them wantonly, without any sense of restraint. The sharpness of your tongue angers ghosts and gods. Your Secret evils are recorded: Mortal tricks are unknown to them. In your “simple abode of purity” Who are you cheating? Are you not cheating heaven?
邪淫雖無實跡。君見人家美子女。必熟視之。心即搖搖不能遣。但無邪緣相湊耳。君自反身當其境。能如魯男子乎。遂謂終身無邪色。可對天地鬼神。真妄也。 “With regards to lust, you have not any significant traces. But when you see a beautiful woman of another family, you will surely give her a good look-over. You heart will beat non-stop without restraint. The only thing that stops this is the conditions are unfavourable. You should properly reflect on yourself—Can you can be like the man from Lu, who as the proverb says “Has no Evil Lust until the end of his body”, and can face up to heaven, earth, ghosts and gods. Certainty not!
此君之規條誓行者。尚然如此。何況其餘。 You have vowed to obey he regulations, but look at yourself! We need not say about the rest.
君連歲所焚之疏。悉陳於天。上帝命日游使者。察君善惡。數年無一善行可記。 You have burnt your petitions every year; each year they have ascended to heaven. The Supreme Thearch orders his roving messengers to daily inspect your good and bad deeds. For multiple years They have not been able to find a single good deed to record!
但於私居獨處中。見君之貪念。淫念。嫉妒念。褊急念。高己卑人念。憶往期來念。恩讎報復念。憧憧於胸。不可紀極。此諸種種意惡。固結於中。神註已多。天罰日甚。君逃禍不暇。何由祈福哉。 On the contrary, when you are alone, they see you and your thoughts of greed, thoughts of lust, thoughts of jealousy, thoughts of stinginess, thoughts of self-aggrandisement, your thoughts of past events, your thoughts of revenge, each in your breast so many they cannot be counted. All these intentions of evil, concentrated in your heart, the gods have accounted in plenty. The day of heaven’s punishment is about to arrive! You can neither hide from these disasters or cheat them- How dare you pray for fortune?
公驚愕惶悚。伏地流涕曰。君既通幽事。定係尊神。願求救度。 Yu was frightened, and trembled. He threw himself on the ground. Crying, he said “I have known about these dark matters; I have respected the gods. I beg to know how to be delivered”
張曰。君讀書明禮。亦知慕善為樂。當其聞一善言時。不勝激勸。見一善事時。不勝鼓舞。但旋過旋忘。信根原自不深。恆性是以不固。故生平善言善行。都是敷衍浮沉。何嘗有一事著實. 且滿腔意惡。起伏纏綿。猶欲責天美報。? 如種遍地荊棘。癡癡然望收嘉禾。豈不謬哉。
Zhang said “You have read books and know the rites. You also know how to rejoice in good deeds. when you hear of a single good word, do not hesitate to encourage it. When you see a single good deed, do not hesitate to dance and sing its praises. But once it is past, you forget about it. Your roots of faith are not deep to begin with; your perseverance is not solid. Thus, although your whole life you speak of doing good, it is all prefunctionary, floating up and down, without so much as a single concrete act. On the contrary your entire breast is full of evil, rising and falling in your entanglements. How do you think you can get heaven’s blessings? It is like planting an entire field with weeds and thorns, and stupidly thinking you will get a harvest of grain. Is that not an error?
君從今後。凡有貪淫。客氣。妄想。諸雜念。先具猛力。一切屏除。收拾乾乾淨淨。一個念頭。只理會善一邊去。若有力量能行的善事。不圖報。不務名。不論大小難易。實實落落。耐心行去。若力量不能行的。亦要勤勤懇懇。使此善意圓滿。 Form now onwards, whenever you have thoughts of greed, lust, pride 客氣, wanton thoughts, and all discorded thoughts, you must fiercely extripate them, collect them to leave absolute purity .[In a single thought, just think of goodness]?. If you have strength to do good deeds, do not think of a reward, do not covet fame. No matter if they are big, small, hard or easy, truly perform them with patience. If your strength does not allow you to complete them, you must still do them diligently. That is how you may perfect your good intentions.
第一要忍耐心. 第二。要永遠心。切不可自惰。切不可自欺。 久久行之。自有不測效驗。
First, you must be patient. Second. You must have a mind of eternity. On no account must you be lazy. On no account must you cheat yourself. If you practise this for long, results will surely come.
君家事我。甚見虔潔。特以此意報之。速速勉持。可回天意。 At home you serve me. I see your sincerity. When you uphold this intention, and quickly do this with all effort, the intentions of heaven can be reversed.”
言畢即進公內室。公即起隨之。至灶下。忽不見。方悟為司命之神。 Having said these, he entered Yu’s inner chamber, Yu followed him under the stove, where he disappeared. At that moment he realised he was the Comptroller of Fate.
因焚香叩謝。即於次日元旦。拜禱天地。誓改前非。實行善事。自別其號曰淨意道人。誌誓除諸妄也。 He thus burnt incense and kowtowed in thanks. At the next day- New Year’s Day, he prayed to heaven and earth, and vowed to correct his past mistakes, and truly perform acts of good. He then changed his name to The Pure Intentioned Man of the Way, and vowed to remove all recklessness.
初行之日。雜念紛乘。非疑則惰。忽忽時日。依舊浮沉。 In the days he first started, his random thoughts came in droves; he started doubting and beame lazy. Soon enough, after some days, he retruned to his old floating and sinking.
因於家堂所供觀音大士前。叩頭流血。敬發誓願。願善念永純。善力精進。倘有絲毫自寬。永墮地獄。每日清晨。虔誦大慈大悲尊號一百聲。以祈陰相。 For that reason, he came before the image of Guanyin Maha sattva he kept in his hall, and kowtowed until blood flowed; he respectfully vowed to forever keep pure thoughts; and exercise his utmost in goodness, if he had so much as a single moment of self-comforting自寬, he will fall into hell forever. Every day at the morning he would chant the name “Most merciful, Most compassionate” 100 times, and prostrate before the image.
從此一言一動一念一時。皆如鬼神在旁。不敢欺肆。凡一切有濟於人。有利於物者。不論事之巨細。身之忙閒。人之知不知。力之繼不繼。皆歡喜行持。委曲成就而後止。隨緣方便。廣植陰功。
From this, every word, every action, every thought, at every time, as if ghosts and gods were by his side. He did not dare to cheat them. When he had saw any opportunity to aid a person, or benefit a living thing. No matter if it was large or small, or if he was in a hurry or busy, whether or not people knew or not, whether he could or could not finish it, he all did so with joy. Whether it could be accomplished after much meandering, or stopped later委曲成就而後止. he broadly planted yin merit, as much as causes and expidency allowed. 隨緣方便
且以敦倫。勤學。守謙。忍辱。與夫因果報應之言。逢人化導。惟日不足。 Through encouraging morality敦倫, placing effort in study, holding on to modesty and forbearance. He encouraged and taught people by telling them of Cause and Effect, and retribution; that his days were insufficient [to complete the task]
每月晦日。即計一月所行所言者。就灶神處為疏以告之。持之既熟。動即萬善相隨。靜則一念不起。
On the last day of each month, He would record all his deeds and words, and report them to the Stove God. He upheld these practises it became engrained in him. When acting, he followed only the myrad forms of goodness. When still, not a single [evil] thought arose.
如是三年。年五十歲。乃萬曆二年。甲戌會試。張江陵為首輔。輟闈後。訪於同鄉。為子擇師。
After Doing this for three years. At the age of fifty, in the 2nd year of WanLi, [1574] there were the Jiaxu Examinations. Zhang Jiangling was the prime minister. After promoting all the graduates, he asked those of his same village to select a tutor for his son.
人交口薦公。遂聘赴京師。公挈眷以行。張敬公德品。為援例入國學。萬曆四年丙子。附京鄉試。遂登科。次年中進士。
Everyone recommended Yu, and he accordingly went to the Capital with the prime Minister, along with his family. Yu’s living conditions also improved. Yu inducted into the National Academy. During the fourth year of Wanli, a Bingzi Year, he entered into the metropolitan examinations, and succeeded. That year after he became a Jinshi .
一日謁內監楊公。楊令五子出拜。皆其覓諸四方。為己嗣以娛老者。內一子。年十六。公若熟其貌。問其籍。曰江右人。小時誤入糧船。猶依稀記姓氏閭里。公甚訝之。命脫左足。雙痣宛然。公大呼曰。是我兒也。楊亦驚愕。即送其子。隨公還寓。
One day, Yu visited the Eunuch Yang. Yang bade his five [adopted] sons greet him. These sons were taken in from the four directions. He reared them to delight him in his old age. One of the sons, was sixteen. Yu found he looked familiar. Yu asked where he was from. He replied he was from the right bank of the Yangtze. He said that when he was small, he accidentally entered a grain boat, and sort of remembered his family and original surname. Mr Yu was shocked. He bade the boy show his left foot. There were two moles on the sole. Mr. Yu cried out “That’s my son!”. Eunuch Yang was also astonished. He gave the boy at once to Yu. He followed Yu back to his house.
公奔告夫人。夫人撫子大慟。血淚迸流。子亦啼。捧母之面而舐其目。其母雙目復明。公悲喜交集。遂不願為官。辭江陵回籍。張高其義。厚贈而還公居鄉。為善益力。
Yu rushed to inform his wife. His wife caressed her child and cried; her tears and blood mingled together. Her son also cried. He took his mother’s face and licked her eyes. His mother’s eyes at once regained their sight. Joy and sadness mingled in Yu’s heart. He no longer wanted to be an official, and wanted to return home to his village. Zhang esteemed his righteousness And, after presenting Yu with huge gifts, let him return to his old home. There Yu performed good with all his strength
其子娶婦。連生七子。皆育。悉嗣書香焉。公手書遇灶神。并實行改過事以訓子孫。身享康壽。八十八歲。人皆以為實行善事。回天之報云。同里後學羅禎記。
His son took a wife, who gave birth to seven sons, and all of them perpetuated the fragrance of literature in his family. Yu personally wrote this tale of meeting the stove good, and how to truly change one’s faults to instruct his sons and grandsons. He enjoyed health and longevity. At the age of 88, after performing a great many good deeds, he returned with his heavenly reward. This was recorded by Luo Zhen, of Tongli.