【中英文独家连载】罗宾博士看陕西之：长安静谧的寺庙
中国出版集团、中译出版社“外国人写作中国计划”丛书之中、英文版《罗宾博士看陕西》
胡宗锋和（英）罗宾·吉尔班克中、英文版《罗宾博士看陕西》在第二十四届国际图书博览会上发布
Shaanxi Through Dr. Robin’s Eyes
罗宾博士看陕西
Serenity ofSorts: The Temples of Chang’an
长安静谧的寺庙
（英） 罗宾·吉尔班克 胡宗锋 译
Heritage can be deadly, or very nearly so. Thirteen imperial dynastieschose to make their capital in or around Chang’an, though the legacy they leftbehind is not always a sturdy edifice so much as a tottering carbuncle. In theautumn of 2012, the international media carried startling syndicated imagesfrom the eastern suburbs of Xi’an.These were taken in the playground at Xiguang Public Middle School in Hansenzhai.As one would expect, the basketball court was neatly asphalted with anathletics track marked out around the perimeter. Tall crisscrossed fences wereembedded with numerous shuttlecocks pelted too high off the ground for pupilsor teachers to retrieve. Slap bang in the centre of the exercise area, however,stood a stone tower, some six stories high, which tilted precariouslyto one side casting a deathly shadow. As the accompanying reports went ontodelineate, the four hundred year old Wanshou Pagoda was the last survivingremnant from a once extensive Ming temple complex. Pressures of urban space hadforced the school authorities to either back down from their plans forexpansion or else to try and incorporate the structure into their grounds. Theychose the latter. Until a heavy rainstorm came in May 2011 and vast amounts ofsurface run-off was directed into the foundations, few had thought veryseriously about the stability of the tower. What began as a curious reminder ofthe multi-seamed past of Xi’an, now posed anightmare threat to seven hundred staff and pupils, and Hansenzhai’s own answerto Pisa had tobe bracketed into a secure position by means of a gargantuan steel clamp.
遗产乃亡或濒失者也。十三个王朝曾选择在长安周围建都，但留下的遗产却并非都是结实的大厦，连摇摇欲坠的红宝石都没有。2012年秋，有家国际媒体刊登了一组西安东郊令人吃惊的照片，背景是韩森寨西光中学的操场。如人所料，用沥青铺就、整洁的篮球场周围是规划好的跑道，高高的十字形篱笆上嵌着一些羽毛球，离地面太高，老师和学生没法取下来。然而，恰恰就是在操场的中间，矗立着一座六层高、倾向一边的石塔，投下来一道危险的阴影。相关的报道说，这座有四百年历史的万寿塔是建于明代的万寿寺最后的遗迹。城市空间的压力迫使校方要么放弃扩建计划，要么就把古塔圈在校内，校方选择了后者。2011年 5月，一场大暴雨使古塔的表面脱落，坠到了地基上，在此以前几乎没人认真考虑过这座古塔的安全问题。勾起人们对西安复杂历史好奇心的古塔，现在成了对学校师生有威胁的噩梦。韩森寨对这个“比萨”斜塔的回应是：用一个巨大的钢夹把它安全固定起来。
Progress does sometimes subsume history and finditself stung in return. The area around Xi’anis rich, perhaps overly rich in, sites connected with Buddhism, Taoism, andConfucianism. Six sects of Zen Buddhism have or had their founders templeshere, the Daci’en Temple once housed the workshop of Xuanzong who uponreturning from his journey to the west, fervently rendered Scriptures fromIndia into his mother tongue. The XingjiaoTemple features the Master’s tomb andthe Famen Templethe finger bones of Sakayamuni, while Louguantai in Zhouzhi Countyis a must-see for acolytes of Taoism, desirous to see where Laozi set down the Dao De Jing. When writing of Shaanxi temples it isall too easy to start churning out a roll-call of names, facts and statistics.Being ill-equipped to attempt an exhaustive survey of religious sites, the bestI can do here is to describe some of the outstanding or remarkable temples andexamine how they have stood the test of time in the centuries since theirconstruction. Do they still represent oases of contemplation and serenity? Inspite of the press of urbanization and commercialism are they still capable ofmoving us to spiritual reflection?
人类的进步有时的确包含历史，但却有反过来被历史灼伤。西安四周的释、道、儒遗址极为丰富，也许是过于丰富了。佛教禅宗的六大祖庭都在这里，“大慈恩寺”曾经是玄奘的工作室，从西天回来后，他就在那里潜心把印度的佛经翻译为自己的母语，而“兴教寺”则是他的长眠之地。法门寺有释迦牟尼的佛指骨舍利，周至县的楼观台是道教信徒的必到之处，可看到老子当年著《道德经》的地方。写陕西的寺庙，罗列寺名、汇聚事实和数据实乃易事。由于缺乏对宗教遗址进行详细审视的知识，我能做到的就是说一些著名的或独特的寺庙，并对这些寺庙何以从建立之日到现在能经受时间的考验做点阐述。这些寺庙依旧是给人启示的静谧绿洲吗？在城市化和物欲的压力下，它们还能给人带来精神启迪吗？
Certain places of worship have blended perhaps too seamlessly into theirenvirons. The Ming Dynasty City God Temple (begun in 1387) on Eastern Street,was to all intents and purposes the urban equivalent of the rural shrineserected to Tudi, the god of the soil. The Chinese name is more evocative of itspurpose, since Chenghuang Miao refersto the one who has dominion over the city walls or fortified boundaries and itsmoat. That deity was to be variously consulted, praised and maligned dependingon the weal or woe of the municipality and the willingness of each generationof mandarins to accept this hangover from folk religion. In all honesty, theXi’an specimen is the inferior sibling to that situated in Sanyuan. Whereas thelatter, with its incorporated bell and drum towers and imposingly symbolicabacus, has entered its dotages with majesty, becoming the base for the countymuseum, the Xi’an City God Temple has taken an age to recover the splendour itlost upon being deconsecrated during the Cultural Revolution. Many locals todayremain unaware of the lavish refurbishments of its lofts, undertaken about fiveyears earlier, much less the restoration of the three seasonal rites to honourthe souls of city dead. People may drop by to purchase decorations for SpringFestival, Lantern Festival or Qingming Festival from the stalls which line thealley between the main street and the temple. However, even in brand newtourist guides the renewal of the temple goes unnoted.
有些人们崇拜的地方已经和周围的环境无缝对接了。东大街明代“城隍庙”（始建于1387年）的意图与作用就是城里人像乡下人一样，给“土地神”建的一个神龛。“城隍庙”的中文意思更清楚，因为其作用是主城郭，守疆土。对城隍的阐述和褒贬各种各样，这要看其所庇佑的城市的祸福，以及每一代人对流传下来的民间信仰的接受。老实讲，西安的“城隍庙”是三原“城隍庙”的蹩脚兄弟。三原“城隍庙”及其里面与之相映成辉的钟鼓楼和富有象征意义的悬顶辉煌了不少年头，是该县博物馆的奠基物。西安的“城隍庙”过了好久才恢复了其在“文化大革命”期间被还俗的辉煌。好多当地人都不知道大约五年前对这里的豪华翻修，更不用说知道祭奠城市亡灵的风俗和礼仪了。人们也许会到“城隍庙”大街两旁小巷里的商店店来买“春节”、“元宵节”和“清明”时的用品，然而，在最新的旅游指南中也没有提到对这里的重修。
The City God Templeis an improbable place to find true serenity. This much it shares with theXiangzi Miao Temple, which sits upon a splinter of a plot between one of theinternational youth hostels and the so-called “bar street” (De Fu Xiang). Thepeculiarly domestic-sized dimensions gull the eye into believing that duringthe Tang Dynasty it may well have been the home of Han Xiang (or Han Xiangzi)one of the Eight Immortals of Taoism and a kind of patron saint of flautists.The stripling refused the overtures of his uncle, the statesmen and poet Han Yu(768-824 AD), by declining to forsake his religion in favour of Confucianismwhilst they conversed at a banquet. A gustatory miracle validated Xiangzi’schoice. He poured wine out from a gourd and no matter how many times herepeated this, his cup continued to overflow.
在“城隍庙” 没法找到真正的静谧，和在湘子庙的情形差不多。湘子庙坐落在一家国际青年旅馆和所谓的“酒吧一条街”（德福巷）之间，其独特的家居模式让人看出，在唐代这里可能是道教“八仙”、 擅吹洞箫的韩湘子的家。年轻人拒绝其祖宗政治家和诗人韩愈的教诲，放弃了对儒家思想的崇拜，转向了吃喝。这倒奇妙的符合韩湘子的选择，因为他的酒葫芦总有倒不完的酒。
Leaving the city limits opens up a profusion of possibilities to findpeace and reflection. The outlying Xiangji Temple occupies a smalltope section of plateau behind a one-horse village in Chang’an County. Itsromantic name – translatable as “heaped incense” – and remote situation put mein mind of some lines from Thomas Gray (1716-71): “Full many a flower isborn to blush unseen. And waste its sweetness on the desert air.”One thousand years before the Englishman wrought that meditation about thegraveyard at Stoke Poges, the Tang Dynasty poetWang Wei (699-759) recorded his thoughts while passing by Xiangji:-
离开城市的局限，寻找静谧和得到启迪的机会就多了。郊外的“香积寺”位于户县一个小村后面的塬上，浪漫的寺名意译为“香成堆”。这个偏僻的地方让我想起了托马斯·格雷的诗句: “众芳吐艳无人见,枉费芬芳旷野中” 。( 托马斯·格雷Thomas Gray (1716-71)，是英国新古典主义后期的重要诗人，“墓畔派”代表诗人，此两句引自其代表作“墓畔哀歌”——译者注)。在这位英国诗人于斯托克·波吉斯的墓园旁边写下此句的一千年前，唐代诗人王维就有了他的《过香积寺》感怀：
I do not perceive
the Xiangji Temple …
It’s been several miles now
and I’ve been joined by clouds near the peak.
These ancient woods …
no men, a narrow path …
And in the mountain deep …
a bell … from where?
The sound – a little stream
that swallows precarious stones ….
The hue of sun
among the cold and pines.
Thinning dusk,
empty along a pond
Meditation calm,
the dragon venom – desire – calmed.
不知香积寺，数里入云峰。
古木无人径，深山何处钟。
泉声咽危石，日色冷青松。
薄暮空潭曲，安禅制毒龙。
At that time, the nirvana of the Master Shandao (613-81 AD) was almostwithin the reach of living memory. From being a site of veneration built by hisdisciple Huai Yun the complex had rapidly been developed into a fully-fledgedseminary for the Pure Land Sect of Buddhism. This strain of Zen (knowndomestically as Chan) Buddhism promoted the practices of meditation and yogaupheld belief in the concept of a Western Paradise.The reputation and patronage of the temple were boosted by visits from theEmperor Gaozong (reigned 649-683 AD), his wife Wu Zetian and their sonZhongzong (684 and 705-10 AD). Each one had cults established there in theirhonour, a fact which perhaps draws into question Wang Wei’s image of pastoralisolation. In the Tang Dynasty at least this was a blossom whose blush did notgo unseen – it was sniffed, adorned, and held up for reverence by the elites ofthe metropolis.
那时，善导大师的教诲几乎还鲜活在人们的记忆里，弟子怀恽为了纪念善导功德所建的这座寺庙，很快就成了佛教净土宗盛极一时的道场。佛教的禅宗提倡顿悟而瑜伽则信“极乐”。唐高宗与皇后武则天以及其儿子中宗曾到此礼佛，并分别赐法器于寺院使“香积寺”声名大振。这一点让人对王维的田园景象描述有些疑问，至少在唐代，这里并非“众芳吐艳无人见”，而是京城达官贵人向往、拜祭和崇敬的地方。
As of today, the pineyslopes of the Qinling Mountains still trailoff way beyond the temple grounds and the sky glistens bluer than the pall ofthe city. Any chimes in the distance would be drowned out by the traffic of Ziwu Street, whichslices due south to the point where the mountains become impassable. Fewtravellers alight from the city buses to tramp the kilometre or so along thedirt track to Xiangji. It is a shame because as well as being able to savourthe holy relics they miss being afforded a glimpse of rural life at its mostspare. Xiangjisicun hamlet seems to lack any amenities, except for a concretepublic stage which was erected in 1978, the year in which following the arrestof the Gang of Four, Deng Xiaoping wrested the leadership of the CommunistParty in all but name. On the side of a corner tobacconist, a publicinformation poster explains, with the aid of naïve cartoons, the dangers ofabusing overhead power-lines. A whole gamut of fatal scenarios are dramatizedfrom a man trying to use jump leads to re-direct electricity for his ownillegal usage to a gap-toothed housewife hanging out her washing to dry on thelive cables. Closer to the temple itself, comes a further warning notice, thistime declaiming the pernicious influence of religious cults. This kind ofdiatribe is it would seem the mandatory garnish to sites which might move thecasual visitor to flights of spiritual rapture.
至于今天，“香积寺” 远处秦岭松林茂密的山坡依旧是“无人径”，但天却比城市的上空更加湛蓝。子午大道将这里与南面几乎无法通行的山峦隔开，路上的车水马龙淹没了远处的钟声。很少有人从城里的班车上下来，徒步几公里的土路到“香积寺”来。此乃遗憾也，因为这就错过了领略古迹的气息和一睹乡村空旷风貌的机会。香积寺村似乎没有什么吸引人的东西，只有一个用混凝土搭建的公共舞台。那还是 在粉碎“四人帮”，邓小平掌握大权之后的1978年修建的。在角落的一个烟草店旁边，有一副宣传画，用天真的卡通方式讲解误用头顶电线的危险。其中致命的戏剧场面包括一个男人非法乱接电线，一个豁牙妇女在带电的电线上凉衣服。在快接近寺庙的时候，出现了另外的警示标语，说的是要警惕宗教崇拜的不良影响。这种诽谤似乎像一种强制性的装饰，让普通的游客体会不到心灵上的喜悦。
In among the well-appointed pavements and retouched boards declaiming sutras I find myself welcoming thehaphazard, effulgent hold which nature appears determined to exercise uponXiangji. The cemetery for deceased brethren, comprised of bent tablets andsteles, has become so overrun with clover that only the occasional character isvisible on the epitaphs. I recall the sentiments of Walt Whitman in Song of Myself, in particular thepassage which my students, versant as they are in the rudiments of Zen, regardas being “pretty obvious.” The poet takes the fertility of graves asrepresentative of the ceaseless recycling of living matter, hailing the deceasedby writing:
在设备完善的人行道上和修缮后的讲经栏里，我发现自己喜欢的是那些随意的亮点，那是大自然对“香积寺”的恩赐。在圆寂弟子的墓园里，倾斜的石碑上长满了三叶草，碑文只是依稀可见。这使我想起来沃尔特·惠特曼《自我之歌》中所表达的情感，特别是有一段，因为我的学生有禅宗知识，觉得“相当平淡”。（沃尔特·惠特曼Walt Whitman，美国诗人、散文家、新闻工作者及人文主义者。他身处于超验主义与现实主义间的变革时期，作品兼并了二者的文风。惠特曼是美国文坛中最伟大的诗人之一，有自由诗之父的美誉。他的代表作是著名诗集《草叶集》——译者注）诗人认为墓地旺盛的生育力代表的是生物无休止的轮回，其对逝者的赞颂是：
They are alive and well somewhere,
The smallest sprout shows there is really no death,
And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the
end to arrest it,
And ceas'd the moment life appear'd.
All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses,
And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier.
他们还在某个地方活着，并且活得很好，
那最小的幼芽表明世上其实并无死，
即使有，也会导致生命，而不是生的归宿、把生遏止，
而且生一出现，无所谓溃灭。
万物都在前进和扩展，不会隐遁，
死也并非人们所想象的那样，而是更加吉利。
——引自沃尔特·惠特曼《自我之歌》
That final word, nevertheless, has my undergraduates scratching their heads. If we apply it to the Buddhist cycle of reincarnation are those whose souls persist in another creature really better off than Christians who have the fixed alternatives of heaven and hell?
最后这一句，让我的本科学生有点抓耳挠腮。要是我们用佛教的转世来看，那些灵魂被附于其它创造物的人难道就真的被只有选择天堂或地狱的基督徒们的日子好过吗？
Part of me has long been itching to press further southward and toactually ascend the Qinling Mountains, questing after whatever marginaldevotees still follow their rites unhindered there. This was a pilgrimagealready completed by the American poet and translator “Red Pine” (the pseudonymof Bill Porter). During the 1980s, while researching what became Road to Heaven he interviewed a smattering of hermitswho practiced their solitude unabated in among the peaks. The majority, havingeschewed one revolution after another, seldom daring to rattle the cage of theworld were said to be septuagenarians and more. Fear of disappointment and theapprehension that these holy men most likely now nourish the wildflowers andvegetation of Qinling at present prevents me from retracing Porter’s steps.
我一直想去秦岭的深处，就是登顶秦岭，去寻找那些在偏僻的地方坚守佛家礼仪的信徒。类似的朝圣者已有前人，那就是美国诗人和翻译家赤松，（赤松Red Pine其英文原名为比尔·波特 Bill Porter）。二十世纪八十年代，在为《空谷幽兰--寻访现代中国隐士》一书搜集素材时，他就采访过部分在秦岭山峦中修炼的隐士。这些隐士大多已年过古稀或更为年长，躲过了一场又一场的革命，几乎是不闻世事。由于担心自己失望，又听说这些圣徒现在滋润着秦岭的花草和植被，我就没有步赤松的足迹去寻隐。
The closest I have yet come to mountain-top seclusion is the “Grass Roof” Temple (Cao Tang Si) located in rural Hu Countyto the west of Xiangji. It no longer has any thatch of which to speak, beingtiled and concreted as per modern decorum. Calligraphy by later masters, suchas Liu Gongquan (778-865 AD) highlight the ongoing interest in this foundationfrom the Sixteen Dynasties. It was here that Kumarajiva (344-413 AD), whosefeats of translating Sanskrit texts into Chinese, long precede the enterprisesof Xuanzong set up his workshop. Responsible for domesticating the Diamond Sutra, the Lotus Sutra and a welter of others, his tongue, of all bodilyappendages, is enshrined for veneration. The main curio at Caotang, however, isa geothermal phenomenon endowed with mythical explanations. The wisps of vapourwhich steadily drift out of the “smoking well” have been ascribed to a slumberingsubterranean dragon ready to rear its head should Chang’an be under threat.That most superstitious of emperors, Taizong of Tang (or Li Shimin) (626-49AD), swallowed such legends wholesale opting to use the dragon’s breath as acure for his eye ailments.
我到过距山顶最近的是户县的“草堂寺”，在“香积寺”的西边。这里已没有“草苫” 可言，砖瓦水泥都颇有现代气息。 后代大师如柳公权的书法，从十六朝以来一直是这里精彩的亮点。鸠摩罗什在这里汉译佛经的伟绩远远早于玄宗建立译经堂。 他翻译了《金刚经》和《法华经》等多部佛经，其圆寂后，“薪灭形碎，唯舌不坏”， 被奉为“舌舍利”。 “草堂寺” 的一个神奇传说与地热现象有关，缭绕在寺内古井上空的那层淡淡的薄雾据说是井底有一条卧龙，长安若有险，龙就会抬头。很迷信的唐太宗李世民对此笃信不疑，并用此龙之气来治自己的眼疾。
Another powerhouse of early Buddhist translation, the “Great Propagationof Goodness” (Daxingshan) Temple, was introduced tome as an all-in-one gastronomic-cum-placebo experience. A highly-strung formercolleague of mine from Iowadenounced all religion as a kind of crutch. Even so, in moments of anxiety whenhe sputtered about his soaring cholesterol levels, he could covertly be seenclutching for a “Goddess of Mercy” (Guanyin)pendant which sheltered beneath his polo shirt. He swore that he never felt moreat ease – either in body or in mind - than when picking over a plate ofbean-sprouts in the rectory at Daxingshan.Here vegetarian meals were prepared by members of the religious community, witha high proportion of the ingredients being either uncooked or steamed with nota hint of extraneous oil to imperil the arteries. That promise of rarefiedhospitality appears to have since been rescinded. On my last visit aPerspex-covered menu placard had sprung up, advertising squirrel fish anddeep-fried sweet-and-sour battered chicken (tangculiji)at competitive prices.
另外一个翻译佛经的重要场所就是大兴善寺，我对此寺的了解是这里把美食和心灵的慰藉柔和在了一起。我原来的的一位同事来自爱荷华州，他好激动认为所有的宗教都是扯蛋。即便是如此，在他因自己的胆固醇飙升而觉得烦的时候，也会看见他偷偷的摸自己“保罗衬衣”下的“观音”。他曾发誓说只有在“大兴善寺” 附近的餐厅里吃豆芽的时候，他的身心才最为安逸。那儿的素食都是由佛教区的人士准备的，原材料大部分是未加工或蒸好的，没有一丁点对血管有害的油脂。但这一罕见的待客之道好像也已被取消了，我最近一次去的时候，看到玻璃板下的菜单上出现了价格公道的“松鼠鱼”和“糖醋里脊”。
Daxingshan likely dates back to the Western Jin Dynasty (265-316 AD), andwas renovated during and after the time of the Sui (581-618 AD). The currentplan, as recorded on pictorial stele, was set out in 1725. Like Xiangji, itreached a pinnacle of importance during the later Tang Dynasty, propelled togreatness by the Royal Family’s promotion of Buddhism. A disciple of the IndianVarjabodhi (671-741) named Amoghavajra (or “Pukong” in Chinese) (705-74)followed his Master to Chang’an. Whereas Varjabodhi sojourned briefly at the Jianfu Templeon the site of the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, the younger man survived longenough to be expelled fromChinaalong with all other foreign monks in 741 AD. Armed with holy texts gatheredfrom across the sub-continent, he was to return to Chang’an five yearsthereafter and established himself as a leading luminary of Esoteric Buddhismat Daxingshan.
“大兴善寺” 始建于西晋，隋朝和后来都有扩建。现在的全貌，根据石碑上的图载记录完成于1725年。和“香积寺” 一样，“大兴善寺” 在后唐最为辉煌，因皇室弘扬佛法而声名鹊起。印度密宗大师金刚智的弟子不空随师至长安（不空Amoghavajra音译为阿目佉跋折罗，意译为不空金刚，又名不空三藏法师，不空大师，或称不空智，唐玄宗赐号“智藏”——译者注），他在“小雁塔”的的“荐福寺” 短暂旅居过，这位年轻人寿高，一直活到了公元741年和其它外国和尚被中国驱逐出境。五年后，他带着从次大陆收集的佛经返回长安，从那以后，他就成了“大兴善寺” 佛教密宗的领袖人物。
Such was Amoghavarja’s perceived sphere of influence that he washeadhunted and taken prisoner during An Lushan’s failed – yet costly - rebellionagainst the Tang rulers in 757. He advanced towards completion his scheme topurify the monarchy and the capital. Two years later he initiated the SuzongEmperor (reigned 756-62) as the cakravartin (justruler according to the Buddhist faith), and he is said to have broughtsupernatural protection upon his successor Daizong (762-79). His recital of theHumane King Sutra (Ren Wang Jing) putdown a 200 000-strong army of rebels led by the renegade commander Pugu Huaien,who had previously been helped the emperor suppress An Lushan. Legend has itthat Pugu Huaien dropped dead on the spot as Amoghavarja was spouting forth hissutra and the renegade forces never reached Chang’an proper. The cause of deathmay have been a timely cardiac infarction brought about by the stress ofinvasion as opposed to divine intervention.
不空的影响非同一般，公元757年，在安禄山起兵反唐，付出沉重代价但却失败了的战争中，不空被通缉并入狱。他想完成自己净化皇室和首都的计划，两年后，他为肃宗授“转轮王”（即佛教中的圣王）。据说他还为代宗带来了神的庇护，通过吟诵《仁王经》，打败了由仆固怀恩率领的二十万叛军，仆固怀恩曾经帮肃宗镇压过安禄山。传说中讲，不空开口吟经，仆固怀恩就倒地而死，而叛军也从没有打到长安。仆固怀恩之死也许是因为征战劳累，当时恰好犯了心肌梗塞，而不是因为有神明的干预。
Daxingshan itselfretains a heart-stopping quality thanks to two of the smaller temple loftsrenovated in 2006. The “Temple of thePeace-Offering Buddha” (Pingan DizangDian) and the “Templefor Dizang, who drives away bitterness” (JiukuDizang Dian) assault the temple-goer with sculpted tableaux of theafterlife as delineated through the different levels of the cosmos.High up in the murky blue nooks of the ceiling, deities greet small mannequinsrepresenting the souls of the faithful dead ascending up into heaven. Myabiding thought is that not many people who enter those rooms could possiblyallow themselves to stay long enough to survey the upper reaches of eachdiorama. That is, unless they instinctively avert their gaze upwards from themonstrosities which line the floorboards. The tortures of the underworld aredepicted in life-sized carvings. Curt notices – utterly unnecessary – describethe punishments being meted out upon the damned. The “bed of knives” has a manskewered to bench from which protrudes a dozen fixed blades. The “pecked-outeyes” has a fellow kneeling with his hands tied behind his back. An eagleperched on his shoulder has ravenously sunk its beak into both ocular socketsresulting in squirts of blood and a tongue extended through sheer pain to fullyeighteen inches in length. The unfortunates in the “hot-pot of souls” are beingboiled to the brink of disintegration by a scaly demon. Words can scarcely dojustice to several of the images. Probably the worst fate befalls a man whosebody has been cracked in half and is fed into a quern. A soup of ground visceragushes out of the bottom.
“大兴善寺” 本身给人的震撼在于2006年修缮后的两座殿阁，一个是“平安地藏殿”， 另一个是“救苦地藏殿”，其里面的整体雕塑群所表现的是阴曹地府里的众生像。在深蓝色、高高的天花板上的凹陷处，众菩萨在迎接一些小小的人儿，这些人代表着忠实的弟子死后其灵魂到了天国。我觉得到这两个殿里来的人没有多少会花时间去看上面的立体模型，除非是人的目光本能的从地板上可怕的景象中往上看。阴曹地府里的酷刑雕塑很逼真，没有必要做简单的介绍，都描述的是对下地狱者的惩罚。“刀山”是把一个人穿在有十几个刀刃的木板上。“啄眼”是一个人被反绑双手跪在地上，肩上站着一只鹰，不停的狠啄其两个眼眶，人的眼里冒血，疼得舌头掉出来老长。不幸下“油锅”的则是一个被恶鬼快煮烂了的人。也许最残酷的是一个人被撕成两半，塞进了“石磨”，底下磨出来的是肉酱。
The memory of these gut-wrenching scenes etches itselfmore deeply than the celestial visions to be had in the other temple halls. Forme, the first taste of the diorama was mildly disconcerting whilst the rematchwas downright terrifying. Once inside the “Temple or Dizang” for the second time, thedoors closed behind me apparently without assistance. A soundtrack of sparsemusic involving a wooden percussion baseline fed into the chamber, lending asense of eerie animation to the surroundings. Riled-up I felt all but ready tobreak my nose against the timber architraves in motions of frantic escape,rather like the young Jane Eyre when she was locked inside the “Red Room.” Thedoor, it transpired, was not bolted. There had just been a random gust of windwhich pushed it to being close ajar.
这些可怕的场景比另一个殿里的天堂景象给人记忆更为深刻。对我来说，第一次看到这些模仿的场景就只是有点不舒服，但再次回忆却让我的确毛骨悚然。又一次回到“地藏殿”后，我身后的门显然是自动关上了。殿里响起来一阵带着敲打木板的微弱音乐，让四周有一种怪异的动画气氛。惊恐之中我落荒而逃，几乎在殿里的木柱过梁上撞断我的鼻梁，此情此景有点像年幼的简爱被锁进了“红房子”。后来才发现，殿门本来就没有栓，不过是一阵风把门吹成了半开半闭。
The fish and fowl seem to enjoy greater serenity atDaxingshan, for tucked away near the dormitories of the brethren, a full-moonpond teems with goldfish and other carp (probably the best place in the wholeof Xi’an for observing the Buddhist custom of releasing one’s pets back intothe “wild”) and wood pigeons peck at crumbs and grains leftby vegetarian monks.
鱼和飞禽似乎更加赏识“大兴善寺” 里的宁静，在靠近佛门弟子宿舍的地方有一个满月型的池塘，里面满是金鱼和其它的鲤鱼（也许这里是整个西安观看人们将宠物按佛教习俗放生的最佳之处）。林鸽在啄素食和尚留下来的饼渣和谷物。
Some religious sites are noteworthy less for theirarchitecture than their botanical merits. The “Green Dragon” (Qinglong) Temple is no less ancient a foundation thanthe Xiangji, though the crisp lines of the red and white buildings do notsuggest great antiquity. All of the shrines and lofts have been reconstructedwithin the last fifty years. “Qinglong” has, however, been earmarked as aspecial symbol of Sino-Japanese friendship, as one of the Japanese monks whostayed there during the Tang Dynasty, Konghai, returned to his homeland andestablished Shingnon Buddhism. The dozens of cherry trees in the complexwere sent from Shikou County inJapanin 1985 and their first blossoming each spring occasions much local interestrather like the Yoshino cherry trees in Washington DC.
有些宗教寺庙的植物优势胜过了其建筑特色。“青龙寺” 的红白建筑虽然显得不古，但其历史却和“香积寺”差不多。“青龙寺” 里的神龛和殿阁在过去的五十年里全部都经过了重建，这儿一直被认为是中日友谊的一个特殊象征。唐朝的时候，一个名为空海的日本和尚在此呆过。回到家乡后，他创立了佛教的真言宗。寺里的几十颗樱花树就是日本的失口县在1985年赠送的，每年春天樱花绽放，赏花的当地人远比华盛顿特区欣赏韩国吉野樱花的人多。
In pre-CommunistChina, certain urban temples gaineda reputation for almsgiving to the poor, much like inner-city churches in theWest. Wu Peijun, who recorded aspects of 1940s and 50s life in hisautobiographical Paintings of OldXi’an (2009) has fond reminiscences about the Wolong (“crouchingdragon”) Templeon Baishulin Jie. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month the destitutefolks who made their dwelling in caves and crevices within the fabric of thecity walls would descend on the place. After offering simple homage to theBuddha, the monks handed them bowlfuls of fortifying “eight treasure” porridgeor laba. La means either “month” or a “dayfor sacrifices” and ba denotesthe number “eight.” The gruel has no precise recipe and in this context “eight”is an approximate figure. The base ingredient is glutinous rice, to which mightbe added millet, chestnuts, dried dates, peanuts, almonds, walnuts, and melonseeds, together with desiccated fruits and a dash of brown sugar. Thischaritable custom has long since fallen by the wayside, though laba porridge is consumedthroughoutChinaboth for its religious associations and as a winter warmer. The denizens ofBeilin District are still loyal to the Wulong Temple.In 2015, there were reports of people queuing as early as 1am to be the firstin line for free laba. On ceremonialdays, the ritual candelabra in the temple yard are chockfull of candles,dripping dense red trails of wax to the ground.
在新中国成立前，城里的一些寺院像西方城市里的一些教堂一样，以救济穷人而出名。吴培均的《画说老西安》（2009年出版）记录的是二十世纪四十年代和五十年代的西安，其中有对碑林区柏树林街“卧龙寺”的回忆。在农历十二月八日，住在城墙里边的窑洞和窝棚里的穷人就会到这里来。简单的礼佛仪式一完，和尚就会给每人满满一碗“八宝粥”，也叫 “腊八粥” 。“腊”的意思是“月”或“祭奠”的意思，“八”是个数词。“腊八粥”没有具体的标准，故“八”在这里只是一个含混的数字，其基本成分是糯米，里面可以加小米、核桃、大枣、花生、栗子、瓜子、干果和一些红糖。不论是出于宗教联想还是为了冬天取暖，虽然全国各地都吃“腊八”，但“设饭”的习俗却没有延续下来。碑林区的居民依旧在“卧龙寺”礼佛，2015年据报道说，很多人从大清早一点起来就排队，为的是能得到一碗免费的“腊八粥”。在举行礼佛仪式的日子里，寺里的大烛台上立满了蜡烛，红红的粘稠蜡油都流到了地上。
Of all the holy sites I have frequented in Guanzhong, theGuangren Templein Xi’an standsin the most marked contrast to its surroundings. Occupying sixteen acres of thenorthwestern corner inside the walled city, it is the lone Buddhist foundationin the province to follow the Tibetan or Lamas rite. There are few trees of anyage hereabouts, most of them having been inadvertently felled in 1931 when abox of ammunition in a neighbouring weapons store detonated. The main entranceis flanked by eight white and gilt stupas and as one approaches from the alleyto the south its surfaces shimmer despite the stymied atmosphere.Prayer-inscribed bunting in every hue of the rainbow puts one in the mindset ofapproaching Shangri-la. A visual representation of that mythical paradise inthe northwest does in fact appear inside the temple on a vast tableau. Other accoutrements(such as the 6.6 metre-tall thousand-hand Avalokitesvara, carved by a mastercraftsmen in Zhejiang Province) are glisteningly modern, though absolutely inkeeping with their environment.
在我去过的所有关中寺庙中，西安的“广仁寺”显得与周围的环境最为不同。“广仁寺”位于西安城墙内的西北角，占地十六亩，是陕西惟一的藏传佛教（喇嘛教）寺院。这里几乎没有树，1931年，寺门外城墙所埋火药爆炸，所有树木被毁掉了。 寺院正门两侧有八座白色鎏金的佛祖八宝塔，人沿小巷来到南边，尽管周遭的气氛不同，但宝塔依旧闪闪发光。朝拜者敬献的五彩经幡像彩虹一样斑斓，使人的心境如同来到了香格里拉。寺里面的壮观情景确实让人在西北感受到了视觉中的神秘天堂。那里的其它装饰（如六点六米高的“千手观音”菩萨像，出自浙江的一位雕刻大师）虽然与周围的环境特别吻合，但却闪烁着现代色彩。
The Chinese have an old poetic phrase for expressing themajesty of religious sites – “splendid green and gold” (jin bi hui huang). At Guangren, gold and red predominate, givingthe impression of newness. This is consequence of diligent conservation and notshallow roots. The date of the temples foundation is usually given as 1703 ADin the forty-third year of the reign of the Kangxi Emperor (reigned 1661-1722AD). Despite pursuing an aggressive campaign to secure Lhasato secure for the Great Qing Empire the monarchs were then interested incultivating Tibetan Buddhism and invited Lamas fromTibet,Qinghai and other Western regions to Beijing. Guangren was ahalfway point for the abbots to sojourn on their route to the capital. Inaddition to a personal inscription by the Kangxi Emperor himself, a couple ofrelics of that vintage have survived. Just before the Hall of Steles sits thedragon-laden pediment to a lost Qing Dynasty standing stone. It appears to havebeen carved from the same material as the white marble lotus vat whichconservators have encased within a custom-made glass box. Chunky and milkywhite in hue, I had little trouble identifying this artefact in a sepia photofrom a century ago, which indicated that the vessel was salvaged from aderelict temple in the north of the city.
中国人有一句古老的话来形容宗教场所的宏伟，那就是——金碧辉煌。“广仁寺”的主色调是金黄和红色，给人一种崭新的感觉。这是因为保护的好，并非是因为历史根基浅。“广仁寺”始建于康熙皇帝执政时的1703年，当时的皇帝为了大清国的边陲安危，除了保护喇嘛外，还有意保护藏传佛教，邀请拉萨、青海和西部地区的喇嘛进京。“广仁寺”就是大喇嘛进京路过陕西时的行宫，除了康熙皇帝的御笔题词外，这里还保存有一些其它可与之媲美的古董。就在御碑亭的前面，有一面镶龙的照壁，用的石料好像是和玻璃罩内的汉白玉莲花缸相同。莲花缸厚实，呈乳白色，我好不费事的就看出这和一个世纪前一张发黄的照片上的文物一模一样，这也就证明此物是从城北一家被毁了的寺庙中抢救出来的文物。
All this having been said, should anytraveller from abroad visit Xi’an and ask to be shown the “best in town,” Inormally chaperone them to the Taoist “Temple of the Eight Immortals” (Ba Xian An) located outside the EastGate. It had eminence visited upon it at the beginning of the twentieth centurywhen the displaced Cixi took refuge there following the storming of Beijing, using thesesedate surroundings as a bolt-hole of recreation for painting peonies. The giftof 1000 taels of silver shebestowed upon the monastery out of gratitude has evidently assisted in keepingthe coffers healthy. My friend the Dutch artist Liz Bijl – for several years astudent of Mandarin at our – insisted on introducing me to its stele-richcourtyards and bamboo groves a few years back. In her estimation, the moreprecious an ancient monument is, the nearer the skyscrapers will be permittedto encroach while all the time a ring-fenced prevents any modern developmentsencroaching onto the site itself. This has been witnessed at Daxingshan and theSmall Wild Goose Pagoda and resonates at the Eight Immortals too.
说了这么多，要是有外国游客来西安并问我“城里最好”的地方在哪里时，我一般是陪人们去东门外边道家的“八仙庵”。 在二十世纪初，曾有显贵到访此地。当年北京动荡，落魄的慈禧太后来到这里避难，这个安静的场所便成了她落难时画牡丹的消遣地。为了报恩，慈禧赏银千两，这显然是帮了大忙。我的荷兰朋友，艺术家白丽诗（Liz Bijl）几年来一直在这儿学汉语，早在几年前，她就坚持为我介绍这里的牌坊和竹林。据她估计，古迹越宝贵，就越可能被摩天大楼所包围。而被栅栏围起来的东西就不会有此厄运，“大兴善寺”和小雁塔如此，“八仙庵”也不例外。
The most arresting aspect of this temple is the fervourit appears to whip up in those who drop by even casually. Incense ashes formhuge banks in the braziers. When one passes friezes proclaiming key sutras,certain characters (those for “health,” “promotion” and “prosperity”) have beenrubbed almost to the point of erasure by eager hands hoping that dabbing themwill transfer some good fortune. Despite being raised to spurn all kinds ofsuperstition and fortune telling I could not resist grabbing a slice of theaction by paying twenty yuan to pull a bamboo wand from a carousel and have aTaoist brother interpret my destiny. Upon stating that I wished to be told howmy “career prospects” would unfold, he sat motionless behind his desk and drewa biro from somewhere behind the graying tufts of sideburn which hid his ears.Doodling something indecipherable onto the sports page of the local newspaperbefore him (which I think may have been of greater interest to him than myfate) he intoned “Make more contacts with Chinese people.” Any further attemptat elaboration was refused. “I could have told you that and bought you noodlesfor lunch with the twenty yuan you would have saved,” was Liz’s exasperatedverdict.
“八仙庵”最吸引人的是能激起人的热情，那怕你是不经意间来到这里。香炉里的香灰堆成了山，当人们经过书有道家语录的柱子时，有些字如“康”、“升”和“盛”等字已经被人们用手摸得有些看不清了，人们渴望触摸这些字会给自己带来相应的好运。虽然我的教养让我不迷信，不相信算命，但我还是禁不住掺和进去了。我花二十元，抽了一次签，让一位道士给我算命。在听到我要算的是自己的“事业前程”时，坐在桌子后面的道士一动也不动，从他藏在耳朵后边的灰白鬓角里抽出一支笔，在他面前当地报纸的体育报道版面上乱画着（这让我觉得那好像比我的命运重要得多），然后对我说：“多和中国人交往。”再一细问，人家就拒绝回答了。“我就可以告诉你这一点，用你省下来的二十块钱买午饭。”白丽诗有点恼火的说。
The truest expression of serenity may be sought down theroad from Ba Xian An at the minisculeWanjisi nunnery. Founded by the ill-starred Princess Taiping in honour of hermother Wu Zetian in 705 AD, the name is taken from a line from The Book of Songs (Shi Jing): It ’time that I requite their love, But Heaven hasgrabbed them from above. yu bao yi de,hao tian wang ji (欲报以德，昊天罔极).At the time of writing it has an evacuated feel. Few monuments or idols dragtourists in, and beyond the lush main courtyard one is struck by some awesomework of renovation that must being unfolding out of hours. Adjacent to thepeacock pens are heaps of grey bricks to be incorporated into the new lofts. Eachis painted with the name of a sponsor - Li Baoyu, Wu Xiaomeng, Liu Liwen, XueYulan, Zhang Peng, Wang Cuizhu et al - who has footed fifty yuan to help endow the sisters withless dank digs.
沿着“八仙庵”，可以到比其小一点的“罔极寺”去寻找真正的宁静。“罔极寺”是命运不佳的太平公主于公元705年为给母后武则天祈福而建的，寺名取自《诗经》“欲报以德，昊天罔极”一句。在我写此文的时候，那里已让人感觉是空闲下来了。里面没有吸引游人的石碑和雕像，在苍翠的大院里，碰到的是几个小时前还在进行着的修复工作。孔雀棚的旁边有几堆用来盖新阁楼的灰砖，每一堆上都标有功德者的名字，如李宝玉、吴晓蒙、刘立文、薛玉兰、张鹏，王翠芝等等。这些人都是每人捐五十元，好帮助寺里的姐妹少呆在潮湿的地方。
Our exit was barred by a tiny interloper. Peering intoour white faces as though she were either trying to view the mirror image ofher own reflection or else audit the conditions of our souls, an octogenarianabbess with only two teeth in her head thrust a mitt in my direction. Onopening that left hand a pair of miniature bananas appeared and then doinglikewise with the right three clammy strawberries materialized on her palm. Herspeech, being neither putonghua nor Shaanxi dialect, wasincomprehensible to both of us and she merely mouthed a series of syllableswith the regularity of a wooden fish being struck. We had to eat and only whenthe fruit had gone would she scuttle back to her cloister. For once, here wassomebody not seeking donations, not asking for alms, but offering hospitality,however meagre. I wanted to be able to quote some choice line of sutra tocommend her actions, though my mind turned back to the Gospels instead: “AndJesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money intothe treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.And there camea certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And hecalled unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, Thatthis poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into thetreasury. For they all gave out of their wealth. But she, out of poverty, putin what she had to live on, everything she had.” (Mark Chapter 12, Verse 44).
我们的出口把门的是一位小老太婆，注视着我们的白脸庞，她好像是想在镜子里找到她自己，又好像是审视我们的灵魂。她是这里已近耄耋之年的女主持，嘴里只有两颗牙。她一伸左手，手里是两只小香蕉；然后又一伸右手，手里是三颗湿粘的草莓。她说的话，既不是普通话，也不是陕西话，我们两人听不懂。她很快活的嘀咕了几句话，说话的频率好像是有人在敲木鱼。我们不得不吃了，只有在我们吃完了那些水果后，她才匆忙走回了寺里。这种情况我是第一次遇到，这儿没人要我们捐功德钱；这儿的人不管怎样贫穷，但表现出的却是好客。我多想运用佛经上的名言来评价她的举止啊！但我想到的只能是《圣经》上的话:
耶稣面对奉献箱坐着，看众人怎样把钱投入奉献箱里。很多富有的人投进了很多钱。有一个穷寡妇来，投进两个小钱，值一个铜币。耶稣把他的门徒召来，对他们说：“我确实地告诉你们：这穷寡妇所投入奉献箱的，比所有的人投的更多。因为大家是从自己的富余中拿出来投进去，而这寡妇是从自己的缺乏中，把她所拥有的一切，就是她全部的养生费用都投进去了。
——引自《圣经》 马可福音第12节