Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch
RASHKB and author
Vol 1 (1961)
ISSN 1991-7295
79
But this does not explain satisfactorily the record in the Mahavaipulya Mahasamnipata-sutra (李大集遺設堂訴言),21 in Catur-maharaja (四大天王), which maintains that each maharaja has ninety-one sons, but gives no names. And this does not explain the case (in the Janavasabha suttanta22 in chüan 5 of the Dirghagama) of the other god who, because of his accumulated merits would be re-born after his death as a son of Vaisravana in the Caturmaharajakayika (四大天王部). In the Buddha Preaching Jên-hsien Ching (作請人軟訣),* (AB jên-hsien being the Chinese translation for rsi jina) concerning the future of King Bimbisara (望界藤王), it is alleged that he would be re-born as the son of Vaisravana,
Perhaps such confusion would explain why the author of the Fêng-shên, though knowing a good many of the Tantric legends, and adopting (in Ch.99 of the novel)23 the Chinese names for the four heavenly kings as "Protectors of the Tripitaka and the Country, and Regulators of Wind and Rain", abandoned the use of the name of Tu Chien and, in order to make his name conform to those of his younger brothers, invented Chin-cha ("金吳), as the name of the eldest son of Li Ching. Chin-cha, though his origin does not appear in any reliable records, may, I suspect, come from the Tantric dharanis. Also, I have found in Act 1 of the anonymous play, Yüeh-ming Ho-shang Tu Liu-ts'ui (月明和尚堂留利清)24 of the Yuan dynasty, the following words chanted by a priest:
An! Ch'ih ling Chin-cha, Chin-cha, Sêng Chin-cha, Wo chin wei ju chieh Chin-cha, Chung pu wei ju chieh Chin-cha, An!
(Listen! I am speaking of Chin-cha. Chin-cha, monk Chin-cha, I come to release you from Chin-cha, not to tie you up with Chin-cha. Listen! 哈！我今為你解金吳, 终不為你縋金吳。哈！)
Since the author of the Fêng-shên was interested in both Buddhism and Taoism and is proved to have known many plays and other works of popular literature, he might have made use of materials such as those quoted above, in his creation of his characters.
3. A LUMP OF FLESH WAS BORN
The story of No-cha's mother giving birth to him, in Ch.12 of the Fêng-shên Yen-i is as follows:
Li Ching's wife, née Yin, had been pregnant for three years and six months, so he became very much vexed at it.
The wife dreamed one night at three strokes of the watch
21 No. 397, translated by Dharmaraksa.
22 Tseng-chang, Kuang-mu, To-wên, Ch'ih-kuo, see No. 665, Suvana-prathasa Sutta Sutra (Chin-kuang-ming Tsui-shêng-wang Ching 金光明最膤王訣), 11 & 12.
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