Purification rites

Wang Xizhi slammed the table in indignant anguish. "What can be done? What can be done?"

Beside him, Xi Yin had no idea how to comfort him. The older sons of the Wang Family seated below were equally at a loss, merely exchanging looks. With his back to his father and his uncle by marriage, Xi Chao glanced sideways into the courtyard, acting as though he had heard nothing.

Liu Acheng, however, seemed very conscious of his responsibilities. He took the initiative, cupped his hands, and said, "Why torment yourself over the state of the whole realm, Princes and Dukes? As the saying goes, 'High in the halls of government, one worries for the people; far away among rivers and lakes, one worries for one's sovereign'... You now live in Kuaiji without holding any office. That doesn't mean you shouldn't feel anguish. If you felt none and devoted yourself solely to lofty discourse, ignoring the millions plunged into misery, you would be willingly sinking into depravity, no different from rotten wood and decaying grass. But agonizing over things beyond your power is equally futile... In my humble opinion, if you truly wish to help, don't concern yourself with whether the Northern Expedition succeeds or fails. Those things really are beyond your reach. Simply work to preserve unity-that, at least, is something you can do."

Wang Xizhi was visibly moved by these words, and hope entered his expression. His response, however, was peculiar. Rather than looking at Liu Acheng, who had addressed him several times, he turned to Xi Yin. "Even far away in Kuaiji, can we help preserve unity at court?"

Xi Yin started to speak, then stopped. All he could do was raise a hand toward the boy. "Acheng, explain."

"Of course." Liu Acheng showed no reaction to Wang Xizhi's odd manner of answering. He merely assumed the man was proud of his lofty lineage and unwilling to speak directly to someone like him. But wasn't overcoming precisely that contempt his greatest objective in coming to Kuaiji, at least in theory? Thus, he remained composed. "Kuaiji is a gathering place for renowned scholars living in retirement. And the renowned scholars of our dynasty, particularly since the migration south, have always differed from those of earlier times. First, they all come from distinguished families; second, they move in and out of official life... As the leader of Kuaiji's scholars, why not gather the distinguished men of the surrounding region after the New Year, when spring is warm and flowers bloom, and hold a Spring Purification Ceremony during the Shangsi Festival?

"At that time, young and old would gather, and all the worthy men would arrive. As everyone gazed up at the universe and examined the myriad things below, they could also pray for the nation's well-being. Once the event was over, you could ask men skilled in expressing themselves to compose letters to General Huan, Yin Yangzhou, and even the Prince of Kuaiji, urging them to unite in purpose. With all the worthies signing their names, those letters would show where the people's sympathies lay."

Wang Xizhi stroked his beard without speaking, plainly tempted.

Xi Chao was just about to speak when his own father, seated behind him, eagerly interrupted. "Acheng, what forms do Spring Purification Ceremonies take in the north? Do northern Daoists have related zhai jiao rituals?"

"Of course they do." Under Xi Jiabin's faintly horrified gaze, Liu Acheng answered with his head held high. "As far as I know, spring purification rites are divided into Private Purification Ceremonies and Public Purification Ceremonies... Private ceremonies chiefly involve Floating Cups Along the Winding Stream, composing poetry, and painting..."

"That is correct." Wang Xizhi finally responded directly to the boy before him. "That tradition was handed down from Golden Valley Garden—Floating Cups Along the Winding Stream and compiling a collection of poems. Even without this matter, I had long wanted to hold such a gathering."

"And the Public Purification Ceremony?" Xi Yin continued.

"For the Public Purification Ceremony, people gather beside a great river or lake, anoint themselves with fragrance and bathe, and have Daoists perform a Grand Daoist Ritual to pray to Heaven for blessings. Then the common people race dragon boats. I seem to remember a stage where garlands are presented to scholars and commoners, too... We'll need Master Lu to come quickly for that." Liu Acheng rattled it off without the slightest hesitation.

He had already asked around in the kitchen. The Spring Purification Ceremony was a routine affair: bathing to dispel illness on the third day of the third month, during the Shangsi Festival, with women praying for children and so forth. But the legendary gathering where "all the worthies arrived, young and old assembled, Floating Cups Along the Winding Stream, everyone seated along its banks"—Wang Xizhi had genuinely never held anything like that yet.

It was now the fifth year of Yonghe, soon to become the sixth. The grand occasion that had stirred Wang Xizhi so deeply that he recorded it especially was still three or four years away!

Liu Acheng couldn't care less about butterfly effects or squandering a heavenly treasure. Every waking moment, he wanted to climb higher. He couldn't wait! He still had to build a fortified manor, become a high official, and launch a Northern Expedition! Compared with others his age, he didn't even have a wife yet!

"If that is so, Acheng, let me ask you something." Xi Yin pressed on relentlessly, seeming like an entirely different man from the one who had discussed the broader situation of the Northern Expedition earlier. "Does performing a Grand Daoist Ritual during a Public Purification Ceremony and praying for the nation genuinely have an effect?"

"It certainly has an effect." Liu Acheng gave a dry laugh and continued making things up. "But that effect may not manifest itself... Lord Xi, just think about it. When an ordinary person prays for blessings for his own household, even after exhausting every ritual, the result still depends on his everyday good and evil deeds and whether the ritual was complete. How much more so when praying for a nation? If the entire country united in purpose and everyone performed the ritual together, naturally it could succeed. But we are merely the people of one commandery, or even one city. What can we achieve, however hard we try? Not to mention the northern refugees who resent the state. As one force ebbs, the other rises—that is precisely the foundation of the Spring Purification Ceremony."

Xi Yin looked distinctly bewildered, probably unable to understand why they should perform this Grand Daoist Ritual if it was useless.

"Put that way, it is precisely proof that it works," Wang Xizhi suddenly interjected. "What is the Spring Purification Ceremony? Aren't they meant to purge the sickness and ill fortune that accumulate in the human body? Holding a Public Purification Ceremony for the nation likewise purges the ill fortune accumulated within the state through resentment among the people... The sages of old said that the great affairs of state were warfare and sacrifice. That shows the importance of sacrificial rites. A public ceremony is therefore entirely appropriate... And the northern Jie Hu were so brutal, yet their great collapse only came after Shi Hu died. Wasn't that because they ordinarily paid fairly close attention to warfare and sacrifice?"

Liu Acheng kept his mouth shut.

"Is that so?" Xi Yin looked noticeably surprised, then turned back to Liu Acheng.

"It is." Liu Acheng again answered with his head held high. "And there is more. While the public benefits of a Public Purification Ceremony may not readily appear, its private benefits are quite evident... Pray for the nation, distribute benefits to the people, and have a Grand Daoist Ritual convey it all to Heaven. Blessings will naturally descend and extend to your descendants... The Daoist saying, 'Those who inherit receive what came before; those who bear the burden pass it on afterward,' and Buddhism's three retributions theory both express this principle."

Xi Yin and Wang Xizhi both tilted their heads back on their couches, clearly stirred, yet seemingly somewhat puzzled as well.

Liu Cheng felt no burden on his conscience whatsoever... He had been here for several days now. How could he not know the ways of these people? Take Xi Yin: he had amassed wealth while in office, and his family had more money stashed away than they could spend. If this public religious event could induce him to spend some of it, then, bluntly put, that alone was a great charitable deed.

And it wasn't just Xi Yin. Distinguished men such as Wang Shu and Sun Chuo, great and small alike, amassed wealth whenever they could, openly taking from government treasuries and seizing land. Corruption of a scale people in later ages-including two hundred years earlier or two hundred years later-would find inconceivable was considered natural and widespread at this time.

Wasn't coaxing money out of these men an act of charity?

Even if Wang Xizhi's household joined in, at the very least its slave retainers would get an extra meal of goose meat, wouldn't they?

"I know the Daoist saying about those who inherit and those who bear the burden. But what is Buddhism's 'three retributions theory'?" Xi Chao's focus was as unusual as ever.

"You don't know, Jiabin? Like 'emptiness is form, and form is emptiness,' it is one of Buddhism's most basic teachings." Liu Acheng answered earnestly. "The three retributions theory says that good, evil, blessings, and calamities don't merely bring retribution in this lifetime. There is also retribution in the next life and in later lives... Surely you know Buddhism's teaching of reincarnation?"

Xi Chao froze in astonishment. Xi Yin and Wang Xizhi were likewise startled and perplexed, before understanding dawned on them.

In truth, Liu Acheng had misjudged the situation.

What he didn't know was that the systematic emergence of the "three retributions theory" was historically connected to this very fellow, Xi Chao... Xi Chao clearly had a rebellious streak toward his father. His father was miserly, so he was generous. Later, he frequently built large houses free of charge for distinguished scholars in Shan County. Among them was Dai Kui, a scholar primarily devoted to Confucian learning who also excelled at calligraphy, painting, architecture, and sculpture. Thanks to Xi Chao's patronage, he settled in Shan County, and through making Buddhist statues and building temples, developed extensive connections with Buddhism.

During this process, Dai Kui's grounding in Confucianism led him to disdain the Buddhist doctrine of retribution. He thought it was good as a means of encouraging people to do good, but not necessarily true, because real life offered far too many cases of evildoers escaping punishment and good people suffering misfortune.

Thus Huiyuan, the first patriarch of the Pure Land School, who had only recently migrated south at the time, specifically expounded the "three retributions theory" in response, completing the theoretical framework of Buddhist retribution.

In other words, the foundations of the "three retributions theory" were already perfectly sound at this time. Similar ideas were common among ordinary people, Buddhists, and Daoists, but they had not yet been systematically expounded.

Liu Acheng's words had therefore landed right on the beat. These distinguished southern scholars had no reason to doubt him. They would merely think that too many teachings from the north had failed to reach them.

"What a pity!" Xi Yin sighed. "Then a Public Purification Ceremony is feasible, too... But the Shangsi Festival lasts only one day. If we hold a Public Purification Ceremony, it will interfere with a Private Purification Ceremony; if we hold a Private Purification Ceremony, it will interfere with a Public Purification Ceremony."

"Exactly." Wang Xizhi sighed as well. "To be honest, Fang Hui, I would like to hold both."

"Has Master Lu still not arrived?" Xi Yin was visibly growing anxious again.

"If he is willing to come, he certainly won't miss the Shangsi Festival," was all Liu Acheng could say. "Besides, we have already sent someone to invite him."

Xi Yin was utterly helpless.

At this point, Xi Chao could bear it no longer. He pulled Liu Cheng outside, taking him to the courtyard where the geese were kept. Only then, under cover of their honking, did he ask, "Of all the things you said, which were true and which were false?"

"The procedures for both public and private ceremonies were invented, but all the supporting principles I quoted were genuine... And so were my hopes." Liu Acheng was completely frank. "If the nation can achieve even the slightest unity, allowing a few more people in the Central Plains to survive, that is always a good thing. Of course, beyond that, first, I want to keep promoting Lu Song; second, I want to participate myself and seize the chance to make a name for myself. Which part concerns you, Jiabin?"

"None of them," Xi Chao answered honestly. "If they did, I would have had you beaten to death that day at Master Shen's-Zhu Faqian's-temple... What I want to ask is whether the three retributions theory really is common knowledge in Buddhism in the north."

"Of course." Liu Acheng was baffled. In his view, the three retributions theory was a basic Buddhist teaching. Even if the south apparently lacked that formulation at present, once he stated it, monks would naturally defend it for him, so he had no reason to feel insecure. "Is there something wrong with the three retributions theory?"

"It isn't wrong. It is far too right." Xi Chao's expression was solemn. "Yet none of the eminent monks I usually meet here in Kuaiji has ever mentioned it to me... If they knew, there would be no reason not to tell me. Look, even my uncle and my father clearly didn't know."

So you genuinely believe in this? Liu Cheng was momentarily speechless, but found it difficult to say anything further.

"Let me ask you something else. 'Emptiness is form, and form is emptiness'-is that also common knowledge in the north?" Xi Chao continued, his expression growing increasingly serious.

"That truly is a fundamental Buddhist teaching." Liu Acheng was finally left utterly speechless.

In fact, however little he knew about the subject, he still knew this was not merely a basic Buddhist teaching, but the most outstanding philosophical contribution of medieval South Asia, for goodness' sake! How could Buddhism possibly lack even this? Even if it had not spread here yet, its theoretical foundations existed, and nobody would reject it.

Besides, when they first met, hadn't Xi Jiabin used precisely that argument in his defense?

"As I recall, didn't you say 'form is emptiness' the very first time we met?" At this thought, Liu Acheng finally frowned and asked.

"No, no, no." Xi Chao slowly shook his head. "What I said that day was... 'Form is emptiness, but not the emptiness of annihilation!'"

"What does that mean? What is 'not the emptiness of annihilation'?" Liu Acheng was briefly bewildered.

"It means that form is essentially emptiness, but one cannot pursue emptiness blindly or deny form completely... Form also has some validity," Xi Chao explained earnestly. "There is no need to destroy form to realize emptiness."

Liu Acheng suddenly laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" Goose bumps suddenly rose all over Xi Chao.

"Jiabin, I have no intention of questioning your faith. Take me, for instance. If you asked whether I believed in the Daoist Patriarch or the Buddha, or in something unseen that may or may not exist, I wouldn't dare discuss it too freely either." Liu Acheng spoke earnestly. "But as for proving that form is emptiness without destroying form-with your intelligence, can you truly not understand the reasoning behind it?"

Xi Chao stared at him in silence, plainly waiting.

"When I was at Xie Eastern Mountain's house, he asked me to discuss the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove because I came from Qiao Commandery..." Liu Acheng recounted that earlier episode. "At the time, I only passed because I was on my guard. Later, after coming to your home and taking the opportunity to read, I finally understood what was going on... Wasn't it simply that Ji Kang towered above the other Seven Sages, yet Wang Rong was the one who ultimately won? And now every distinguished scholar follows Wang Rong's example. They want fame, wealth, enjoyment of life, control over public opinion, leisurely freedom, and high office, all at once. Their so-called metaphysical learning mustn't interfere with Confucian learning either... In other words, today's aristocratic clans want everything."

Xi Chao opened his mouth, but made no sound.

Seeing this, Liu Acheng still said nothing about form being emptiness. Instead, he brought up Daoism, which the other boy rather disliked. "Think about the historical records. During the two Han dynasties, cultivating the Dao meant withdrawing into mountains and forests, cut off from the mundane world. Holding office had even less to do with it. But after the migration south, someone-I don't know who-began revising the doctrine here South of the Yangtze. Holding office no longer interfered with cultivating the Dao; officials could achieve immortality too. As a result, Daoism won the esteem of the great aristocratic houses and flourished everywhere... Isn't that right?"

Xi Jiabin was exceptionally intelligent. He simply waved a hand, stopping him from going any further.

Liu Acheng likewise stopped once he had made his point, with no intention of continuing the discussion. Clearly, however much Xi Chao might be an Ancient People's Benefactor, he could hardly remain entirely candid when faced with a question that required directly challenging his own faith.

Quite the opposite: with Xi Jiabin's intelligence, he must have guessed that possibility immediately, perhaps even back in the hall. This teaching of realizing emptiness without destroying form was simply a modified doctrine that the monks who migrated south had devised to cater to aristocratic clans who wanted everything. Yet at the same time, the boy's pride made him unwilling to admit that he had fallen into a trap of religious thought created by people catering to him.

That would be every bit as foolish as his father's fawning devotion to Daoism!

Yes, over the past few days, Liu Acheng had more or less figured it out.

Or rather, very few people in the world could escape a similar fate-a person's behavioral traits were often formed during youth through imitation of and rebellion against their father's generation.

Xi Chao was human too. Intelligent though he was, the workings of his personality really were that straightforward. His father was so foolish, yet that same father genuinely loved him... Unable to escape, profoundly dissatisfied, and still full of love-what could he do?

So, you fawn over Daoism; I study Buddhism.

You covet wealth; I am generous and unrestrained.

You set your heart on retirement; I concern myself with affairs of state and watch developments in the north.

You indulge in vague abstractions; I am practical and incisive.

Indeed, your generation is looked down upon by my uncle's family, so I will look down upon my cousins.

And everything I do is for your own good. I can bring greater prosperity to the family than you can. I will prove to you that I am the one who is right!

It was that simple.

That was why Liu Acheng simply did not dare discuss those Buddhist tricks directly with him... He could work it out for himself.

Even young Werther had his sorrows. Was Xi Jiabin alone supposed to possess peerless virtue in his teens?

There was nothing special about this gathering at the end of the twelfth month. It was simply an ordinary visit between relatives. For these two households, the other was the only respectable set of relatives they had in Kuaiji. It would have been strange not to visit.

After staying together for two or three days, the Xi Family returned to their own estate in Shan County before the New Year.

Then Liu Acheng discovered, to his surprise, that Lu Song and Liu Dage had arrived there a day earlier.

At that speed... what need was there for Xi Yin to urge them on? Clearly, certain people were already unable to wait.

"Brother Acheng, words of thanks cannot repay so great a kindness." In the guest room, Lu Song, wearing a crimson cloak, bowed deeply. "I will engrave this favor in my heart."

"Brother Song." Liu Acheng, who had hurried over as soon as he heard, was utterly speechless. "More haste, less speed... Coming this quickly, did you visit Master Du Ming in Qiantang? Did you visit Master Xu and the others in Shanyin? Even on my trip to Shanyin, I knew to set aside half a day to drink fragrant tea at Master Xu's... How could you rush here so quickly, and come straight over?"

"You're right." Lu Song started in alarm, evidently realizing his mistake. "Then what should I do? Xi Linhai must already know I came here first. Will he look down on me...?"

"It isn't too late to mend the pen after the sheep have escaped," Liu Acheng promptly reminded him. "When you see Lord Xi shortly, simply say that you were grateful for his generous invitation and worried that his health had not recovered after swallowing talismans, so you came to check on him first. Draw him a talisman, then take your leave immediately. Don't linger at all. Go straight to Master Du Ming's house in Qiantang... None of Master Du Ming's sons amounts to much. I'll speak to Xi Jiabin shortly and ask him to give you some gifts and money to take along. Bribe Master Du Ming's sons. Once you have Master Du Ming's endorsement, things here will be settled. As for the masters inside Shanyin, you should understand their relationships better than I do, so I won't get involved."

Lu Song cupped his hands repeatedly and was just about to speak when the footsteps of several people, including the clacking of wooden clogs, sounded outside.

Then someone called from a distance, "Is Master Lu from the north here?! Xi Yin, a junior student of the Dao, has come!"

Upon hearing the news, Xi Yin had actually come in person to welcome him at the guest rooms.

"That is Lord Xi. Remember, don't cling to the opportunity, and don't lower your standing... Just concern yourself with his health. Worry that insufficient mastery of Daoist arts has damaged his foundations and obstructed his cultivation." As he spoke, Liu Acheng pushed him straight out the door. "Whatever he asks, you know it all, but right now you must go visit Master Du Ming."

Only when voices rose outside did Liu Acheng lower his head and emerge. Under Xi Jiabin's peculiar gaze, he stood smiling in a corner of the corridor, hands folded, as though he had only just heard news of his northern friend Lu Song and followed someone here.

The Buddhist monk Master Zhu was a native of Kuaiji and a close associate of Wang Tanzhi, the Jin dynasty's Northern General of the Gentlemen of the Household. Whenever they discussed death and life, sin and merit, blessings and retribution, they found these matters obscure and difficult to understand. Thus they agreed that whichever of them died first would return to inform the other.

Years later, Wang suddenly saw the master appear in a temple. He said, "I died on such-and-such a day of such-and-such a month. Sin and merit are no illusion; their consequences follow like echoes and shadows. Benefactor, you need only diligently cultivate the Way and virtue, so that you may rise to the divine realm. We previously agreed that whoever died first would report to the other, so I have come to tell you." Having spoken, he suddenly vanished.

Tanzhi died soon afterward as well.

-A Sequel to In Search of the Supernatural, expanded and revised by Tao Qian of Qi.

PS: Many thanks to Lord Tiger King Qiao E for becoming a league patron. I'm endlessly grateful... That username looks familiar.