Baishui Zen

Some years ago when I was in school, I read Brook Ziporyn’s translation of the Zhuangzi, which is an absolutely beautiful book. Ziporyn takes tremendous care to point out words that are Zhuangzi’s own inventions, or at least usages unique to him. Furthermore, he goes into great detail in appendices and footnotes trying to explain how variable translations are possible with this very dense text, and how this might impact the intended reading. All of these issues are compounded by the style of writing, which is playful in a great many places, but also idiosyncratic, as it pushes on the limits of what philosophy had to offer at its time. In my opinion, this is a big part of why the text has persisted in its cultural significance and truly stood the test of time. It has layers to it, and it a joy to read.

When I decided I was going to embark on reading the Zen record, I encountered plenty of great translators, but none as good as Brook Ziporyn, for the simple reason that nobody was so thorough in their explanations of how they arrived at their translation, or what alternatives, if any, existed. This is not to say that the works that we have are not amazing. My copy of the Blue Cliff Record by Cleary has been flipped through and referenced enough times now that it’s well-worn and I worry it’ll start falling apart soon. Like any other enthusiast, I have spent way too much time searching the internet for discussions, and quickly realized how essential those details are. That there were references and a common symbolism was clear, even in English. But what I had failed to understand up until that point was that to make a translation was to choose a kind of interpretation. I was forced to accept the author’s interpretation. Even though they usually do not offer any commentary of their own, the choices of how to translate the text reflect something of their own views of Zen, for better or worse.

I want to have my own view of Zen. I resolved to begin learning literary Chinese. I’ll post cool things I learn about it on this blog. But I also wanted to understand the throughlines, the symbolism, the development and flow of ideas. If this was to make any sense, we’d have to follow some kind of chronology. Start at the beginning, and follow the history of China along with the record. So this I did. I got myself a textbook on literary Chinese, several dictionaries, including the specifically Buddhist one by Soothill and Hodous, and a whole ton of index cards, and have just started chipping away. I try to learn a new hanzi every day. As for the chronology, I will be following the book by Andy Ferguson, Zen’s Chinese Heritage, and tracking down as many primary sources as I can. I’ll be starting at the very beginning with Zen’s first patriarch Bodhidharma, and his essay, Two Entrances and Four Practices.

As my translations come along, I’ll post them here. I’ll try to be as thorough and transparent as I possibly can about why I choose the translations I choose. I’ll always be comparing my translations to at least one other translation that I can find, and I’ll try my best to analyze the differences. Feel free to discuss in the comments.