Buddhism and Taoism: Life as a Dream - Essay Example

Charles Stewart Li Term Paper April 9, Dominic Cheung Life As A Dream The stories “Governor of the Southern Tributary and “TheSpendthrift and the Alchemist” conglomerate the idea of both Buddhism and Taoism. The heroes experience the rediscovery of self while living an illusionary and suffering life. When the heroes undergo the state of dreaming, they live for generations even though the dream only happened for a brief moment. In the midst of their dreams, the series of events juxtaposes the heroes back to reality. According to the lecture of Professor Cheung, “in order to achieve enlightenment, a person has to go through the ups and downs of life; from wealth to poverty and from poverty to wealth” (Cheung 3/22/10). This form of enlightenment is usually placed at the end of the story where the heroes finally awaken from their dream and have rediscovered themselves. “Governor of the Southern Tributary State” by Li Gongzuo has manifested Taoism, one of the cultural paradigms, to portray Chunyu Fen’s enlightenment after his series of tribulations. The hero began his challenging journey when he was in a tipsy state and was summoned by the King of Ashendon. During his life in Ashendon, Chunyu married the second daughter of the King in order to create an alliance between two kingdoms. The Princess’ role wasn’t only limited to being a mere princess. She also acted as the catalyst that created a life for Chunyu in the Southern Tributary State. As written in the story: ‘“just take a post,” she said, “and I will help you.” Then she spoke to the king” (Gongzuo 62). At this moment, the King suggested for Chunyu and the Princess to head for the Southern Tributary State. Chunyu, who doesn’t understand official work, bestowed Zhou and Tian the responsibility to govern the province while he carefully studies the local conditions. The Southern Tributary State benefited from the rule and showed their appreciation to the government by erecting temples or singing praises. Chunyu, Zhou and Tian have all been promoted to higher-ranking officials after being honored by the King of Ashendon. The author reinforced this idea of the illusion of time through the portrayal of Chunyu’s family. It was averred that “Chunyu had five sons and two daughters. His sons were given official posts reserved for the nobility, while his daughters were married into the royal family” (Gongzuo 64). The portrayal of the children’s marriages alone already suggests that Chunyu had lived through generations. At one point of time, the Kingdom of Sandalvine attacked the Southern Tributary State and the King ordered for an immediate assembly of army to defend against the invasion. After the invasion, both Zhou and the Princess died from illness and Chunyu requested to leave the province. As an expression of sublime mourning, the story depicted him to be: “Bowed down with grief, (as) Chunyu followed the hearse” (Gongzuo 65). The scene exemplified Chunyu’s deep love for the Princess and that there’s nothing left he could do but to accompany the person who inspired him back home. After Chunyu’s return to the capital, he was still in contact with the nobles and officers at court. A manifestation of the four noble truths of Buddhism was thereby depicted, to wit: “he behaved unconventionally and gathered around himself many associates and followers, his power growing so rapidly that the king suspect him” (Gongzuo 65). The concept of growing power relates to the second noble truth – “Sorrow comes from cravings” (Cheung 3/5/10). Sadly, the cravings lead to Chunyu’s immediate dismissal from the Kingdom of Ashendon. There was an increasingly growing fear of power. Through signs, the author illustrates diverse time frames from Chunyu’s dream. Gongzuo emphasized that “he saw his servants sweeping the courtyard…and his unfinished wine was still by the east window” (Gongzuo 67). As a contrast to showing that Chunyu has lived through a whole generation, the author used materials as a way to measure the amount of time that has actually passed. After realizing that all was but a dream, Chunyu realized that he experienced events in real life similar to that of his dream. Scenarios such as the Zhou and Tian falling ill, was one relevant instance. Chunyu finally became a Taoist after realizing that there is nothingness in the sense of no things. This was clearly manifested when: “Chunyu realized how empty his dream had been, and that all was vanity too in the world of men” (Gongzuo 69). Chunyu has finally rediscovered himself by moving up or going beyond what is implied. “The Spendthrift and the Alchemist” by Li Fuyan, on the other hand, has incorporated both Taoist and Buddhist ideas to portray the illusions that the hero has experienced. Du Zichun being a spendthrift has experienced the ups and downs of life. He experienced both wealth and poverty twice within a short time frame with the help of an old man. The vicissitudes in his life lead to the idea of Buddha’s second noble truth which is similar to the first story – Sorrow comes from cravings. Du’s habit of consuming and not investing has lead him to live a sorrowful and shameful life by constantly craving for different products. Du eventually realized this sorrowful habit and decided to help his relatives instead. The experience enabled him to learn the third noble truth of Buddhism – “Sorrow can be stopped by stopping craving” (Cheung 3/5/10). The entire time when Du has led life of poverty, his relatives refused to assist him in anyway. The guise of a strange old man who reached out for him provided the impetus for the change. Du pondered how to repay him. Du eventually met the old man in front of a Taoist temple where it was revealed that the old man was a Taoist monk. According to Professor Cheung “Taoism believes in immortality, so a lot of the Taoist are alchemists themselves” (Cheung 3/10/10). In a sense, the Taoist temple served as a rendezvous point where a cauldron placed in the central hall contains drugs being brewed. The cauldron contained what is known as the Elixir of Life. In order for the elixir to be completed, Du had to successfully brew the elixir and withstand a series of painful illusion without moving or uttering a word. Each illusion corresponds to a certain type of emotion that Du must overcome. Diverse emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, fear, hate and desire were concurrently felt. In a sense, overcoming these emotions relates to the idea of Taoism in which you have a sense of nothingness. The first illusion was the confrontation between Du and a swarm of horsemen and chariots led by a ten feet high commander. Even when the commander demanded for Du’s name, Du did not move nor speak. The second illusion would most likely correspond to fear where all the ferocious animals threw themselves at Du and threatened to swallow him. The third illusion was the sudden downpour of rain and the day growing dark. The fourth illusion was the return of the commander where Du was to be thrown into the cauldron if he still refused to mention his name, yet not a word came out from his mouth. The commander filled with rage tortured Du’s wife in the most violent manner. However, Du still remained loyal to his promise to the Taoist monk that no word shall exit his mouth. The commander had killed Su and his spirit haled before the King of Hell where he was put to numerous and painful torture. The tortures were so severe even synonymous to “melted copper …poured down his throat, he was beaten with iron roads, pounded with pestles” (Fuyan 141). Despite these grotesque and painful tortures, Du didn’t moan in pain while keeping in mind the Taoist monk. Finally, the King of Hell decided to place upon the ultimate torture – reincarnate as a woman. This concept of reincarnation links to the idea of Buddhism and the cycle of Karma. In Du’s case, he’s born as a woman due to his persistent and relentless act against the tortures. Professor Cheung averred, “back in Chinese history, being a woman is the same thing as suffering” (Cheung 3/10/10). In a sense, the King of Hell thought that by reincarnating Du as a woman, he would probably live a long and suffering life. The thought itself is worse than being tortured in hell. Du was reincarnated into a beautiful girl but never spoke a word, her family assumed that she was born mentally challenged and refused anyone who asks Du for marriage. However, there was one scholar, Lu, who didn’t take Du’s inability to speak into account and decided to marry ‘her.’ Li Fuyan also gave this notion of time as an illusion by showing that Du has experienced several generations, but in fact it only happened within a short period of time. After a couple of years into their marriage, Du gave birth to a son whom ‘she’ really loved. Lu believed that his wife wasn’t dumb and tried various ways to trick Du into speaking. Finally, he was left with only one option – killing his own son. At that moment, Du yelled out in horror for ‘she’ could not overcome the love for ‘her’ son. The story revealed that “”You succeeded in mastering joy, anger, sorrow, fear, hate and desire,” said the priest. “Only love you could not overcome”” (Fuyan 143). By failing in overcoming all the emotions tied to a human being, the Taoist monk’s attempt to create the Elixir of Life has failed. The illusions that Du experienced relates to Buddhism’s view of life, such as the idea that the body is temporary and the things we see are temporary, so in fact, it’s not reality. According to Professor Cheung, “All the sorrows are temporary, since life doesn’t last forever. We are in an illusionary state of reality” (Cheung 3/5/10). On a personal level, I thought that the hero of “The Spendthrift and the Alchemist,” Du Zichun, had a higher level of understanding about the illusions compared to Chunyu Fen. One of the factors that manifested his exemplary trait was the realization from the beginning of the illusions he was in. He was well aware about the situations and gave him more opportunities for the rediscovery of one’s self. Another factor contributing to Du’s higher level of personality is the fact that the series of tribulations were greater both in quantity and quality. Du suffered harsher physical and emotional tortures from different kinds of illusions compared to that of Chunyu’s. The physical punishment from the different levels of Hell and witnessing ‘her’ own son murdered were more intense in nature. Chunyu only went through an emotional rollercoaster that didn’t involve any physical trauma, such as leaving the Southern Tributary State after witnessing the death of Zhao and the Princess. Finally, Du has a better understanding of life after experiencing poverty. He was generous enough to lend a helping hand to his poor relatives even though they didn’t help Du when he was in need. On the other hand, Chunyu has amassed great wealth and lived a carefree life. The cultural paradigms – Buddhism and Taoism, have been the center of focus for the two stories and these ideas have constantly reinforced the notion of rediscovering one’s self while living in the illusion of reality where everything is just temporary. There are so many mysteries in life which are somehow answered through one’s dreams. The religious, cultural, social, emotional, and environmental factors are instrumental in reinforcing values and beliefs which are being manifested in one’s dreams. It is therefore apt to conclude that as Leake (1) proffered, “the idea that life, the universe and everything in it could be an illusion dates back more than 2,000 years. Chuang Tzu, the Chinese philosopher, who died in 295BC, wondered whether his entire life might be no more than a dream.” Works Cited Cheung, Dominic. "EALC145g." Lecture. Li, Gongzuo. "Governor of the Southern Tributary State." Course Reader. 56-69. Print. Li, Fuyan. "The Spendthrift and The Alchemist." Course Reader. 136-43. Print. Leake, Jonathan. “Top scientists ask: is life all just a dream?” The Sunday Times. 14 November 2004. Web. 31 March 2010. < http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article391138.ece> Read More