Regarding the poem in Chinese characters that Phan Khôi dedicated to Master Viên Thành

With the combined efforts of literature lovers, we have found materials to supplement the missing parts of the Chinese poem Phan Khôi dedicated to Master Viên Thành more than 100 years ago.

A temple in Hue (illustrative image). Source: Internet

Based on material from an article.

In mid-November 2023, I received a message from Associate Professor of Linguistics Hoang Dung. The message stated that in the article "Dharma Talks of Five Great Monks of Hue" published on the Quang Duc website on December 18, 2015, Professor Ngo Trong Anh wrote: while in Hue, after spending a night at the temple where Venerable Vien Thanh was the abbot, Phan Khoi, remembering the farewell, admired the character of the high-ranking monk and wrote a poem in Chinese characters as a gift to Venerable Vien Thanh, as follows: “Having seen all the splendor, the eyes are weary/ Sitting among people, flowers have no form/ Poetry on the wall, jade has a soul/ Grass and trees in the garden, a new Buddha Kingdom/ Coral and precious sword, a great king's descendant/ A single night in mulberry grove, knowing one's fate/ Cherishing the monastic robe as a farewell.”

(Poetic translation: Having experienced the splendor of the world, my eyes are bewildered / Fortunately, I came to the temple with a good friend / We sit together on the benches: Flowers without form / Poetry on the walls: Jade shining brightly / Beautiful plants and trees create a Buddhist scene / Precious coral and swords from time immemorial / Without a suitable place to stay, we must bid farewell / The monk, clad in his robe, sees us off to the ends of the earth).

The poem has no title, nor its original Chinese text; only a transliteration and a poetic translation exist. Oddly, the transliteration is missing the second line, which the poetic translation renders as "Fortunately, I came to the temple with a good friend."

It's also unknown when or under what circumstances the author wrote the poem. Strangest of all are the last three words of the fifth line, transliterated into Sino-Vietnamese as "cự vương tôn." There are many instances of the word "cự," but which one is being referred to, since none of the other words seem to fit the poem's meaning?

Moreover, if it's "ancient royal descendant," how can it be compared to the "new treasure sword" and the translator, according to Professor Ngo Trong Anh, Vu Hoang Chuong, who translated the poem as "from time immemorial"? Could it be that it was "ancient royal descendant" but was mistakenly digitized and uploaded online?

Therefore, when I tried to add Chinese characters to the poem, I only managed the first four lines. I got stuck on the fifth line! I was stuck because I couldn't find a suitable character for "cự," and I didn't dare use "cựu" (舊) as I had thought of, because I wasn't sure it was correct! Of course, for the sixth character in the first line of the transliteration, "nhục," I still used "nhục" (肉), even though I was still wondering why it was "nhục" and not some other, more pleasant-sounding character.

...to the content of the book "Tra Am and Master Vien Thanh"

Regarding this concern, through information shared by Associate Professor Dr. Hoang Dung, Mr. Nguyen Lam Dien painstakingly searched for the original Chinese text of the poem and some related details in the book "Tra Am and Master Vien Thanh" by Nguyen Van Thoa, published by the disciples of Ba La and Tra Am, first in 1972 and second in 2016.

Accordingly, the original text of the poem in Chinese, transliterated and translated is as follows: “閱盡繁華眼欲昏/ 忽從人海溯禪源/ 坐間人我花無相/ 壁上詩詞玉有魂/ 草樹祇園新佛國/ 珊瑚寶劍舊王孫/ 空桑一宿知無分/ 珍重袈桬送出門”.

Transliteration of Sino-Vietnamese: Duyệt tận phồn hoa mắt dục hôn/ Hốt tùng nhân hải tố thiền ngôn/ Tọa gian nhân ngã hoa vô tướng/ Bích thượng thi từ ngọc hữu hồn/ Thảo thụ kỳ viên tân phật quốc/ San hô bảo kiếm cựu vương tôn/ Không tang nhất túc tri vô phận/ Trân trọng ca sa tống xuất môn .

Vietnamese translation of the poem: Having experienced the splendor of the world, my eyes are bewildered / Fortunately, I came to the temple with a good friend / We sit together on the benches: flowers without form / Poetry on the walls: shining jade / Beautiful plants and flowers create a Buddhist scene / Precious coral and swords from time immemorial / Without a suitable place to stay, we must bid farewell / The monk, clad in his saffron robe, sees us off to the ends of the earth .

The cover of the book "Tra Am and Monk Vien Thanh".

Comparing the material from the book "Tra Am and Venerable Vien Thanh" with the article "Dharma Talks of Five Great Monks of Hue," several differences can be found.

The original second line, omitted by Professor Ngo Trong Anh's version and included by Nguyen Van Thoa, is 忽從人海溯禪源, transcribed as “hốt tùng nhân hải tố thiền ngôn” and translated as “Fortunately, I came to the temple with a good friend.” The sixth character of the first line is transcribed as “nhục” in Professor Ngo Trong Anh's version, while Nguyen Van Thoa's version writes it as 欲, transcribed as “dục”.

The fifth character in the sixth line, in Nguyen Van Thoa's version, is written as 舊, transcribed as "cựu" (old) and not "cự" as in Professor Ngo Trong Anh's version. The words "hoa" (flower) and "ngọc" (jade) in the third and fourth lines of this version are not capitalized as in Professor Ngo Trong Anh's version, which he received from Nguyen Lam Dien, and this is perhaps more logical.

Clarifying many points

The most significant difference is that Nguyen Van Thoa's version includes a short letter, also in Chinese characters, at the beginning of the poem. The original letter, translated into Vietnamese, reads as follows: Yesterday afternoon, after having the honor of meeting the venerable master, I couldn't sleep at my inn last night.

I remember when we parted, the venerable monk recited a line of poetry, and I composed a poem in the regulated verse style. I borrowed that exact line from the venerable monk and placed it at the end of my poem so I wouldn't forget it. I respectfully ask Mr. Vân Bình to take it back to the temple on my behalf. I sincerely hope the venerable monk will review and approve it.

Based on the above letter and some other documents in "Tra Am and Monk Vien Thanh," it can be estimated that Phan Khoi did this sometime between 1911 and 1914, after three years in prison for suspected involvement in the "extortion" incident in Quang Nam and neighboring provinces in 1908.

At that time, Phan Khôi was in Hue, and Venerable Viên Thành was also residing at Ba La Mật Pagoda in Nam Phổ village, about four to five kilometers from the imperial city of Hue. The specific circumstances that led to the poem's creation were that after a day of visiting and conversing with the Venerable, one night upon returning to his lodging, he couldn't sleep because he was so impressed by the virtue, innate talent, and diligent practice of Venerable Viên Thành.

Thanks to "Tra Am and Master Vien Thanh," we also learned that Phan Khoi visited Master Vien Thanh again after this visit. This was probably in early 1918, when Phan Khoi, as a correspondent for the Nam Phong newspaper, accompanied editor-in-chief Pham Quynh on a trip to Hue to observe the Nam Giao ceremony of the imperial court. During this trip, he took Mr. Pham to visit the temple and converse with Master Vien Thanh for a morning about various literary and Zen Buddhist philosophical issues.

Regarding this visit, Pham Quynh published an article in the Nam Phong magazine, issue 10, 1918, praising Venerable Vien Thanh profusely, including the passage: "The Venerable was originally from the royal family, so although he lived in the monastery, he wrote with a unique style, unlike other monks. (...) The talent of Venerable Vien Thanh is not something to be found far away; just listening to his stories is enough to know: each word is like spitting out pearls and jewels, and it seems to naturally become an impromptu poem. His calligraphy is superb, and his Nôm poetry is also excellent."

The person who translated Phan Khôi's classical Chinese poem into Vietnamese was not the poet Vũ Hoàng Chương, but Nguyễn Văn Thoa, the author of "Tra Am and Monk Viên Thành". Vũ Hoàng Chương was just one of several people, such as Venerable Thích Trí Quang, Professor Bửu Cầm, etc., whom the author invited to review and revise the text.

To obtain this information, I am grateful to many people, especially Mr. Nguyen Lam Dien and Associate Professor Hoang Dung. From the updated materials, I have finished translating the poem, although I am not entirely satisfied with it. I hope to have another translation of my father's poem: “ Playing in the bustling world, my eyes are blinded / Visiting the Zen garden, no one expected / We sit where flowers are unseen / Poetry and prose on the wall echo with the sound of strings / The trees and plants in the Zen garden are fresh with the Buddha's water / Coral and precious swords have been forged since ancient times / Resting at the Zen monastery is inconvenient / Respectfully, the master bids farewell to the guest poet .”

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