Tract of the Hidden Deeds

Why this is mentioned here

Tract of the Hidden Deeds

As we saw yesterday, Jia Zhen’s father Jia Jing is cooped up in a monastery somewhere. He is spending his time reading a tract he calls 陰騭文, or The Tract of Hidden Merits.

Actualy, the full name of this Taoist text appears to be 文昌帝君陰騭文, or The Tract of the Hidden Deeds of Imperial Lord Wenchang. It’s an actual text, too, and not just something that was created. In fact, you can read the entire text here; it’s not even all that long.

So why in the world is there a reference to a random Taoist text in the middle of this novel?

First of all, we need to remind ourselves who Jia Jing is. It’s been a while since we’ve even seen him mentioned.

He’s one of the many characters that Jia Yucun and Leng Zixing were gossiping about way back in chapter 2:

子興嘆道：「正說的是這兩門呢！待我告訴你：當日寧國公與榮國公是一母同胞弟兄兩個。寧公居長，生了兩個兒子。寧公死後，長子賈代化襲了官，也養了兩個兒子。長子名賈敷，八九歲上死了。只剩了一個次子賈敬，襲了官，如今一味好道，只愛燒丹鍊汞，別事一概不管。幸而早年留下一個兒子，名喚賈珍，因他父親一心想作神仙，把官倒讓他襲了。他父親又不肯住在家裡，只在都中城外和那些道士們胡羼。

“It’s a perfect description of those two houses!” exclaimed Zixing. “Let me explain. The Duke of Ningguo and the Duke of Rongguo were twin sons of the same mother. The elder, Ningguo, had two sons. After his death, his firstborn son Jia Daihua inherited the title and also fathered two sons. The eldest of these, Jia Fu, was 8 or 9 when he died. That left the younger son, Jia Jing, to inherit what the title. But all he cares about are Taoist pursuits, things like alchemy and elixirs.

“Fortunately, Jia Jing had a son in his earlier years named Jia Zhen. Since his father was completely occupied with becoming an immortal, the hereditary title passed to Jia Zhen instead. His father refuses to live at home and now wanders around outside the walls of the capital, mixing with Taoist charlatans.”

In other words, we can expect that Cao Xueqin isn’t going to present Jia Jing as some sort of possessor of secret or hidden wisdom. Most of the things he is studying is claptrap, since it comes from the “Taoist charlatans” (道士們胡羼).

Now, the irony becomes apparent when you actually read what The Tract of Hidden Merits says. It’s a short work filled with brief proverbs that give advice on handling worldly concerns.

For example, there’s this part:

存平等心，擴寬大量。

忠主孝親，敬兄信友。

Hold a mind of universal equality; expand a capacity of great magnanimity.
Be loyal to your sovereign and filial to your parents; revere elder brothers and be faithful to friends.

Now, how in the world could Jia Jing square that with his refusal to allow his son and other family members to properly celebrate his birthday with him? It’s a direct contradiction of the text.

This section is similar:

矜孤恤寡，敬老憐貧。

Cherish the orphan and pity the widow; revere the aged and show compassion for the poor.

And then there are admonitions that are obviously worldly, which makes Jia Jing’s refusal to spend any time with his family seem absolutely bizarre:

勿登山而網禽鳥，勿臨水而毒魚蝦。

勿宰耕牛，勿棄字紙。

Do not climb mountains to net birds and fowl; do not approach waters to poison fish and shrimp.

Do not slaughter the plow ox; do not discard paper with written characters.

Anyway, as usual, Cao Xueqin is not using some random text that he doesn’t know the meaning of. He’s poking fun at Jia Jing and at the seriousness and reverence that some people use as their approach to life.

But, unfortunately, if you’re not familiar with the underlying text, the reference will be completely lost on you.