Chapter 47: Pragmatism

The weather gradually turned cold, and the autumn rain poured down like a cascade.

In a small residence near Liu Kuan's manor, Xu You, still damp from the rain, had barely stepped into someone's room before he hastily lifted his heels and exclaimed, "Aiyaya, more has come? Which family sent paper this time?"

"The Zuo clan of Donglai." Gongsun Xun, sprawled on the floor arranging sheets of paper, answered without raising his head. "This Zuo family paper is dense, smooth, and lustrous — the finest paper I have ever seen. With paper like this, I fear it could directly serve for books to be passed down through the ages..."

"How is it that I recall Donglai was precisely where your family's trading firm had its operations, Brother Xun?" Xu You frowned upon hearing this and asked. "Back when your esteemed mother offered a reward seeking paper, the Zuo clan should have known about it, no?"

"More than just knew." Gongsun Xun sighed, yet continued sprawled on the floor sorting the paper. "Brother Ziyuan, you are unaware — this Zuo Bo, Zuo Ziyi, is a calligrapher renowned throughout Qingzhou, specializing in the bafen script, and his family's paper-making workshop is also quite famous. Back then, my mother specially sent people to his home to request paper, and they were utterly ignored. Yet this Court Physician Cai never even asked the Zuo clan for anything, but once word spread, they traveled a thousand li without hesitation to send their paper, and even their craftsmen, all delivered here. And Brother Ziyuan, have you heard? Wei Duan of the Jingzhao Wei clan actually submitted a memorial to the court, insisting that the stone classics absolutely must be written with his family's ink, otherwise they would lack the divine essence..."

"Aiya..." Xu You stroked his beard and shook his head repeatedly. "This sort of thing, this sort of reputation-seeking affair, it is indeed... but Brother Xun, Wei Duan aside, this matter of Zuo Bo... times have changed, there is no need for you to dwell on it."

Gongsun Xun nodded slightly, thinking to himself that he knew you would say that, just as his own clansman, upon learning of this matter, would surely say something like, "When we brothers achieve wealth and rank in the future, we must make that fellow Zuo look good."

"Is Bogui not here?" Xu You continued to look around with feigned nonchalance.

"My elder brother has a wide circle of acquaintances." Gongsun Xun remained bent over on the floor. "Lately, he has been particularly congenial with that Yuan Gonglu and often lingers over there. Today, I heard that Cai Mao of the Cai clan of Xiangyang in Nan Commandery has also been summoned and appointed as a Gentleman. This Cai Mao is the nephew of Zhang Wen, General Who Calms the Waves, and the Cai clan is a great house of Xiangyang, so Yuan Gonglu holds him in considerable regard. He is hosting a banquet at his residence today, and my elder brother set off at noon to attend..."

"So that is how it is." Xu You remarked with a touch of emotion. "The matter of the stone classics is now an event that draws the eyes of all under Heaven. A total of forty-eight stone steles were assigned. Only the first was erected days ago, yet over a thousand carts came to copy it, blocking the road from the Imperial Academy all the way to Kaiyang Gate... You brothers, overseeing the engraving of the Mao Odes and Han Odes on behalf of your respective teachers, have naturally risen in the esteem of scholars and nobles alike — it is only to be expected."

"Who says it isn't?"

"However..."

"What does Brother Ziyuan wish to say?"

"However, why did Brother Xun not go to Yuan Gonglu's residence? Was it not said that Cai Mao was coming?"

"What benefit are such people to me?" Gongsun Xun could not help but blurt out.

"Well said!" Xu You clapped his hands sharply. "In my opinion, it is rather Bogui whose name has just begun to shine, and he has been dazzled by these empty displays... He does not stop to think — what use are these superficial banquets and excursions? No matter how great a clan Cai Mao's is in Nan Commandery, what does it have to do with him? As for Yuan Gonglu, this man comes from a line of four generations of Three Excellencies, his future prospects are limitless, so one must indeed make his acquaintance. But merely making his acquaintance is enough. If one truly wishes to go a step further and be valued by him, can it be achieved simply by drinking together three or five more times? At the very least, one must, like Cai Mao and myself, bear the title of a Gentleman of the Court, no? Brother Xun, your elder brother is not as pragmatic as you!"

Gongsun Xun remained silent.

The truth was, that was not what he had meant by those words earlier. He simply felt in his heart that both Cai Mao and Yuan Shu would rise to power in the south in the future, and both were utterly useless, of no great use to his own future plans. Had it been Yuan Shao hosting a banquet for Cao Cao, even if knives were falling from the sky, he would certainly have gone!

Yet for some reason, hearing Xu You speak this way now faintly seemed to carry some sense after all.

"By the way, where are Brother Yue and that Lu Ziheng who is always around your place? Why have I not seen them either?"

"Oh, yesterday I sent them to escort the Zuo family's paper-making craftsmen to settle in Goushi." Gongsun Xun finally rose to his feet this time. "I imagine they have been delayed by this heavy rain today and cannot return for the moment... Brother Ziyuan, you braved the rain to come — do you have some advice to offer?"

"Brother Xun." Seeing Gongsun Xun finally stand, Xu You hastily grasped his hand with an earnest expression. "There is indeed a pragmatic matter to discuss with you. Are you aware of the Shakya clan, the Buddhist gate?"

Gongsun Xun's face showed sudden understanding, then immediately the corner of his mouth twitched, clearly recalling something: "To be honest with Brother Ziyuan, I am quite familiar with the Shakya clan. There is a Buddhist temple in Zhuo Commandery, though I have never visited it..."

"Never mind some temple in Zhuo Commandery." Xu You swiftly cut him off. "Have you heard of the White Horse Temple outside Luoyang's western gate?"

At this, the utterly bored Gongsun Xun immediately took interest.

The White Horse Temple was the first Buddhist temple in China.

The story goes that back then, Emperor Ming of Han was sleeping in the Southern Palace when he suddenly dreamed of a divine being, six zhang tall with a golden radiance atop his head, flying from the west and circling the palace halls. The next day, an Erudite interpreted the dream for him, telling him that in the west there was a Shakya Buddhist sect, and their deity matched exactly what he had seen in his dream.

One must understand, the superstition of the Later Han court was unprecedented and unparalleled. If a snake crawled out of a palace hall, they would follow the guidance of the Book of Changes and make a grand procession out of the city to welcome the so-called Five Qi; a single brilliantly colored sunset might overturn the state policy just decided that day; as for solar eclipses, lunar eclipses, or comets, the Three Excellencies absolutely had to be dismissed before anyone could feel at ease.

Thus, to set his mind at rest, Emperor Ming of Han promptly dispatched men to fetch scriptures from the Western Heaven!

Speaking of this, one cannot help but marvel at the might of the Great Han in those days. It happened to be the very era when Dou Gu, Geng Bing, and Ban Chao were active. Although the Western Regions could not be called a smooth path, they were far from a near-certain death. So, a few officials leading a delegation very efficiently traveled to Afghanistan and brought back two monks, a pile of sutras, and Buddha statues, settling them in the Honglu Temple.

The Han dynasty placed extreme importance on classical texts. Hearing that there were Buddhist sutras, they specially built a temple for these two monks beside the official road three li outside Luoyang's western gate, so they could peacefully translate the scriptures inside. Because the sutras had been carried back on a white horse, and because the two monks had been housed in the Honglu Temple after their return, this temple was named the White Horse Temple.

From then on, Buddhism took root in China. Reckoning the time, by Gongsun Xun's era, it had already been about a hundred years.

Traveling in heavy rain was exceedingly difficult, for the umbrellas of this age were especially cumbersome — not only could they not be folded, but they could basically only be used fixed to a cart. Once the cart started moving, with wind driving the rain slantwise, the misery was beyond words.

Fortunately, however, both Gongsun Xun and Xu You were "pragmatic" men, so both, without the slightest regard for dignity, donned straw rain capes again. Then, taking advantage of the heavy rain and the sparse pedestrians on the streets, the cart quickly exited the city gate and sped along the official road outside Luoyang all the way to the gates of the century-old famed monastery, the ancestral court of the Buddhist gate in the Central Lands — the White Horse Temple in Luoyang.

The White Horse Temple was of considerable scale, yet it fell far short of the imagined depth and grandeur. And what disappointed Gongsun Xun the most was that within the temple, there were none of those bald heads from his own mother's stories!

Indeed — in this era, there were actually no bald heads in temples! Not even a single bald head could be seen at the ancestral court of the Buddhist gate in the Central Lands!

In fact, the person who came out to receive Gongsun Xun and Xu You was a scholar wearing a headscarf, with a servant behind him holding a heavy wooden umbrella. He introduced himself as Zhu Rui of Jingzhao. Because his family background and rank were relatively high, and because verbal communication with the foreign monks in the White Horse Temple was rather difficult, he had been recommended by the nearby lay followers to handle communications with the court, the scholar-officials, and the common people.

"Layman Zhu, I wonder if the foreign monks within the temple are... uh..." The moment they met, Gongsun Xun simply could not restrain his curiosity, yet he had no idea how to describe a creature like a bald head.

"Indeed." Zhu Rui laughed wryly as he led the way, clearly not unfamiliar with such questions. "I understand what Young Master Gongsun means. The four foreign monks of great virtue currently in the temple are all formally ordained monks who shave their heads for their practice."

"Then why are there no Han monks to be seen?" Gongsun Xun continued to ask curiously.

"Ai," Xu You could not help but interrupt. "Brother Xun, you are being discourteous. The body, hair, and skin are received from one's parents. How could we Han people imitate the barbarians and cut our hair to serve the Buddha?"

Gongsun Xun suddenly saw the light — he had indeed been muddle-headed.

"In truth, what you two have said cuts precisely to the vital point of our Buddhist gate." Zhu Rui was not angered. As he led the two into a warm room where a charcoal fire was burning, he shook his head and smiled bitterly to himself. "Our Shakya teaching has been transmitted into the Central Lands for over a hundred years. In that time, it has both flourished for a period and encountered prohibition and suppression. But the true root cause of its difficulty in flourishing greatly lies precisely in this... You two, please warm yourselves by the fire first, and we shall speak slowly."

Having not seen any bald heads, Gongsun Xun instantly lost all interest. He could only blink and sit down on a rush cushion beside the brazier.

Both sides settled into their seats, and at last they got down to business.

Yet, though it was called business, it was also simple to the extreme.

The story goes that the Buddhist followers of the White Horse Temple had also taken note of the stone classics at the Imperial Academy, and even more so of the grand spectacle after the first stone classic was completed, when a thousand carts clogged the traffic. Thus, they could not help but entertain thoughts of emulation.

Indeed, the Buddhist gate now also possessed its own classics. When the White Horse Temple was first established, those two foreign monks had translated the famous Sutra of Forty-Two Sections. This sutra, less than three thousand characters in its entirety, was a collection of the Buddha's reputed sayings, its status akin to that of the Dao De Jing for Daoism and the Analects for Confucianism.

That being the case, engraving it onto a stone stele seemed a perfectly natural course of action.

Only, since they wanted to engrave a stele, they naturally needed a transcription and a rubbing. Just like the Confucian stone classics over there, they needed Cai Yong to first write it out on silk in the most standard clerical script... of course, he now claimed to write on paper... and after writing it, they would use a sheet of semi-transparent silk to trace the intaglio characters. Then, using this intaglio as a rubbing, they would employ the pounding and rubbing technique to imprint the traces onto the stone stele. Only after that could the craftsmen properly carve it.

"Since we have Court Physician Cai here in Luoyang, the matter of transcribing the Sutra of Forty-Two Sections naturally falls to no one else." Xu You stroked his beard and interjected. "And I, being one who is always zealous for public good, could not help but wish to assist the gentlemen of this White Horse Temple. Only, for some reason, that Court Physician Cai... Brother Xun? Brother Xun?"

Gongsun Xun, who had been peeking furtively at something behind the brazier, abruptly came back to his senses: "Oh, could Brother Ziyuan be trying to say that Court Physician Cai is unwilling to help?"

"Indeed."

"Surely not?" Gongsun Xun could not help but frown. "We brothers both feel that he is a rather agreeable person... Did you not tell me this yourself, Brother Ziyuan? That he has never been seen to refuse any funeral oration from the various families in Luoyang. It is merely the Sutra of Forty-Two Sections, a mere three thousand words, and the White Horse Temple is an official temple. How could it come to this?"

"The scholar-officials have held our Buddhist gate in contempt for more than a day or two." Zhu Rui shook his head helplessly.

"Is it related to tonsure?" Gongsun Xun asked casually.

"No, tonsure is the main reason our Buddhist gate struggles to flourish, but it is not the cause of the rift with the scholar-officials... After all, even we who believe in the Buddhist gate have never entertained the thought of destroying our hair and skin. The true origin lies over ten years ago, which happened to be the time of the first Proscription of Partisans. You could say it was our misfortune — right at the time of the Proscription, by sheer ill coincidence, the late Emperor happened to take an interest in the Buddhist gate, frequently summoning the monks of the temple to inquire about matters of immortality. Because of this, many scholar-officials regarded us as akin to eunuchs and paid us no regard whatsoever..."

As Zhu Rui narrated this in detail with sincere emotion, both Xu You and Gongsun Xun found their thoughts somewhat adrift.

Xu You was, in truth, rather embarrassed. He was utterly ashamed to say that Cai Bojie had not been unwilling to write because the Sutra of Forty-Two Sections was a Buddhist classic — in fact, Cai Bojie did not even know about this matter! The truth was simply that he himself had been turned away at the man's door. And not only turned away, but the man had even called him a glib-tongued petty man and declared he would sever all ties with him... It was truly outrageous!

Meanwhile, on the other side, Gongsun Xun was staring fixedly at an object behind the brazier, and the more he looked, the less he could tear his eyes away, let alone listen to someone telling stories.

"Now I hear people say that once Recorder Cai finishes engraving the stone classics, he will enter the Eastern Pavilion to compile the histories. If this drags on too long, I fear the opportunity will be even harder to find. And according to Ziyuan, the Young Lord Gongsun has been involved in supervising the stone classics and has lately been on quite good terms with Lord Cai..."

"So that's it. Brother Ziyuan and Layman Zhu want me to act as the go-between?" Gongsun Xun turned his head abruptly.

"Exactly." Zhu Rui rose and bowed with clasped hands.

"That's easily done." Gongsun Xun was straightforward. "Tomorrow he will go to the Imperial Academy again to continue transcribing the Gongyang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals. I will certainly help you request this matter then... I just wonder how Layman Zhu intends to thank me?"

Xu You pricked up his ears at the word "thank." Why had he sought out Gongsun Xun as the go-between? Wasn't it because he thought that, given the other's family background, he would never step in and take a cut of his "service fee"?

How had he suddenly learned to ask for a gift of thanks? Truly corrupted by the atmosphere of Luoyang!

And with Xu You present, Zhu Rui did not know how to speak for a moment. Only after a long pause did he manage to say, "Speaking of a thank-you gift, White Horse Temple has stood for a hundred years, with tens of thousands of devotees, and has modest savings. Whether it is Ziyuan, Recorder Cai, or the Young Lord Gongsun, all will receive some token... I just wonder how much the Young Lord Gongsun desires?"

"Not a single coin." Gongsun Xun pointed behind the brazier. "Just give me that thing as thanks!"

Zhu Rui and Xu You looked behind the brazier together at his words, then both burst out laughing.

"So it's that." Zhu Rui immediately rose, picked up the thing, and then bowed again to Gongsun Xun with clasped hands. "I was wondering why the Young Lord Gongsun was staring fixedly at the brazier... it's merely a mousing cat. Though uncommon, our temple has frequent dealings with the Western Regions, so it's really nothing. Since the Young Lord desires it, whether this matter succeeds or not, I will give you a whole litter!"

Gongsun Xun did not stand on ceremony and directly took the cat into his arms. "It's not that I covet your temple's cat. It's just that my widowed mother lives in Liaoxi, and I fear she is lonely. You wouldn't know, but my mother once said, 'I would gladly scatter a thousand gold to seek a single cat.'... Do you truly have a whole litter?"

"I shall go fetch them for the Young Lord at once." Zhu Rui's mind was now at ease, and he naturally laughed with relief, actually going straight out the door and calling for his servants to fetch the cats.

For a moment, only Xu You and Gongsun Xun remained in the side room.

After a brief pause, watching Gongsun Xun reach out his hand repeatedly to tease the lazy cat, Xu You's heart stirred slightly, and then he suddenly began to stroke his thin beard with a smug expression. "Has Brother Xun been very lonely these days? Or is it that you simply cannot endure solitude?"

"What does Brother Ziyuan mean by that?" Gongsun Xun's hand paused, but then continued smoothing the cat's fur.

"You and I are both pragmatic men; why pretend like those others?" Xu You laughed at this. "You are actually just like your elder cousin Gongsun Bogui — extremely driven by ambition, hating every moment that does not yield some gain... It's just that you are a hundred times cleverer than that elder cousin. He gets half the result with twice the effort; you get twice the result with half the effort. And now, while he feasts and carouses all day, thinking himself in favor, you know full well that you brothers have fallen into dire straits again!"

No wonder Cao Mengde will want to kill you someday! Gongsun Xun cursed inwardly at these words, but the smile on his face did not diminish. "Life is like rowing upstream; it is only natural to often fall into difficulty..."

"Why be so hypocritical?" Xu You shook his head repeatedly.

"Very well!" Gongsun Xun put away his smile. "Brother Ziyuan, I won't hide it from you. These days, I have indeed been somewhat disheartened again. Before I received the esteem of the two teachers, I felt utterly like a trapped beast. But now that I have gained their esteem and through it become acquainted with many figures, I no longer know how to get along with these talents. Take the people you introduced me to — your fellow townsman Feng Ji, Xin Ping of Yingchuan, Han Sui of Xiliang... oh, and Chunyu Qiong, whom I just met a few days ago. These are all top young talents in the capital, and I am very glad to have met them. Yet, I can only merely associate with them, because even the least among them, Han Sui, is already a Gentleman of the Three Bureaus and will likely be sent out as an imperial official in the blink of an eye. I, a scholar not yet capped, what do I have to continue befriending them?"

"That is true." Xu You sneered at this. "Lovers of wealth like me are in the minority after all... But Brother Xun, aren't you being too driven by gain? You know you are merely a scholar not yet capped. Given that, you have already done extremely well. You can't expect the whole world to revolve around you, can you? You must understand, the human heart is never satisfied..."

Gongsun Xun was just about to retort, but at that moment, disorderly footsteps came from outside — clearly Zhu Rui returning with the "litter of cats." The two immediately fell silent.

That evening, Gongsun Xun carried a large sack of cats, hugged the bamboo slips of the Sutra of Forty-Two Sections, and returned with his cart driver to the small courtyard beside Liu Kuan's mansion. As soon as he entered his room, before he could even pour out the litter of cats, he heard his clansman Gongsun Zan's impatient, booming voice: "A-Xun, do you know that a great event has occurred in Luoyang?!"

Gongsun Xun, soaked through, was unimpressed. "Could it be flooding in the western part of the city? I saw it on my way back..."

"Ah!" Gongsun Zan was utterly exasperated. "You don't understand. I learned today at the Yuan residence that Yuan Benchu's mother has fallen gravely ill. I fear she won't survive this autumn rain and will go to meet the King of Youdu within ten days... In other words, the leader of the Luoyang scholars, Yuan Shao, Yuan Benchu, will soon return! This is an opportunity for us brothers!"

Gongsun Xun was unhurried and calm, remaining silent. Only from behind him suddenly came a cat's cry:

"Meow..."

————————Dividing Line————————

"Some people appear perfectly respectable on the surface, but behind them, they don't even have a cat." — Lady Gongsun.

PS: There is also a new book group. Interested students can join: 684558115.

(End of Chapter)