UCB Religion and Philosophy Readings Reflection Paper

A note on this reading:
The Nine-Cloud Dream is a work of fiction and I have included it to show how the ideas of
Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism blended in a syncretic co-existence and continued to have
influence in East Asia across centuries.
While The Platform Sutra was an 8th-century work and The Four Books were a 12th-century
reworking of an earlier Confucian tradition, The Nine-Cloud Dream was written in 17th century
Korea. The story is set in 9th-century China, when the currents of Confucianism and Taoism
were being significantly reshaped by the influence of Buddhism.
In giving you the last chapter of The Nine-Cloud Dream I have also given away the ending. (It
was all a dream, as our protagonist finds out.) This is not so much a spoiler as an invitation to
consider the meaning of illusions.
I have also been able to include this text because it was recently retranslated (2019) in a
wonderfully readable way. The earlier translations were not ideal or were incomplete, so this
underscores the importance of translation in making ideas accessible.
I would also like to note that there is a K-pop album (The Cloud Dream of the Nine by Uhm Jung
Hwa) and a video game of the same title (but gender-swapped, so our monk/protagonist is a
young girl ? it?s not available in English, though), to give you a sense of the impact of this text
on Korean culture.
KIM MAN.~JU NG
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The Nine eloucl Dream
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Translated witk ,a~ Introduction, and Notes by
HEINZ INSU FENKL
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PENGUIN BOOKS
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Contents?.?
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? Introduction by HEINZ INSU FENKL
.Suggestions for Further Reading .
A Note on the Translation
Acknowledgments_
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XXlll
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~r-HE NINE CLO.UD o ?R EAM
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PART. I
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1 The Reinc~rnation of Hsing~chen
2. The? Young Scholar ? .
?3. Meeting Ch’ari-yiieh at1~o-ya_ng
4. A Mysterious Priestess ??
5. Tryst with a Fairy ~p.d Ghost
6. The Boy at the Roadside ? _
7. TheJmperial Son-irt–Law .
8-. Strategy and-Tactics
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. PART -11 .? .
? 9. Among the Dragon Folk ??? . ??
10. Strange Dreams ?
-11. The Taking-of Ch’iung-pei , .
12?. Shao-yu’s Regret
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13. WO .Princesse~,.Two Wives ?.
14. The Contest of Beauties ? ?
?is. The Wine Punishment
16. Returning t9 the Source
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209
Appendix A: Names of the Eight,Women ….
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Appendix B: Reading Kuunmong in _Chinese and Korean 219
Notes
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IntrOdUcti’Ori ?.
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.The world . . . is like? a .passing?. cloud,. like an imaginary. . ..
. wheel made by a whirling,torch; like .a,castle of spirits, like ?.?
the moon ?reflected in .the sea,?? like a ?vision, a mirage,.;a??

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dream.
The ?.Lankavatara Sutra .
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.New readf!rS_are advised that th”is ?introdu?tion makes .
cer~ain details_ of the plot explicit. .?,. . : ,?.. ? . ?,..:_ 😕 😕 .
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The _Nine . Cloud -n,~am, or .Kuu71mong (JLII-.T ~~-,
a;~ :earliesf ~iter~~y.noye~?s
~689), I . is t~’~ most elegan,t_’ of ;l. serves as a?morality ~ale dramatizing ~he the~es ?-c~ntral to the’ ~~rlcl’:ie~. ~,f
Buddhist artist~intelle?ctual in sev?enteent}:i-ce?tury .Korea. f!l
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this is found in a ?singl~ w~r~?~
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??? THE NOVEL.?… ?
In its Korean literary and h~~torical contex,t, :.Ktt:unmong is?one
of the seminatiwork?s of Korean;.pro?se fiction,, . ~long.’ with. Kim
Si-seup’s mid-fifteenth-century w-0rk.:,Ne.w Stories ?from .Mount
l~;?*??ff) and ;Heo Gyun’s
Geu~o (GeumoSh’inhwa, ~2.tl_
The Story .of ?Hong Gildong?(Hang _.G.ildong ,jeon,. .8?.JS~;
~aa?),.?which dates: to.- the??!. late?. si~teenth . :or.. early sevente.enth ce~tury?. lf. Hong.GildongiieonisJike the Korean ?:Robin
Hood, .?Kuunmong, _in . its :status?’artd?. impact .th-roughout ..the
years, more .closely .parall.e:Is?, ..Dante’s? . Divine . Comedy. The
Buddhist–and ?Taoist th~-mes?in . Kuynmong?:played??out in.-Korean literary ?and intell~ctual (?culture in?? -?much the same. ?way
Dante’s? confrontatio~-of.?political a:nd :?religious :theines resonated?through?out Europe,:.Bot?h works?jnv.o1ve..:.the jpurney? of
the central character into:? another .- reality,,:in?? .which he :Jearns
valuable moral,_ethic~l,-?: a.nd~-,eligio?us lessons. Both ~orks are
? ? also d~eply ?personal and,laden ?with .Satirical ?agendas.? partially
. ? . ?. ? ,
5temnung ~rom each Write.r’s political exile; , .
. ?!he ~asic plot of Kuunmohg .is an edifying fantasy: for vio?
lating’.?18 vows -and dolbting hiS vocation, a promising .young
Buddhist;monk nainedHsing-che.i (~Original Nature”) is made
incarnation. as;Shao~yu (“Smalt-Visitor”-or
e_xperie?ce
: Brief Resider ), )the mdst idealof men, ;his life full of fabulous
nts
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?? sensual
. , .and
? , ma~t1al,
intellectual’ diplomat1c,
accomp1ts? hme ?
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INTRODUCTION
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It is an iro~ic. pu11i~hment that .plays.out like. an incarnationwithin-an-mcarnat~on, and .as the? narrative develops, we are .
slowly and subtly introduced to world of layei;ed illusions.
Shao?y u’s view of thiijgs .i~ co~~tap~ly, obstructed or occlud~d
by intervening elements, sometimes as subtle as a .willow branch~
there are minor dream sequences .within a greater dream; and
there .are . numerous disguises~ ,deceptions, and?~ispercepti~ns
that play
the.idea ~f.c~mpromised an~ multilayered.reality.. When -H&ing-chen’s old. master, ., Liu.:kuan (~’Six ;I>erceptions~), finally :~ enters the ?.illusori}’:, world .of ?; Shao-yu-now
gr.owing ?old?himself~he-. causes Shao:yu to remember a dream
of. himself _as? Hsing-chen the? monk~-. _
Liu-kuan. ac~ompanies
him out.of. his dream ?and.back to “reality,” and in the end.:the
?monk -w~kes?. up as Hsing-chen-back?.on h?is ?.meditatio.n mat, to ?
.learn tha~ -re?ality arid dre~~?,are .interpenetratjng.- phenomena?
and are. ultimately ?.indistinguishable. ?He has experience:d an ?
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entire lifetime in-a.moment.
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– . _; :Most._critical studi_e,s ..of K.u
: ,unmong .have ?tended to examine
_its Buddhist.,_Confucian, _. and Taoist .themes .as separate entities. Reality?and .illusion in K-uunmonghave ?. been-.discussed in
..detail.-by academi~~,.,thoug_~-:Fr~ncisca Cho _? Bantly’s Embracing .!llusioni?.i Truth t;ind.?’Fiction ?_in,?rlh.e Drealll- of the Nine
Clouds is the only book-length Crit:ical wprk,in ,English on
Kuu-nmon_g?.Academ.icsihav.~– alsQ.? taken-..a Taoist l~ns ?to,K-uun. mong, one? of the .most innovative being ?Mariort_Eggert, _who
makes a? coQ1.pelling_case for- consideri~g the? eight women in
_? -Kuunmong as a>symbol~c e~
~p~essi~n ?o f the_,? underlying ~o?smol.? ogy_of the?r ?Qhing {an allti:~~,;,’~-:that .,vvould??_have been?:far _more ? -apparent ? to readers .?of :”I~iin~s~:. ti~~).?.?From._that perspec~ive,
. Hsing-chen’s?eight fairies are??/~9t”. _~.-?sign:? of ?sensual_e.xcess, but
. a necessary number Jor 😕 syinbolic ?.comp~et_ion?patall~ling the – ?
Buddhist ?resolution at the??end.:_ The ?Ta~ist
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