Chapter 22 postscript

The old romance, which is caused by all the misunderstandings that arise from the resemblance of the two persons, can never be a solid structure for a novel.Although Shakespeare has repeatedly used the subject of twin brothers and twin sisters, those works are not his best plays.In this novel, what I want to write is mainly Shi Qing's couple's love for their son, and Mei Fanggu's jealousy because of her love for cattle.Therefore, Shi Potian and Shi Zhongyu are similar in appearance, which is not the focus. In the winter of 1975, in the 10th anniversary commemorative article of "Ming Pao Monthly", I once quoted a passage by Shi Qing who prayed to the Buddha statue in the temple.This time I revisited the old manuscript, and tears dripped down this text again.

All kinds of far-fetched annotations often damage the original intention of the original author and cause serious obstacles.Written twelve years ago, this meaning has been developed.Recently, I have read more Buddhist scriptures, and I have a deeper understanding of this.Mahayana's "Prajna Sutra" and Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka study tried their best to destroy the cumbersome theory of name and appearance, and believed that all kinds of knowledge and views would in vain cause false thoughts in the minds of practitioners and hinder the way of seeing, so they emphasized "no attachment". ", "No residence", "No work", "No wish".Wrong views are certainly not allowed, and right views are also not allowed. "Diamond Sutra" Shi: "All appearances are false", "The law should be discarded, let alone illegal", "What the Tathagata said is not advisable, and it cannot be said, illegal or not illegal", all of which have this meaning.At the time of writing, I had no knowledge of Buddhist scriptures at all. The "Diamond Sutra" was only read in November last year, and the study of Prajna and Madhyamaka was a matter of spring and summer of this year.The causes and conditions are inextricable.

July 1977 Rereading the old work in the 21st century, except for slightly changing the text, there is not much change in the content of the novel. July 2003