[18] The cross-road of the “Five Fathers” is here mentioned, which the commentator tells us is merely the name of the place.
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[19] The past, present, and future life, of the Buddhist system of metempsychosis.
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[20] A certain man, who was staying at a temple, dreamt that an old priest appeared to him beneath a jade-stone cliff, and, pointing to a stick of burning incense, said to him, “That incense represents a vow to be fulfilled; but I say unto you, that ere its smoke shall have curled away, your three states of existence will have been already accomplished.” The meaning is that time on earth is as nothing to the Gods.
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[21] This remark occurs in the fifteenth of the Confucian Gospels, section 22.
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[22] The birth of a boy was formerly signalled by hanging a bow at the door; that of a girl, by displaying a small towel—indicative of the parts that each would hereafter play in the drama of life.
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[23] See [note 42] to No. II.
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[24] Literally, “ploughing with my pen.”
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[25] The patra or bowl, used by Buddhist mendicants, in imitation of the celebrated alms-dish of Shâkyamuni Buddha.
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[26] Literally, “scratched my head,” as is often done by the Chinese in perplexity or doubt.
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[27] Alluding to the priest Dharma-nandi, who came from India to China, and tried to convert the Emperor Wu Ti of the Liang Dynasty; but, failing in his attempt, he retired full of mortification to a temple at Sung-shan, where he sat for nine years before a rock, until his own image was imprinted thereon.
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