Review: The Sayings of Layman P'ang

In the 10th and 11th centuries, Zen teachers began compiling the "sayings" of various Chinese ancestors. Many of these collections record encounters between a well-known teacher and a nameless monk. The monk asks a fairly standard question (e.g. "What is the Way?") and the teacher responds; the monk either does or does not have a realization.

Among these compilations, the sayings of Layman P'ang stand alone. First, the Layman, uh, was a lay person, not a monk. He was not a recognized teacher. How remarkable that his stories would have been collected!

Second, the Layman's dialogues with the teachers of the time, including Great Master Ma-tsu, Shih-t'ou, and Tan-hsia, don't follow the usual pattern of a master responding to a confused monk. Far from being hapless, Layman P'ang was a peer of these teachers; his sayings contain some of the only examples of peer-to-peer encounters from the T'ang Dynasty.

Third, Layman P'ang was partnered by his wife (Mrs. P'ang) and daughter (Ling-chao) - an entire family of bodhisattvas! One can only imagine what their breakfast table conversation might have been like.

The sayings of Layman P'ang were first translated into English in 1971 as The Recorded Sayings of Layman P'ang by Ruth Fuller Sasaki, Yoshitaka Iriya, and Dana Fraser, with the help of other translators, including the poet, Gary Snyder. This book has long been out of print but hardbound copies are readily available for under $10. See here for a listing of available copies.

In 2009, Shambhala Publications issued a new version of the sayings, entitled The Sayings of Layman P'ang, translated by James Green (who also translated The Recorded Sayings of Zen Master Joshu).

Green's translation contains a foreword by Dennis Genpo Merzel, Roshi, and a preface by Keido Fukushima, Roshi. The introduction is by Jeff Shore.

Because the earlier translation of these sayings is widely available, we might ask:  What is the value of the new translation by James Green?

First, Green's translation provides supplemental notes to most of the cases. Similar notes are found in the Sasaki translation (which in some cases are more extensive), but Green frequently discusses the difficulties of translating 1,100 year old Chinese. I found this quite helpful.

Second, we might hope that Green's translation would bring out new meaning from these stories. Frankly, I haven't found this to be the case. Some of Green's versions differ only slightly from Sasaki's; others vary more widely, but don't affect the essence of the story. And a few  strike me as inaccurate in their rendering of the meaning. (I hesitate to say this, first because I'm ignorant of Chinese, and, second, because I rely solely on my untrustworthy sense of the "dharmic" content of an exchange. I may certainly be both incorrect and foolish.)

Here is a side-by-side comparison four famous stories from the sayings, as translated by Sasaki and Green:

Recommendation

If you're only going to own one copy of the sayings of Layman P'ang, I recommend the Ruth Fuller Sasaki translation. First, the Sasaki translations seem to more accurately convey the dharma of each encounter. (This impression may simply be the residue of many years of study and enjoyment of the earlier translation.) Second, the supplementary notes in the Sasaki translation generally seem more helpful and complete. Third, the shoddy print production of the Green version cannot compare to the quality of a hardbound version dating from the 1970s.

I'm extremely dissatisfied with the print quality of the Shambhala edition. In my copy, the typography on each page begins to break up about half-way down the page and, at the bottom, the type is completely broken. This book should never have passed quality control.

Image of Layman P'ang from the Sasaki translation.

Comments

[puerhan]

Thanks for your review Barry, useful to know about the poor quality print of the new version, I have been tempted by it at times but will avoid it now.

[Harry]

Yo, Barry, hope you and yours are keeping well. Get the finger out, Buddy, there's people waiting to be enlightened here!

Regards,

Harry.

[Jon]

Awesome!

[Barry Briggs]

Thanks, everyone, for your comments!