Shifting Shape, Shaping Text: Philosophy and Folklore in the Fox Koan

1. Putting the Fox Back in the Fox Kōan

1 • Putting the Fox Back in the Fox Kòan Ah, the emotions of supernatural beings reflect the meaning of human existence! —Jen-shih chuan (“The Tale of Miss Jen”), a T’ang folktale Thirteen days seems like thirteen years . . . —Konjaku monogatari The “wild fox kòan” is one of the most elusive and enigmatic records in the vast repertoire of medieval Ch’an/Zen anecdotes and dialogues. Although it is found in dozens of sources, it is probably best known for its inclusion as the second case in the Wu-men kuan (J. Mumonkan, 1228), a collection of prose and verse commentary on kòans. The kòan (C. kung-an) deals with the mysterious presence in the saºgha of a wild fox (C. yeh-hu; J. yako) appearing in human form. (See Appendix I for a complete translation and discussion of textual history).1 The Kòan: Text and Context According to the case record, on hearing a sermon delivered by Abbot Pai-chang Huai-hai (J. Hyakujò Ekai, 749–814),2 the fox confesses to being an anomalous apparition or “nonhuman” (C. fei-jen; J. hinin), a term typically used in East Asian spirit-possession folklore. The term also commonly appears in Buddhist literature on the entities of the six realms of transmigration. The fox/monk claims that he was once a master of the 3 same temple who has been suffering karmic retribution lasting five hundred lifetimes for having misunderstood and denied the impact of the law of moral causation. In responding to a disciple’s query during the era of Kâùyapa, the sixth of the seven primordial buddhas culminating in Ùâkyamuni,3 he maintained that enlightenment lies beyond (or does not fall into) the inexorable effects of causality (C. pu-lo yin-kuo; J. furaku inga; literally “not falling into or no bondage to causality”). The fox/monk—referred to in some commentaries as the “former Pai-chang” since masters took their names from the location of their temples—beseeches the help of the abbot, the current Pai-chang. He is liberated from the punishment by the “pivot (or turning) word” (C. i-chüan-yu; J. ittengo) proffered by the abbot, which affirms the universality of karmic causality even for the enlightened. According to Pai-chang’s alteration of a single character in a four-character phrase, there is no escape from (or obscuring of bondage to) karma, which continues after awakening (C. pu-mei yin-kuo; J. fumai inga; “not obscuring or remaining subject to causality” or seeing that “causality is obviously apparent”). Now spiritually liberated, the vulpine corpse of the ancient monk, as he predicts just before his demise, is discovered by Pai-chang under a large rock behind the gates of the temple compound. Pai-chang instructs the rector (Skt. karmadâna; C. wei-na; J. ino)—the registrar charged by Zen monastic codes with the supervision of the Monks’ Hall—to announce that a proper clerical cremation and funeral for the deceased monk will take place after the noon meal. This ceremony accords with the last request of the fox/monk, who seeks posthumous recognition . But the other monks in the assembly had not been aware of his presence, which was known only to the abbot who received the confession . When the monks learn of the preparations for a funeral, they remark with surprise that no one had been sick in the Nirvana Hall or infirmary (so called because of an association of illness/death and nirvana ). Nevertheless they participate in the ceremony as instructed. Pai-chang leads them to the rear of the temple and uses his staff to uncover the corpse that lies in the brush near the fox den beneath the rock. (See Figures 1–3.) In a postmortem epilogue—a literary device apparently borrowed from folktales commenting on the elimination of an intruding spirit—during the evening sermon the abbot explains the unusual circumstances of the burial to his bewildered congregation, which continues to wonder why a fox body was allowed a Buddhist funeral. Pai-chang 4 • Shape-Shifting is challenged and then slapped by his foremost disciple Huang-po. According to the biographical entry in the Ching-te ch’uan-teng lu (J. Keitoku dentòroku), Huang-po was an incredibly imposing figure standing seven feet tall with a lump like a round pearl on his forehead who became known for...