Wen Chang's Tower

[SirPalomides]

The deity most often associated with the literary arts (and academic pursuits in general) is Wenchang Wang, or Wenchang Dijun. Apart from statues, he is also represented by replicas of wooden pens (with talismans placed inside) and these miniature pagodas, which are popular both for general feng shui uses and particularly for helping with academic achievements. In her book Tao of Craft Benebell Wen describes these pagodas as "energy amplifiers" though she doesn't mention the association with Wenchang. Likewise Kleeman's book, A God's Own Tale, devoted to a scripture revealed by Wenchang and also detailing the development of his cult (a very colorful and fascinating story by the way) doesn't seem to talk about the towers. They are usually inscribed with the characters Wenchang ta, meaning "Wenchang tower", as seen below. 

 

Does anyone know how Wenchang Wang came to be associated with these towers?

 

Edited January 27, 2020 by SirPalomides

[Taomeow]

34 minutes ago, SirPalomides said:

The deity most often associated with the literary arts (and academic pursuits in general) is Wenchang Wang, or Wenchang Dijun. Apart from statues, he is also represented by replicas of wooden pens (with talismans placed inside) and these miniature pagodas, which are popular both for general feng shui uses and particularly for helping with academic achievements. In her book Tao of Craft Benebell Wen describes these pagodas as "energy amplifiers" though she doesn't mention the association with Wenchang. Likewise Kleeman's book, A God's Own Tale, devoted to a scripture revealed by Wenchang and also detailing the development of his cult (a very colorful and fascinating story by the way) doesn't seem to talk about the towers. They are usually inscribed with the characters Wenchang ta, meaning "Wenchang tower", as seen below. 

 

Does anyone know how Wenchang Wang came to be associated with these towers?

 

 

 

There used to exist this thirteen-story pagoda that was the main headquarters of Wenchang cult or Wenchanggong on mount Qiqu near Zitong.  It was part of a feng shui-perfect layout of the city where temples to other associated deities (Guandi, Kui Xing, and also Confucius) were located according to precise form-compass feng shui calculations incorporating all the features of natural topography.  The whole city with its related temples formed a harmonious whole around the Wenchang pagoda.  

 

Kui Xing is the main "regular" on my altar.

[SirPalomides]

Thanks! Another question... can objects like this serve to represent the deity on the altar, or are only deity images (statues, paintings) suitable for that?

[Zhongyongdaoist]

9 minutes ago, SirPalomides said:

Thanks! Another question... can objects like this serve to represent the deity on the altar, or are only deity images (statues, paintings) suitable for that?

 

It's easy enough to call it Wen Chang's home and invite him to move in.  After all it has his name on it.

[RiverSnake]

Be careful with creating a "spirit pot". Once you invite a spirit into your life in such a way....you have a bit more responsibility in the relationship.....as they don't just vanish after you've finished a working....they hang around and have an active doorway into your life.

 

Further, deities may or may not be temperamental depending on who your dealing with. Its important to understand the nature of the Being.  Don't sign any contracts your not fully ready to hold up your end of the bargain. 

 

 

Edited January 28, 2020 by RiverSnake

[Mig]

Just found this if this helps:

CRYSTAL CLEAR PAGODA (Wen Chang Pagoda 文昌塔)

The pagoda promotes intellectual & learning. The clear crystal helps promote & improve memory. This is good for those in the education industry or for students pursuing their studies. It can also be used by young adults pursuing further education or learning at job. At the same time, this can also be used by those who are seeking for learning advancement and promotion in their career.

 白水晶文昌塔

白水晶文昌塔可促进智力和学习能力，也可增加记忆力，有利于教育行业的人或学生。 在进修或在工作中学习的年轻人都可以使用。 同时也适合于那些在职业上寻求发展和晋升的人。

 Activation Placements:

·       Place it in the 4 Scholastic star sector (Yearly sector will change after Li Chun – 立春.)

·       Place the charm on the left side of your work desk or study table.

·       You can also place the pagoda next to your bed.

启动法：

·       将文昌塔放在家中4禄星方位(注意，在每年立春后，流年飞星的方位将会更改。）

·       办公桌或书桌的左侧。

·       也可将文昌塔放在您的床边。

[SirPalomides]

Thanks, I had seen a lot of information like that. But since you bring it up, I was wondering about this:

 

15 minutes ago, Mig said:

 

·       Place it in the 4 Scholastic star sector (Yearly sector will change after Li Chun – 立春.

 

I am quite ignorant of astrology. I assume 4 scholastic star = the asterism 司命, somewhere in the vicinity of Aquarius?

[SirPalomides]

I found this incantation to Wenchang on a few blogs-  文昌帝君开心聪明咒 or "Lord-Emperor Wenchang's Joy and Intelligence Spell." Don't know where it originates.

 

九天大帝。身披白衣。
日月照耀。乾坤干随。
有能持诵。聪明如斯。
黄老丹元。与心合宜。
五神卫守。八圣护持。
诵之不辍。万神赴机。
帝司大化。文冶琼瑰。
词源浩荡。笔阵风驰。
九天开化。万章洞微。
元皇上帝。勿稽勿迟。
急急如元皇上帝律令

 

Here is my incompetent, heavily dictionary-reliant translation (corrections are appreciated):

 

Emperor of the Nine Heavens, clad in white robes,

shining as the sun and moon, protector of the cosmos,

enable and support this mindful recitation.

Yellow elder, Cinnabar Prime, grant a fitting heart.

Five spirits, defend; eight sages, protect.

This recitation's ceaselessness, myriad gods attend.

Emperor ruling great transformations, refining literature to finest jade,

vast in vocabulary, pen running like the wind

Nine heavens propagate myriad chapters of subtleties.

Primal emperor on high, neither scruple nor delay.

Thus decrees the primal emperor on high/ Ji ji ru yuan huang shangdi lu ling!

 

I'm not sure if the last line ought to be translated since it is a variant of the typical "Ji ji ru lu ling" which is sort of the Daoist equivalent of "Amen."

 

Edited January 28, 2020 by SirPalomides

[Taomeow]

49 minutes ago, SirPalomides said:

Thanks, I had seen a lot of information like that. But since you bring it up, I was wondering about this:

 

 

I am quite ignorant of astrology. I assume 4 scholastic star = the asterism 司命, somewhere in the vicinity of Aquarius?

 

This is from bogus feng shui, invented some 40 years ago by a guy named Professor Lin Yun, marketed as "Black Sect Buddhist" (although the actual Black Sect Buddhists deny any connection of this system to theirs) and sold to the West (as well as Western-style-schooled Asians separated from their own traditions) by him and his book-authoring students so successfully that whole industries cropped up around this system.  From selling houses in San Francisco that are painted according to "sectors" at tens of thousands of dollars higher price than the same kind of houses not treated in this manner to multiple online businesses selling objects to place in those "sectors" to "activate" this and that, to a thorough discrediting (the most infuriating part to me personally) of feng shui the real taoist science of the highest level of complexity and expertise.  This school's antics is what 99% of Westerners think of when they hear the words feng shui.  Alas, it's not.

 

Well, the referenced sales pitch (taken from a site selling those pagodas) at least mentioned that "the yearly sector will change" -- but this won't tell a lay person anything about where exactly the pagoda is to be placed, and when, and when it will indeed be useful for something.  In real FS, the Star of Scholastic Brilliance appears in some people's bazi charts and is formed by a particular type of qi in the Heavenly Stem of one's Day Pillar (which stands for "Self") combined with a particular type of qi in the Earthly Branch.  There's a total of ten combinations that will form this particular type of qi, and it will be activated when the same combination also comes in the given year's Heavenly Stem-Earthly Branch.  E.g., Yin Wood in the Stem with Horse (which has Fire) in the Branch will form the Star of Scholastic Brilliance.  And, e.g., 2020, the Year of the Yang Metal Rat will not, because this particular qi requires a Yin Metal Rat combo to form that Star.  So, no crystal pagoda will activate scholastic brilliance attributable to a type of qi particularly favorable to the endeavor in 2020 (which of course does not nullify personal effort, it's just that the support of Heaven won't be there, you're on your own.)  So, even someone who has this star in the chart won't be able to take full advantage of it until a favorable combo year comes.  But of course a site selling crystal pagodas won't tell you that.  And it's pretty in any event, so why not buy it.

 

If you have this star in your chart, placing the pagoda in one of the nine squares of the Flying Stars feng shui at the time when the appropriate stem-branch combo appears in that square will, indeed, help activate that qi. 

 

That's the short version.  Whew...   

[SirPalomides]

Well, that basically went over my head but the gist if it, if I'm reading you correctly, is "don't listen to these hucksters; if you want to get the star working for you like that you'll have to wait for another year."

 

Would it be wrong though to assume that the god Wenchang can personally help someone as he sees fit, irrespective of astrological considerations?

[Taomeow]

4 minutes ago, SirPalomides said:

Well, that basically went over my head but the gist if it, if I'm reading you correctly, is "don't listen to these hucksters; if you want to get the star working for you like that you'll have to wait for another year."

 

Would it be wrong though to assume that the god Wenchang can personally help someone as he sees fit, irrespective of astrological considerations?

 

Theoretically it's possible, although taoist gods are known to often (and some, always) relegate interactions with mortals to their lesser assistants...  which is why, e.g., I chose to plead with Kui Xing to help with my "stuck" novel rather than Wenchang himself.  But you have to have at least something going for a deity to take interest in helping you.  If you have the Scholar star, you may be noticed by the deity in a manner a good teacher might notice a promising, bright student -- while not investing too much effort into a dumb or lazy one.  But even a student whose talents are limited might win the teacher's heart if he does all the required work and then goes an extra mile to prove that he's taking his studies seriously.  When it's a god rather than a teacher, you can perhaps make generous and/or frequent offerings, show devotion, use whatever is traditionally known to work.  It also helps to have at least something in common with the deity.  Besides, I usually resort to various methods to ask if the request is appropriate, timely, or beneficial toward some greater goal or greater good.  The most tried and true method for me is an I Ching divination, but sometimes I use something else from the arsenal of taoist probabilistic sciences.  Consult the almanac to check for favorable or unfavorable moments to try something specific, etc..  

[Taomeow]

45 minutes ago, SirPalomides said:

I found this incantation to Wenchang on a few blogs-  文昌帝君开心聪明咒 or "Lord-Emperor Wenchang's Joy and Intelligence Spell." Don't know where it originates.

 

九天大帝。身披白衣。
日月照耀。乾坤干随。
有能持诵。聪明如斯。
黄老丹元。与心合宜。
五神卫守。八圣护持。
诵之不辍。万神赴机。
帝司大化。文冶琼瑰。
词源浩荡。笔阵风驰。
九天开化。万章洞微。
元皇上帝。勿稽勿迟。
急急如元皇上帝律令

 

Here is my incompetent, heavily dictionary-reliant translation (corrections are appreciated):

 

Emperor of the Nine Heavens, clad in white robes,

shining as the sun and moon, protector of the cosmos,

enable and support this mindful recitation.

Yellow elder, Cinnabar Prime, grant a fitting heart.

Five spirits, defend; eight sages, protect.

This recitation's ceaselessness, myriad gods attend.

Emperor ruling great transformations, refining literature to finest jade,

vast in vocabulary, pen running like the wind

Nine heavens propagate myriad chapters of subtleties.

Primal emperor on high, neither scruple nor delay.

Thus decrees the primal emperor on high/ Ji ji ru yuan huang shangdi lu ling!

 

I'm not sure if the last line ought to be translated since it is a variant of the typical "Ji ji ru lu ling" which is sort of the Daoist equivalent of "Amen."

 

 

Thank you for the translation!

 

"Ji ji ru lu ling" is more like "so mote it be" than "amen."   

 

[SirPalomides]

After some more reading, to correlate with what was said previously, it looks it was common to erect a tower to Wenchang in a lot of places, near the Confucius temple, as not only a cult site but a sort of alternative Confucian academy that wasn’t controlled by central authorities. 

Also Wenchang seems to have put himself forward as a savior figure, though with an interesting twist. In a text entitled Wenchang’s Original Vow, the Jade Emperor sees the level of iniquity in the world rising so high that he decides to destroy us all. Wenchang though comes forward to vow to avert this by teaching us to be better people, particularly by liberally revealing morality texts in spirit writing sessions. So he became especially associated with spirit writing along with Lu Dongbin and Guanyu and there are lots of these morality tracts around that he revealed to anyone who would listen.

[SirPalomides]

Using my amazing powers of broken Mandarin and dictionary consultation, I have produced another attempted translation, this time of one of Lord Wenchang's morality tracts. This tract was revealed by spirit writing in the 15th century and seems to have become a staple among other popular morality tracts like the Taishang Ganying Pian. The Chinese text is available here. Again if anyone with better Chinese than mine has corrections I would appreciate them.  

 

The Divine Lord Wenchang's Essay on Hidden Kindness (文昌帝君阴骘文,)

The Divine Lord says, "I have incarnated for seventeen generations as scholar-officials, neither oppressing the people nor hectoring minor officials; assuaging people's distress, relieving their worries, pitying orphans, and forgiving people their trespasses.  I widely practiced hidden kindness, reaching through the vault of heaven. If people set their minds like mine, Heaven shall bless you accordingly with good fortune. Therefore, O people, I instruct you, saying:  

 

["In former times, at the public prison at the four-horse gate in Daxing, there was a man named Ji, of the Dou clan, tall as five cassia branches. He rescued ants, and he was selected among the top scorers in the exams.] [I bracketed this part because I'm not sure if it belongs in this text but it was in all online versions I could see]

 

"Who wants to grow the field of happiness must rely on the soil of the heart-mind. Do at all times helpful acts; practice all kinds of hidden kindnesses. Benefit creatures and people; cultivate virtue and happiness. Be upright in Heaven's stead, advancing reform. Be benevolent to the country and save the people. Hold to equanimity, widen generosity. Be loyal to lords, filial to parents, respecting elder brothers, faithful to friends. Esteeming Truth, revere the Dipper, or, honoring Buddha, recite the sutras. Repay the Four Kindnesses, widely practice the Three Teachings. Converse of righteousness and reform the wicked and stubborn; explain the classics and history, and enlighten the ignorant.

 

"Save as you would save a fish on a dry streambed; rescue like you would rescue a sparrow from a trap. Succor orphans and comfort widows; honor the aged and pity the poor; raise up the virtuous and commend the worthy; forgive people but reproach yourself. Distribute clothes and food, donating to the poor along the road; grant coffins, averting exposure of corpses. Build charitable cemeteries; found schools to prime the young in righteousness. Let family wealth aid needy relations; grant relief to neighbor and friend. Weights and measures must be impartial- what goes out light must not come in heavy; as for the forgiveness of servants, how is it proper to be rigid and exacting?

 

"Print and make scriptures, build and restore temples. Donate medicine for relief of suffering; give tea for quenching distress. Light lamps to shine on people's paths; build boats to ferry them over the river. Buy animals and release them, or abstain from flesh and shun killing. Walking, ever be watchful for insects; forbid fires to burn the mountain forests. 

 

"Neither climb mountains and trap birds, nor go on the water and poison fish and shrimp. Neither slaughter the plough-ox nor throw away paper bearing writing. Don't scheme for people's property; don't envy people's talents; don't lust for their wives or daughters; don't embroil people in lawsuits. Don't provoke private enmity, causing dissension between brothers; don't pursue petty gains, causing rancor between fathers and sons. Don't wield power and demean the righteous; don't employ wealth to cheat the impoverished.

 

"Comply with your duty and comport yourself modestly; keep to the rules and obey the law. Be harmonious with clansmen and resolve grievances. With benevolent people be intimate, supporting your moral conduct in body and mind; from vile people keep your distance, preventing disaster reaching even your eyebrows. You must ever praise the virtuous while hiding their faults, not saying "yes" with the lips and "no" in the heart. Ever remember useful maxims, never speaking indecent words.

 

"Trim hazel trees and brush obstructing the way; remove bricks and stones blocking the road. Fix up roads from a hundred years' dilapidation; build a bridge for a million people to cross back and forth. Hand down instruction to keep people from vice; donate funds to complete others' good works. In your actions abide by the pattern of Heaven; speech must accord with the heart of the people. See the ancient sages even in your soup or on the wall. Maintain uprightness and awareness even before your bed and your shadow.

 

"Do no evil, pursue myriad kinds of good. Never shall baleful stars menace, ever having auspicious gods supporting. Soon rewards shall accrue to yourself; later rewards shall trail your descendants. A hundred kinds of happiness drawn by horses, ten thousand blessings gathering like a cloud.

 

"Doesn't all this come from the midst of Hidden Kindness?"

 

 

Edited January 31, 2020 by SirPalomides

[SirPalomides]

On some further reading, I made an emendation: where it said "don't waste writing paper" it should be more "don't throw away paper bearing writing." This might seem like a rather uninteresting detail but it actually comes from an interesting aspect of Chinese religious culture, the practice of 惜字 (xizi) or cherishing the written word, where written characters were considered sacred and not to be irreverently trashed. If someone had to get rid of old manuscripts they should be burned- there were in fact pagodas built for this purpose, where manuscripts could be ritually burned at the altar. Most but not all of them were associated with Wenchang. Some are still existing today, mostly in Taiwan.

 

Look at me! If I keep this stuff up I could probably trick people into thinking I'm a scholar for a few minutes.

Edited January 31, 2020 by SirPalomides

[Taomeow]

2 hours ago, SirPalomides said:

On some further reading, I made an emendation: where it said "don't waste writing paper" it should be more "don't throw away paper bearing writing." This might seem like a rather uninteresting detail but it actually comes from an interesting aspect of Chinese religious culture, the practice of 惜字 (xizi) or cherishing the written word, where written characters were considered sacred and not to be irreverently trashed. If someone had to get rid of old manuscripts they should be burned- there were in fact pagodas built for this purpose, where manuscripts could be ritually burned at the altar. Most but not all of them were associated with Wenchang. Some are still existing today, mostly in Taiwan.

 

Look at me! If I keep this stuff up I could probably trick people into thinking I'm a scholar for a few minutes.

 

You can turn yourself into a scholar if you keep it up.   

 

Chinese reverence for the written word is only matched by their carelessness with the printed one.  My first purchase in China was a pack of toilet paper rolls that may have identified itself in writing as "toilet paper" in Chinese, but the English inscription, in larger letters, was dreamy and mysterious.  It said, "Mind connects to mind..."  I don't doubt it...   but context is everything.

 

Here's another item some cultivators may consider purchasing:

 

        

[thelerner]

On 1/27/2020 at 12:09 PM, SirPalomides said:

Thanks! Another question... can objects like this serve to represent the deity on the altar, or are only deity images (statues, paintings) suitable for that?

Brock Silvers book The Taoist Manual: An Illustrated Guide Applying Taoism to Daily Life Kindle Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BVX00W2/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Had an indepth section on altars.  He writes from a traditional Taoist religious point of view and has mostly scorn for modern new agey books.  For $5, the Kindle version might prove valuable. 

 

from the Amazon site-

"There is definitely room and necessity for a volume such as this, as it introduces the practical, religious aspects of Daoism to a broader American audience.  I think it will make an important contribution to the better understanding of Daoism in the U.S. and help both scholars and practitioners alike."

 

--Livia Kohn, Boston University 

Edited January 31, 2020 by thelerner

[SirPalomides]

I've been eyeing that book for a while and will probably pick it up pretty soon.  

 

I did participate as a callow lad in Brock Silver's TRS forum when it was still running and learned a lot there. But, while I fully share the disdain for new age nonsense and the misappropriation of Daoism in the West, I think he had a fairly rigid, clericalist attitude about what Daoism is that doesn't really account for how complicated and messy Daoism is on the ground.