In 1656, in the early days of the Qing Dynasty, Peng Delun was a successful businessman, as well as a minor bureaucrat in the Shanxi province. Due to accusations of bribery and corruption, Delun was forced to relinquish his post and enter early retirement at forty-five. Leaving behind his wife and son to tend to his extensive estate, he traveled to the Zhoushao Temple in the northeastern corner of the province, nestled between the Wutai mountain ranges and the East River, a minor tributary of the Yellow River. It was here that he dedicated himself to intensive Buddhist practice, engaging in vigorous fasts, days-long meditations in isolation, and prolonged vows of silence.

Peng broke a two-year period of silence in 1668 in order to record the following description of his role in the River Vigil, the most important yearly temple rite, dedicated to honoring the souls of the dead. It is the only known record we have of his communications during his isolation at Zhoushao and was written six months before he succumbed to pneumonia. Within it, he describes his encounter with the East River Shade, a being of great evil in his faith, and the doom that it brings upon him. His writing is intended for Buddhist scholars, and as such, Western readers may find many of his references difficult to follow. Part of my task as a translator has been to highlight, as best I can, the religious significance of his words. Due to the extraordinary length of his text, I have been forced to heavily abridge his descriptions of day-to-day practice and life, while distilling several of his reported religious experiences which I believe will be of particular interest to readers.

It has been a pleasure and a rare challenge to interpret the varieties of religious experience outlined in this text. It is my hope that readers will be able to gather significant value from these few pages.

Oscar Clairmount, England, 1872

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