五四

May 4th

今天是“五·四”青年节，从1919年五四运动至今已经历了近百年的历史。随着时代的变迁，青年们早已不必再为反封建、反压迫而战，他们以各种形式庆祝着这一节日。

Today is Youth Day; it was more than a hundred years ago when the May 4th Movement shook the nation in 1919. As time goes by, however, young people these days no longer emphasize fighting feudalism or oppression as their earlier peers did. Instead, they choose to celebrate their day in various ways.

我也加入了一帮有很多青年人组成的行列，举行了一次大规模的放生活动。三艘船承载着饱受死亡恐惧的海底居民，浩浩荡荡地驶往深海，除了厦门本地的信众，来自各地寺院、佛学院的出家人，福州、台湾、香港等地的居士，约200名道友都参加了这次放生活动，出家人的红黄僧衣，在家人五彩缤纷的各式服装，在蓝色大海的衬托下，形成了一道道靓丽的风景。

I found myself in the company of young people to carry out large-scale life liberation. Three ships loaded with many sea creatures whose lives were once at grave stake sailed off the coast in an impressive formation. The 200 or so participants included local Buddhists from Xiamen, monks and nuns from nearby monasteries and Buddhist Academies, as well as lay practitioners from Fuzhou, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. Against the blue sea, the maroon and yellow monastic robes and laities’ attire of various colors stood out vividly and brightly. It was quite a beautiful sight to behold.

在我身居其中的四个月期间，每当午餐和晚餐之时，窗户外面时常会漂来宰杀海鲜的血腥气息，使这座沿海城市纯净的空气受到了玷污，更使来自藏地的我和同伴食不下咽，将这些可怜的鱼虾从屠刀下解救出来一直是我们未了的心愿。虽然今天解救的生灵与整个城市的杀生数量难以相比，但也能让我们稍感欣慰。

During my four-month stay in this coastal city, at lunch or dinner time the stench of seafood being prepared often wafted through the open window, polluting the fresh air of the shore, and making my friend, also from Tibet, and me lose our appetites. We have long wished to save the poor fish, shrimp, and so forth from meeting their ends at the knife, it is only today that we have come to fulfill it. Even though the number of lives we are saving is incomparable with that of being killed in the whole city, we are still grateful for the opportunity.

记得曾有一县令名曰潘公，在他上任期间，制定县规命令百姓不得入江湖渔捕，犯者加罪。当他后来去任时，水中发出号呼之声，如丧考妣。当地人听到后，莫不叹异。不知道什么时候厦门也能有这样的好县令，也能使这些生灵免受刀俎之苦。不过，此地的放生之风还算比较盛行，听说是一位居士发心印了一万册《放生功德文》，广为结缘，才使此风日益兴盛，继而流传下来的。

There was once a county magistrate name Poon Gong who forbade his subjects from catching any live fish by instigating severe punishments for perpetrators. Years later when he was about to leave his official post, a wailing sound as grief-stricken as if one’s parents had been lost was heard from the waters, filling people’s hearts with sadness and amazement. I often wonder when such a benevolent county magistrate will appear again in Xiamen such that many beings will be saved from going under the knife. Nonetheless, the practice of lifesaving has been well accepted here, due largely to, I was told, the free distribution of 10,000 booklets of The Merit of Releasing Live Beings by an aspiring layperson. The tradition thus has gradually flourished and come down to this day.

据说这是当地近年来规模最大的一次放生。不管规模大小，至少，这也是我们为这些生灵反对压迫而举行的一次抗议。善无大小，唯贵久长，日日增之，月月累之，但愿百年以后，生灵涂炭的悲剧不会再上演了。

Today’s lifesaving activity reportedly is the largest one in recent years in the area. Regardless of whether the magnitude is large or small, at least we have made a revolt against oppression on behalf of these sea creatures. The value of good deeds depends not so much on their scale but more on their consistency. When virtues are practiced daily and enhanced monthly, we hope that one hundred years from now, the tragedy of taking other beings’ lives will no longer exist.

壬午年三月二十三日　
2002年5月4日　　

23rd of March, Year of RenWu
May 4, 2002