by Chen Jack W
Jade Tree and Flowers in the Rear Courtyard 玉樹後庭花
A splendid mansion and fragrant groves face
麗宇芳林對高閣，40
high
pavilions,
Freshly-made faces and voluptuous forms —
新粧豔質本傾城。41
originally
city-topplers.
In light reflected on the doors, she manifests
映戶凝嬌乍不進，
allure, but suddenly holds back,
—————
39. For texts, see Yuefu shiji, 47; and Xian Qin Han Wei Jin Nanbeichao shi, p. 2511. On the question of dating, see Yao Cha and Yao Silian, comps., Chen shu, 7.131–32; and Li Yanshou, comp., Nan shi, 12.347–48. For other translations of the poem, see Frodsham with Ch’eng Hsi, trans. and annots., Anthology of Chinese Verse, p. 198; Haiying Ma, “Poetry and Perdition,” pp. 13, 25; and Fusheng Wu, Written at Imperial Command, pp. 154–55.
40. On the mansion and pavilions, see the discussion following the translation.
41. The phrase 傾城 is first found in the greater ode “Gazing on High” 瞻卬 (Poem 264).
See Mao Shi zhengyi, 18.5.309b–311a, in Shisanjing zhushu, pp. 577–79. However, the phrase actually derives its common meaning from a song sung by the court musician Li Yannian 李延年 (d. ca. 87 bc), who sought to entice Han Wudi with the loveliness of his sister, “Lady Li” 李夫人. The song described a beautiful woman who, with a single glance, would “cause a city to topple” 傾人城 and with another glance, would “cause a state to
topple” 傾人國. See Han shu, 97A.3951.
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178
The Writing of Imperial Poetry in Medieval China
She emerges from the curtains, exuding
出帷含態笑相迎。
loveliness, greets me with a smile.
The bewitching beauty of her face resembles a
妖姬臉似花含露，
flower holding in dew,
Flowing light from the jade trees shine on the
玉樹流光照後庭。
rear
courtyard.
The first line constructs a view of the imperial palaces and the tall pavilions
that stand in architectural counterpoint. Following the historical accounts
of the song’s composition, the mansion would refer to Guangzhao Palace
光照殿, in front of which stood Linchun 臨春, Jieqi 結綺, and Wangxian
望仙 Pavilions. It was in these pavilions that Chen Houzhu and his
guests resided during feasts and celebrations. The poem then shifts focus
to describe an unnamed palace woman who coyly hesitates at the chamber
door, refusing at first to show herself. The speaker is thus drawn into her
chamber where she reveals herself to him, and rather than dwell on the
moment of boudoir intimacy, the poem draws away to close with the image
of the jade trees flowering in the courtyard of the inner palace.
When Chen Houzhu describes the makeup and physical grace of
women as capable of “toppling cities” ( qingcheng 傾城), he is invoking a
longstanding poetic cliché of female beauty that had first been used to de-
scribe Lady Li, beloved concubine of Han Wudi. Yet the poem goes be-
yond conventional kenning to invoke Lady Li’s memory in other ways. In
the Han shu story, after Lady Li falls ill, she refuses to show her face to the emperor, telling him that he would no longer love her now that her beauty has been marred by sickness. After her death, Wudi is grief-stricken. A
wizard summons her soul behind the curtains of a spirit enclosure for
Wudi’s viewing, though her form is indistinct.42 Stephen Owen has
shown how Lady Li’s refusal to show herself while sick—and her ghostly
manifestation after her death—evokes the trope of the ever-elusive Chu ci
goddess and the poetic theme of unrequited desire.43 Unrequited desire is
what Chen Houzhu’s palace woman coyly threatens in the third line,
when she “suddenly holds back.” However, here, it is not for the purpose
of “perpetuating imperial desire,” as Owen describes Lady Li’s actions,
that the palace woman draws back, but rather to delay gratification and
—————
42. See Han shu, 97A.3951–55.
43. See Stephen Owen, “One Sight,” pp. 253–54.
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The Writing of Imperial Poetry in Medieval China
179
prolong the erotic moment.44 In the end, Chen Houzhu encounters his
city-toppling goddess and is able to enjoy her too, heedless of what it
might mean for an emperor to delight in a trope that explicitly conjoined
political collapse and feminine beauty. It is little wonder that this poem
would later become identified as an omen of the Chen dynastic fall, and
indeed, as a kind of poetic commonplace for all dynastic decline.45
Zhou Mingdi (r. 557 – 60 )
The Chen dynasty was founded in the year 557, which, coincidentally, was
the same year that the Northern Zhou, a Xianbei dynasty, was founded.
Whereas the Southern Dynasties successfully laid claim to the inheritance
and innovation in literary culture, the Northern Dynasties positioned
themselves as the rightful heirs to Han classical learning and ritual in or-
der to claim a form of superiority over their ethnic Chinese counter-
parts.46 This Han legacy was reflected also in their poetry, which generally
shunned the aristocratic elegance of the south, celebrating instead an un-
adorned, vigorous style.47 Only a handful of imperial poems have been
transmitted from the Later Wei, Northern Qi, and Northern Zhou dy-
nasties, but their influence can be seen in the literary and cultural debates
of the Sui and Tang, both of which were northern in origin. A particularly
—————
44. Owen, “One Sight,” p. 250.
45. The “Treatise on the Five Phases” in the Sui shu has the following passage: “At the start of the Zhenming reign [587], Houzhu composed a new song; its lyrics were extremely sad and bitter. He had his beautiful concubines practice and sing it. Its lyrics went: “Jade trees in the rear courtyard flower, / The flowers bloom but will not for long.” The people of the time took this as a song-omen, that it was a portent of [the dynasty] not lasting long” 禎明
初，後主作新歌，詞甚哀怨，令後宮美人習而歌之。其辭曰：“玉樹後庭花，
花開不復久。”時人以歌讖，此其不久兆也. This is often identified as “Jade Tree
and Flowers in the Rear Courtyard,” but the couplet is not found in the present text of the poem. See Sui shu, 22.637.
46. This is not to deny the important role of Buddhism and Daoism in the political life of the Northern Dynasties, which was considerable at times. See Lewis, China Between Empires, pp. 73–85.
47. See Cao Daoheng and Shen Yucheng, Nanbeichao wenxue shi, pp. 339–54. Of course, the received idea of a strong literary rupture between northern and southern traditions is somewhat overstated. Nie Shiqiao has pointed out that the poetic styles of the Southland were influential among some Xianbei aristocrats in Xian Qin Liang Han Wei Jin Nanbeichao wenxue shi, pp. 170–73.
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180
The Wri
ting of Imperial Poetry in Medieval China
striking example can be found among the handful of poems by Zhou
Mingdi 周明帝 (Yuwen Yu 宇文毓, 534–60), the third emperor of the
Northern Zhou. Mingdi’s portrayal in the Tang-commissioned Zhou shu
周書 ( History of the Zhou Dynasty) is that of a dedicated, ritual-minded
sovereign (who, incidentally, met an untimely end through poisoning).
The poem reads:
Stopping at My Former Palace 過舊宮詩48
The “jade candle” attunes the autumn ether,
玉燭調秋氣，49
The gilded carriage crosses my former palace.
金輿歷舊宮。
This is at once like “stopping at Boshui,”
還如過白水，50
Or even more resembling “entering Xinfeng.”
更似入新豐。51
The autumn pool soaks late chrysanthemums,
秋潭漬晚菊，52
Into a cold well fall leaves from sparse tong trees.
寒井落疏桐。
I raise a cup, receiving the village elders,
舉杯延故老，
And presently listen to the singing of “Great Wind.” 今聞歌大風。53
The “former palace” of Mingdi’s poem refers to his prior residence in
Tongzhou 同州, a city located to the east of Chang’an that he visited in
the ninth month of the second year of his reign.54 Mingdi, in writing
—————
48. The poem is preserved in Zhou shu, 4.56. See also Xian Qin Han Wei Jin Nanbeichao shi, p. 2324.
49. The term “jade candle” is a metaphor for a year in which the four seasons are in harmony; this is a sign of the ruler’s virtue being reflected in the cosmic and natural order. For a full explanation of this term, see Erya zhushu, 6.41c, in Shisanjing zhushu, p. 2607.
50. Boshui 白水 was the old home of Han Guangwudi. Guangwudi was a native of Cai-
yang 蔡陽 prefecture in Nanyang 南陽, where the village of Boshui was located. One of
the earliest references to Guangwudi’s birthplace is in the “Rhapsody on the Eastern Metropolis” 東都賦 by the Eastern Han poet Zhang Heng, in Wen xuan, 3.102.
51. Xinfeng 新豐 was a simulacrum city constructed by Han Gaozu for his homesick fa-
ther. This anecdote is preserved in the Sanfu jiushi 三輔舊事 ( Old Stories of the Capital Region), an anonymously compiled early Tang dynasty collection of (mostly) Han anecdotes. It reads: “The Emperor Emeritus was not happy in the Guanzhong region and longed for his country village. From Feng and Pei, Gaozu transferred butchers, wine-sellers, and cooked cake sellers, and incorporated them as ‘Xinfeng’” 太上皇不樂關中，思慕鄉
里。高祖徙豐、沛屠兒酤酒煮餅商人，立為新豐. See Sanfu jiushi, p. 15, in Zhao Qi
趙岐 (d. 201), et al., comps., Sanfu juelu, Sanfu gushi, Sanfu jiushi.
52. Here, the Zhou shu text reads shuang 霜 instead of qiu 秋.
53. This is, of course, a reference to the song composed and sung by Han Gaozu.
54. See Zhou shu, 4.56.
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The Writing of Imperial Poetry in Medieval China
181
about homecoming, rather self-consciously alludes to Boshui and Xinfeng,
historical sites with analogous connotations for the Han. Boshui was the
old home of Han Guangwudi, who restored the Han dynasty in ad 25 af-
ter the interregnum of Wang Mang 王莽 (r. 9–25). Xinfeng, or “New
Feng,” was the section of the capital Chang’an built to resemble the city of
Feng, so that the founding Han dynast’s father would not feel homesick.
Similarly, Mingdi’s reference in the last line to Gaozu’s “Great Wind”
draws the unmistakable parallel between the present poetic composition
and the banquet song that Gaozu had performed in Pei. The poem is in-
formed by a hermeneutical consciousness: Mingdi is able to read the cul-
tural significance that underlies place and action. From this, he then con-
structs a topography of historical and textual memory, one that recalls
and preserves the sovereign traces of the past.
Mingdi’s hermeneutics establishes a poetic and political genealogy, an
orthodox lineage, or zhengtong 正統, of sovereignty. By reperforming the
Han, Mingdi is making the claim that the Northern Zhou is the possessor
of the Mandate of Heaven and the true heir of the last unified empire. In
reality, the Zhou shared power with the Northern Qi and the Chen dy-
nasties, and it was not until the reign of Zhou Wudi 周武帝 (r. 560–78),
when the Zhou overthrew the Qi and subjugated the Chen, that any
comparison with the Han would seem plausible.55 Further, it would be
even later, during the brief unification of empire under the Sui, that the
“orthodox lineage” of dynasties could truly be said to have been restored.
And even when this had occurred, the poetic division between north and
south would live on in the form of the ongoing cultural debate between
practitioners of the aristocratic court style and conservative literary critics
and historians. As one of the few extant poems composed by an emperor
of the Northern Dynasties, Mingdi’s poem stands as an early, proleptic
claim to a cultural and political unity that had not yet taken place.
—————
55. The Northern Zhou forged an alliance with the Chen dynasty, and together they overthrew the Northern Qi. However, within two years, the Zhou reneged their promises and drove the Chen out of their share of the newly won territories. For a brief account in English, see Wright, Sui Dynasty, p. 43.
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182
The Writing of Imperial Poetry in Medieval China
Sui Yangdi (r. 604 – 17 )
The hope of the victorious Sui, as it would be for the Tang after them, was
to create a decorous, yet forceful, literary style that could sweep aside the
harmful influence of the Southern Dynasties and help secure the founda-
tions of the new dynastic cultural ideology. As it turned out, the only Sui
emperor with real literary talent was Yangdi, a ruler who seemed mostly in-
terested in the gratification of personal pleasures. Yangdi had served, prior
to his installment as crown prince, in the role of Area Commander-in-
Chief 總官 of Jiangdu, where he became enthralled with southern literary
culture and the beautifully crafted language of its poetry. This is reflected
in the following undated poem, which seems to have been composed some-
time after his accession:56
Taking Joy in My Jiangdu Palace 江都宮樂歌57
Within Yangzhou’s familiar places, one could
揚州舊處可淹留，58
linger
long,
The terraced tower is high and bright, even
臺榭高明復好遊。
better for roaming.
Among open pavilions and fragrant trees, I
風亭芳樹迎早夏，
meet the early summer,
On long banks and barley slopes, I see off the
長皋麥隴送餘秋。
last of autumn.
Cinnamon oars on a limpid pool—afloat on
淥潭桂楫浮青雀，59
a green sparrow-skiff,
—————
56. While it
is possible that this poem was composed during Yangdi’s time as zongguan of the south, he spent considerable time in Jiangdu after his accession. As Victor Xiong notes, the Jiangdu Palace was Yangdi’s official southern residence. Unfortunately, it is not known precisely when the Jiangdu Palace was constructed during the Sui, though the
Zizhi tongjian (181.5639) clearly notes that Yangdi was obsessed with palace building. See Xiong, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, pp. 101–102, which also has a translation of the Zizhi tongjian passage.
57. See Yuefu shiji, 79.1113–14; Xian Qin Han Wei Jin Nanbeichao shi, p. 2664. This poem is also translated and discussed in Owen, Poetry of the Early T’ang, pp. 24–25.
58. The phrase jiu chu 舊處 could also be taken as “former residence,” which would cast the entire poem in the past tense, at some point after Yangdi had ascended to the throne.
59. The “green sparrow-skiff” refers to a kind of boat; for an early mention of this image, see the commentary by Guo Pu 郭璞 (276–324) in Yang Xiong, Fang yan jiaojian, 9.60; and also with additional notes in Yang Xiong Fang yan jiaoshi huizheng, 9.624, 637.
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The Writing of Imperial Poetry in Medieval China
183
Golden saddles under fruit trees—I urge my
果下金鞍躍紫騮。60
purple steed on.
Pale lees in green goblets—I drink “flowing
綠觴素蟻流霞飲，61
clouds
brew,”
Clear songs from [those in] long sleeves—
長袖清歌樂戲州。62
a land of joy and delight.
In this poem Yangdi thematizes his love for the Southland by imagining a
life of languor and idleness—the usual topics associated with the poetry of
the Southern Dynasties. The poem’s focus on the pleasure of roaming
( you 遊) serves as a refusal of the more sober topics of sovereign poetry.
Roaming is defined by its lack of purpose other than for enjoyment; as