When he received this imperial command, Li Pai had not yet got over a hangover from the previous night. But he at once raised his writing-brush, and composed:
The first poem went:
Dress minds of flowers, face minds of blossoms,
Where dew hangs heavy, and spring breeze wafts the balustrade;1265
Such as is met, if not mid Heaven’s Jewelled Hills,1266
In Paradise, ‘neath moonlight, aloft in the Terrace of Jade.1267
The second poem went:
A sprig of Gorgeous Scarlet, with dew-frozen perfume! 1268
Why rend one’s heart, to Mount Wu’s cloud-rain love aspire?1269
Come tell me, please, what rival had she in the palace of Han?
Poor Empress Flying-swallow, dependent on make-up and novel attire!1270
And the third poem went:
Wondrous flowers and state-toppling beauty,1271together rejoiced in,
Ever winning their monarch’s glance, that contemplates them smiling;
Both skilled to dispel spring-breeze-borne boundless love-time’s bitter yearning,
As north of Eaglewood Bower1272 they loll by the wooden railing.
Kui-nien bore the finished lyrics to submit them to the Emperor. The Emperor ordered students of the Pear Orchard briefly and roughly to fit the words to tunes, and to play them on their strings and woodwind, then pressed Kui-nien to sing the songs with them. Most-prized-empress Yang grasped a glass Seven Treasures Goblet, filled it with grape wine from Hsi-liang-chou, and smiling led the singing, with great emotional expression.
Then the Emperor himself played the jade flute to accompany the songs, provided a complete change of music for each song, and then had the music slowed down to make it more bewitchingly beautiful.
When Grand-truth had drunk her wine, she drew together her embroidered skirts, and made repeated obeisance.
From that time on, the Emperor regarded Academician Li Pai as the most outstandingly remarkable of the various academicians. Eventually, Eunuch-chamberlain Kao felt humiliated when Li Pai had him pull off his boots for him, and another day, when Most-prized-empress Yang was singing the above poems again, Kao teased her about it.
“I didn’t realise before that Your Majesty was so deep-to-the-marrow resentful of Li Pai,” he said, “Otherwise why would you be going over his poems so intently again and again like that?”
“How could Academician Li Pai have been able to insult me as you say?” said Most-prized-empress Yang, shocked.
“By Flying-swallow he’s referring to you,” said Eunuch-chamberlain Kao, “which is most demeaning of you!”
Most-prized-empress Yang thoroughly agreed with him.
The emperor once three times tried to make Li Pai a mandarin, but ended up being opposed in the palace, and gave up the attempts.
When the emperor was in his Hundred=flowers Courtyard Casual-relaxation Palace-hall, he was reading Secret biography of the Han dynasty Emperor Perfection, when, after some while, Most-prized-empress Yang arrived, and adjusted his collar with her fingers.
“What document are you reading?” she asked.
“Don’t ask,” laughed the emperor. “If you knew, you’d really do for me!”
When she pursued her search, she discovered that what he was reading was:
“When Emperor Perfection of the Han dynasty obtained Flying-swallow, her body was so light, it was almost as if she couldn’t stand up to a breeze, and he was afraid she’d drift off and fly away. The emperor made a tray of crystal, and had a palace lady hold it on her palms while she sang and danced on it. He also had made a Seven-treasures Breeze-warding Terrace, entwined with various kinds of perfume, and placed it over her, for fear her limbs wouldn’t be able to withstand the breezes.”
Emperor Dark-progenitor added: “Whereas with you they could blow as much as they’d like!”
For Most-prized-empress Yang was somewhat full-figured, which is why the emperor was poking fun at her with these words.
“My dancing of the one melody Rainbow skirt and feathered jacket was enough to outdo anything in the past!” said Empress Yang.
“I was just teasing you, and you straight away are going to say something bad-tempered,” said the emperor. “I recall that I’ve got a screen. It should still be around. When I’ve sought it out, I’ll give it to you as a present.”
The screen was named Rainbow, and was carved with the forms of beautiful women of previous ages, who were about three inches tall. The ornaments on it, and their costumes, were all created by edging them in various ways with all kinds of jewels. The background was made of crystal, and the outside was inlaid with tortoise-shell and rhinoceros horn, connected with shimmering pearls, the decoration in between being superbly exquisite, surely beyond what mortal effort could manufacture.
It had been made by Emperor Civility (Wen-ti) of the Sui dynasty, who’d bestowed it as a gift upon Princess Honour-perfected, and it had gone with her into the land of the Northern Barbarians. At the beginning of the Chaste-vista reign-period [627-649], the Northern Barbarians were destroyed, and it came with Empress Hsiao back to China, and so it was given to her as a present.
When Most-prized-empress Yang went home to the Duke of Wei’s home, she took it with her, and installed it up at the top of a high tower. Before she’d taken it home, Yang Kuo-chung took a siesta up in the tower. As he reached the bed, he noticed the screen in position there. And no sooner had he laid his head on the pillow, then all the ladies on the screen came down from it to the side of his bed, each informing him of her title:1273
“I’m Queen Torn-satin.”
“I’m Queen Ting-t’ao.”
“I’m Queen Yurt.”
“I’m Queen Wine-counter-Assistant.”
“I’m Queen Wu-destroyer.”
“I’m Queen Lotus-stepper.”
“I’m Queen Peach-spring.”
“I’m Queen Mottled-bamboo.”
“I’m Queen Serving-Five-mandarins.”
“I’m Queen Warm-flesh.”
“I’m Queen Mr. Ts’ao’s Resorting-to-the-waves.”
“I’m Queen Peerless-in-the-Wu-Palace and Returning-perfume.”
“I’m Queen Pick-up Kingfisher.”
“I’m Queen Steal-perfume.”
“I’m Queen Gold-room.”
“I’m Queen Undo Waist-decorations.”
“I’m Queen Become-a-cloud.”
“I’m Queen Tung Pair-united.”
“I’m Queen Become Mist.”
“I’m Queen Painting-eyebrows.”
“I’m Queen Panpipe-/Flute-blower.”
“I’m Queen Laugh-at-the-lame.”
“I’m Queen In-Goosefoot.”
“I’m Queen Hsü Flying-chalcedony.”
“I’m Queen Chao Flying-swallow.”
“I’m Queen Gold Valley.”
“I’m Queen Little Temple-tress.”
“I’m Queen Shiny-hair.”
“I’m Queen Hsȕeh Last-night.”
“I’m Queen Knotted Patterned-silk.”
“I’m Queen Spring-abording Villa.”
“I’m Queen Maid-of-Fu-feng.”
Even though Yang Kuo-chung had his eyes open, and saw them as clear as could be, he was unable to move his limbs, and his lips couldn’t utter a sound. The queens all sat in a row, each with their appurtenances. Shortly, a group of nearly ten or so slender-waist female entertainers appeared.
“We’re Stomping-and-rocking Woman1274 entertainers from Chang-hua Terrace in Ch’u,” they said.
Then they joined arms, and sang to him, their song going
Three lotus-flowers, that’s us lot,
Made from a big willow (yang), we’re to Young Yang a gift.
Then another two or three female entertainers added: “We’re Bow Waists from the Palace of Ch’u. Surely you’ve seen how in Separate preface to ‘Ch’u elegies’ it says, ‘Lissom flower figure, bow body and jade flesh’, haven’t you!”
Shortly they presented each their own particular arts in turn, and as they were finishing their performance, one by one went back onto the screen.
No sooner had Yang Kuo-chung woken up than he was seized by the utmost panic and fear, hastily ran downstairs, and hurriedly ordered that the room be sealed and locked. When Most-prized-empress Yang got to know about it, she too no longer wished to see anything of it. The object was still surviving after the Rebellion of An Lu-shan. It was in the home of the Prime Minister Yȕan Tai, after which it’s not known where it went.
Prior to that, towards the end of the Opening-origin reign-period, Chang-ling had sent a present of milk-tangerines1275 to the emperor, who planted ten of them in his P’eng-lai Palace. In the Ninth Month, in the autumn, of the Tenth Year of the Heaven Treasure reign-period [i. e. 24th September to 23rd October AD 751, they bore fruit. The emperor gave them as a present to his prime minister.
“Recently,” the emperor said, “I planted several mandarin-orange trees in the palace, and this autumn they’ve borne more than a hundred and fifty fruit, which are indistinguishable from those presented by Yangtse-south and Shu province, but all the same slightly different.”
“I humbly consider,” said the prime minister, “that one cannot alter the inherent nature of what Nature has reared. And a feeling that has never existed, is unprecedented in all the past, may be regarded as abnormal. From that, we know that you, Your Majesty, in your managing of Nature’s things, spread harmony by means of the Original Breath-energy. Great Cosmic Law avails itself of the seasons, and, in regions of diverse kinds, leaves are brought into existence. Moreover, that oranges and shaddocks, depending on where they’re grown, north or south have different names, is founded based on Providence, not on any alterations occasioned by the Male and Female Dual Forces. You, Your Majesty, have the Dark Wind of Non-interference and the True Laws, and have made all the Six Joinings - the whole world - one family, so that the rain and dew are even, and the whole world’s regions are evenly covered, and plants and trees having their intrinsic nature, it’s subtly conveyed by means of the vital energy of the earth. Thus, the precious fruits from beyond the Yangtse become splendid fruits in the forbidden precincts of your imperial palace. Their green peduncles hold frost, their fragrance drifts into your beauteous palace-halls, their golden robing sparkles in the sunshine, their colour embellishes your crimson courtyards.”
Then the mandarin-oranges were distributed as gifts to the important ministers. In addition, there was one twin orange, a “Together-in-Love’s-joy Fruit”, and the emperor and Most-prized-empress Yang held it and fondled it together.
“This fruit really seems to understand what one’s thinking,” said the emperor. “I and you, my lady, are of course one same body, which is why we rejoice together in Love.”
So, then they sat pressed close together, and ate together from that fruit. Then the emperor ordered a picture of them to be painted, which was passed down to posterity.
Since Most-prized-empress Yang had been born in Shu, she had a passion for lychees. The lychees of the South Sea region were superior to those of Shu, so every year they were brought as gifts to the imperial court by messengers galloping between the posting-stations. But they ripened just when the summer was at its hottest, and after one-night lacked taste, which is something of which later people have been unaware.
When the emperor was playing the Coloured Silk-fabric Game1276 with Most-prized-empress Yang, she was about to be defeated, but a double four turned defeat into victory. She bellowed in anger at them again and again, and the dice compliantly rolled to form a double four, so the emperor commanded Eunuch-chamberlain Kao to present her with some crimson silk, a custom which subsequently hasn’t been changed.
From Kuang-nan, a white parrot was given as a present to the throne, which parrot was thoroughly conversant with speech, and was called Snow-robe Maiden. One day, it flew up onto Most-prized-empress Yang’s mirror-stand, and spoke without any prompting.
“Last night,” it said, “I dreamed I was attacked by a fierce bird of prey.”
The emperor had Most-prized-empress Yang teach it Doubt sutra,1277 until it knew it off by heart and could recite it with superb fluency. Later, when the emperor and Most-prized-empress Yang took a trip to a holiday palace-hall, they placed Snow-robe Maiden on top of the pole of their hand-carriage to accompany them there. They caught a brief sight of an eagle arriving on the scene, and attacking the parrot and killing it.
The emperor and Most-prized-empress Yang sighed over it for a long time, then buried it in the imperial park, calling its grave Parrot Tomb.
Chiao-chih sent tribute of borneol perfume to the emperor, fifty pieces in the shape s of cicadas and silkworms. The Persians say that they’re only found on the nodules of old borneol camphor trees. In the forbidden precincts of the imperial palace, it was called Auspicious Borneol, and the emperor gave Most-prized-empress Yang ten pieces as a present. She secretly despatched Shining Camel envoys (Shining Camels have hair beneath their eyes, which can shine in the night, and such camels gallop five hundred li-miles in a day.), taking three pieces of it as a gift to An Lu-shan.
Most-prized-empress Yang also once sent An Lu-shan a present of a Gold Level-pull-off Container, in a jade box, the Gold Level-pull-off Container being an iron-faced bowl.
In the Eleventh Year [21st January 752 to 7th February AD 753], Li Lin-fu died, and Yang Kuo-chung was again made prime minister, heading forty or more commissioners.
In the Twelfth Year [8th February AD 753 to 27th January 754], Yang Kuo-chung was further made Minister of Works. His eldest son, Yang Hsȕan, had previously married the Commandery-princess Extending-harmony, and was also appointed a Splendid-blessing Lord-minister Grand-man Minister of Imperial Entertainments with Silver Seal and Blue Ribbon, Minister of the Grand Constancy, and concurrently Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. Yang Kuo-chung’s younger son, Yang Fei, married the Imperial Princess Myriad-springtimes. Most-prized-empress Yang’s cousin, the Vice Director of the Imperial-palace Library, Yang Chien, married the Commandery-princess Glory-receiving. Most-prized-empress Yang’s one household included two imperial princesses, three commandery princesses, and three queens.
In the Twelfth Year, Most-prized-empress Yang’s father Yang Hsȕan-yen was additionally awarded the titles of Grand Guardian and of Duke of the State of Ch’i, and her mother was re-affirmed in the title of Queen of the State of Liang. The government built an ancestral temple for them, for which the emperor manufactured a stele, and provided the calligraphy for its inscription. Most-prized-empress Yang’s junior paternal uncle Yang Hsȕan-kui was further appointed Minister of Works.
The Queen of the State of Han’s husband, the Vice Director of the Palace Library Ts’ui Hsȕn’s daughter became a wife of the future Emperor Tai-tsung [reigned 763 - 779].1278 The Queen of the State of Kuo’s son P’ei Hui married Emperor Replace-progenitor’s daughter, the Imperial-princess Extending-lustre, whose daughter became wife of the son of the future Emperor Yield.1279 The son of the Lady of Ch’in and her husband Liu Ch’eng, Liu Chȕn, married the County-princess of Ch’ang-ch’ing, and Liu Ch’eng’s younger brother Liu T’an married the daughter of the future Emperor Solemn -progenitor, the Imperial-princess Harmonious -administration.
Every year on tenth day of winter, the emperor would bless Florescent-purity Palace with a visit, often spending the whole winter there before returning to his main palace, and when he went there, he would share a carriage with Empress Yang.
Florescent-purity Palace had an Upright-rectitude Tower, which was where Most-prized-empress Yang combed and washed. And it had a Lotus-flower Hot-pool, which was her bathing and hair-washing house. Yang Kuo-chung was granted a residence south of the east gate of the palace, the Queen of Kuo’s facing it. The main beams and their plaster tiling of the Queen of Han’s and the Queen of Ch’in’s dwellings touched each other.
When the Son of Heaven paid a visit to their residences, he had to pass those
of the five households, with the attendant giving of rewards and gifts and the feasting and making merry. When he went around with a cortege, each household would form one band, each band wearing one particular colour of robes. When the five households joined their bands together, it was like all the flowers blooming in blazing splendour. Lost gold-strip-flower inlaid women’s hair-ornaments and dropped slippers shimmered, and pearls and emeralds sparkled, in the side-roads, there for cupped-hands to scoop up. If anyone bowing down took a peep at their carriages, the perfume would stay with them constantly for several days. There were over a thousand camels and horses, and the banners, tallies and cortege insignia of Chien-nan led to the fore. As they issued forth, there were send-off snacks and drinks, and as they returned, there were Weak-legs Comfort-and-reward Receptions. People from near and far were given gifts of precious trinkets and dogs and horses, and eunuch-attendants and singing-boys gazed at each other along the roads.
When the Queen of the State of Ch’in died, before the others, the Queen of the State of Kuo, the Queen of the State of Han and Yang Kuo-chung just augmented the sumptuosity, and the Queen of the State of Kuo furthermore had immoral relations with Yang Kuo-chung in the course of it. They hadn’t the slightest dignified decorum or restraint, and whenever they went into the imperial court for a visit, Yang Kuo-chung and the Queen of the State of Kuo would join reins, waving their whips and galloping their horses, regarding it as a humorous joke. Their retinue of officials was over a hundred loose teenage girls on horseback, holding burning torches that made the night like daytime, they proceeding in fresh sparkling attire and splendid clothes, nothing being covered up. Spectators along the highways were as densely packed as tamped walls, and all bar none gasped in shock.
When any of the men or women of various princes of the Ten Residences married, they all bribed the Queen of the State of Han or the Queen of the State of Kuo to do the introductions and mediations as matchmakers for them, each person paying some thousand thousand-pence strings of copper pence before the emperor would give his consent to the marriage.
Appendices and Endnotes Page 4