In more recent times, lacquer vessels inlaid with shell decorations have been called “mother-of-pearl inlay” (lo-tien 螺鈿). There’s also the term chin-tien 金鈿, “woman’s head jewellery inlaid with gold flowers”. Hsü Ling 徐陵 (507 - 583), (compiler), in his preface to his Jade Terrace new songs (Yü-t’ai hsin-yung 玉臺新詠), says: “Sticking in the chin-tien backwards, and pulling out crosswise the jewelled tree (pao-shu 寶樹).” Wang Chien 王建 (fl. ca. 751 - 835), Pole-climbing song (Hsȕn-ch’uang ke 尋橦歌), says: “Re-combing short locks, applying chin-tien.”
31Yȕeh-kung 月宮, Moon Palace. Wang Jen-yü 王仁裕 (880 - 956) (attr.), Lost matters of Heaven-treasure (T’ien-pao yi-shih 天寶遺事) says: “When Shining August-emperor made a trip to the Moon Palace, he saw a notice-board on which it said: ‘The Palace of Vast-cold Pure-void’ (Kuang-han Ch’ing-Hsü chih-fu 廣寒清虛之府).” This is possibly the origin of the term Moon Palace.
32 This must refer to Wang Jen-yü 王仁裕 (880 - 956) (attr.), Lost matters of Heaven-treasure (T’ien-pao yi-shih 天寶遺事).
33Ni-ch’ang 霓裳, Rainbow-skirts, a shortening of Ni-ch’ang yü-yi ch’ȕ 霓裳羽衣曲, Rainbow-skirt and feather-jacket melody, the title of a piece of dance music. It originated in India, and came to northern China during the period 713 - 741, through Chinese Turkestan (present-day Sinkiang) and Kansu, being presented to the emperor by the Commissioner of Hsi-liang 西涼 (in north-western present-day Kansu province), Yang Ching-shu 楊敬述, at that time. Dark-progenitor (Hsȕan-tsung) revised it somewhat. One early story, in Kuo Mao-ch’ien 郭茂倩 (Sung dynasty), Collection of the lyrics of Music Treasury songs (Yȕeh-fu shih-chi 樂府詩集), quotes Missed-out history of the T’ang dynasty (T’ang yi-shih 唐逸史) as saying: “Lo Kung-yan 羅公遠 had a lot of secret magic, and once went with Emperor Dark-progenitor (Hsȕan-tsung) to the Palace of the Moon, where several hundred angel-maidens all in plain-white silk and rainbow-skirt danced in a wide open piazza. On asking what the melody used for the dance was, they were told it was Rainbow-skirt and feather-jacket. The emperor discreetly noted the tune, and then he and Lo came back. The following day, he summoned his musicians and from the tune composed his Rainbow-skirt and feather-jacket melody.” Another tale says; “On the mid-autumn night of AD 741, the emperor and Yeh Fa-shan 葉法善 [Yeh “Excellent Magic”] took a trip to the Palace of the Moon, heard all the angels there playing a melody, and subsequently put it to the jade-flute, calling this melody Rainbow-skirt and feather-jacket, it thereafter being spread by the Ministry of Music.”
Hunting-park of musical performance (Yȕeh-yȕan 樂苑) says: “Rainbow-skirt and feather-jacket melody was presented to the emperor by Yang Ching-shu 揚敬恕 [Or 楊敬述], Military Commissioner of Hsi-liang prefecture (Hsi-liang-fu chieh-tu-shih 西涼府節度使) during the Open-origin (K’ai-yȕan 開元) reign-period [713 - 741].”
A certain Cheng Yü 鄭愚 says: “When Emperor Dark-progenitor reached the Palace of the Moon, he heard angel music but on his return could only remember half of it. It chanced, however, that Yang Ching-shu presented him with the Brahmanical [Indian] melody, which fitted in with its music, so he used what he’d heard on the moon as a separate prelude, and what Ching-shu had brought him as the melody proper, calling it Rainbow-skirt and feather-jacket.” Cheng seems to have tried to reconcile probable fact and probable fiction! Emperor Dark-progenitor’s Most-prized-empress Yang, the heroine of this drama, was famous in posterity for her dancing to this music for the emperor’s pleasure, and it’s used here as a symbol of the pleasure-making of the two lovers that is suddenly shattered by rebellion.
Rainbow-skirt and feather-jacket dance (Ni-ch’ang yü-yi wu 霓裳雨衣舞, was the dance to the tune Rainbow-robe and feather-jacket. See above under Ni-ch’ang yü-yi chȕ.
Rainbow-skirt middle prelude number one (Ni-ch’ang chung-hsü ti-yi 霓裳中序第) was a tz’u-lyric tune-title. Wang Yi-ch’ing 王奕清 (fl. ca. AD 1710) and others, Tz’u-lyric manual (Tz’u-p’u 詞譜), in AD 1715 on imperial commission, says: “Pai Chü-yi 白居易 [772-846] in his Rainbow-skirt and feather-jacket dance song (Ni-ch’ang yü-yi wu-ke 霓裳雨衣舞歌), says:’
When the subordinate prelude has been performed six times, the robes haven’t yet stirred,
The old cloud of Sunlight Terrace is too languid to fly;
Only when the middle prelude has been split are the beats entered;
When the autumn bamboo is blown split,
The spring ice is broken up.’
Pai’s own note to this says: “Throughout the six subordinate preludes there are no beats, so there’s no dancing. Only with the middle prelude are there beats, and it’s also called the Beat Prelude.’
Shen K’uo 沈括 (1030-1094), Dream Brook jotting chats (Meng-hsi pi-t’an, 夢溪筆談), says: ‘Rainbow-skirt melody has altogether twelve passages (tieh 疊), the first six of which has no beats. Not until the seventh passage are there beats, it only then being referred to as ‘Passage Throughout’ (tieh-pien 疊遍), and only then are there beats and dance.’ From this we learn that only with the Middle Prelude of the twelve passages of Rainbow-skirt melody was there dance. Thus the seventh passage was the first Middle Prelude, being the first section of the dance melodies.”
This tune originated from Chiang Kui’s 姜夔 (ca. 1155 - 1221), Levelling-the-marsh just gazing at the extreme (T’ing-kao cheng wang-chi tz’u 亭皋正望極詞), his preface to which says: “In the year ping-wu, I stayed in Ch’ang-sha 長沙, ascended Chu-jung 祝融, and amid old writings of musicians found eighteen-stanza Rainbow-skirt melody scores, all of which were ‘empty’ [plain] scores without any lyrics. I note that Mr. Shen’s Music rules (Yȕeh-lü 樂律) says: ‘Rainbow-skirt is in the Tao Mode.’ This score uses the Shang Mode. Pai Chü-yi’s poem says: ‘six stanzas’ of subordinate preludes’. This score uses two stanzas. I don’t know which is right. But the notes and rhythms are casual and miscellaneous, dissimilar to modern melodies. I didn’t have the leisure to compose to all, so composed a one-stanza Middle Prelude to circulate to society.”
34 Yü-yang 漁陽:
i) the name of commanderies (chȕn 郡):
a) set up during the Ch’in dynasty, its territory being the region east of present-day Peking, north of present-day Tientsin, south of the Great Wall, and west of Feng-jun and Tsun-hua counties, etc. During the Han dynasty, its seat of jurisdiction was Yü-yang county (Yü-yang-hsien 漁陽縣), its old city being situated south-west of present-day Mi-yȕn county. The city was located on the north side of the River Yü, hence its name. In the Three Kingdoms period, both the commandery and county were abolished.
b) set up in the Sui dynasty, situated in the region of present-day Chi county and P’ing-ku county in Hopeh province. A Yü-yang county was set up along with it, serving as its administrative capital, being present-day Chi county. In the T’ang dynasty, the commandery was changed to Chi-chou 薊州. The Ming dynasty merged the county into Chi-chou. Chi-chou illustrated classic (Chi-chou t’u-ching 薊州圖經) says: “North-west of the city there’s Mount Yü (Yü-shan 漁山). The commandery was to the south of it, hence its name ‘South of Yü’ (Yü-yang).” Mount Yü is north-west of present-day Chi County. The River Yü (Yü-shui 漁水) is nowadays called Yü-he 漁河, “River Yü”. It issues from Mi-yȕn County, flowing south-east passes the foot of Mount Yü in Chi County, and entering the Chi canal.
ii) Yü-yang is also a double-barreled surname.
35Hung-tu 鴻都, Swan-goose Capital/Metropolis, the name of a place for storing books, a library. Fan Yeh 范曄 (398 - 445) and others, Later Han history (Hou Han Shu 後漢書), “Ju-lin chuan”, says: “From the various collections of documents and literary writings, Imperial University (pi-yung 辟廱), Eastern Vista (Tung-kuan 東觀, Orchid Terrace (Lan-t’ai 蘭臺), Stone House (Shih-shih 石室), Proclamation of Enlightenment (Hsȕan-ming 宣明) and Swan-goose Metropolis, they vied with one another to split them up and disperse them.” “Ling-ti chi�
� of the same work says: “In the year 178 BC, Scholars of the Swan-goose/Vast Metropolis Gate School (Hung-tu-men Hsȕeh-sheng 鴻都門學生) were first set up.” A note to that says: “Swan-goose Metropolis/Vast Metropolis was the name of a gate [of Ch’ang-an], within which a school was set up, and in those times the various scholars in it were all men who were able at Model Calligraphy and rhapsody-composition, skilled at writing Bird Seal-script, and were recommended and engaged by the Three Dukes to run prefectures and commanderies by imperial command. The prime minister examined as many as three thousand men into it.” The gist is that the Swan-goose Metropolis/Vast Metropolis was the same as the Imperial University (Pi-yung), namely being both a school and simultaneously a library.
A modern note to the play says that Swan-goose/Vast Metropolis means “immortals’ palace” (hsien-fu 仙府), but perhaps here it’s a euphemism for Ch’ang-an.
36Kuang-han-kung 廣寒宮, Vast Cold Palace. Heaven-treasure lost matters (T’ien-pao yi-shih 天寶遺事) says: “When Shining August-emperor [Emperor Dark-progenitor, Hsȕan-tsung 玄宗, reigned 712 - 756] took a trip to the Moon Palace (Yȕeh-kung 月宮), he saw a notice which said: ‘Vast Cold Pure Emptiness Palace’ (Kuang-han Ch’ing-Hsü Chih-fu 廣寒清虛之府).” From this, people came to call the moon the Vast Cold Palace.
37 These four lines are surely quotes from other poets, as at the end of most acts. It was a common habit in the Wonder Plays to end an act with a verse composed in such a fashion, and the device is referred to as T’ang Assemblage (Chi-T’ang 集唐). It cannot, as it might easily tend to be, be dismissed as mere flaunting of pedantry. Quotation of such lines would have, among its various effects that of providing a ring of venerable antiquity, such as may endear even some of Shakespeare’s most ordinary wordings to an English-speaking audience. The ingenuity displayed in the compilation of such a poem, for all that it sometimes involved obvious strain, would often give the play extra value as literature, and would sometimes provide the requisite strong, resounding end to the act in stage performance.
38 tuan-mien chung-t’ieni 端冕中天, “to adjust/set upright crown and hit/fit in with Heaven”.
39 ch’ui-yi 垂衣, “to dangle/let hang/trail one’s robe”. Thought to mean, “to rule in a non-intrusive/non-interfering/inactive way”, as Taoist philosophy recommended.
40nan-mian 南面, to face south, south-facing. The throne of an ancient ruler of China faced south, so he was referred to as “south-facer” (nan-mien). Anon. (6th century BC or earlier), Changes classic (Yi-ching 易經). “Sho-kua chuan”, says: “The sage ruler rules the world facing south, and rules well in an enlightened way”. Chuang Chou 莊周 (368 BC-286 BC), Sir Chuang (Chuang-tzu 莊子), “Chih-le”, says: “Even the joys of a south-facing true-king couldn’t surpass it.”
41shan-he 山河, “mountains-and-rivers”:
(i) a term for the terrain of a region or country, taking its high mountains and big rivers as its salient and representative features. Ssu-ma Ch’ien 司馬遷 (ca. 147 BC-90 BC), Historians’ record (Shih-chi 史記), “Hsiang Yü chi”, says: “Within the Passes he blocked the Four Frontier-regions of the mountains-and-rivers.” Fang Ch’iao 房喬 (T’ang dynasty), et alia, (eds.), Tsin history (Chin-shu 晉書, “Yao Hsiang-tsai chi”, says: “Even though Lo-yang is small, it’s a fastness for the mountains-and-rivers [also found as chiang 江] Four Frontier-regions, and is also a key area for military operations.” That also treats the term as a synonym for “region” or “territory”.
Emperor Dark-progenitor (Hsȕan-tsung 玄宗) of the T’ang dynasty has a poem with the lines: “Again I seek the makings of excellent court-music, and only then will I experience the preservation of my mountains-and-rivers.” Liu Yi-ch’ing 劉義慶 (403 - 444), New talk of society’s tales (Shih-sho hsin-yü 世說新語), says: “The scenery isn’t special, (But) there’s just the remarkableness of the mountains-and-rivers.” These are a deep sighing about the upheavals of society.
ii) a term used as a metaphor for vast depth of virtue. Anon. (around 600 BC), Songs classic (Shih-ching 詩經), no. 47, has the lines: “She’s so proud elegant and so willowy wafty, Like the mountain and the river.” Commentary to that says: “The mountain contains everything without exception, and the river moistens everything without exception.”
There’s also the similar term chiang-shan 江山, “(big) rivers and mountains”, a term meaning “territory of a country”, “domain”. Ch’en Shou 陳壽 (233 - 297), Three Kingdoms records (San-kuo chih 三國志), “Wu-chih”, “He Shao chuan”, says: “Formerly, the great august-emperor, diligently exerting his person and toiling his body, established his dynasty at Nan-hsia, cut off and occupied mountains-and-rivers, and extended his territory for ten thousand miles.”
42ts’eng-hsiao 層霄, “layered/storeyed empyrean”, an elegant term for the sky, referring to layer on layer of clouds.
43Sheng-p’ing 昇平, Ascendant Peace”:
i) a term referring to peaceful good government, more usually written as sheng-p’ing 升平. Pan Ku 班固 (32 - 92), History of the [Former] Han (Han-shu 漢書), “Mei Fu chuan”, says: “Ascendant Peace can be brought about.” Recent scholars dealing with the work by Kung-yang Kao 公羊高 (late 4th century BC) (attr.), Kung-yang’s commentary (Kung-yang chuan 公羊傳) have had a theory of “three ages”, according to which there was a progression from Critical Disorder (chü-luan 據亂) to Ascendant Peace, and from Ascendant Peace to Grand Peace (T’ai-p’ing 太平).
ii) reign-period titles:
a) AD 357- 361,
b) 256-258,
c) 556-557,
d) 1021-1031.
44Shao-hua 韶華, Continued Splendour/Florescence, a term for “springtime”. There’s also the term Shao-kuang 韶光, “Continued Light”, likewise meaning “springtime”. Continued Splendour was also used as a term for “(the time of) youth”. Han Wei 韓維 (1017 - 1098), Letter to the Empress Dowager’s villa (T’ai-hou-ke t’ieh-tzu 太后閤帖子), says: “Ushering Continued Splendour into the Central Forbidden Precincts, Gentle breezes one after the other in order go everywhere in Divine Region [China].” Pai Chü-yi’s 白居易 (772-846) poem Portrait (Hsieh-chen 寫真) has the lines: “Don’t sigh at the Continued Splendour young gentleman, in a short while he’ll become a white-haired gaffer immortal.”
45chin-wei 禁圍, “Forbidden Palace Side-gate/Inner Palace”, a term for the inner imperial palace.
46 ch’un-hui 春暉, vernal/spring glow, a term that can sometimes refer to parental protections, deriving from a poem in Meng K’e (372 - 289 BC), Sir Mencius (MengTzu 孟子), which has the lines: “Who says that ‘inch-of-grass’ heart, can requite ‘three months of spring glow’?”
47Chiu-ke 九歌, Nine Songs, being nine songs found in Wang Yi 王逸 (fl. ca. 114 - 142), (ed.), (who says that it was compiled by Liu Hsiang 劉向 (77 - 6 BC) Ch’u elegies (Ch’u-tz’u 楚辭). Songs of the ruler’s ancestral temple.
48 Yang-t’ai 陽臺, Sunlight Terrace, also called Ch’u Terrace (Ch’u-t’ai 楚臺). Mount Wu or Shamaness Mountain/Witch Mountain (Wu-shan 巫山) was the name of mountain south-east of present-day Wu-shan county in Szechwan province, said to have been named because it is shaped like the character for wu 巫. There’s a famous fu-rhapsody entitled High Mound (Kao-t’ang fu 高唐賦), attributed to Sung Yü 宋玉 (traditionally fl. ca. 290 BC - ca. 223 BC) but perhaps from the early Han dynasty, in which Sung Yü tells King Hsiang of Ch’u 楚襄王 how the previous king of Ch’u, King Huai (Ch’u Huai-wang 楚懷王, reigned 328 BC - 299 BC) was once on a trip to the Terrace of Cloud-dream (Yȕn-meng chih-t’ai 雲夢之臺) to admire the scenery of High Mound, and, taking a sleep during the day, had a dream in which he was visited by the Maiden of Mount Wu, a goddess, who made love with him. As she was taking leave of him, she told him: “I dwell on the south side of Witch Mountain and in a cul-de-sac defile of High Hillock. At dawn I’m the morning cloud (ch’ao-yȕn 朝雲) and at sunset the driving rain (hsing-yü 行雨).
Every dawn and every dusk I’m at the foot of Sunlight Terrace.” King Huai went to look for her at dawn, and sure enough it was as she had said. From this rhapsody, the term “cloud and rain” (yȕn-yü 雲雨) came to be a regular poetic synonym for “love-making“, “sexual intercourse“, Sunlight Terrace a term for “lovers’ meeting/trysting-place”, and Witch Mountain similarly a poetic term for lovers’ meeting/trysting-place, rendezvous of love/tryst. Ch’u Terrace refers to this Sunlight Terrace.
49 Yao Ch’ung 姚崇 (650 - 721), courtesy-name Yȕan-chih 元之, a man of Hsia-shih 硤石 in Shan-chou 陝州. He was fond of learning, and was airy and unrestrained, ambitious and of moral integrity. During the reign (684 - 705) of Empress Wu, he successively held the government posts of Minister of War (hsia-kuan 夏官) and Director of the Chancellery (shih-chung 侍中). At the time, the imperial court was tightening up the entrapment of the innocent, and Yao Ch’ung asked the throne for permission to protect those in the capital and in the provinces who committed no rebellion, along with their whole families, and many managed to survive because of it. And when Chang Chien-chih 張柬之 (625 - 706) and others executed Chang Ch’ang-tsung 張昌宗 (AD? - AD 705) and Chang Yi-chih 張易之 (AD? - AD 705), Yao Ch’ung took part in their plotting.
Appendices and Endnotes Page 13