by C. T. Hsia
58. When the general Fu Jian (338–385) is pursued by his enemy Murong Chong, he falls into a river. His horse dangles the reins and then kneels down so that Fu Jian can get hold of them and pull himself out of the river (Yiyuan 異苑, included in Taiping yulan 69.455a, 897.4115a).
59. The text has “jade bamboo shoots,” a conventional way of referring to a woman’s shapely fingers.
60. Like Liu Yuniang’s statement earlier, these lines rhyme in the original.
61. The words for “to tell the truth” (shisu 實訴) and “to make models in earnest” (shisu 實塑) are homophonic.
62. Literally, “the stratagem of dragging the sword” (tuodaoji 拖刀計), that is, a person who pretends to be running away in defeat so that he can turn the sword on those pursuing him.
63. Zhang Ding is saying that he will get to the truth of the matter.
64. What Gao Shan offers to draw is a “life-size picture” (dengshen tu 等身圖), the Buddhist term for deities drawn to human scale. Gao Shan is saying that he has nothing to hide.
65. Gao Shan is punning on bie 鱉 (turtle) and bie 憋 (suppressed; choking back words).
66. Vajrapāṇi, Sanskrit name of one of the four guardians (jingang 金剛) of Buddhist temples.
67. Fuzi 附子 (Radix aconiti lateralis, monkshood root) is said to stop swelling and improve circulation. Danggui 當歸 (Radix angelicae sinensis, Chinese angelica) is supposed to cure anemia and regulate menstruation.
68. Zeng Shen, a disciple of Confucius’s, is known for his filial piety.
69. Yuan Editions: “Secret words in the human realm: / Heaven hears them, clear as thunder. / I urge you not to deceive heaven and the gods. / Indeed the difference is just between retribution that comes sooner or later!”
FOLLY AND CONSEQUENCES
5
THE EASTERN HALL ELDER
QIN JIANFU
TRANSLATED BY ROBERT E. HEGEL AND WAI-YEE LI
INTRODUCTION
WAI-YEE LI AND ROBERT E. HEGEL
The Eastern Hall Elder Reforms a Prodigal Son (Dongtang lao quan pojia zidi 東堂老勸破家子弟), with the short title The Eastern Hall Elder, is one of three extant plays by Qin Jianfu 秦簡夫 (fl. 1320). Little is known about Qin beyond the fact that he was a native of Dadu (Beijing), moved to Hangzhou in his later years, and enjoyed considerable fame as a playwright. A comment in Libation commends Qin for his “everyday language” (jiachang yu 家常語), which is in some ways harder to achieve than romantic or elegant diction. Jia Zhongming describes Qin’s plays as “authoritative writings that offer judgments and set rules” (guanyang wenzhang you shenggui 官樣文章有繩規); Libation also compares The Eastern Hall Elder to exhortations like the genre of “family admonitions” (jia 家戒) and Han Yu’s 韓愈 (768–824) “Disquisition on the Progress of Learning” (Jinxue jie 進學解).1 Indeed, Qin’s extant plays all deal with moral choices and feature exaggerated moral exemplars. If the Eastern Hall Elder is the ideal friend, then the mother of Tao Kan in Mother Tao of Jin Cuts Her Hair to Entertain Her Son’s Guest (Jin Tao mu jianfa dai bin 晉陶母剪髮待賓) is the perfect mother, and Zhao Li in Zhao Li Vies to Offer Himself as Victim on Yiqiu Mountain (Yiqiushan Zhao Li rang fei 宜秋山趙禮讓肥) is the ultimate embodiment of fraternal devotion and filial piety. Discipline and punishment are vital for correcting errant conduct, and the stern but ultimately forgiving Eastern Hall Elder has his counterpart in the severe but loving mother of Tao Kan. Mother Tao and Zhao Li were adapted, respectively, from Tao Kan’s biography in Jin shu 晉書 and from Zhao Xiao’s biography in Hou Hanshu 後漢書.
The redemption of the prodigal son is a common theme in Yuan drama; another famous example is Woman Yang Kills a Dog to Remonstrate with Her Husband (Yangshi nü shagou quanfu 楊氏女殺狗勸夫), which is included in both Anthology and the Maiwang Studio Collection and which also exists as a longer southern play (nanxi 南戲) from the fourteenth century. False friends—named Liu Longqing and Hu Zichuan in both cases—pervert normative relationships.2 In Woman Yang, Liu and Hu displace a real brother; in The Eastern Hall Elder, they challenge the authority of the actual and the surrogate fathers. The wastrel’s wife plays a corrective role in both plays, but much more prominently in Woman Yang. In both cases, deception and trickery facilitate the prodigal son’s redemption by exposing the betrayals of the false friends.
What makes The Eastern Hall Elder special is its exaggeration. A comic farce, the dialogue strays into racy language, puts literary allusions into the mouths of the street-smart, and provides an incongruous happy ending: after a period of reform—performed at rapid speed—the erstwhile wastrel is rewarded with the return of all his lost property by the Elder, who has patiently prepared for this eventuality. Despite his change of heart, “Yangzhou Rascal,” for whom we are given no other name, remains delightfully obtuse throughout. Elder’s own, hardworking son, by contrast, receives no such reward for his efforts.
The moral authority of the Eastern Hall Elder is buttressed by his references to Confucian learning, which he emphasizes in his self-introduction. He often quotes Confucian classics and historical examples. His title as “retired scholar” (jushi 居士) also imparts an aura of philosophical understanding: a measure of disengagement establishes his lack of self-interest in his endeavor to reform Yangzhou Rascal. There are also grander echoes of historical figures such as the Duke of Zhou (ca. 1100 B.C.E.), younger brother of King Wu who conquered Shang and uncle and regent of the young King Cheng.3 Tradition has it that before King Cheng came of age, rumors were rife that the Duke of Zhou was taking over the reins of power to serve his own ambitions. Here there may be similar suspicions of the Elder’s self-interest when he buys Yangzhou Rascal’s mansion. As in the case of the Duke of Zhou, the Elder is vindicated by the final revelation of his intentions. For all the implicit references to Confucian moral order and historical exemplars, however, the Elder is driven primarily by the merchant’s ethos of hard work, bold moves, and shrewd investment. One may say that he undertakes the duties of the ideal friend and perfect surrogate father by relying on his mercantile skills. He gives a stirring description of how he built his fortune at the beginning of act 2. His ultimate goal of protecting the Zhao family fortune requires him to drive a hard bargain when Yangzhou Rascal sells his house, for the latter fritters away the proceeds in no time, just as he expected. For Yangzhou Rascal, reformation means that he gets to know the value of money, to practice frugality, and to learn the secrets of commerce, as when he doubles his miniscule capital selling charcoal and vegetables. It is also noteworthy that the arena where the wastrel indulges his wayward passions is the kind of pleasure quarters wherein Yuan plays thrived—the place where the line between singing girl and prostitute, actress and courtesan was thin and shifting. The singing girls and courtesans that become heroines in many Yuan plays are here referred to as bawds and whores. Some Yuan plays romanticize the encounters in the world of the pleasure quarters,4 but here Qin takes up, perhaps playfully, a stern moral tone that condemns “brothels and theaters,” the social context of dramatic entertainment. But it is perhaps a gesture of negation that ultimately amounts to self-justification, since drama can now claim the function of moral instruction—at least ostensibly.
Our play is mentioned in both Registry of Ghosts and Correct Sounds and is found in Anthology, the zaju anthology compiled by Xijizi in the Maiwang Studio Collection, and Libation.5 Our translation is based on the version in Anthology. Significant textual variations are explained in the notes.
THE EASTERN HALL ELDER
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Role type
Name, social role
OPENING MALE
ZHAO GUOQI, a dying merchant
COMIC
YANGZHOU RASCAL, spendthrift son of ZHAO GUOQI
FEMALE LEAD
CUIGE, virtuous wife of YANGZHOU RASCAL
MALE LEAD
EASTERN HALL ELDER, ZHAO’s neighbor and guardian for RASCAL; re
al name Li Shi or Li Maoqing
COMIC
LIU LONGQING, local scoundrel
COMIC
HU ZIQUAN, local scoundrel
CLOWN
TEA SHOP KEEPER
YOUNG MALE
MASTER LI, son of EASTERN HALL ELDER
OLD LADY
MADAME ZHAO, wife of EASTERN HALL ELDER
NEIGHBORS
WEDGE
(OPENING MALE dressed as ZHAO GUOQI enters, helped along by YANGZHOU RASCAL and CUIGE.)
ZHAO: My surname is Zhao and I’m named Guoqi; my ancestors hailed from Dongping prefecture.6 I came to live here in Memorial Arch Alley inside the Eastern Gate of Yangzhou to carry on my trade as merchant. There are four in my family. My wife was of the Li clan, but unfortunately she passed away early in life. Our one son is called Yangzhou Rascal.7 His wife’s surname is Li, too; she is the daughter of Special Commissioner Li;8 her name is Cuige. Ever since she married into my house, “words inside have not gone out, and words outside have not come in.”9 She is a virtuous girl.
I remember when I was young, I got up early to do business and went to bed late, scrimping and saving to build this family fortune in the hope that my child would carry it on forever. How could I know that after he came of age and I found a wife for him, he would fall in with bad company, start drinking and getting into trouble, squandering money on fine food and clothes with no concern at all for the family business. These things I have heard with my own ears and seen with my own eyes time and again. This makes me sick with grief—I can’t sleep morning or night. Clearly my hopes are beyond my grasp while my grave grows ever nearer.10 I don’t have long left to live. Once I am dead, that boy will inevitably ruin the family and our good reputation.
Among my neighbors to the east is a retired scholar; his family name is Li, his name is Shi, and his sobriquet is Maoqing. He has always been aloof from others; he has the air of the noble man of antiquity. Everyone calls him the Eastern Hall Elder.11 We are very close friends. Since he’s two years younger than I am, he treats me as his elder brother and I treat him as my younger brother. We have never had a word of disagreement during the thirty years of our friendship. Furthermore, Maoqing’s wife has the same surname as I do, and my wife’s surname is the same as Maoqing’s. Consequently, our relations with each other are closer than those of the same flesh and blood. Today I am inviting him over; I mean to entrust my orphan’s affairs to him in order to relieve my worries. I wonder if he will be willing. Where are you, Rascal?
RASCAL (responding:) What is it? As sick as you are, Father, why do you insist on calling me by my baby name? I’m not a child anymore; don’t you risk shortening your life by calling me that?12
ZHAO: You go invite your Uncle Li to come over; I have something to say to him.
RASCAL: All right. Servants, go next door and invite Uncle Eastern Hall over.
ZHAO: You were the one I sent.
RASCAL: Why me? Why should I go—it’s all the way next door!
ZHAO: Then why did you send someone else?
RASCAL: I’ll go, I’ll go. Don’t make a fuss. You servants, go harness up a horse.
ZHAO: It is only next door—why should you go on horseback?
RASCAL: You call yourself my dad and yet you don’t know me very well! I even go to the outhouse on horseback.
ZHAO: Such a good-for-nothing!
RASCAL: I’m going, I’m going! I can see that I’m making you mad again. Now that I’m outside the gate and there’s no one about, I must admit that my father didn’t say anything harsh, and yet I’ve deliberately provoked him, so much so that I could be the death of him. As for that Uncle Eastern Hall next door, he and I have nothing to do with each other. If he doesn’t see me, then all’s well and good. But if he does, he’ll call out to me, “You—Rascal!” Ah! He scares me so much that my courage dies and I feel like a goner, and yet I don’t know why I’m so afraid of him. While I’ve been talking I’ve already arrived at his gate. (Coughs.) Is Uncle at home?
ELDER (enters:) Who is that calling at the gate?
RASCAL: It’s your nephew, Yangzhou Rascal.
ELDER: Why have you come?
RASCAL: Father sent me to invite you over, Uncle. I don’t know why.
ELDER: You go on ahead, I’ll come along shortly.
RASCAL: I was hoping that I could leave first; it’ll be easier on me. (Exits.)
ELDER: My surname is Li and my name is Shi; my sobriquet is Maoqing, and I am fifty-eight this year. My family hails from Dongping prefecture, but I ended up here in Yangzhou to do business and settled in Memorial Arch Alley inside the Eastern Gate. Because in my youth I also read a few lines of the classics and the histories, I call myself the Retired Scholar of the Eastern Hall. Now because I am getting old, people call me the Eastern Hall Elder. Zhao Guoqi, who lives to the west of my house, is two years my senior. Since we were from the same locality and have ended up in the same place, we have been close friends for a long time now, already more than thirty years. Recently Elder Brother Zhao fell ill. For some reason he sent Rascal to invite me over—just as I was about to go visit him. And here I am at his gate already. Yangzhou Rascal, report to your father that I am here.
RASCAL (reports:) The Uncle Li you invited is at the gate.
ZHAO: Invite him in.
ELDER (greets him:) Ever since you fell ill, Elder Brother, I have been very busy and have neglected coming to visit you. Please forgive me.
ZHAO: Do have a seat.
ELDER: How are you feeling, Brother?
ZHAO: This sickness of mine worsens with no relief. It looks as if I do not have long to live.
ELDER: Have you had a good doctor come to treat you?
ZHAO: Bah! I have not called any doctors. You and I are the best of friends; what would you guess is wrong with me?
ELDER: You ask me to guess: could this illness be caused by exposure to wind and cold, or to heat and dampness?
ZHAO: No.
ELDER: Could it be because of malnutrition or overeating, indolence or overwork?
ZHAO: None of those either.
ELDER: Could it be because of anxiety, some grief or worry?
ZHAO: Ah! You are the proverbial friend who truly knows my heart! Anxiety and worry are precisely what are causing my illness.
ELDER: But you must be mistaken, Brother. You have a thousand qing of land outside the city walls; you have an oil-pressing mill and a pawnshop within. You have a son and a daughter-in-law, and you are one of the wealthiest men in Yangzhou. What more could you want that you should be so burdened by anxiety and worry?
ZHAO: Bah! You couldn’t know, but it is all because of that unworthy son of mine, Rascal. Ever since he came of age and I found a wife for him, he has fallen in with bad company; he drinks and gets into trouble. In days to come he will be sure to ruin the family business. Consequently I have worried myself sick—how could any doctor cure me?
ELDER: You worry too much, Brother. Have you not heard how Shao Yaofu warned his son, Bowen, saying, “I would teach you to be a man of great worth, but I do not know if this indeed is heaven’s will.” And then again, “Observe what a man has in mind to do when his father is living, and then observe what he does when his father is dead.”13 Parents may exhaust themselves establishing a home and a livelihood for the benefit of their sons and grandsons, but whether or not they make something of themselves in the long run is up to the sons—how can the parents see them through to the end? It is pointless for you to be so vexed and troubled about matters you cannot control, Brother.
ZHAO: Even so, aside from the love of father for son, which cannot be severed, I have worked hard all my life to accumulate a fortune as solid as a bronze dipper.14 If I allow it to be squandered like this, how will I be able to rest in peace at the Nine Springs after death? My sole reason for inviting you to come here today is that I would like to entrust my orphan totally to your care. Please look after this unworthy son and not let him get into trouble. I would be a
s grateful as those who held jade rings in their mouths and those who tied knots in grass.15 I could never forget such a favor!
ELDER (stands up:) I dare not refuse your weighty commission, Brother, but first, certainly you have many years yet to live. Second, I am deficient in both talent and virtue. Moreover, since I am not a blood relative, Rascal will not necessarily be willing to listen to my admonitions. Third, your family is extremely wealthy. As they say, “Do not stoop to put on your shoe in a melon field; do not straighten your cap under a plum tree.”16 Please, Brother, entrust him to someone of higher virtue. I must take my leave.
ZHAO: Rascal, try to make your uncle stay! Why do you shirk my trust, sir? Haven’t you heard, “If a man can be entrusted with an orphan six chi tall, and the fate of a state one hundred li square, …”17 Our families have had close relations for over thirty years. We are united in affection as if stuck together by glue or varnish. Apart we would be like Chen and Lei.18 Now my condition is dire—I am at the brink of death. Certainly a man of your pure virtues and faultless reputation could not turn your back on my request. That is why I dare entrust you with my family. Sir! Where are your usual magnanimous spirit and your steadfastness? Have you not heard, “Faced with what is right, to leave it undone shows a lack of courage”?19 (Kneels.)
ELDER (also kneels:) Ah! Why do you show me such great respect, Brother! Truly I am unworthy of such trust. Please arise, Brother; you leave me no choice but to consent.
ZHAO: Rascal, bring a table here.
RASCAL: Servants, take a table over there.
ZHAO: It was you I ordered; why do you order someone else?