THE PLUM IN THE GOLDEN VASE
PRINCETON LIBRARY OF ASIAN TRANSLATIONS
The Plum in the Golden Vase
or, CHIN P’ING MEI
VOLUME FIVE: THE DISSOLUTION
Translated by David Tod Roy
Copyright © 2013 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street,
Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW
PRESS.PRINCETON.EDU
Jacket illustration: Pan Jinlian (Golden Lotus) Humiliated for Being Intimate with a Servant, Album: Illustrations for the novel Jin Ping Mei, or The Plum in the Golden Vase, 17th century. Album leaf, ink and color on silk. The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Purchase: William Rockhill Nelson Trust through the George H. and Elizabeth O. Davis Fund, 2006.18.2. Photo: John Lamberton.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hsiao-hsiao-sheng
[Chin P’ing Mei. English]
The plum in the golden vase, or, Chin P’ing Mei / translated by David Tod Roy.
p. cm. — (Princeton library of Asian translations)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents: v. 1. The gathering. v. 2. The rivals. v. 3. The aphrodisiac. v. 4. The climax.
ISBN-13: 978-0-691-15771-9
1. Roy, David Tod 1933–. II. Title III. Series.
PL2698.H73C4713 1993
895.I′346–dc20 92-45054
British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Electra LT Std
Printed on acid-free paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To all those students, friends, and colleagues
WHO PARTICIPATED WITH ME IN THE EXCITEMENT OF EXPLORING THE WORLD OF THE CHIN P’ING MEI OVER THE PAST QUARTER CENTURY
CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xi
CAST OF CHARACTERS xiii
CHAPTER 81
Han Tao-kuo Takes Advantage of a Chance to Appropriate the Goods;
T’ang Lai-pao Defrauds His Master and Disregards His Benevolence 1
CHAPTER 82
P’an Chin-lien Makes an Assignation on a Moonlit Night;
Ch’en Ching-chi Enjoys Two Beauties in a Painted Bower 17
CHAPTER 83
Ch’iu-chü, Harboring Resentment, Reveals a Clandestine Affair;
Ch’un-mei Transmits a Note to Facilitate a Lovers’
Rendezvous 35
CHAPTER 84
Wu Yüeh-niang Creates a Stir in the Temple of Iridescent Clouds;
Sung Chiang Uprightly Frees Her from the Ch’ing-feng Stronghold 54
CHAPTER 85
Wu Yüeh-niang Surprises Chin-lien in the Act of Adultery;
Auntie Hsüeh Agrees to Sell Ch’un-mei on a Moonlit Night 72
CHAPTER 86
Sun Hsüeh-o Instigates the Beating of Ch’en Ching-chi;
Dame Wang Marries Off Chin-lien to the Highest Bidder 90
CHAPTER 87
Dame Wang Hungers after Wealth and Receives Her Just Reward;
Wu Sung Kills His Sister-in-law and Propitiates His Brother 113
CHAPTER 88
P’an Chin-lien Appears in a Dream in Commandant Chou Hsiu’s Home;
Wu Yüeh-niang Contributes a Gift to a Subscription-Seeking Monk 131
CHAPTER 89
On the Ch’ing-ming Festival the Widow Visits the New Grave;
Wu Yüeh-niang Blunders into the Temple of Eternal Felicity 151
CHAPTER 90
Lai-wang Absconds Together with Sun Hsüeh-o;
Sun Hsüeh-o Is Sold to Chou Hsiu’s Household 174
CHAPTER 91
Meng Yü-lou Is Happy to Marry Li Kung-pi;
Li Kung-pi in a Fit of Rage Beats Yü-tsan 194
CHAPTER 92
Ch’en Ching-chi Is Entrapped in Yen-chou Prefecture;
Wu Yüeh-Niang Creates a Stir in the District Yamen 218
CHAPTER 93
Wang Hsüan Relies on Righteousness to Help the Poor;
Abbot Jen in the Desire for Profit Invites Disaster 244
CHAPTER 94
Liu the Second Drunkenly Beats Ch’en Ching-chi;
Sun Hsüeh-o Becomes a Trollop in My Own Tavern 269
CHAPTER 95
P’ing-an Absconds with Jewelry from the Pawnshop;
Auntie Hsüeh Cleverly Proposes a Personal Appeal 289
CHAPTER 96
Ch’un-mei Enjoys Visiting the Pools and Pavilions of Her Old Home;
Commandant Chou Hsiu Sends Chang Sheng to Look for Ch’en Ching-chi 309
CHAPTER 97
Ch’en Ching-chi Plays a Role in the Commandant’s Household;
Auntie Hsüeh Peddles Trinkets and Proposes a Marriage Match 330
CHAPTER 98
Ch’en Ching-chi Opens a Tavern in Lin-ch’ing;
Han Ai-chieh Encounters a Lover in a Bordello 349
CHAPTER 99
Liu the Second Drunkenly Curses Wang Liu-erh;
Chang Sheng Wrathfully Kills Ch’en Ching-chi 370
CHAPTER 100
Han Ai-chieh Seeks Her Father and Mother in Hu-chou;
Ch’an Master P’u-ching Rescues Souls from Perdition 391
NOTES 421
BIBLIOGRAPHY 501
INDEX 525
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Han Tao-kuo Appropriates the Goods and Flees Far Away 9
Lai-pao Cheats His Master and Ignores His Benevolence 13
Ch’en Ching-chi Enjoys One Beauty and Makes Out with Two 24
P’an Chin-lien Reveals an Ardent Heart but Cold Demeanor 33
Ch’iu-chü Resentfully Discloses a Clandestine Affair 40
Ch’un-mei Transmits a Note to Facilitate a Lovers’ Tryst 50
Wu Yüeh-niang Shakes Up the Temple of Iridescent Clouds 64
Master P’u-ching Recruits an Acolyte in Snow Stream Cave 67
Wu Yüeh-niang Catches Chin-lien in the Act of Adultery 78
Ch’un-mei Refrains from Shedding a Single Parting Tear 88
Sun Hsüeh-o Instigates the Beating of Ch’en Ching-chi 102
P’an Chin-lien Agrees to Relieve Wang Ch’ao’s Thirst 108
Dame Wang Craves Wealth and Ignores the Consequences 118
Wu Sung Kills His Sister-in-law to Propitiate His Brother 126
Ch’en Ching-chi Moved by the Past Sacrifices to Chin-lien 136
P’ang Ch’un-mei Appeals to Chang Sheng to Bury Her Corpse 140
On the Ch’ing-ming Festival a Widow Visits the New Grave 156
In the Temple of Eternal Felicity a Wife Meets Her Owner 167
Lai-wang Absconds over the Wall with Sun Hsüeh-o 187
Sun Hsüeh-o Suffers Abuse in Chou Hsiu’s Household 191
Meng Yü-lou Considers Marrying Li Kung-pi 199
Li Kung-pi in a Fit of Rage Beats Yü-tsan 215
Ch’en Ching-chi Is Entrapped in Yen-chou Prefecture 229
Wu Yüeh-niang Creates a Stir in the District Yamen 238
Wang Hsüan Relies on Righteousness to Help the Poor 252
Chin Tsung-ming Opts to Sodomize a Youthful Acolyte 261
In the Lofty Tavern Liu the Second Wreaks Havoc 271
Sun Hsüeh-o Becomes a Trollop in My Own Tavern 284
Tai-an Seduces Hsiao-yü and Is Allowed to Marry Her 291
Wu Tien-en Acts Treacherously and
Suffers Disgrace 304
Ch’un-mei Visits the Garden of Her Former Home 314
Yang Kuang-yen Abuses Ch’en Ching-chi Brutishly 322
The Spurious Cousins Resume Their Clandestine Affair 340
The Legal Couple Openly Come Together by Candlelight 346
Ch’en Ching-chi Meets an Old Acquaintance in Lin-ch’ing 356
Han Ai-chieh Entertains Her Lover in an Ornate Bordello 361
Liu the Second Drunkenly Beats Wang Liu-erh 375
Chang Sheng Eavesdrops on Ch’en Ching-chi 382
Han Ai-chieh Encounters Han the Second on the Road 405
Ch’an Master P’u-ching Spirits Away Hsi-men Hsiao-ko 418
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
OF THOSE who have helped to make the appearance of this volume possible in innumerable ways, I wish particularly to thank Bill Alspaugh, Lois Fusek, Don Harper, Pieter Keulemans, Victor Mair, Edward Shaughnessy, Charles Stone, and Richard G. Wang.
To my wife, Barbara Chew Roy, who urged me to embark on this interminable task, and who has lent me her support over the years despite the extent to which the work has preoccupied me, I owe a particular debt of gratitude. Without her encouragement I would have had neither the temerity to undertake it nor the stamina to continue it.
For indispensable technical advice and assistance concerning computers, printers, and word-processing programs, I continue to be profoundly indebted to Charles Stone.
The research that helped to make this work possible was materially assisted by a Grant for Research on Chinese Civilization from the American Council of Learned Societies in 1976–77, grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1983–86 and 1995–96, a Residential Faculty Fellowship from the Chicago Humanities Institute in 1994–95, and gifts from the Norman and Carol Nie Foundation in 1995 and 2000. The Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations and the Division of Humanities at the University of Chicago have also been generous in allowing me the time and space to devote to this project. For all of the above assistance, without which this venture could not have been contemplated, I am deeply grateful.
Needless to say, whatever infelicities and errors remain in the translation are solely my own.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
THE FOLLOWING list includes all characters who appear in the novel, listed alphabetically by surname. All characters with dates in parentheses after their names are historical figures from the Sung dynasty. Characters who bear the names of historical figures from the Ming dynasty are identified in the notes.
An Ch’en, winner of first place in the chin-shih examinations but displaced in favor of Ts’ai Yün because he is the younger brother of the proscribed figure, An Tun; becomes a protégé of Ts’ai Ching and is patronized by Hsi-men Ch’ing, later rising to the rank of secretary of the Bureau of Irrigation and Transportation in the Ministry of Works; rewarded for his part in facilitating the notorious Flower and Rock Convoys and the construction of the Mount Ken Imperial Park.
An Ch’en’s second wife.
An, Consort. See Liu, Consort.
An Tun (1042–1104), elder brother of An Ch’en, a high official whose name has been proscribed for his role in the partisan political conflicts of the late eleventh century.
An-t’ung, page boy of Aunt Yang.
An-t’ung, page boy of Miao T’ien-hsiu who is rescued by a fisherman and does his utmost to see justice done for the murder of his master.
An-t’ung, page boy of Wang Hsüan.
Apricot Hermitage, Layman of. See Wang Hsüan.
Autumn Chrysanthemum. See Ch’iu-chü.
Barefaced Adept, Taoist master from the Fire Dragon Monastery in the Obdurate Grotto of the Vacuous Mountains from whom Yang Kuang-yen acquires the art of lying.
Bean curd-selling crone who identifies the home of Commander Yüan in Potter’s Alley to Hsi-men Ch’ing.
“Beanpole, The.” See Hui-ch’ing.
Black-robed lictor on the staff of Ho Hsin.
Black-robed lictor who announces the arrival of Chang Pang-ch’ang and Ts’ai Yu to congratulate Chu Mien.
Black Whirlwind. See Li K’uei.
Brocade Tiger. See Yen Shun.
Busybody who directs Ch’iao Yün-ko to Dame Wang’s teashop when he is looking for Hsi-men Ch’ing.
Cassia. See Li Kuei-chieh.
Chai Ch’ien, majordomo of Ts’ai Ching’s household in the Eastern Capital.
Chai Ch’ien’s wife.
Chai Ching-erh, Sutra Chai, proprietor of a sutra printing shop in Ch’ing-ho.
Chai, Sutra. See Chai Ching-erh.
Ch’ai Chin, Little Whirlwind, Little Lord Meng-ch’ang, direct descendant of Ch’ai Jung (921–59), emperor Shih-tsung (r. 954–59) of the Later Chou dynasty (951–60).
Ch’ai Huang-ch’eng, paternal uncle of Ch’ai Chin.
Ch’an Master Snow Cave. See P’u-ching.
Chang An, caretaker of Hsi-men Ch’ing’s ancestral graveyard outside Ch’ing-ho.
Chang, Auntie, go-between who helps arrange Ch’en Ching-chi’s marriage to Ko Ts’ui-p’ing.
Chang Ch’eng, a neighborhood head in Ch’ing-ho.
Chang Ch’ing, a criminal innkeeper with whom Wu Sung seeks refuge after the murder of P’an Chin-lien.
Chang Ch’ing’s wife.
Chang Ch’uan-erh, a garrulous chair-bearer in Ch’ing-ho, partner of Wei Ts’ung-erh.
Chang the Fourth. See Chang Ju-i.
Chang the Fourth. See Chang Lung.
Chang Hao-wen, Chang the Importunate, Chang the Second, proprietor of a paper shop in Ch’ing-ho, acquaintance of Han Tao-kuo.
Chang Hsi-ch’un, a ballad singer maintained at one time as a mistress by Hsi-men Ch’ing.
Chang Hsi-ts’un, an acquaintance of Hsi-men Ch’ing’s who invites him to his home for a birthday party.
Chang Hsiao-hsien, Hsiao Chang-hsien, Trifler Chang, “ball clubber” in Ch’ing-ho who plays the tout to Wang Ts’ai on his visits to the licensed quarter and upon whom Hsi-men Ch’ing turns the tables by abusing the judicial system at the behest of Lady Lin.
Chang the Importunate. See Chang Hao-wen.
Chang Ju-i, Chang the Fourth, wife of Hsiung Wang, employed in Hsi-men Ch’ing’s household as a wet nurse for Kuan-ko and later for Hsiao-ko, sexual partner of Hsi-men Ch’ing after the death of Li P’ing-erh, finally married to Lai-hsing.
Chang Ju-i’s mother.
Chang Ko (1068–1113), promoted to the post of vice minister of the Ministry of Works for his part in facilitating the notorious Flower and Rock Convoys and the construction of the Mount Ken Imperial Park.
Chang Kuan, brother-in-law of Ch’en Hung and maternal uncle of Ch’en Ching-chi, militia commander of Ch’ing-ho.
Chang Kuan’s sister. See Ch’en Hung’s wife, née Chang.
Chang Kuan’s wife.
Chang Lung, Chang the Fourth, maternal uncle of Meng Yü-lou’s first husband Yang Tsung-hsi who unsuccessfully proposes that she remarry Shang Hsiao-t’ang and quarrels with Aunt Yang when she decides to marry Hsi-men Ch’ing instead.
Chang Lung, judicial commissioner of the Liang-Huai region.
Chang Lung’s elder sister (Chang the Fourth’s elder sister), mother of Yang Tsung-hsi and Yang Tsung-pao.
Chang Lung’s wife (Chang the Fourth’s wife).
Chang Mao-te, Chang the Second, nephew of Mr. Chang, the well-to-do merchant who first seduces P’an Chin-lien; a major rival of Hsi-men Ch’ing in the social world of Ch’ing-ho who, immediately after Hsi-men Ch’ing’s death, bribes Cheng Chü-chung to intervene with Chu Mien and have him appointed to Hsi-men Ch’ing’s former position as judicial commissioner so he can take over where Hsi-men Ch’ing left off.
Chang Mao-te’s son, marries Eunuch Director Hsü’s niece.
Chang Mei, professional actor of Hai-yen style drama.
Chang, Military Director-in-chief, official in Meng-chou.
Chang, Mr., a well-to-do merchant in Ch’ing-ho who first seduces P’an Chin
-lien.
Chang, Mrs., wife of Mr. Chang, née Yü.
Chang, Old Mother, go-between who tries to sell two inexperienced country girls, Sheng-chin and Huo-pao, to P’ang Ch’un-mei.
Chang, Old Mother, proprietress of an inn next door to Auntie Hsüeh’s residence.
Chang Pang-ch’ang (1081–1127), minister of rites, promoted to the position of grand guardian of the heir apparent for his part in facilitating the notorious Flower and Rock Convoys and the construction of the Mount Ken Imperial Park, puppet emperor of the short-lived state of Ch’u for thirty-two days in 1127.
Chang the Second. See Chang Hao-wen.
Chang the Second. See Chang Mao-te.
Chang Sheng, Street-skulking Rat, “knockabout” who, along with Lu Hua, shakes down Dr. Chiang Chu-shan at the behest of Hsi-men Ch’ing; later a servant in the household of Chou Hsiu, brother-in-law of Liu the Second; murders Ch’en Ching-chi when he overhears him plotting against him and is beaten to death by Chou Hsiu at the behest of P’ang Ch’un-mei.
Chang Sheng’s reincarnation. See Kao family of the Ta-hsing Guard.
Chang Sheng’s wife, née Liu, sister of Liu the Second.
Chang Shih-lien, Ch’en Hung’s brother-in-law, related to Yang Chien by marriage, an official in the Eastern Capital.
Chang Shih-lien’s wife, née Ch’en, Ch’en Hung’s elder sister.
Chang Shu-yeh (1065–1127), prefect of Chi-chou in Shantung, later pacification commissioner of Shantung, responsible for the defeat of Sung Chiang and his acceptance of a government amnesty.
Chang Sung, Little. See Shu-t’ung.
Chang Ta (d. 1126), official who dies in the defense of T’ai-yüan against the invading Chin army.
Chang, Trifler. See Chang Hsiao-hsien.
Ch’ang, Cadger. See Ch’ang Shih-chieh.
Ch’ang the Second. See Ch’ang Shih-chieh.
Ch’ang Shih-chieh, Cadger Ch’ang, Ch’ang the Second, crony of Hsi-men Ch’ing, member of the brotherhood of ten.
Ch’ang Shih-chieh’s wife.
Ch’ang Shih-chieh’s wife’s younger brother.
Ch’ang Yü, Commandant, officer rewarded for his part in facilitating the notorious Flower and Rock Convoys and the construction of the Mount Ken Imperial Park.
Chao, Auntie, go-between who sells Chin-erh to Wang Liu-erh.
The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P'ing Mei Page 1