The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P'ing Mei

by Roy, David Tod

  lie scattered higgledy-piggledy;

  In pile after pile, split blades and broken swords

  are discarded in jumbled heaps.56

  Every parent holds a son or embraces a daughter;

  Every home closes its gates and locks its doors.57

  Nine out of ten houses have been vacated;58

  No longer resembling rural or urban communities.

  The deer flee and the squirrels scatter;

  Leaving no trace of ritual, music, or formality.

  Truly, it is a case of:

  The palace ladies weep into their red sleeves;

  The royal sons flee in their civilian disguise.59

  At this juncture, when Wu Yüeh-niang in the household of Hsi-men Ch’ing realized that the barbarian troops were approaching and saw that family after family had locked the gates to their houses and fled in disorder, she felt compelled to do likewise and got together some gold, pearls, and other valuables to take with her. At that time, her elder brother Wu K’ai had already died, so she set out accompanied only by Wu the Second, Tai-an, Hsiao-yü, and her ten-year-old son Hsiao-ko.60 After seeing that both the front and rear doors to the residence were securely locked, they headed for Chi-nan prefecture to seek refuge with Yün Li-shou. By so doing, she hoped, on the one hand, to escape the invading army, and, on the other hand, to formalize Hsiao-ko’s betrothal to Yün Li-shou’s daughter.

  Along the way:

  Every individual they met was feeling panicked;

  Each and every one of them in a state of shock.

  The unfortunate Wu Yüeh-niang, dressed in her traveling clothes, along with Wu the Second and the other males and females, five of them in all, fell in with the crowds of other fleeing refugees, managed to squeeze their way through the city gate, and made their way into the suburbs. As they proceeded on their way, they arrived at a crossroads in the open countryside where they encountered a Buddhist priest whose body was clad in a purplish-brown cassock, who held a metal staff with nine rings attached to it in his hand, who wore straw sandals on his feet, and over whose shoulder he carried a calico bag containing his sacred texts.

  Stepping forward in large strides, he proceeded to press his palms together in front of his chest and bow to her in the Buddhist fashion, saying in a loud voice as he did so, “Lady Wu, where are you going? Pray hand my disciple over to me.”

  This startled Yüeh-niang so that she:

  Turned pale with consternation,

  and addressed him saying, “Master, what disciple is it that you are asking for?”

  “Lady,” the monk replied, “you had better not pretend to be:

  Still asleep in dreamland.

  You must remember how, ten years ago, on the eastern spur of Mount T’ai, you were being pursued by Yin T’ien-hsi and sought refuge for the night in my mountain cave. I am that same Ch’an Master Snow Cave, whose religious name is P’u-ching. You promised then to let me have your son as a disciple, so why have you not turned him over to me?”

  “Master,” interjected Wu the Second, “you are a Buddhist monk. How can you be so:

  Unamenable to reason?61

  In this year of political upheaval we are fleeing for our lives. It is her hope that in the future this only child of hers will be able to carry on the ancestral sacrifices. How could she bear to relinquish him to you so he could abandon lay life and become a monk?”

  “Are you really refusing to turn him over to me?” the monk asked.

  “Master,” said Wu the Second, “don’t talk such nonsense, or hinder us from making our escape. I fear that the barbarian army may show up at any moment.

  Who knows in the morning what evening may bring.”62

  “Since you refuse to turn my disciple over to me,” said the monk, “it is already late in the day, and you cannot proceed any further. The barbarians have not yet come this far. You might as well come with me to stay overnight at this temple, before leaving first thing in the morning.”

  “Master,” inquired Wu Yüeh-niang, “what temple is that?”

  The monk merely pointed with his finger and said, “the one up there by the side of the road.”

  As the monk led the way forward, they found themselves at the Temple of Eternal Felicity, which Wu Yüeh-niang recognized as the one that she had visited once before in the past. By the time they arrived there, the abbot and more than half of the resident monks had already fled, leaving behind only a handful of Ch’an monks who were sitting in the lotus position in the meditation hall in the rear, where a large glazed censer was burning incense before an effigy of the Buddha. At the time, the sun was already sinking behind the hills. Behold:

  The teeming crossroads are all ablaze with

  the light of burning lanterns;

  The Temple of the Nine Stars is enhanced by

  fragrant mist and tolling bells.

  The wheel of the bright moon is suspended

  underneath the blue heavens;

  A handful of scattered stars serves to

  light up the azure firmament.

  Within the camps of the Six Imperial Armies,

  The wailing of painted bugles frequently resounds;

  On the upper floors of the five drum towers,

  Water drips in the bronze tanks of the clepsydras.

  On all four sides the evening fog,

  Densely encompasses the dancing pavilions

  and singing platforms;

  In the three markets a cloak of mist,

  Faintly enshrouds the green gauze windows

  and vermilion gates.

  Pair by pair, the strolling beauties

  return to their boudoirs;

  One by one, the young scholars close

  the blinds in their studies.63

  That evening, Wu Yüeh-niang, along with Wu the Second, Tai-an, Hsiao-yü, and Hsiao-ko, five males and females in all, spent the night in the abbot’s quarters at the temple. Some of the junior monks recognized her and provided Yüeh-niang and the others with something to eat. Meanwhile, Ch’an Master P’u-ching assumed the lotus position on a platform in the meditation hall, where he kept time by beating on a wooden fish as he recited the sutras. Yüeh-niang, along with Hsiao-ko and Hsiao-yü, slept on the bed, while Wu the Second and Tai-an slept together on the floor. As people who had been suffering from alarm and fatigue, they fell fast asleep.

  The only one among them who failed to sleep soundly was Hsiao-yü, who got up in the abbot’s quarters and watched through a crack in the door as P’u-ching recited the sutras.

  As the third watch of the night gradually approached, behold:

  The metallic autumn wind grew desolate;

  The slanting moon appeared more somber.

  The bustle of human activity subsided;64

  The myriad pipes of Heaven were silent.

  On looking at the large incense-burning censer in front of the effigy of Buddha, she saw that it was:

  Half alight but not extinguished.

  When Ch’an Master P’u-ching realized that:

  The empire was in a state of disorder,

  The population was suffering distress,

  and that:

  The corpses of those killed in battle,

  Appeared to be incalculable in number;

  He exerted his compassionate feelings,

  To dispense his boundless benevolence.

  Addressing himself reverently to the Buddha, he recited a spell for dispelling enmity, intended to:

  Rescue the incarcerated souls,65

  Free them from old resentments,

  Clear impediments in their way,

  So they could be reincarnated,

  Without any remaining residues.

  Thereupon, he recited the spell for dispelling enmity more than a hundred times.

  Shortly thereafter:

  A cold breeze blew forlornly,

  A chilly wind began to sough,66

  and several tens of ghosts appeared, some of them:

  With
scorched heads and singed scalps,

  Disheveled hair and mud-stained faces.

  Others:

  With ruptured fingers and broken arms,

  Gutted stomachs and gouged out hearts.

  And still others:

  Without heads and with crippled limbs;

  Or with:

  Locked cangues hanging on their necks.

  They had come to be enlightened by the Ch’an Master’s recitation of the spell and:

  Lined up neatly to either side of him.67

  The Ch’an Master then addressed them, saying:

  “You group of living individuals,

  Seek to repay enmity with enmity,68

  Unwilling to seek reconciliation.

  Whenever can this come to an end?

  You must listen carefully to what I say, if you wish to pursue your separate paths to reincarnation. There is a gatha that says:

  I urge you not to harbor enmity;

  Acute enmity is hard to resolve.

  Enmity can arise in one any day,

  But cannot be resolved for ages.

  If one repays enmity with grace,

  It is to pour hot water on snow.

  If you requite hatred with hate,

  It is a wolf meeting a scorpion.

  I sense those who harbor enmity,

  Permit enmity to devastate them.69

  Those who sense this and repent,

  Are able to grasp their natures,

  Understand their original minds,70

  And rid themselves of animosity.

  The potency of this sacred text,

  Redeems one from his evil karma.

  Each of you may be reincarnated,

  If you harbor no further enmity.

  The head is altered and the face replaced, as

  the wheel of transmigration turns;

  It is useless to try to grasp what awaits you

  in the predestined life to come.”71

  At this juncture, the crowd of ghosts thanked him and then disappeared. Hsiao-yü had been surreptitiously scrutinizing them but did not recognize anyone.

  In a little while, another man appeared, who was more than six feet in stature.

  His appearance was stately,72

  He was fully clad in armor,

  and his breast had been pierced by an arrow.

  “I am Commander-general Chou Hsiu,” he said. “In the course of contending with an enemy general, I died on the field of battle. Thanks to the Master’s deliverance, I have been reincarnated in the Eastern Capital as the second son of Shen Ching, with the name Shen Shou-shan.”

  Before he had even finished speaking, another person appeared, dressed in impressively immaculate clothing, who said, “I am the wealthy gentleman from Ch’ing-ho district, Hsi-men Ch’ing, who died after suffering a leakage of blood in my urine. Thanks to the Master’s deliverance, I have been reincarnated in the Eastern Capital as the second son of the wealthy gentleman Shen T’ung, with the name Shen Yüeh.”

  Hsiao-Yü recognized him to be her former master and was too scared to utter a word.

  After this, another person appeared, carrying his head in his hands, while his whole body was covered with blood, and said, “I am Ch’en Ching-chi, who was murdered by Chang Sheng. Thanks to the Master’s deliverance and the power of the scriptures, I have been reincarnated in the Eastern Capital as a son of the Wang family.”

  After this, a woman appeared who was also carrying her head in her hands, while her chest was covered with blood, and said, “I am the wife of Wu Chih, and concubine of Hsi-men Ch’ing, P’an Chin-lien, who had the bad luck to be slain by my enemy Wu Sung. Thanks to the Master’s deliverance, I have been reborn in the Eastern Capital as a daughter of the Li family.”

  After this, another man appeared who was dwarflike in stature and whose countenance was purplish and said, “I am Wu Chih who died as a result of Dame Wang’s persuading P’an Chin-lien to poison me. Thanks to the Master’s deliverance, I have been reincarnated in Hsü-chou as a son of the peasant family named Fan.”

  After this, another woman appeared whose face was thin and sallow, while her body was dripping blood, and said, “I am Li P’ing-erh, the wife of Hua Tzu-hsü and concubine of Hsi-men Ch’ing, who died from a case of acute metrorrhagia. Thanks to the Master’s deliverance, I have been reincarnated in the Eastern Capital as the daughter of Commander Yüan.”

  After this, another man appeared, who said, “I am Hua Tzu-hsü, who suffered the misfortune of being exasperated to death by my wife. Thanks to the Master’s deliverance, I have been reincarnated in the Eastern Capital as a son in Battalion Commander Cheng’s family.”

  After this, another woman appeared with her footbindings wrapped around her neck, who said, “I am the wife of Hsi-men Ch’ing’s servant Lai-wang, Sung Hui-lien, who:

  Hanged herself until dead.

  Thanks to the Master’s deliverance, I have been reincarnated in the Eastern Capital as a daughter in the Chu family.”

  After this, another woman appeared, who had:

  A sallow face and emaciated flesh,73

  and said, “I am the wife of Commander-general Chou Hsiu, P’ang Ch’un-mei, who perished from sexual exhaustion. Thanks to the Master’s deliverance, I have been reincarnated in the Eastern Capital as a daughter in the K’ung family.”

  After this, another man appeared:

  Who was stark naked with disheveled hair,74

  Whose entire body was covered with weals,

  and identified himself, saying, “I am Chang Sheng, who was beaten to death. Thanks to the Master’s deliverance, I have been reborn as a son in the impoverished Kao family attached to the Ta-hsing guard in the Eastern Capital.”

  After this, another woman appeared, with a rope around her neck, and said, “I am Sun Hsüeh-o, the former concubine of Hsi-men Ch’ing, who unhappily:

  Hanged myself until dead.

  Thanks to the Master’s deliverance, I have been reincarnated as a daughter in the family of the impoverished Yao family outside the Eastern Capital.”

  After this, another young woman appeared with her footbindings wrapped around her neck, and said, “I am Hsi-men Ch’ing’s daughter and Ch’en Ching-chi’s wife, Hsi-men Ta-chieh, who also unhappily:

  Hanged myself until dead.

  Thanks to the Master’s deliverance, I have been reincarnated as a daughter of Chung Kuei, a policeman who resides outside the wall of the Eastern Capital.”

  After this, another young man appeared and identified himself with the words, “I am Chou I, who was also beaten to death. Thanks to the Master’s deliverance, I have been reborn as a son in the Kao family that resides outside the wall of the Eastern Capital and am named Kao Liu-chu.”

  When they had done speaking, they all suddenly disappeared.

  Hsiao-yü was so astonished by this that she shivered in awe and thought to herself, “So this monk is capable of communicating with the ghosts of the departed.”

  She wanted to go back to bed and tell Yüeh-niang about it, but who could have anticipated that Yüeh-niang was fast asleep, and her numinous soul’s true being dreamt that, together with Wu the Second and the others, she was still on her way to Chi-nan prefecture, with the string of a hundred imported pearls, and a gem-studded chatelaine in hand, in order to seek refuge from the invading army with Yün Li-shou, and finalize the betrothal of Hsiao-ko to his daughter.

  Eating when hungry, drinking when thirsty;75

  Stopping by night and traveling by day;

  they arrived in Chi-nan prefecture, where she asked an elderly man where Assistant Regional Commander Yün Li-shou was stationed.

  The elderly man pointed the way out to them, saying, “He is stationed at a place, some two li from here, called the Ling-pi Stockade, which faces the river on one side and the mountains on the other. This Ling-pi Stockade is located on top of the city wall, and there are a thousand troops and horses stationed there. Assistant Regional Commander Yün Li-shou is the st
ockade commander there.”

  When Wu Yüeh-niang and her companions, five persons in all, arrived at the gate of the stockade, and Yün Li-shou learned that she had come to consummate the betrothal of their children:

  He greeted her like an old acquaintance,76

  as they exchanged the customary amenities. It so happened that his wife had recently died, so he asked a neighbor called Old Mrs. Wang to keep Yüeh-niang company, provided her with a lavish feast of wine and food in the rear hall of the stockade, and saw that Wu the Second and Tai-an were entertained in another place.

  In the course of their conversation, Yüeh-niang mentioned her need to flee from the invading army, and her desire to consummate the betrothal of their children. She also brought out the string of a hundred imported pearls and the gem-studded chatelaine and presented them to him as a provisional betrothal gift. Yün Li-shou accepted them but did not have anything further to say about the betrothal.

  That evening, he also arranged for Old Mrs. Wang to spend the night with Yüeh-niang, and to feel her out in order to ascertain her sentiments toward himself.

  In the course of doing so, she said to Yüeh-niang, “Although Yün Li-shou is a military official, he is:

  A book-reading gentleman;77

  and ever since you and his wife betrothed your children to each other by exchanging cuttings from the lapels of your blouses, you have been on his mind. Unexpectedly, his wife died, and he has been living as a widower ever since. At present, he is serving as the commander of this mountainous stockade. Although his position is not high:

  When mounted he commands the troops;

  When dismounted he rules the people;78

  and their life and death are in his hands. If you see fit not to reject him, he would like to:

  Unite with you in connubial bliss,79

  That you may share your mutual joy.80

  Your son would also benefit from such a marriage alliance. Once peace has been restored, it would not be too late to return home together.”

  When Yüeh-niang heard this proposition, she:

  Turned pale with consternation,

  and was speechless for some time.

  Old Mrs. Wang reported what she had said to Yün Li-shou, and the next evening he prepared wine in the rear hall and invited Yüeh-niang to have a drink with him there. Yüeh-niang thought that it was only to formalize Hsiao-ko’s betrothal to his daughter and lost no time in joining him there, where they sat down together.