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

by Roy, David Tod

  Chapter 84

  1. See Roy, The Plum in the Golden Vase, vol. 4, chap. 79, n. 51.

  2. This four-character expression occurs in P’o-yao chi, chüan 1, scene 11, p. 32b, ll. 1–2.

  3. This four-character expression occurs in I-chien chih, vol. 4, san-chih, jen (third record, section nine), chüan 6, p. 1511, ll. 6–7; Yüan-ch’ü hsüan wai-pien, 2:644, ll. 11–12; a song by Ch’en To (fl. early 16th century), Ch’üan Ming san-ch’ü, 1:448, l. 10; Lieh-kuo chih-chuan, vol. 2, chüan 4, p. 61a, l. 7; the ch’uan-ch’i drama Shuang-lieh chi (The heroic couple), by Chang Ssu-wei (late 16th century), Liu-shih chung ch’ü ed., scene 22, p. 64, l. 6; and Yang-chia fu shih-tai chung-yung yen-i chih-chuan, vol. 2, chüan 7, p. 33a, l. 2.

  4. This four-character expression occurs in the early vernacular story Ch’ien She-jen t’i-shih Yen-tzu Lou (Secretary Ch’ien inscribes poetry in the Swallows Loft), in Ching-shih t’ung-yen, chüan 10, p. 123, l. 2; the tsa-chü drama Huang T’ing-tao yeh-tsou Liu-hsing ma (Huang T’ing-tao steals the horse Shooting Star by night), by Huang Yüan-chi (14th century), in Ming-jen tsa-chü hsüan, scene 3, p. 104, l. 11; an anonymous song suite in Yung-hsi yüeh-fu, ts’e 12, p. 76a, l. 8; Ssu-hsi chi, scene 26, p. 65, l. 3; and San-pao t’ai-chien Hsi-yang chi t’ung-su yen-i, vol. 1, ch. 40, p. 518, l. 10.

  5. These two lines, with insignificant textual variation, occur in Yü-chüeh chi, scene 25, p. 80, l. 7.

  6. This six-character expression occurs in Nan Sung chih-chuan, vol. 1, chüan 4, p. 5b, l. 5; and Lieh-kuo chih-chuan, vol. 1, chüan 2, p. 25b, l. 4.

  7. Variants of these two lines occur in [Hsin-pien] Wu-tai shih p’ing-hua ([Newly compiled] p’ing-hua on the history of the Five Dynasties), originally published in the fourteenth century (Shanghai: Chung-kuo ku-tien wen-hsüeh ch’u-pan she, 1954), p. 12, l. 13; and Shui-hu ch’üan-chuan, vol. 1, ch. 1, p. 4, l. 10.

  8. On the Feng and Shan Sacrifices to Heaven and Earth made by ruling emperors, see Records of the Grand Historian of China, trans. Burton Watson, 2 vols. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1961), 2:13–69.

  9. The River of Weak Water is a mythical stream to the far west of China, while the Isles of the Blest are said to be located in the Eastern Sea. This four-character expression occurs in a lyric by Yüan Hao-wen (1190–1257), Ch’üan Chin Yüan tz’u, 1:79, lower register, l. 7; and a lyric by Li Tao-ching (13th century), Ch’üan Sung tz’u, 4:2859, upper register, l. 8.

  10. This four-character expression occurs in the anonymous Yüan dynasty vernacular narrative Hsüeh Jen-kuei cheng-Liao shih-lüeh (A brief account of Hsüeh Jen-kuei’s campaign in Liao-tung) (Shanghai: Ku-tien wen-hsüeh ch’u-pan she, 1957), p. 30, l. 11.

  11. For the gold raven and the jade rabbit, see Roy, The Plum in the Golden Vase, vol. 3, chap. 46, n. 21.

  12. This four-character expression occurs ubiquitously in Chinese vernacular literature. See, e.g., Yüan-ch’ü hsüan, 4:1601, l. 2; Yüan-ch’ü hsüan wai-pien, 3:888, l. 9; a song by Wang Yüeh (1423–98), Ch’üan Ming san-ch’ü, 1:405, l. 3; San-kuo chih t’ung-su yen-i, vol. 1, chüan 8, p. 398, l. 5; Ch’ien-chin chi, scene 26, p. 85, l. 9; Shui-hu ch’üan-chuan, vol. 2, ch. 41, p. 659, l. 11; Nan Sung chih-chuan, vol. 1, chüan 3, p. 18a, l. 10; Lieh-kuo chih-chuan, vol. 2, chüan 6, p. 57b, ll. 12–13; Hsi-yu chi, vol. 1, ch. 23, p. 266, l. 8; Ts’an-T’ang Wu-tai shih yen-i chuan, ch. 18, p. 65, ll. 19–20; San-pao t’ai-chien Hsi-yang chi t’ung-su yen-i, vol. 1, ch. 16, p. 213, l. 5; Ta-T’ang Ch’in-wang tz’u-hua, vol. 1, chüan 3, ch. 21, p. 50a, l. 5; and [Hsin-k’o] Shih-shang hua-yen ch’ü-lo t’an-hsiao chiu-ling ([Newly printed] Currently fashionable jokes and drinking games to be enjoyed at formal banquets), 4 chüan (Ming edition published by the Wen-te T’ang), chüan 1, p. 2b, upper register, l. 8.

  13. This four-character expression occurs in I-chien chih, vol. 4, pu (supplement), chüan 20, p. 1739, l. 9.

  14. This four-character expression occurs in a poem by Chin Chün-ch’ing (11th century), Ch’üan Sung shih, 7:4930, l. 15; and Yüan-ch’ü hsüan wai-pien, 3:727, l. 8.

  15. This Taoist deity is mentioned in I-chien chih, vol. 2, ping-chih (third record), chüan 10, p. 449, l. 9.

  16. This mythological figure is said to be the third son of the God of the Eastern Peak.

  17. This four-character expression occurs in a lyric by Wang Ch’ien-ch’iu (12th century), Ch’üan Sung tz’u, 3:1466, lower register, l. 12; Yüan-ch’ü hsüan wai-pien, 2:377, l. 20; Ch’in ping liu-kuo p’ing-hua (The p’ing-hua on the annexation of the Six States by Ch’in), originally published in 1321–23 (Shanghai: Ku-tien wen-hsüeh ch’u-pan she, 1955), p. 63, l. 5; Shui-hu ch’üan-chuan, vol. 1, ch. 1, p. 1, l. 8; the Ming novel San Sui p’ing-yao chuan (The three Sui quash the demons’ revolt), fac. repr. (Tokyo: Tenri daigaku shuppan-bu, 1981), chüan 4, p. 11b, l. 3; and Hsi-yu chi, vol. 1, ch. 4, p. 38, l. 6.

  18. This four-character expression occurs ubiquitously in Chinese literature. See, e.g., a poem by Hsüeh Feng (cs 841), Ch’üan T’ang shih, vol. 8, chüan 548, p. 6326, l. 4; T’ai-p’ing kuang-chi (Extensive gleanings from the reign of Great Tranquility), comp. Li Fang (925–96) et al., first printed in 981, 10 vols. (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chü, 1961), vol. 8, chüan 388, p. 3094, l. 8; a poem by Yang P’u (10th century), Ch’üan Sung shih, 1:300, l. 5; a poem by Ts’ai Hsiang (1012–67), ibid., 7:4834, l. 9; a lyric by Ch’in Kuan (1049–1100), Ch’üan Sung tz’u, 1:483, lower register, l. 1; a quatrain by Chang Kang (1083–1166), Ch’üan Sung shih, 27:17924, l. 5; a lyric by Hung K’uo (1117–84), Ch’üan Sung tz’u, 2:1385, upper register, l. 8; a song suite by Chou Wen-chih (d. 1334), Ch’üan Yüan san-ch’ü, 1:563, l. 3; Yüan-ch’ü hsüan, 2:449, l. 1; Ching-ch’ai chi, scene 25, p. 79, l. 9; a lyric by Liang Yin (1303–89), Ch’üan Ming tz’u, 1:33, upper register, ll. 9–10; a lyric by Ch’ü Yu (1341–1427), ibid., 1:186, upper register, l. 5; Chin-ch’ai chi, scene 67, p. 122, l. 23; the ch’uan-ch’i drama Wu Lun-ch’üan Pei (Wu Lun-ch’üan and Wu Lun-pei, or the five cardinal human relationships completely exemplified), by Ch’iu Chün (1421–95), in Ku-pen hsi-ch’ü ts’ung-k’an, ch’u-chi, item 37, chüan 2, scene 14, p. 25b, l. 6; the ch’uan-ch’i drama Yüeh Fei p’o-lu tung-ch’uang chi (Yüeh Fei defeats the barbarians: the plot at the eastern window), by Chou Li (15th century), in Ku-pen hsi-ch’ü ts’ung-k’an, ch’u-chi, item no. 21, chüan 2, scene 28, p. 11b, l. 9; the ch’uan-ch’i drama Ming-chu chi (The luminous pearl), by Lu Ts’ai (1497–1537), Liu-shih chung ch’ü ed., scene 28, p. 87, l. 5; a set of songs by Ch’en To (fl. early 16th century), Ch’üan Ming san-ch’ü, 1:462, ll. 13–14; Hsi-yu chi, vol. 1, ch. 4, p. 38, l. 6; and a host of other occurrences, too numerous to list.

  19. On Hao-li Hill, see Glen Dudbridge, “Women Pilgrims to T’ai Shan: Some Pages from a Seventeenth-Century Novel,” in Pilgrims and Sacred Sites in China, ed. Susan Naquin and Chün-fang Yü (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1992), pp. 60–61.

  20. On the White Mule Shrine, see Dwight Condo Baker, T’ai Shan: An Account of the Sacred Eastern Peak of China (Shanghai: Commercial Press, 1925), pp. 40–41.

  21. This four-character expression occurs in Liu-tsu ta-shih fa-pao t’an-ching (The Dharma treasure of the platform sutra of the Sixth Patriarch), ed. Tsung-pao (13th century), in Taishō shinshū daizōkyō (The newly edited great Buddhist canon compiled in the Taishō reign period [1912–26]), 85 vols. (Tokyo: Taishō issaikyō kankōkai, 1922–32), vol. 48, no. 2008, p. 358, upper register, l. 14; the tenth-century vernacular narrative Lu-shan Yüan-kung hua (Story of Hui-yüan [334–416] of Mount Lu), in Tun-huang pien-wen chi (Collection of pien-wen from Tun-huang), ed. Wang Chung-min et al., 2 vols. (Peking: Jen-min wen-hsüeh ch’u-pan she, 1984, 1:182, l. 3; San-kuo chih t’ung-su yen-i, vol. 2, chüan 16, p. 773, l. 12; Shui-hu ch’üan-chuan, vol. 1, ch. 21, p. 304, l. 4; Hsi-yu chi, vol. 1, ch. 33, p. 376, l. 2; Huang-Ming k’ai-yün ying-wu chuan (Chronicle of the heroic military exploits that initiated the reign of the imperial Ming dynasty) (Nanking: Yang Ming-feng, 1591), fac. repr. i
n Ku-pen hsiao-shuo ts’ung-k’an, ti san-shih liu chi (Collectanea of rare editions of traditional fiction, thirty-sixth series) (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chü, 1991), vol. 1, chüan 7, p. 4a, l. 13; and San-pao t’ai-chien Hsi-yang chi t’ung-su yen-i, vol. 1, ch. 28, p. 363, l. 15.

  22. The proximate source of this entire set piece of descriptive parallel prose, with minor textual variation, is Shui-hu ch’üan-chuan, vol. 3, ch. 74. p. 1243, l. 12–p. 1244, l. 3.

  23. A variant of this four-character expression occurs in San-kuo chih t’ung-su yen-i, vol. 2, chüan 14, p. 673, l. 18; Shui-hu ch’üan-chuan, vol. 4, ch. 108, p. 1623, l. 10; and Hsi-yu chi, vol. 1, ch. 14, p. 154, l. 14. It occurs in the same form as in the novel in the anonymous Yüan-Ming tsa-chü drama Han Yüan-shuai an-tu Ch’en-ts’ang (Han Hsin surreptitiously emerges at Ch’en-ts’ang), in Ku-pen Yüan Ming tsa-chü, vol. 2, scene 3, p. 15b, l. 11; Shui-hu ch’üan-chuan, vol. 2, ch. 43, p. 698, l. 11; and the anonymous Ming tsa-chü drama Erh-lang Shen so Ch’i-t’ien Ta-sheng (Erh-lang Shen confines the Great Sage Equal to Heaven), in Ming-jen tsa-chü hsüan, scene 2, p. 711, l. 9.

  24. This four-character expression occurs in Shui-hu ch’üan-chuan, vol. 2, ch. 30, p. 462, l. 6.

  25. This concluding couplet occurs verbatim in San Sui p’ing-yao chuan, chüan 2, ch. 7, p. 15b, ll. 6–7. The proximate source of this passage of descriptive parallel prose, with minor textual variation, is Shui-hu ch’üan-chuan, vol. 2, ch. 42, p. 678, l. 16–p. 679, l. 1.

  26. There are various versions of the legend of Lü Tung-pin’s dalliance with the courtesan White Peony. For two examples, see the novel Tung-yu chi: shang-tung pa-hsien chuan (Journey to the east: the story of the eight immortals of the upper realm), comp. Wu Yüan-t’ai (16th century), appendix dated 1596, fac. repr. of Chien-yang edition published by Yü Hsiang-tou (c. 1550–1637), in Ku-pen Hsiao-shuo ts’ung-k’an, ti san-shih chiu chi (Collectanea of rare editions of traditional fiction, thirty-ninth series) (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chü, 1991), chs. 27–28; and San-pao t’ai-chien Hsi-yang chi t’ung-su yen-i, ch. 11.

  27. This four-character expression occurs in a poem by Han Chü (1080–1135), Ch’üan Sung shih, 25:16643, l. 17; and a lyric by Wang Chi-ch’ang (12th century), Ch’üan Chin Yüan tz’u, 1:557, lower register, l. 9.

  28. This four-character expression occurs in Lieh-kuo chih-chuan, vol. 3, chüan 7, p. 59a, l. 13–p. 59b, l. 1; Mu-lien chiu-mu ch’üan-shan hsi-wen, chüan 3, p. 48a, l. 4; and Sui-T’ang liang-ch’ao shih-chuan, chüan 5, ch. 48, p. 46b, l. 7.

  29. These two lines occur in close proximity in [Hsiao-shih] Chen-k’ung sao-hsin pao-chüan, 19:82, l. 2; and Ch’eng-yün chuan (The story of the assumption of the mandate [by the Yung-lo emperor]), in Ku-pen hsiao-shuo ts’ung-k’an, ti-pa chi (Collectanea of rare editions of traditional fiction, eighth series) (Peking: Chung-hua shu-chü, 1990), vol. 3, chüan 1, p. 7b, l. 6. The second line also occurs independently in P’u-ming ju-lai wu-wei liao-i pao-chüan (Precious volume of the Tathāgatha P’u-ming who thoroughly comprehends the meaning of Nonactivism), by P’u-ming (d. 1562), completed in 1558, in Pao-chüan ch’u-chi, 4:597, l. 1.

  30. This four-character expression occurs in the early vernacular story Chi Ya-fan chin-man ch’an-huo (Duty Group Leader Chi’s golden eel engenders catastrophe), in Ching-shih t’ung-yen, chüan 20, p. 275, l. 2; San-kuo chih t’ung-su yen-i, vol. 1, chüan 10. p. 480, ll. 4–5; T’an-shih wu-wei pao-chüan (Precious volume on Nonactivism in lamentation for the world), by Lo Ch’ing (1442–1527), originally published in 1509, in Pao-chüan ch’u-chi, 1:411, l. 4; Ch’ien-t’ang hu-yin Chi-tien Ch’an-shih yü-lu (The recorded sayings of the lakeside recluse of Ch’ien-t’ang, the Ch’an master Crazy Chi [Tao-chi (1148–1209)]), fac. repr. of 1569 edition, in Ku-pen hsiao-shuo ts’ung-k’an, ti-pa chi, vol. 1, p. 63a, l. 5; and Ta-T’ang Ch’in-wang tz’u-hua, vol. 1, chüan 4, ch. 29, p. 41a, ll. 4–5.

  31. A variant of this expression occurs in the middle-period vernacular story Ch’en Hsün-chien Mei-ling shih-ch’i chi (Police chief Ch’en loses his wife in crossing the Mei-ling Range), in Ch’ing-p’ing shan-t’ang hua-pen, p. 130, ll. 8–9. It recurs in the same form as it does here in the Chin P’ing Mei tz’u-hua, vol. 5, ch. 88, p. 2a, l. 5.

  32. This four-character expression occurs in Shui-hu ch’üan-chuan, vol. 2, ch. 53, p. 875, l. 7; and Ch’üan-Han chih-chuan, vol. 2, chüan 6, p. 23a, ll. 3–4.

  33. This four-character expression occurs ubiquitously in Chinese vernacular literature. See, e.g., Yüan-ch’ü hsüan, 2:606, l. 21; Yüan-ch’ü hsüan wai-pien, 2:663, l. 3; the early vernacular story Hsi-hu san-t’a chi (The three pagodas at West Lake), in Ch’ing-p’ing shan-t’ang hua-pen, p. 25, l. 16; San-kuo chih t’ung-su yen-i, vol. 2, chüan 17, p. 797, ll. 16–17; Huang-chi chin-tan chiu-lien cheng-hsin kuei-chen huan-hsiang pao-chüan (Precious volume of the golden elixir and nine-petaled lotus of the Imperial Ultimate period that leads to rectifying belief, reverting to the real, and returning to our true home), originally published in 1498, in Pao-chüan ch’u-chi, 8:387, l. 4; Shui-hu ch’üan-chuan, vol. 3, ch. 61, p. 1033, l. 11; San Sui p’ing-yao chuan, chüan 2, ch. 10, p. 46b, l. 3; the anonymous Ming tsa-chü drama Ch’ang-an ch’eng ssu-ma t’ou-T’ang (In Ch’ang-an city four horsemen surrender to the T’ang), in Ku-pen Yüan Ming tsa-chü, vol. 3, scene 3, p. 14a, l. 6; the anonymous Ming tsa-chü drama Li Yün-ch’ing te-wu sheng-chen (Li Yün-ch’ing attains enlightenment and achieves transcendence), in Ku-pen Yüan Ming tsa-chü, vol. 4, scene 3, p. 11a, l. 12; the anonymous Ming tsa-chü drama Ch’ing feng-nien Wu-kuei nao Chung K’uei (Celebrating a prosperous year, the Five Devils plague Chung K’uei), in Ku-pen Yüan Ming tsa-chü, vol. 4, scene 1, p. 2b, l. 4; Ch’üan-Han chih-chuan, vol. 2, chüan 2, p. 36a, l. 9; and Sui-T’ang liang-ch’ao shih-chuan, chüan 12, ch. 119, p. 41a, l. 8.

  34. There is a famous sectarian religious leader named P’u-ching (d. 1586), who was active in North China between 1578 and 1586 and is credited with the authorship of numerous sectarian texts. It is probable that he served as a source for this character in the novel. For a compelling analysis of the role he plays here and in the final chapter of the novel, see Carlitz, The Rhetoric of Chin p’ing mei, chap. 7, pp. 128–45.

  35. This four-character expression occurs in Yüan-ch’ü hsüan, 4:1419, l. 2.

  36. This four-character expression occurs in Huang-Ming k’ai-yün ying-wu chuan, chüan 2, p. 2a, ll. 11–12; and Ts’an-T’ang Wu-tai shih yen-i chuan, ch. 2, p. 3, l. 16. It also recurs in the Chin P’ing Mei tz’u-hua, vol. 5, ch. 100, p. 11a, l. 7.

  37. This four-character expression occurs in I-chien chih, vol. 3, chih kuei (supplementary record 7), chüan 7, p. 1272, l. 2; Yüan-ch’ü hsüan, 2:838, l. 21; and Shui-hu ch’üan-chuan, vol. 1, ch. 5, p. 88, l. 2.

  38. This four-character expression occurs in I-chien chih, vol. 1, ping-chih (third record), chüan 2, p. 375, l. 6; Yüan-ch’ü hsüan wai-pien, 2:360, l. 4; a lyric by Ch’en T’ing (cs 1502), Ch’üan Ming tz’u, 2:544, upper register, ll. 15–16; and the sixteenth-century literary tale Hua-shen san-miao chuan (The flower god and the three beauties), in Kuo-se t’ien-hsiang, vol. 2, chüan 6, lower register, p. 46a, l. 12.

  39. This four-character expression occurs in Huang-ch’ao pien-nien kang-mu pei-yao (Chronological outline of the significant events of the imperial [Sung] dynasty), comp. Ch’en Chün (c. 1165–c. 1236), pref. dated 1229, 2 vols., fac. repr. (Taipei: Ch’eng-wen ch’u-pan she, 1966), vol. 2, chüan 28, p. 18a, l. 2; and a set of songs by Chu Yu-tun (1379–1439), Ch’üan Ming san-ch’ü, 1:270, l. 11.

  40. The proximate source of this set piece of descriptive parallel prose is Shui-hu ch’üan-chuan, vol. 2, ch. 32, p. 501, ll. 6–9. A very similar passage also occurs in Hsi-yu chi, vol. 1, ch. 36, p. 411, ll. 2–6.

  41. These characters and the episode that follows are all derived, with appropriate modifications, from chapter 32 of Shui-hu ch’üan-chuan, where both the events and the language are quite similar.

  42. A synonymous orthographic variant of th
is four-character expression occurs in Yüan-ch’ü hsüan, 2:689, l. 7; and Hsi-yu chi, vol. 2, ch. 56, p. 652, l. 1.

  43. This incident takes place in chapter 21 of Shui-hu ch’üan-chuan.

  44. This four-character expression occurs in Hsi-yu chi, vol. 1, ch. 10, p. 105, l. 12.

  45. This four-character expression occurs in Wu Lun-ch’üan Pei, chüan 4, scene 26, p. 17b, l. 4; Shui-hu ch’üan-chuan, vol. 3, ch. 81, p. 1334, l. 11; Lieh-kuo chih-chuan, vol. 3, chüan 8, p. 45b, l. 9; and the long sixteenth-century literary tale Liu sheng mi Lien chi (The story of Liu I-ch’un’s quest of Sun Pi-lien), in Kuo-se t’ien-hsiang, vol. 1, chüan 2, lower register, p. 32b, l. 13.

  46. An orthographic variant of this four-character expression occurs in [Chi-p’ing chiao-chu] Hsi-hsiang chi, play no, 2, scene 1, p. 50, l. 7; Yüan-ch’ü hsüan, 4:1519, l. 7; the early vernacular story Shih-wu kuan hsi-yen ch’eng ch’iao-huo (Fifteen strings of cash: A casual jest leads to uncanny disaster), in Hsing-shih heng-yen, vol. 2, chüan 33, p. 703, l. 15; Shui-hu ch’üan-chuan, vol. 1, ch. 5, p. 85, l. 10; Nan Hsi-hsiang chi (Li Jih-hua), scene 11, p. 30, l. 11; Liu sheng mi Lien chi, chüan 3, p. 8b, l. 2; and Hsi-yu chi, vol. 1, ch. 40, p. 462, l. 13. It occurs in the same form as it does in the novel in Wu Lun-ch’üan Pei, chüan 3, scene 19, p. 24a, l. 7; and Shui-hu ch’üan-chuan, vol. 2, ch. 35, p. 545, l. 13.