by Ouyang Yu
Although I have returned all the submissions, of poetry, self-aggrandisements clothed as autobiographies and academic books, I retain one manuscript, or, to be more exact, one part of it, for my own entertainment. This comes from someone who claims to be remotely related to Confucius, by the name of Kong Kongwu. He is so unhappy about Lin Yutang’s rendering in English of zhongyong, commonly known in the West as The Doctrine of the Mean or The Golden Mean, that he renders everything afresh. I have compared his translation with that of Lin’s and find that his is more concise and succinct. For my own record I include Lin’s, italicized, below, followed by Kong’s, in three paragraphs:
‘The moral law is a law from whose operation we cannot for one instant in our existence escape. A law from which we may escape is not the moral law. Wherefore it is that the moral man (or the superior man) watches diligently over what his eyes cannot see and is in fear and awe of what his ears cannot hear.’
Kong’s rendering,
‘Dao, the way, is not something one can depart from for a moment. If it is something that one can depart from, it is not the Dao. For this reason, Junzi, a gentleman, ought to be careful of what is not visible to him and live in fear of what he cannot hear.’
‘There is nothing more evident than that which cannot be seen by the eyes and nothing more palpable than that which cannot be perceived by senses. Wherefore the moral man watches diligently over his secret thoughts.’
Kong’s rendering,
‘Nothing is more visible than the invisible the same way nothing is more significant than the insignificant. For this reason, Junzi needs to be wary of himself even in solitude.’
‘When the passions, such as joy, anger, grief and pleasure, have not awakened, that is our central self, or moral being (chung). When these passions awaken and each and all attain due measure and degree, that is harmony, or the moral order (ho). Our central self or moral being is the great basis of existence, and harmony or moral order is the universal law in the world.’
Kong’s rendering,
‘If passions like joy, anger, sadness and pleasure are well under control, it is called Zhong, or neutrality. If they have an outburst but are well adjusted, it is called He, or harmony. Neutrality is the great basis of the under-heaven just as harmony is the through Dao under heaven, too.’
That’s right, I thought to myself. is the Dao, the way, consisting of a head in the act of walking . As for my own Dao, I am not sure where it is going to lead. Perhaps I really should have come to this earlier as I would have become wary of whatever I do, even in my solitude.
[The diary abruptly ends here - editor’s note.]
1 Qtd in Gilles Neret, Erotica Universalis. Taschen, 1994, p. 639.
2 See ‘Mu Cao’s Diary’, in Chinese, at: http://www.douban.com/note/136462582/
3 Anon, from Feng Menglong, gua zhi’er (Hanging Branches), vol., 10, at: http://www.my285.com/gdwx/gdsc/gze/010.htm
4 Samuel Beckett, The Collected Poems of Samuel Beckett, eds. By Sean Lawlor and John Pilling. London: Faber and Faber Ltd, 2012 [1930], p. 126.
5 Samuel Beckett, The Collected Poems of Samuel Beckett, eds. By Sean Lawlor and John Pilling. London: Faber and Faber Ltd, 2012 [1930], p. 130.
6 Samuel Beckett, The Collected Poems of Samuel Beckett, eds. By Sean Lawlor and John Pilling. London: Faber and Faber Ltd, 2012 [1930], p. 127.
7 See Yu Jie, ‘wenben hujiao: bei zhijie de xilali huiyilu’ (Texts compared: the mangled Hillary Biography), at: http://blog.boxun.com/hero/yujie/109_1.shtml
8 Xu Xiangchou, quoted in Zhang Jiayan, zhongguo di shige (Low Poetry in China). People’s Daily Press, 2008, p. 92.
9 For more info on this category, see http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/business/163/eligibility-business-owner.htm
10 Samuel Beckett, The Collected Poems of Samuel Beckett, eds. By Sean Lawlor and John Pilling. London: Faber and Faber Ltd, 2012 [1930], p. 129.
11 Xiao Zhao, ‘wo zuibeizi zuida de mengxiang jiushi cao wo de qin meimei’. See his Chinese poems at: http://geibook.com/simple/?t4698.html
12 The legal age of consent for sexual activity in China is 14. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_Asia#China.2C_People.27s_Republic_of
Postscript
[Please note that I have added this postscript as my interpretation of the diary I have read and as an extended part of it as I have imagined – editor’s note.]
The main protagonist of this novel seems to be what is known as a naked official, with his wife and daughter, as well as his large embezzled sums of money through selling book numbers for more than they are worth, e.g. one book number worth 10k sold for 60k, now all safely installed overseas. He is now in detention in No. 1 Detention Centre in X city. The first day he enters into his cell, he is surrounded by the inmates, led by a man with a deep scar near the end of his right brow, and wearing a large bushy moustache. He advances towards our naked official, in menacing steps, and grabs hold of his collar as he says, ‘Who told you to come here?’
The naked official, whose name is a mere code of 835, says, ‘I am sorry but what did you say?’
The man, whose code number is 174, turns his head back and says to the rest of the inmates, ‘The guy is a bit hard of hearing. Guys, give him some colour to see see.’
Even before he finishes the remark, the other inmates pounce upon 835 and box his ears, instantly breaking his eardrums.
And, in that instant, 835 experiences such excruciating pain that he bursts into tears and curiously recalls the mental pain he went through at the news of J Ro’s death. There were no tears shed then, although he had a dream that night in which he made such wild love to her that his root actually melted inside her, like tears. Sinking to his knees, 835, with blood running out of his ears and his mouth, says repeatedly, ‘Beat me as hard as you like and, if possible, beat me to death! I fuck you all. I fuck your guts.’
Books or Other Works, including
Songs, Consulted
‘A Man Has Three Flowers a Life’, http://www.kk07.com/music-71999.shtml###
Bourdieu, Pierre, qtd in Michael Grenfell (ed.), Pierre Bourdieu: Key Concepts. Acumen: 2008, p. 128.
Cawthorne, Nigel, Sordid Sex Lives: Shocking stories of perversion and promiscuity from Nero to Nilsen. Quercus, London: 2010.
Chen, Lianhen, tongzhi piaoyuan (Brothels for Tongzhi), in qinggong yanshi (A Pornographic History of the Qing Palaces), ed. by Lu Zhi. Beijing: Mass Literature Press, 2003.
Cioran, E. M., On the Heights of Despair. trans. by Ilinca Zarifopol-Johnston. The University of Chicago Press, 1992.
de Sade, Marquis, Philosophy in the Boudoir. trans. Joachim Neugroschel. Penguin Books, 2006.
‘Deputy Bureau Chief Died in the Bath while Having a Secret Affair’: http://news.sina.com.cn/richtalk/news/society/9901/011212.html
Donne, John, Selected Poetry. OUP, 1998.
‘Du Zichun’, tangwudai biji xiaoshuo daguan (A Great Collection of Pen-notes-fiction in the Tang Dynasty and Five Dynasties), vol. 1. Shanghai: Shanghai Classic Works Publishing House, 2000.
Fang, Gang, duoxing huoban (Multiple Sex Partners). Beijing: Qunzhong Publishing House, 2012. F03, see Fang, Gang.
Hemon, Aleksandar, ‘Senadin Musabegovic’, Words without Borders: The World Through the Eyes of Writers, eds. Samantha Schnee, Alane Salierno Mason and Dedi Felman. Anchor Books, 2007, p. 201.
Jingyuan xihe (Ihara Saikaku), haose yidai nan (The Life of an Amorous Man). trans. by Wang Chi-yuen and Li Cheng-lun. Taipei: Taiwan Commercial Press, 1998.
Li, Botong, xi taihou yanshi (A Pornographic History of Ci Xi, the Last Empress), in
qinggong yanshi (A Pornographic History of the Qing Palaces), ed. by Lu Zhi. Beijing: Mass Literature Press, 2003, p. 135-6.
Lin, Yutang, (trans.), lin yutang zhongying duizhao: kongzi de zhihui (Confucius’ Widsdom: A Comparative Chinese-English Version by Lin Yutang) [vol. 1]. Cheng Chung Book, 2009, p. 119.
Lidai yange (Erotic love poems down the dynasties).
Beijing: Authors’ Publishing House, 2005.
Maugham, Somerset, A Writer’s Notebook. Vintage, 1976 [1949], p. 51.
mengtian shuibi quanji (Essais de Montaigne) (Vol. 2). Nanjing: Yilin Publishing House, 2008 [1996], p. 73.
Meng, Yang, ‘nanren yisheng sanduohua’ (A Man Has Three Flowers a Life):
http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/165988171.html
Nabokov, Vladimir, Pale Fire. New York: Vintage International, 1989 [1962].
Neret, Gilles, Erotica Universalis. Koln: Taschen, 1994, p. 639.
Neruda, Pablo, ‘Absence’, http://giron.itgo.com/Absence.htm
Qidongyeren, suiyangdi yanshi (A Sexual History of Emperor Yang of Sui). Wuhan:
Changjiang Literature and Arts Publishing House, 1985 [Ming Dynasty].
Shen, Qifeng, xieduo. Beijing: People’s Publishing House, 2006 [1985].
Zhongguo wenti minyao xuan (A Selection of Folk Rhymes on Chinese Problems), at: http://www.wyzxsx.com/Article/Class12/200906/89639.html
Zi Ping, zhonggong da yinguan (Big Licentious Officials of the Chinese Communist Party). Hong Kong: Xiafeier International Publishing Company, 2000.
Ouyang Yu was born in Huangzhou, China. Since arriving in Australia in 1991, Yu has commenced an extraordinarily prolific literary career as a poet, critic, translator, editor and novelist. His award winning fiction includes The Eastern Slope Chronicle (2002) and The English Class (2010). He is also well known for his fine command of poetic craft and his poems have appeared in numerous literary journals and newspapers, and have been frequently anthologised. His many poetry books include Self Translation (2012). He currently divides his time between Melbourne, Australia and Shanghai, China. More at: www.ouyangyu.com.au