Liu [recites]:
The mighty river rolls towards the east,
And many a fabled bank is washed away.
When we count the heroes of history on our fingers,
Though few lived long, regret for them still lingers.
[Speaks]: After this new poem, the old story continues. The rarest of happy moments in this life is when those who are near and dear to each other meet after long separation and hardship in time of trouble. North or south, on earth or in Heaven, time passes and all things change, in wars and famines men scatter like duckweed across a pond. Ch’in Shu-pao was arrested and led to the General’s residence in chains. He was about to be cross-examined when his aunt crept down the stairway behind a curtain. On seeing him, she clasped him in her arms and wailed aloud. He was given fresh raiment and entertained as a member of the family. A prisoner on the verge of execution thus became like a prince. As the old saying has it, “In misfortune, even gold becomes valueless. But when fortune smiles, the cheapest metal glitters.” [He strikes mallet on the table.]
Tso [deeply moved]: I have experienced this myself.
Liu: To continue: The General, who turned out to be Ch’in Shu-pao’s uncle, inquired about his proficiency as a soldier and was gratified by his qualifications. To give him a chance of distinguishing himself that day, the General ordered his troops to parade in battle formation. Ten thousand troops were spread over the plain in two divisions. General Lo looked so majestic in their midst that Ch’in Shu-pao stood beside him full of awe and admiration. And he said to himself: “That is how a man should live.” [Liu strikes the table again.]
Tso [proudly]: I, too, have not lived in vain.
Liu: General Lo gazed at Ch’in Shu-pao and asked him aloud: “Ch’in Shu-pao, you look tall and strong, but what of your military skill?” Ch’in promptly prostrated himself before him and answered: “I can wield a pair of maces.” The General then ordered his attendants to fetch a pair of silver maces. Now the total weight of these was sixty-eight catties,[2] but they were only half as heavy as the iron maces which had belonged to Ch’in. Being accustomed to heavier weapons, he flourished these like toys. He demonstrated all kinds of movements and struck out in every direction, till the maces resembled white serpents emitting thousands of sparks round his body, or a couple of silver dragons whirling so quickly that they seemed like a full moon. The General shouted “Bravo, bravo!” and his ten thousand troops echoed him like thunder shaking the mountains. [Liu roars in illustration.] You could hear them from miles away. [He strikes the table again.]
Tso [looking into a mirror and stroking his whiskers]: I have fought valiantly on the frontiers and won victory after victory. The whole world has admired me as a great warrior. But alas, my hair will turn white before all the bandits are exterminated!
Orderly [entering]: Your Excellency, the guests of honour have arrived.
[Tso changes his clothes. A servant removes the couch and lays the table. Yuan Chi-hsien and Huang Te-kung enter in official dress, their retainers preceding them with shouts of “Clear the way!”]
Yuan [recites]:
The sunset over the river looks sublime
As we gaze homeward from the Yellow Crane Tower.
Huang: Our host is as famous as one of the Immortals. Our cups are overflowing with delight.
Tso: What an honour it is for me to entertain you with wine on the river in spring.
Yuan: We have admired you so long that today’s meeting is the greatest event in our lives. [They sit down and are about to drink wine when a courier rushes in, hot and dishevelled.]
Courier: I must quickly report this cataclysmic event to those who loyally serve His Majesty’s empire. [To Tso]: Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, calamity, direst calamity!
All [rising]: What has happened?
Courier [rapidly]: A great horde of bandits rushed north and surrounded His Majesty’s capital. Three days passed and no army came to his rescue. The gates were secretly opened, the palaces set on fire, and there was terrible slaughter. [Stamps his foot on the ground and wails.] Woe for His Majesty, the Sage Emperor Ch’ung-chen. He hanged himself from a tree upon Coal Hill.
All: Incredible! When was this?
Courier [panting and stuttering]: It was the, the . . . nineteenth day of the third month.
[All kowtow in the direction of the north and wail aloud.]
Tso [rising and wringing his hands]: My Emperor, my Imperial Master! Your orphaned servant Tso Liang-yü being far away could bring no troops to your rescue. I deserve ten thousand deaths! [Sings]:
Below in the Yellow Springs,
The first ancestor of our dynasty
Cannot know the Imperial house is ruined,
The sacrificial vessels broken,
The dragon descendants adrift
As rootless weeds upon the water.
His Majesty Ch’ung-chen
Endured the trials of seventeen turbulent years
And neither Heaven nor the Imperial Ancestors came to his aid.
With none to defend him,
A strip of white silk
Brought despair to the nation.
He honoured Coal Hill
By sacrificing himself for his people and for the world.
[All wail aloud.]
Yuan [shouts, waving his hands]: Let us restrain our grief for the moment. There are urgent matters to discuss. Now that Peking is lost, the central power has sunk to its lowest ebb. Unless Your Excellency raises a standard as a symbol of order, the whole country will fall into chaos.
Huang: That is true. This area is the vital center of the southwest. If we lose it, the plight of the country will be hopeless.
Tso: Since I am in command of so many armies, I cannot escape responsibility, but I shall require the support of both Your Excellencies in guarding this area.
Yuan and Huang: Of course we shall do our utmost.
Tso: Let us all change into white robes of mourning and bewail the death of our Emperor. We must invoke his soul in Heaven and swear to put forth our most strenuous exertions. [To servants]: Fetch us white robes of mourning.
Orderly: At such short notice we shall have to borrow some in the neighbourhood. [All don mourning.]
Tso: Let all the armies kowtow together with us. [Cries out]: My Emperor! [Sings]:
The empire collapsed when your chariot departed.
Civil officials panic;
Your warriors are demoralized.
Your mountains have fallen today, your rivers run low.
This tower above the moonlit waves
Is shaken with our cries of lamentation.
How can such a wrong be avenged?
Let Heaven be our witness.
We shall put forth all our strength
To avenge the country and recover His Majesty’s capital.
[Speaks]: After swearing this oath together, we are as brothers. Your Excellency Yuan will direct the strategy of the army, and Your Excellency Huang will maintain discipline. I shall undertake the training of the troops. Let us guard this area stubbornly. When one of the princes succeeds to the Throne, he may lead us north to recover the central plain. Then our present decisions will not be unavailing.
Yuan and Huang: Your orders will be obeyed.
Orderly: Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, the whole city is in turmoil. A riot is likely to break out at any minute. Please come down and tranquillize the people. [All descend together.]
Tso: Where shall you two go?
Yuan: I must proceed to Kiukiang.
Huang: And I to Hsiang-yang.
Tso: Farewell for the time being. [As they retire, he calls]: One moment, please! In case of emergency, let us all meet here again.
Yuan and Huang: You have only to send us word. We shall come at once. [Exeunt.]
Tso: Alas, that Heaven and Earth should be overturned this day! The shock has almost killed me. [Sings]:
Before the wine can be enjoyed, amid the blossoms,
By the time the weeping ceases in Yellow Crane Tower,
The river darkens, the moon sinks low, the third watch sounds.
[1] Ch’in Shu-pao or Ch’in Ch’iung rose to high office under the first T’ang Emperor in the seventh century, after a successful military career under the Sui dynasty.
[2] Catty or chin is a weight equivalent to one and one-third pounds avoirdupois.
SCENE 14
THE TRAITOR BLOCKED
1644, FOURTH MONTH
Hou Fang-yü [enters and sings]:
My distant home is torn by strife;
How can I even write for news?
I have cried to high Heaven till my throat is choked with blood.
My country’s shame, my longing for home
Make all else trivial in comparison.
[Speaks]: Last winter I fled from sudden disaster and travelled at night to join His Excellency Shih. I accompanied him to Huai-an, and half a year went by. Recently the Minister for the South, Hsiung, was summoned to the capital, His Excellency Shih succeeded him in office, and I accompanied him south of the River. All this time he has treated me like a member of his family. My constant hope was that we should move to Nanking, but communications are cut and the whole country is divided by the question of Imperial succession. Our troubles are endless. I’ll wait for His Excellency and see if there is any news. [Exit.]
[Enter Shih K’o-fa, followed by Servant. Shih shows great distress.]
Shih [sings]:
While mountains heave and rivers are in spate,
The pale-faced scholars wag their tongues and vainly speculate.
Our national plight is as uncertain as a game of chess.
Gazing towards the capital, I long for a genuine successor to the Throne.
[Speaks]: A native of Honan, I was educated in Peking and obtained a doctor’s degree during the reign of His Majesty Ch’ung-chen. For over ten years I have held office in and out of the capital, and throughout this period I have never slept in peace. From Director of Grain Transport in Huai-an, I was promoted to President of the Board of War in Nanking. This national disaster descended on us when I had held the post barely a month. Were I to die ten thousand deaths, I could see no immediate redress. Fortunately, the strategic position afforded by the Yangtze River protects our provisional capital. But the country has been without an Emperor for a month, and alarm is spreading among the people. Opinions differ every day as to who should succeed to the Throne. While reviewing my troops on the river bank this morning, I received some news from the north. I shall have to discuss it with Brother Hou.
Servant [calling]: Master Hou, His Excellency wishes to see you.
Hou [entering]: Have you tidings from the north, venerable sir?
Shih: Today there is good news. According to this, His Majesty was not harmed after the loss of Peking, but escaped by sea and sailed towards the south. The Heir Apparent is reported to have gone east, but I don’t know whether this is reliable.
Hou: If true, this is fortunate for the whole country.
Young Messenger [entering, recites]:
When there is no Emperor to issue decrees,
Generals and ministers have rumours to seize.
[Speaks]: Ho, is anybody there?
Servant: Where do you come from?
Young Messenger: I’m from the office of the Governor of Feng-yang. His Excellency Ma sends a letter, requesting a prompt reply.
Servant: I’ll take it in for you. [To Shih]: Governor Ma has just sent Your Excellency this letter.
Shih [opening it with a frown]: Old Ma has his own ideas about a successor to the Throne. [Sings]:
Three conferences in this Hall of Pure Discourse
Produced nought but frowning and gazing at the ceiling.
Depressing each other with long-drawn sighs,
We were dumb and utterly downcast.
Alas, the affairs of a nation
Can never be dealt with lightheartedly!
I would hesitate to express my own views,
Yet here is a man most eager to win credit for himself.
[Says to Hou]: He expresses his partiality for Prince Fu; he also repeats that His Majesty hanged himself on Coal Hill and that the Heir Apparent cannot be found anywhere. If this is true, and I disagree with his proposal, he may act independently. Moreover, according to the law of primogeniture the Prince would not be too unsuitable a successor. I can see no alternative but to suggest that we meet tomorrow and join him as one of the sponsors.
Hou: I fear that you are mistaken, venerable Master. My home was in Prince Fu’s fief. I am familiar with his reputation, and am convinced that he should never be Emperor.
Shih: Why not?
Hou: He has three unpardonable vices.
Shih: What are they?
Hou [sings]:
Prince Fu has inherited his mother’s defects,
For the Empress Cheng was an unscrupulous wanton.
[Speaks]: It was she who plotted the murder of the Heir Apparent, to appoint her son successor. [Sings]:
Had there not been loyal ministers on guard,
The claim to the Throne would already have been usurped.
Shih: That is most reprehensible. What other vice has he?
Hou [sings]:
Avarice:
He carried off cartloads of gold,
Half emptying the Imperial treasury.
[Speaks]: Yet when the bandits besieged Honan, he would not contribute a single coin to relieve the starving troops. Now that the country is ruined, all his wealth remains to fill the bandits’ pockets.
Shih: That is just as bad. What else is there against him?
Hou: When a close kinsman was killed by brigands, he left the corpse exposed without burial. He fled, and in the general disorder debauched the wives and daughters of commoners. [Sings]:
Without the slightest virtue to fit him for the Throne,
How could he be trusted for so high a mandate?
Shih: These three vices are unforgivable.
Hou: Apart from these, there are five other positive reasons why he should not be elected.
Shih: What are they?
Hou: First, [sings]:
We have no proof
Whether His Majesty is in Heaven or still on earth;
Never can two suns rule the same sky.
[Speaks]: Secondly, though His Majesty may have become a national martyr, the Heir Apparent may still be alive. [Sings]:
Why should we forsake the Heir Apparent
To seek another outside the direct line?
[Speaks]: Thirdly, during a national crisis it is not necessary to select a new Emperor by order of primogeniture. [Sings]:
For such a heroic Emperor as Kuang-wu of the Han[1]
Was brought to the throne by virtue and brilliance.
[Speaks]: Fourthly [sings]:
Beware the rival claims of other ambitious princes.
[Speaks]: Fifthly, certain villains [sings]:
Will take advantage of his weaknesses.
Shih: Your views are sound, and I agree with them entirely. I have heard from several who share them, but none have expressed their reasons so clearly as you. I’ll ask you to write a reply stating the three vices and five causes why he should not be appointed successor to the Throne.
Hou: I shall do so.
[A candle is lighted, and Hou writes the letter. Juan Ta-ch’eng enters with a young servant carrying a lantern.]
Juan: To select an Emperor is like choosing the most profitable merchandise. One should act quickly, before rivals stake a claim. I have been to Chiang-p’u and interviewed Prince Fu. After travelling all night, I have returned here. General Ma and I have decided to elect the Prince immediately. Our only fear is that Shih, President of the Board of War, may object, so we sent him a letter soliciting his consent. In case that fails, I have come in person at this late hour to knock at his door and try to convince hi
m. [Seeing the messenger he had sent still waiting, Juan asks]: You seem to have been here an age. What about the reply?
Messenger: I am still waiting for it. It is a great relief that Your Honour has arrived. Perhaps you will obtain a ready answer. [Calls out at the gate]: Are you there, old brother?
Servant: Yes, I am here. [He sees Juan and performs a mockingly elaborate bow.]
Juan: Please report that Master Juan wishes to see His Excellency.
Servant: Master Juan — juan meaning “soft”? Let me feel you, see whether you’re soft or hard.
Juan: Stop making fun of me, do me a favour and tell him I’m here.
Servant: I’m afraid it is too late. His Excellency must have retired. I doubt if he will see anybody.
Juan: Please tell him that the matter is urgent. I must see him.
Servant [enters and reports to Shih]: Master Juan wishes to see Your Excellency.
Shih: Which Juan?
Hou: I suspect it is that soft villain with the beard.
Shih: Why should he come at this hour?
Hou: Doubtless he wants to discuss the next Emperor.
Shih: Oh, whiskered Juan! He is the one who slandered you recently at the conference. He was one of Wei Chung-hsien’s clique; I’ll have nothing to do with him. Tell him I can’t see him, steward.
Servant [goes out and says angrily to Juan]: I told you that it was too late. His Excellency will see nobody. Now please go home.
Juan [slapping his shoulder familiarly]: You should know, my friend, that urgent matters must be discussed even in the dead of night. They are not for the light of day.
Servant: Well, since you are so insistent, I’ll try again.
Juan: I’ll see that you reap your reward.
Servant [re-entering, to Shih]: Your Excellency, Master Juan insists on seeing you for a minute. He says he has something urgent to discuss. He declares it is a topic of the greatest interest.
Shih: Stuff and nonsense! When the whole country is on the brink of ruin, what does he mean by his interesting topic? Drive him away and slam the door in his face.
Servant: What am I to tell Governor Ma’s messenger, who is waiting for an answer?
Hou: Here it is. Will Your Excellency please read it through?
The Peach Blossom Fan Page 13