First on Ke-shu Han inflicting defeat.
I’m puzzled that late last night,
We saw no beacon-fires, but had “all’s well” peace-report.
(Says)
What policies do you have, my lords, by which the rebel troops may be repelled?
LI LIN-FU: An Lu-shan has under his command four hundred thousand frontier-land and Chinese infantry and cavalry, which is a hundred to our one, so how can we oppose him? The best thing we can do is for Your Majesty to favour Shu with a tour, to avoid the brunt of his attack, and when our troops from all over the world arrive on the scene, then further weigh up matters and make plans.
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR: We shall do as you submit, my lord. So, transmit my decree, to gather together my concubines of the Six Palaces, all the princes and mandarins, and we shall set off tomorrow early and go favour Shu with a tour.
EMPRESS YANG: (Lamenting) What on Earth’s will become of me!
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR:
(Sings)
Bitter regrets without limit,
Sorrow without bounds,
But we’re at a juncture of haste and flurry,
Can’t avoid “leaping the ranges and ascending the mountains”.
The imperial gold-bell chariot moves,
Forward to Ch’eng-tu gazes.
How can we bear the westward-flying wild-geese of Ch’an Water
Note after note sending us off onto our ornamented saddles!
I grieve for old gardens of home,
The River Wei in the west wind,
Ch’ang-an in the sun as it sets.
EMPRESS YANG: How will you be able to put up with the hardships of the road, Your Majesty?
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR: There’s nothing I can do about it, alas …
(Sings)
Perusing attentive your delicate beauty mounting your horse,
How can I protest the difficulties of the road to Shu!
It’s for you I sorrow about those towering high mountain-ranges and those cloud-joining strutted walkways.
I’ve always been used to galloping hither and thither,
But how many leagues can you endure
Till through Sword-kiosk Pass we push ourselves?
(Exeunt together.)
Act Three
GUARD-GENERAL CH’EN HSȔAN-LI.
(Recites)
For a generation, I’ve received the monarch’s kind favour, and command the palace-guard army,
I’ve been able to be the first to know of the Celestial Countenance’s wrath or delight.
In Grand Peace our military preparation has all been of no use, while quite unexpectedly the wild barbarians have raised battle-dust.
(Says)
I’m Ch’en Hsȕan-li, Dragon-warrior General of the Right. Yesterday, because the rebellious barbarian An Lu-shan promoted rebellion, T’ung Pass was 1ost. And yesterday, the government ministers held a conference, and the great imperial carriage is temporarily to favour Shu with a tour, to avoid the spearhead of their attack.
This morning, a flying-despatch said that the rebel troops were not far from the capital. Our Sage Ruler has ordered me to lead the palace army to protect his imperial chariot, and I’ve been mustering my troops and mounts for a long while, specially waiting for the great imperial chariot to set off.
(Enter Emperor, at the head of Empress Yang, Yang Kuo-chung, Eunuch-chamberlain Kao, and also the crown prince, Chariot-escort Kuo Tzu-yi, and Li Kuang-pi.1318)
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR: My eyes failed to recognise people for what they were, and I went as far as to allow a crazy barbarian to make rebellion; now the troubles happened, crisis presses, and all I can do is travel west to avoid the military troubles. It’s most grieving to one. (Sings)
In all five directions flags flutter unfurled, red-sun vapours beside the sun,
Half the imperial gold-bells carriage’s chilly cold-cold;
I’m too weary to waft the horse-whip,
Too listless the stirrups to tread.
Turning my head to the capital,
Every step I’m unable to put it out of my mind.
(Says, as part of singing)
When I dwelled deep secluded in Ninth Layer imperial palace, what did I know of the poverty and hardships of the villages!
(Sings)
Faint half-hidden the far horizon,
Remnant streams and scraps of mountains in five or six places;
Bleak on the edge of the woods,
Ruined walls and broken houses of two or three homes.
Distant trees of the River Ch’in, and mist blurring the flowers,
Decrepit willows of Pa Bridge soughing in the wind.
Very much not as good as the jade-green window-silk,
Or, sparkling in the morning light, the mandarin-duck tiles.
(Enter elders.)
ELDERS: Sage Sublime, the ordinary village people kowtow to you.
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR: What have you to say, Elders?
ELDERS: The imperial palace is Your Majesty’s home. The tumuli are the tombs of Your Majesty’s ancestors. If you now abandon those, where do you intend to go?
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR: I can do no otherwise: I’m merely avoiding the military troubles for a while.
ELDERS: Since Your Majesty refuses to stay, we wish to lead our young men to follow your Crown Prince and to go east, defeat the rebels and re-take Ch’ang-an. If your Crown Prince keeps with you, Most Honoured One, both going into Shu, who will that leave as ruler for the ordinary people of the Central Plain?
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR: What you say is right, elders. Attendants, summon my son before me.
(Crown prince meets him.)
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR: The elders all say that the Central Plain will be without a ruler, so I leave you here to return east at the head of soldiers to attack the rebels. I command Kuo Tzu-yi and Li Kuang-pi to be your chief commanders and separately detail off three thousand men from our rear-army to return with you. Listen to what I say.
(Sings)
I’ve adopted the loyal suggestion of the elders,
And my young Crown Prince you’re given sole charge of the military campaign.
You, too, should share some of the worries of our state altars,
How can we let anyone else? occupy our domains by force!
I give into your keeping this State Jewel of Succession.
CROWN PRINCE: Your son will just lead forces to attack the rebels. How would I think then to ascend the heavenly throne!
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR:
(Sings)
When you’ve wiped out the rebels,
And saved the nation,
What reason will there be then for you to avoid setting yourself up as emperor to reign!?
CROWN PRINCE: Since it’s an important matter for the state, your son accepts your decree, and will lead Kuo Tzu-yi and Li Kuang-pi, and return.
(Takes his leave of the Emperor.)
(Generals refuse to journey on.)
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR: (Sings)
Van of the army, quickly move on:
Why don’t you advance anon?
(Soldiers shout bellicose cries)
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR:
(Sings)
They make me alarmed and afraid as I look at all the ranks.
Raging, shouting, they cease their whips, and halt their horses,
Angry, viciously, they wrap on their battle-robe and fasten their armour,
Shining, sparkling, their swords are lifted out of their scabbards,
In neat tidy order, they array themselves in wild-geese-line ranks,
Closely packing, they press round me densely as fish-scales.
GUARD-GENERAL CH’EN HSȔAN-LI: The soldiers all say that there’s treachery and evil in the state, which has brought about your carriage’s being scattered in flight. If the disaster at your side isn’t removed, their will can’t be restrained.
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR: What do you mean?
>
(Sings)
My vast domains are racked with alarms of incursion,
You ought to be sighing in consternation:
Taking advantage of the situation to frighten me,
The state’s never let you down the slightest bit:
For what reason does the heart of my army make disputation?
I ask you, my lord, if I may:
Why do you say no merest words of friendly affection?
GUARD-GENERAL CH’EN HSȔAN-LI: Yang Kuo-chung held despotic power and mislead the state, and now he’s moreover liaising with the Tibetan ambassador, seeming to harbour rebellious feelings. We ask that you execute him, in apology to the world.
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR:
(Sings)
Yang Kuo-chung should suffer ten thousand slices,
For it was he who incited Lu-shan to havoc China with rebellion,
Though he’s not my “thigh-and-elbow” crucial minister,
Him I can hardly abandon,
And moreover, with Empress Yang he’s a flesh-and-blood connection;
I judge him dismissed for completely and unjustly sullying the Five Statues of the Penal Code,
And strip him of his office,
Banish him to be a poor commoner:
It will be as a battle-line execution.
Whether you’ll allow this or not,
General Chen Hsȕan-li, give your judgement and consideration!
(Soldiers shout angrily)
GUARD-GENERAL CH’EN HSȔAN-LI: Your Majesty, the soldiers in their hearts have already mutinied, and I can’t suppress them, so what on earth shall I do?
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR: As you wish, then.
(They all kill Yang Kuo-chung)
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR:
(Sings)
Several ranks of spears,
Densely close arrayed.
One shout,
A mountain crumbles destroyed.
So General Chen’s command’s been clear,
And Yang Kuo-chung’s been dealt with by the law applied.
(Soldiers holding swords crowd round him.)
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR:
(Sings)
They talk, noisily bawling,
There’s a confusion of noise and bustle.
The Six Armies won’t proceed, or couch their spears and armour,
But crowd round, on Ma Wei’s Slope encircle.
What are they going to do now?
I’m so frightened, I tremble and shudder, all my body’s fine hairs suddenly bristle.
Truly the army turns in obedience to the seal of command,
The general’s orders being awesomely strict,
With military power in his hand,
The ruler weak, and strong his subject.
My lord,
Just tell me, will you,
Am I to fear, or fear reject?
(Says)
Yang Kuo-chung’s already been killed, but none of you soldiers advance. How can that be, though?
GUARD-GENERAL CH’EN HSȔAN-LI: Since Kuo-chung was plotting rebellion, Most-prized-empress Yang shou1dn’t be waiting upon you, so we pray that- Your Majesty will cut off your favours to her, and execute her to uphold the law.
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR:
(Sings)
Chamberlain Kao, tell Chen Hsȕan-li,
Not to ignore rank’s priority:
How can my empress be made to suffer legal penalty!
She’s been accepted into the Principal-empress’s Central Palace,
And “treads my imperial couch” concurrently.
Nor has she committed any crime, either,
Being most high-principled and noble-wifely.
She certainly isn’t like Elder-sister of Pao of the Chou dynasty, who lit beacons for a joke,
Or King Wicked’s Ta Chi, who tapped shinbones of the man to make scrutiny.
This morning, you destroyed her elder cousin,
And even if she has a million kinds of inadequacy,
For my sake, you should spare her,
This is all wild inanity.
EUNUCH-CHAMBERLAIN KAO: It’s true that the Most-prized-empress has committed no crime, but the officers and men have already killed Kuo-chung, and were Most-prized-empress to remain in attendance upon you, how they could feel easy themselves. I pray that your Majesty will examine and ponder over this. If the officers and men feel easy, Your Majesty will feel easy.
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR:
(Sings)
It was merely phoenix f1ute, Chieh Drum and, in between, the p’i-p’a lute
Clickety-clack the clappers their red teeth flinging;
Even if you added extra a refrain Flower Eighteen,
That certainly wouldn’t mean the T’ang State and House’s ruining.
Although, to be sure, the ruler of Ch’en met with his killing,
All because of “Rear-courtyard flowers”1319 singing.
EMPRESS YANG: My dying’s not worth regretting, but I’ve never requited Your Majesty’s favours adequately, and after these years of love, how am I to abandon you?
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR: My empress, it can’t be helped: The Six Armies are feeling mutinous, and I can’t even ensure my own life.
(Sings)
Since they’re thus to me,
They must have suddenly changed their minds.
Seeing that I cling to her with love,
They take their, three-foot Dragon-springs, swords, in their hands,
And even if they don’t stab her to death,
They’ll kill her with fright.
What more would you ask of your monarch?
Surely you must for me have some respect?
GUARD-GENERAL CH’EN HSȔAN-LI: We pray Your Majesty to quickly sever your love, and execute her.
EMPRESS YANG: Your Majesty, how can you save me?
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR: What on Earth can I do?
(Sings)
Before my eyes I’d at last cultivated a Together-love-delighting Tree,
I bitterly longed to raise my Talking Flower on my palm,
And this life, together with her, straddle the emerald roc and fly.
Loving her, regarding her so,
How can I do such wrong as to let her be dragged this way and that at the foot of the Slope of Ma Wei?
GUARD-GENERAL CH’EN HSȔAN-LI: That An Lu-shan rebelled was all because of the Yangs, elder male cousin and younger female cousin. If you don’t execute her in apology to world, when will the calamity of rebellion ever be dispelled? I hope that Your Majesty will beg Empress Yang to let the Six Armies trample her corpse with their horses. Only then will they feel there’s some trustworthy proof.
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR: How could she bear it? Eunuch-chamberlain Kao, lead my empress into the Buddha-hall, and have her commit suicide, after which let the soldiers examine her for their proof.
EUNUCH-CHAMBERLAIN KAO: We’ve some white silk-fabric here.
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR:
(Sings)
She’s a delicate cherry-apple flower dainty,
How could she be a trouble-making riotous “root and sprout” of the state’s calamity?!
No more will she paint her bending curving sweeping “far-mountain” eyebrows,
Or pile up her mussed wild unruly cloud-like locks into raven hair-do,
How can you commit such perfidy, as to actually trample her face beneath horses’ hooves!
Just pinch her slender so lissom throat,
A long strip of clutching-tugging white raw-silk fabric make ready;
She’s meeting her death,
And I can’t possibly strive against it to my terrible grief and misery.
EUNUCH-CHAMBERLAIN KAO: Come, empress, won’t you: we’re holding up the army’s advance.
EMPRESS YANG: (Gazing back) Oh, that you commit such a crime, Your Majesty!
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR: Don’t reproach me, my lady!
(Sings)
In all this terrible chaos,
To rescue her I’ve no way;
I’m helpless. How can I keep her back! ̶
If I cause her death a moment’s delay,
They’ll rough-and-rudely strangle her,
And Ch’en Hsȕan-li will increase his shindy.
(Exit Eunuch-chamberlain Kao, leading Empress Yang)
EMPEROR DARK-PROGENITOR.
(Sings)
How can I let her in fuddled confusion? be sentenced and abused,
With warriors and Gold Melon1320 stuck behind her head!
I tell you, you few coarse palace-women, escorting her as a prisoner,
Don’t occasion that shy meek-and-mild empress any dread!
You,
Seeing her,
Ask me,
If I’ve pity for the T’ang dynasty world!
(Enter Eunuch-chamberlain Kao, holding Empress Yang’s dress.)
EUNUCH-CHAMBERLAIN KAO: Her Majesty has been “bestowed death” now. Come forward, Six Armies, and see.
(Chen Hsȕan-li leads his cavalry to trample on her)
EMPERCR DARK-PROGENITOR: (Weeping) My empress, you’ve left me in the lurch, cast away helpless!
(Sings)
That you’d this day pass away at the foot of Ma Wei’s Slope,
I never imagined,
I never expected that what happened in Lasting-life Palace-hall
Would become in our lives the stuff of legend!
I bitter resent you, you callous ground-curling wild wind blowing,
Oh why on Earth have you just blown fallen the most splendid flower in my imperial park growing!
Thinking how her soul’s cut off distant on the edge of the sky,
Become of many-coloured sunset-mist a few strands.
Oh Heaven, when Resplendent-lady of the Han dynasty went far away to marry the Hunnish Khan,
Wetting the barbarian horns with her tears, she merely wept in the west winds:
Appendices and Endnotes Page 9
