Note in passing that Nan-hsȕn is also the name of a bridge, popularly known as Ha-pa Bridge, over the River T’ung-hui slightly south of the pass east of T’ung county near Peking, and also of a district (hsiang 鄉) in Pa county in Szechwan province.
Nan-hsȕn 南薰, Southern Fragrance:
i) the title of a song, an abbreviation of Southern breeze’s fragrance (Nan-feng chih-hsȕn 南風之薰) said to have been composed by the mythical demi-god world-ruler Shun 舜. Wang Wei 王維 (701 - 761), in his poem Watching Jade Fomes-fungus and Celebration-cloud feast granted by the emperor (Kuan Yü-chih Ch’ing-yȕn tz’u-yen 觀玉芝慶雲賜宴) has the lines: “On the raised path, [mythical demi-god world-ruler] Yao’s 堯 honour surpasses the Northern Dipper, Before the tower, Shun’s 舜 court-music stirs Southern Fragrance.”
Chang Cho 張濯 (dates?), in his poem Inscription on Shun’s temple (T’i Shun-mia 題舜廟), has lines: “Towards evening the breeze blows the cypresses, down in the courtyard, I still suspect its dulcimer melodies rhythming in Southern Fragrance.” Cf. Nan-feng 南風.
ii) the name of a T’ang dynasty palace-hall. Tu Fu 杜甫 (712 - 770), in his poem Painting-preface gifted to General Ts’ao Pa (Tan-ch’ing-yin tseng Ts’ao chiang-chȕn Pa 丹青引贈曹將軍霸), has the lines, “During the Open-origin reign-period [713-741] you were once brought in for an audience, Recipient of imperial affection you several times mounted Southern-fragranced Palace-hall.”
866My explanations of these three costumes. Translation of statuses here only provisional.
867Clients.
868Western Tunes (Hsi-tiao 西調), the name of a kind of performance-associated music.
869Chao-yang Ti-yi-hua 昭陽第一花, Number-one Flower of Resplendent-sunlight.
870Wang Chao-chȕn 王昭君, Wang Resplendent-lady. The story of the Han emperor Origin (Yȕan-ti 元帝, reigned 48 BC - 33 BC) and his wife Wang Resplendent-lady. He was in the habit of selecting his mates from his immense harem by choosing them from pictures. Confident of her beauty, she refused to bribe the painter, who painted a nasty portrait. Later, the emperor gave her to the Hunnish khan to be the latter’s wife. As she went to say goodbye, the emperor saw her in the flesh for the first time, and was enraptured, but had to go through with the pact. He executed the painter. She married not only the khan, but also, on the khan’s death, the khan’s son, and died and was buried in the land of the Huns. An ancient song was composed called Bitter plaint of Resplendent-lady (Chao-chȕn yȕan 王昭怨).
871Hsi Shih 西施, West Shih, a beautiful woman of the state of Yȕeh 越. Shih was her surname, and her personal name is said to have been Yi-kuang 夷光, meaning something like Great/Constant/Even Splendour. China’s traditionally most famous beautiful lady. She is also referred to as Former/First Shih (Hsien Shih 先施) and Lady West (Hsi-tzu 西子). She was the daughter of a firewood-vendor of Western Village (Hsi-ts’un 西村, hence her name West Shih), on Mount Chu-lo/Mount Ramie-vine (Chu-lo-shan 苧蘿山), south of present-day Chu-chi county in Chekiang province.
When Kou-chien 句踐 (reigned 497 BC - 465 BC), King of Yȕeh 越, was defeated by the state of Wu 吳, he retreated and set up defensive positions on Mount Kui-chi (Kui-chi-shan 會稽山), south-east of present-day Shao-hsing county in Chekiang province. Aware that Fu-ch’a 夫差, King of Wu (reigned 495 BC - 473 BC), was fond of beautiful women, Kou-chien intended to present him with some, with a view to throwing Fu-ch’a’s government into disorder, and obtained West Shih and Cheng Dawn (Cheng Tan 鄭旦) for that purpose, adorning them with chiffon-silk and silk muslin, and teaching them the requisite looks and ways of walking, rehearsing them in an earthwork citadel overlooking the lanes of the capital city. When, after three years, the two had mastered their training, King Kou-chien commanded his minister Fan Li 范蠡 (fl. ca. 470 BC) to present the women to the King of Wu. Greatly delighted with them, King Fu-ch’a duly became infatuated with them, and forgot about government administration, and he and his state were consequently later destroyed by Yȕeh.
Chao Yeh’s 趙曄 (fl. ca. AD 40) (attribution), Wu and Yȕeh springs-and-autumns (Wu-Yȕeh ch’un-ch’iu 吳越春秋). Records of the land of Wu (Wu-ti chi 吳地記) says: “When West Shih went into Wu, it was three years before she reached there, and en route she had sex with Fan Li, and gave birth to a son.”
Yȕan K’ang 袁康 (fl. ca. AD 40), History of the end of Yȕeh (Yȕeh-chȕeh shu 越絕書), also says: “When Wu had been destroyed, West Shih went back to Fan Li again, and they sailed off together across the Five Lakes.”
Another account has it that Yȕeh presented West Shih to Wu, and King Fu-ch’a accepted her in spite of the warning advice from his minister Wu Yȕn 伍圓 (?BC - 484 BC), and that after Wu had duly been destroyed by Yȕeh, she was drowned in the River Yangtse to avenge Wu Yȕn. At the foot of Mount Chu-lo/ Mount Ramie-vine, there’s a Washing-silk Stone (Wan-sha-shih 浣紗石) south of Chu-chi county in Chekiang province, overlooking the River Huan (Huan-chiang 浣江, also known as the River P’u-yang, P’u-yang-chiang 浦陽江, and the River P’u, P’u-chiang 浦江), from which stone West Shih is said to have washed silk. Yȕan K’ang’s History of the end of Yȕeh also says that West Shih came out of the Hsiao Mountains (Hsiao-shan 簫山), so in present-day Hsiao-shan county there’s a West Shih village (Hsi-shih-li 西施里) on Mount Chu-lo/ Mount Ramie-vine.
872i.e. Kuan-yin 觀音, Avalokitesvara, sometimes loosely rendered as Goddess of Mercy. Found as one of the Triad of Amida, shown on his left, and like him crowned, Avalokitesvara is depicted in as many as thirty-three transformations, with a vase, a bird, a switch of willow, a pearl. etc., and, in the role of bestower of children, carrying a child. The island of P’u-t’o (Potala) is the main centre of Kuan-yin worship, where she’s said to protect people in distress, especially sea-farers. There are a lot of sutras and other scriptures associated with the cult of Kuan-yin, but from where and when it came to China is in much doubt. Chapter 25, of uncertain date, of Dharma-flower sutra is devoted to Kuan-yin, and serves as the cult’s main scripture, referred to as Observer of the World’s Sounds/ Cries sutra (Kuan Shih-yin ching 觀世音經).
Sometimes Kuan-yin is confused with the Buddhas Amitãbha and Maitreya. It’s also said that she was the daughter of a King Subhavyyuha (Chinese: Miao-chuang-wang 妙莊王), who tried to kill her. The executioner’s sword, however, broke, failing in its task. So he had her suffocated. Her spirit then went to Hell, but changed Hell into a paradise. To save his Hell, Yama Raja (Yen-lo-wang 閻羅王), king of Hell, sent her back to mortal life, borne on a lotus-flower to the island of P’u-t’o. The term Kuan-shih-yin-mu 觀世音姥, Sanskrit tarã, means the sakti, “female energy”, of the earlier male version of Avalokitesvara.
Shui-yȕeh Kuan-yin 水月觀音, Moon-in-the-water Kuan-yin. “Moon-in-the-water”, i.e. the moon’s image reflected in water, Sanskrit udakacandra or jalacandra, serves in Buddhism as an image for the notion that “all is unreality”, “all is illusion and unreal”, “all phenomena are illusory/unreal”, as does indeed Kuan-yin gazing at the reflection of the moon in water. The Chinese Goddess of Mercy is depicted in thirty-three different postures, the most aesthetically pleasing and beauty-emphasising one being that of her gazing at the moon in the water, which is generally referred to as the Moon-in-the-water Kuan-yin.
873Li-chu 驪珠, Black-dragon Pearl, i.e. “the pearl beneath the black dragon’s chin” (Li-lung han-hsia chu 驪龍頷下珠). This refers to the legend of the Black-dragon Pearl (li-chu 驪珠), mentioned in the idiom “seeking for the black dragon and finding a pearl” (t’an-li te-chu 探驪得珠). Chuang Chou 莊周 (369 BC - 286 BC), Sir Chuang (Chuang-tzu 莊子), “Lieh Yü-k’ou”, says:
A certain man gained an audience with the King of Sung, and was bestowed with a gift of ten chariots, and he boasted arrogantly of the ten chariots to Sir Chuang.
“On the banks of the Yellow River,” said Sir Chuang, “there was a family which, being poor, depended on weaving mug wort for
their livelihood. Their son sank into a deep pool, and found a pearl worth a thousand pieces of gold.
‘Fetch a stone here,’ the father told the son, ‘and we’ll smash it. This pearl worth a thousand pieces of gold must have been at the ninth level of depth in the pool, and under the chin of a black dragon. For you to have been able to obtain the pearl, you must have happened to do so when the dragon was sleeping. If it had woken up, how would even the slightest bit of you have been left!’
In the present case, the depth of the state of Sung isn’t just nine levels, and the ferocity of the king of Sung isn’t just that of a black dragon. That you were able to obtain the chariots, must have been that he happened to be sleeping. Had the king of Sung woken up, you’d have been bound to become fine-minced pickles and rice-flour!”
Nowadays the idiom “seeking for the black dragon and finding a pearl” means (of writing that it) “is apposite/appropriate/finely to the point”.
874Kou-ling 糇嶺, Sword-cord Range, i.e. Mount Lord Kou (Kou-shih-shan 緱氏山) Kou-shih 緱氏:
i) the name of a mountain also called Covered-cauldron Pile (Fu-fu-tui 覆釜堆) and Carress-father Pile (Fu-fu-tui 撫父堆). Liu Hsiang 劉向 (77 BC-6 BC), Biographies of the immortals (Lieh-hsien chuan 列仙傳), says that the heir apparent Tsin (Chin 晉) of King Ling (Ling-wang, 靈王) [reigned 571 - 545 BC] of the Chou dynasty from this mountain rode a white crane into immortality. At the foot of it, there was a Mount Lord Kou Town (Hou-shih-shan-chen 緱氏山鎮), which must have led to the main road of Teng-feng county (Teng-feng-hsien 登封縣).
ii) the name of an ancient place. It was originally in the terrritory of the state of Hua (Hua-kuo 滑國) during the Springs-and-autumns period of the Chou dynasty, later becoming Lord Kou’s/ Kou clan’s Fief (Kou-shih-yi 緱氏邑), and the Han dynasty set up a Hou-shih county (Hou-shih-hsien 緱氏縣), both taking their name from the mountain. The county was abolished by the Sung dynasty. The site of its old administrative city is south of present-day Yen-shih county in Henan province.
875pu-hsü 步虛, “to step/pace the Void”. Pu-hsü-sheng 步虛聲:
i) “Stepping-the-Void sound”, means “the sounds of reciting the scriptures”. Liu Ching-shu 劉敬叔 (AD? - ca. AD 468), Hunting-park of oddities (Yi-yȕan 異苑), says: “When Prince Ssu of Ch’en (Ch’en Ssu-wang 陳思王) [i.e. Ts’ao Chih 曹植 (192 - 232)] was roaming in the mountains, he suddenly heard in the air the sound of chanting of scriptures, clear and far, strong and resonant, and musical experts copied its patterns down, composing immortal music, which Taoist priests imitated, composing Void-stepping Music.”
Chang Chi 張籍 (768 - ca. 830) has a poem with the lines: “I retreated onto the Jasper Altar-platforrm, my head tucked in, and surely heard Void-stepping Music in the air.”
ii) a tz’u-lyric tune-title. Cf. Recalling angtse-south (Yi Chiang-nan 憶江南).
Stepping the Void lyric (Pu-hsü-tz’u 步虛詞) was the title of a Music Treasury Miscellaneous Melody song (yȕeh-fu tsa-ch’ü 樂府雜曲歌名). Elucidating the titles of Music Treasury songs (Yȕeh-fu chieh-t’i 樂府解題) (Sung dynasty or earlier) says: “Stepping the Void lyric was a Taoist priests’ melody (tao-chia-ch’ü 道家曲), which talks comprehensively of the beauty of all the immortals’ faintness and remoteness, and light airy ascent into immortality.”
Yü Hsin 庾信 (513 - 581) of the Northern Chou dynasty, Emperor Yang-ti (reigned 605 - 617) of the Sui dynasty, Liu Yü-hsi 劉禹錫 (772 - 842) of the T’ang dynasty and others all composed poems to that tune. It was also a tz’u-lyric tune-title. Cf. Western Yangtse moon (Hsi-chiang yȕeh 西江月).
876Wang-ti 望帝, Emperor Gaze, i.e. Tu Yü 杜宇, was the ruler of the state of Shu towards the end of the Chou dynasty. Ch’ang Ch’ü’s 常璩 (Tsin dynasty) Records of countries of Hua-yang (Hua-yang kuo-chih 華陽國志), “Shu-chih”, says: “Only as the Chou dynasty was losing control over China, did the Lord of Shu (Shu-hou 蜀侯), Silkworm Bush (Ts’an-ts’ung 蠶叢), proclaim himself king. Later on, there was a king called Tu Yü, who taught his subjects farming. He’s also given the title of Ruler Tu (Tu-chu 杜主). When the rulers of the Seven States (Ch’i-kuo 七國) proclaimed themselves kings, Tu Yü proclaimed himself emperor (ti 帝), and had the tile Emperor Gaze/ Prospect, changing his personal name to P’u-pei 蒲卑.
A flood-disaster occurred, and his prime minister K’ai-ming 開明 channelled and diverted streams from Mount Jade-fortress (Yü-lei-shan 玉壘山), removing the damaging flood. The emperor then entrusted him with the affairs of government, abdicating the throne in favour of K’ai-ming, while he himself ascended into the Western Mountains (Hsi-shan 西山), and became a recluse there. It was just the Second Month of the Year at that time, when the cuckoo (tzu-chȕan-niao 子鵑鳥) was calling, which is why the people of Shu consider the call of the cuckoo to be a sad one.”
Hsü Shen 許慎 (30 - 124), in his Explaining writing and elucidating characters (Sho-wen chieh-tzu 說文解字 produced in AD 100, gives a different turn to the story, saying: “Emperor Gaze, King of Shu, had adultery with his prime minister’s wife, and fled, ashamed, becoming the cuckoo-bird (tzu-sui-niao 子巂鳥). When the people of Shu hear the cuckoo, they all rise to their feet and declare: ‘That’s Emperor Gaze.’”
Account of Ch’eng-tu (Ch’eng-tu chi 成都記) says: “When Tu Yü died, his spiritual souls were transformed into a bird, called the tu-chȕan 杜鵑.” Tu-chȕan is the common word for “cuckoo” (Cuculus poliocephalus Latham).
Yȕeh Shih 樂史 (930 - 1007) in his Great Peace records of the world (T’ai-ping huan-yü-chi 太平寰宇記) says: “The king of Shu, Tu Yü, had the title Emperor Gaze. Later, following his abdication, he fled, and turned into a tzu-kui 子規).” Tzu-kui also means “cuckoo.”
The cuckoo was originally just called chȕan 鵑, so tu-chȕan meaning, “Tu cuckoo”. The cuckoo is often a sad bird in Chinese mythology, its “sad” calls being considered to incite home-sickness, and to be enough to make one age at the very thought of home. Appearing at the time of dying spring, its sad-sounding call has been likened to the words pu-ju kui-ch’ü 不如歸去, meaning “Better go home!” So, it’s also known as the, Yearning-for-home (ssu-kui 思歸), and the “Urging-home” (ts’ui-kui 催歸).
Birds classic (Ch’in-ching 禽經), attributed to Shih K’uang 師曠 (Chou dynasty, Springs and Autumns period), says: “In the Yangtse Basin (Chiang-tso 江左), they call it tzu-kui; in Shu in the west they call it Tu-yü; in Ou-Yȕeh 甌越 [in the region of present-day Chekiang province] it’s called “repining bird”, “complaining bird” (yȕan-niao 怨鳥); and it’s also termed the tu-chȕan.
877Ma Hsien-ch’i 馬仙期. Name of some T’ang dynasty man, player of the Square Sounder percussion-block (fang-hsiang 方響).
878Hung Sheng gives the note that this line derives from a poem by Chang Chi 張籍 [768 - ca. 830].
879Hung Sheng gives the note that this line derives from a poem by Pai Chü-yi 白居易 [772 - 846].
880Hung Sheng gives the note that this line derives from a poem by Liu Yü-his 劉禹錫 [772 - 842].
881Hung Sheng gives the note that this line derives from a poem by Ku K’uang 顧況 [ca. 725 - ca. 814].
882hsi-hsin 洗心, “to wash one’s heart/mind”, i.e. to turn over a new leaf, to reform oneself from error. There’s the expression hsi-hsin ke-mien 洗心革面, “to wash one’s heart/mind and alter one’s face”, also found as ke-mien hsi-hsin 革面洗心, “to alter one’s face and wash one’s heart/ mind”, used as an image for “thorough self-reform”. See Anon. (6th century BC or earlier), Changes classic (Yi-ching 易經), “Hsi-tz’u”.
883Heart sutra (Hsin-ching 心經), i.e. Hrdaya, also Prajna-heart sutra (Pan-jo hsin-ching 般若心經) and Prajna-paramita-heart sutra (Pan-jo Po-lo-mi-to hsin-ching 般若波羅蜜多心經). Also, when chanted publicly for the getting rid of evil spritis, referred to as Divinely distributed heart sutra (Shen-fen hsin-ching 神分心經). The name of various books
:
i) one by Chen Te-hsiu 真德秀 (1178-1235) of the Sung dynasty. In one scroll. A gathering of maxims by sages and worthies discussing the heart/ mind, and also culling the best of various Confucian scholars’ discourses on heart/ mind, and providing annotations for them. its general basic aim being to rectify the heart/ mind.
ii) the title of a Buddhist scripture, an abbreviation for Prajna-paramita-heart sutra (Pan-jo Po-lo-mi-to hsin-ching 般若波羅蜜多心經). The text of it’s extremely laconic, but contains all the vital essentials of Big Prajna sutra (Ta Pan-jo ching 大般若經), which is why it’s called Heart sutra, the “heart” meaning “vital essentials”. There are seven translations of this sutra into Chinese:
a) by Kumarajiva (Chiu-mo-lo-shih 鳩摩羅什) (AD? - ca. AD 412) of the Yao Ch’in dynasty, titled Great Prajna-paramita-heart bright-incantation sutra (Mo-he Pan-jo Po-lo-mi-ta ming-chu hsin-ching摩訶般若波羅蜜大明祝心經).
b) by Hsȕan Tsang 玄奘 (600-664) of the T’ang dynasty, Prajna-paramita-heart sutra.
c) by Fa Ch’eng 法成 (T’ang dynasty), Prajna-paramita-heart sutra.
d) by Pan-jo Kung-li-yen 般若共利言 and others (T’ang dynasty), Prajna-paramita-heart sutra. by Fa Yȕeh 法月 (T’ang dynasty), Universal wisdom-store Prajna-paramita-heart sutra (P’u-pien chi-tsang Pan-jo Po-lo-mi-to hsin-ching 普遍智藏般若波羅蜜多心經.)
e) by Chih Hui-lun 智慧輪 (T’ang dynasty), Prajna-paramita-heart sutra.
f) by Shih Hu 施護 (Sung dynasty), Buddha-expounded Sage Buddha-mother Prajna-paramita-heart sutra (Fo-sho Sheng-fo-mu 佛說聖佛母般若波羅蜜多心經).
The Hsȕan Tsang translation has been the most widely current.
884Hsȕeh-yi 雪衣, Snow Robe, i.e. Snow-robed Woman (Hsȕeh-yi-nü 雪衣女), said to be the name of Empress Yang’s parrot.
885Fa-hsiang 法相:
i) Legal Examination, a term for the Han dynasty law-stipulated examination of the looks of women for choosing wives (fei-p’in 妃嬪) for the emperor. Fan Yeh 范曄 (398 - 445), History of the Latter Han dynasty (Hou Han shu 後漢書), “Huang-hou chi”, says: “The Han dynasty law was always during the Eighth Month to ‘estimate the general populace’ (suan-min 算民), and despatch an Ordinary Great-man Minister (chung ta-fu 中大夫), an Imperial-palace Discipline-service Aide (yi-t’ing-ch’eng 掖庭丞) and a Craft-inspector (hsiang-kung 相工) into the villages around Lo-yang to inspect the virgin daughters of respectable families, and those legally assessed as between the ages of twelve [Chinese “thirteen”] and nineteen [Chinese “twenty”] and of graceful and attractive looks were transported back to the ladies’ quarters of the imperial palace, where those who were seen and selected as suitable, were employed to ascend to the emperor.”
Appendices and Endnotes Page 46
