The Songs of Chu

by Gopal Sukhu

  29. Yi 羿 is usually associated with the story of the ten suns, which one day rose together, threatening the world with hot disaster. The story, in which Yi is the hero who shoots down nine of the suns, seems to have originated during the Han dynasty. In pre-Han sources Yi is something of a villain (see Bernhard Karlgren, “Legends and Cults in Ancient China,” Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, no. 18 [1946]: 267, 272, 294, 311, 323, 326) who has nothing to do with the story of the ten suns. He did, however, shoot at the sun—not to save the world but as an act of hubris. Karlgren believed that the “Tian wen” 天問 (Hong, Chuci buzhu, 96) section of the Chuci, where it is not clear where Yi is shooting at one or many suns, is the basis of the Han myth of Yi the mighty archer.

  The Han myth, as exemplified in such sources as the Huainanzi, places Yi in the time of Yao, but the pre-Han sources place him in the Xia dynasty. The pre-Han Yi is a usurper who took advantage of the weakness of the Xia and “relied on his skill in archery, neglected the affairs of the people, and hunted excessively” (Zuozhuan, Xianggong, 4th year; see Legge, The Chinese Classics, 5:424).

  30. Zhuo is also known as Han Zhuo 寒 浞. He was the prime minister of Yi. Zhuo took advantage of discontent in Yi’s household by inciting the staff to murder him, cook his remains, and serve them to Yi’s sons. Refusing to partake, they were killed by Zhuo. He then took Yi’s kingdom and Yi’s wife, begat two sons, and conquered two other states. A certain Mi united the remains of the two states, overthrew Zhuo, and set Shao Kang (of the original Xia line of Yu) on the throne. See Legge, The Chinese Classics, 5:424.

  31. Ao 澆 (also pronounced Jiao) is one of the sons of Zhuo. He managed to kill Xiang, the King of Xia, but Min, the Queen of Xia, escaped and bore Shao Kang, who overthrew Ao and restored the Xia dynasty. See Zuozhuan, Xianggong, 4th year; Legge, The Chinese Classics, 5:424.

  32. Jie 桀 is that bad last king of the Xia dynasty.

  33. Lord Xin 后辛 is another way of referring to Djou 紂, the bad last king of the Shang (also known as the Yin) dynasty. He is famous for dismembering dissenting ministers and pickling them in salt.

  34. Tang 湯 and Yu 禹 are the founders of the Shang and Xia dynasties, respectively. Xia came before the Shang, and mentioning the two founders out of order is unusual but not unprecedented. To do so makes a pun, for Tang (Great) is also one of the epithets of Yu.

  35. This passage—夫維聖哲以茂行兮苟得用此下土—is a source of much dispute among the commentators. Wang Yi glosses it this way: “Zhe [哲] means intelligent. Mao [茂] means flourishing. Xia tu [下土] means all under Heaven. It says that as for those Heaven sets up to be rulers, only those with intelligence of sagely brilliance and with behavior [xing] of flourishing virtue therefore obtain power in the world and become lords of the people.” Hong Xingzu, Wang Fuzhi, and many other commentators followed his implied reading of gou 苟 as gu 故 (therefore) or nai 乃 (so) (You, Li sao zuanyi, 232–33). One of the dissenters was Wang Bangcai, who wrote, “In my humble opinion the sentence should be read in the same way as the [“Li sao”] line, ‘If my heart is truly fragrant’ [苟余情其信芳], which is to say that it should be taken as an inverted sentence.” I have taken his advice, translating gou as “if.” I have also taken Dai Zhen’s and Wu Shishang’s advice in taking mao 茂 as a borrowing for mou 懋, which means “to work hard at” or “make an effort” (勉) (You, Li sao zuanyi, 233).

  36. Or, who can be served who is not good?

  37. The motley shade bird (Yi, 鷖 or 翳) was envisioned by some as a giant parti-colored gull whose flight blocked the light of the sun. See Hong, Chuci buzhu, 25–26.

  38. There is no reason to read 埃 as a mistake for si 竢, as Wang Fuzhi, Hawkes, and others have done. Ai feng 埃風, “dusty wind,” is a phrase attested in the “Xiaoyou” section of the Zhuangzi. If ke 溘 (suddenly) is left untranslated (as in the Hawkes translation), the drama of the passage is lost.

  39. Cangwu 蒼梧 is the mountain near or on which Shun (Chonghua) is buried. It is another name for Jiuyi Mountain.

  40. Xuan Pu 縣圃 are Hovering Gardens because they are on the summit of the Kunlun Mountains, directly above which the doorway to the sky (“Spirit Doors” in the poem) is located.

  41. Ling suo 靈瑣 means “spirit chain pattern.” The chain pattern was a decoration on palace doors; by metonymy, it means door (Hong, Chuci buzhu, 27). The door in question is the entry to Heaven above the Kunlun Mountains. The Yi bird has within a day taken him from south-central China to the far west.

  42. Xihe 羲和 was the female charioteer of the sun, said by some to be his mother.

  43. Yanzi 崦嵫 is the mountain in the far west where the sun goes down.

  44. Xian Chi 咸池, or Xian Pool, is the place where the sun bathes in the course of rising. Some say it is a star name (see Yuan Ke, Zhongguo shenhua chuanshuo cidian 中國神話傳說詞典 [Shanghai: Shanghai cishu, 1985], 265). Here the persona is traveling beyond the west and circling back to the east, sunwise.

  45. The fusang 扶桑 is the tree the sun uses to dry itself after its bath at the Xian Pool by rubbing against it or beating itself with its branches, Finnish sauna–style (see ibid., 191).

  46. There are a number of accounts about the Ruo tree. In the Shanhaijing, “Hainei jing,” it is situated in the south and is the source of the Ruo River. In the “Donghuang beijing” of the same work, it is situated in the west. According to the Shuowen jiezi, it is the same as the fusang (see Yuan, Zhongguo shenhua chuanshuo cidian, 228). The Shuowen explanation appears to apply here. The persona is poetically referring to the fusang tree, where his chariot is tied, by another name. Hong Xingzu, however, has it growing at Kunlun in the west, where it marks the entrance for the setting sun.

  Fu ri 拂日means “to brush or strike the sun”—to dry it after its bath. On the morning routine of the sun, see Huainanzi, vol. 7 of Zhuzi jicheng, 44.

  47. For Wangshu 望舒, see Yuan, Zhongguo shenhua chuanshuo cidian, 366.

  48. Feilian 飛廉 is the Wind God, according to Wang Yi. Hong Xingzu describes it as a supernatural beast with a deer’s body, a magpie’s head, and horns. See ibid., 40.

  49. Following the Wen xuan commentary by Li Zhouhan (one of the Five Ministers), as well as the Li sao jizhuan 離騷集傳 of Qian Gaozhi 錢杲之 of the Song, I take luanhuang 鸞皇 as the male of the luan bird, which Hong Xingzu, quoting the Shanhaijing, describes as patterned with all the five colors, having a call like a pheasant’s, and a long tail—a bird of extraordinary intelligence whose appearance foreshadows an era of tranquility. See You, Li sao zuanyi, 272.

  50. The feng niao 鳳鳥, phoenix bird or phoenixlike bird, refers to the Yi bird on which he rides.

  51. For Changhe 閶闔 (Sky Gates), see Yuan, Zhongguo shenhua chuanshuo cidian, 361. It is the main entrance to the palace of the Lord of the Sky (Tian Di 天帝). This is the persona’s second visit here; before, the Sky Gates were called Ling Suo 靈瑣.

  52. The White Waters (Bai Shui 白水) emerge from the Kunlun Mountains, according to Wang Yi, who tells us, “Drink thereof and never die”; see You, Li sao zuanyi, 287. Note that this is the persona’s second visit to the Kunlun Mountains in the far west after following the path of the sun from sunset to sunrise to noon, etc.

  53. Langfeng 閬風 is the legendary location of the Hovering Gardens high in the Kunlun Mountains. See Yuan, Zhongguo shenhua chuanshuo cidian, 328.

  54. The Palace of Spring (Chun Gong 春宮) is explained by Wang Yi as “the residence of the Green Lord of the East,” who is sometimes identified as Fuxi 伏羲. It is also the name of a constellation that rules spring. See ibid., 264.

  55. Qiong 瓊 is a term for the most precious gems, especially jade. Most scholars think that this is a tree of jade. The next line implies that its flower wilts like any other flower, meaning perhaps that it is somewhere between mineral and plant. If that is the case, this would be the first time anything close
to a nonfloral ornament had been attached to the persona’s belt. Yuan Ke, quoting a passage from the Zhuangzi that does not appear in modern editions, tells us that the qiong tree is the preferred perch of the fenghuang, or phoenix. He appears to be following Wen, Li sao jiegu, 47, as well as the Taiping yulan 太平御覽, and other sources. The translation of the passage is as follows: “In the south there is a bird called the feng for which Heaven produced a tree called the qiongzhi. It is 220 ren high and 30 ambits in circumference. It has precious stones for fruit” (Yuan, Zhongguo shenhua chuanshuo cidian, 374; see also line 335).

  56. Wang Yi tells us that Fenglong 豐隆is also known as Leishi 雷師 (Master of Thunder). According to Hong Xingzu, this divinity is also known as the Cloud God and is the object of worship in the hymn “Yunzhong jun” (Lord in the Clouds) of the Nine Songs. His other name is Pingyi 屏翳. He is Heaven’s messenger and is also known as a diviner specializing in predicting rain. See You, Li sao zuanyi, 301.

  57. Fufei 宓妃 is most famously represented as the spirit of the Luo River in Cao Zhi’s 曹植 “Luo shen fu” 洛神賦. The earliest reference to her is here in “Li sao.” Wang Yi tells us simply that she is a goddess. Later scholars identified her as the daughter of Fuxi. The Fu 宓 in her name is interchangeable with the Fu 伏 in Fuxi’s name. The fei 妃 in her name means “consort,” which has led some scholars to identify her as the consort of Fuxi. Of course her name could also mean that she is a consort named Fu, which would allow her to be the daughter of Fuxi and a consort, but whose consort is unclear. The persona in “Li sao” complains that she is the consort of many. The description of her behavior in line 225 is the same as the description of clouds in line 205, referring, I believe, both to her fickleness and her association with clouds.

  58. Jian Xiu 蹇脩 is not a name that occurs anywhere else. Who he or she is no one knows. Zhang Taiyan 章太炎 (You, Li sao zuanyi, 308) directs us to the Erya, which tells us that when someone plays musical stones solo. it is called jian 蹇, and when musical bells are played solo, it is called xiu 脩 (Xu Chaohua 徐朝華, ed., Erya jinzhu 爾雅今注 [Tianjin: Nankai daxue chubanshe, 1987], 195). There are many depictions of stone and bell players on ancient artifacts, especially from Chu. I have therefore translated Jianxiu as Bell Stones.

  59. Qiongshi 窮石, according to Zuozhuan, Xianggong, 4th year, was where Archer Yi went when the Xia showed signs of decline. Archer Yi killed the Earl of the Yellow River and stole his wife, the Lady of the Luo, according to “Tian wen.” The Lady of the Luo is Fufei. Thus when she goes home to Qiongshi, she is returning to her second husband, Archer Yi.

  60. Weipan 洧盤, according to Wang Yi, is a river that flows from Yanzi 崦嵫 Mountain; nothing else is known about it.

  61. Yousong 有娀 is the name of an obscure and probably legendary state, whose ruler had two beautiful daughters he housed in a tower, according to “Tian wen,” “Li sao,” and the Lüshi chunqiu. One of the daughters was Jian Di 簡狄, who, according to Shijing 304, became impregnated by eating the egg of a swallow. In another account (Shiji, “Yin benji”) she was impregnated by swallowing an egg dropped by a black bird that flew by while she was bathing with her legendary sage-king husband, Gao Xin 高辛. The child she bore in either case was the founder of the Shang dynasty. As it says in Shijing 303, “Heaven ordered the black bird to descend and bear Shang.” Heaven in that case probably refers to Gao Xin, who was thought to reside there as a di. The black bird is a messenger from Heaven. Hawkes thinks that in “Li sao,” the black bird has been transformed into a phoenix. I think this is highly unlikely. The persona of “Li sao” hopes to marry the daughters of Lord Yousong before Gao Xin does; he is not Gao Xin.

  62. Zhen 鴆, according to Duan Yucai’s 段玉裁 notes to the Shuowen jiezi 說文解字, is a poisonous bird whose wing, if dipped in wine, will kill the drinker. Zhen poisoning is written zhen 酖 in the Zuozhuan; see, e.g., Mingong, 1st year (閔公元年), Chunqiu Zuozhuan zhengyi 春秋左传正义, in Ruan, Shisanjing zhushu, 1786. Zhen is also known as yunri 運日and always calls to herald the clearing of clouds from the sky; see You, Li sao zuanyi, 326. Most translators follow Qian Gaozhi 錢杲之 and others in reading bu hao 不好 as the zhen 鴆 bird’s claim that Jian Di and her sister were not beautiful. Hong Xingzu and Zhu Xi, however, take it to mean that the zhen bird is refusing the mission because of her inappropriateness as a go-between. I follow them. See You, Li sao zuanyi, 324–26.

  63. Translated by analogy with you you lu ming 呦呦廘鳴 in Shijing 161.

  64. I follow the Qing scholars Qian Gaozhi 錢杲之 and Xu Huanlong 徐煥龍 in taking the subject of all the verbs in lines 243–46 as the phoenix; see You, Li sao zuanyi, 332–33.

  65. According to Zuozhuan, Aigong, 1st year, when Jiao (or Ao), the son of Zhuo, killed the King of Xia, his queen, who was pregnant, escaped to find refuge with the Lord of Youreng, where she gave birth to Shao Kang 少康. He later became chief herdsman of Youreng. He also had a stint working in the kitchen. Jiao eventually sent someone after Shao Kang, who then escaped to the state of Youyu. The chief of Youyu 有虞, Yusi 虞思, then gave the two Yao 姚 women to him as wives. Yao is the name of the sage-king Shun’s clan. Shao Kang, after killing the sons of Jiao, restored the Xia dynasty. See Chunqiu Zuozhuan, Aigong, 1st year, in Ruan, Shisanjing zhushu, 2154.

  66. The wise king (zhe wang 哲王) referred to here is Shun, before whose grave the persona had the vision he has just described. The design of ancient tombs followed the plan of a house. The coffin sat in a space that corresponded to the “inner chamber,” or master bedroom; in the case of a palace, the inner chambers would also be the women’s quarters.

  67. Tang Bingzheng has argued convincingly that zhe zhu 折竹 in Wang Yi’s gloss on tingzhuan 筳篿 is in fact a mistake for ce 策, meaning “bamboo slips,” a common divination tool; see Tang Bingzheng 湯炳正, Chuci leigao 楚辭類稿 (Chengdu: Bashu chubanshe, 1988), 214.

  68. Zhi 之 has as its antecedent the vision just experienced.

  69. Some scholars (e.g., Wen Yiduo, in Li sao jiegu, 52–53) claim that zhan zhi 占之does not rhyme with mu zhi 慕之. That opinion has motivated a number of emendations of the text. Hawkes followed Wen Yiduo in taking mu as a conflation of mo 莫 and nian 念. Tang Bingzheng (Chuci leigao, 216–17) and Ma Maoyuan (Chuci zhushi [Wuhan: Hubei renmin chubanshe, 1985], 52–53), following the good advice of Zhu Xi, observe that the rhyming of two zhi 之 occurs several times in the Chuci. Nevertheless mu in its normal meaning gives little sense. I believe that mu in this case is another way of writing a character with the same pronunciation and the same form except that the heart radical is on the side—i.e., 慔. The meaning of this character is “to work hard, exert oneself,” etc. It is a phonetic variation of the character mao 懋 (Bernhard Karlgren, Grammata Serica Recensa [Stockholm: Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, 1957], 1109f), which also means “work hard,” etc. Zhu Junsheng 朱駿聲, in Shuowen tongxun ding sheng 說文通訓定聲 (Wuhan: Wuhan shi guji shudian, 1983), 417, tells us that this was a common borrowing.

  70. I follow Xia Dalin 夏大霖, Yao Nai 姚鼐, and You Guo’en in taking this line as the end of Ling Fen’s speech. See You, Li sao zuanyi, 370.

  71. The term wu 巫 originally referred to a female shaman. I suspect that the conservative shaman who wrote “Li sao” still understood it that way.

  72. Zhi 摯 is the name of Yi Yin 伊尹, legendary virtuous minister of Tang 湯, founder of the Shang dynasty. Qu Yuan is punning on another meaning of the name—i.e., “take hold of.” The name thus does double duty. It means “taking hold of Gao Yao” and also “Zhi and Gao Yao.” Gao Yao 咎繇 (also written 皋陶) was the legendary virtuous minister of Yu 禹, founder of the Xia dynasty. The punning here corresponds to the punning in the previous line, where Tang and Yu are mentioned out of chronological order so that Tang can serve double duty as the name of the founder of the Shang dynasty and as the same word meaning “great,” giving the ph
rase “Great Yu, the founder of the Xia dynasty.”

  73. See the introduction, note 4.

  74. See the introduction, note 5.

  75. Ning Qi 甯戚 lived during the Spring and Autumn period, and before he was discovered worked as a petty merchant. According to the legend, he was feeding a cow one day when King Huan of Qi happened to pass by. Ning Qi, seeing him, attracted his attention by singing while striking the horn of the cow. Something about the singing signaled to Duke Huan that the singer was an extraordinary person. He consequently elevated him to ministership. For a pre-Qin account, see, e.g., “Junan pian” 舉難篇, in Lüshi chunqiu, vol. 6 of Zhuzi jicheng, 253–54. For a translation of the same passage, see John Knoblock and Jeffrey Riegel, trans., The Annals of Lü Buwei: A Complete Translation and Study (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2001), 507–8. See also Jiang, Chuci tonggu, 2:132–37.