The Songs of Chu

by Gopal Sukhu

  Men hurried with the King to Dream Marsh10 to test their skills,

  But when the king’s arrow flies, the black rhino falls.11

  Red light giving way to night,

  We can’t hold back the hour.

  Marsh thoroughwort covers the path,

  A flood is on the road.

  Over clear, deep Yangtze waters

  Maple trees grow,

  And the eye sees a thousand miles,

  And springtime wounds the heart.

  Take pity on the southland.

  Come home, bright soul!

  NOTES

    1. See Fu Xiren 傅錫壬, Chuci duben 楚辭讀本 (Taipei: Sanmin shuju, 1974), 168.

    2. This stanza seems to have little to do with what follows. It may be that it was added to give the impression that the poem was by Qu Yuan.

    3. Shaman Yang (巫陽 Wu Yang) is one of the female shamans mentioned in the Shanhaijing, “Hainei xijing”; see Yuan Ke 袁珂, Shanhaijing jiaozhu 山海經校注 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1985), 226.

    4. The ancient Chinese believed that there are two souls—hun 魂, the yang or bright soul, and po 魄, yin or dark soul. The former animated the mental faculties and rose to the sky after death; the latter animated the physical faculties and stayed near the body (or sank into the ground) after death. The division was not one of good versus evil, but po tended to be somewhat dangerous.

    5. Dreams were thought to be the result of wandering souls. The same officer was charged with interpreting dreams and finding the souls of the dead.

    6. I added this line to make the meaning clear.

    7. Most scholars assume that these lines describe the hamper containing the clothes of the deceased, which the shaman is using to attract the soul.

    8. Liubo 六博, which means “six rods,” is an ancient board game. The game was played by two people, each provided with six pieces and six throwing rods. The throwing rods were thrown like dice to determine how each of the six pieces was moved on the board on which was drawn a TLV pattern, which often appears on bronze mirrors as well. No one is entirely sure what the rules of the game were. The “Owl” probably meant a win, and “Five Whites” probably refers to throwing-rod results.

    9. Flaming torches set fire to the bushes to smoke the quarry out.

  10. Dream Marsh (夢 Meng) is generally identified as Yunmeng Daze 雲夢大澤 (Great Cloud Dream Marsh).

  11. Here, with Wang Siyuan 王四原, I read 殫 dan for 憚 dan. See Wang Siyuan, Chuci jiaoshi 楚辭校釋 (Beijing: Renmin jiaoyu chubanshe, 1990), 143.

  CHAPTER NINE

  “The Great Summoning”

  大招

  “Da zhao”

  The Han scholar Wang Yi was not sure whether this poem was by Qu Yuan or by a shadowy figure named Jing Cuo, who was supposed to have been one of Qu Yuan’s poetic successors. Few modern scholars attribute the poem to Qu Yuan. Like “Summoning the Soul” it appears to be a text that was used in the ritual recalling of the soul of someone who has recently died, in the belief that the corpse could be restored to life. The object of the recall here is most likely a ruler of some sort, probably a king. The state of Chu is mentioned in a few passages, but mostly as outsiders or people living after the fall of Chu would mention it. The official titles that appear in it, and the implied rankings, are not for the most part those of Warring States Chu; they belong to the Qin and Han dynasties. The same may be said of some of the administrative geography the poem outlines. Whether or not it is a Qin or Han pastiche, it is valuable for its descriptions of certain aspects of ancient Chinese aristocratic culture, especially food and feminine beauty.

  The Great Summoning

  Green spring takes its turn again,

  Sun shines bright,

  Spring vigor surges,

  Life wrangles forward,

  But you rise high in the dark realm and drift.1

  Don’t flee, bright spirit,

  Come home with your shadow twin,

  Don’t wander far.

  Bright spirit! Come home!

  Don’t go east. Don’t go west. Don’t go south. Don’t go north.

  In the east there is a great sea,

  Its undertow irresistible and swift,

  Yet horned and hornless dragons flow there in pairs,

  Leisurely rising and diving, in and out of the waves,

  And fog and rain never end,

  and the air is a gray-white paste.

  Don’t go east, bright spirit—

  You’ll find yourself alone in Daybreak Valley.2

  Bright soul, don’t go south!

  The south is a thousand miles on fire,

  Wriggling with pit vipers.

  The dense mountain forests are perilous places,

  Where tigers and panthers lurk,

  And the ox-bodied hog-voiced fish,3 the sand spitter,

  And the poisonous python rear their heads.

  Bright soul, don’t go south—

  The monsters there will maul you.

  Bright soul, don’t go west!

  In the west where the Flowing Sands

  Are as vast as the ocean,

  There is a swine-headed vertical-eyed demon,

  With shaggy hair down to his knees

  And long claws and sawlike teeth,

  Madly giggling.

  Bright soul, don’t go west—

  There is much there to hurt you.

  Bright soul, don’t go north!

  The cold mountains are in the north.

  There the candle dragon4 glows red.

  Do not try to cross the Dai rivers5—

  They are deeper than anyone knows.

  And the air is always snowy white,

  And everything is frozen tight.

  Bright spirit, don’t go there—

  Such perils are rife

  All the way to the North Pole.

  Bright spirit, come home!

  Here life is slow and quiet.

  Come, feel at ease in Chu of the Chaste Trees,6

  Safe and secure.

  Do as you wish here,

  With heart untroubled.

  Live out your days in constant delight.

  Your life will be long here.

  Bright spirit, come home

  To joy beyond words.

  The five common grains7 are piled six fathoms high,

  But we serve you the best wild rice

  And pots of cooked food as far as the eye can see,

  Seasoned to the savory heights—

  Fat8 gray crane, pigeon, and swan,

  Flavored with jackal broth.

  Come home, bright soul—

  Try whatever you wish.

  Fresh terrapin and frog

  Flavored with Chu vinegar sauce.

  Piglet pork balls, minced bitter dog meat9

  With finely sliced myōga ginger,

  And Wu-style tarragon pickles,

  Neither too strong nor too bland.

  Come home, bright spirit—

  Choose whatever you like.

  Roast crow, wild duck steamed

  And stewed quail,

  Fried crucian carp and magpie soup,

  Instantly restoring.

  Come home, bright soul—

  Be first to taste these delicacies.

  The four fine wines are all ready—

  Smooth wines, never astringent,

  Clear with strong fragrance—drink them chilled

  (for peace and quiet, don’t let your servants drink them).

  With white yeast we rebrew the sweet wine of Wu

  To make the clear Chu liquor.

  Come home, bright soul—

  Have no fear.

  The music of Dai, Qin, Zheng, and Wei10—

  The singing yu pipes perform

  Fu Xi’s “Jia bian,”

  And the “Lao shang” of Chu.

  The chorus sings “Yang a” a cap
pella,

  And between the stanzas flutes of Zhao play interludes.

  Come home, bright soul—

  Tune the strings of your Hollow Mulberry se.11

  Sixteen women in two rows of eight

  Dance to the singing.

  Hammers strike heavy bells, and lithophones respond,

  In the frenzied crescendo,

  As the four main singers vie

  Singing intricate variations to the limit of their voices.

  Come home, bright spirit—

  Listen as they sing their entire repertoire.

  She of the scarlet lips and pearly teeth is here,

  Beautiful and well bred.

  Though variously talented, she prefers doing little—

  Elegance is her expertise.

  Delicately framed, yet shapely,

  Attuned to what gives you delight.

  Come home, bright spirit—

  She will bring you peace and comfort.

  She of the artful glance and winning smile is here,

  Her arching eyebrows fine and long,

  A face of surpassing refinement,

  A tender blushing face.

  Come home, bright soul—

  She will bring you quiet and tranquility.

  The tall, cultured one is here—

  Radiantly beautiful,

  Round cheeked with flat-lying ears.

  Her eyebrows are compass-drawn arcs,

  Her heart adoring, her manner soothing,

  Her dazzling loveliness for you alone,

  And she is as small waisted and long necked

  As a Xianbei woman.12

  Come home, bright soul—

  She will banish your cares and resentments.

  She who displays her heart’s harmony and wit

  In everything she does is here,

  Face powdered white, eyebrows kohled black,

  Hair dressed with a fragrant pomade,

  Her long sleeve brushing his face as she dances

  Is apt to cause the guest to linger.

  Come home, bright spirit—

  She’ll keep the party alive all night.

  And she of the straight-line blue-black eyebrows is here.

  Her beautiful eyes cast cunning glances,

  Her dimpled cheeks and marvelous teeth,

  The better to smile.

  Fine boned but shapely,

  A lithe felicity in her limbs.

  Come home, bright spirit—

  All such women are yours.

  Here is your mansion broad and high

  From its imposing cinnabar-painted halls

  To its small porches on south-facing rooms

  That stay dry when rain runs off the broad-eaved belvederes above.

  And in the roofed passageways to the encircling pavilions

  You have space enough to train your hunting dogs or hawks.

  And whether you ride in a leaping chariot or go on foot,

  You will find springtime game in the royal parks.

  Hubs of red jade and yoke bars studded with gold

  Proclaim the magnificence of your vehicle

  Where wild angelica, thoroughwort, and cinnamon trees grow dense on the paths.

  Come home, bright spirit—

  Enjoy yourself as much as you wish.

  Peacocks fill your gardens,

  Or are those simurghs and phoenixes in your care?

  Your mornings will flock with jungle fowl and great geese,

  Intermingled with adjutant storks and gray cranes,

  And swans taking turns gliding over the water

  Through a great expanse of emerald geese.

  Come home, bright spirit—

  Watch your phoenixes soar.

  Lustrous, cheerful faces

  Full of vitality—

  People who always treat their bodies with care,

  Ensuring healthy, long lives.

  Such are your kinsmen, crowding your courtyard,

  Prosperous with titles and emoluments.

  Come home, bright spirit—

  Your household is secure.

  Setting forth on a thousand miles of crisscrossing roads,

  With their retinues like clouds,

  Are your high-ranking officers,

  With their godlike intelligence,

  Investigating early deaths, asking after the sick,

  And bringing relief to orphans and widows.

  Come home, bright spirit—

  Share your bounty justly with both first and last.

  A thousand paths run through your towns and fields,

  Your subjects are prosperous and many,

  Beauty envelopes all walks of life,

  Everything glows with the dew of your virtue,

  For first you awed and then you civilized.

  Now goodness and felicity illumine your domains.

  Come home, bright spirit—

  Be your rewards and punishments just.

  Your fame is like the sun.

  It sheds light as far as the four seas.

  Your virtue’s reputation is as high as the sky.

  Your myriad subjects enjoy order and peace

  In the north as far as Youling,

  In the south as far as Jiaozhi,

  In the west as far as Yangchang,13

  In the east as far as the sea.

  Come home, bright spirit—

  Elevate the worthy to lofty positions.

  Govern in ways that attract the principled,

  Exclude the violent and cruel,

  Place your court in the most capable hands,

  Ferret out and banish the dross,

  Grant powers to the upright and skilled,

  And your realm will approach the order under the reign of Yu.14

  Grant the honest and talented the power

  To broadcast the flowing dew of your benevolence.

  Come home, bright spirit—

  For the sake of state and family.

  Glorious your martial prowess,

  Your celestial virtue, bright.

  The Three Dukes15 in reverent dignity

  walk up and down your audience hall.

  The feudal lords have all arrived,

  The Nine Ministers16 stand in order.

  The white bull’s-eye is positioned,17

  The bearskin target is hung,

  Bow in one hand, arrows at his side,

  Bowing lord yields precedence to bowing lord.

  Come home, bright spirit,

  Honor the way of the Three Kings.18

  NOTES

    1. Tang Bingzheng 湯炳正, Li Daming 李大明, Li Cheng 李誠, and Xiong Liangzhi 熊良知, Chuci jinzhu 楚辭今注 (Shanghai: Shanghai guji chubanshe, 1997), 244.

    2. Daybreak Valley is 暘谷 Yanggu or 湯谷 Tanggu (Hot Water Valley), where the sun bathes in the morning before it rises.

    3. Ox-bodied hog-voiced fish is the 鰅鱅 yuyong. The sand spitter is the短狐 duanhu or蜮 yu, a small water monster that can spit sand with such force and accuracy it can kill even a human.

    4. Here I read 逴龍 chuolong as 燭龍 zhulong on the advice of Hong Xingzu 洪興祖, Chuci buzhu 楚辭補注 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1986), 218. The candle dragon lives in the north and brings light to places where the sun does not shine, such as the world of the dead

    5. This refers to all the northern rivers. Dai 代 was the name of an ancient northern kingdom. The name came to refer to the north in general.

    6. Chu of the Chaste Trees (荊楚 Jing Chu) is one of the names of Chu, referring to its original capital close to Jing Shan, or Chaste Tree Mountain, in Hubei. The chaste tree (Vitex agnus-castus) produces a lilaclike flower that attracts butterflies.

    7. The five common “grains” are rice, millet, wheat, soybeans, and sesame seeds. Wild rice (菰粱 guliang), in this case Zizania latifolia, was an upper-class delicacy.

    8. Reading 內 nei as 肭 na, an alt
ernative reading cited by Hong Xingzu.

    9. Bitter dog meat (苦狗 ku gou) is either dried dog meat or dog meat flavored with gall bladder.

  10. Dai, Qin 秦, Zheng 鄭, and Wei 衛, along with Zhao 昭, are the names of ancient states. The music of Zheng was condemned by Confucius as lascivious.

  11. Se is the name of an instrument with twenty-five strings, similar to a koto.

  12. The Xianbei 鮮卑 were a powerful nomadic people who inhabited northeastern China. During the Han dynasty they often harassed the Chinese border regions. During the period of the Northern and Southern dynasties (420–589), they established a number of dynasties in northern China. Wang Yi’s explanation of these lines is odd. He takes the name of the Xianbei as referring to the belt buckles they were famous for and which may have given them their name. Yet the passage clearly refers to a Chu woman who has the looks of the Xianbei women, whose belt buckles may have accentuated their narrow waists. It appears that Wang Yi and many later commentators could not imagine that Chu men could have found Xianbei women attractive; see Tang et al., Chuci jinzhu, 251.

  13. Youling 幽陵 may refer to the northern Hebei–Liaoning area. Jiaozhi 交阯 may refer to the border region between what was considered the deep south (Hunan and Jianxi) and foreign regions to the south of that (Guangdong and Guangxi). Yangchang 羊腸 (Sheep’s Gut) is the name of a mountain northwest of Taiyuan in Shanxi. These locations appear to mark the limits of Han-dynasty borders rather than Warring States Chu borders.

  14. Yu 禹 was the legendary founder of the Xia dynasty.

  15. The Three Dukes (三公 San Gong) were the three highest officers after the head of state in ancient China.

  16. The Nine Ministers (九卿 Jiu Qing) ranked just below the Three Dukes.

  17. According to the “Xiangshe li” 鄉射禮 chapter of the Yili 儀禮, “For the Son of Heaven, a white bull’s-eye is positioned in the middle of a target made of bearskin. For the feudal lords, a red bull’s-eye was positioned on an elk-skin target. For the high officers, tigers and panthers were drawn on a cloth target. For the knights, deer and pigs were drawn on a cloth target. All the pictures had red bull’s-eyes.” Ceremonial archery contests were an important showcase for ritual propriety (and therefore an opportunity to read character) among the powerful in ancient China.

  18. The Three Kings (三王 San Wang) were the founders of the Yu 禹, Tang 湯, and Wen 文, the founders of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou, respectively.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “Regretting the Vows”

  惜誓

  “Xi shi”

  “Regretting the Vows” appears to have been added to the Chuci sometime between the Liu Xiang edition and the Wang Yi edition of the anthology. This does not necessarily mean that it was composed during that time. In fact, Wang Yi cannot name its author, merely telling us that “some people” thought that it was composed by Jia Yi. The fact that some parts of the poem are similar or the same as sections of Jia Yi’s “Lament for Qu Yuan” seems to be the basis of that attribution. The Song scholars Hong Xingzu and Zhu Xi, in view not only of the style but also of the circumstances the poet apparently was lamenting, supported attributing the poem to Jia Yi. Scholars today are still divided on the issue.