The Columbia Anthology of Yuan Drama

by C. T. Hsia

  JUDGE BAO (Sings:)

  That Zhang Liang, had he not retired in good time …

  DUKE HAN: And Fan Li, of the kingdom of Yue,44 who drifted away on the Five Lakes in a small boat, he was no less a man of wisdom.

  JUDGE BAO (sings:)

  That Fan Li, had he not fled hiding his traces …

  Those two would not have ended up as intact corpses.

  I am a fish saved by the tear in the net: how dare I swallow the hook?

  It is best to return to the hills while there’s still time.

  What I fear is not coming to a good end as an official—

  And all strivings would have been in vain. (Speaks:)

  Honorable Ministers, I’m too old to be an official. One of these days when I have another audience with the emperor, I’ll make known my intention to retire.

  MINISTER FAN: Judge Bao, you’re quiet mistaken. These days how many in court are as honest and upright as you? Moreover, you haven’t yet declined; you’re just the right age for an official. Why would you want to request permission to retire?

  JUDGE BAO: Minister Fan, I have something I would like to say.

  MASTER LIU: Judge Bao is right. Now that he is advancing in years, for him to give up office and enjoy life in retirement will be the height of happiness!

  MINISTER FAN: What is it that you want to say, Judge Bao? I will listen.

  JUDGE BAO (sings:)

  [Senseless Rod]

  There’s just one thing for which I must make my case with the emperor:

  And that is, all powerful rogues are without exception my enemies.

  MINISTER FAN: What do you intend to do about them?

  JUDGE BAO (sings:)

  They are like robbers who plunder,

  And I am like the fierce hound guarding the house.

  They want money and goods,

  But what can they do about this hound in close pursuit!

  They wish for my death this very day

  So their freedom none could gainsay!

  MINISTER FAN: Judge Bao, please first return to your residence. We have something else to discuss here.

  JUDGE BAO (taking his leave:) If you, Honorable Ministers, will excuse me, I will return home. (He goes out the door. YOUNG PIEGU kneels at the door and calls to JUDGE BAO.)

  YOUNG PIEGU: Your Honor, my case rests with you!

  JUDGE BAO: I nearly forgot this matter. Well now, young man, you go back first and I will follow later.

  YOUNG PIEGU (thanking JUDGE BAO:) Since I have met Judge Bao this day, he will certainly take up my case. He told me to go back first, so I dare not tarry any longer. I must return to Chenzhou and await his arrival. (Recites:)

  Today I got to meet Bao Longtu

  And report that my father was unjustly killed.

  I turn back to Chenzhou to await his coming,

  When he will with the mallet give those knaves a beating.

  (YOUNG PIEGU exits. JUDGE BAO turns around and reenters the hall.)

  MINISTER FAN: I thought you had left. Why have you come back?

  JUDGE BAO: I was about to go home when I heard that a bunch of corrupt officials in Chenzhou were inflicting serious harm on the people. I wonder whether Your Honor has dispatched capable officials to Chenzhou?

  DUKE HAN: Minister Fan appointed two officials to go.

  JUDGE BAO: But, which two officials were they?

  MINISTER FAN: Judge Bao, you wouldn’t know, but after you went on your inspection tour of the five southern provinces, the court, lacking better options, sent Master Liu’s son, Liu Dezhong, and his son-in-law, Yang Jinwu, to sell rice at Chenzhou. There has been no news from them for some time.

  JUDGE BAO: I heard that the officials in Chenzhou are venal and the people are stubborn and uncouth. Wouldn’t it be best to send another commissioner to investigate these officials and pacify the people?

  DUKE HAN: Judge Bao, you wouldn’t know, but we are all gathered here today precisely for this reason.

  MINISTER FAN: By imperial command I am to send another honest official to Chenzhou; in the first place, to sell rice, and in the second place, to conduct an inquest. I think that others will not be equal to this task, and I shall trouble Judge Bao to make the trip. Would you consider it?

  JUDGE BAO: I cannot go.

  LÜ YIJIAN: If the judge cannot go, whom can we send?

  MINISTER FAN: The judge is adamant about not going. Master Liu, it is your turn to beg the judge to go. If he won’t go, then you will.

  MASTER LIU: I understand, Your Honor. Judge Bao, please make this trip to Chenzhou—after all, what does it matter?

  JUDGE BAO: Since Master Liu wants me to go, I’ll do it for his sake. Zhang Qian, get my horse ready, we are leaving for Chenzhou.

  MASTER LIU (shocked, aside:) Aiya! If this old man goes, what will become of my two sons?

  JUDGE BAO (sings:)

  [Taking Off the Plain Robe]

  I have never known compromise, fakery I dispatch:

  I am like fuel added to fire when I meet my match.

  Those powerful officials just rouse my ire as our fight becomes dire:

  And thank you all for recommending me to the court.

  MASTER LIU: I didn’t recommend you at all.

  JUDGE BAO (sings:)

  [Little Liangzhou]

  My heart is anxious over the altars of the state. (Speaks:)

  Zhang Qian, bring my horse.

  ZHANG QIAN: Yes sir.

  JUDGE BAO (sings:)

  So today to Chenzhou we make our way,

  My mind being set on going, I cannot be made to stay.

  Embroiled in this affair together, they stand to gain,

  But I fear that all their machinations will be in vain. (Speaks:)

  Hear me, Honorable Ministers. If I’m to go, then I shall go; but if there are powerful rogues that prove difficult to control, what should I do?

  MINISTER FAN: Judge Bao, you need not worry. By imperial command I bestow upon you this ordinance sword and gold tablet. You have the authority to “execute first and report to the throne afterward.” Please accept this ordinance sword and gold tablet and then depart for Chenzhou.

  JUDGE BAO (sings:)

  [Same tune as above]

  I am grateful that the emperor is bringing succor to the people.

  But this sword! Will it be willing to desist when it gets to Chenzhou?

  I dare say you will claim your turn to bite someone’s flesh.

  Alas! Watch for those benighted ones, no better than birds and beasts;

  I will not hesitate to lop off their treacherous heads.

  MASTER LIU: When Your Honor gets to Chenzhou, remember that those two granary commissioners are my sons. Please watch out for them on my account.

  JUDGE BAO (looking at his sword:) I know; I will watch out for them on account of this. (He looks at the sword three times.)

  MASTER LIU: How unyielding you are! I have pleaded with you again and again, and all you do is to look at that ordinance sword and say that you will watch out for them on account of that. Do you actually dare to kill my two sons? When it comes to our official positions, I have no reason to fear you; when it comes to wealth, I am better off than you.

  JUDGE BAO: How could I be compared with you? (Sings:)

  [Teasing Children]

  The gold and silver you have amassed the Big Dipper exceed,

  You are hoping for good fortune lasting till heaven and earth recede.

  Let us see how you will end: you who equate household and state,

  You who know no shame as words tumble in full spate.

  For I have earned my thousand-bushel emolument by the tip of my brush,

  But with what blade of sword have you won your title and fief?

  MASTER LIU: Judge Bao, I’m not afraid of you.

  JUDGE BAO (sings:)

  For your part, don’t bother to boast:

  Although you have done much harm,

  I will relieve the plight of t
he people of Chenzhou.

  MASTER LIU: Judge Bao, you don’t know how difficult it is to be a granary commissioner.

  JUDGE BAO: I know all about the corruption of granary commissioners.

  MASTER LIU: Since you know, then tell me, what are their abuses?

  JUDGE BAO (sings:)

  [Coda]

  By the river’s edge, transport leads to some amassing of grain,

  In the granary, storage results in some stockpile.

  As long as their own purses are fattened, they care not if the people waste away. (Speaks:)

  Now when I get to that place, (sings:)

  I must make them put away their rush baskets45 and give up their scoops.

  (JUDGE BAO and ZHANG QIAN exit.)

  MASTER LIU: Ministers, this affair is not going to end well. When the old man arrives at Chenzhou, he’s going to go after my sons.

  DUKE HAN: Master Liu, it’s all right; just discuss this with Minister Fan. Minister Lü and I will first take our leave. (Recites:)

  Master Liu: you should not be in a fluster,

  With Minister Fan you should deliberate the matter.

  LÜ YIJIAN (recites:)

  The phoenix alights on the parasol tree,

  There will be those who with right and wrong make free.

  (DUKE HAN and LÜ YIJIAN exit.)

  MINISTER FAN: Master Liu, set your mind at ease. I will speak with the emperor and have you petition the throne for an edict, saying that the living will be pardoned but the dead will not. This will guarantee that nothing will go wrong.

  MASTER LIU: I’m very grateful to you if this is the way it’s going to be.

  MINISTER FAN: You and I will go and have an audience with the emperor. (Recites:)

  Don’t fret over Judge Bao—

  Just first petition for pardon.

  MASTER LIU (recites:)

  Thanks to a half sheet of paper,

  My family will be saved from doom. (Exit together.)

  ACT 3

  (LIU DEZHONG and YANG JINWU enter.)

  LIU DEZHONG (recites:)

  Do nothing against your conscience by day,

  And you will not fear a knock on the door at night.

  I am Master Liu’s son. Since the two of us came to Chenzhou to open the granary and sell rice, we have been following our father’s advice: we have changed the price, mixed husks and sand into the rice, and swindled a lot of cash. How could we possibly bring it all home? These days we’ve been just drinking and carousing. But I’ve heard that the emperor has dispatched Judge Bao to Chenzhou. Brother, this old man is not one to be trifled with; every so often he “executes first and reports to the throne later.” I’m afraid his coming means we will be exposed. Let us go now to the post pavilion and make our round to receive old Bao. (Recites:)

  Old Bao is fierce as hell,

  Few have crossed him and lived to tell.

  If he would not let us be,

  We will have to run and see.

  (LIU DEZHONG and YANG JINWU exit.)

  (ZHANG QIAN enters bearing the ordinance sword on his back. JUDGE BAO enters riding a horse and listening to something.)

  ZHANG QIAN: I am Zhang Qian. I followed the great Judge Bao on his inspection tour of the five southern provinces. Now he has been given the ordinance sword and gold tablet, and we are on our way to Chenzhou to sell rice. He follows behind while I lead the way; there’s a considerable distance between us. Don’t you know that he’s an honest, upright man who doesn’t covet money? Although he disdains money and goods, it would be nice if he would eat some. However, whenever Judge Bao goes to a provincial, county, or circuit seat, he would dismount, enter the offices, and pay no attention to the food that the officials or elders have prepared for him. For three meals a day he eats only thin rice gruel. You might well be old and unable to eat, but I am a young man, and my two feet walk along with the horse’s four hooves. If the horse walks fifty li, I also follow and trudge fifty li. If the horse goes one hundred li, then I go for one hundred li. With a meal of thin gruel, I get really hungry before I cover as much as five li. Now since I’m walking in front, when I get to those households, I’ll say, “I am with the great Judge Bao, now on his way to Chenzhou to sell rice. On my back I carry the ordinance sword and the gold tablet giving us the authority to execute first and report later. You had better hurry up and prepare some food for me.” Juicy chicken,46 tea mixed with wine; if I get to drink that wine and eat that meat until I have my fill, I can grit my teeth and walk two hundred li and still have strength for more, not to mention a mere fifty li. Ha! I sure am a stupid bastard! I haven’t eaten anything but here I am jabbering away—but what if all of a sudden Judge Bao catches snippets of this from behind? What is to be done then!

  JUDGE BAO: Zhang Qian, what did you say?

  (ZHANG QIAN seems afraid.)

  ZHANG QIAN: I didn’t say anything.

  JUDGE BAO: What “juicy chicken”?

  ZHANG QIAN: Your Honor, your humble servant said nothing about “juicy chicken.” I was walking along when I happened across someone and asked him, “How far is it to Chenzhou?” He said, “You still have a long way to go.” How could I have said anything about “juicy chicken”?

  JUDGE BAO: Did you say something about “tea mixed with wine”?

  ZHANG QIAN: Your Honor, your humble servant said nothing about “tea mixed with wine.” I saw someone while I was walking and asked him, “Which way to Chenzhou?” He replied, “Just keep going—the road is straight as stretched yarn.” I didn’t say anything about tea mixed with wine.

  JUDGE BAO: Zhang Qian, I must be getting old and hard of hearing. I am an old man who can’t eat all that much, so whatever is prepared ahead is all yours to enjoy, and I will give you something that will satisfy you.

  ZHANG QIAN: Your Honor, what do you mean “something that will satisfy me”?

  JUDGE BAO: Take a guess.

  ZHANG QIAN: You said whatever there is to eat is all mine to enjoy, and you will also give me something that will satisfy me. Could it be bitter tea?

  JUDGE BAO: No.

  ZHANG QIAN: Dried turnips?

  JUDGE BAO: No.

  ZHANG QIAN: Then it must be thin rice gruel!

  JUDGE BAO: Wrong again.

  ZHANG QIAN: Your Honor, if it’s none of these things, what could it be?

  JUDGE BAO: What are you carrying on your back?

  ZHANG QIAN: I’m carrying the ordinance sword.

  JUDGE BAO: I’ll give you a taste of that sword.

  (ZHANG QIAN looks frightened.)

  ZHANG QIAN: On second thought, I would rather eat a little rice gruel.

  JUDGE BAO: Zhang Qian, now among the officials, soldiers, and commoners all over the world, there are those who are happy and those who are vexed when they hear that I’m making the rounds in plain clothes.

  ZHANG QIAN: If Your Honor had not brought it up, I would not have dared speak about this—but now that the people have heard that Judge Bao is going to Chenzhou to sell rice, who isn’t thanking heaven? They all say, “We have someone coming to redress our grievances!” What is the reason for such joy?

  JUDGE BAO (sings:)

  [Nanlü mode: One Sprig of Blossoms]

  Now commoners at the beck and call of officials are joyous,

  But all these officials holding emoluments are rancorous.

  On such short notice they cannot satisfy Bao’s standards,

  A hundred ploys cannot help them meet the emperor’s decrees.

  Now I have reached the twilight of my life,

  Horse and saddle have made fatigue rife.

  And people the whole world over are saying—

  “There goes Bao Longtu in plain gear,

  Making all those officials tremble with fear.”

  [Liangzhou Number Seven]

  My salary is only fifty or sixty thousand strings of cash,

  But as for executing people, I have been at it for twenty or thirty years,

  Be it i
n the capital, in prefectures, departments, or counties.

  Ever since our beneficent emperor put the world in order,

  And I assumed the mantle of power,

  I have gone through rounds of reexamining cases,47

  Carefully tracing the matter to its basis.

  They may be no more than farmers fighting over mulberries and land,

  Or brothers squabbling over the division of family property.

  We, we, we are the greater or lesser officials of the Song,

  They, they, they are the wealthy folk given room to collect some interest.

  Yet do you, you, you know how poor folk bitterly cry out against injustice?

  Now we are not far from Chenzhou:

  Even if someone mistreats me,

  You just blink and pretend not to see.

  Ride this horse, bear this tablet, and proceed on your own,

  On no account roll up your sleeves and let your fists be shown. (Speaks:)

  ZHANG Qian, we are approaching Chenzhou. Take this horse with this tablet and enter the city first. Take care not to cause damage to these families.

  ZHANG QIAN: Yes Your Honor, I understand. I’ll ride the horse and go forward now.

  JUDGE BAO: Zhang Qian, come back, let me remind you again: I will be behind, and if someone bullies me or attacks me, you are not to intervene. Make sure you remember that.

  ZHANG QIAN: I will. (He starts to leave.)

  JUDGE BAO: Zhang Qian, come back.

  ZHANG QIAN: Your Honor: if you have something to say, please say it.

  JUDGE BAO: I am telling you to remember my orders well.

  ZHANG QIAN: Your Honor, I’m going ahead and entering the city. (Zhang Qian exits.)

  (PAINTED FEMALE dressed as WANG FENLIAN enters chasing a donkey.)

  WANG FENLIAN: My name is Wang Fenlian. I live by the southern pass at Dog Leg’s Bay. I know no other trade but that of plying my charms for a living. Two officials who have been sent from the capital to open the granary and sell rice are here now; one is Yang Jinwu, and the other is Liu Dezhong. The way those two spend money at my place—whatever I ask for, they give me tenfold. How lavish they are! They are powerful and influential men, and all other inconsequential types no longer dare to come to my door. I have done my utmost to flatter them, and they have spent all of their money at my house. A few days ago I let them pawn a purple and gold mallet with me. If they have no money to redeem it, I’ll make it into hairpins and rings. Wouldn’t that be wonderful! It just happened that some sisters invited me for drinks and sent a messenger with a donkey to fetch me. No sooner had I gotten on that donkey than he suddenly bucked; I lost my grip on the reins and fell off, injuring this delicate waist of mine. Ooh, does it hurt! Moreover, no one helped me up, and by the time I managed to struggle to my feet, the donkey had run away. I can’t catch up with it—if only someone would help me get hold of it!