by C. T. Hsia
今日悲羞歸不得
Today, grieving and ashamed, I cannot go back.
爲君一日恩
For one day of your love,
誤妾百年身
My whole life has come to ruin.
寄言癡小人家女
Foolish and trusting girls, take heed and mark my word:
慎勿將身輕許人
Do not so easily give yourself to another!
The preface of this ballad evokes the categorical judgments in the Mao prefaces in the Classic of Poetry. Despite the cautionary note at the beginning and the end, the poem is suffused with sympathy for the female protagonist. This story might have been retold in various Song-Yuan dramatic genres (now no longer extant), and it is frequently embedded as allusion in Yuan plays, including The Eastern Wall. Lines from Bai Juyi’s poem are cited in our play at the end of act 3. Minister Pei’s rebuke and Pei Shaojun’s self-justification, both citing The Book of Ritual (Liji 禮記), also echo Bai’s poem. However, our play is ultimately more interested in vindicating passion. A series of allusions to the meeting of the Weaving Maid Star and Herd Boy Star on Double Seventh and to the elopement of Zhuo Wenjun and the Han poet Sima Xiangru5 set up, respectively, the mythic and historical antecedents legitimizing the lovers’ illicit union. Whereas the sinking pitcher and the broken hairpin symbolize tragic fate and inevitable separation in Bai’s poem, they are concretized in the play here as Minister Pei’s impossible tests and vindictive persecution of Qianjin, whose frank and fearless pursuit of desire is affirmed in a final act of reconciliation wherein she is given the chance to berate her weak husband and unforgiving father-in-law.
This play, mentioned in The Register of Ghosts and Correct Sounds, is found in Anthology, Ancient Masters in Maiwang Studio Collection, and Willow Branch.6 The translation is based on Anthology, and important textual variants are explained in the notes.
ON HORSEBACK AND OVER THE GARDEN WALL
DRAMATIS PERSONAE
Role type
Name, social role
OPENING MALE
PEI XINGJIAN, president of the Ministry of Public Works
OLD FEMALE
LADY PEI, wife of PEI XINGJIAN
EXTRA
LI SHIJIE, supervisor of Luoyang
MALE LEAD
PEI SHAOJUN, son of PEI XINGJIAN
ZHANG QIAN
MALE SERVANT of the Pei family
FEMALE LEAD
LI QIANJIN, daughter of LI SHIJIE
MEIXIANG
FEMALE SERVANT of the Li family
OLD FEMALE
LADY LI, wife of LI SHIJIE
OLD FEMALE
NURSE, nurse in the Li family
STEWARD
Steward at the Pei family residence
DUANDUAN
Son of PEI SHAOJUN and LI QIANJIN
CHONGYANG
Daughter of PEI SHAOJUN and LI QIANJIN
ACT 1
(OPENING MALE dressed as Minister Pei enters leading Old Female dressed as his wife.)
MINISTER PEI (recites:)
I am full of classical learning, and poetic lines are upon me thrust,7
The sleeves of my silken gown brush up the fragrant dust.8
I sit back and enjoy fame and fortune in this life;
How did this all come about if I did not for learning strive?
I am Pei Xingjian,9 president of the Ministry of Public Works. My wife is of the Liu clan and my son’s name is Shaojun. It is now the third year of the Yifeng era under the reign of the Tang emperor Gaozong.10 When the emperor visited the Western Imperial Gardens last year he noticed that the flowers and trees were in great disarray and he was quite unable to enjoy them. I have received a command to proceed to Luoyang and obtain rare and unique flowers, irrespective of whether they belong to powerful or important families. I am to purchase seedlings at a fair price11 and at the proper time plant and graft them. Because I am well along in years now, I have submitted a memorial to the throne to allow my son, Shaojun, to accept the imperial orders and then proceed posthaste to Luoyang in my place. He has been given six days for this mission, starting from the New Year Day. My son is the blessing of my life. At the age of three Shaojun could talk, at five he could read, at seven his cursive script had the movement of clouds, and by ten he had a ready poetic wit. He possesses both talent and good looks, and the people of the capital often call him the “young handsome one,” or Shaojun.12 He is now at the capping age of twenty, has not yet taken a wife, and dallies with neither wine nor women. Nothing will go wrong when I send him on this mission—I’m going to have Zhang Qian go along and serve the young master so that he won’t get out of line on his journey, but will just buy some seedlings and bring them back for me. (Exits.)
(EXTRA dressed as Supervisor Li enters.)
SUPERVISOR LI: I am Li Shijie, descendant of Li Guang13 and kinsman of the reigning emperor.14 There are three in my family, my wife, of the Zhang clan, and my daughter, Qianjin, who is now eighteen. She is especially skilled in needlework and excels in literature and learning. Her spirit and aspirations surpass others, and her beauty is unmatched. I was formerly the defense commander of the capital but because I remonstrated with Wu Zetian,15 I was demoted to the post of supervisor of Luoyang. Formerly I discussed marriage between our children with Minister Pei, but because of my demotion, we spoke of it no further. Having been called away by my superiors, I am departing today and leaving behind my wife and daughter, who are to stay within the strict limits of the inner quarters. It won’t be too late to discuss another match after I return.16 (Exits.)
(MALE LEAD dressed as YOUNG MASTER PEI enters, leading ZHANG QIAN.)
PEI SHAOJUN: I am Pei Shaojun, son of the president of the Ministry of Public Works. From the age of three I could talk, at five I could read, at seven my cursive script had the movement of clouds, and by ten I had a ready poetic wit. I possess both talent and good looks, and the people of the capital often call me the “young handsome one.” I am now at the capping age of twenty and have not yet taken a wife. I have intimate knowledge of the classics but have no experience with women. Following imperial command, I’ve taken the post horse to Luoyang. There, I am to select rare flowers and purchase seedlings at a fair price, regardless of whether they belong to powerful or important families or come from famous and fine gardens. They will then be loaded onto carts and sent on. I shall be on my way back tomorrow. Today is the eighth day of the third month, the Shangsi Festival.17 The nobles and fine ladies of Luoyang have poured out of the city to enjoy themselves. Zhang Qian, let’s go have a look too. (Exit together.)
(FEMALE LEAD dressed as LI QIANJIN enters leading MEIXIANG.)
LI QIANJIN: I am Li Qianjin. Today is the Shangsi day and a fine day for a festival it is too. Such a beautiful spring scene!
MEIXIANG: My Lady, look at this spring day, a most enchanting scene!
QIANJIN: Meixiang, look at the beautiful maidens and talented scholars, fine ladies and noblemen painted on this screen. What a gorgeous scene it is!
MEIXIANG: How did these beautiful maidens and talented young scholars get on the screen? This could not have happened easily! (Sings:)
[Xianlü mode: Touching Up Red Lips]
Husbands and wives in earlier lives,
They have karmic bonds preordained.
Well versed in the arts,
They beg an artist to paint them onto this screen.
And he has truly captured the spirit of the immortal Fairy Island!18
MEIXIANG: Looking at this screen, My Lady is thinking of something. I’ve guessed it! She lacks a husband!
QIANJIN (sings:)
[River Churning Dragon]
If I could find a husband with romantic élan,
Why would I let him waste time learning to paint eyebrows like distant mounts?19
We would rather have the silver lamp shining on high
And hide ourselves behind brocade bed-curtains,
Like a
brace of lovebirds sleeping, deep among the lotuses,
Or a pair of phoenixes, nestling in the safety of the parasol tree.
For this precious night worth a thousand pieces of gold,20
When every moment is all too brief,
Who cares if I am alone with my coverlet and pillow, counting the long night watch?
This piece of padded brocade taking half my bed is called a lovebird quilt in vain.
MEIXIANG: When your father returns, have him look for a husband for you. Won’t that be nice?
QIANJIN (sings:)
But the man, lost and frustrated, ends up wandering in another province,
While the girl, long denied love, pines away in her secluded chamber.
MEIXIANG: You have become even thinner these last few days.
QIANJIN (sings:)
[Oily Gourd]
Why have I languished in the spring breeze, my waist ever thinner?
Without ever getting sick,
My old clothes have all become too loose.
MEIXIANG: The mistress said you should do less needlework when you’re not feeling well. That would be better than taking potions and medicines.
QIANJIN (sings:)
An affliction hard to cure, though without pain or ache,
Has made me indifferent to fine tea and fine food.
Like Qiannü’s spirit about to join her lover in a boat21
Or the Weaving Maid awaiting her tryst in yonder sky,22
I am languid these days and crave only spring slumber.
With seasonal changes I make an effort with needle and thread,
[Joy for All Under Heaven]
Only I would pick up this and forget about that.
MEIXIANG: The other day several families came to discuss marriage. Why didn’t you say anything?
QIANJIN (sings:)
My mother makes me self-conscious.
Even in a poor family, when a daughter reaches sixteen or seventeen,
No matter who comes to ask about marriage
Or to play the matchmaker,
What would you have the bashful girl say?
MEIXIANG: Today is the Shangsi Festival. Noblemen and fine ladies on their elegant horses and in their perfumed carriages are all on their way to the outskirts to enjoy themselves. Let’s go to the rear garden and look about.
QIANJIN: Meixiang, bring some paper, ink, a writing brush, and an inkstone; let’s set off. (They walk.)
QIANJIN (sings:)
[Song of the God Nezha]
I had a mind to bid spring farewell by the luxuriant grass at the pond,
But let me first find solace under the briar-rose trellis.
I will imagine myself in the caves of Fairy Island:
Stepping with my tiny feet in red embroidered shoes,
Swaying in the skirt of the river goddess, with girdle pendants chiming.23
I weave past the west of the winding fence.
[Sparrow on a Branch]
How could I miss the blossoms’ moment of glory?
Pity the fragrant petals!
Powder fades, rouge pales,
Green dims, red grows sparser.
Ninety days of springtime flee as a fleet horse through a crack.24
I fear spring’s passing and yet spring has already passed.
[Dodder]
The willows darken, enveloped in a bluish mist.
The flowers wilt, flying down like red rain.25
Now people are so like willows:
The catkins swirl and the heart is also blown to breaking;
And if willow eyebrows turn not, moth eyebrows knit tight.26
Why is the west garden suddenly in disarray?
Because the Lord of East Wind27 cares not if one is pale and wan.
[Same tune as above]
The elms scatter pods like green coins with abandon,
Plum trees urge their unripe jade fruit to become plump.
The butterflies glide along a gentle breeze,
And dragonflies disport after a passing drizzle;
Welcoming is the warm sand where the lovebirds sleep.
The fallen petals are trampled into the dirt by horse hooves,
The remaining blossoms are distilled into bee’s honey.
(PEI SHAOJUN enters riding a horse and leading ZHANG QIAN.)
SHAOJUN: I believe it when they say that Luoyang is one glorious garden.28 Never mind all the famous gardens in the city. … (He points to the flowers.) But just take a look at this garden. (He sees Qianjin and is startled.) A garden. Ah, what a beautiful maiden!
QIANJIN (sees SHAOJUN:) What a handsome young scholar! (Sings:)
[Golden Cup]
West of that picturesque bridge
I suddenly hear the neighing of a splendid steed.
Indeed, apricot blossoms blazing pink for a thousand miles
Set off a handsome face and graceful airs.29
Black boots against ornate stirrups,
A jade belt around his waist—
He is truly one who can master a proud steed,
One who can wear stylish clothes with distinction.
SHAOJUN: Look at her mist-shrouded temples and cloudlike coiffure, her delicate skin and dainty figure. Flowers bloom on her enchanting face, and stars twinkle in her eyes.30 I all but suspect she is a goddess from a celestial grotto, not a beauty from the world of man.
MEIXIANG: My Lady, listen!
QIANJIN (sings:)
[Flowers in the Rear Courtyard]
Not to mention that his starstruck eyes are looking me over up and down;
It seems he can’t wait to press against my fragrant cheeks, left and right.
Red waves will churn the brocade coverlet31
As the silken skirt turns into a mat on the ground.32
MEIXIANG: My Lady, don’t look at him. If someone were to see …
QIANJIN (sings:)
Since we are going to have a tryst
And I have set my mind on it,
What care I about myself when I love someone?
MEIXIANG: My Lady, you are looking at him, but he isn’t looking at you!
(ZHANG QIAN enters.)
ZHANG QIAN: Master, don’t stir up trouble! Let’s go looking outside the city walls.
(ZHANG QIAN urges him on.)
SHAOJUN: Two pairs of eyes are looking at each other with longing. From now on, this love sickness will have to torment me!
(ZHANG QIAN urges him on and strikes his horse.)
ZHANG QIAN: Master, let’s go!
SHAOJUN: Such a rare beauty! I’ll bet she can read. I’ll write a note to provoke her. Zhang Qian, bring a writing brush and paper. Let’s see if she understands.
SHAOJUN (writes, then speaks:) Zhang Qian, take this note and give it to that young lady.
ZHANG QIAN: Master, you are sending me, but if I were to run into someone, I would get a sound thrashing.
SHAOJUN: Let me tell you: If anyone asks, just say that we have come to buy flower seedlings and there won’t be any fuss. If you see the young lady, say that your young master told you to take this to her.
ZHANG QIAN: Master, I’m going.
SHAOJUN: If the maiden likes it, beckon me with your hand and I’ll come. If she rebukes you, wave your hand and I’ll go away.
ZHANG QIAN: I understand. (Greets Qianjin:) Young lady, would you sell some of the flower seedlings from this rear garden of yours?
MEIXIANG: Who wants to buy our flower seedlings?
ZHANG QIAN: My young master does.
(ZHANG QIAN beckons with his hand. SHAOJUN looks on.)
SHAOJUN: Thank heavens! Things are going well.
(MEIXIANG calls to her mistress.)
MEIXIANG: My Lady, those two have brought over a piece of paper. I don’t know what’s written on it. You look at it, My Lady.
QIANJIN (reads the poem out loud:)
I ask myself: might I have wandered into Wuling paradise?
By peach blossoms and flowing st
ream is one demure across the bank.
With his goddess so near, yet so far, Liu Chen is heartsick.33
For whom is she smiling as she leans against the wall?
Meixiang, bring the writing brush and paper. (She writes.)
Meixiang, I beseech you: don’t stop me. Take this poem over to that young gentleman.
MEIXIANG: My Lady, to whom do you want me to take this poem? What does the poem say? What shall I say when I see the young scholar? What should I do if I run into someone?
QIANJIN: Be good and run this errand for me.
MEIXIANG: In the past you often beat me and scolded me. Why are you beseeching me today? To whom do you want me to give this?
QIANJIN (sings:)
[Same tune as above]
You ask to whom should this love lyric be given.
I say let my poem be the matchmaker for the moment.
The bright sun shines on me as I look over the wall—
How could he gather naught but the spring breeze and on horseback return?
Just because I am afraid that others might know,
You shout to heaven and earth.
Oh, little Meixiang,
You certainly don’t make things any easier!
MEIXIANG: I’m going to take this note to your mother.
QIANJIN: Meixiang, I implore you. What would happen if you were to tell my mother?
MEIXIANG: Are you frightened?
QIANJIN: You know how frightened I am!
MEIXIANG: Are you scared?
QIANJIN: And how!
MEIXIANG: I was just teasing you.
QIANJIN: You almost frightened me to death!
(MEIXIANG delivers the note to PEI SHAOJUN.)
MEIXIANG: My mistress replies to the young master. Look at this poem.
SHAOJUN (reads the poem out aloud:)
From the boudoir’s confines I wander for the moment free,
Twirling a plum branch that my shyness half hides.
Do not betray the tryst tonight in the rear garden
When the moon above the willow top glides.
Written by Qianjin
SHAOJUN: This maiden has unsurpassed beauty and unmatched literary skill. She can be the veritable treasure in my jewel box!
