The Plum in the Golden Vase or, Chin P'ing Mei

by Roy, David Tod

  This turned out to be one of those occasions on which,

  Something was destined to happen.

  No sooner had Yüeh-niang sprawled out on the bed than she suddenly heard the sound of a clatter as a man jumped out from inside the paper partition behind the bed. He had a pink complexion with a three-forked beard, was about thirty years old, wore a dark black hat on his head, and was dressed in a blouse and trousers of purple brocade.

  Embracing Yüeh-niang with both arms, he said, “My name is Yin T’ien-hsi, and I am the younger brother of Prefect Kao Lien’s wife. I have long heard that you are the spouse of a prominent official and are endowed with looks that entitle you to be called a national beauty. I have:

  Thought about you for a long time,

  And thirsted for a glimpse of you,

  But have lacked a way to meet you.28

  Now that I have encountered your memorable person:

  Such good fortune would suffice for three lives;

  I will find it hard to forget either dead or alive.”

  So saying, he forced Yüeh-niang back down on the bed and proposed to take his pleasure with her.

  Yüeh-niang was panic-stricken at this and called out in a loud voice:

  “The world is at perfect peace;

  The universe is shining bright.29

  How can you bring yourself to manhandle a decent person’s wife this way?”

  She attempted to make her escape, but Yin T’ien-hsi would not let her go and knelt down before her, saying, “My lady, pray be quiet, and favor me by complying with my urgent request.”

  Yüeh-niang responded to this by calling out for help, again and again, in an even more strident voice than before.

  When Lai-an and Tai-an heard this, and recognized it to be Yüeh-niang’s voice, they ran back to the sanctuary in a state of obvious agitation to look for Wu K’ai, calling out, “Brother-in-law, bestir yourself. Our mistress is in the abbot’s quarters engaged in an altercation with someone.”

  Wu Yüeh-niang Shakes Up the Temple of Iridescent Clouds

  Wu K’ai promptly made his way:

  Covering two steps with every one,

  back to the abbot’s quarters and tried to push open the door but was unable to do so.

  He heard Yüeh-niang shout out in a loud voice:

  “The world is at perfect peace,

  what do you think you’re doing trying to imprison a female pilgrim here?”

  At this, Wu K’ai called out, “Sister, don’t panic. I’m here.”

  So saying, he picked up a piece of rock and used it to smash open the door. When Yin T’ien-hsi realized that someone was on his way in, he promptly let go of Yüeh-niang and disappeared in a cloud of dust behind the bed. It so happens that Shih Po-ts’ai had set things up so that there were escape routes behind all the beds on the premises.

  When Wu K’ai managed to smash open the door to the abbot’s quarters, he asked Yüeh-niang, “Sister, did that rascal succeed in defiling you, or not?”

  “He did not manage to defile me,” said Yüeh-niang, “but the rascal got away from behind the bed.”

  Wu K’ai went out to look for Shih Po-ts’ai, but he had hidden himself away, merely sending his disciples out to deal with the situation. Wu K’ai was infuriated by these developments and ordered the servants who had accompanied him, including Tai-an and Lai-an, to smash up the doors, windows, and walls of the abbot’s quarters. He then escorted Yüeh-niang outside the Temple of the Goddess of Iridescent Clouds, where they got into their sedan chairs and set off to descend the mountain.

  It was dusk when they started out, and it took half the night before they reached their inn at the foot of the mountain before dawn and told the innkeeper, thus and so, what had happened.

  The innkeeper:

  Repeatedly expressed his dismay,30

  saying, “You ought not to have done anything to disturb that Yin T’ien-hsi. He is the younger brother of the wife of the prefect of T’ai-an and is known as Year Star Yin. After you have gone, he will take out his resentment by making trouble for us innkeepers. He will never be willing to call it quits.”

  Wu K’ai responded by giving him a tael more than the charge for their lodgings, collected their luggage, and, escorting Yüeh-niang’s sedan chair, set off as fast as they could go. Behind them, Yin T’ien-hsi, who was reluctant to let them get away, came down the mountain in hot pursuit, at the head of a bunch of twenty or thirty idlers, armed with broadswords and short sticks.

  Meanwhile, Wu K’ai and his entourage:

  Covering two stages in the time for one,31

  arrived during the fourth watch at a hollow in the hills, where they saw a light glimmering in the distance. When they approached closer, they found that it was a cavern in the rock in which an old monk was reading a sutra by candlelight.

  Wu K’ai addressed him, saying, “Master, we had gone to the summit to burn incense when we were driven away by some ruffians and forced to flee down the mountain.

  In the murky darkness of the night,32

  we have arrived here after having:

  Missed the track and lost our way.33

  Permit me to ask you, Master, what is the name of this place, and how can we get home from here?”

  “You are on the eastern spur of Mount T’ai,” the elderly monk responded, “and this cave is known as the Snow Stream Cave. I am called Ch’an Master Snow Cave, and my religious name is P’u-ching.34 I have been engaged in religious practice here for twenty or thirty years. You have been fated to encounter me here, and you ought not to proceed any further tonight. There are innumerable:

  Wild animals, tigers, and leopards,35

  on the lower slopes of the mountain. If you continue on your way early tomorrow morning, there is a highway leading straight to your home in Ch’ing-ho district.”

  “I fear those ruffians may still be pursuing us,” said Wu K’ai.

  P’u-ching took a look outside and said, “There is nothing to fear. Those ruffians, after coming halfway down the mountain, have already gone back where they came from.”

  He then asked Yüeh-niang her name, and Wu K’ai said, “This is my younger sister, the wife of Hsi-men Ch’ing. We came here in order to present incense on behalf of her deceased husband and have been fortunate enough to be rescued by you.

  Your kindness will be amply rewarded,

  We will never dare to forget it.”

  Thereupon, they proceeded to spend the rest of the night in the cavern.

  The next day, during the fifth watch, Yüeh-niang got out a bolt of muslin and offered it to the priest, but P’u-ching refused to accept it and said, “Instead of that, why don’t you allow me to induct a son of yours into the religious life so he can serve me as a disciple. How would you feel about that?”

  “My younger sister,” said Wu K’ai, “has only a single son and expects him to succeed to the family inheritance. If she should bear another son, she might be willing to let him leave the family and become a disciple of yours.”

  “My son is still an infant,” said Yüeh-niang, “and is less than a year old. He is scarcely ready for anything like that.”

  “All you need to do is promise him to me,” said P’u-ching. “I have no need for him at present, but ten years from now I may ask you for him.”

  As for Yüeh-niang:

  From her mouth no word was uttered,

  Master P’u-ching Recruits an Acolyte in Snow Stream Cave

  but she thought to herself, “Ten years from now, I can decide what to do then.”

  Consequently, she agreed to promise her son to P’u-ching.

  Gentle reader take note: She should never have promised to let her son leave the family and enter the religious life as a disciple of the priest. Ten years later, when:

  The empire was in a state of disorder,36

  Yüeh-niang took Hsiao-ko and fled to Honan province to seek refuge with Yün Li-shou, but she lost her way and encountered P’u-ching in the Temple of Et
ernal Felicity, where he spirited her son away into a life of Buddhist celibacy:

  Taking the tonsure and becoming a priest.37

  Now that this matter has been explained we will say no more about it.

  That day, Yüeh-niang and her entourage said good-bye to P’u-ching and proceeded on their way. After traveling all day, they came to a mountain that obstructed their path. This mountain was called Ch’ing-feng Mountain and presented a formidable appearance. Behold:

  From all eight sides it appears towering;

  From all four angles it looks precipitous.

  Curious-looking pines adorn its summit

  with their coiled greens;

  Branches of ancient trees are tangled

  amid their hanging vines.

  Waterfalls fly through the air,

  Assailing the senses with their chill38 and

  causing hairs to stand on end;

  Cliffs descend straight down,

  Reflecting bright light into the eyes and

  awakening the dreaming soul.

  The gurgling of the streams is audible;

  The sound of the woodman’s axe is heard.

  Peaks and summits rise up in profusion;

  The cries of the mountain birds are sad.

  Deer congregate in their swarming herds,39

  Foxes connive together in their cliques;

  Traversing the brambles as they leap

  their way back and forth,

  Seeking their prey with howls as they

  run forward and backward.

  Standing on the grassy slopes,

  As far as the eye can see there are

  no travelers’ inns;

  Traversing the mountain paths,

  On every side there are merely the

  graves of the dead.

  If this is not a place where Buddhist

  monks practice religion,

  It must be a lair from which outlaws

  commit their atrocities.40

  It so happens that this Ch’ing-feng Mountain had a stronghold called the Ch’ing-feng Stronghold located on it that housed three outlaw chieftains, one of whom was called the Brocade Tiger, Yen Shun; one of whom was called the Short-legged Tiger, Wang Ying; and one of whom was called the Palefaced Gentleman, Cheng T’ien-shou.41 They had a troop of five hundred followers serving under them who devoted themselves solely to:

  Housebreaking and highway robbery,42

  Setting fires and killing people,

  so that no one dared to interfere with them.

  On this occasion, as Wu K’ai and his entourage, riding their donkeys and escorting Yüeh-niang’s sedan chair, proceeded to make their way into the mountain, the sun had already set, and:

  In the darkness of the night,

  there were no villages or roadside inns to be seen. Just as they were becoming apprehensive about the dangers of their situation, a horse-tripping rope was thrown out that snagged Wu K’ai’s mount and tumbled him into a pit.

  It so happens that the brigands at the foot of the mountain had seen Yüeh-niang’s sedan chair and Wu K’ai’s entourage coming up the mountain slope and reported it to the three outlaw chieftains, who dispatched a bunch of brigands to seize their luggage and escort them all up to their stronghold. At the time, the three outlaw chieftains were having a drink with Sung Chiang, the hero from Shantung whose cognomen was Opportune Rain, and who had taken refuge there after slaying the singing girl Yen P’o-hsi.43 The three outlaw chieftains had invited him to stay at their stronghold for a few days.

  When Sung Chiang saw that Yüeh-niang wore a mourning cap over her chignon, was clad in plain white mourning garments, and that:

  Her deportment was upright and correct,

  And her countenance exquisitely shaped,44

  he concluded that:

  She was surely not the spouse of an ordinary person,

  But must be the dependent of a well-to-do household.

  He therefore proceeded to ask for her name.

  At this, Yüeh-niang stepped forward, bowed to him, saying, “Many felicitations,” and then addressed him with the words, “Your Highness, my maiden name is Wu, and I am the wife of the deceased Battalion Commander Hsi-men Ch’ing, for whom I am maintaining a chaste widowhood. When my husband became seriously ill, I swore an oath to come offer incense on his behalf at Mount T’ai; but when I was on the summit just a while ago I was assaulted by Yin T’ien-hsi, and we have been fleeing from him, all day and all night, in the attempt to make it safely home. How could we have anticipated that in the dark of night we would make the error of traversing the foot of this mountain of yours? We dare not expect to retrieve the saddlebags containing our luggage, but would plead with you to spare our lives. If we should succeed in returning safely home we will feel fortunate indeed.”

  When Sung Chiang observed the sad and moving tone of Yüeh-niang’s words, he felt a degree of compassion for her and, bowing to Yen Shun, said, “This lady is the wife of an official who once presided over some colleagues of mine, and:

  With whom I was slightly acquainted.45

  She came here in order to offer incense on behalf of her husband and, because she was pursued by Yin T’ien-hsi, made the mistake of trespassing on the precincts of this mountain of yours. She is a woman of courageous virtue. If you will only consent to let her go for my sake, it will allow her to preserve her integrity.”

  To this plea Wang Ying responded, saying, “Brother, since I am so unfortunate as not to have a wife of my own, you should let me take her to serve as the matron of the stronghold.”46

  So saying, he directed his subordinates to seize Yüeh-niang and escorted her back to the interior of the stronghold.

  At this, Sung Chiang turned to Yen Shun and Cheng T’ien-shou, saying, “Despite what I said, Brother Wang Ying is refusing to let me perform a good deed.”

  “This brother of ours,” said Yen Shun, “is fine enough in most respects, but he is guilty of this one fault. Whenever he sees a woman possessed of feminine beauty, he lusts after her with fire in his eyes.”

  Sung Chiang refused to drink any more wine and accompanied the other two to the interior of the stronghold, where they found Wang Ying in the act of embracing Yüeh-niang and attempting to take his pleasure with her.

  Sung Chiang strode right up to Wang Ying and, seizing him with one hand, dragged him back to the front of the stronghold, saying, “Worthy Brother, if you wish to play the role of a hero, to exhaust the very marrow of your bones47 in sexual indulgence is not the way to enhance your stature. If you wish to seek a wife, let me act as a go-between on your behalf, and I’ll secure a virtuous virgin for you, observing all the standard ritual practices, who will come and be your wife. What reason is there for you to lust after remarried goods?”

  “Brother,” responded Wang Ying, “why not let me have my way, for better or for worse, in this matter?”

  “That won’t do,” said Sung Chiang. “I, Sung Chiang, will certainly undertake to provide my worthy brother with a suitable bride in the future. The fact is that if you insist on taking this woman today, you will become a laughingstock to the denizens of the rivers and lakes. As for that rascal Yin T’ien-hsi, should I fail to be accepted by the bandit lair in Liang-shan Marsh, that will be that; but should I be accepted at Liang-shan, I will see to it that his treatment of this woman is avenged.”

  Gentle reader take note: In later days, when Sung Chiang had arrived at Liang-shan and been chosen as the chieftain of the outlaw band there, because Yin T’ien-hsi tried to appropriate the garden of Ch’ai Huang-ch’eng, the Black Whirlwind Li K’uei was dispatched to deal with the situation and not only killed Yin T’ien-hsi but went on to wreak havoc at Kao-t’ang prefecture.48 Now that this matter has been explained we will say no more about it.

  On that day, when Yen Shun heard what Sung Chiang had to say, he did not even ask for Wang Ying’s consent but ordered the chair bearers to approach and carry Yüeh-niang down the mountain.

 
When Yüeh-niang saw that she was being set free, she stepped up to Sung Chiang and bowed in appreciation, saying, “Your Highness has done me:

  The favor of saving my life.”

  “Ai-ya!” exclaimed Sung Chiang. “I am not the ruler of this mountain stronghold but am merely a sojourner from Yün-ch’eng district. It is these three chieftains to whom you should pay your respects.”

  When Yüeh-niang had finished paying her respects, with Wu K’ai escorting her, she left the mountain stronghold, got into her sedan chair, and proceeded past Ch’ing-feng Mountain along the highway to Ch’ing-ho district. Truly:

  Breaking to pieces the jade cage,

  the phoenix flies away;

  Smashing apart the metal padlock,

  the dragon breaks free.

  There is a poem that testifies to this:

  In this world the heart of man alone

  remains vile;

  In all things demanding that Heaven

  show him favor.49

  If the square inch of one’s heart is

  devoid of evil;

  Even amid wolves and tigers50 one can

  achieve success.51

  If you want to know the outcome of these events,

  Pray consult the story related in the following chapter.

  Chapter 85

  WU YÜEH-NIANG SURPRISES CHIN-LIEN IN THE ACT OF ADULTERY;

  AUNTIE HSÜEH AGREES TO SELL CH’UN-MEI ON A MOONLIT NIGHT

  The trouble of bringing up daughters is

  bound to be disillusioning;1

  To admit their husbands into the family

  is even more inappropriate.

  They may address their in-laws as parents,

  but without genuine feeling;

  They may choose to play the part of sons,

  but their acting is specious.

  On entering your home they will complain

  of receiving inadequate love;

  On leaving your household they are more