The Sing-song Girls of Shanghai

by Bangqing Han

  As the music faded, drumbeats sounded. Countless fiery balls came spinning down to encircle a dancing blue dragon that hovered in the space between the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid. The tribal drums now took over, making a sound similar to popping beans; this was echoed by the brass gongs. Out of the dragon’s mouth came dozens of moon rockets that fell to the ground like pearls of varying sizes. Yellow smoke, heavy with fragrance, came out between the scales on the dragon’s body and hung in the air for a long time. The spectators cheered.

  A moment later, the music from the gongs and drums quickened. The dragon spun its head and tail to turn a hundred somersaults. Out of nowhere, there came sprays of firelight to envelop the dragon’s entire body; it looked fierce and uncontrollable, ready to cause havoc in the great seas and rivers. The spectators’ loud cheers went on and on.

  When the sparks died down and the drums and gongs fell silent, the dragon hung still in the air, brightly lit from head to tail, every scale and claw distinct. A scroll unfolded from the little wooden box at its head, with these words written on it:

  The Emperor of Heaven has decreed

  The Cowherd and the Maid may cross the river

  To the beat of the tune “Imperial Audience” played by the musicians, the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid bowed as if acknowledging the decree. As the spectators pressed forward for a closer look, they could see that the hands and feet of the figures were just attached to a thin thread. When the dragon’s threads broke and it fell to the ground, the servant hurried over to pick it up. It turned out to be a little longer than the full height of a man, with sparks of fire not quite extinguished.

  Just then, the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid, following the imperial decree, conjured up a shooting star that flew out of their palms. It went along a fuse into the box. Now all the brass instruments burst into music, and forty-nine black magpies flew out and took up their positions in formation to make an arched bridge. Their outstretched wings made them look truly alive.

  This sight so amazed the spectators that they forgot to cheer. Instead they just pushed forward for a better look. The musicians now played on their bugles a tune resembling a wedding song, whereupon the Cowherd left his water buffalo and the Weaving Maid her loom, and they both ascended to meet beside the bridge. The two figures and the forty-nine magpies, together with the water buffalo and the loom, now burst into sprays of fireworks that looked very different from what had come before. These were in the form of bamboo leaves or orchid flowers. Flying in all directions, they were the very picture of the saying “Where fiery trees merge with silver blossoms, the bridge of the stars is unchained.”

  This was a sight that sent even the menservants jumping up and down with excitement, all their manners forgotten. The display took fully a quarter of an hour, at the end of which the two figures, the magpies, the buffalo, and the loom were clearly illuminated. Now they saw the fine features of the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid and the loving looks they gave each other as they stood together, loath to be separated.

  The closing music was again “General’s Orders.” When the music came to an end, the Cantonese craftsmen let go of the threads, and everything fluttered to the ground. All lights were extinguished, and they were once more enveloped in darkness.

  “We’ve never seen fireworks such as this!” everyone said. Harmony Qi and Dragon Ma were of course delighted. The servants opened the windows in the front court and invited everyone to return to the banquet. As the many girls summoned late to the party now took the opportunity to leave, Sunset Wei and Flora Zhang also said their farewells, and Pendant returned to her room, too. For fear of overtiring their host, many of the guests left without saying good-bye. As a result, only about a dozen people returned to the banquet. When Harmony Qi tried to summon his private theater troupe for a performance, they, too, pleaded intoxication. Since Pendant was not singing, Harmony Qi himself was not in high spirits. He told Aroma to offer each of the guests three more toasts. As she stood up, the menservants poured the drinks. Without waiting to be pressed, the guests drained their share and showed her the bottoms of their cups. After that, rice was served, and the banquet was over.

  Harmony Qi said, “I was going to drink all night with you, but tonight is a night for lovers and should not be wasted. So why don’t you retire at your pleasure, and we’ll meet another day, all right?” He then laughed loudly. A steward was waiting for him, lamp in hand, and so he saluted everyone and excused himself.

  Dragon Ma went back to the study by himself, and Elan Ge, Cloud Tao, Amity Zhu, and several relatives of Qi’s were put up elsewhere. They were accompanied on their way by servants with lanterns. Nature Shi and Iron Hua had bedrooms furnished for them in Panorama Hall, near the rooms of Second Bai and Devotion Yin. A manservant led the way, and they went upstairs with their girls. They all went to sit a while in Nature Shi’s room, where everything was brand-new. It was furnished to the last detail, including face powder jar and spittoon. Nature Shi noticed that Devotion Yin only had the virgin courtesan Green Fragrance for company. “Mr. Devotion will be lonely,” he said with a smile.

  Devotion gave Green Fragrance a pat on the shoulder. “Not at all. Our little maestro is no greenhorn.” She laughed and ran off.

  Hoping to find out more about Flora Zhang, Devotion turned to Second Treasure, but Wenjun Yao kept pestering him for an explanation of how the fireworks worked.

  “I don’t know,” he replied.

  “Was there a man hiding in the box?” she asked.

  “If there were, he’d have fallen to his death.”

  “Then how could it have looked so real?” she protested, and the others could not help smiling.

  “It was probably puppetry,” said Iron Hua.

  It still eluded her, and after thinking for a moment, she asked no more questions. A manservant brought in eight kinds of pastries from which they chose what they liked. By then, it was past midnight. The red gauze lanterns hanging under the eaves swayed, their light on the point of going out. Iron Hua, Second Bai, and Devotion Yin all retired to their rooms. The maid Tiger made the bed and waited on Nature Shi and Second Treasure as they prepared for bed; then she, too, withdrew.

  The next morning, Nature Shi woke to the chatter of sparrows in the woods. He hurriedly shook Second Treasure awake. They sat up and draped some clothes around their shoulders and then called for Tiger. Only then did they learn it was still early, but they could not very well go back to bed again, so they washed and had breakfast. Tiger spread out the toilet set to do Second Treasure’s hair. Nature Shi, who had nothing to do, went out for a stroll. As he passed Second Bai’s bedroom, he looked in only to find that neither occupant was in. He lifted the curtain and walked in. Except for the furniture, the room was quite empty; there were neither calligraphy scrolls nor ornaments. Only two items hung on the wall: a sword and a zither. The bed curtains, however, were of white silk and closely painted with plum blossoms. He could tell the work was by Devotion Yin. The blue silk panel across the front of the canopy bore calligraphy in white; it was clearly the work of Iron Hua.3 He was just reading it when he heard someone call out, “Nature, come over here.”

  He turned around and saw Devotion Yin calling from his room across the courtyard, so he walked over. Devotion, who had just got up and needed to wash, asked him to make himself comfortable.

  This room looked quite different from Second Bai’s. It was heavily decorated in gilts and brocades, with all the symbols of wealth on display. Nature Shi took no notice of this. His attention was caught by several roughly bound volumes on the desk by the window. He asked Devotion what they were.

  “Last year, Harmony printed an anthology of poems and essays called The Complete Works of Associates of the Conical Hat Garden. Some exquisite short items were left out because they didn’t quite stand on their own, you know, things like antithetical scrolls and inscriptions on the buildings, seals, short pieces on utensils, riddles posted on lanterns, compositions resulting from drinking gam
es, and so on. It seemed a pity to throw away all of it, so he told me to make another anthology, an appendix, so to speak. Now the selection’s half done, but it’s yet to go to print.”

  Nature picked up the book and turned to a section that contained compositions from drinking games. “Will those from yesterday be included?” he asked.

  “I’ve thought about that. Besides the four words ‘fish,’ ‘chicken,’ ‘wine,’ and ‘meat’ we used, there are three more possibilities: ‘rice,’ ‘lamb,’ and ‘soup.’ Altogether there can be seven words,” said Devotion Yin.

  “But does the Four Classics have ‘rice’, ‘lamb,’ and ‘soup’ in quotations with the required numbers of characters?”

  “Well, I’ve got all the necessary quotations from the Four Classics,” and he recited them all.

  Nature Shi laughed after he heard the recitation. “I bet you couldn’t sleep last night, so you spent the whole night thinking these up, right?”

  “I had no trouble sleeping,” Devotion quipped, “but I doubt if you found the time.”

  As they were talking, Second Treasure had finished her toilet. Hearing Nature’s voice, she followed him out. Devotion looked her up and down and then said with a smile, “Now somebody definitely won’t be able to sleep tonight.”

  Though she did not know what he was talking about, she knew it was directed at her, so she turned aside and murmured, “Say whatever you like.” He immediately tried to explain his remark away, but would she believe him? Nature Shi just laughed.

  A steward came to invite them to lunch, which was served in the center room of Panorama Hall. Harmony Qi and Aroma asked them to take the table of honor; the one on the humbler side was already occupied by several of Qi’s relatives. Then they saw Wenjun Yao come in. She was wearing a short blouse and matching pants and had a bag of arrows hanging at her waist and a bow on her back. Behind her came Iron Hua, White Orchid, Elan Ge, Snow Scent, Cloud Tao, Belle Tan, Amity Zhu, White Fragrance, Green Fragrance, and Second Bai. Wenjun put down her bow and arrows and sat down at the table of honor. Besides her, only Green Fragrance came over to sit by Devotion’s side.

  When all the wine cups had been filled three times and two sets of dishes had been served, Harmony Qi again asked for a drinking game.

  “We haven’t finished yesterday’s game yet,” said Second Bai.

  “Oh, but we did,” said Nature, who then repeated the quotations for “rice,” “lamb,” and “soup” that Devotion had taken from the Four Classics.

  “Is it so impossible for us to come up with eight words?” Harmony Qi asked.

  “Now, if it’s a Western meal, we can have ‘ox,’” said Devotion.

  “Come now, the ox devotes its whole life to serving humans, why place it among all these other beasts?” Second Bai asked.

  “Second Bai does have a sharp tongue, and it shoots straighter than Wenjun’s arrows,” Iron Hua said jokingly.

  Devotion Yin applauded, “Wonderful! That’s what you call ‘killing two hawks with one arrow.’”

  Nature Shi took it up: “Since we have chicken, fish, ox, lamb, all of those beasts, why don’t we include ‘hawk’ as well?”

  At first, nobody understood the joke, but after a moment’s reflection they all burst into irrepressible laughter. “Why is everybody making fun of Second Bai and Wenjun today?” they exclaimed.

  Harmony Qi stroked his whiskers and said, “Well, ‘there’s no holding back an arrow on a tightly drawn bow.’”

  Second Bai nodded in agreement. “At least the jokes are not vulgar. Do continue, everybody, it helps me to down the wine.” He poured a large cup of wine and gave it to Wenjun, saying, “You’re a hawk, too, so you should drink a cup of penalty gift as well.” At this, laughter broke out again.

  “Let’s all drink to keep her company. Consider it our punishment,” said Nature Shi and Iron Hua, upon which the servants filled everybody’s wine cups.

  Sipping at his wine, Devotion asked Second Treasure, “Can Flora Zhang hold her wine?”

  “Once you become her patron, you’ll find out; why ask?” Second Treasure replied.

  “Flora can probably match your capacity. Want to put her to the test?” Cloud Tao said.

  “Devotion can’t keep Flora Zhang out of his mind. I’m sure we’re going there later,” said Second Bai.

  Since Devotion had indeed found Flora quite to his liking, he made no rejoinder. Instead he joined everybody in two drinking games, after which the party broke up, and they took a short rest.

  It was soon dusk. Devotion invited everyone at the party to go and visit Flora Zhang. Qi’s relatives declined, while Qi himself said, “I won’t go this time. If she suits you, ask her to come back to the garden with you.”

  Devotion gave his promise. The seven men, together with their girls, each took a leather-topped carriage and went on their way. Green Fragrance managed to suppress her jealousy and rode in the same carriage with Devotion Yin. They traveled past Mud Town Bridge and headed for Fourth Avenue via the Bund. When the carriages stopped at West Civic Peace Alley, Cloud Tao and Belle Tan led the way into her house, and they all crowded into Flora Zhang’s room upstairs. Taken by surprise, Flora went around trying to get things ready, all flustered. Second Bai restrained her, saying, “Don’t bother with this pointless entertaining. Just order dinner quickly. We’ll be going back after we’ve had a bite.”

  Flora Zhang immediately had word relayed to the menservants to order dinner and set the table. Amity Zhu took the opportunity to go over to Belle Tan’s room to smoke his fill of opium with Cloud Tao, while Green Fragrance pulled impatiently at her elder sister, White Fragrance, and they walked away together.

  Out of boredom, Second Treasure, who was sitting alone, went and opened Flora’s wardrobe. She found something and beckoned to Nature Shi to come and look. It was several sets of erotic paintings. Nature handed them to Devotion Yin, who barely glanced at them before putting them down on the table, saying, “Not much good.”

  Iron Hua picked up one set that was ragged, opened it, and saw that although the colors had faded, the figures were lifelike. “This one is pretty good,” he said.

  Elan Ge, who was standing by his side, also said, “Yes, not bad at all.” It was a pity that there were only seven pictures and no seal or signature to identify the painter.

  Second Bai examined all the pictures. The first seemed to be a scene of welcome and the last a send-off. The five in between depicted one man and three women, showing the same faces in all five pictures. “These are probably scenes from some novel,” he said.

  “You’re right,” Nature Shi smiled and said. He pointed at one of the women. “Look, she looks a bit like Wenjun.” Everyone laughed and put the pictures aside. The menservants brought in hot towels, and Devotion Yin asked them to step out to the parlor where the table for dinner had been set.

  ::

  1. [The trusted personal secretary of a Chinese official was a personal adviser rather than a government employee. He was on the official’s—rather than on government—payroll. It was a position often filled by men of talent who failed the civil service examinations. Dragon Ma’s first name in Chinese—Longchi, or “the dragon in a pond”—suggests his abilities and ambition were higher and bigger than his situation in life. E.H.]

  2. [According to myth, the Cowherd and the Weaving Maid (the constellations Altair and Vega) fell in love and became derelict in their duties. This angered the Emperor of Heaven, who had them separated by the Silver River, or Milky Way. They were only allowed to meet once a year, on the seventh night of the seventh month, when magpies formed a bridge over the Milky Way. E.H.]

  3. [The different styles in which the rooms are decorated reflect the character of their occupants. Second Bai’s high opinion of himself is shown in the fact that his room contains only two choice pieces by his close friends—people comparable to him in talent. Though Iron Hua plays but a peripheral role in this story, he is presented as extremely well connected an
d talented. In Eileen Chang’s opinion, Hua is a self-portrait of the author, Han Bangqing. E.H.]

  CHAPTER 41 :: Harsh words in the boudoir kill old loyalties, and a reunion in the garden cures lovesickness

  Once the seven of them sat down around the table, a bank was set up for the finger game, and there was much noisy gaiety. Seeing how Flora Zhang tried to please Devotion in every way, Second Bai just waited until the desserts were served before he left with Nature Shi, Iron Hua, and Elan Ge, each taking his girl with him. Amity Zhu also took his leave and escorted White Fragrance and Green Fragrance home. Cloud Tao and Devotion Yin were the only ones to remain. Belle Tan and Cloud Tao knew each other so well that we need not dwell on them. Flora Zhang, taking Second Treasure’s advice to heart, behaved in an easygoing and unaffected manner and managed to give Devotion Yin great satisfaction.

  On the ninth, a servant of Harmony Qi’s came to see Tao and Yin with two invitation cards, asking them to return to the garden with their girls.

  “Please convey my thanks to Qi,” Cloud Tao said to Devotion Yin. “Cloudlet Chen has asked me out tonight, and the venue is just nearby.”

  And so Devotion Yin set out with Flora Zhang in a leather-topped carriage for Conical Hat Garden.

  Cloud Tao waited until dusk before going by sedan chair to dinner at Clever Gem’s in Co-security Alley. He happened to arrive at the same time as Lotuson Wang. They greeted each other, and each pressed the other to take precedence at the door. It so happened that Pearlie’s son was among the group of children playing at the head of the alley. When he caught sight of Lotuson Wang, he immediately ran home and rushed upstairs into Little Rouge’s room to report, “Mr. Wang is drinking at Clever Gem’s.”