Guangzhoufu—Literally, “The Broad City”—formerly known in the West as Canton. It is also called “The City of Genii.”
Gui—Gui, musician to the Emperor Yao, must have held his office between 2357 and 2277 bce. The extract selected from one of his songs, which I have given at the beginning of the “Story of Ming Yi,” is therefore more than four thousand years old. The same chant contains another remarkable fancy, evidencing Chinese faith in musical magic:
When I unite my [musical] stone— Be it gently, be it strongly— Then do the fiercest beasts of prey leap high for joy, And the chiefs among the public officials do agree among themselves.
Haoqiu zhuan—This celebrated Chinese novel was translated into French by M. Guillard d’Arcy in 1842, and appeared under the title, Hao-Khieou-Tchouan; ou, La Femme Accomplie. The first translation of the romance into any European tongue was a Portuguese rendering; and the English version of Percy is based upon the Portuguese text. The work is rich in poetical quotations.
Heisong shezhe—“One day when the Emperor Hiuan-tsong of the Thang dynasty,” says the Daojiabingyashe, “was at work in his study, a tiny Taoist priest, no bigger than a fly, rose out of the inkstand lying upon his table, and said to him: ‘I am the Genie of ink; my name is Heisong shezhe [Envoy of the Black Fir]; and I have come to tell you that whenever a true sage shall sit down to write, the Twelve Divinities of Ink [Longping] will appear upon the surface of the ink he uses.’ ” See L’Encre de Chine, by Maurice Jametel. Paris, 1882.
Hua zhao—The “Birthday of a Hundred Flowers” falls upon the fifteenth of the second spring-moon.
Jade—Jade, or nephrite, a variety of jasper—called by the Chinese yu—has always been highly valued by them as artistic material. ... In the Book of Rewards and Punishments, there is a curious legend to the effect that Confucius, after the completion of his Xiao jing (Book of Filial Piety), having addressed himself to Heaven, a crimson rainbow fell from the sky, and changed itself at his feet into a piece of yellow jade. See Stanislas Julien’s translation, p. 495.
Jia—“House”; but especially the house of the dead—a tomb.
Jianggu ren—Literally, the “tell-old-story-men.” For a brief account of Chinese professional story-tellers, the reader may consult Schlegel’s entertaining introduction to the Maiyu langdu zhenhua gui.
Kabit—A poetical form much in favor with composers of Hindi religious chants: the kabit always consists of four verses.
Kasí (or Varanasi)—Ancient name of Benares, the “Sacred City,” believed to have been founded by the gods. It is also called “The Lotus of the World.” Barth terms it “the Jerusalem of all the sects both of ancient and modern India.” It still boasts two thousand shrines, and half a million images of divinities. See also Sherring’s Sacred City of the Hindus.
Lí—A measure of distance. The length of the lí has varied considerably in ancient and in modern times. The present estimation of a lí is approximately 1,640 feet.
Li Sao—The Dissipation of Grief, one of the most celebrated Chinese poems of the classic period. It is said to have been written about 314 bce, by Yuan Jiubing, minister to the King of Zu. Finding himself the victim of a base court-intrigue, Jiubing wrote the Li Sao as a vindication of his character, and as a rebuke to the malice of his enemies, after which he committed suicide by drowning. ... A fine French translation of the Li Sao has been made by the Marquis Hervey de Saint-Denys (Paris, 1870).
Li Shu—The second of the six styles of Chinese writing, for an account of which see William’s Middle Kingdom.… According to various Taoist legends, the decrees of Heaven are recorded in the “Seal-character,” the oldest of all; and marks upon the bodies of persons killed by lightning have been interpreted as judgments written in it. The following extraordinary tale from the Ganyingpian affords a good example of the superstition in question:
Wu Zhangzhun was Minister of State under the reign of Huizong, of the Song dynasty. He occupied himself wholly in weaving perfidious plots. He died in exile at Muzhou. Some time after, while the Emperor was hunting, there fell a heavy rain, which obliged him to seek shelter in a poor man’s hut. The thunder rolled with violence; and the lightning killed a man, a woman, and a little boy. On the backs of the man and woman were found red characters, which could not be deciphered; but on the back of the little boy the following six words could be read, written in Zhuan (antique) characters: Zi chin Zhangzhun zhen—which mean: “Child of the issue of Zhangzhun, who was a rebellious subject.”—Le Livre des Recompenses et des Peines, traduit par Stanislas Julien, p. 446.
Pagal—The ankle-ring commonly worn by Hindi women; it is also called nupur. It is hollow, and contains loose bits of metal, which tinkle when the foot is moved.
Qian—The well-known Chinese copper coin, with a square hole in the middle for stringing, is thus named. According to quality of metal it takes from 900 to 1,800 qian to make one silver dollar.
Qin—The most perfect of Chinese musical instruments, also called “the Scholar’s Lute.” The word qin also means “to prohibit”; and this name is said to have been given to the instrument because music, according to Chinese belief, “restrains evil passions, and corrects the human heart.” See Williams’s Middle Kingdom.
Qing ren—“Men of Qing.” From very ancient times the Chinese have been wont to call themselves by the names of their famous dynasties—Han ren, “the men of Han”; Tang ren, “the men of Tang,” etc. Da Qing Guo (“Great Pure Kingdom”) is the name given by the present dynasty to China—according to which the people might call themselves Qing ren, or “men of Qing.” Williams, however, remarks that they will not yet accept the appellation.
San xian—A three-stringed Chinese guitar. Its belly is usually covered with snake-skin.
Tang—The Dynasty of Tang, which flourished between 620 and 907 ce, encouraged literature and art, and gave to China its most brilliant period. The three poets of the Tang dynasty mentioned in the second story flourished between 779 and 852 ce.
“Three Councillors”—Six stars of the Great-Bear constellation (), as apparently arranged in pairs, are thus called by the Chinese astrologers and mythologists. The three couples are further distinguished as the Superior Councilor, Middle Councilor, and Inferior Councilor; and, together with the Genius of the Northern Heaven, form a celestial tribunal, presiding over the duration of human life, and deciding the course of mortal destiny. (Note by Stanislas Julien in Le Livre des Recompenses et des Peines.)
Tian xia—Literally, “Under-Heaven,” or “Beneath-the-Sky”—one of the most ancient of those many names given by the Chinese to China. The name “China” itself is never applied by the Black-haired Race to their own country, and is supposed to have had its origin in the fame of the first Qin dynasty, whose founder, Qin Shi Huangdi, built the Great, or “Myriad-Mile,” Wall, twenty-two and a half degrees of latitude in length.… See Williams regarding occurrence of the name “China” in Sanskrit literature.
Verses (Chinese)—The verses preceding “The Legend of Zhi Nü” afford some remarkable examples of Chinese onomatopoeia. They occur in the sixth strophe of Mian mian, which is the third chant of the first section of Da ya, the Third Book of the Shi jing. (See G. Pauthier’s French version.) Dr. Legge translates the strophe thus:
… Crowds brought the earth in baskets; they threw it with shouts into the frames; they beat it with responsive blows; they pared the walls repeatedly [until] they sounded strong—Sacred Books of the East; Vol. III., The She-King, p. 384.
Pauthier translates the verses somewhat differently; preserving the onomatopoeia in three of the lines. Huang-huang are the sounds heard in the timber-yards where the wood is being measured; from the workshops of the builders respond the sounds of dong-dong; and the solid walls, when fully finished off, give out the sound of bing-bing.
Xiu fan di—Literally, “the Sweeping of the Tombs”—the day of
the general worship of ancestors; the Chinese “All-Souls’.” It falls in the early part of April, the period called qingming.
Yao—“Porcelain.” The reader who desires detailed information respecting the technology, history, or legends of Chinese porcelain-manufacture should consult Stanislas Julien’s admirable Histoire de la Porcelaine Chinoise (Paris, 1856). With some trifling exceptions, the names of the various porcelains cited in my “Tale of the Porcelain-God” were selected from Julien’s work. Though oddly musical and otherwise attractive in Chinese, these names lose interest by translation. The majority of them merely refer to centers of manufacture or famous potteries: Zhouyao, “porcelains of Zhou”; Hongzhouyao, “porcelains of Hongzhou”; Ruyao, “porcelains of Ruzhou”; Dingyao, “porcelains of Dingzhou”; Geyao, “porcelains of the Elder Brother [Cang]”; Kangxi niancangyao, “porcelains of Cang made in the reign of Kangxi.” Some porcelains were distinguished by the names of dynasties, or the titles of civic office holders; such as the celebrated Chaiyao, “the porcelains of Chai” (which was the name of the family of the Emperor Shizong); and the Guanyao, or “Porcelains of Magistrates.” Much more rarely the names refer directly to the material or artistic peculiarity of porcelains—as Wuniyao, the “black-paste porcelains,” or Biseyao, the “porcelains of hidden color.” The word qi, sometimes substituted for yao in these compound names, means “vases”; as Ruqi, “vases of Ruzhou”; Guanqi, “vases for Magistrates.”
Chinese Ghost Stories Page 8
