The Jade Guanyin -- Notes and Exercises

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The Jade Guanyin (《碾玉观音》)

 -- Notes and exercises

Youxuan Wang

2011-10-03

1. Characters:

Qu Xiuxiu 璩秀秀

      As the daughter of the poor owner of a picture-mounting shop (書畫裱褙店铺), the beautiful Qu Xiuxiu was skilled at embroidery. She was sold to the tempestuous Lord of Xian'an 咸安郡王 but was very unhappy about the loss of her freedom. On night, when the Lord's mansion house was on fire, she eloped with the jade-carving artisan Cui Ning 崔寧 whom she loved. Unfortunately, a year later, she was caught, taken back and beaten to death. However, her ghost returned to the human world and continued to live with her unsuspicious husband. When persecuted again, the ghost somehow revenged on man who gave tip-offs to the Lord of Xian'an. Although downtrodden as a slave, she valued freedom and felt justified in her pursuit of love and revenge.

Cui Ning 崔寧

        As the best jade-carving artisan in the provisional capital city of Lin'an, Cui Ning was very successful in his business. However, he was indecisive in his private life. He had an affection for the Qu Xiuxiu but he had no plans to buy her out even though the Lord had promised to marry him to her. He followed Qu Xiuxiu who suggested that they should run away during a fire incident. He accepted his lot after the couple were caught and taken back. He was separated from Qu Xiuxiu and was ordered to leave the capital city Lin'an Fu for his home city Jiankang Fu. On the way to Jiankang, he was joined by the ghost of Qu Xiuxiu who had already been beaten to death by the Lord. Cui Ning had no knowledge of his lover's fate, and was happy to see her back. In Jiankang, the couple kept a low profile, and lived very much in fear of being caught again. 

The Lord of Xian'an 咸安郡王      

     As a war hero in the resistance campaign against the Jurchen invaders, Han Shizhong 韩世忠had been knighted as the Lord of Xian'an. He was wealthy and powerful among the nobles. One day, as he came back from a sightseeing tour in the outskirts of the beautiful southern city of Lin'an, he caught sight of a beautiful teenage girl. He thought that the girl was the unforgettable beauty who had once appeared in his dream, and he asked one of his assistants to arrange to purchase her. He was furious when the girl ran away from the artisan Cui Ning.  A year later, the couple are caught and taken back. He ordered that the girl be beaten in the backyard of his mansion, which actually killed her. (Note that the historical figure Han Shizhong 韩世忠 was not really the type of person as the fictional character in this short story.)

Guo Li郭立

    As low-ranking officer who had devoted many years of his life to the service of the Lord. One day, the Lord entrusted him with the task of presenting a large sum of money as a gift to a friend who lived nearly a thousand miles away to the west of Lin'an Fu 临安府. On his way home after he had accomplished his mission, he met Cui Ning who was living with Qu Xiuxiu in Tan Zhou 潭州. The scared couple entertained him with wine and good food, and begged him not to report their whereabouts to the Lord. He swore that he would never betray his friends, but acted as a dutiful informant to his master onced he got back to Lin'an. A few years later, it was he again who caught sight of Qu Xiuxiu living together with Cui Ning. He was utterly confused as he knew Qu Xiuxiu had already been beaten to death. Again, he dutifully reported his encounter to the Lord. But this time, the ghost of Qu Xiuxiu seized the opportunity to revenge on the person who had betrayed her and her beloved man.

2.  Literary terms

話本                Script of a folktale. Originally, a huaben was the script a story-teller used in a public performance of story-telling; later, it evolved into the genre of vernacular fiction. 

說話               to give a public performance of story-telling.

說話人           the story-teller.

倒裝               (a rhetorical device usually used in poetry) inverted word order.

對偶/對仗       A pair of sentences which have identical syntactical structure with identical number of characters of identical part of speech for each part of the sentence, e.g.:

                                杏花初落疏疏雨，

楊柳輕搖淡淡風。

Subject	Predicate	Adverbial
NP	VP	PrepP
杏花	初落	（於）疏疏雨（中），
楊柳	輕搖	（於）淡淡風（中）。

              三杯竹葉穿心過,

兩朵桃花上臉來。

Subject		Predicate
数量	名词	动宾	补语
三杯	竹葉	穿心	過,
兩朵	桃花	上臉	來。

          時光似箭，

          日月如梭。

Subject	Predicate
名词	介詞	名詞
時光	似	箭，
日月	如	梭。

明喻               similes, a literary figure of speech which directly compares two different things,  usually by employing a preposition which signals a comparison (如 、似、像) ，e.g.: 時光似箭，日月如梭。

隐喻                metaphor, a rhetorical device in which an abstract idea is represented as something else which is more vivid and tangible, e.g.: 三杯竹葉穿心過, 兩朵桃花上臉來.

3.  General knowledge and vocabulary

3.a. Titles in place names: The difference between fu 府， and zhou 州.

(For the map of the Southern Song, click here).

The short story is set in Southern Song. The places which figure in the story were historically real. In order to appreciate the historical context of this short story, it would be helpful if we have some knowledge of the hierarchy of the local authorities under the Southern Song dynasty.

The country under the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1278) was divided into many administrative regions. 27 of these regions were called fǔ 府, 132 of them were zhōu 州，34 of them were jūn 军, and 2 of them were called jiān 监.  Here, we will focus our discussion on the difference between zhōu and fǔ since only these two types of local authorities are mentioned in the short story.

The first point we need to bear in mind is that zhou and fu mainly differ in their link with the imperial court and in their administrative functions.

In general, a region with the status of zhōu 州is a prefecture that consists of a number of counties or xiàn 縣/县. It is directly responsible to the central government. The governor of a zhou and the governor of a fu were entitled to the same privileges, but the name fǔ 府 was normally reserved for regions that had some special imperial connections. The capital city where the imperial palace was, a city where an emperor had previously lived or worked before he was enthroned, and a city which functioned as the second capital (péidū, 陪都) or provisional capital (xíngdū 行都) would be awarded the status of fǔ. Thus, Lín'ān  臨安 (the present-day Hangzhou 杭州) and Jiànkāng 建康 （the present-day Nanjing）, both of which are mentioned in Nian Yu Guanyin 《碾玉观音》, were both such places. The former was the provisional capital and the latter was previously a provisional capital of the Southern Song dynasty. 

Note that, in contexts where fǔ 府 is not used as a suffix to a place name, it is often used as a name which translates the term ‘mansion’, ‘an official’s residence’ etc.  Examples of this use of the word include "官府" (the mansion of a government official), "府上" (your highness's mansion), "郡王府" (the Lord's Mansion) etc. In the short story Nian Yu Guanyin, the mansion of the Lord of Xian'an is sometimes referred to as "郡王府".

With the terms zhou and fu explained, the place names in the following passages should no longer be confusing to you:

Taking advantage of the chaos when the Lord's mansion was on fire, Cui Ning 崔寧and Qu Xiuxiu 璩秀秀 eloped from the mansion of the Lord of Xian'an 咸安郡王. Leaving Lin'an Fu 臨安府, they travelled westwards for nearly a thousand miles and found themselves in Tan Zhou 潭州. They decided to settle down there, hoping that no one in Lin'an Fu 臨安府would find out their whereabouts. However, near the prefecture town of Tanzhou 潭州, there was a county called Xiangtan Xian 湘潭县. One day, the Lord of Xian'an 咸安郡王entrusted a soldier with the task of presenting a gift to friend who was living in Xiangtan Xian. On his journey back home after the mission was accomplished, that soldier happened to see the unlucky young couple there in Tan Zhou, which abruptly brought to an end their short-lived freedom.

When Cui Ning and Qu Xiuxiu were caught and brought back to Lin'an Fu 臨安府, Cui Ning was banned from keeping his jade-carving shop in Lin'an Fu, and was sent back to his home city Jiankang Fu 建康府. Qu Xiuxiu was beaten to death in the backyard of the Lord's mansion. Attached to the world of humans, the ghost of Qu Xiuxiu joined her beloved husband on the journey to his home town. Later, Cui Ning was somehow pardoned by the emperor himself because his skills were needed, and he came back to open his shop in Lin'an Fu again. All the while Cui Ning was unaware that he was living with a ghost until he met the soldier Guo Li 郭立 again.

Place names that appear in this short story:

Trad. Char.	Meaning
關西	某关隘以西的地方的地域名称。函谷关或潼关以西的地域的历史性称呼。
延州	the present 延安 in the modern province of Shaanxi 陕西. In the short story, this is the ancestral place of Xian’an Junwang 咸安郡王韩世忠.
延安府	the same place as Yanzhou 延州. In 1089, under the Northern Song, this place was once promoted to the status of Fu 府 via some imperial connection.
錢塘門	錢塘門是古時杭州十城門之一，始建於南宋紹興十八年(1148年)，為杭州西城門之一。
臨安府	今杭州市，南宋首都（行在）。字面意思为『臨時安家』。言外蕴含打退侵略者，还我山河，统一大宋的寓意。
行在	字面上的意思是天子「行銮驻跸（bì）的所在」，指在名义上并非帝都，但实际上是皇帝、皇宫和朝廷所在并行使首都职能的地方。被称为行在的地方是彼时全国的政治中心 。
衢州	今有衢州市，位於浙江的最西邊，錢塘江上游的衢江沿岸，浙贛鐵路線上，與安徽、福建、江西交界。
潭州	今湖南长沙。注意，宋时的潭州，并不是今日的湘潭市或湘潭县。小说中提到了湘潭县，那是今日的湘潭。
信州	相當於今中國江西省上饒市所轄的一個市轄區。
建康	今江蘇南京。
帝輦	皇帝所在的地方。用指京都。「帝輦之下，怎容你這等胡行?你卻如何謀了他小老婆，劫了十五貫錢，殺死了親夫，今日同往何處?從實招來。」

3.b. Titles of government officials and military officers

Trad. Char.	Simp. Char.	Meaning
節度使	节度使	職官名。唐代所設，掌管一道或數州的軍民要政，當時事權甚重。宋以為虛銜，元廢。簡稱為「節度」、「節使」。 Commander of a legion.
郡王	郡王	A knight or lord of a fief. As a wang 王, junwang 郡王 is different from  qinwang 亲王 (prince). The former has no biological relation with the emperor, but the latter is biologically related to the emperor either as uncle, or brother, or son, or nephew.
幫窗	帮窗	时刻守在官员车旁的侍臣。 Assistant waiting by the carriage of a high-ranking official or officer.
觀音	观音	观世音菩萨（梵文：अवलोकितेश्वर Avalokiteśvara）。
提轄官		在宋代，太尉是輔佐皇帝的最高武官。為三公之一（太尉、司徒、司空），正二品。 Military Advisor to the emperor.

3.c. Social relations, rituals etc.

Trad. Char.	Simp. Char.	Pinyin	Description
待詔	~ 诏		師傅. The master of a craft.
啟請	启请		(Verb used in a very polite request ) Please.
大夫		dàifū	先生：璩大夫。
相揖		xiāngyī	互相作揖(zuòyī)。揖：拱(gǒng)手行禮。
老拙		lǎozhuō	我 (self-reference by old man): 老拙家寒 I am poor.
拙女			my humble daughter.
貴庚?	贵庚?	guìgēng	今年多大歲數？ [Respectfully.] How old are you?
大人有何見喻？	大人有何见喻?		[Lit.] What instruction would you like to give me. [Meaning.] (a) What do you want to say to me? (b) How can I help you?
唱喏		chàngrě	古人見尊長,一面作揖，一面出聲致敬。
喏		nuò	應答聲。同「諾」。
本官		běnguān	我 (self-reference by an official when addressing someone socially inferior).
皂衫			black shirt.
渾家	浑家	húnjiā	[humbly used by the husband himself] my wife.
丈人			Father-in-law (= wife’s father).
丈母			Mother-in-law (= wife’s mother).
令愛/令女	令爱/令女		[used respectfully] your (beloved) daughter.

3.d. Miscellaneous

Trad. Char.	Simp. Char.	Pinyin	Comments
紹興年間	绍兴年间	Shàoxīng niánjiān	The Shaoxing reign period (1131-1162 AD)
茶坊			茶館 A r tea house.
裱褙鋪			裝裱店 A picture-mounting shop.
府			官署，官員辦公的地方。如：「官府」、「郡王府」。
適來	适来	shìlái	方才，刚才。
碾	碾	niǎn	雕琢、琢磨。 Carving (a jade, an  ivory) .
酒肆			酒坊, 酒店。
遺漏	遗漏	yílòu	[euphemism] to be on fire.
養娘	养娘	yǎngliáng	婢女，如丫環、乳母之類。 maid.
做生活			做生意。 to set up a business; to deal in the business of …
承攬		chénglǎn	承擔總攬。 to win a business contract.
四更			一 更 19 pm —21 pm; 二 更 21 pm —23 pm; 三 更 23 pm —1 am; 四 更 1 am —3 am ; 五 更 3 am —5 am。
番人		fān rén	少數民族或外國人。 foreigners of the neighbouring countries to the north.
一項錢			a sum of money.
參見			以一定礼节晋见上级。 to pay a respectable visit to someone who is senior in the social hierarchy.
軍令狀		jūnlìngzhuàng	written pledge to do sth, the failing of which would subject one to military punishment.
敕令/敕書			an edict.
回奏/ 奏請			an report or a plead submitted to the emperor.

4.  Exercise:

(i) Paraphrase the following statements by re-writing them in modern Chinese:

(a)   說話的，因甚說這春歸詞？

(b)   只在你身上，明日要這個人入府中來。

(c)   虞候道：“無甚事，閒問則個。適來叫出來看郡王轎子的人是令愛麽？”待詔道：“正是拙女，止有三口。”

(d)   崔寧道：“告小娘子，要和崔甯做夫妻不妨，只一件，這裏住不得了。要好趁這個遺漏人亂時，今夜就走開去，方才使得。”

(e)   不則一日，到了潭州。卻是走得遠了，就潭州市里討間房屋，出面招牌，寫著“行在崔待詔碾玉生活”。

(f)    那人是誰？卻是郡王府中一個排軍，從小伏侍郡王，見他樸實，差他送錢與劉兩府。

(ii) Tell the difference between A and B in each of the following three pairs of synonyms:

A	回	to come back (i）歌罷彩雲無覓處，夢回明月生南浦。 (ii) 至晚回家，來到錢塘門裏車橋。
B	歸	to go back 當時怕春歸去，將帶著許多鈞眷遊春。
A	尋	to look for 我從前要尋這個人，今日卻在這裏。
B	覓	to find 歌罷彩雲無覓處，夢回明月生南浦。
A	賜	to offer [on the part of a senior person to sb junior] “主上賜與我團花戰袍，卻尋甚麽奇巧的物事獻與官家？”
B	獻	to offer [on the part of junior person to someone senior “主上賜與我團花戰袍，卻尋甚麽奇巧的物事獻與官家？”

(iii)  Translation:

Provide an independent English  translation of the following passages:

(a)  不則一日，朝廷賜下一領團花繡戰袍，當時秀秀依樣繡出一件來。郡王看了歡喜道：“主上賜與我團花戰袍，卻尋甚麽奇巧的物事獻與官家？”去府庫裏尋出一塊透明的羊脂美玉來，即時叫將門下碾玉待詔，問：“這塊玉堪做甚麽？”內中一個道：“好做一副勸杯。” 郡王道：“可惜恁般一塊玉， 如何將來只做得一副勸杯？”數中一個後生，年紀二十五歲，姓崔，名寧，趨事郡王數年，是升州建康府人。當時叉手向前， 對著郡王道：“告恩王， 這塊玉上尖下圓，甚是不好，只好碾一個南海觀音。”郡王道：“好，正合我意！”

(b)  不則一日，到了潭州。卻是走得遠了，就潭州市里討間房屋，出面招牌，寫著“行在崔待詔碾玉生活”。崔寧便對秀秀道：“這裏離行在有二千餘里了，料得無事，你我安心，好做長久夫妻。”潭州也有幾個寄居官員，見崔寧是行在待詔，日逐也有生活得做。崔寧密使人打探行在本府中事。有曾到都下的，得知府中當夜失火，不見了一個養娘，出賞錢尋了幾日，不知下落。也不知道崔寧將他走了，見在潭州住。

(c)  再說崔寧兩口在建康居住，既是問斷了，如今也不怕有人撞見，依舊開個碾玉作鋪。渾家道：“我兩口卻在這裏住得好，只是我家爹媽自從我和你逃去潭州，兩個老的吃了些苦。當日捉我入府時，兩個去尋死覓活，今日也好教人去行在取我爹媽來這裏同住。”崔寧道：“最好。”便教人來行在取他丈人丈母，寫了他地理腳色與來人。到臨安府尋見他住處，問他鄰舍，指道：“這一家便是。”來人去門首看時，只見兩扇門關著，一把鎖鎖著，一條竹竿封著。問鄰舍：“他老夫妻那裏去了？”鄰舍道：“莫說！他有個花枝也似女兒，獻在一個奢遮去處。這個女兒不受福德，卻跟一個碾玉的待詔逃走了。前日從湖南潭州捉將回來，送在臨安府吃官司，那女兒吃郡王捉進後花園裏去。老夫妻見女兒捉去，就當下尋死覓活，至今不知下落，只恁地關著門在這裏。”來人見說，再回建康府來，兀自未到家。

5. Discussion questions

(a)  Analyse Qu Xiuxiu’s character in “Nian yu Guanyin” as shown in her acts of seduction, elopement and revenge. (What makes her do what she has decided to do? Please pay particular attention to her social status as a serving maid.)

(b) This story features the motif of apparition: the ghost of a dead woman comes back to the human world to seek justice. Could you please explain the religious origin of this literary device?

(c) The historical figure of Han Shizhong was a war hero in the Southern Song resistance against the Jurchen's invasion. Do you think the character of the Lord of Xian'an bears any resemblance to the historical figure?