A Short Note on Ch 69 of Honglou Meng

For the original Chinese text, click here.

A Short Note on Ch 69 of Honglou Meng

Youxuan Wang

2011-11-30

Author 作者

Cao Xueqin 曹雪芹 (1724-1763) was an 18^th century writer, poet and artist.

For three generations before Cao Xueqin’s time, the Cao family had connections with the imperial court. Cao’s great grandfather was the first generation Commissioner of Imperial Textile Mills in Nanking. However, the family fortunes declined in the hands of Cao Xueqin’s father’s generation. When he was a little boy, the Cao family had lost favour with the imperial court, and was reduced to utter poverty. 

Although unable to make two ends meet during much of his adulthood, Cao Xueqin had some sweet memories of a childhood when he was surrounded by servants and girls.

His novel Honglou Meng is often read as an autobiographical confession. It is deemed to be the greatest novel in the history of Chinese fiction which is a combination of myth, romance and social realism, praised for its psychological depth in the portrayal of the characters and for its social realism in the minute observations of manners.

Date of composition 創作時間

 The novel was published in 1791, some decades after the completion of the Siku quanshu 四庫全書 project – in a cultural context in which learning, scholarship and arts were florishing.

During Cao’s lifetime, the first 80 chapters of the 120-chapter novel that we have received were known to be in circulation. These chapters have been indisputably attributed to Cao.

The last 40 chapters are now generally attributed to Gao E  高鹗 (1758-1815) who was known to be an admirer of Cao Xueqin’s writing.

Setting 場景

The mansion house of the Jia 贾, an extremely wealthy family which has connections with the imperial court of an imaginary dynasty.

Main Characters in Ch. 69  人物

鳳姐	Xifeng (Hsi-Feng)	Wang Xifeng王熙鳳, wife of Jia Lian  賈璉; assistant to her husband in managing the affairs of  the Jia house.
尤二姐	Second Sister	A half-sister of Madam You 尤氏; very pretty; abandoning his humble betrothed husband Zhang Hua 張華 and aspiring to be a concubine (妾) of Jia Lian.
尤氏	Madame You (Madame Yu)	Second wife of Jia Zhen 賈珍 whose first wife has died; elder sister of Second Sister You 尤二姐.
張華	Zhang Hua	He is the betrothed husband of Second Sister 尤二姐when Jia Lian 賈璉 is having an affair with the woman.
賈母	Lady Dowager	Grandmother of Jia Lian; the highest authority in the Jia Family by virtue of seniority.
賈璉	Jia Lian	Grandson of Lady Dowager; step-son of Madam Xing 邢夫人； having an affair with Second Sister.
賈珍	Jia Zhen	Cousin of Jia Lian 賈璉; husband of Madam You 尤氏.
賈蓉	Jia Rong	Son of Jia Zhen 賈珍by the latter’s first wife.
邢夫人	Madam Xing	First daughter-in-law of Lady Dowager; step-mother of Jian Lian 賈璉.
王夫人	Madam Wang	Second daughter-in-law of Lady Dowager; paternal aunt 姑媽of Xifeng 王熙鳳.
平兒	Ping-er	Jia Lian’s concubine 妾；Xifeng’s maid-in-waiting 陪房丫鬟.
秋桐	Qiutong	Jia Lian’s newly acquired 丫鬟, aspiring to be promoted to the status of concubine; rival to Second Sister.

Synopsis of Ch 69 情節

When Wang Xifeng 王熙鳳 discovers that her husband Jia Lian 賈璉 is having an affair with You Er-jie 尤二姐 (Second Sister), half-sister of Madame You 尤氏 who is the second wife of Jian Zhen 賈珍 (Jia Lian’s cousin), she decides to get rid of her rival and also bring some embarrassment to her husband Jia Lian 賈璉.

While Jia Lian is away on business, Xifeng visits the house that her husband has bought for her rival. She persuades the woman to join the big family and formally accept the status of concubine. Second Sister moves in, and Xifeng appears to be happy, friendly and generous.

The elder female members of the family, esp. Madam Wang 王夫人 who is Xifeng’s paternal aunt 姑媽, were impressed by Xifeng’s response. Xifeng has recently got a bad reputation for being cunning and mean. Her act of 'generosity' towards to her rival is deemed to redeem her reputation.

Xifeng knows that her rival You Er-Jie has previously been betrothed to a man named Zhang Hua 張華 who comes from a humble background. Xifeng incites Zhang Hua to go to the court and demand the return of his betrothed wife. Meanwhile, she bribes the court to ensure that the accusation will never be successful. Although Zhang Hua has not managed to get back his betrothed wife, the legal case has caused some trouble to the Jia family and Jia Lian is to blame for this.

While continuing to appear happy, friendly and generous, Xifeng incites discord between Second Sister and Qiutong 秋桐, a new serving maid who aspires to be a concubine of Jia Lian. Second Sister is continually psychologically tortured by Qiutong and mentally manipulated by Xifeng. With a strong sense of indebtedness to Xifeng for her “kindness” and “generosity” and with a strong sense of regret for her inability to thank Xifeng, Second Sister commits suicide by swallowing a piece of gold.

Thus, Xifeng has got rid of her rival, “cleaned” her reputation as a mean person and revenged on her husband.

Exercises 作業

1. Vocabulary

Use the online Taiwanese dictionary 《國語辭典》 (click here) to look up new words. Create your own glossary for the selected chapter.

2. Translation

Provide your own independent translation of the following passages:

·         賈母上下瞧了一遍，因又笑問：「你姓什麼﹖今年十幾了﹖」鳳姐忙又笑說：「老祖宗且別問，只說比我俊不俊 。」賈母又戴了眼鏡 ，命鴛鴦、琥珀：「把那孩子拉過來，我瞧瞧肉皮兒。」眾人都抿嘴兒笑著，只得推他上去。賈母細瞧了一遍，又命琥珀：「拿出手來我瞧瞧。」鴛鴦又揭起裙子來。賈母瞧畢，摘下眼鏡來，笑說道：「更是個齊全孩子，我看比你俊些。」鳳姐聽說，笑著忙跪下，將尤氏那邊所編之話，一五一十細細的說了一遍，「少不得老祖宗發慈心，先許他進來，住一年後再圓房 。」賈母聽了道：「這有什麼不是。既你這樣賢良，很好。只是一年後方可圓得房。」鳳姐聽了，叩頭起來，又求賈母著兩個女人一同帶去見太太們，說是老祖宗的主意。賈母依允，遂 使二人帶去見了邢夫人等。王夫人正因他風聲不雅 ，深為憂慮，見他今行此事，豈有不樂之理 ？於是尤二姐自此見了天日 ，挪到廂房住居。

·         那賈璉一日事畢回來，先到了新房中，已竟悄悄的封鎖，只有一個看房子的老頭兒。賈璉問他原故，老頭子細說原委，賈璉只在鐙中跌足。少不得來見賈赦與邢夫人，將所完之事回明。賈赦十分歡喜，說他中用，賞了他一百兩銀子，又將房中一個十七歲的丫鬟名喚秋桐者，賞他為妾。賈璉叩頭領去，喜之不盡。見了賈母和家中人，回來見鳳姐，未免臉上有些愧色。誰知鳳姐兒他反不似往日容顏，同尤二姐一同出迎，敘了寒溫。賈璉將秋桐之事說了，未免臉上有些得意之色，驕矜之容。鳳姐聽了，忙命兩個媳婦坐車在那邊接了來。心中一刺未除，又平空添了一刺，說不得且吞聲忍氣，將好顏面換出來遮掩。一面又命擺酒接風，一面帶了秋桐來見賈母與王夫人等。賈璉心中也暗暗的納罕。

·         晚間，賈璉在秋桐房中歇了，鳳姐已睡，平兒過來瞧他， 又悄悄勸他：“好生養病，不要理那畜生。”尤二姐拉他哭道：“姐姐，我從到了這裏，多虧姐姐照應。為我， 姐姐也不知受了多少閑氣。我若逃的出命來，我必答報姐姐的恩德，只怕我逃不出命來，也只好等來生罷。”平兒也不禁滴淚說道：“想來都是我坑了你。 我原是一片癡心，從沒瞞他的話。既聽見你在外頭，豈有不告訴他的。誰知生出這些個事來。” 尤二姐忙道：“姐姐這話錯了。若姐姐便不告訴他，他豈有打聽不出來的，不過是姐姐說的在先。況且我也要一心進來，方成個體統，與姐姐何干。”二人哭了一回，平兒又囑咐了幾句，夜已深了，方去安息。

·         這裏尤二姐心下自思：「病已成勢，日無所養，反有所傷，料定必不能好。況胎已打下，無可懸心，何必受這些零氣，不如一死，倒還乾淨。常聽見人說，生金子可以墜死，豈不比上吊自刎又乾淨。」想畢，扎掙起來，打開箱子，找出一塊生金，也不知多重，恨命含淚便吞入口中，幾次狠命直脖，方咽了下去。於是趕忙將衣服首飾穿戴齊整，上炕躺下了。當下人不知，鬼不覺。到第二日早晨，丫鬟媳婦們見他不叫人，樂得且自己去梳洗。鳳姐便和秋桐都上去了。平兒看不過，說丫頭們：「你們就只配沒人心的打著罵著使也罷了，一個病人，也不知可憐可憐。他雖好性兒，你們也該拿出個樣兒來，別太過逾了，墻倒眾人推。」丫鬟聽了，急推房門進來看時，卻穿戴的齊齊整整，死在炕上。

Discussion questions 討論題

(1)                   What type of character is You Erjie as portrayed in Honglou meng? (What are her motivations for abandoning Zhang Hua for Jia Lian? Why could she not help being manipulated by Wang Xifang? Is suicide her only choice?)

(2)                   What type of character is Wang Xifeng? (Is You Er-Jie the only woman who threatens to be her rival? Why does she treat You Er-Jie differently from the way she treats Ping-er 平儿and Qiutong 秋桐? Why does Wang Xifeng want to get rid of her? What does she hope to achieve in the way she behaves to You Er-Jie?)

(3)                    Make a comment on the women’s position in society and their moral values as represented in the novel. 

Bibliography:

Hsia, C. T. ( 夏志清). “Journey to the West.” The Classic Chinese Novel. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1980. Pp. 115-164. (This book was first published by Columbia University Press in 1968).

Lu Xun ( 鲁迅). A Brief History of Chinese Fiction. Trans. Yang Hsien-yi and Gladys Yang. Beijing: Foriegn Languages Press, 1959.

For the original Chinese text, click here.