In Yangchow a high‐born lady joins the company of the Blessed. In
the tavern Yu Tsun learns more about his noble relatives.
As SOON AS OLD FENG HAD RECOVERED SOMEWHAT FROM HIS SHOCK,
he went to the door and asked the people from the yamen what they
wanted. "A certain Shih Ying is said to live here, and we have orders to
take him to the old Governor," came the answer.
"My name is Feng, but my son‐in‐law's name is Shih Ying. He no
longer lives in this town, however; he joined the wandering monks and
hermits two years ago."
"Then you must come with us instead of him," they said. And they
took old Feng along with them and brought him to the yamen of the
new Mandarin.
It was late at night when old Feng returned home to his family, who
were awaiting him anxiously. His report at once banished all their
fears and turned their sadness into joy.
"The new Mandarin's name is Chia, with the surname of Yu Tsun.
He is a native of Huchow, and in former days when he lived for a time
in Suchow he was a good friend and neighbor of my son‐in‐law, Shih
Ying," recounted old Feng. "As he was passing by our house yester‐
day in the ceremonial procession, he espied our maid Apricot standing
in the doorway. He remembered her and concluded that her former
master, Shih Ying, must live here. He wanted to renew the old friend‐
ship, so he sent his men along. He was very much distressed when I
told him of the sad fate of his former benefactor. He also inquired for
my granddaughter, and deeply regretted her disappearance. He prom‐
ised me that he would have an official search made for her whereabouts.
When I was taking leave, he gave me a present, moreover, of two
ounces of silver."
"Our new Mandarin is a friendly, affable gentleman!" was the
unanimous verdict of the family.
Early the next day messengers again arrived from the yamen. They
brought two ingots of silver and four pieces of satin for Shih Ying's
wife. The Mandarin sent them so the message ran as a small return
for the kindness he had enjoyed in her husband's house. The mes‐
sengers handed old Feng a personal note as well. In it the Mandarin
asked if he might take home the maid Apricot to be mistress of his
side‐chamber. Old Feng, who was very happy at being thus honored,
naturally gave his consent to this. In gratitude the Mandarin sent him
a hundred ounces of gold, and many more gifts for Shih Ying's wife,
and the same evening he had the maid Apricot fetched in a gay little
red sedan chair.
Lucky Apricot! Who would have thought that the two hurried glances
which she had once bestowed upon the poor student Yu Tsun while
plucking flowers in the garden should one day decide her fate? But
merely being accepted into the side‐chamber of the highly respected
Mandarin Yu Tsun was by no means the end of her good luck. A year
afterwards she bore him a little son, and when the mistress of the
principal chamber fell ill and died soon afterwards, Apricot was raised
to the rank of principal wife. It could well be said of her:
In the chance look of an eye lifelong happiness.
Here we must mention that as soon as his patron had given him
means for the journey, Yu Tsun had gone straight off to the capital,
without waiting for the lucky day which had been looked up for him
in the calendar. There he passed his examination brilliantly and gained
the third highest doctorate, chin shih, which procured him acceptance
into the "hall of silk‐blossoming talent" and entrance to public office.
He was assigned to provincial government and appointed District
Mandarin of Ta yu chow. Unfortunately, he prejudiced his career by
certain faults‐ of character. Consciousness of his unusual ability led him
to show a lamentable lack of respect towards his colleagues and su‐
periors and of consideration towards the common people. He thus made
himself equally unpopular with both his superiors and his subordinates.
After scarcely two years in office, he found himself denounced at Court.
He was accused of having arbitrarily abolished old traditional rites and
national customs; of hiding, under the mask of correctness, a wolfish
and tigerish disposition; of fomenting disorder in his area of jurisdic‐
tion and making life unbearable for the population. Thus ran the letter
of censure which his Provincial Governor submitted at Court.
The dragon face of the Son of Heaven darkened, and the Imperial
hand wrote on the margin of the letter of complaint an angry decree
relieving the accused official of his post, to the joy of his jealous col‐
leagues.
Yu Tsun bore the blow with philosophic resignation. In the past two
years he had saved enough from his salary to enable him to live a care‐
free private life for some time. Having duly handed over office to his
successor, he gave up his house, sent his wife and servants, well pro‐
vided with money, back to their families for the time being, and set
out on a great roaming tour of the country. Free of all responsibility
and care, with no other hindrance than "the wind on his shoulders, the
moonlight in his sleeves," he wished to be free for once and to travel
about for a time just wherever he wanted to, learning to know the
country and the people.
In the course of his travels he came one day to the capital of the important salt‐mining district of Yangchow. He learned that a certain
Ling Ju Hai was the newly appointed Royal Treasurer of the salt mines
there. The family of this Ling had basked in the Imperial favor from
ancient times and had been raised five generations ago to the second
class of nobility. According to the letters patent the title was to have
descended only to the third generation, but v by special Imperial favor
it had been extended to the present Lings, father and son, thus carry‐
ing it down to the fifth generation. Besides their exterior nobility the
family Ling were also endowed with the j ancient inherited fragrance
of a highly developed culture and education, and our Ling too was
not only the son of his fathers but, by his own attainments and a bril‐
liant career, had proved himself worthy of them.
He was in his fifties and was the last of his line, for apart from a
little son of three who had died recently, fate had not granted him
any male descendant despite the many concubines who filled his side‐
chambers. Only a little daughter, the delicate, precocious Tai Yu,
Black Jade, had been presented to him by his principal wife, nee Chia.
Black Jade, as an only child, was tended with exaggerated love and
care, and being intelligent and quick‐witted, was educated with the ut‐
most care, just as if she were to replace the son who was unfortunately
lacking.
Precisely at the time when Yu Tsun came to Yangchow Mr. Ling
was looking for a clever tutor for his little daughter. After all his wan‐
derings, Yu Tsun, on his side, felt a wish to follow for a change a regu‐
lar occupation which would enable him, moreover, to replenish his ex‐
hausted funds. He found the suitable sponsors in two former fellow
students whom he met by chance in his lodgings and who were well
acquainted with the treasurer of the salt mines, and thanks to their
recommendations he received the post of tutor in the Ling household.
His position was not particularly arduous and left him plenty of
free time, for his pupil was a tender creature who, owing to frequent
indispositions, could study only very irregularly. Two young waiting
maids always kept her company during her lessons.
He had thus passed two years in his quiet and pleasant post when
the mother of his pupil fell ill and died. The good child had dedicated
herself with such touching devotion to nursing her sick mother, and
after the mother's death had fulfilled the many elaborate mourning
conventions so exactly, that her already delicate health suffered seri‐
ously and the lessons had to be stopped for a long time. During this
period Yu Tsun was left to himself a great deal, and when the weather
was fine he availed of his leisure to make frequent excursion? into the
surrounding countryside.
On one of these excursions he had visited an old temple hidden in a copse outside the town, and then had found a village inn near by where
he went to refresh himself with a glass of wine. In the tavern he un‐
expectedly met an old acquaintance from the capital. He was the curio
and antique dealer Leng, with whom he had become friendly when he
had stayed in Chinling for the State examination. He esteemed Leng as
a practical businessman, and Leng esteemed him as a man of knowl‐
edge and culture. Leng was on his way back from his native place,
where he had celebrated the New Year, and had broken the journey
at Yangchow, where he was staying with a business friend for a few
days. Just by chance he too had made a trip into the country that day.
After the unexpected meeting had been duly celebrated with drinks, a
mutual exchange of news started.
"Any news from the capital?" asked Yu Tsun.
"Nothing of importance to you except perhaps that the circum‐
stances of your noble relations are beginning to chanpe."
"I do ndt know what noble relations you mean."
"I mean two princely houses who, like you, bear the family name
of Chia and therefore are of your clan; and I do not think you need
deny this relationship."
"Ah, you must mean the two houses of Ningkuo and Yungkuo?"
"Yes, exactly."
"You are right. We are in the same genealogical table. But since the
Han . dynasty the Chia clan has spread all over the provinces and so
one can no longer identify all the branches of the family. Besides, such
a great social difference separates the illustrious houses of Ningkuo and
Yungkuo from my humble person that it would be most impertinent on
my part to claim their relationship."
"I am not so sure of that. Recently the two families of Ningkuo and
Yungkuo have been going down seriously; the former splendor is be‐
ginning to diminish."
"I can scarcely credit that. Last year, when I was travelling through
Chinling, and passed along the street of which one entire side is occu‐
pied to the east by the Ningkuo palace and to the west by the Yungkuo
palace, I got an impression of the utmost splendor and greatness. Cer‐
tainly, there was not much going and coming at the gates, but inside
those great halls and single‐story pavilions everything was still in per‐
fect condition and undiminished splendor. And behind them that mag‐
nificent park, with .its cliffs and crags and fishponds and exotic plants
‐ no, that did not look in the least like decay and decline."
"Now, Doctor Know‐Ail, how can one judge just by the outside?
The centipede goes on wriggling when he's already dead. Naturally, inspite of everything, the two houses are still more splendid and imposing today than the average aristocratic home. But the difficulty of feeding so many mouths and of maintaining such a large and expensive house‐
hold in a manner becoming its rank is continually increasing. Such an
establishment needs to be wisely financed, and that is what has gone
wrong in recent times. But still more serious is the fact that the former
ability of the family is diminishing in the younger generation."
"What? Is the education of the younger generation proving at fault
in that house of ancient hereditary culture? I can hardly believe it. But
I must confess that I am not well informed about all the circumstances.
Perhaps you will have the kindness to enlighten me?"
"With pleasure. It is now five generations since the family of Chia
was raised to princely rank. It was two blood brothers who first bore
the princely title as a reward for their splendid services to the Throne,
the elder as Ningkuo Kung, Prince of the Honor of the Throne, the
younger as Yungkuo Kung, Prince of the Peace of the Throne. The
decline of the family had already begun with the grandson of the
former. He fell a victim to the folly of the Taoist heresy, devoted him‐
self to alchemy, and thought of nothing else but brewing elixirs of life
and baking vermilion pills. He lives as a hermit in the mountains in
front of the capital and allows his son Chen to hold the title in his
place. This Prince Chen, who has got a sixteen‐year‐old son, is there‐
fore the present ruler of the Ningkuo palace. But unfortunately he does
not rule worthily, for through his father's fault he was deprived of a
sensible upbringing. He lives for his humors and pleasures, and un‐
happily there is no one who dares to tell him the truth. In short, every‐
thing is going to rack and ruin in the palace of Ningkuo.
"In the palace of Yungkuo matters are somewhat better. There the
Princess Ancestress, widow of the second Prince of Yungkuo, is the
ruler. She belongs to the noble family of Shih, from the Chinling
neighborhood. The elder of her two sons, Shieh by name, the present
holder of the princely title, is a friendly, somewhat phlegmatic gentle‐
man, who likes a quiet life and does not trouble too much about the
management of the estate.
"The younger son, Cheng, on the other hand, possesses outstanding >
gifts of mind and character. He is really worthy of his illustrious pro‐
genitor and had always been his favorite. At the wish of his grand‐
father and also following his own bent, he received a sound and thorough training for the civil service. Through special Imperial favor
he was exempted from the third State examination and is now an as‐
sistant in one of the ministries.
"There are two strange incidents worthy of mention regarding the
family of this Chia Cheng. The first of his four daughters, namely a
child of his principal wife, one of the Wang family, was, strange to say,
born on the first day of the first month. But here is something still more curious: A year later Madame Cheng gave birth to a son, who came into
the world with an opalescent, crystal‐bright jade stone in his mouth!
And this stone, moreover, showed distinct traces of an inscription! The
son was therefore named Pao Yu or 'Precious Stone.' Have you ever
heard of anything more extraordinary?"
"I must confess I never have. Presumably this phenomenon points
to a remarkable future."
"That is the general opinion, and the boy is in fact the avowed
favorite of the Princess Ancestress. But just listen! According to an‐
cient custom they placed a whole lot of toys near the child on his first
birthday, in order to ascertain his gifts and his future aptitudes from
the choice which he would make. And what do you think the child
clutched at? Not at any boy's toy, mind you. Instead, he reached for
the cosmetics and powder boxes, bangles and hair ornaments ! His father
was not exactly pleased with this choice and expressed the opinion that
the boy was unlikely to grow up manly and would probably be a weak‐
ling and a dandy, and since then he has not been able to stand him.
Of course, because of this his grandmother spoils him all the more.
Now, at twelve years of age, he is a very wayward but intelligent and
precocious boy. Many astonishing utterances have already come from
his childish mouth. He said once, for instance, that it seemed to him
that females were made of water while males were made of clay; for in
feminine society he always felt revived and refreshed, whereas in male
society he felt dull and depressed. Now, what do you think of this ex‐
traordinary pronouncement? Wouldn't you say he is possessed by the
demon of lustfulness?"
"I do not know; perhaps he is misjudged," said Yu Tsun thought‐
fully. "It may be an inherited disposition, and if so, how can the boy
help it? I have come across a similar case myself. During my two
years' wandering around I happened to be tutor for some time to the
son of a Nanking family. When he had his lessons alone he was a diffi‐
cult and insufferably inattentive pupil, with whom one could do abso‐
lutely nothing. He always declared that in ‐order to be able to learn
and to concentrate, he needed girls near him; and, in fact, in the pres‐
ence of his young cousins, who lived in the same house, he was quite a different person. He would then be the best‐mannered, gentlest, most
well‐behaved boy one could imagine. The mere word 'girl' seemed to
excite an almost holy reverence in him. 'Before you utter the word
"girl" with your filthy mouth, kindly rinse it out with pure water and
perfumed tea, or else I will break your teeth and poke out your eyes!'
he used to warn his household servants and valets. When his father
thrashed him he used to cry out: 'Chieh chieh!' and l Mei mei/'
'Sister! Little sister!' When his cousins laughed at him because he was not ashamed to cry like a girl when he suffered pain, he explained to
them that the mere words chieh chieh and mei mei were a magic formula
to him which made him forget the most terrible pain. What do you
think of this strange case?"
"It is very similar to what I have told you about our Pao Yu. In the
palace of Yungkuo too there is no lack of the indispensable chieh chieh
and mei mei. Pao Yu has no less than three 'sisters' around him. The
fourth and eldest, who was given the name of Beginning of Spring be‐
cause, as I already mentioned, she was born on the first day of the first
month, no longer lives at home. As she is remarkably beautiful and
gifted, she was deemed worthy of being accepted into the Imperial
Palace for attendance on the Empress. The next in age is a daughter
of Prince Shieh arid is called Greeting of Spring. The third sister, again,
is a child of Cheng by another wife. She is called Taste of Spring. The
fourth in age is a sister of Prince Chen of the Ningkuo palace and is
called Grief of Spring. The Princess Ancestress loves to have these
three grandchildren around her. They are usually together, learn their
lessons together, and are in every way virtuous and well‐behaved young
girls."
"How, exactly, was the late wife of my present employer, Mr. Ling,
related to the families of Ningkuo and Yungkuo?"
"She was a sister of the brothers Shieh and Cheng of the Yungkuo
branch of the family."
"It is a pity she died; she was a most noble lady. And her daughter,
my pupil, is in no way inferior to her. The poor child has taken the
early death of her mother terribly to heart. Has Prince Shieh also got
sons?"
"He has two, and the younger of them, twenty‐year‐old Lien, is de‐
serving of mention. True, he has bought the rank of a subprefect, but
he avoids books and any official activity as much as possible, and has
more of a head for business matters. He has been married for the past
two years to the beautiful and clever niece of Chia Cheng's wife, one
of the Wang family, and he helps his uncle Cheng to manage the Yungkuo estate. But as a matter of fact his energetic wife, who enjoys
the greatest respect and admiration, takes a far greater part in the man‐
agement than he."
"Thank you for all this friendly information. I am now adequately
enlightened on the subject of my noble relatives. It seems to me that
many influences, both good and bad, are combined in the family."
"Whether good or bad, what does it matter to us outsiders? Let us
have another drink!"
A few more glasses were emptied, and then they set off for home.
Dusk was falling and they had to hurry to be in time before the city gates shut. On the way a man came running after them, beckoning and
shouting from quite a distance: "Congratulations, brother Yu Tsun!
Congratulations! I have been running after you half the day to bring
you good news."