The Lady of the Long Wall: A Ku Shih or Drum Song of China Translated from the Chinese by Genevieve Wimsatt and Geoffrey Chen (Chen Sun-Han) 9780231894982

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THE LADY OF THE LONG WALL

«This ladt], searching for her husband's bones, Cries, and the Wall is riuen" Meng Chiang N ü learns that her husband has died and been buried in the Long Wall. At her crij of despair the masonry is rent, disclosing the bones of her ill-fated lord. Meng T'ien, the Prime Minister, regards the occurrence with consternation, and prepares to report the matter to the Imperial Court.

THE LAW

OF THE LONG WÄLL j^L rh A KU SHIH OR DRUM SONG OF CHINA TRANSLATED FROM THE CHINESE BY GENEVIEVE WIMSATT AND GEOFFREY CHEN (CHEN SUN-HAN)

NEW YORK COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 1934

Printed in Germanq

Dedicated to DR. CHARLES JAMES FOX of the North China Star Tientsin / China

CONTENTS « « « INTRODUCTION I. The Life and Times of Ch'in Shih Huang Ti II. The Ku Shih, or Drum Songs, of China «

FOREWORD « CANTO I Leaving the Village « CANTO II In the Dream * CANTO in Ouernight at the Inn « CANTO IV Sighs on the Road « CANTO V Recognizing the Bones « NOTES «

INTRODUCTION i. The Life arid Times of Ch'in Shih Huang Ti ii. The Ku Shih, or Drum Songs, of China

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H ' I N Shih Huang is gone," says the Chinese prouerb, "but the Wall still stands." Stretching 1,500 miles, from Ling Tiao to Shan Hai Kuan, this gigantic streak across the cheek of Asia recalls the thought of man to the third centunj

B. C., to an era never to be forgotten in the annals of the world; for in that era, from the unpromising material of seven small and bickering states, was molded the oldest of the civilized na-

tions, China. As, by consolidating the separate kingdoms into one empire, Ch' in Shih Huang established a great nation, so by his efforts in connecting and reinforcing the scattered, ineffective barriers already existing along the northern boundaries of the country, he created that awesome bulwark in the shadow of which young China could safely gather her strength and develop her culture, secure from peril of annihilation by barbarian enemies. Legends of the Great Wall builder touch even the years before his birth in B. C. 259. Just as no account of Alexander the Great can be started until something is told of Philip of Macedonia, so before the merest outline of the First Emperor's life can be sketched there must be some slight drawing of Chuang Hsiang Wang from whom he inherited the throne of Ch'in. In the third century B. C. the seven states of Ch'in, Wei, Chao, Ch'u,Yen,Ch'i and Han, comprising collectively the Middle Kingdom, were, as usual, at war. The State of Chao, in tottering ascendency, had claimed and received hostages from defeated Ch'in. Foremost among these prisoners of war was Chuang Hsiang Wang, heir to the throne of Ch'in. 13

How drearij is a life of exile in an alien land! How long must haue been those days of waiting and uncertainty for the royal hostage detained at the court of Chao! It is not difficult to believe that Chuang Hsiang Wang was not indifferent to cordial overtures of friendship proffered by the rich merchant, Lu Pu- wei, who, to all appearances, had conceived a disinterested liking for the forlorn princeling moping in cold confinement. That Lu Pu-wei was a man of education as well as of wide experience is supported by the testimony of historical records, the Lu Shih Ch'un Ch'iu, the merchant's own chronicle, to which he was so unpolitic as to give the title, Spring and A u t u m n Annals. For this presumption in making use of the term previously employed by the Great Sage, Confucius, he has been held up to censure by Chinese critics through all succeeding generations. That Lfi Pu-wei was traveled we deduce from the nature of his calling; that he was wealthy we infer from accounts of his largess to his noble protege, Chuang Hsiang Wang, a welcomed visitor - or, perhaps, a prisoner of war - in his household. In the wealthy merchant's spreading halls there were,no doubt,luxuries and delicacies not to be found elsewhere in the war-drained territory of Chao. For Lu Pu-wei had traveled far with his caravans of merchandise, and brought back with him strange wares from remote corncrs of the earth. Is it to be marveled at that Chuang Hsiang Wang, wandering aimlessly amid his friend's treasures, and designedly allowed to catch glimpses of a fair slave girl of the household, should of his own initiative beg this glowing trifle of his generous patron ? Better informed of Lii Pu-wei's designs than was the infatuated prince, we who have skimmed Chinese history are not surprised at the merchant's easy acquiescence to his guest's request. 14

Shrewd the trader, Lu Pu-wei! Knowing Time must well repay Cost and care, he dares devise Schemes to market merchandise Rare and strange - beguileful eyes, chants the unknown author of Meng Chiang Nu, in these few lines casting his belated handful of mud at the memory of the First Emperor, taking a later fling at the reputed parents of Ch'in Shih Huang Ti - the traveling merchant and the dancing girl. Was the story true ? Was it the fabrication of later scholars bent on calumniating the Builder of the Great Wall, the Burner of the Booksi Who now shall tell us ? The tale has had a longer tenure of life than is usually granted to falsehood, for through more than a score of centuries one generation has whispered to the next that the slave girl giuen to Chuang Hsiang Wang was Lu Pu-wei's own concubine, already pregnant by her former master. In China there persists a tradition that the First Emperor was of Turkic blood. If this be so, then the foreign strain must have come to Ch'in Shih Huang through his superlatively beautiful mother, who, as concubine to the roving trader, may well have been a bargain picked up at some Turkestan outpost of trade, and brought overland by the shrewd Lu Pu-wei. Tradition makes the girl a dancer; there is little mention of native dancing girls in the literature and history of that day. Certainly, the machinations of Lu Pu-wei met with such success as seldom crowns the designs of the righteous. Hardly had the exiled prince accepted his gift-bride than the political picture dianged, and his native state of Ch'in was in a position to demand the return of her hostages. Chuang Hsiang Wang returned home to mount the throne left 15

vacant by the death of the previous ruler, bringing with him as Prime Minister his trusted benefactor, Lu Pu-ivei, and as tvife the far-famed dancing girl. W h e n , in due course of time, a son was born to the "Lady of Chao," as the stranger-queen was known in Ch'in, the king welcomed the newcomer as his heir, decreed to him the succession, and gave him the title of Prince Cheng. Regarding this series of events with retrospective eyes, we are not surprised at its culmination in the abrupt departure of the trusting Chuang Hsiang Wang to the Heavenly Abode of his Honorable Ancestors. In song and story, if not in the historical records, poison is indicated as the route leading to the tomb. So came Prince Cheng, son of the merchant and the dancing girl, to the ancient throne of Ch'in - at the early age of thirteen, so many historians claim. Guarded and watched over by the paternal Prime Minister, the new ruler established himself firmly in the royal seat before setting to work to bring the neighboring states into subjection to him. First fell Han, then Chao, the home state of the Prime Minister, followed by Wei, Ch'u, Yen and Ch'i. Before the time of conquering Ch'in there had been no Empire, only the seven small states already named. Nor was there that supreme personage, the Emperor, but in his stead a group of chiefs whose authority was as candle gleam to lightning flash compared to the authority of the Solitary Person. Having consolidated his power Prince Cheng created for himself a title befitting the dignity of his position, decreeing that henceforth he should be known as Huang Ti - two short words with the widely inclusive meaning, "Equal to the Three Divine Rulers in virtue, and to the Five Sovereigns in achievements Ch'in Shih Huang Ti! First Emperor of China, with farther reaching power than any man who had preceded him on earth , whose 16

vast empire, China, to this day echoes the little Ch'in which was his native state. Once firmly fixed in his position, and complacent in the enjoyment of his unique title, Ch'in Shih Huang Ti turned his attention to the reorganizing of the government. As he purposed being absolute ruler of his realm, announcing that "under a number of masters good government could not thrive," at one bloiv he demolished the feudal system that had molded the culture of the country through some eight hundred years, and divided the lands into thirty-six provinces, those provinces to be administered by agents directly responsible to the Throne. Noiv, the Chinese people of the third century B . C . u>ere well assured that they were the flower of an old and regnant civilization. Their form of government, feudalism, had existed for almost a thousand years, and they could conceive of no reason why it should not continue forever. There are ample grounds for believing that the contemporaries of Ch'in Shih Huang Ti were as profoundly shocked by this division of the land as might be a peaceful countryman of Sussex witnessing the partitioning of the British Empire. Yet, to these settled, civilized, conservative people befell vicissitudes that crushed into the dust the generation experiencing them and gave to the tender twig the list that still inclines the great Tree of China. No other nation, not even Russia, has suffered so radical a change of government as that which transformed Ch'in from a feudal state into an empire, and inaugurated a system under which all lands, property and life were the unquestioned possessions of the ruler. And neither earlier nor later times have beheld the execution of such works of engineering, accomplished at such a cost in life and toil. 17

Was ever government changed without criticism and resistance f r o m its men of letters i A n d do we conjecture that the early literati of China were less stiff- necked and captious than those of later days l . N o doubt Ch'in Shih Huang Ti was an irascible as well as an astute ruler, having scant patience with backward-gazing pedants. The Confucian scholars on their p a r t , b o u n d up with the feudal interests, seem to have been singularly importunate in drawing the attention of the forward-looking sovereign to the superiority of all things aforetimes, and in lauding the transcendent virtues of the Ancients. Such a state of affairs could not long endure in a realm where the land, the people, the very air was the property of the Emperor. In fact, it lasted only so long as Ch'in Shih Huang was busied with other matters. " Y o u praise the simple manners of the Ancients; yet I act in a still more simple way than did they," the harassed sovereign at length reproached his critics. Then like a m a n who having slain his lion lays down the sword to slap a mosquito f r o m his brow, ended the annoyance by ordering that all books in the kingdom, with the exception of works on medicine, divination and agriculture, should be burned, and that all recalcitrant scholars should be buried alive. For an account of this episode we rely on the well k n o w n Chinese historian, Mr. Li U n g B i n g . In his Outline of Chinese History M r . Li writes: " N o radical change can take place in China without encountering the opposition of the literati. This was no less the case then than n o w . To abolish feudalism at one stroke was a radical change indeed. Whether the change was for the better or for the worse the men of letters took no time to inquire - whatever was good 18

enough for their fathers was good enough for them and their children. They found numerous authorities in the classics to support their contentions, and these they freely quoted to show that Ch'in Shih Huang Ti was wrong. They continued to criticise the government to such an extent that something had to be done to silence the uoice of antiquity. As a consequence, an order came from the Throne directing every subject in the empire, under pain of branding and banishment, to send all the literature he possessed, except works on agriculture, medicine and diuination, to the nearest official to be destroyed by fire. As to how far this decree was enforced it is hard to say. At any rate, it exempted all libraries of the government, or such as were in the possession of a class of officials called "Po Tzu," or Learned Men. If any real damage was done to Chinese literature under the decree in question, it is safe to say it was not of such a nature as later writers would have us belieue. Still, these extreme measures failed to secure the desired end, and a number of men of letters in Han Yang, the capital, were subsequently buried alive." When Ch'in Shih Huang Ti undertook the building of the Great Wall memories of the opposition of the literati may still have rankled in his imperial mind. Knowing the story of his parentage we are somewhat puzzled at his vindictiveness in claiming for the arduous work the greater part of the merchant class; but it is easier for us to understand his satisfaction in conscripting all scholars within the realm. The Great Long Wall, built by the ruler as a defense against the Hsiung-nu, or Tartars, extends for some 1,500 English miles along what was in those days the northernmost boundary of the young empire. This barrier of the state was erected by forced labor, the workmen being conscripted, for the most part, from among 19

merchants, scholars, criminals and political suspects. It is stated that of euery home in the land where there were as many as two men dwelling, one was taken away to labor on the Wall. Echoes of the hardships of those days still come down to us. Now turn to this, mark how Ch'in Shih Huang Ti To guard the nation builds the Great Long Wall, And orders Meng T'ien to ouersee The work for speediest accomplishment. The people's wealth is drained and spent, Their strength is taxed, their energy Is sapped, the marrow of their bones Is sucked; ground by heauy toil they die. Ouer high mountain peaks the masses haul Water, and up the steep ascent Panting, they drag the heauy stones. They clamber ouer cliff and crag Euen by star-and-moonlight who dares lag? The corpses of the laborers that fall Are flung into the Wall, the bones of men Dead from hard work are piled up mountain-tall Along the way In these poignant lines bemoaning the plight of the hapless laborers we come upon a name indissolubly joined to that of Ch'in Shih Huang Ti, the name of Meng T'ien, the Prime Minister, charged with overseeing the actual construction of the Wall. Second only to the Emperor, leader of victorious armies that had enlarged the confines of the spreading empire and put the fear of Ch'in into the astonished hearts of the southern barbarians, the General had been called from conquest in Cochin-China to stiffen the national defenses against the hardier enemy to the north. 20

It is this same Mcng T'ien, so Chinese historians inform us, who, ironically enough, f o u n d leisure f r o m superintending the greatest engineering feat of all times to inuent the Chinese writing brush thus offsetting a hundredfold the depredations to literature wrought by his imperial master, and liberating writing f r o m the slauery of bamboo slabs and engrauing tools to the freedom of silk paper and ink. Ch'in Shih H u a n g Ti's reign lasted for less t h a n sixteen years. In one lifetime the uigorous ruler f o u n d time to conquer six kingdoms, enlarge the empire, b u r n the Classics, b u r y the scholars, introduce a copper coinage, construct the Palace of Delights, and send expedition after expedition into the Yellow Sea to search for mythical P eng Lai Shan, one of the three Isles of the Genii, celebrated inTaoist lore, where grew plants and herbs of magical properties. One of these expeditions, under the c o m m a n d of H s u Fu, neuer returned to p o r t ; but legend has it that the fiue hundred youths and fiue hundred maidens w h o accompanied H s u Fu on that great aduenture reached the shores of Japan after the wreck of the fleet, and became the first settlers of the islands. Yes, "Ch'in Shih H u a n g is gone, but the Wall still stands," repeats the ancient prouerb. A n d to that grisly barrier, stained with blood and sweat, long sarcophagus of w o r k m e n who,falling at their toils, were cast into the rubble between the m a s o n r y , cling hundreds of the simple songs and stories of the people, tendrils of a uine festooning with artless grace the hoary stones of a mighty b u l w a r k .

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II

HINA is treasurer of a literature accumulated and enriched through some three thousand years - but less than fiue per cent of the population can read the classics of their country. Is it then to be supposed

that the illiterate masses, those curious, keen minds, those gay and sprightly imaginations, haue been left throughout the ages deaf to the uoice of Poesy, dumb, lacking a medium of expression ? The Ku Shih beats " N o ! " During those centuries when Li T'ai-po was celebrating the Yellow Crane Terrace and Po Chii-i railing at the indulgences of the Court and the Emperor Ch'ien Lung dashing off his 3 4 , 0 0 0 uerses, the " K u Shih" of the people, like a rippling stream, flowed euer parallel with the deeper, darker riuer of academic scholarship. Handed down from father to son by word of mouth, reuised, added to, altered to suit the tastes of the singer or the mood of the audience, these ballads designed to be chanted to the beat of the drum, or, later, to the strains of the lute, recounted the exploits of long-dead heroes, and rhymed the fame of warriors and sages, fair ladies and gallant princes. To tauerns and markets, to banquets and drinking bouts came the strolling minstrels - not wholly unlike the troubadours of the Middle Ages - to chant the " K u Shih" for the delight of an unlettered people louing aboue all things a good story and a lively song. Though the " K u Shih," transmitted from singer to singer, ran uninterruptedly through the Golden Age of Chinese literature, these ballads of the lower classes were, of course, wholly ignored by the graue literati. The correct scholar would no more admit acquaintance with Drum Songs than he would confess to 22

familiarity with novels - though as lad arid as lover, no doubt, he had had fond intimacy with both. W h a t are " K u Shih" ?Nothing more than the songs of the people, metrical compositions, usually closely rhymed, often irregular in structure, and always rhythmical. " Meng Chiang N u , " a characteristic example, is a narratiue poem in fiue cantos, in irregular meter, interspersed with groups of fixed lines of seuen syllables, the whole composition being designed to accompany the beat of the drum. The seuen-syllable motif occurs again and again throughout the long poem, and at the beginning of "Canto iv" is diversified by a seven-and-three measure beat. Not until comparatiuely recently, within the last score of years in fact, when China through contact with Western culture became inoculated with the virus of folk things, haue the " K u S h i h " even been set down in writing. Now, belatedly but thoroughly, they are being dissected by natiue sauants, laden with learned comments, and brought under the magnifying glass of erudite research. These are days of swift change, and folklore and folksongs haue been welcomed into the hitherto closed ranks of studies on which the Chinese mind, investigative, profound and patient, might with dignity exercise its ingenuity. From Peking the "Folklore Investigation Society of the School of Sinological Research," through its organ, the " Folklore Weekly," now disseminates the data gathered through its efforts, information of value not only to lovers of old ballads and popular traditions, but to the strict historian as well. Through the courtesy of Mr. Arthur Hummel, Chief of the Division of Chinese Literature, at the Library of Congress, Washington, D. C., I receive permission to summarize a few paragraphs 23

dealing with this subject, and to quote extracts from his recent work, "The Autobiography of a Chinese Historian, Being the Translation of the Autobiographical Preface to the Ku Shih Pien, by Ku Chieh-kang." As data on the Drum Songs, whether in Chinese or in English, are extremely meagre, it is with sincere appreciation of the opportunity offered that I avail myself of Mr. Hummel's generosity. Mr. Ku, an historian of the modern school, is, nevertheless, a scholar deeply imbued with the spirit of the older Chinese historians, those meticulous students who ignored no chink or crevice affording insight into the past. In addition to his familiarity with orthodox and academic sources Mr. Ku is not oblivious to those flickering lights, fantastic and distorting as they sometimes may be, thrown upon the umbrageous ancient days by songs and stories that have come down through the ages merely by word of mouth. In the winter of 1921 Mr. K u discovered in the "Comprehensive History" of Cheng Chiao (1104-1162 A. D.) some slight reference to "the wife of Ch'i Liang." It was this reference that first drew his attention to the antiquity of the Méng Chiang Nü story. Later, in pursuit of his studies, Mr. K u encountered in Yao Chiheng's (late 17th century) "General Treatise on the Odes" a reference which seemed to identify the heroine of our ballad with a certain Wen Chiang mentioned in the ancient "Odes of Cheng." In the historian's own words: "I came to the conclusion that even before the rise of the story of Ch'i Liang's wife the expression 'Méng Chiang' had long served to designate beautiful women. I was astonished at the antiquity of the expression, and it aroused in me a curiosity to assemble all materials I could concerning the story 24

" M y studi] of the Meng Chiang Nu lore brought with it a clear recognition of the fact that however simple a story may have been in its inception it often underwent radical changes as the center of culture shifted from capital to capital. Such changes were conditioned by times and circumstances, by local customs and the growth of popular sentiment and imagination

Finally, I

gained a clearer conception of the historical backgrounds that underlie the various versions, and social conditions that caused different localities to attribute different meanings to the same incident." Adducing evidence in support of his conclusions Mr. Ku cites versions of the Meng Chiang N u story current in Kiangsi, Chekiang and A m o y , illustrative of the fanciful and local interpretations of the singers of these different provinces. He takes us further. " . . . Disregarding all the versions of the Meng Chiang N u episode that have come down to us in lyrical dramas and short stories, let us go back a short distance and see what the literati have left us of the incident. " T h e familiar work, 'Noted Women of Antiquity' (Lieh N u Chuan), by Liu Hsiang of the Han Dynasty, s a y s : "'The wife of Ch'i Liang went to the Great Wall and wept bitterly beside the body of her husband. Her innermost sincerity so affected the passers-by that none of them could restrain their tears. After ten days the Wall fell.' " The collection of T'ang short stories known as 'Cut Jade' quotes the following from a still earlier work: "'When Ch'i Liang died his body was incorporated in the Wall that was then being built. When Chung Tzu [another name for Meng Chiang N u ] was informed of his death she sobbed bitterly and went to the place. Facing the Wall she let forth a great cry, 25

whereupon the Wall collapsed suddenly before her eyes. The bleadied bones of many dead lay there in confusion so that they could not be distinguished one from another. Chung Tzu pricked her finger, and let the drops of blood fall on the bones, saving, 'If these be the remains of Ch'i Liang let the blood penetrate the bones!* When she came to the remains of her husband the blood actually lodged in his bones.' " I n his preface to a poem on Meng Chiang N u , a Ming Dynasty writer and eminent official, Ma Li, says: " ' M a d a m Chiang had been married but three days when her husband was conscripted for service on the Great Wall. Later on, when she was taking garments for him to wear in the cold of winter, she was told he had already been buried within the framework of the Wall. The woman then wailed frantically along the Wall until a corner of it fell to the ground. Seeing the image of her husband where the Wall fell she began at that place to search for his bones

After finding them she carried them home on

her back. When the woman reached Mt. I Chun in the district of T'ung Kuan, and was ascending the mountain she became very thirsty and wept bitterly. Thereupon a spring of sweet water burst forth, and this spot is still called Weeping Fountain. When she was too tired to run further and the pursuing officers were about to apprehend her, the mountains suddenly changed their locations, and the paths became so obscure that her pursuers were obliged to return to their quarters.' " H o w rich in mythological lore are the passages cited above! But let us compare them with the version that we find in Liu K'ai's expanded edition of 'Noted Women of Antiquity.' "'Ch'i Chih, [another name for Fan Ch'i Liang], after having been married to Meng Chiang for three days was conscripted for service 26

orí the Great Wall. As a result of long drudgery he died. His wife went to the place arid wailed aloud, whereupon the Wall fell down. Then she carried the remains home on her back, and died.' "One who looks upon Liu K'ai's account as giuing the true version of the story of MSng Chiang Nü, and so regards all traditions that haue come down to us in the lyrics, the nouels and the dramas as so much frivolous and uncanonical narration, m a y , it is true, be motivated by a laudable desire to eliminate fictitious elements from history, but, actually,he is reversing the true order of history. One who has no illusions on this matter will be able to perceive the indisputable facts of history that lie imbedded in imaginative literature, and at the same time will not be deceived by those accounts that have been laboriously compiled by learned scholars." "Méng Chiang N ü , " the Drum Song here presented to the American reader is, to the best of the translator's knowledge, the first and, so far, the only one of these ancient Chinese ballads to be translated into the English language. Genevieve Wimsatt.

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FOREWORD

S

(To the beat of the drum)

hrewd the trader, Lu Pu-wei!

1

Knowing Time must well repaij

Cost and care, he dares deuise Schemes to market merchandise

Rare and strange - beguileful eijes!

Though the greedij hand essaij " Spring and Autumn's " brush again -

2

Daring competition - when Discords and confusions rise Loathed their records pass awaij Neuer graved on hearts of men. Crime, bequeathed from age to age, Carries as its appanage Wrongs born of an elder daij; Cursed through the historic page Runs the name that all despise. Lii takes on the regal guise Rightful to the Line of Ving; Kingdoms six devouring,

3

4

Ch'in is battened great in size. " To make the kingdom firm," Meng Tzu has said, "Place no dependence upon streams and hills." But Ch'in Shih Huang, first to be heralded As Emperor of one great nation, wills To build the Wall. The white bones of the dead Lie near in heaps, the liuing flee in dread; 31

5

World-uncle have tijranni] and terror spread; To the Four Seas go streaming such rank ills That even genii iveep and demons uiail; When books are burned, and lettered men are thrust Alive into the grave, then to the dust

6

Is learning leveled, laiv and order fail When States are riuen and no Rites prevail.

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CANTO I Leaving the Village

he is a crystal holding Heauen's light A n d glints of sunmj Earth, this Mcng Chiang, The faithful ladij of Fan Ch'i Liang. Most steadfast of all those that loue the right, Alone she stands; for since her lord was reaued To labor at the Great Long Wall a blight Has lain upon her beautij; she has grieued Until her waist is like the willow wand; On her rouge-rejecting cheek Sorrou; fades the colors faint; Left unsleek, her eyebrows speak All of heart-ache, naught of paint. The East Room dream, too fleet, too fond, Fades with the night;

KJ

The bamboo screen has been hooked up; beyond The Northern Bourn her tranced thought u;ings its flight To where the wintered sun shou;s dull and slight. Wistful, she muses, "Where Is mij lord forced to bear The heauij bricks f The scholar is b u t slim

7

And frail - and who will pitvj him? His strength is slight - and who will spare The student ? Is there none to care How we maq fare f Ruthless overseers dare Roar their biddings, crack their thongs; Blows and cursings are his share Hapless, m u s t he bear these wrongs ? 35

" M q lord, why bid your wife's heart follow you Across the myriad miles f I sit alone A n d watch the shadows of the lamp imbrue The empty room with gloom. My thoughts pursue The moon-wheel's downward track. I scan the zone Edging the far sky where white clouds are rifting; The shifting wind has a u t u m n in its tone, A n d down the ancient highway, drifting, drifting, Red leaues are blown. "To wait and wait Breaks heart and hope - when will this uigil end l . I sigh for h i m , my lord of bitter fate; W h e n will that sun ascend Shining on his return f Disconsolate, I pledge m y life to seek him, though there be Outstretched to sunder us ten thousand Ii! T h o u g h downward to the Yellow Springs I fare, 8 Yet, euen there, My wish fulfilled mai) follow me." Despite her little bow-shaped shoes, despite Her tiny hose, her small teeth gleaming white, Her shapely brows, this lady's soul is bright As gold and chrysolite, Like iron is her heart. A gown of cotton for her wear, A paltry pin thrust in her hair, Her charmfulness and graces furled, 36

She goes through blowing wind and dripping rain, And under moonbeams falling on the world Slantwise and sinister. Alone to dare The road affrights her heart; ijet not in uain Has she been urgent to prepare Warm clothing for Fan Ch'i Liang to wear In winter. Neither loijaltij nor gain Will tempt a runner to the drear campaign Where stands the wall; but she herself will bear The bundle on her back! Ahead she sees The falling, withered leaues; the frosted trees Suddenly cold and cutting ueers the breeze! Maples bij the riuer's edge... From the hut of fisher folk Lonekj curls the euening smoke... Flocking wild geese in a wedge Sink obliquely toward the sedge... Broad, broad the skij - where is he now forlorn f Wide, wide the earth, and one alone must mourn. With willow waist and downcast almond eijes, Delicate, diffident, she treads the waij With lih} steps, on aching feet; her gaij 9 Kingfisher sleeues are useless when she tries 1 0 To screen her powdered face from dust and grit; Too sorrowful to lift her bright attire, She lets her girdle drag through mud and mire, Locking her brows in pain; her bundles weigh 37

Heauij and heavier as bit bij bit Her strength is spent. Ah, Ladi], thus to rain Tears to the wind but wounds the heart in uain ! She sighs, "Hs-s-s-s-si, High Heauen, on what daij Shall he again behold his natiue land* Departing for the Wall he cautioned me, '"The time of mij returning needs must be Uncertain. The Imperial Decree, The Roijal Messenger's command, W h o dares resist i A i ! Ai! Once I am dead, And mij white bones cast out upon the sand, Neuer again maij we rest head bij head On the same pillow, like the mated birds Flying in pairs! O True Wife, heed mij words; Neuer oppose what ijou can not withstand; Credit no dream that once again mav) shine The shattered mirror! Do not be misled 11 To think this pettvj property of mine Could keep ijou. Do not bring to naught The bright hopes of qour spring! Your own forethought Will tell vjou I perhaps shall find it hard To come again.' " M i j Lord, qour words were fraught With pitLj; ijet recall what kind of wife Was ijours in quiet daijs of wedded life. Haue ijou forgot our heart-to-heartedness, Matching like fish and water i Whij regard 38

ST ti ej O

t1

«

; mij lord, aliue, or dead? Not knowing this I can not rightly know Toward what end I should striue. I dream that on mij brows I still can feel The paint strokes that ijou sketched there long a g o . . . We two haue placed the harp amid the flowers In the serenity of moon-lit hours Heralding autumn's coming

Now I go

Toward the Long Wall... and will the end reueal Mij lord i Stark desolation lowers Along the road I tread, wishing in uain That ijou might come to share the euening m e a l . . . Perhaps, neuer again Shall we two steal Together up the stairs Hsi, hsi! What crime, Mij lord, did ijou commit in that dim time Before qour birth that we must bear this woec. I sigh, and rub mij bruised soles where the pain 51

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Is sharpest. N o w am I Like the small floweret, tjellow, d n j " W h e n , suddenly, the gusts of a u t u m n blow, Against m i j shoulders, red, red leaues are whirled: The saddest spot, perhaps, in all the world Is b u t the pathway where few footprints show. Deep in these woods, f r o m maple tree and oak Thick falling leaues darken the air like smoke; Sometimes I pass a newlij rifled t o m b ; Sometimes, dark footprints on the frosted bridge Spanning the freshet's spume; Sometimes I see the cock perched on the ridge A-top the rush-thatched inn and hear him crow, While in the moonlight of the court below The watch dogs bark before the wattled door; Sometimes the blackbirds to the tree tops s o a r . . . Ouer these scenes of solitude I pore, A n d one bij one theij fill mij heart with gloom." The sun has reached its high meridian, A n d still the Iadij has not broken fast; Earlij or late, she knows, the traueler can Get porridge at the uillage i n n . A t last She finds a hostel where the holder's clan Is dwelling. Here the Good Dame of the inn Notes that although the lady's traveling gear Is scant and poor, ijet is her air Gentle and elegant. 52

A typical Chinese irin of the Middle Ages Chinese Painting, 14 th Century Early Ming

By courtesy of Freer Gallery of Art

She asks, " W h a t fare, A meal or less, would ijou be served with here?" The guest replies, "Onlij what ijou prepare For euerij daq, rice gruel f r o m the pot, That is enough." She eats a frugal share Of congee, then, reuiued, she starts to blot And pat the moisture f r o m her peach bloom cheeks A n d willow brows with euerij winsome phase Of charm, and myriad shtj, engaging waijs. Watching her louehj guest the hostess speaks, " W h a t a fine Iadij! There's nobilitij About her, though there's trouble in her gaze." She questions, "Gentle Ladij, tell me where You come from, tell me where ijou think to go." Meng Chiang N u sighs as the tear drops flow, "The Long Wall is our endless enemxj! To labor at its building did theij tear Mxj husband from his home. Mij heart has striven Toward him in uain across ten thousand li, To barren hill tops haue mvj tears been giuen! Boundary wind and winter snow Chill the world; the thin smoke driuen Bij the tempest to and fro Saps the sun's enfeebled glow; 54

Laden, toujard my lord I go Bearing bundles dulls the woe Plodding onward fagged and slow Numbs the heart by sorrow riuen. As, when the stream runs dry the rocks appear, So, at the journey's end, when I draw near The Great Long Wall mij heart shall be at rest. Yet, euen this, the uncompleted quest, Is better than the aching, breaking heart, The shedding of the futile, bloody tear!" "Nonsense!" the Good Dame says. "Let be! Let be! How tramp a thousand - nay, ten thousand li! The eighth and ninth months shift the seasons cold. One body small, one pair of tiny feet, While in the mountains lurk the bandits bold, And everywhere there's crime and knauery! The wind blows straight south-west. Lady, behold, You face north-east. Your journey was begun When summer smiled, but now the autumn's done. These facts haue force to wake the sympathy Of mere on-Iookers, Lady, haue they none To wake your fears f Wherever there may be A comely woman, who will guarantee There'll spring no brigand armed with club and knife f" The pilgrim answers, "Sages all agree That of the Five Relations of this life Foremost is that between the Man and Wife. 55

18

This is, for womankind, the onlij one To hold ; the other four are not our care. I have received with glad humility Your kind instructions, and I am aware Of all these perils. Yet, caught in the snare Of this hard enterprise, mq foolish heart Can rest no more in quiet. I depart Determined that there shall be no returning (Although our meeting be beneath the ground!) Until the silken strand of loue shall wind To rest upon the paired Teals' burial m o u n d , 1 9 Or on the high crests of the Fir Trees yearning 2 0 Together with their branches intertwined." The hostess, shaken bq the ladq's pain Lets her lips quiver and her tear drops rain To see such piteous courage. "Ai!" she sobs, "For qou and qour mishaps mq old heart throbs! To change the past, whatever can we do i You m u s t not go! You can not well remain! I'd like to venture this old frame of mine, Could it avail, to come along with q o u ! For though it, also, is b u t weak, qet two Are better than one ladq all alone." Meng Chiang draws a long and trembling breath, A n d answers, "Should I dare to be the death Of one so venerable who has shown 56

Me kindness ? Such an act would ill accord With the Proprieties! Mij heart shall hoard Your mother-fondness. On some other daq When I return from searching for mij lord, All this shall I repaq." The Good Dame, seeing nothing can be done To change the ladij's purpose, goes to spread Mats for the resting place; Then these two light the lamp, and face to face Sit talking on and on. Ah, f r o m the shed The rooster crows in protest at delaij! The night-watch drums with dawn are quieted; Taking her bundle, making no more staq For rest, the ladij hastens on her waij.

57

CANTO IV Sighs on the Road

ustihj the night winds sigh, Dawn is near, ^ ^ Fresh and magical and clear; jl Fallen Ieaues 4r Frolic ouer hill and mere; Dense dew cleaues Glistening to the grasses d n j ; Stars appear Lusterless against the skij; Through the high Boughs of trees the sun-beams strike; Wanders here Meng Chiang, the pilgrim fair, Treading where Prints of h u m a n feet are rare. From the West Blows the wind her shadow-like Form m u s t breast; Tinged with blood her tears are shed Jewel-red; Up the rockij road m u s t tread Feet that wear Shoes embroidered and compressed Where to rest f In her bones aching is bred; Hsi!Hsi!Hsi! Like the faded yellow bloom Presently She m u s t meet the a u t u m n doom. How to bear 61

Killing cold, and not despair i How to dare Cutting blasts of unnter blown To the bone f Her tinij feet traverse the icij zone, Daunted bij winter's wrath she is alone Like the thin rush left shaking in the breeze. Heauij-hearted, in a daze, Staring down that road of sighs, There she sees before her ei^es Myriad mountain peaks arise Purple in the distant haze. " O h , Highest Heauen," Meng Chiang makes moan, " Mij heart is breaking, and who hears mij pleas ? W h o listens to mij p r a t e r when I complain A t this embitterment of heart and brain ? Where is the Great Long WalB" A t length, Her eijes still stinging from the squall, She girds her strength And mounts the lifting li that crawl Ouer the mountains, asking all She meets for tidings of her lord. Just now at Shan Hai Kuan, peasants aduise,

21

The Long Wall builders push the work abhorred. Glad hope and newborn cheer suffuse 62

The lady's heart at this good netus. "Then, right ahead mij high-road lies! If once again I see his face The hardships of this enterprise Will uanxsh f r o m mi} mind without a trace!" N o w t u r n to this, mark how Ch'in Shih Huang Ti To guard the nation builds the Great Long Wall, A n d orders Meng T'ien to ouersee 2 2 The work for speediest accomplishment. The people's wealth is drained and spent, Their strength is taxed, their energy Is sapped, the marrow of their bones Is sucked; ground doum bij heauij toil theij die. Ouer high mountain peaks the masses haul Water, and u p the steep ascent Panting, theij drag the heauij stones. Theij clamber ouer cliff and crag Euen bij star-and-moonlight w h o dares lagi The corpses of the laborers that fall Are flung into the Wall, the bones of men Dead f r o m hard work are piled u p mountain-tall Along the waij. Up to the Jasper Riuer 2 3 Rises the breath of bitter discontent; A shiuer shakes the earth, the Heauens quiuer Hearing the loud lament.

63

Fan Ch'i Liang, torn f r o m his native land, Conscripted in the Wall-ward driven band Of laborers, what hope is there for him i How can the m a n of letters long withstand This unremitting toil i The ending grim Must be his death before the term is past. Ai! Ai! That hence the scholar's soul is torn To track the sinking moon and trail the w h i m Of veering winds! Some fellow workmen m o u r n Their friend, and pitijing his fate forlorn B u n j his bodij in the rubble massed Between the bricks. This is a daij of rest To celebrate the bright M i d - A u t u m n Feast; From work the driven masons are released Bij the Imperial Officer's command. A n d just todaij Meng Chiang ends her quest, Reaching the bourn bij farthest frontiers spanned. Here the scene is different; Here the Long Wall girds each bleak Mountain peak to m o u n t a i n peak Where the Pass bellipotent Rears into the f i r m a m e n t . Sighing, the Iadij gazes on the view "Truhj," she muses, "can a fixed resolve 64

" This is a day of rest To celebrate the bright Mid-Autumn Feast" Ch'ang-O, the Moon Goddess, shoum gathering herbs and floujers for the Mid-Autumn Feast. An attendant Moon Sprite offers the Lunar Goddess the ceremonial scepter.

Upturn the seas and make the hills reuolue! B u t for firm heart and constant mind Who could haue found strength to pursue This road, leaving ten thousand li behind, Ascending step by step f B u t where so feu» Families dwell it may be hard to find Someone to lead me to my husband's side!" She stands perplexed, not knowing u?hat to do, When, suddenly, she sees some workers stride Straight toward the Portal. One, with countenance Weathered and sad, with clothing torn and framed, Holds spirit money.

24

"Surely, there's a chance They know him! W h y should I not ask their aid?" Meng Chiang Nii hastens her shy advance Meeting the group, and crying, "Sirs, please wait A moment!" N o w the workers check their gait, Hailing the stranger with sedate Greetings. They see that though her glance Is modest, yet her spirit is depressed; That though her cotton skirt is torn, Her clothing dusty, and rude pins of thorn Fasten her hair, yet here is manifest The stamp of one well bred and nobly born She is a crystal holding Heaven's light, With beauty graced, with gentle virtues blessed. 66

The ladij asks, "Among the men impressed To labor here luhere hill and sea unite, Sirs, does Fan Ch'i Liang toil urith the rest ? He is mij husband." Moued, the masons saij, " I t is for him that u;e haue come todaij! Because our brother Fan tuas ijoung and slight, And unaccustomed to the fag and moil Of heaoij labor he has died from toil. And since u»e fellou; luorkers could not bear To leaue his corpse exposed to sun and air, In the Long Wall lue buried him bij night. " N o w , at Mid-Autumn tuhen the builders share A feast, u?e come unth simple rite To burn our paper moneq, and attest Our friendship." While the laborers recite Their tale, theij see the lady's form recoil And drop, her almond eijes close in despair.

67

CANTO V Recognizing the Bones

"Parting from loued ones most embitters life... Close is the bond uniting m a n and wife." nee Meng Chiang hears that her lord is dead, To the Nine Heauens ranged beyond the skies Torn f r o m her breast her rauaged spirit flies. "Like the frail flower that the marchers tread, Like the pale moon bij clouds discomfited..." From choking throat break forth her stifled cries; She screams, "Ah, H u s b a n d ! " careless of the eijes Regarding her, benumbed and stupefied She crumbles to the g r o u n d ; senseless she lies Her eijes luide open fixed against the light, Staring, her peach-like m o u t h drooping and wrijed, Her red lips siluer u;hite. She stirs, she moans, "Hsi, I am slain! W h i j should High Heauen thus requite The good i Mij lord was careful to obserue All the Proprieties; there was no Rite Ignored bij h i m ; learned, he could explain The Classics; dutiful, he did not swerve From Righteousness; he studied to attain To moral excellence, and was resigned To follow all that Heauen should ordain. He knew the Sacred Books and could define Their teachings. Manij are the hearts that ijearn

n

To see Fan Ch'i Liang return To glorify his name. W h o knows that he Is vanished like a stone tossed in the sea, N o t to be seen, not to be heard again f "The rest house on the long road where we parted, His earnest words, his last farewell to me That might have moued the stonij-hearted, Can I forget i Mij lord, did tjou not saij, ' H u s b a n d and wife, like wood birds filing free, Are paired; ijet when the day Of doom has come they, too, m u s t separate. Do I not wish that m a n might be Ever triumphant, woman dear f That bonds of married unity Might never warp or terminate i Ai! Ai! In what forgotten sphere Were sinned those sins which antedate And mold the punishments which here We blindly bear to expiate Old crimes f W h a t m a n can conquer Fate i From the Long Wall there is no track By which the builder may come back. We two, I think, shall meet no more, Except as in the fortunate Dream of the Duke of Chou of yore.'

25

" N o w are fulfilled the words you spoke afore! You haue met misadventures strange and sore! 72

To w h a t horizons desolate Haue ijou called for me to commiserate Your loneli] soul i I onltj know that wide and great Stretches an emptij uniuerse; I dare N o t turn to look behind; before me where Is there a home i N o path leads on ahead; There is no roadway back ; onlij one gate Opens to m e . . . Hs-s-s-si! when I am dead There is no fear b u t that the pallid dust Of m i j blanched bones, unburied, will be whirled Bq aimless winds across the world!" The workmen, hearing Meng Chiang lament, Seeing her c n j as though her heart would break, Press forward, urging, "Ladij, onlq take A little rest, and cease qour bitter weeping!" Quicklij the ladij stills the turbulent O u t b u r s t of grief, and thanks the builders, keeping Her tears in check. "The grace that ijou haue shown In burtjing mij husband shall be scored Upon mij heart as though engraved on bone. Mij words are weak, mij woman's strength is s p e n t . . . Sirs, tell me where mij husband lies alone That I maij seek his graue." With one accord The workers weep, and saij, "Ladij, we, too, 73

Will go along and at the graue bemoan Our brother's spirit and condole with ijou." Meng Chiang Nii fastens the rain cloth straight About the pack, shoulders the heauij weight, And follows. As late autumn floods break through Wrecking their channels, so her tears are poured, Breaking her heart. Soon there beyond the Pass Along the coast she sees the rolling mass Of waters swirl itself against the blue Clouds to the uenj roof of Heauen soared. Wall and Eastern Sea unite At the shore; a thousand times On the grisli] ramp that climbs Unresisted to the height, Parapet repeats the threat Caught from farther parapet. Here bricks are piled, and ashes strew the ground, Ouer the dreari] scene the rude winds fling Deep dust, sweeping the acrid smoke to sting The eijes; bleak winter's glacial blasts confound The soul. Meng Chiang Nii cries, shuddering, "This deadly cold! What mortal could endure The rigors of this plain ? On the bleak moor Mij husband's bodij lies beneath a mound Of ijellow earth amid the autumn wood!" 74

Then to the group her eijes in question cling " B u t here, in this abandoned, barren space/' She puzzles, "Sirs, there is no sign or trace Of anij graue..." Theij answer, as sighs wring Their hearts, "Ladij, let it be understood This is Imperial Ground, a seizin place Held bij the Reigning House; who would - w h o could Dare raise a burial m o u n d i Here at the base Of the Long Wall our brother's bodij lies. Moued bi| our sense of common brotherhood, We haue deuoted to his memory A three-foot stone, white, bearing on its face Your husband's now-immortal name to be His tomb-tablet." The workers point, "Here, see, Just at this stone!" The ladij bends aboue The slab sunk at the Wall, whereon a name T h a t neither sun nor wind can quite erase, N o r grinding dust, shows mistilij. Meng Chiang's heart b u r n s with her baffled Ioue Like straw deuoured bvj flame; Against the Wall she beats her wasted frame, Crying, "Ah, Husband, whither straijs Your orphaned spirit f N o w for w h o m Has qour small wife embraced the doom 75

Of homelessness, and all these daijs Traveled the mijriad-Ii-Iong waijsi Despite the distance and the gloom, This foolish-hearted one has clung To the fond hope that through the maze She still might find her lord among The liuing. Now the urild grass plume Flickers its shadow on ijour tomb Like sunken pearl, like shattered jade, You perish, leaving me to gaze Upon a moon that mists consume, Swift-sinking stars that dull and fade, Clouds that the winds haue rent and framed! Mij world forever and foreuer Is but a lotus-pod adriftThough Fate itself had willed this gift Of meeting, now it could be - never!" *

Meng Chiang's loue and fervent purpose rise Straight from the earth and pierce the venj skies! Ai, of a truth, such constancy can swavj The Heavens, and move even Shen and Kuei. 2 6 This ladvj, searching for her husband's bones, Cries, and the Wall is riven, earth and stones! *

Startled, the Wall Official makes report Of this event to the Imperial Court. The Son of Heaven, Shih Huang Ti ; elects The ladij for his palace! 76

She rejects The s u m m o n s ! Clasping to her faithful breast Her husband's bones, she stands upon the crest Of the Long Wall - a leap, a flash, and she Is lost foreuer in the Eastern Sea!

27

«

Novu Shih Huang Ti approves her constancy, And issues an Imperial Decree For rites and ceremonies in her name, Ordering that a temple to her fame Be built close bij the uuall beyond the Portal The ladij, Meng Chiang, is an Immortal!

77

NOTES

FOREWORD "Shreu;d the trader, Lu Pu-wei!" The merchant who presented to Chuang Hsiang Wang, then a hostage at the court of Chao, a beautiful slaue who was already pregnant by her former master. This slaue girl's offspring was recognized by Chuang Hsiang Wang as his heir, and later became the First Emperor, Ch'in Shih Huang Ti. "Spring and Autumn's brush." Lu Pu-wei wrote a Spring and Autumn Annals, the "Lu Shih Ch'un Ch'iu." He is, therefore, accused of offending against the brush of the great Confucius which wrote the original Spring and Autumn Annals. "Lu takes on the regal guise Rightful to the Line of Ying." The House of Ying was ended, in fact, if not in the historical records, when the son of Lu Pu-wei and the slaue girl ascended the throne. "Kingdoms six deuouring." The six kingdoms "deuoured" by Ch'in Shin Huang Ti were Han, Chao, Wei, Ch'u, Yen, and Ch'i. "'To make the kingdom firm,' MengTzu has said." The philosopher Meng Tzu, known in the West as Mencius. "When Books are burned, and lettered men are thrust Aliue into the graue." The burning of the Books, and the burying aliue of scholars are the two great crimes with which the First Emperor is reproached by Chinese historians. CANTO I "The scholar." Students, merchants, criminals and political offenders were among the classes most heauily taxed to furnish labor for the building of the Great Wall. . "Though downward to the Yellow Springs I fare." The Yellow 81

Springs is the abode of the dead, corresponding in Chinese mythology to the Hades of the Greeks. "With lily steps, on aching feet." Meng Chiang N u undertakes this journey on bound feet, the "golden lilies" of Chinese poetry. "Kingfisher sleeues." Kingfisher feather embroidery was a highly esteemed decoration of a gentlewoman's robes. "Credit no dream that once again may shine The shattered mirror!" The broken mirror is a symbol of the separation of husband and wife. C A N T O II . L u n g Wang, "the Dragon K i n g " . The Chinese pay particular respect to four different dragons: The "T'ien L u n g , " or Heauenly Dragon; the "Shen L u n g , " or Spiritual Dragon; the "Ti L u n g , " or Earthly Dragon; the " F u Tsang Lung," or Wealth-Concealed Dragon. The " L u n g Wang" here mentioned is, most probably, the "Shen Lung," or Spiritual Dragon, who gouerns the fall of rain, the courses of streams, seas, and floods. He is a beneficent being, and is inuoked in times of drought. "Ai, Ch'ang-O, fair Lunar Queen." Ch'ang-O, the beautiful lady who stole from her lord, Shen-I, the Pellet of Immortality, and fled to the moon where she became the Lunar Queen and recciued for her dwelling the Spreading Palace of Great Cold. "Adieu to each and euery little Kuei." " K u e i " are minor demons, emanations of the "Yin," the dark or Feminine Principle of Nature. The " K u e i " serue as minions to the Deities. They are usually maleuolent, but are occasionally kindly disposed toward mortals. They must be propitiated with gifts and sacrifices.

82

CANTO III 15. " . . . u n t i l swaying grace She wavers in the wind's embrace." By the Chinese the unsteady, swaying gait of the bound-footed woman is considered superlatively graceful. 16. "I dream that on mi) brows I still can feel The paint strokes that you sketched there long ago." The painting of his lady's eyebrows was an intimate and affectionate seruice of the young Chinese husband. 17. " . . . W h a t crime, My lord, did you commit in that dim time Before your birth that we must bear this woe?" Both Meng Chiang Nii and Fan Ch'i Liang uoice the most orthodox of Buddhistic sentiments, referring the sufferings of the innocent in this life to the cause of unsuspected crime committed in a previous incarnation. 18. "Sages all agree That of the Fiue Relations of this life Foremost is that between the Man and Wife." The "Fiue Relations" are those existing between Sovereign and Minister; between Father and S o n j between Elder Brother and Younger Brother; between Husband and Wife; between Friend and Friend. 19. "...paired Teals." The "Yuan Yang" of Chinese poetry, called in the West Mandarin Ducks, or Loue Birds, are symbols of conjugal fidelity. 20. " . . . t h e Fir Trees yearning Together with their brandies intertwined." The Trees with intertwined Branches are, also, symbols of undivided loue. CANTO IV 21. "Just now at Shan Hai Kuan, peasants aduise,The Long Wall 83

builders push the work abhorred." Shan Hai Kuan is the famous Mountain-and-Sea Pass, where the Long Wall runs doum to the Eastern Sea. 22. " M e n g T ' i e n . " M e n g T ' i e n , Prime Minister to Ch'in Shih Huang Ti, was charged with overseeing the actual construction of the Wall. It is this uery General, so Chinese historians assert, who was the inuentor of the writing brush. 23. " U p to the Jasper Riuer." The Milky Way. 24. "...spirit m o n e y . " Paper m o n e y , to be burned at the graves of the dead. CANTO V 25. "Dream of the Duke of Chou." Confucius dreamed frequently of conversing with the Duke of Chou, a hero of earlier days. W h e n he ceased to dream of the Duke he was troubled, fearing his rectitude had lessened. 26. "Shen." Minor Celestial spirits, emanations of the "Yang," the Light, or Masculine Principle of Nature. 27. ". . . Clasping to her faithful breast Her husband's bones, she stands upon the crest Of the Long Wall - a leap, a flash, and she Is lost foreuer in the Eastern Sea!" Though on this point unsupported by Mr. Chen's agreement, I venture the opinion that here the continuity of the original " Ku Shih" is broken, and that the following lines are the work of some later singer. Judging by the proportions of the composition, it is m y opinion that there should be a sixth canto to complete the structure. This hypothetical matter was, perhaps, neuer finished, or it was lost sight of in the course of ages.

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T H E LADY OF T H E L O N G WALL Fiue hundred and fiftij numbered copies of this book haue been printed on Zanders paper bij the Bremer Presse, Munich, Germany. Title and Initials are designed bij Anna Simons. Copies numbered 1-480 onhj, are for sale. This is copij number

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COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY Neu; York * Foreign Agents OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS HUMPHREY MILFORD Amen House, London, E. C.