Hai Jui Dismissed from Office: ASH #7 9780824891268

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HAI JUI DISMISSED FROM OFFICE

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Asian Studies at Hawaii, No. 7

HAI JUI DISMISSED FROM OFFICE by Wu Han

Translated by C.C. Huang Introductory Essay by D.W.Y. Kwok

Asian Studies Program University of Hawaii The University Press of Hawaii 1972

The Asian Studies Program of the University of Hawaii offers multidisciplinary course work leading to the bachelor's and master's degrees in East Asian, Southeast Asian, and South Asian Studies.

In addition, it encourages research and

scholarly projects related to Asia.

Many departments of the

University of Hawaii award advanced degrees for studies dealing with Asia.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 74-188982 ISBN 0-8248-0215-2 Copyright (c) 1972 by Asian Studies Program, University of Hawaii All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America

CONTENTS

Foreword Introductory Essay

vii Wu Han: The Case of the Mulberry and the Ash by D. W. Y. Kwok

1

Translator's Note

28

Preface

30

Synopsis

by Wu Han

THE PLAY

Hai Jui Dismissed

43 from

Office Act I

The People's Indignation. . .

53

Act II

Trial

64

Act III

Taking Office

74

Act IV

Meeting with Hsu Chieh. . . .

85

Act V

Mother's Instructions . . . .

96

Act VI

Judgment

104

Act VII

Begging for Mercy

121

Act VIII

Counter-attack

130

Act IX

Dismissal from Office . . . .

138

FOREWORD

The Publications Committee of the University of Hawaii's Asian Studies Program is pleased to make available Professor C. C. Huang's translation of Wu Han's important play, Hai Jui dismissed from Office.

Professor Huang of the University

of Kansas was visiting professor of East Asian literature at the University of Hawaii in 1969-1970 when his translation, which had been done some years earlier, came to our attention.

The liveliness and accuracy of his work not only per-

suaded us to undertake its publication, but also strengthened our resolve to continue the project when the appearance of another published translation had caused us to hesitate.* To place Wu Han's play in its historical and literary context and to analyze its role in touching off the Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution, Professor D. W. Y. Kwok has written an introductory essay entitled "Wu Han: The Case of the Mulberry and the Ash."

Professor Kwok is Director of

* Cllve Ansley, The Heresy of Wu Han: His Play 'Hai Jui's Dismissal' and Its Role in China's Cultural Revolution. Toronto and Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1971

the A s i a n Studies Program at the University of Hawaii and a historian of Chinese culture.

In addition to the immediate

and permanent values of the play that are discussed in Professor Kwok's essay, it should be noted that the translation of Wu Han's play will serve as a useful learning tool to students of Chinese language and literature.

The Chinese text

is not reproduced here but is readily available through various Hong Kong bookstores. On behalf of the Publications Committee I wish to thank Professors Huang and Kwok for including in our series, the fruits of their scholarship.

As the seventh in our series,

this publication continues the tradition of making some of the Asia-centered activities of the University of Hawaii, available to a wider audience.

ROBERT VAN NIEL Professor of History

"Wu Han: The Case of the Mulberry and the Ash"

Introductory Essay by D.W.Y. Kwok

Hai Jui pa-kuan (The Dismissal of Hai Jui), a historical play, was something of a success when it was first per1 formed on the Peking operatic stage in February 1961.

Most

of the ingredients for this moderate success were there: the popular theme of an incorruptible official alleviating the burdens of a people menaced by capricious officialdom; performance by the Peking Opera Troupe directed by the veteran and much-admired Ma Lien-liang; and material proposed by Wu Han, noted historian and professor who was, at the time, deputy mayor of Peking. Yet the play was suspended after a few performances. On November 10, 1965, a frontal assault upon the play and Wu Han appeared in the Shanghai Wen-hui pao, a vehicle of past stormy battles over politics and literature.

Yao Wen-yuan,

2

author of this attack entitled "A Criticism of the New His3 torical Play 'The Dismissal of Hai Jui,"

is a carefully

produced critic for the Party's Central Propaganda Bureau. He gained fame in a 1960 purge and along with Li Hsi-fan toppled Yu P'ing-po, the great authority on the Dream of the Red Chamber.

Together they are known as "northern Li and

southern Yao," and are feared by the older and more established writers.

Following Yao's attack, other publications

representing Party, central government, and provincial and municipal educational institutions reprinted his words of scorn.

The Liberation Army daily and the People's Daily, of-

ficial organ of the Party, reprinted Yao's scornful words and in their editorial comments joined with him in calling 3

the play a "poisonous weed," a willful distortion of history, a trick to "use the past to satirize the present" feng-chin)y

(ohieh-ku

a drive to "beautify" (mei-h.ua) the feudal ruling

class, and an attempt to spread "the revolutionary theory of class reconciliation." While there were favorable opinions for Wu Han and his play, by late 1965 such support was hard to find.

In addi-

tion, the heavy fusillade of accusations and charges against Wu now spread to a host of other figures.

Eventually, such

charges became purges and purification campaigns known collectively as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (Cultural Revolution for short).

It is now easy to assume, as

Wu's fate was a prelude to the disappearance from the political scene of such high officials as Teng T'o, Chou Yang, P'eng Chen and ultimately Liu Shao-ch'i himself, that Wu Han was a mere pawn in a series of power struggles.

Such a view,

while sufficient in seeing the Cultural Revolution as a factional strife, is nevertheless inadequate in portraying the intensely ideological and personal aspect of the Revolution. Thus we must attempt to answer the question Wu Han himself posed in the preface to his play: "I don't understand plays and I don't often go to the theater, especially the Peking Opera . . . Yet I have written not only a play, but a Peking A Opera at that.

Is this not very strange?"

That a historian and professor should attempt a play is very strange indeed.

Stranger still is the fact that Wu Han

was a high municipal official at the time, and the play dealt A

with such poignant themes as good official confronting bad official, peasants crying against intolerable taxes and clamoring for the return of their lands, and the alleviation of victims of miscarried justice.

All these themes were enacted

and sung on the Peking stage in 1961!

What is not strange

is that Wu and his play should have met the fate that followed . Still, part of the clue to Wu Han's daring to write such a play is that even in a country of vigilant orthodoxy, there have been periods of relaxation toward the intelligentsia.

The alternating pattern of control and latitude 5

had by 1961-1962 entered the third cycle.

The first phase

of relaxation was in 1953-1954, following the Three-Anti and Five-Anti campaigns; the second in 1956-1957 (known as the Hundred Flowers episode), following the countrywide campaign against the writer Hu Feng and other "counter-revolutionary" elements; and now this third phase, following the Great Leap Forward campaign and the antirightist struggle.

This third

period, however, reached back to 1959 for its beginnings. In early 1959 signs appeared that criticisms of the Great Leap Forward were allowed, most likely encouraged by 6 Liu Shao-chi'i.

Economists were allowed to criticize the

social and economic hardships brought about by the Leap, and professional writers were permitted to comment on the literary infelicities committed by the amateurs and peasants. Such allowances were withdrawn from the second half of 1959 on.

The Lu Shan Conference (Eighth Plenum of the Eighth 5

Central Committee) accused the "rightists" who had criticized the communes and other attendant features of the Great Leap Forward.

Among those who were dismissed from their positions 7

was P'eng Teh-huai, defense minister.

Later, Wu Han's The

Dismissal of Hai Jui appeared to bear a particularly close resemblance to this event for many people. By late I960, however, the regime found it necessary once more to modify its rigid stand on the communes, to reduce the size of the collectives, and even to allow the cultivation of private lands.

While the blame now shifted to

lower echelon cadres, the higher level of the intellectuals was given freer rein.

This seemed reasonable since all the

Soviet advisers were withdrawn at this time when the Great

8

Leap Forward was going badly.

Thus in 1961-1962, the invi-

tation to the professional intelligentsia to comment on economics and society was accompanied once more by some actual degree of latitude.

But the checkered policies of the re-

gime for or against an amount of intellectual freedom was not lost on the persons who would speak out.

Memories of

the Lu Shan Conference and its campaigns against the moderates were still fresh.

Thus, unlike the two previous cycles

of relaxation when the persons who spoke freely were the intellectuals and writers, this time such figures were joined by high party officials as well. Wu Han, deputy mayor of Peking and eminent professorhistorian, began to write his historical play toward the end of 1959, shortly after the Lu Shan Conference. 6

The play was

finished in late 1960 and staged in early 1961.

The context

of the official latitude, then, explains the timeliness of his commentary.

For deeper and more significant explana-

tions of his actions, we must take a closer look at Wu Han, and at the ways he chose to make his views known. Wu Han's view toward historical plays is seen in his own words:

"Every historical play has its creative intent

as well as for background the time in which it is composed, whether it is to use the past to guide the present, to use the past to satirize the present, to point at the mulberry and upbraid the ash, or to emphasize certain areas of didac9 tic significance." This statement came from a confident and competent historian of the Ming dynasty.

It also came

from a modern scholar who had spent some years even prior to the Communist ascendancy in China pointing at the mulberry and upbraiding the ash (ehih-sang ma-huai)¿ a common idiom 10

of indirect attack. Wu Han began to criticize the present through the past (the ash and the mulberry respectively) during the period of 1937-1948.

From 1937 to 1946 he was at Kunming, where he

was professor of history at the Southwest Associated University, an institution made up of several leading universities of Peking in exile from Japanese occupation.

Thus at Kun-

ming Wu Han was very much part of the group of liberal but also patriotic academic intellectuals.

Here too Wu Han's

dissatisfaction with the Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek intensified and sharpened.

Wu Han had shown promise and the 7

capacity to write and publish even while a student at Ising 11 Hua University;

now, in this Kunming period, he put into

print numerous essays and collections.

When he left Kunming

in 1946 for Peking, he witnessed numerous cases of Kuomintang persecutions of wartime guerillas who stayed behind the lines to fight the Japanese and who were now treated as Communists.

His ire and indignation finally drove this man,

patriotic critic and not yet Communist, into "crossing over 12

to the liberated areas."

It is among Wu Han's writings in

this period from the late thirties through the late forties that one can locate the key to Wu's doing a play being "a strange thing." One such example of his habit of using history to address the present was the following rather transparent attack on the Nationalists while referring to the fall of the Ming:

13

History is a mirror. Three hundred years ago there were so many things that are worth our remembering. Three hundred years ago . . . . the Manchus (led by traitors) occupied P e king and sent their armies southward . . . . The people were forced to flee and were destroyed by war, menaced by disease and hunger. A falling nest can have no unbroken eggs. Even animals will understand the seriousness of the danger at hand. Yet this emperor still did not care, and continued to make merry in a life of song and wine. On the eve of the fall of Nanking, he was yet engaged in directing a song and dance play of the day! Three hundred years ago, from bureaucrat to landlords, from generals to literati, all tended to personal welfare and the welfare of their siblings, entirely blind to the future of their nation and their people. Such personal corruption and society's corruption presaged the destruction of the age.

8

Here W u Han not only alluded to the Nanking regime, the invading Japanese armies, the sufferings of the people, and the personal ineffectuality of Chiang Kai-shek, but also inveighed against the social injustices of the age.

The Ming

was the mulberry he pointed at, and his own age was the ash. After he "crossed over to the liberated area," W u Han for some reason did not engage in too much writing.

What he

did put out, for instance in a highly significant article in early 1949, shows that Wu's habit with veiled criticism died hard.

He wrote, "Before I came into the liberated area, I

was accustomed to the 'Long Live Chairman Chiang' slogans of the Kuomintang and I thoroughly despised them.

Thus when I

entered the liberated area and saw the 'Long Live Chairman Mao' slogans, I felt uneasy and could not get used to them. Of course there is no comparison between Chairman Chiang and Chairman Mao, but somehow I wonder why we continue to bother ourselves with this 'long live' business."

This sentiment

was carried in an article "How My Study and Thought Have Progressed," which naturally provided a fitting conclusion to the effect that Wu, having now learned the course of Communism, the work of the Party, and Chairman Mao's writings, also wanted to join in the acclaim, "Long Live Chairman 14 Mao." The praise for Mao was undoubtedly there, but was it unblemished praise?

W u Han said that Mao was great because

he was not one-sided about such thorny issues as the feudalistic and capitalistic classes, because Mao was willing to 9

be fair to the good points of imperialism, because Mao was willing to guide those, who have not known Communism to the eventual truth.

To be sure, this was the praise W u lavished

upon Mao for his impartiality; it may have been also the wish of many at the time! During the early days of the Communist regime, Wu Han wrote another article of note, proclaiming that he had overcome his "above-class outlook."

Obviously a "prerevolution-

ary sin," this outlook consisted of hoping only to topple the Kuomintang regime, of not needing to pay heed to Communist theory, and of thinking that one could go back to a life of scholarship without having to serve actively the newly founded state.

Here again he likened himself and his times to a

figure and a period just before the founding of the Ming. The historical figure was a monk active in working to topple the Yuan dynasty but, when the overthrow resulted in the establishment of the Ming, W u Han's historical double disappeared from the scene. son is boundless.

W u said, "My admiration for such a perHe is one who did not engage in revolution 15

just to attain high office, a great man indeed." The preliminary draft of this biographical account, W u maintained, was seen by Mao Tse-tung himself.

Mao summoned

W u for an evening chat, after which W u Han said Mao was right in persuading h i m that a person must recognize his class membership as a revolutionary and should stay on to serve the revolutionary state.

W u said he then did m o r e research and

found his historical double had not been remiss, but had ac10

tually been killed by Ming troops.

Wu Han also stated that

he too wanted to shout "ten thousand years to Chairman Mao" 16

for the corrective guidance Mao offered to him. Thus even with the founding of the new Communist state in China, Wu Han did not quite shed his skillful craft of veiled criticism.

Then, for some reason, Wu seemed to have

stopped writing for a number of years, with the exception of making speeches and putting together a collection of his 17 "preliberation" essays.

Then came 1959, and Wu Han star-

ted to write again, more prolifieally than before. Reasons for his resumption of writing, again not without the mulberries and the ashes, are numerous.

The Great

Leap year had just passed, the Soviet advisers had gone home the Party had during 1959 alternated between liberal and stringent policies, and the period was one of some heated discussion on the issues of historicism and class-viewpoint. Noted scholars and prominent scholar-officials such as Chien Po-tsan and Kuo Mo-jo joined in expressing their views on history and historical figures.

In Wu Han's case, though he

participated in the discussion of such noted historical fi19 gures as Ts'as Ts'ao and Empress Wu Tse-t'ien,

he actually

showed less concern for defending or slotting such persons in history than for articulating the integrity of Chinese history.

Chien Po-tsan had called this concern for histori-

cal veracity and complexity li-shih. chu-i

(historicism).

Wu Han had the following to say about historicism:

11

We cannot use the standards of the present to judge past men, or none of them will pass. To do so is not historicism. (If using modern standards) we say that all our ancestors were evil men, and our ancestral country was a darkened mess, then we are all descendents of such evil men and our history begins only with today. What good is there in such severing of history? . . . We have among our ancestors numerous great men, our people are a great people. Class origin is not the only criterion for evalutating historical characters. People can change; this is so of the past, present, and the future.

Wu Han was to receive severe scorn for holding such unclass-conscious views in 1966 along with the attack on his Dismissal of Hai Jui.

The above views, however, revealed

not just a nationalist proud of his past, but also a scholarly man well acquainted with the multiple standards of history.

Such a man said something else in this period of fe-

verish writing.

He complained in 1960 that there was not

enough to read in China.

In the foreword to his Teng-hsia

ahi (Writings by the Lamp), he spoke of his wish to contribute a little historical knowledge to enrich people's cul21

tural life."

Then he says the following:

I have two children . . . Both of them loved to listen to stories and have very good memories . . . . Every night they clamored for me to tell stories. At first I made up the stories myself. Later I bought children's books for them to read. But I would go over them first, discovering that many of such materials were unsuitable, some of them were not very good at all. . . . With age, the children's demand for stories grew as their thirst for knowledge increased, Under their pressing, I came to feel deeply that we need large quantities of children's reading matter that is of high political and aesthetic standard, and of visual and literary richness as well . . . But, regrettably, such reading matter numbers only a few and the writers are not many . . . By the same token, there is a serious lack in reading matter 12

for the youth. Their desire to learn is very strong, their demand for good reading matter is also urgent . . . Moreover, very large numbers of cadres of various organizations urgently demand promotion; they want to learn some theory, study a little history, some science, some literature, in order to lend continuity to the refined cultural legacy of the past. But what can they read? 22 Might I make a request?

Theorists, men of letters, sci-

entists, artists, and all other specialists, would you . . . take a little time to write something for your children, your youth, and your cadres? . . . I make this serious plea 23 as the father of two children. In 1960, when the book market in China still held a goodly number of journals, books, and various publications quite unlike the 1966 Cultural Revolution market which held only the works of Mao, Wu Han was daring indeed with his complaint. In this period of prolific writing, Wu Han's chief subject was Hai Jui (1514-1587), the Ming dynasty official known for his uncompromising uprightness and honesty.

He

would be affectionately called a oh'ing-kuan (clean official) and therefore a hao-kuan (good official).

In the opera, Wu

Han had the peasants acclaim him as Hai oh'ing- t'ien3 or 24 clear sky Hai.

In many ways the subject of Hai Jui uni-

fies Wu Han's many points of view concerning historicism, historical characters, and the seemingly inexhaustible mulberries and ashes. While the Dismissal of Hai Jui caught the official wrath first and then spread the anti-Wu Han campaign far and wide, it was another earlier article on Hai Jui that should have 13

been taken to task first.

Entitled "Hai Jui ma huang-ti"

(Hai Jui Upbraids the Emperor), this article was written un25 der the pen name of Liu Mien-chih ously on the back page of the People's 1959.

and appeared inconspicuDaily

on June 16,

Perhaps for this reason, it passed unnoticed.

More-

over, it was fully two months before the Lu Shan Conference (August 2-16) which terminated the relaxation toward the moderates.

In any event, here is Wu Han again cursing the

mulberry to mean the ash.

The fact that the historical Hai

Jui dared to risk death, endure imprisonment, and dismissal by scolding the emperor assumed important implications in 1959 when one associates Mao Tse-tung with the Chia-ching emperor.

Hai Jui's double would be Defense Minister P'eng

Teh-huai who spoke his mind at the Lu Shan Conference.

Some

of the charges and remonstrations, conveyed with wit and a wry sense of irony, come across clearly in the article:

During feudal times, the emperor could not be trifled with . . . As for upbraiding the emperor, it was seldom heard of. But one who had actually upbraided an emperor and had done so ever satisfyingly was Hai Jui. The severest of Hai Jui's remarks to the Emperor Chia-ching was: "At present the tax and labor burden of the people are several fold above those of normal times . . . You have spent so much money on the superstitious arts, increasingly so with the days. The good old folks, because of you, have reached total poverty. (Such deprivation) has reached the extreme in these ten years (note the correspondence with the tenth year of the regime in 1959). The people have made a pun of your reign title 'Chia-ching' (rhyming with the Chinese words also meaning everyone penniless), to mean that their homes are emptied of possessions and they have no money to send." The reason (for such strong words) is that the Emperor Chiaching had been emperor for a long time, thus he became lazy, did not hold court, living in the West Garden and spending 14

his days placating the gods . . . Politics thus deteriorated to the extreme. Those court officials who dared express views w e r e , if not beheaded, sacked, imprisoned, or banished to distant lands. Such measures so intimidated the officials that no one dared to speak up. Hal Jui, then, in 1566, concerned w i t h the problems of the times, questioned the emperor and demanded from him reforms. He said in his memorial, "In your early years you may have done a few good deeds. But now? Y o u speak only of the ways of prolonging life (allusion to the permanent revolution?) . . . You live only in the West Garden . . . Officials have come to graft and generals have grown weak, and peasants everywhere have risen . . . The country has been dissatisfied with you for a long time, a fact known by all officials of the inner and outer courts . . . So set on cultivating tao, you have become bewitched; so bent „upon dictorial ways, you have become dogmatic and biased." "Hai Jui Upbraids the Emperor" was meant to criticize and was not offered as evidence of scholarship.

The free use

of the vernacular in the article added color and timeliness to the late fifties in China.

Certainly the taxation, the

high and frequent levies for labor, and the loss of personal possessions as well as the general destitution could have been written to describe the "backyard furnace" movement of 1958.

Mao Tse-tung, in addition, also did not appear very

often and took to frequent retreats.

Mao's penchant for per-

sonal permanancy and social immortality of the revolution was also current.

"The officials of the inner and outer

courts" refer quite neatly to the trusted (Party) and untrusted (non-Party), but at least suggested pervasiveness of dissatisfaction among the "bureaucratic class." On September 17, 1959, W u Han wrote another piece on Hai 27 Jui.

This time, after the Lu Shan Conference, he used a

different language.

W u was dead earnest in giving Hai Jui a

thorough historical evaluation, w i t h little veiled criticism 15

to be found.

Instead, we find a wealth of information re-

garding this Ming official, and the long paragraphs of his scolding the emperor in the previous article now were reduced to one sentence in "On Hai Jui."

What makes the scho-

larly tone of this September article so different from the critical vernacular of the earlier is that perhaps, "On Hai Jui" was intended as a form of protection.

The author

could always refer to his having studied someone seriously and that his free use of the subject matter in other areas hopefully could be treated as artistic and literary license. This is not uncommon practice in China, both pre-Communist and Communist.

Serious as the main article was, however,

the conclusion is still open to interpretation.

Having

praised Hai Jui as an incorruptible official throughout the article, he concluded the piece with an admonition to study Hai Jui, quite in the language of "studying Chairman Mao." In addition, he said that those who opposed Hai Jui should be in turn opposed.

"Hai Jui has his definite place in his-

tory," he said and continuing, "the Hai Jui of the feudal period is still worth our emulating today . . . Studying Hai Jui, emulating Hai Jui and opposing the distortion of Hai Jui are of benefit, necessity and current practical mean28 -t« ~ " ing. Was it for the above stated importance in the study of Hai Jui that W u H a n toward the end of 1959, began to attempt a Peking opera on the Ming dynasty? ly propitious.

The timing was certain-

His two articles so far on Hai Jui had not 16

elicited criticism.

He seemed almost to have been testing

the antirightist campaign that flowed out of the Lu Shan Conference.

Around the first part of October that campaign

was called off, almost with as much whim as when it was started. Hai Jui pa-kuan, as plays go, has definite marks of the amateur hand of a professor of history.

No discussion of

its literary value will be attempted here.

It is sufficient

to say that Peking operas usually are rich in morality themes and come to life in their colorful renderings of highly stereotyped good and bad characters.

The audience appreciates

and enjoys such play-making of the serious in life.

If it

is historical, the subject matter would have most likely also appeared in novel form, often serialized.

The Dismis-

sal of Hai Jui has abundant morality to give, and enough stylized treatment of virtues and vices to charm Chinese opera-goers. The plot of the play is very simple.

It is set between

June of 1569 and January of 1570, when Hai "Clear sky" was governor-general of Kiang-nan, that fertile plain of the lower Yangtze River basin, with the seat of authority at Soochow.

It is also in and out of the environs of Soochow that

the plot unfolds.

The third son of a bullying landlord and

retired high official became enamoured of a peasant's daughter.

The time was the Ch'ing-ming festival, during which

families swept the graves.

The girl was in her mother and

grandfather's company at the grave of her father. 17

The pea-

sant father had been oppressed and angered to death earlier by the bullying landlord who had forced lands away from the family.

When the grandfather tried to intervene in the son's

attempt to seize the young maiden, he was severely beaten. The mother goes to the local magistrate who had been properly bribed by the wayward son.

The grandfather, duly indig-

nant but just as ineffectual, was then accused of making false accusations.

From repeated floggings he died.

No

other recourse seemed available to the girl's mother.

Just

then Hai "clear sky" arrived on the scene, in ordinary clothing sans official insignia, and listened to all the grievances brought, not just by the mother, but by a host of peasants as well.

In forthright and unencumbered ways, Hai

Jui dealt with the public's unhappiness.

Meanwhile, pres-

sures in the forms of the appeal to friendship, offerings of bribes, and eventual threats from the imperial level closed in on Hai Jui.

He acted, nevertheless, resolutely and the

death sentence for the unfortunate son was carried out just before an imperial order arrived in behalf of the son's amnesty.

Hai Jui's other orders called for the return of

lands taken by the bullying landlords to the peasants, and also, the forcible return of young maidens taken by force. But Hai Jui was shorn of his office and, although he departted, he left with the praise of the peasants in chorus. This simple plot tells a simple story of the good official's incorruptibility, the people's grievances, and the corruption of landlords and officialdom. 18

As such it might

easily be taken as a Communist play about previous feudal times up through the Nationalist scenario.

But evidently

the critics of Wu Han's play found it hard to view it this way.

Instead, they took it as a morality play much as Wu

Han had intended it to be, but, they felt the theme and scene were uncomfortably similar to those of the Great Leap Forward.

When landlords were no longer supposed to be a-

round in I960, somehow this continued reference to them seemed to the critics like excessive flogging.

Thus it is

not surprising that not just Hai Jui the person and the qualities he stood for but the grievances of the peasants caught the critics' attention with equal intensity.

Fur-

thermore, the peasantry for some years now has always been treated in heroic terms and not in such passive and oppressive language.

Instead, the hero in this play was only one

man and not the glorious people.

In the end, of course,

everything about the play was criticised. Peasant grievances in the play are skillfully presented in such slogans as, "return the land" (t'ui-t'ien), "redress unjust imprisonment" (p'ing yuan-yu), and "rid the rascals" (ah'u-pa).

These slogans were considered dangerous because

the areas they pointed to as needing returning, redressing, and ridding were not supposed to exist in China anymore. As the major assailant of the play Yao Wen-yuan put it, "Comrade Wu Han very clearly wants people to 'study' from his idealized Hai Jui.

What can we really 'study'?

from 't'ui-t'ien'?

Our. country's farms have already at19

To learn

tained the collective ownership of socialism, established the great communes of the people.

Under such conditions, who

is required to 'return the lands'? communes to 'return the lands'?

To require the people's

Pray tell also, to whom

shall the lands be returned?" The assailant and the attacked agreed that the play was meant to criticize the communes. The slogan of "redressing unjust imprisonment" was also attacked by Yao Wen-yuan, who retorted, "To learn from 'redressing unjust imprisonment'?

Ours is already a country

under the dictatorship of the proletariat.

If we are to

speak of 'redressing unjust imprisonment', isn't mankind's most thoroughgoing 'redressing' the bursting forth from the dark human dungeon and the breaking of the shackles of the capitalist-landlord class by the proletariat and other oppressed classes?

If today we still want to learn from this

or that 'redressing', then pray tell which class still has 29 'grievance' and how should their 'grievance' be redressed?" Again the attacker and the attacked agreed that the play was critical of the present class picture. On the question of "ridding the rascals" Wu Han had a most telling sentiment expressed in the Preface to the published version of the play of August 1961. play had been rewritten. drafts with the author.

Seven times the

Many friends had been through the Wu continued:

In the first four versions the main theme was Hai Jui's or20

dering the local officials to return lands forcibly seized from the people. He encountered the organized opposition of the local officials and thus was dismissed. 'Ridding the rascals' was only used for supporting the story of 'return the lands'. Many friends point out, however, that Hai Jui's order to return the lands, though historical fact, could not and did not solve the peasants' problems. From the point of view of historical development, such political action can be ascertained as reformism. Now that I am writing a historical play, what meaning is there in publicizing reformism in history? I have considered this question very many times and in the end decided to use 'ridding the rascals' as the main theme, with 'return the lands' in a supportive role. This is a very great change.^

The rhetorical question raised by Wu Han shows him to be still keen and masterly at the art of implied intent.

As

James Pussey so aptly put it in Wu Han's intended words, "I meant to say abolish the communes, but what's the point? That would only be reformism which really isn't enough to 31 solve the farmers' problems."

That he did make this "very

great change" is perhaps because the play was suspended after a few performances and the publication of the play was a full six months after the play was first performed. again for protection.

He wrote

But then the incorrigible critic still

could not abandon his finely hewn art.

Throughout the play,

the reference to "return the lands" occurred far more often than the "main theme" of "ridding the rascals." As to the term "dismissal" (pa-kuan), slogan of sorts.

it too became a

Here again Wu Han made it known in the

preface that it was not his original intent to have the "dismissal" end the play. well."

An earlier version was "fare-

But that was according to him too pale and placid, 21

what with the people waving Hai Jui off after they had routed the bad officials.

Again, with friends' help and numerous

considerations, Wu said he decided to have the death sentence performed on the wayward son and have Hai Jui, in face of the dismissal, argue with his successor on matters of political morality and carry out the sentence. kuan"

But then

"pa-

clearly was allegorical of the dismissal of the highly

placed P'eng Teh-huai.

His critics noticed this resemblance

immediately, and said so. Wu Han, it must be pointed out, had something further in mind in addition to drawing a parallel between the two dismissals.

He kept harping on how a person such as Hai Jui,

with uncompromising spirit was dismissed.

Mao's shibboleth

of the t i m e s — d a r e to think, dare to speak, and dare to act (kan-hsiang,

kan-ehiang,

compromising spirit."

kan-tso)—was

echoed in Wu's "un-

Witness these words with which Wu clo-

sed the Foreword to the play:

"Daring to think, daring to

speak, daring to act constitute the new style since the Great Leap Forward.

I suppose that my writing the play belongs to

the same kind of daring. be accomplished. accomplished.

If one. does not dare, nothing can

One had only to dare and something will be

Naturally the results may be big or small,

successful or unsuccessful, but that is quite another matter. The history of the development of human society is the same as the history of people who dare to think, dare to speak, and dare to act. to lure the jade'.

The ancients have the saying, 'Toss a brick Then let this book be a brick in order to 22

invite and arouse interest amon friends in the historical 32 world, (so that) everyone will write new historical plays!" W u Han indeed was daring.

A four-year period separated

such daring from the predictable punishment.

It was not

that the Party did not wish to make something big of W u Han's irreverent satire in 1961.

The Party censoring machinery

was effective enough to suspend the play in the early spring of that year.

One must realize that the Cultural Revolution 33

was not contemplated then.

The remarkable aspect of this

time lapse is not the failure of the Party to punish W u in the massive manner of four years later; rather it is Wu's daring, after effective Party censorship of the performance, to pursue the satirical parody as if just to tempt his own fate.

Punishment came, of course.

W u Han was also "dis-

missed." The literature of criticism of W u Han accumulated from 34 1965 on through 1968 is bulky in the present discussion. a subject in itself.

and will not be treated with-

In many ways such literature is

One learns from the completeness of

the assault about the power of the state as much as one does from the words of the lonely, but daring, satirist.

What

can be said in closing is that W u Han is not just a modern and contemporary phenomenon.

He fulfills in the present a

charge cherished and practiced in the long, past of C h i n a — the right of the scholar to remonstrate.

He practiced that

peculiarly Chinese tradition notion of the censor, one whose duty it was to memorialize the Emperor on any impro23

priety, as well as to censor the government's (not the ruled' misdeeds.

Wu's own period of research and interest is the

Ming, probably the era of the maximum development of the censorial system in Chinese history.

Furthermore, behind

all the daring to remonstrate is of course the long-held Chinese ideal that the m a n of learning should also be the one to mind the affairs of man.

How can he remain silent

when human affairs turn chaotic and when governments turn despotic?

W u Han did not remain silent.

This act in itself

comments upon the continuum of Chinese humanism, for W u Han and others knew intimately the historical fates of the numerous "upright and uncompromising" forebears of theirs, yet they themselves spoke out, tempted their fates in the face of preponderant orthodoxy, and in the end faced personal disaster or annihilation. W u Han is no longer heard from.

Rumors have h i m dead by

his own hands, or in silent oblivion somewhere in China.

If

the former, he died by those hands that pointed at many mulberry trees, and if the latter, he was silenced by those words which railed at many ashes.

24

NOTES

1. Favorable reviews were written by Fan Hsin (Liao Mo-sha), Fang San, Shih Yu (Meng Ch'ao), and Ch'ang T'an. Note Ting Yu-kuang, "Li-shih chu 'Hai Jui pa-kuan' ti fengpo," Ming Pao, vol. 1, no. 3 (March, 1966), p. 26. Fan Hsin was later attacked along with Wu Han. See reference to his review and his being attacked in Ch'i Pen-yu, "'Hai Jui ma huang-ti' ho Hai Jui pa-kuan ti fan-tung shih-chih," Hsin Chien-she, no. 3 (1966), p. 9. For other treatments of the Wu Han case, see: Stephen Uhalley, Jr., "The Wu Han Discussion: Act One in a New Rectification Campaign," The China Mainland Review, vol. 4, no. 1 (March, 1966), pp. 24-38; and also his "The Cultural Revolution and the Attack on the 'Three Family Village' ," The China Quarterly3 no. 27 (July-September, 1966), pp. 149-161. The fullest work discussing Wu Han and this affair is James R. Pussey, Wu Han: Attacking the Present through the Past, (Cambridge: East Asian Research Institute, Harvard University, 1969). 2. On Yao's career, see Ting Wang, "Yao Wen-yuan: Newcomer in China's Politburo," Current Scene, vol. 7, no. 14 (July 15, 1969), 24. 3. See a translation of Yao's attack in Chinese Studies in History and Philosophy, vol. 4, no. 1 (Fall, 1968), pp. 13-43. 4. The edition of Hai Jui pa-kuan used is printed in Chung-kung wen-hua ta-ke-ming tzu-liao hui-pien (Hereafter cited as CWTK), vol. 3, 3d. Ting Wang, (Ming-pao yueh-k'an ch'u-pan she, 1969), pp. 63-105. The quoted passage begins on page 63. 5. On the question of Chinese communist policies toward intellectuals, see Merle Goldman, "The Unique 'Blooming and Contending' of 1961-62," China Quarterly, no. 8 (Octo25

ber, December, 1961), pp. 63-76. 6. During the Cultural Revolution, Mao was often said to have complained about being shunted to the side in these matters by Liu Shao-ch'i and company. 7. David A. Charles Teh-huai," China Quarterly, pp. 63-76.

"The Dismissal of Marshal P'eng no. 8 (October-December, 1961),

8. Goldman, "The Unique 'Blooming and Contending' of 1961-62," p. 59. 9. p. 150.

Wu Han, "Luii li-shih chU,"

CWTK, vol. 4 (1969),

10. Thus one means really the ash when one points an accusing finger at the mulberry. 11. Tsing Hua University was later a constituent member of the Southwest Associated Universities. 12. Wu Han, "Ch'ing-hua tsa-i," pp. 255-257.

CWTK, vol. 4 (1969),

13. Wu Han, "San-pai nien ch'ien ti li-shih chiaohsun," Ibid; pp. 243-245. 14. Wu Han, "Wo ti chih-hsueh yu ssu-hsiang shih tsenyang chin-pu ti," Chung-kuo ah'ing-nien, vol. 8, no. 18 (1949) , p. 19. 15. Wu Han, "Wo k'o-fu le ch'ao-chieh-chi ti kuantien," CWTK, vol. 4 (1969), p. 267. 16.

Ibid.,

p. 268.

17. This is the Tu-shih eha-chi (Notes from the Reading of History), (Peking: San-lien, 1956). 18. The discussions were particularly lively during 1963 and were carried mostly in the Li-shih yen-chiu (Historical Research). Various issues of the Jen-rrrin jih-pao (Peoples' Daily) and Kuang-ming jih-pao (Kuang-ming Daily) of late 1963 and early 1964 often commented upon these discussions. For a topical compilation of studies upon the state of history writing in Communist China, see Albert Feuerwerker, ed., History in Communist China, (Cambridge: The M. I. T. Press, 1968). 19. Wu's discussions on these historical figures can be found in his Teng-hsia chi (Writings by the Lamp), (Peking: San Lien, 1962). 26

20. Wu Han, "Kuan-yu p'ing-chia li-shih jen-wu ti ihsieh ch'u-pi i-chien" (Some Preliminary Views Regarding the Evaluation of Historical Figures), Teng-hsia ahi, pp. 197-198. 21.

Wu, Teng-hsia ahi, p. 2.

22.

Ibid., pp. 4-5.

23.

Ibid., pp. 5-6.

24. "Ch'ing-t'ien" connotes impartially, justness, and incorruptibility. Connected with the notion of the mandate of heaven, the term is used often in connecting with particularly good and fair officials who would manage the affairs of man with azure clarity, unclouded, and unshielding. 25. There could be speculative meaning to Wu's using this pen name. The surname Liu could mean Liu Shao-ch'i. The next two characters, Mien-chih, appear often in exchanges of felicitous phrases or sayings among friends, with the donor using these two words to ask the other to take note of the meaning of the gift. Thus the whole pen name might read: "Please be guided by this, Mr. Liu." 26. Wu Han, "Hai Jui ma huang-ti" (Hai Jui Upbraids the Emperor), CWTK, vol. 3, (1969), p. 59. 27. The article is entitled "Lun Hai Jui" (On Hai Jui), which is available in CWTK, vol. 4, (1969), pp. 155-174. 28.

Ibid., p. 174.

29. Yao Wen-yuan, "P'ing hsin-pien li-shih-chii 1Hai Jui pa-kuan'" (A Critique of the New Historical Play "The Dismissal of Hai Jui"), CWTK, vol. 4, (1969), pp. 466-467. 30. Wu Han, Hai Jui pa-kuan (The Dismissal of Hai Jui), CWTK, vol. 4, (1969), p. 64. 31.

The parody is provided by Pussey, Wu Han, p. 33.

32.

Wu Han, Hai Jui pa-kuan, p. 66.

33.

Pussey, Wu Han, p. 36.

34. Aside from the collection of materials regarding Wu Han and the affair of the historical play, cited as CWTK, vol. 4, (1969), and numbering 747 pages, there is a collection of attacks on Wu Han which stands at seven volumes. See Wu Han p'i-p'an (Critiques of Wu Han), (Hong Kong: O.K. Newspaper Agency, 1969). 27

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE

Wu Han's historical play, Hai Jui Dismissed

from Office,

was

singled out by Chairman Mao Tse-tung as a primary target for 1 attack as early as 1965.

I thought that many people in the

United States who are concerned about the developments in China would perhaps want to know why this particular play deserved such great attention.

Thus, I decided to use my

spare time to translate it into English.

I have done this

type of work in the past and have always enjoyed it immensely. The pleasure derived from the endeavor to render one language into another as faithfully and elegantly as one can is indeed great. Being an opera, this play abounds in poetry and verse. Sometimes the research about certain historical references or allusions was strenuous, but the resulting satisfaction more than compensated for the hard work.

Frequently I would

devote hours on a verse, revising it time and again until it pleased me enough to let it be.

In this process, my young

friend, Mr. William Knief, has given me considerable help, for which I wish to express my appreciation. 28

Although he

did not know a word of Chinese, he said he was happy to listesn to my translation; he made valuable suggestions, particularly when the translation did not quite sound idiomatic English to him.

I should also like to thank Mrs. Knief who

typed the first draft of the translation for me. 2 I completed my translation of the play in May 1967, and in October I learned that the Joint Publications Re-

3

search Service had already put out a tranlation of the same. I am glad I was ignorant of the existence of the earlier version, for I would not have started the project otherwise. I suppose translators often disagree when dealing with the intracacies of the Chinese language.

I came to feel that per-

haps my translation differed sufficiently from the other one to warrant its publication.

C. C. Huang November 9, 1967

1. See "Carry the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution through to the End," Peking Review, November 1, 1967, pp. 8-15. 2. The Chinese text from which this translation was made is Hai Jui pa-kuan (Hai Jui Dismissed from Office). Peking, Peking Publishing House, 1961. 3. JPRS, 35871, "Translations of Political and Sociological Information on Communist China," no. 362, (July 1966), pp. 1-33. 29

PREFACE

I do not understand drama and I do not go to the theatre, either.

This is especially true with regard to Peking Opera.

Although I lived in Peking for many years and attended college there, I never went to see Peking Opera even once.

In

recent years I've had more opportunities to go to the theatre, yet for one reason or another I have always had to let them go by.

Because of this, one may say that I am a complete

layman concerning opera.

Some people laugh at me, saying

that my cultural level is pretty low. this.

I cheerfully agree to

However, I have not only written a drama, but have

written a Peking Opera.

Isn't this terribly strange?

Indeed it does seem strange.

But as a matter of fact it

will not be strange any more, after I have explained it. It happened this way:

in 1959 I did some research work

on Hai Jui and wrote several articles about him.

It was

probably towards the end of that year that Mr. Ma Lien-liang of the Peking Opera Troupe (of Peking) and other friends came to see me.

They wanted me to talk about Hai Jui, and after-

ward they asked me to prepare an outline for an opera.

30

After

I had gladly accepted the task, I thought about the matter carefully and realized that I was in a tough position. of all, what should I write? it?

First

Secondly, how should I write

This was something I had never done before, and I had

no idea how to go about it.

I thought about the problem for

a long while and several times started to write, but nothing I wrote looked like an opera outline. awful.

I thought, "This is

I shall have to beat a retreat."

Yet I hesitated for

quite some time for I felt it would be too embarrassing to go back on one's word.

Since I had given my promise I felt

that I should fulfill it somehow.

If I could not write an

outline I would try to write the opera itself.

When I had

made a draft, I would then ask my friends in the troupe to improve upon it.

This would make it easier for them.

There-

upon, I began. Who could have thought as soon as I got on the horse's back, I could never get down again?

The first draft was read

by the people of the troupe and other friends. was all right.

They said it

I thought that I had fulfilled my task, and

that improvement would not be my responsibility.

But after

some discussion, my friends encouraged me to rewrite it, and gave me quite a few opinions on the matter.

Thus, I would

make a draft, we would have a discussion, then I would rewrite it.

Altogether I rewrote it seven times, and this did not

include minor changes.

The manuscript was distributed to

those of my friends who understood opera, and whose opinions and criticism I requested.

The troupe had several dress re31

hearsals, and many experts put forward a lot of opinions, most of which I accepted and used as the basis for further revision.

After the play was officially presented to the

public, the magazine Peking Literature and Art published it. Based on the opinions of some of my friends, I again made changes.

Thus, from conception to finalization of the se-

venth draft, it took one year. three days. on stage.

Each rewriting took two to

It will soon be a year since it was first put Lots of time has been consumed and the writing has

indeed been strenuous.

Several times I felt discouraged and

was inclined to wash my hands of the whole thing.

But since

the matter had gone that far, I felt I had to carry it through to the very end.

So I persevered.

Before I started to write, two basic principles were established:

First, I should not write about Hai Jui's entire

life, but instead concern myself only with a certain period of his career.

If I were to write Hai Jui's biography, it

would have to cover a considerable length of time;

too many

facets of the story and too many characters would have to be handled.

Consequently, it would be very easy to commit the

sin of making the opera flat and tedious; in other words, it would be difficult to emphasize certain things.

Secondly, I

would not duplicate those plays already in existence that dealt with the same theme.

Of course, I would not bother

about the traditional type of plays.

Even modernized plays

such as "Hai Jui's Appeal to the Emperor," written by Comrade Chou Hsin-fang of Shanghai, had no need of a second version 32

since it had already been performed (although I had never seen it).

It is necessary to regard our nation as one entity,

but I do not see the least reason for the entire nation performing dramas on the same theme.

After very careful consi-

deration, it was decided that I should write about the events taking place between the summer of 1569 and the spring of 1570.

This period of seven or eight months was when Hai Jui, 1

as governor-general of Ying-tien,

suppressed the local ty-

rants and returned the land seized by them to the people. The play was originally entitled Hai Jui, however many friends subsequently pointed out that the play dealt with only a portion of Hai Jui's life; the name was changed to Hai Jui Dismissed from

Office.

The primary changes in the seven rewritings fall into the following categories: First of all, changes were made in 2

the main theme of how Hai Jui ordered the hsiang-kuan

to

give back to the people the land they had seized, thus provoking their united opposition and, consequently, bringing about Hai Jui's dismissal.

The suppression of the local ty-

rants was merely an interlude underlining the more important t h e m e — H a i Jui's forcing the return of the land to the people. Many friends pointed out that although Hai Jui's ordering the tyrants to return the land was an actual historical event, under the circumstances, this would not have made a possible solution to, and indeed, it did not solve, the peasants' problems.

From the point of view of historical development,

that kind of political measure was definitely of a reformist 33

nature.

It would be meaningless for us to write historical

plays today in order to propagate historical reformism.

Af-

ter many discussions it was finally decided that the main theme should be the suppression of the tyrants, while the events concerning the land return would play a subsidiary role.

This was a major change. Secondly, the plot was altered.

The contradictions be-

tween the classes and among members of the ruling class of that time were shown through the misfortune of the peasant woman Hung Ah-lan and her family.

But when the second draft

was printed and distributed to my friends, they said that it did, indeed, contain history, but that it did not have any drama; it lacked the twist and turns of a plot.

The climax

did not stand out, and finally, the contradictions were not pointed enough.

They put it very politely; but what they

actually meant was that it simply was not drama.

Because I

was neither a playwright nor a man of literature, my friends did not place excessively high demands on me.

The fourth

draft had an additional act, "Meeting with Hst! Chieh." representing the hsiang-kucmg3

Hsti,

demanded that Hai Jui punish

the wicked peasants, and that he uphold law and justice. However, when Hai Jui asked him about Hung Ah-lan's case, Hsu Chieh absolutely denied that there was any injustice done. Furthermore, he said that if there was any evidence of the alleged crime, the matter would be settled according to law. Thus in the act "Begging for Mercy," Hai Jui checked Hsu Chieh by quoting his earlier words. 34

He stood face to face

with Hsu in sharp confrontation and would not budge an inch. These two acts were employed to etch the characters and manners of the two opposing personalities.

My friends read

this and noted that there was some drama in it, but still not quite enough. Originally, I had written to show how Hai Jui came to assume office in civilian clothes and heard of .Hung Ah-lan's case while talking with the villagers in front of the Pavilion of Official Reception.

Later on this was changed so

that Hai Jui would learn about the truth of the case while going to Heng-yun Mountain on a private investigation tour after his meeting with Hsu Chieh.

My friends thought that

this would require an additional scene, so eventually it was deleted and I went back to the original plot. In order to tell the audience about Hai Jui's past and the local peoples' praise for his administrative achievements, two acts, "Reception" and "Lantern Festival," were added in the intermediate drafts.

"Reception" described how

nervous the officials, such as Su Sung and others, were on the eve of Hai Jui's coming to take office, and how they all went to the Commissioner of the Silk Industry, Huang Ching, a eunuch, to learn more about the new governor. an actual historical figure.

Huang was

After Hai Jui presented his

petition, Emperor Chia Ching (1522-1567) became so angry that he wanted to send a man to watch over Hai Jui in order to prevent him from escaping.

The eunuch Huang Ching hap-

pened to be at the Emperpr's side at that moment. 35

He said

it would not be necessary because he had heard that Hai Jui had already said good-bye to his family and his friends and was quite prepared to die.

Huang also said that Hai Jui was

a stubborn, resolute man, and that he would never try to escape.

Emperor Chia Ching was dumbfounded upon hearing this.

In the act, "Reception," Huang was a key figure.

When the

curtain went up he ordered his personal attendant, a young eunuch, to reduce the number of sedan chair carriers by onehalf because Hai .Jui was coming; and when the other officials arrived on the stage, Huang told them how Hai Jui had presented a petition to the Emperor and had been imprisoned because of it. In the next act, "Lantern Festival," Huang had already learned about Hai Jui's dismissal.

When the young eunuch or-

dered a four-man sedan chair to take Huang out to watch the lantern show Huang said no. carriers instead.

He requested one with eight

When the young eunuch asked him why, he

replied that Hai Jui would soon be leaving for good. In the next scene, the local people were celebrating the lantern festival.

Amid the decorative lantern lights, the

people danced and sang in praise of the last half-year's changes in their lives since Hai Jui took office.

In another

draft the act, "Lantern Festival," was different.

It descri-

bed how Hai Jui returned home from Wusung-chiang after an inspection tour, and how he prepared a feast and celebrated with his mother and his wife.

Their conversation revealed

the changes brought about by the last half-year of his ad36

ministration.

Before they finished dinner the district mili-

tary commander brought Hai Jui an official dispatch.

By or-

der of the Emperor, he was to be dismissed from his present office and transferred to Nanking to supervise grain storage. Presently a second official dispatch arrived.

It said that

no special supervisor was needed to take care of the storing of grain; the Ministry of Finance and Population could take charge of the work.

Officially, Hai Jui was not removed

from his new position, yet in actuality the firewood had been pulled out from under the cooking pot, and he was left cold. His thoughts and feelings were clearly revealed through the readings of these two conflicting official messages.

After

a great deal of study, however, both acts were deleted to minimize the number of characters and nonessential incidents. Thirdly, changes were made in the conclusion.

In the

previous drafts the last act was "Farewell," describing Hai Jui's departure in civilian clothes, and the local people coming to see him off at the Pavilion of Official Reception. This revealed how the people sang their affection for him and their sorrow for having to say good-bye.

During this

act there was a scene showing the arrival of the new governor, Tai Feng-hsing, who was welcomed by Hsu Chieh and other officials.

Here Hai met Tai and, when he learned that Tai

was the new governor, he entreated him not to change the new administrative measures of the past half-year.

Whereupon

Tai denounced him, saying it was precisely because of Hai's notorious measures, which were tigers and wolves to the 37

people and made fish and meat of the hsiang-kuan, was being dismissed by the Emperor. opportunity to ridicule him. Jui fought back,

that he

Hsfl Chieh also took the

Using facts and reason, Hai

Thus, a face-to-face struggle ensued be-

tween the progressive and the conservative factions of the feudal ruling class.

At last, Tai and Hsfl slipped away like

rats amidst the angry denunciations of the people. that Hai Jui and his men also departed.

With

This act was re-

written and dress-rehearsed a number of times, but no one was satisfied with it because Hai Jui departed a defeated man, moody, depressed, and too melancholy. an impasse.

We had reached

The troupe proposed that if this act were chan-

ged into "Beheading," it would be more vigorous, and it would not be so depressing.

Yet, the historical fact was

that Hst! Chieh's son had merely been exiled; he had not been sentenced and executed. tory?

Was it proper to deviate from his-

After changing back and forth a number of times, it

was finally decided that Hst! Ying ought to be executed, and the act was changed to, "Dismissal from Office," as it stands now.

Hai Jui, after having argued with Tai Feng-hsiang,

sentenced HsS Ying to death, regardless of the consequences. Only after the execution had been carried out did Hai Jui hand over the official seal and depart.

Quite a number of

friends thought that this was a little better.

But there

was still another opinion, which was that if there should be one more unexpected twist, then the play would be more intriguing.

It was suggested that right after the sentence 38

was passed, the Emperor's special pardon would arrive, so that Hsu Ying would still not be executed. indecisive on this point.

Not to kill the man is quite all

right, but I cannot but feel unsatisfied. right thing to do?

Even now I am

Just what is the

I will have to wait a little while and

hear more opinions; then I'll decide. In the process of numerous rewritings there have been not only great changes in content, but also in the use of language as a vehicle.

The rhyming used in the earlier 3

drafts was based entirely upon "Shih Yun."

Later my friends

said this was not necessary; the writing could be more free since the rhyme scheme of Peking Opera had its own requirements.

The stanzas were basically of four, eight, or twelve

sentences each; but sometimes they consisted of three or five sentences.

My friends suggested stanzas of three or

five sentences be employed under specific conditions.

Also,

the concluding verses sometimes had four sentences, sometimes two.

Those with two sentences were preferred.

All of the

changes were made according to my friends' suggestions. As I recall the circumstances of the past two years in which I wrote this opera, I feel deeply the importance of study.

The process of writing this opera was also a process

of learning for me; I learned a little bit from my friends of the troupe, a little bit from other experts, and a little bit more from those friends who were not experts.

In short,

I tried to learn from every source and everyone. This play is far from being perfect. 39

Both its content

and form leave much to be desired.

Yet concerning the pro-

cess of its creation, there is one experience I had which can only be termed positive; namely, one need have no fear of an unfamiliar task.

If you fear not, and if y o u are w i l -

ling to go all the way, you will learn something. trary is also true.

The con-

Furthermore, the more you are afraid of

the task the less you will understand it, and you may never learn to do it.

Through my studies in connection with the

writing of this play, my knowledge of Peking Opera has increased and my cultural level has risen, in comparison with two years ago.

The line of demarcation between amateurs and

professionals can be crossed and broken.

Speaking from my

own experience, it not only can be, but must be. Daring to think, daring to speak out, and daring to act have been our new style and manner since the Great Leap F o r ward.

My writing of this play apparently falls into the

"daring" category.

Without a daring spirit you cannot accom-

plish anything; with it, on the other hand, you can always accomplish something.

Naturally, your achievement may be

great or small, and y o u may succeed or fail; but that is a nother matter.

The entire history of social development is

the history of those people who dare to think, dare to speak out, and dare to act.

"Cast a minnow in order to catch a

trout," is a saying our ancients liked to use.

So let this

play be a minnow, in the hope that it may arouse the interest of my historian friends.

They might then b e g i n readap-

ting historic events into modern drama. AO

I wish to make a statement at this point. Dismissed

from Office

Jui

was performed on the stage, a number

of my friends asked me to write other plays. one is enough!

After Hai

Now I must say,

Let me state emphatically:

I do not have 4 the lofty aspiration of becoming a dramatist . . . .

August 8, 1961, at Peitatiho.

1. Presently, the Nanking a r e a . — T r a n s . 2. A retired official, usually a big landlord at the same t i m e . — T r a n s . 3. An ancient rhyming dictionary for poetry w r i t i n g . — Trans. 4. Two further paragraphs, completing the Preface, are not translated here. They refer to materials in the original not included in this translation.—Trans. 41

Hai Jui Dismissed from Office A Synopsis by Wu Han

A Synopsis by W u Han

Hai Jui (1515-1587), courtesy name, Kang-feng, was from Ch'iung-chou (present Hainan Island), Kwangtung Province. Simple and plain in living, upright and resolute by nature, he was a well-known, honest, and incorruptible official of the Ming dynasty. He was opposed to corruption and wastefulness.

He ad-

vocated severe punishment for corruption to help create an honest and clean political atmosphere.

He also advocated

frugality in finance, strict execution of the rules and regulations set down by the government, restraint of the tyrants and landlords, and the establishment of a simplified and unified tax system to lessen the labor service of the poor.

He exerted great effort to promote irrigation and w a -

ter conservation.

He lightened the people's burden of ex-

cessive levies and miscellaneous contributions.

He paid

great attention to lawsuits and the redress of grievances. He fought against the corrupt bureaucrats, tyrants, and retired officials who did all sorts of evil.

45

However, he re-

mained a devoted official loyal to the feudal ruling class; all his political activities were for the purpose of strengthening the long-range interests of that class.

Although he

had criticized the Emperor and had been imprisoned and nearly killed because of it, he cried grievously w h e n the Emperor died. The people of the time were fond of him and praised him. The big bureaucrats, the big landlords, and the retired officials were against him; they denounced h i m and tried to get rid of him.

But at the same time he was supported by a

small number of officials and young intellectuals who had a sense of justice. This play depicts some of the events that took place when Hai Jui was governor-general of Ying-tien (then popularly known as Kiangnan).

The period was between June

and January 1570, altogether seven months.

1569,

He was then

fifty-four years old. The scene is Soochow, the seat of the Ying-tien governorgeneral.

He controlled the ten prefectures of Ying-t'ien

(present-day Nanking), Soochow, Ch'ang-chou,

Chen-chiang,

Sung-chiang, hui-chou, T'ai-p'ing, Ning-ku, An-ch'ing, Ch'ihchou as well as Kwang-te chou.

He was also in charge of

the collection of grain tax in the three perfectures of H a n g , Chia, and H u in Western Chekiang.

The power and authority

of the governor-general encompassed the areas of civil administration, provisions, military affairs, and impeachment of officials. 46

The hero of this play is Hai Jui.

The antagonists are

retired Prime Minister Hsu Chieh, and the bloc of bureaucrats and landlords represented by Hsu.

Members of this

bloc during the Ming dynasty were called hsiang-kuan3 cause they had once served in the Imperial Court.

beThese

people were all big landlords who had both money and power. They were also called by different names, such as country squires, wealthy squires, and the gentry.

In short, they

were all bureaucrats and landlords. Hsu Ying, third son of Hsu Chieh, relies upon his family power to seize the land belonging to the peasant Chao Yushan, whose only son dies of grief as a result. 2 the day of Ch'ing-ming,

Again, on

Hsu Ying forcibly carries off Chao

Yu-shan's granddaughter Chao Hsiao-Ian, and the old man is cruelly beaten when he tries to rescue her.

Chao Hsiao-Ian's

mother. Hung Ah-lan, brings her grievances to the county yamen but the magistrate, Wang Ming-yu rejects the lawsuit in order to protect the Hsll family.

Hsti Ying bribes Wang Ming-

yu and the prefect of Sung-chiang to let his servant Hsll Fu testify at the court that Hsil Ying did not leave town on the day of Ch'ing-ming.

Wang then flogs Chao Yu-shan to death

at the court, and dismisses the case by driving Hung Ah-lan out with curses.

This shows the decadence of politics, the

despotism of the hsiang-kuan,

and the cruel oppression and

enslavement suffered by the people in feudal times. Hai Jui, dressed in civilian clothes, is arriving to assume office.

Enroute he learns from Hung Ah-lan and other 47

villagers about the case involving Hsu Ying and how the

ang-kuan

hsi-

forcibly seized the people's land.

Hai Jui pays a visit to Hsu Chieh, who tells him that he should strictly uphold the law and treat officials and common people alike.

What Hsu actually means is that Hai Jui

should punish the lawsuit-loving, "rebellious" peasants severely, in order to protect the interests of the

kuan.

Hai Jui brings up Hung Ah-lan's case.

hsiang-

But HsO Chieh

not only flatly denies any injustice, but also later counsels his son to get Hsu Fu to testify at the court, disgui3

sed as a

hsiu-ts'ai.

Hai Jui decides to redress the people's grievances and orders the hsiang-kuan cibly seized.

to give back the land they have for-

He consults with his family.

His mother en-

thusiastically supports him, and this makes him even more resolute. In the act "Trial," Hai Jui exposes the false testimony made by Hsu Ying's house servant and passes sentences according to law, thereby settling several cases concerning corrupt officials on the spot. Hsu Ying is sentenced to die.

Hsu Chieh pays a per-

sonal visit to Hai Jui, bringing up their past friendship and requesting leniency for his son.

Hai Jui does not let old

friendship stand in the way, however.

He refutes Hsu's ar-

gument and a direct confrontation ensues.

Hsu Chieh offers

to give back the land to atone for his son's crime.

But Hai

Jui solemnly points out that the land forcibly seized should, 48

of course, be returned to its proper owners, but that Hsu Ying will be punished for his crimes, too.

Hsu Chieh fur-

threatens that Hai Jui may be dismissed from office because he will offend too many people by his actions. is still not moved.

But Hai Jui

At last they break off their friendship

and Hsu Chieh leaves in a rage. Hsu Chieh does not accept defeat lying down.

He secret-

ly schemes with his relatives and friends to formulate a counterattack.

Later, people are dispatched to the capital

city to bribe eunuchs and officials of the Imperial Court; consequently, Hai Jui is dismissed.

The new governor-gene-

ral, Tai Feng-hsiang, hastily comes to take office.

But Hai

Jui has already received Imperial orders to hold an autumn assize to execute Hsu Ying and Wang Ming-yu.

Tai tries to

stop him by every means, but Hai Jui does not budge, and orders the execution to be carried out.

Then he hands over the

governor's seal and leaves for his native home. Historically, Tai Feng-hsiang was the man who impeached Hai Jui.

He was the spokesman for the hsiang-kuan of Kiang-

nan at the Imperial Court.

But, in this play, for the sake

of convenience, I cast him in the role of the new governor who replaces Hai Jui. The emphasis of this play is Hai Jui's strong determination that he will hold fast to his principles and will not compromise, that he will not bend under violent pressure, that he will not accept defeat, but will fight on.

The play

shows the struggle within the same feudal ruling class be49

tween Hai Jui on the left and the bloc of bureaucrats and landlords represented by Hsti Chieh on the right.

Hai Jui

himself is a loyal official of the feudal ruling class, but is comparatively farsighted, and closer to the people.

In

order to protect the long-range interests of his class, he believes that certain things beneficial to the people ought to be done, and that unlawful exploitation of the people by the hsiana-kuan

should be checked.

Because he encroaches

upon the interests of the right wing of his class, a violent struggle breaks out.

At the end of this struggle, Hai Jui

is dismissed from office, yet he has not been subdued; nor has he lost courage. At that time, the people supported him and praised him because he did good things for them.

Hai Jui's place in

history should be recognized as positive and his good qualities are worthy of example.

Seventh draft completed on November 13, 1960. Rewritten and finalized on August 8, 1961, at Peitaiho.

1. Unfamiliar place names are rendered in the Wade-Giles romanization. Familiar names are in keeping with post office usage. 2. A sort of spring memorial day for visiting ancestral graves.—Trans. 3. A holder of the prefectual examination d e g r e e . — Trans. 50

HAI JUI DISMISSED FROM OFFICE

Act I.

THE PEOPLE'S INDIGNATION

Time:

1569, on the day of Ch-ing-ming. *

Place:

At the foot of Heng-yiin Mountain, Hua-t'ing County, Sung-chiang Prefecture. PERSONAE:

HSU YING, third son of Hsu Chieh, foppish and despotic, age about 40. CHAO YU-SHAN, peasant, age 65. HUNG AH-LAN, daughter-in-law of Chao Yii-shan, age 31. CHAO HSIAO-LAN, granddaughter of Chao Yu-shan, age 16. WANG MING-YU, magistrate of Hua-t'ing County, corrupt official, age 40. Several servants of the Hsu family. Several Hua-t'ing County yamen runners. A number of common people with lawsuits to lodge. Villagers. (Contextual notes provided by the translator appear as footnotes to the text of the play.—Ed.) *Ch'ing-ming literally means "clear and bright." It is a sort of spring memorial day for visiting ancestral graves. —Trans. 53

(HSU YING aomes along on horseback, with several house servants, subserviently crowding around him.) HSU YING (chants): The suburb is full of Spring color, How lovely! I hasten to spur up my horse, Like flying! Look at all these flowers, My lord! In the distance I see some wenches, Let's go! (Speaks):

I'm Hsti Ying, the third young master of

the Hsti family.

Visiting ancestral graves is but an

excuse; the fact is that I've come out here to have a good time.

We've been releasing falcons and cha-

sing dogs all the way, and I feel wonderful.

Sudden-

ly I see two women in the graveyard over there. look bewitching and fascinating. proach them and amuse myself?

They

Why don't I ap-

Hi, fellows, hurry!

(HUNG AH-LAN and CHAO HSIAO-LAN enter, carrying incense-sticks and sacrificial paper money.) HUNG AH-LAN (sings): We've come to visit a new grave on the day of Chingming. Incense-sticks will be lit and paper money burned. I mourn my dear husband with deep sorrow, Who died grievously almost a year ago.. Flowers grow in clusters and willow trees gently swing, But my broken heart can find no songs to sing. My father-in-law is old and my daughter is in her teens, Alas, who will be kind enough to show us any compassion? 54

(Speaks

to daughter):

Hsiao-Ian, light the incense

sticks and burn the paper-money.

Kowtow

to your

father.

(Both kowtow

to the

grave.)

HUNG AH-LAN (cries): 0, father of my daughter! (Sings): Y o u alone tilled the field and reaped the grain; To keep the family alive was a great strain. Y o u rose early and never seemed to go to bed; The moon and stars were forever over your head Tending cattle and sheep, growing mulberry and hemp You toiled all year round without a moment's rest. Paying excessive taxes, coping with life's difficul ties , Y o u suffered all sorts of unbelievably inhuman hardships, Suddenly like a thunderbolt out of the blue, Calamities descended on us, never more cruel. Altering the month and year on the land-deed, Prime Minister Hsil fabricated a false document Thus he not only seized our property, But also demanded tax and rent. Petioning officials and beseeching the gentry, You walked and wore out your sandals in vain. So angered and grieved were you by the unjust treat ment, That y o u became seriously ill and spat blood. W i t h i n a few short months y o u died in great pain, And were buried at the foot of the Heng-yun Mountain. (Cries):

Father of my daughter, how are we to live

on now?

And when will your grievances be redressed

CHAO HSIAO-LAN: Mother, stop crying.

People are coming this way.

(Mother and daughter gather up baskets and dishes used for the ceremony, and prepare to leave. HSU YING and his servants crowd forward. Rsu dallies with Hsiao55

Ian, who avoids him3 while AHLAN tries to intercede.) HSU YING: Get out of my way!

I want her, not you.

HUNG AH-LAN: Behave respectably, young master.

She is my daugh-

ter. HSU YING: That's very good!

You might as well come along to

my house too. HUNG AH-LAN: This is very strange indeed. tives nor friends.

We are neither rela-

Why should we go to your house?

HStf YING: Be my concubines, both of you.

I guarantee that you

will never lack food or clothes. HUNG AH-LAN: What nonsense! Hsiao-Ian, hurry and let's go. (HSU YING directs his servants to stop them.) HUNG AH-LAN: How dare you insult women of good family in broad daylight!

Help!

Fellow villagers!

HSU YING: There is no need to be alarmed.

I, the third master

of the Hsu family, will not ill-treat you two. HUNG AH-LAN: So it's you!

Third Young Master Hsu!

You killed

my husband. You are my enemy. Help! (Hearing the shouting, theHelp! villagers enter. HUNG AH-LAN and her daughter 56

take the opportunity to escape.)

VILLAGERS: This scoundrel of the Hsu family is harming people again! see?

Heaven, why don't you open your eyes and

Why don't you punish the rascal?

HSU YING: Don't let them get away! (The villagers are driven away by the servants. HSU and his men ahase after HUNG AH-LAN and her daughter. After a passage of time, Hung Ah-lan, C'HAO HSIAOLAN and CHAO YU-SHAN enter separately. They meet. Hsu and his servants enter in pursuit. Chao Yushan steps forward to block their way.) HStj YING: Don't run away.

Let's discuss things sensibly.

CHAO YU-SHAN: What's there to discuss, Third Young Master Hsu? You forcibly seized our land, and my only son died of grief as a result.

After that you still forced

me, an old man, to pay tax and do labor service. Still you are not satisfied, and you have to molest the widow and orphan of our family.

You really won't

allow us to live! HSiJ YING: Chao Yii-shan, be smart.

I am sure you, a penniless

old man, cannot support them.

So why not submit?

Wearing silk and satin, having servants to do all the work, they will enjoy a happy life. 57

Even you,

old man, will have a bowl of rice to eat. CHAO YU-SHAN: Shut up, Hsu Ying! cadent.

I may be poor, but I am not de-

I do not trade in human beings.

Get away!

Go to hell! HSU YING: You are indeed ungrateful.

Fellows, seize the girl.

(HSU FU and other servants of the Hsu family seize CHAO HSIAO-LAN. CHAO YU-SHAN and HUNG AH-LAN try desperately to stop them.) HSU YING: Give it to the old dog.

(The servants beat CHAO YU-SHAN mercilessly while HUNG AH-LAN and CHAO HSIAO-LAN attempt to protect him. Chao YU-shan is beaten unconscious. Hsu Ying and his servants leave, dragging Chao Hsiao-Ian along. Hearing the uproar, the villageers enter.)

VILLAGERS: They dared abduct a young girl of honorable family, and beat an old man to death in broad daylight. What kind of world is this?

Is there any law?

Is

there any divine justice? (HUNG AH-LAN cries bitterly while the villagers try to revive CHAO YU-SHAN, who gradually comes back to life.)

CHAO YtJ-SHAN: Daughter-in-law, this is no time to cry.

58

Hurry and

go to the county yamen and lodge a suit to rescue my granddaughter. (Sings): The despots are more fierce than tigers and wolves. To redress our grievances we must go to the court. The Imperial laws are clearly written; The injustices done to us must be rectified. HUNG AH-LAN: Father-in-law, you have been seriously injured. There's no one to take care of you.

Your daughter-

in-law cannot leave you. VILLAGERS: Lady, you go ahead to lodge your suit. after your father-in-law.

We'll look

Do not worry.

HUNG AH-LAN: In that case, let me express my appreciation.

Father-

in-law, goodbye. CHAO YU-SHAN: Go hurry back. and quickly, bring herand home.

Rescue my granddaughter

HUNG AH-LAN: Yes. (Exit.) (The villagers help CHAO leave the stage.) (At the court, WANG MING-YU, magistrate of Hua-t'ing County3 entersj followed by his attendants and yamen runners. A number of common people with lausuits also enter.)

WANG MING-YU (chants): 1 am a petty official, seventh-grade, I don't need any learning to be a magistrate. I itch all over when I see gold or silver; 59

I don't care whether it belongs to Chou or Wu, or any other So long as he brings to me a lot of cash. He is dearer to me than my own blood and flesh. Be it you're absolutely in the right. If you have no money, you'd better go fly a kite! (Speaks):

Hello, are all of you down there plain-

tiffs? PLAINTIFFS: Yes, we all are.

(They present written petitions.)

WANG MING-YU: Tell me, whom are you accusing? PLAINTIFF A; I accuse the family of Prime Minister Hsu of having forcibly seized my land. PLAINTIFF B: I accuse the family of Prime Minister Hsli of having forcibly taken away our land and property. PLAINTIFF C: I accuse Third Young Master Hsu of having forcibly seized our house. WANG MING-YU: This is strange.

Ever since I took office, there

have been complaints against the Hsu family every day;

it's the same thing again today.

cuse one and the same

family,

They all ac-

and for the same rea-

son, too—forcibly seizing people's property. plaintiffs)

This is lawlessness indeed!

you accuse Prime Minister Hsti!

(To

How dare

(To himself)

I've

long heard the people here are wicked and crafty by nature.

It is so!

sues an order)

These are indeed rascals.

(Is-

60 Men, drive these rogues out of here!

(Being pushed by the magistrate's yamen runners, the people disperse and leave the stage.)

(HUNG AH-LAN enters. She beats the drum. An underling leads her to the court, where she kneels dcmm in front of the magistrate 's idesk. )

WANG MING-YU: Here's another plaintiff.

I guess she must have come

to accuse the Hsu family.

(To Hung Ah-lam)

Woman!

Whom have you come to accuse? HUNG AH-LAN: Your Honor, I accuse Third Young Master Hsu of having abducted my daughter and of seriously injuring my father-in-law.

Your Honor, you must rectify the in-

justices done to us!

(She cries.)

WANG MING-YU: (To himself)

See what a prophet I am.

precisely as I have predicted.

It turns out

(To Hung)

Woman,

where's your daughter? HUNG AH-LAN: She was forcibly carried away by Third Young Master Hsii. WANG MING-YU: Is there anyone who can fellow testify? HUNG AH-LAN: It was witnessed by my villagers. WANG MING-YU: Where are they? HUNG AH-LAN: My father-in-law has been cruelly beaten and seriously injured.

They are taking care of him. 61

WANG MING-YU: I knew this trick of yours all along. ther evidence nor witnesses.

You have nei-

Who abducted your

daughter? And where is your father-in-law? HUNG AH-LAN: He has been seriously injured; he cannot move. WANG MING-YU: Nonsense!

If you accuse someone of beating your fa-

ther-in-law, the wounds have to be examined. is a universal practice.

This

If your father-in-law does

not come for examination, how am I to know whether he is injured or not?

You come here to lodge an ac-

cusation, yet you have neither a written complaint, nor a witness, nor evidence.

Apparently, you are a

wicked person making false charges.

But considering

you are a woman and this is your first offense, you will not be severely punished.

Guards, throw her

out of court! HUNG AH-LAN: It is the truth that we have been wronged.

Your

Honor, please show mercy and redress the injustices done to us. WANG MING-YU: If there are injustices, they will be redressed; but false accusations will also be dealt with.

There

must be witnesses and evidence in any lawsuit.

Your

magistrate is not so muddle-headed as to believe yours words alone. HUNG AH-LAN: My great lord, you are62an honest official.

Please

rectify the wrongs done to us. WANG MING-YU: Of course I am an honest official. for you to say so.

There is no need

If you don't accept my decision,

come with evidence and witnesses next time.

Case

dismissed. (Magistrate 's yamen runners leave the stage. HUNG AS-LAN leaves, crying.) WANG MING-YU: This is a tough case, involving beating and open abduction.

I am merely a bean-sized official; how

would I dare offend Prime Minister Hsii by trying to settle it according to the law of the land?

But if

I let it drag on, that woman would certainly come everyday to bother me with her complaints. I going to do?

(Thinks)

Here's an idea.

What am Why don't

I report it to Lord Li P'ing-tu, the prefect.

He's

been around a good deal; he'd certainly know what to do. (Chants) : Day and night wicked people stir up waves and winds, My troubles, oh, will they ever come to an end!

(Exit.)

63

Act I I .

TRIAL

Time:

One month

later.

Place:

H u a - t ' i n g County m a g i s t r a t e ' s yamen. PERSONAE:

HSU YING, HSU FU, CHAO Ylf-SHAN, HUNG AH-LAN, peasants. WANG MING-YU, m a g i s t r a t e of H u a - t ' i n g A number of yamen runners. VILLAGERS.

64

County.

(HSU YING and HSU FU enter.)

HSU YING (chants): Gold has been delivered, And apologies made; It's a wonderful scheme, That assures me my fate. (Speaks) :

Chao Yii-shan dared to lodge a suit

against me, Third Young Master HsC, at the county yamen.

But I knew how to deal with his sort.

As

soon as I knitted my brows in thought, a scheme was hatched.

I dispatched HsD Fu to present two hundred

ounces of gold to the magistrate, three hundred ounces to the prefect, and bought over the whole lot of them.

That Wang Ming-yu was a smart one.

He said

that when the wicked and crafty people falsely accused the hsiang-kuan, it could not be tolerated, and they must be severely punished.

Now, about this

lawsuit, I'll see just where it will lead you, old Chao Yii-shan.

(Calls his servant)

Hsu Fu!

HSU FU: Yes, my lord. HSU YING: At the court, when the magistrate asks about the events of that day, you must be exceedingly careful HSU FU: not to reveal the truth. Naturally. Don't worry, young master.

(WANG MING-YU enters, followed by YAMEN runners. Wang takes his seat at the magistrate's desk.)

(Exit.)

WANG MING-YU (chants): Luck's been knocking at my door of late, I'm wondering how much I'll net Money is the only authority in court, Reputation? Old Pao* can have it all. (Speaks):

This is amusing, indeed!

knew how to squeeze the poor. have, lean and dry as they are?

Formerly, I only

But what fat do they Now that even the

family of Great Lord Hsu brings me big handfuls of gold, I will not have been an official in vain.

One

way or another, I must wind up this case today. Otherwise, they will say I am a stupid magistrate who cannot cope with such a trifling matter. sues orders)

(Is-

Yamen runners, summon those people in-

volved in Hung Ah-lan's case to court. fYamen runners pass words, HUNG AHLANj CHAO YU-SHAN, and villagers enter.) ALL: Your Honor, allow us to pay you our respects. WANG MING-YU: Stand to one side.

These past days I have been ma-

king investigations everywhere regarding Hung Ah-lan's case. truth. Hung)

At today's trial, all of you must speak the You will not be allowed to digress.

(To

Hung Ah-lan!

HUNG AH-LAN: Yes, your honor. *Pao Cheng, a government official of Sung dynasty, having the reputation of being the most honest and upright.— Trans.

66

WANG MING-YU: You accuse Hsu Ying of having abducted your daughter. When did that happen? HUNC- AH-LAN: It happened on the day of

Ch'ing-ming.

WANG MING-YU: Was there an eye-witness? VILLAGERS: We all witnessed it, Your Honor. WANG MING-YU: Hung Ah-lan, you accuse Hsu Ying of having beaten your father-in-law.

Is he here?

CHAO Ytj-SHAN: Here I am, Your Honor. WANG MING-YU: Where are your injuries? CHAO YU-SHAN: A1J over my body.

They beat me with their fists and

kicked me with their feet. WANG MING-YU: Was there an eye-witness? VILLAGERS: We all saw it happen, Your Honor. WANG MING-YU: Coroner, examine the injuries. (The eoroner takes off Chao 's slothes and examines him.) CORONER: Your Honor, the man hasn't lost any limbs, and there are no scars either.

He is not injured.

WANG MING-YU: You audacious wretch! make false charges!

How dare you lie to me, and Bring the stick, and give it to

67

him hard. CHAO

YU-SHAN: Your Honor!

T h e r e are scars on my b o d y .

s a y t h e r e are n o t !

How can he

P l e a s e r e - e x a m i n e my w o u n d s , Y o u r

VILLAGERS: Y o u r H o n o r , Chao Yii-shan w a s v i c i o u s l y b e a t e n b y Ying.

W e a l l w i t n e s s e d it.

If w e w e r e to b e

w r o n g , w e w o u l d b e w i l l i n g to take the

Hsu

proved

punishment.

WANG MING-YU: T h i s is s t r a n g e i n d e e d .

H e e v i d e n t l y has no w o u n d s .

W h y do y o u i n s i s t that h e d o e s ? CORONER:

Coroner,

re-examine

him. H e s e e m s to h a v e s o m e w o u n d s i n c u r r e d w h e n he down.

WANG

T h e r e are no w o u n d s

fell

from a beating.

MING-YU:

Y a m e n r u n n e r s , s u m m o n H s u Y i n g to the

court.

(HSU YING and HSU FU enter.) HStJ Y I N G : A l l o w ying-kuan* Your

H s u Y i n g to p a y y o u h i s

respects,

Honor.

WANG MING-YU: No need.

S t a n d to o n e side.

H s u Y i n g , y o u are

s e d of h a v i n g k i d n a p p e d a w o m a n a n d of h a v i n g beaten a law-abiding man.

Is this

accu-

cruelly

true?

* A t i t l e a c q u i r e d o n the s t r e n g t h of h i s f a t h e r ' s h a v i n g HSU YING: H s uo fYfiincgi aclo.m—e T s r af nr s om b e e n a h Ying-kuan igh-ranking . the f a m i l y of a P r i m e

68

Minister.

Having learned well all the classics, he

understands clearly all the proprieties.

How could

he have kidnapped a woman and beaten a law-abiding man?

Please investigate the accusations closely,

Your Honor.

And may I ask Your Honor, when did they

say it happened? WANG MING-YU: The plaintiff states positively that it happened on the day of

Ch'ing-ming.

HSU YING: On the day of Ch'ing-mingl . . . Now, I remember.

Where was I that day? I was at county school stu-

dent Chang's house, discussing the classics and did not leave town. WANG MING-YU: Is there anyone to testify for you? HSU YING: Our house servant, Hsu Fu, was with me that day.

He

can testify. WANG MING-YU: Hsu Fu, where was Hsu Ying on the day of

Ch'ing-ming?

HSU FU: Your Honor, on the day of Ch'ing-ming,

the third

young master was indeed studying at Chang's house, and did not leave town. ment, attending him.

I was at his side every mo-

I do testify.

WANG MING-YU: So that's what happened.

Since Hsu Ying was studying

at Chang's house in town the entire day of ming,

Ch'ing-

how could he, at the same time, go out of town 69

to kidnap one person and beat up another?

Clearly,

this is a case whereby wicked people are falsely accusing the hs-iang-kuan. sible.

This is absolutely impermis-

Come guards!

Give Hung Ah-lan a sound thra-

shing. HUNG AH-LAN: Please, my great lord, Your Honor! are all absolutely true. here to testify. tices done to us. Hsu's house.

My accusations

There are fellow villagers

Your Honor must rectify the injusMy young daughter is still in the

Please, Your Honor, order them to re-

turn her to me, so that mother and daughter may be reunited. WANG MING-YU: Shut up, you impudent, spiteful woman! nesses, but they do, too.

Why must your witnesses be

telling the truth, while theirs are not? trate is wise to hear both sides. ish to listen to you alone.

You have wit-

Your magis-

He would be fool-

You can't mean that I

should believe the words of you poor people, but not those of the hsiang-kuanl

Come guards!

Drag her out

and give her a sound thrashing. CHAO YU-SHAN: Be merciful, my great lord!

I am merely a poor pea-

sant, yet I am not lacking in a sense of decency.

I

have not gone to school, yet I understand proprieties I inherited a little land from my ancestors, and my entire family lived on70 it.

But third young master

Hsu fabricated a false document, altered the dates, and seized our property.

My only son died of anguish

as a result of it, and left behind him his widow and a young daughter.

Yet even after our property was

taken away, the levies remained with us, and we had to continue paying taxes in grain, and doing labor service.

There was no place to air our grievances.

Then, on the day of Ch'ing-ming, relying on their power, third young master Hsu kidnapped my young grand-daughter and injured me by a cruel beating. This is piling injustice upon injustice.

The sun and

heaven above, as well as our fellow villagers here down on earth, can all testify for us.

My great lord,

you not only refuse to act on our behalf, but, believing their words only, you further order the guards to beat the plaintiff.

Where is divine jus-

tice, and where is your good conscience? lord, you mustn't do this!

My great

You must act in behalf

of the common people! WANG MING-YU: You audacious and wicked man!

You insist that you

have been injured when you evidently have no wounds. You accuse a man of having beaten you and kidnapping your grand-daughter in the countryside, when this man was actually studying at a friend's house. what you call divine justice? science?

Is this

Is this good con-

You are not merely poor in wealth, but also 71

poor in propriety.

In fact, you are so desperately

poor, that you take the bold step of falsely accussing the hsiang-kuan.

This is indeed vicious and

malicious to the extreme!

Come, guards, drag him

out and give h i m a sound thrashing. CHAO YU-SHAN: Your Honor, you can't beat me.

I'll sue you, if y o u

do. WANG MING-YU: Where will you go to sue me?

(A yamen runner brings official dispatch.)

in an

YAMEN RUNNER: Your Honor, here's an urgent message. WANG MING-YU:

(Opens i t j and reads;

greatly

Great god!

startled)

Hai Jui has been appointed Third-Class Censor* to look into the affairs of the ten prefectures of Y i n g t'ien!

Heavens!

The old fellow does not go any

other place, but has to come to Kiangnan.

Now w h a t

am I to do?

it

lost

in

(He drops

the dispatoh3

picks

up,

thought.)

YAMEN RUNNER: What!

Honest Hai Jui is coming here?

That's

terri-

ble!

*Inspector general for rectifying administrative Trans. 72

ills.—

WANG MING-YU: Make preparations for travel. chow at once. (WANG leaves, followed yamen runners.)

73

I'm leaving for Soo-

by

his

Act III. TAKING OFFICE

Time:

Early in June, 1569.

Place:

At the Pavilion of Official Reception outside of the Gate of Heaven, Soochow. PERSONAE:

CHENG YU, prefect of Soochow, 55 years old. His reputation is fair, because he preforms his official duties well. HSIAO YEN, magistrate of Wuhsien, 45 years old, a corrupt official . LI P'ING-TU, prefect of Sung-chiang, about 50 years old. He fawns upon the hsiang-kuan. Greedy and lawless, he is well-known as "The Grafter." WANG MING-YU, magistrate of Hua-t'ing County. HUNG AH-LAN and VILLAGERS. HAI JUI, 54 years old, grey-bearded, in civilian clothes. LADY HSIEH, Hai Jui's mother, 71 years old, strict and upright by nature. Her husband died when she was still young. She brought up and educated Hai Jui herself. Hai Jui is extremely filial and respectful to her. LADY WANG, Hai Jui's wife by second marriage, 30 years old. Gentle and timid, she respects Hai Jui very much. At the same time, she is fearful that he may get into trouble because of his stubborn and unbending nature. She often attempts to counsel him to change his ways. However, after things have been clearly explained to 74

her, she supports him completely. HAI P'ENG, an old servant, honest and reliable. He is always afraid that Hai Jui might do something to offend other people. He would offer Hai Jui counsel whenever anything happened. He loves his master, but frequently he would be opposed to Hai Jui's ideas. Nevertheless, he always ends up going along with his master. An ARMY OFFICER and a number of SOLDIERS.

75

(Officialsj the army officials, and the soldiers enter, beaming flags and canopies.) CHENG YU: Good day, my lords.

Governor Hai Jui left Nanking

quite sometime ago, but he still has not arrived. I'm afraid we will be waiting for him in vain. HSIAO YEN: When it was heard that Governor Hai Jui was coming, the number of sedan-chair carriers of grandpa Huang Ching, eunuch and Commissioner of the silk industry, was reduced from eight to four. LI P'ING-TU: Yes.

Some of the hsiang-kuan in our area hurriedly

painted their red doors* black during the night to be on the safe side. WANG MING-YU: My lords, everybody says Governor Hai Jui is an honest and upright official.

Just what kind of man

is he? CHENG YU: When I was in the capital several years back, I knew Governor Hai Jui pretty well.

Allow me to describe

him for you. (Sings) : He was most honest and upright, So he named himself Kang-feng accordingly. Towards the end of Chia Ching's reign, He made criticisms that angered the Throne. He tried to convince the Emperor, *Red doors indicated great merit and wealth.—Trans. 76

That seeking longevity was a futile effort: "From the ancient times to the present day, There hasn't been a mortal who never died. Wealth is being wasted in practicing superstition, Yet blocked are channels of civil administration. Miserable poverty is now widespread, And serious disturbances occur everywhere. Even the Emperor's name has been a distastful word. Should this condition go on unchanged, It will lead the state into disaster, And bring disgrace to our ancestors." (Speaks):

He scolded the Emperor rather harshly.

The Emperor became so enraged that he wanted to chop off Hai Jui's head.

He sent people to keep an eye

on Hai Jui to prevent him from escaping.

Later, when

the Emperor learned that Hai Jui was already prepared to die, he was astounded, and did not know what to do.

Hai Jui was then jailed in a prison for offi-

cials where he was tortured in every way.

He was

pardoned and released after the Emperor passed away. Now that he is coming here, you must be very careful, my lords. (HSIAO YEN, LI P'ING-TU and WANG MING-YU are all shocked. Their faces become pale.)

CHENG YU: The weather is scorching.

Why don't we all go and

take a rest inside the Pavilian of Official Reception. We'll come out when the advance guards arrive. won't be late.

Come, attendants.

the Pavilian of Official Reception. (All exit.) 77

We

Clear the way to

HAI JUI: (Off stage)

Let us hurry!

(HAI JUI, LADY HSIEH, LADY WANG, and HAI P'ENG enter.) HAI JUI (sings): By Imperial orders to inspect ten prefectures, I have come directly to Ching-ch'ang County. To fulfill my grand plans and ambitions, I'm going to help the weak and suppress tyranny. The South here is affluent and rich, They pay heavy taxes in grain and cash. People often say, "There's a paradise in heaven, But we have Soochow and Hangchow here on earth." The hsiang-kuan and officials are greedy ana vicious, Unable to endure the hardship and suffering, From their native land they are fleeing. The people are wretched and wealth drained, Our national life is following a dangerous trend. Being grateful and loyal to the Emperor, I am resolved to do my duties, or whatever. LADY WANG (sings): My sweat flows like drops of rain, I'm drenched to the very skin. There's beautiful scenery by the roadside, Which I'm simply too weary to admire. LADY HSIEH: Son, how much further is it to Soochow? HAI JUI: The city of Soochow is just ahead. scorching.

The weather is

Mother, how about resting awhile before

we proceed? LADY HSIEH: As you say, son. HAI JUI: I see a forest beyond. Mother.

Please take a rest there,

Hai P'eng, lead the way.

(LADY HSIEH, LADY WANG and HAI JUI exit.) 78

(HUNG AH-LAN and vil'Lagers enter.)

VILLAGER C: The weather is burning hot. we continue.

Let's take a rest before

(Seeing Hung Ah-lan weep)

are you crying?

Lady, why

What's the trouble?

HUNG AH-LAN: I'm going to the Governor's yamen in Soochow to lodge a suit. VILLAGER Against C: whom? HUNG AH-LAN: Against Third Young Master Hsu and the magistrate of Hua-t'ing County, for their seizure of my land and my daughter, and the beating to death of my fatherin-law . VILLAGER Tell C: us the details please. HUNG AH-LAN: 0, Heavens I (Sings): Having power and an iron hand, The wicked Hsii Ying seized our land. I could do nothing but cry to the heavens, When my daughter was kidnapped and grandfather killed, We were further wronged by the magistrate of Huat'ing. Because he wanted to protect the defendant. Rushing toward Soochow with my complaint, My heart is like sizzling in a frying pan. (HAI JUI listens, and nods.) VILLAGER C: Such injustices!

Can it really be true?

VILLAGER A: Of course it's true.

We all saw it happen. 79

(Sings): The two graves, old and new, are there, Burying both generations, son and father. The former died of anguish, the latter of beating, Then they kidnapped the girl in addition. HAI JUI: Why don't they go to the court? VILLAGER B: Pardon me, sir. to the court.

You don't know it, but they did go

The wronged plaintiff was beaten to

HAI JUI:death there. Can this be true?

Which article of the law allows

them to do that? VILLAGER A: The magistrate said they made false charges against

hsiang-kuan.

HAI JUI: the

How could they be false charges?

Did anyone testify

to that? VILLAGERYes, A: the defendant's house servant, Hsu Fu, did. HAI JUI: Ha!

How can a house servant testify for his own mas-

ter?

Anyway, what did he try to prove?

VILLAGER B: He said on the day of Ch'ing-ming

Third Young Master

Hsu was studying all day at the house of a county school student of the same city, so he never left HAI JUI:

town.

Which Third Young Master Hsii was that? VILLAGER A: It was none other than the third young master of 80

Prime Minister Hsu. HAI JUI: So.

Since Third Young Master Hsu did not leave town,

how could he have done things like kidnapping and beating in the countryside? VILLAGER A: Rubbish!

That's like seeing ghosts in broad daylight.

We all saw him do it, kidnapping and beating, both. HAI JUI: It's your fault, in that case.

Since you saw it hap-

pen, why didn't you go and testify? VILLAGER B: Listen, my dear sir.

(Sings): At the court we all truthfully testified, But it meant nothing to the magistrate bribed; He accepted the hsiang-kuan's words, Yet he would not trust our eyes. HAI JUI: So the words of the hsiang-kuan

were true, while the

testimony of the poor was false. VILLAGERS: Precisely. HAI JUI: The hsiang-kuan

was alone and you were many.

Even

then the magistrate would not believe you? VILLAGER A: How would you, sir, know the grievances of the poor? We are all tenant farmers of the Hsu family.

We dare

not say too much. HAI JUI: I see. So you are all tenant farmers of the Hsli 81

family. VILLAGERS: All our lands have been seized by the Hsu family. In addition, we still have to pay taxes and do labor service.

You don't know how we suffer.

HAI JUI:Again, this is your own fault.

Why didn't you sue?

VILLAGERS A and B: Sir, since you are not a local man, we can't blame you for not knowing.

The prefect is the notorious

"Grafter," and the magistrate is infamously corrupt. How would we dare sue? (Sings): The doors of the official yamen are open wide, But cash alone can determine who is right. Big or small, they are officials just the same; The poor people have only their misfortune to blame. HAI JUI: Well, since neither the magistrate nor the prefect will help you, where will you go now? VILLAGER C: We'll go to lodge suits with the governor of Soochow. HAI JUI: The governor of Soochow is not interested in money and will act in your behalf? VILLAGER C: That's right.

The new governor Hai Jui can definite-

ly act in our behalf. Listen here. (Sings): When I was a rice merchant, Many years ago, in Ch'un An, Everybody spoke highly of Hai Jui, As an honest and upright man. He reduced the number of post-stations and simplified taxation; He abolished labor service and other old practices. 82

Agriculture and the people's welfare were his sole concern, Consequently, all the refugees did return. His daily life was simple and frugal, No one ever saw such a good official. Jailing the young rascals and removing the despots, His judgement on each case was clear and fair; When he was transferred to another town, The people's hearts were filled with sorrow and despair. HAI JUI: You really believe he will act in your behalf? VILLAGER C: Of course.

Even before he arrived to take office,

there were already announcements encouraging the people to air their grievances.

If he didn't act in

our behalf, he couldn't have been called "the clear HAI JUI:and blue sky above." Oh, I see. (Sound stage.)

of music

aomes from

off

VILLAGER B: The officials have arrived to welcome the new governor, "Hai, the azure sky."

Let's see what he's

like. (HUNG AH-LAN and the villagers crcwd fonoard and bump into the oncoming o f f i c i a l s and soldiers. VILLAGER C is knocked over by a soldier. /Is soon as HAI JUI helps him up} he again collides with LI P'ING-TU.)

LI P'ING-TU: You blind old fool, how dare you bump into me.

83

Guards, give the old fool a thrashing.

(The soldiers swing their whips, but are stopped by CHENG YU. Officials and soldiers exit.) (Frightened HUNG AH-LAN and villagers also exit.) HAI JUI: He is merely a tiny minor official, yet he is so pompous and overbearing.

It's easy to imagine how

he preys on the common people every day. (Sings): The common people come here in crowds, With lawsuits against those tyrants. Helping the old and dragging along the young, They have traveled to this distant town, Because the local officials, greedy and cruel, They are just packs of foxes and wolves. Exacting illegal taxes and coveting bribes, They bring untold sufferings to the masses. That tiny official pushes the people around, In order to show that his power abounds. His behavior tells the simple story, That he is despotic and haughty. Now that I am governor of this region, The commoners will be treated as my own children. I will suppress evil and help the good people, And get rid of all those vicious officials. (Chants): To uphold the law and tighten discipline, To destroy tyranny and protect the innocent, I am determined to do all within my power, Because I must fulfill my long cherished ambition. (Exit.)

84

Act IV. MEETING WITH HSU CHIEH

Time:

Ten days after the previous act.

Place:

Residence of Hsu Chieh, in Hua-t'ing County. PERSONAE:

HAI JUI, wearing official silk hat and scarlet robe. HAI P'ENG. HSU CHIEH, 75 years old, his beard spotted with white, short in stature, light complexioned, wearing civilian clothes, having impressive appearance and manners. HSU'S SERVANT.

85

(HSU CHIEH enter, attended by a servant.) HSU CHIEH (sings): For twenty years at the Imperial Court, I held the reign of power. Managing the affairs of state, I was highly esteemed. I didn't know the joy of idyllic life, Until I retired from office. I feel better off than a prince, And I'm envious of no mortals. (Speaks):

I'm Hsu Chieh, twice Prime Minister, well-

known in my days. from office.

Due to old age, I've resigned

My property covers three counties of

Wu, and my attendants and servants number in the tens of thousands.

Since I'm both wealthy and noble, what

else do I desire?

Last month I read the official

dispatch and learned that Hai Jui was reappointed to become governor of Kiangnan. each other for many years.

We haven't seen

Now that he is coming

here, I'm sure he'll accomplish a great deal. (Sings): How delighted I am to learn, That the new governor is an old friend. He is a man of indisputable integrity; Old age only strengthened that good quality. Discussing the classics and talking about our past, Are things that men in declining years enjoy best. Being benevolent towards the common people, He will be remembered for a thousand years to come. (Speaks): Wait a moment!

I was at the Imperial

Court for many years, while my children and grandchildren lived here in the country.

They must una-

voidably have mistreated the villagers in one way or another.

Hai Jui is a man of inflexibility. 86

If he

should inquire into the affairs of my family, how am I going to reply?

(Thinks, then)

Yes, I'll

have to instruct the young folks to behave themselves.

I must apply strict discipline so that they

will not provoke troubles.

If Hai Jui should want

to ask questions, I could answer without difficulty, so long as he has no evidence in his hands.

This

is, indeed, an occasion when I am happy and uneasy at the same time.

(An attendant enters.) ATTENDANT : May I report to your great lordship, Governor Hai Jui is here to visit. HSU CHIEH: Invite him in, invite him in.

Start the music of

welcome. (Musia. HAI JUI enters} followed by HAI P 'ENG. ) HAI JUI: Your great lordship. HSU CHIEH: Kang-feng. HAI JUI: Please forgive me.

I couldn't come to pay you my

respects until today.

There has been very much to

do ever since I took office. HSU CHIEH: No need to stand on ceremony, Kang-feng.

87

It is to

bless our entire region that the Emperor especially appoints you to be the governor here.

Old and fee-

ble, I've not been able to come up to welcome you. But I hope you'll be lenient with me.

Please have

a seat. HAI JUI: Thank you, your great lordship. (Both bow and sit down.) HAI JUI: It's been several years since we last saw each other, and your great lordship has grown even stronger. HSU CHIEH: Thank you, thank you. ful.

But I'm old, no longer use-

My teeth are all right, though, and can still

handle meat.

Kang-feng, I suppose your family has

HAI JUI:come with you? My mother is advanced in years, but she's still in good health.

She's being attended by my wife.

HSU CHIEH: That's good, that's good.

I'll tell the children to

HAI JUI:pay her their respects in a day or two. We would be greatly honored. HSU CHIEH: Kang-feng, I suppose you have something to tell me HAI JUI:as you honor us with your visit. I've come mainly to pay your great lordship my deepest respect, and to wish you all happiness. 88

But I

also would like to seek your instructions on certain matters. HSU CHIEH: I should be most happy to tell you, if I know. HAI JUI: Your great lordship has been Prime Minister at the Imperial Court, and are now the most honored elder in this region.

I'm sure you know very well both

the good and bad aspects of the local political situation.

Since I'm quite new here, I hope you will

instruct me as to what I should be concerned with first. HSU CHIEH: Ha, ha, Kang-feng

you are too modest.

But since

you want my opinion, I will speak frankly, like an old friend.

You'll have to pardon my ignorance and

brashness. (Sings): The wicked people of this region, Are both fierce and stubborn. They love to frequent the yamen to complain; Their lawsuits are piled high like a mountain. Punish them as they deserve without hesitation; You must act with courage and resolution. Uphold law and justice with fairness, So as to ease our present difficulties. HAI JUI: I am obliged for your instructions, people made false charges, they will dealt with according to the dictates But if the hsiang-kuan broke the law the people, what shall I do then?

89

If the wicked naturally be of justice, and oppressed

HSU CHIEH: Kang-feng, you have been an upright man all your life.

You've even criticised the deceased Emperor

without fear, thereby establishing your good name in history.

I'm sure you know how to deal with the

hsiang-kuan. (Sings): Imperial laws have been proclaimed, Far and wide across the land. They treat all the people fair and equal, Whether he be plebeian or noble. If jackals and wolves have seized power, They must be got rid of at any cost. There are the royal swords, We must not let them lie idle. HAI JUI: Many thanks for the instructions, your great lordship . (Sings)j Day and night selflessly serving the throne, I remember how I toiled years ago. Criticizing the Emperor for his policies, I went straight to the Imperial Court. Now that I am transferred to the country, The people here have much to expect of me; Our offspring must learn to obey the law, So that they may long enjoy peace and security. (Speaks):

There's another thing I'd like to ask you.

HSU CHIEH: Please go ahead. HAI JUI: A peasant woman from Hua-t'ing county named Hung Ahlan has brought a suit against your great lordship's family for having seized her land, kidnapped her daughter, and cruelly beaten her father-in-law. would you advise me to do about it?

90

What

HSU CHIEH (startled) : How can there be such a thing?

Whom did she accuse?

HAI JUI: Hsu Ying. HSU CHIEH: He's my third son, Kang-feng, I believe you know me very well. chased.

We do have some land, but it was pur-

Where comes this talk of seizure?

Hsu Ying is law-abiding.

My son

He couldn't possibly

have done such evil things as beating and kidnapping. I just told you, the wicked people in this region have formed the bad habit of making false charges. HAI JUI:

Kang-feng, you must never let them deceive you. The accusations are absolutely untrue?

HSU CHIEH: Absolutely. HAI JUI: But if they are true? HSU CHIEH: If they are t r u e — i t ' s impossible! HAI JUI: If the evidence is irrefutable, what then? HSU CHIEH: If there is evidence, I'm ready to accept the judgment of the law. HAI JUI: Good, good.

Well said, 'the judgment of the law.'

Since this is the case, may I wish you a good day. HSU CHIEH: Good day. HAI JUI: Goodbye. 91

(Music; both bow.

HAI JUI leaves.)

HSU CHIEH: Good lord!

The matter Kang-feng just brought up is

serious indeed. cious!

Wait —

He pressed me so hard.

How fero-

I'll summon Hsfl Ying and find out

what it's all about.

Attendant, ask the third young

master to come here. ATTENDANT: Yes, Prime Minister.

(Exit.)

(HSU YING enters3 followed by HSU FU.) HSU YING: Allow me to pay you my respects, father.

Is there

something you wish to tell me? HSU CHIEH: You have been accused of beating and kidnapping.

Is

this true? HSU YING: Well, well, yes.

But the case has already been set-

tled. HSU CHIEH: Where was it settled? HSU YING: In Hua-t'ing County. HSU CHIEH: How was it settled? HSU YING: The magistrate coached me to say that I did not leave town that day, but was studying at county-school student Chang's house.

The plaintiff's father-in-law 92

was beaten to death right at the court and the plaintiff herself was driven out.

That's how the

case was settled. HSU CHIEH (greatly shocked): Good lord!

A man has been beaten to death!

said you didn't leave town.

You

Who testified to that?

HSU YING: Hsu Fu did. HSU CHIEH: He's our own house servant.

(Asking Hsu Fu)

You

testified? HSU FU: Yes, your great lordship, I did. HSU CHIEH: This is not right!

This is not right!

servant testify for his master? ful! yamen.

How can a

(To Hsu Ying)

Aw-

The suit has now been brought to the Governor's Villain, I'll see how you end up!

HSU YING: Father, it is not that serious.

If the worst comes

to the worst, a silver ingot will settle it.

All

officials love silver nowadays, anyway. HSU CHIEH: Shut up, you villain! Do you know who the governor HSU YING: Who cares who he is? A governor is merely a gover-

HStj CHIEH: Shut your trap, you dog!

You have begged for cala-

mity, and you have got it. 93

This governor is entirely

different from any other.

He is Hai Jui, the one

honest official of the present day.

He is clean,

upright, uncompromising, and unselfish.

If he

chooses to settle your case according to the law, you can expect the death penalty. HSU YING (frightened.) : Great god! Hai Jui!

What am I going to do, father?

HSU CHIEH: What are you going to do, indeed? HSU YING: Father, I did wrong.

You must think up something.

HSU CHIEH: My god, there's no way out.

A man has been beaten

to death and then it was a house servant who testified for you.

What are we going to do? . . .

Here's an idea.

"A superior man may be deceived by

a plausible tale."* HSU YING: Yes, father.

Hsii Ying, give me your ear.

(Father and son whisper. appears very happy.)

HSU YING

HSU CHIEH: Son, you must warn everyone in our household not to provoke anymore trouble. HSU YING: Yes, father. HSU CHIEH: What are you still standing here for? *Partial quotation from Menoius, Book V. The second part of the line says, " . . . but he cannot be fooled by what is unreasonable." — Trans.

94

HSU YING: Yes father.

I beg to take leave.

(Exit.)

HSt) CHIEH: Good lord! take place.

So beating and kidnapping actually did During my conversation with Hai Jui a

little while ago, I was careless to speak too positively.

Suppose he should assume an inflexible

countenance; it would not be too easy to deal with him.

But, on the other hand, I did him a great fa-

vor at the Imperial Court when he was in trouble that year.

Being a profoundly honest gentleman, he

surely would remember a favor and not fail to return it.

I presume he would not turn a hostile face a-

gainst me. ved.

I believe my son's life may still be sa-

Well, I can't worry too much.

To make the

best of an awful situation I can but follow this course of action. the case.

I'll see how he proceeds with

Then I'll act accordingly.

Indeed,

(Chants): Having freed myself of the affairs of state, I now get involved with the trouble of the family. One may say without being inaccurate, That I'm willing to toil for my posterity. Alas!

(Exit.)

95

Act V. MOTHER'S INSTRUCTIONS

Time:

Three days after the previous act.

Place:

An inner hall of the Governor's yamen at Soochow. PERSONAE:

HAI JUI. LADY HSIEH. LADY WANG. HAI P'ENG.

96

(LADY HSIEH an.d LADY WANG enter, attended by maid-servants.) LADY HSIEH (sings): Sitting at the bench, in court, my son tries lawsuits; Forgetting food and sleep, he devotes himself to his duties. LADY WANG (sings): When corrupt and cruel officials are eliminated, Both the young and old will be highly gratified. LADY HSIEH: Daughter-in-law, Hai P'eng has been telling me in recent days that people everywhere are praising my son.

Some say that heaven has opened his eyes. Ci-

thers say that he is truly an honest official, and in tens of thousands of homes his portrait is hung up for worship.

Still others say he is the Dragon

King* reborn because he began the work of flood control and refugee relief as soon as he took office. The Wusung River overflowed after a long rainy spell. That, too, is being dredged.

He also went in person

to the river to supervise the work, which made the calamity-stricken masses happy, and all reported to work.

Furthermore, he has surveyed the land and es-

tablished a simplified and unified tax system, which the masses of people all acclaim. this, I am very happy indeed.

When I hear all

Having such a son, I

feel that my effort to bring him up had not been in vain. *The popular legend has it that the Dragon King, living at the bottom of the ocean, controls the rain, the floods, the oceans, etc.—Trans. 97

(Sings): I remember how I tried to bring up My fatherless son in years gone by, I often cried sorrowfully In the middle of the night. Teaching him poetry and the classics, And telling him about loyalty and filial piety, I instructed him not to even look In the direction of impropriety. Having studied most diligently Under competent and strict teachers, At the provincial examinations, He indeed came out first. Later as a magistrate, He eliminated many public evils, In his very strenuous effort To maintain discipline and uphold law. Now that he has become a high-ranking official, Holding the lofty office of governor, The people have the right to expect him To aid the distressed and relieve the sufferer. LADY WANG: Mother-in-law I (Sings): For ten years I have accompanied my lord, Serving him and sharing his hardship and sorrow. Being an honest official and following a straight course, He offended the Emperor to whom he is absolutely loyal. Thereupon he was flogged and put in prison; Narrowly he escaped with his life. Unbending by nature, he rarely takes my advice, I hope my mother-in-law would put him right. LADY HSIEH: Daughter-in-law, your husband is an honest and clean official, well-known for his uprightness.

Despite

dismissal and imprisonment, he continues his straight course, practicing what he is preaching, uncrushed after a hundred setbacks. quality.

This is precisely his good

You need not worry too much about him.

LADY WANG: Yes. 98

(HAI JUI enters in civilian oloth.es, followed by Hai P'eng.) HAI JUI (sings): All the devilish hsiang-kuan are exploiting the masses , Whose boiling anger cannot be easily pacified. "Shoot the horse in order to catch the rider" is the motto; But the civil affairs of Kiangnan are difficult to handle. LADY WANG: My lord. HAI JUI: My lady.

(Turning to his mother)

My respects to

you, mother. LADY HSIEH: Dispense with the ceremony.

Sit down.

HAI JUI: Thank you.

(Sighs)

LADY HSIEH: Son, ever since you took office you have been neglecting your food and tea, and for many days you haven't been sleeping well.

An official ought to work hard,

HAI JUI:but you mustn't exhaust yourself. Many thanks, mother.

I will follow your instructions.

But . . . LADY HSIEH: But what? HAI JUI: Oh, well . . . LADY HSIEH: Why such deep sighs, my son? ¡HAI JUI: Mother, there's something you do not know.

99

Ever

since I took office the people have been lodging a large number of suits against Prime Minister Hsti for property seizure, for allowing his son to commit crimes and bully the small people, and for protecting the wolfish hsiang-kuan. volence.

He is rich but lacks bene-

His third son Hsu Ying seized the Chao's

land, which led to the grievous death of young Chao. Furthermore, Hsu Ying abducted the fatherless young girl.

Later he bribed the corrupt magistrate, who

beat the old man —

young Chao's father —

to death.

When Prime Minister Hsu was at the Imperial Court, his reputation as an official was fairly good. also saved my life.

He

But judging by his present con-

duct, well, (Sings): This man is really a mean, vicious old devil, Although he talks about virtues and pretends to be moral. He allows his son to oppress the people, And he grabs money whenever possible. Practicing usury and seizing other people's land, He is a genuine rogue and a perfect villain. Outwardly he may seem kind and benevolent, But at heart he's a hypocrite and a philistine. LADY HSIEH: Son, it's not easy to know a person. past, but the future is yet amendable. has done you a big favor. has wronged many people.

The past is Minister Hsti

But on the other hand, he Are you going to let him

alone because of your own gratitude toward him or are you going to uphold the law of the land, my son?

100

(Sings): For fifty years you have diligently studied Confucius, Mencius, and other sages. In the Han dynasty there was Chang Kang, Who impeached the Emperor's brother-in-law; And K'uang Chung of our dynasty Has also redressed many grievances. You have examples from past and present, So is there any need for hesitation? HAI JUI: That is exactly my thinking, mother.

When I go to

the court tomorrow, I will first punish Hsu Ying in accordance with the law.

Then I will make the Hsu

family return all the land they have seized.

Finally,

I will make a public announcement that all the land seized by the

hsiang-kuan must be given back to

their original owners.

I need mother's instructions

regarding all this. HAI P'ENG: My lord, forgive your old servant for speaking frankly. (Sings): All over the world officials do oppress the poor people, Who must bear the sufferings but cannot fight their foe. Prime Minister Hsu is both cruel and powerful; You must not act on impulse and get burned, my lord. HAI JUI: Old man, you are wrong there.

The Hsu's are powerful,

but should I be afraid of them? (Sings): Old man, you've seen much of the world to say such a thing, But for me, it's the more difficult, the more firm I shall be. To eliminate the despots of all men upright and courageous . Though the Hsti's may be most powerful, I'm determined to fight them without fear. 101

LADY WANG: My lord, what Hai P'eng just said seems reasonable. I hope you will think it over. (Sings) • Thanks to the grace of the Emperor, You advanced time and again throught the years. To guard the vital interest of the Empire, You offered counsel your wisdom could provide. If you should kill Hsti Ying to uphold the law, People will say that to your old friend you're ungrateful . Besides, Prime Minister Hsti is mighty and resourceful, And he has connections both inside and outside the Imperial Court. The present case is not a trivial matter, You must take plenty of time to consider; Try as you can, not to invite vengeance, So that we may avoid fearful disaster. HAI JUI: My lady, how wrong can you be? son to commit crimes.

Hsu Chieh allowed his

If I think of personal favors

and forget about the law, how can I face my kind mother?

How can I show gratitude to the Emperor?

And

how can I look into the eyes of the common people? (Sings): Prime Minister Hsti let his son loose, To abduct a girl and commit other crimes. They seized others' land and dodged taxes; As a result the people have become poverty-stricken. If I am only concerned with personal favors, What would be the use of learning the classics? To guard the Empire and protect the people, One must be absolutely selfless. LADY HSIEH: Son, daughter-in-law, Hai P'eng.

We study the sages'

books, and we must practice their teachings.

The

law must be upheld and the distressed must be relieved. Go ahead and do what justice demands, my son. In this way you will have shown your gratitude to 102

the Emperor and your concern for the people. (Sings): I'm happy that my son is a diligent official, And is also a champion in upholding the law. Fighting the strong and aiding the weak, He aspires to the teaching of the sages. Knowing well the ways of the world, Lord Hsii understands right and wrong. As his son has committed crimes, Punishment is a matter of course. My daughter-in-law and I assist my son at home, And we do not envy those in higher office. Contented with unpolished rice and coarse clothes, Our happiness can be compared to that of the angels. Even if you one day end up in trouble, Because some people have conspired against you, We shall then retire to Ch'iung-tao, our native place, To enjoy the green mountains and the blue waters. HAÏ JUI: Many thanks, mother, for your instructions. ing to his wife) by now.

(Turn-

My lady, mother ought to be tired

Will you take her to the inner chamber to

rest? (LADY HSIEH leaves, helped along by LADY WANG)

HAI JUI: Hai P'eng, give orders that court will be held tomorrow.

Summon all parties involved in Hung Ah-lan's

case for cross examination.

The officials of Soochow

and Sung-chiang will be requested to participate in the trial. HAI P'ENG: Yes.

There must be no delay.

(Exit.)

HAI JUI (chants) : In order to uphold the law of the Imperial Court, I must chop off the heads of the corrupt officials. (Exit.) 103

Act VI. JUDGMENT

Time:

The following day.

Place:

Central hall of the Soochow Governor's yamei. PERSONAE:

HAI JUI. OFFICIALS of Soochow and Sung-chiang. HUNG AH-LAN and other VILLAGERS. HSU YING. HSU FU, dressed as a student. INSTRUCTOR of the Hua-t'ing County School. ADJUTANT, ARMY OFFICER, SOLDIERS, COURT RUNNERS.

104

(Officials of Soochow and Sung-ohiang enter.) CHENG YU (chants) : Daily at the yamen gate await summons, LI P'ING-TU (chants): Our hearts pounding with worries. HSIAO YEN (chants): Why have orders still not come? WANG MING-YU (chants): I feel like I'm on pins and needles. HSIAO YEN: My lords, we went to welcome the Governor, but we missed him because he was wearing civilian clothes. He has since shut himself up inside the yamen, not wishing to receive any officials, civil or military. Every day he goes to the river to supervise the work, and he only talks with poor peasants, workers, and small traders, I don't know why. CHENG YU: We missed him because he came to town in civilian clothes. that.

I suppose he would not feel offended by

However, he has not opened the official seal

and held court since his arrival.

There are a hun-

dred matters waiting for his decision to start.

It

worries me that he does not come out and take charge. LI P'ING-TU: It's strange, indeed.

He asked me to come and see

him; yet I have been here several days and he has not summoned me.

I have no idea what has happened.

WANG MING-YU: Every day I come and wait outside the yamen, but no105

thing happens.

I'm really worried.

(Adjutant enters.)

ADJUTANT: The governor has given orders to open the yamen doors and hold court. (Exit all officials.) Army officerj (Music plays. soldiers, yamen runners enter. HAI JUI also enters^ wearing an official silk hat and a scarlet official robe.) HAI JUI (chants): I must strengthen law and order, And redress grievances for the masses. The people have suffered more than they can bear, Because the hsiang-kuan are cruel and lawless. To kill the dragons and tigers is a man's duty; And I need no monument to serve my country. (Speaks) :

I am Hai Jui, Governor of Ying-t'ien.

Since I took office I have learned that the hsiangkuan and the rich people here are despotic and lawless.

The officials are corrupt and oppressive.

Po-

sitive criminal evidence has been found concerning all those involved.

The law clearly prescribes that

all evil men must be gotten rid of.

In today's court

trial I definitely must uphold this ideal, to wipe out the blot of evil, to protect the people.

Men,

summon the officials. ADJUTANT: Officials of Soochow and Sung-chiang, enter the 106

court please. (All officials enter after the announcement, with heads bowed.) OFFICIALS: Allow us to pay our respects to Your Highness.

When

Your Highness arrived, we went to welcome you, but didn't see you.

We earnestly hope that you will for-

give us. HAI JUI: I'm grateful that you went to meet me.

You missed

me because I traveled without horses, and in civilian clothes.

You are not to blame.

Besides, since

we have all already met, there's no need for this ceremonious greeting. LI P'ING-TU: May I ask Your Highness where have we met? HAI JUI: In front of the Pavilion of Official Reception. Please look up, so we can recognize each other. (The officials look up in alarm. LI is frightened and is at a loss.) HAI JUI: Please be seated.

I have something to discuss with

you. OFFICIALS: Thank you. CHENG YU: May I venture to ask Your Highness if a date has been chosen to open the seal and make official announce107

ments? HAI JUI: It won't be necessary to choose a date because we shall do it today.

Adjutant, pass the order to open

the seal in order to make official announcement. ADJUTANT: Yes, Your Highness.

(Adjutant holds the official seal and stamps the announcement on the bulletin board. Soldiers hold the bulletin board and leave the stage.) HAI JUI: My lords. OFFICIALS: Your Highness. HAI JUI: How have you performed your official duties? OFFICIALS: We have always been honest and careful, serving the Imperial Court on the one hand and sharing the worries of the common people on the other. HAI JUI: Is it really so?

You have really been serving the

Imperial Court on the one hand and sharing the worries of the common people on the other? OFFICIALS: Yes. HAI JUI: Ha, ha!

Since you are all honest officials, then, I

will request your participation in the trial of this case.

Who's the magistrate of Hua-t'ing County?

108

WANG MING-YU: I'm here, Your Highness. HAI JUI: Let me ask you, how did you handle the case concerning Hung Ah-lan? WANG MING-YU: That?

That case has been tried and concluded accord-

HAI JUI: ing to the dictates of justice. How, precisely, did you settle it according to the dictates of justice? WANG MING-YU: Hung Ah-lan accused Hsu Ying of having abducted her daughter and of having injured her father-in-law. I summoned the defendant.

It turned out that Hsîi

Ying was studying at county school student Chang's house and never left town that day.

It was clear

that the wicked woman was making false accusations. I regarded it reasonable to expel her from the court and refuse to consider her case further. HAI JUI: Who testified that Hsu Ying did not leave town on the day of

Ch'ing-mingl

WANG MING-YU: The Hsîi's head servant Hsu Fu was with Hsu Ying that HAI JUI:day. Aha!

He testified at the court. So there was a witness, and he was a servant

of the Hsu family. tion.

Now let me ask you another ques-

How did Chao Yîî-shan die? 109

WANG MING-YU: Well, well I merely hit him lightly a few times. Who'd have thought that he would suddenly die on account of his age? HAI JUI: Ha, ha!

"Died suddenly; settled according to the

dictates of justice."

Adjutant, summon all parties

involved in Hung Ah-lan's case to sourt.

(Adjutant passes the order. HUNG AH-LAN, v i l l a g e r s , HSU YING and HSU FU all enter.) HUNG AH-LAN (hcwling

bitterly)

:

My lord, Your Honor, y o u must redress the injustices done to me! HAI JUI: There's no need to cry.

Tell me the whole story

truthfully. HUNG AH-LAN: Your Highness! (Sings) : Ever since they wronged me, I've born the injustices to this day. The tyrant seized our land, So my husband died grievously. Then they abducted my young daughter, And beat my father-in-law to death. Magistrate, how could you have done it, Relying solely on false testimony? HAI JUI: Seizure of her land, her husband's grievous death, her young daughter's abduction, her father-in-law's being beaten to death — tice!

how pitiful!

This is truly outrageous!

110

What injus-

H s u Ying!

HSU YING: Ying-kuan

Hsu Ying is here, Your Highness.

HAI JUI: You've heard Hung Ah-lan's accusations.

Are they

true? HSU YING: I'm the son of a Prime Minister.

Book learning and

the teaching of propriety have been our traditions. How could I do such unlawful things?

Besides, I

positively did not leave town on the day of

Ch'ing-

ming; county school student Chang can testify to it. The case has been tried and concluded according to law by Magistrate Wang of Hua-t'ing County.

I do

hope that Your Highness will not believe the onesided accusations made by the wicked woman, and that Your Highness will also take into consideration my father's humble name so as to settle this case justiy. HAI JUI: Since you have a witness, it should be easy to settle the case, should it not? HSU YING: It's a universal court practice to rely on witnesses and evidence.

If there is falsehood, I am willing

HAI JUI: to take the punishment. Well said —

"willing to take the punishment."

dent Chang.' HSU FU: Here I am, Your Highness.

Ill

Stu-

HAI JUI: You must tell the truth.

Was Hsu Ying in fact stidy-

ing at your house on the day of Ch 'ing-ming? HSU FU: Positively.

There's not the slightest doubt.

Third

Young Master Hsu not only studied that day, he also wrote an essay! HAI JUI:What essay did he write? HSU FU (stammering) : He wrote the . . . "Thousand-Character Text."*

Nc

. . . he wrote the "Hundred-Surname Text."* (HSU YING pales.

He stamps his foot.)

HAI JUI (banging the desk) : Nonsense!

You brazen dog!

How dare you try to pass

yourself off as a county school student?

You will

be severely punished for this! HSU FU: Forgive me, Your Honor. HAI JUI: Genuine?

But my hat is genuine.

Well, let me ask you.

When did you enter

school? HSU FU: Well ... well HSU YING: May I report to Your Honor, he really is a county school student.

I can vouch for that.

*Both were well-known primers used by school children in those days, but hardly suitable exercises for an advanced scholar like Hsu Ying.—Trans. 112

HAI JUI: Shut up!

Is the instructor of the Hua-t'ing county

school here? INSTRUCTOR: I am here, Your Highness. HAI JUI: Is this a student of yours? INSTRUCTOR: I've never seen him before.

He's not a student at

our school. (HSU YING trembles, kneels dawn.)

and

HSU FU

HAI JUI: You brazen scoundrel!

How dare you pretend to be a

student, acting as a false witness in order to harm the good people.

Guards, take him away.

He will be

flogged to death at once. HSU FU (kcwtowing)

:

My great lord, Your Honor, please, spare my life.

I

will make a truthful confession. HAI JUI: If you confess truthfully, your life will be spared. Who are you? HSU FU: My name is HsU Fu.

I am Third Young Master Hsu's

servant. HAI JUI: If you are a servant, why did you then pretend to be a county school student? 113 HSU FU: Forgive me, Your Higness.

I was ordered to do so;

it was not of my own will. HAI JUI: You wretch.

Let me ask you again, exactly, where

was Hsu Ying on the day of Ch 'ing-ming? HSU FU: He was visiting ancestral graves and Heng-yun Mountain and was having a good time. HAI JUI: Was Chao Hsiao-Ian abducted by Hsu Ying, and, if so, where is she now? HSU FU: I myself grabbed her under orders from the young master.

She was tortured in every way, but she refused

to submit.

She is even now shut up in the Hsu resi-

dence . HAI JUI: HSU FU: And why did you beat Chao Yu-shan? When we were seizing Chao Hsiao-Ian, Chao Yu-shan tried to stop us.

So the young master ordered us

to beat him. HAI JUI:Was he seriously injured? HSU FU: Yes, very seriously. Wounds all over his body. HAI JUI: Why, then, did the Hua-t'ing magistrate say that Chao Yu-shan was not injured when they examined him? HSU FU: By orders from the young master I bribed the prefect, the magistrate and the coroner.

The coroner received

money so he had to say that Chao was not injured. 114

(LI P'ING-TU and WANG stand up, trembling.)

MING-YU

HAI JUX: How much was the bribe?

Who witnessed it?

Speak

the truth! HSU FU: Three hundred ounces of gold for the prefect and two hundred for the magistrate. (WANG MING-YU, LI P'ING-TU and HSU YING kneel down, trembling.) HAI JUI: Did you deliver the gold personally? HSU FU: Yes, I did. HAI JUI: How did Chao Yu-shan die? HSU FU: He was beaten to death by the Hua-t'ing magistrate; that was how the case was settled. HAI JUI:You witnessed it? HSU FU: Yes, I saw it with my own eyes. (WANG MING-YU, LI P'ING-TU, and HSU YING kowtow to admit their guiIt and beg for mercy.) HAI JUI

(sings): You heartless creatures, so corrupt and filthy, You've soiled your official robes with infamy. Heavy as the mountain, the law cannot be lenient; To punish you for crimes, I will not relent. (Speaks):

I will now pass sentences upon you.

115

Hsu

Y i n g a b d u c t e d a y o u n g g i r l b y the n a m e of C h a o I a n , and b r u t a l l y b e a t h e r g r a n d f a t h e r Chao

Hsiao-

Yu-shan.

F u r t h e r m o r e , h e b r i b e d the H u a - t ' i n g m a g i s t r a t e w h o , r e l y i n g o n false t e s t i m o n y , b e a t Chao Yii-shan to death.

H s u Y i n g w i l l be h a n g e d in a c c o r d a n c e

the law.

Of his p r o p e r t y , the p o r t i o n w h i c h h e

f r o m o t h e r p e o p l e s h a l l b e r e t u r n e d to its ful o w n e r s .

seized

law-

The rest s h a l l b e c o n f i s c a t e d .

Chao

Hsiao-Ian shall be released and reunited with mother.

with

her

W a n g M i n g - y u b r o k e the law b y a c c e p t i n g

b r i b e a n d f l o g g i n g the p l a i n t i f f shall be chopped

to d e a t h .

His

a head

off.

Li P'ing-tu, nicknamed "Grafter," accepted and b r o k e the law.

bribes

He shall be dismissed from office

a n d i m p r i s o n e d w h i l e w a i t i n g for final d e c i s i o n s the I m p e r i a l

from

Court.

H s u Fu p r e t e n d e d to b e a c o u n t y s c h o o l s t u d e n t , livered bribes and gave false testimony.

But

s i d e r i n g the fact t h a t h e w a s f o r c e d to do

de-

con-

these

things, and since he has confessed everything, he serves leniency.

Therefore he shall receive

h u n d r e d f l o g g i n g s a n d three y e a r s '

testimo-

He shall be dismissed from duty, and shall

ceive one h u n d r e d f l o g g i n g s a n d two y e a r s ' ment.

one

imprisonment.

The coroner accepted a bribe and made false ny.

M y l o r d s , are the s e n t e n c e s

116

de-

fair?

re-

imprison-

CHENG YU: Your Highness is doing all this to eliminate public evils, which deserves all my respect and admiration. HSU YING (kowtows) : Governor, my great lord, please consider my father's humble name and spare my life. HAI JUI: Say no more.

If a prince breaks the law he will be

punished just like a common man. Take them away! (Soldiers bind WANG MING-YUf LI P'ING-TU, HSU YING, and HSU FU. Exit.) HAI JUI: Hung Ah-lan, is there anything else you'd like to

HUNG AH-LAN: My great lord, Your Honor. ple.

You've avenged the peo-

May you have dukes and marquises in your fa-

mily for ten thousand years.

(She

kowtows.)

HAI JUI: Elders, many thanks for the enlightenment I received from you when we chatted together the other day. Now that the case is concluded, is there anything else you wish to say? VILLAGER A: My great lord, your sentences are most fair.

But

our lands have been seized by the Hsli family and other hsiang-kuan. pay taxes.

And yet, we still have had to

The peoples' lives are extremely hard.

We hope Your Honor will do something. 117

VILLAGERS B and C: My great lord, y o u must please do something. HAI JUI: Adjutant, make a written announcement ordering all

hsiang-kuan

to return to the people, within ten days,

all the land they have seized. lay.

There must be no de-

Those who refuse to obey the order shall be

punished in accordance with the law. ADJUTANT: Yes, Your Highness. VILLAGERS

(kowtoioing):

Your Highness has acted in our behalf.

The common

people of Kiangnan will have a better life from now on.

We are deeply grateful.

When we return home

we shall paint your portrait and worship it morning and night.

(Sing together): Today we've seen the cloudless blue sky; To rebuild our homes, w e shall work diligently. Having land, we shall lack neither clothes nor food, In the near future, w e shall find a better livelihood. (Speak)

:

We thank your great lordship!

HAI JUI: There's no need.

You may go home now.

(HUNG AH-LAN and tow and leave.)

villagers

kow-

CHENG Y U and HSIAO-YEN: Your Highness, may we take leave of you? HAI JUI: Wait.

Magistrate of W u County.

HSIAO-YEN: Yes, Your Highness. 118

HAI JUI: Your reputation is bad because you are grasping and wasteful.

Are you aware of your crimes?

HSIAO-YEN: Yes, Your Highness. HAI JUI: You are dismissed from office, to be sent home.

Ad-

jutant, remove his official silk hat. (Adjutant removes Hsiao's silk hat. Hsiao leaves the stage.) HAI JUI: Prefect of Soochow. CHENG YU: Yes, Your Highness? HAI JUI: Announce to all officials that they should remain at their posts with peace of mind; they need not worry. CHENG YU: Yes, Your Highness.

I'll take leave of you now. (Exit.)

HAI JUI: Well!

It has taken more than ten days to settle this

case.

Flood control work in the Wusung River is go-

ing well.

But the Pai-mao River needs dredging also.

The simplified and unified tax system must be introduced into new regions.

After all this is done, the

people will be able to take a breath of relief. (Chants) : Exerting great effort to wipe out corruption, I'm trying to wash clean the administration. To aid the oppressed against the strong, It's an official's duty to right a wrong. (Exit.) 119

(Adjutant and soldiers enter, holding a written announcement. A soldier beats the gong and the adjutant reads the announcement aloud.) ADJUTANT: Listen carefully, everyone; especially

hsiang-

the

kuan: Hai Jui, Third-Class

C e n s o r of the C e n s o r

General's

O f f i c e a n d G o v e r n o r of the ten p r e f e c t u r e s of Y i n g t ' i e n , m a k e s the f o l l o w i n g a n n o u n c e m e n t to all

re-

g a r d i n g the q u e s t i o n of g i v i n g b a c k the l a n d to its lawful owners:

the hsiang-kuan

a n d other

ferocious

d e s p o t s h a v e , in the p a s t , s e i z e d m a n y p e o p l e ' s C o n s e q u e n t l y , the p e a s a n t s h a v e b e c o m e and lived miserable lives.

unemployed

T h e law d e m a n d s that

the l a n d thus s e i z e d m u s t b e r e t u r n e d to its owners. b e duly

land.

all

lawful

A n y o n e w h o d a r e s to d i s o b e y this o r d e r w i l l punished.

(The common people listen quietly, then leave the stage hccppily. Adjutant and soldiers also depart.)

120

Act VII. BEGGING FOR MERCY

Time:

Three days after the previous act.

Place:

Soochow Governor's yamen. PERSONAE:

HAI JUI. HAI P'ENG. YAMEN Runner. HSU CHIEH. ATTENDANT.

121

(HSU CHIEH enters in a sedanohair. He is wearing civilian clothes. An attendant follows behind.) HSU CHIEH (sings): It's too late to regret, but I shouldn't have left the Imperial Court, thereby losing affection and trust. Now I have to bear all the worries and cares, in order to help my posterity, guard the land, and maintain the household. I cannot but feel exceedingly sorrowful, that my unfilial son has committed serious crimes, by indulging in all sorts of wrongdoing. How can an old man not have pains in his heart, when he sees his grandchildren crying pitifully, for the possible loss of their father? For this I must put aside my pride, and beg mercy from an old friend, to bend the law and be lenient. (Speaks):

Woe is me!

I can no longer be concerned

with pride and saving face, as the situation is already so bad.

If only my son's life can be saved,

nothing else matters. (Sings) : I can only earnestly hope, that the governor will remember our friendship, and be merciful enough to let my son live. As regarding heavy fines and the return of the land, I'm quite ready to clench my teeth, and endure all the losses without complaint. (Speaks):

There's the governor's yamen.

Attendant,

go and report my arrival. ATTENDANT: May I ask who is at the door? YAMEN RUNNER: What is your business? ATTENDANT: Prime Minister Hsu is here to return a visit to His Highness, the governor. 122

YAMEN RUNNER: Wait while I report.

(Announces)

Your Highness,

Prime Minister Hsu is here to return a visit.

(HAI JUI enters.) HAI JUI: Prime Minister Hsii is here?

Ah, yes, indeed.

Ask

him in. HSU CHIEH: Kang-feng!

You did me a great honor by visiting me

the other day.

I'm here today to express my grati-

HAI JUI: tude . What nonsense!

Please come in.

HSU CHIEH: Thank you. HAI JUI: Prime Minister, you look worried. HSU CHIEH: You are correct, Kang-feng. (Sings) : At my age one Yet who would Hsti Ying! May I beg you So that I may

feel like the evening sun fast setting, have broken the law save my stupid son for mercy and beseech you to be lenient, still have some joy at my life's end.

•HAI JUI: Prime Minister! (Sings) : Hsu Ying seized land and abducted a girl, He then bribed officials to commit murder. You surely are familiar with the law of the land, Which one cannot stretch or bend as he likes. !HSff CHIEH: Your Highness, both my eldest and second sons have passed away.

Hsu Ying is the only one left. 123

I

earnestly hope that you will pity me in my old age by showing him leniency. (Sings) : An old man loves to have a son at his side; Licking his calf is what even an ox would enjoy. Please, you must show us pity and mercy; I shall forever keep your kindness in my memory. HAI JUI: Prime Minister Hsu, you love your son, but do you know where Hung Ah-lan's daughter is, where her husband is, and where her father-in-law is?

Besides

Hung Ah-lan, there are many other widows and orphans. You do not think they ever had husbands, children, or parents? (Sings) : Your instructions were sharp enough, To penetrate even the dullest minds of men: "The law is clearly and fairly written, And it is as heavy as a mountain; It justly punishes the offender, Whether he be a prince or a commoner." HSU CHIEH: Yes, yes, Your Highness is quite right. that.

I did say

But on the other hand, when Your Highness was

imprisoned, I also spoke to the Emperor in your behalf.

I beseech you to recall our former friend-

ship, Your Highness! (Sings) : My endeavor to set you free couldn't have been forgotten, When you offended the Emperor and ended up in prison; Sparing no effort I entreated with the heavenly King, So now you have the opportunity to govern this region.

124

HAI JUI: Prime Minister Hsli, I am indeed much obliged that you rescued me when I incurred the anger of the late Emperor.

But then, I did not break the law when I

made those sincere criticisms. yal and patiotic.

I have been both lo-

Hsu Ying beat an old man, abduc-

ted his grand-daughter, and offered bribes to government officials.

All these are criminal offenses,

and cannot be pardoned. tirely different.

His case and mine are en-

How could you put them in the

same category? (Sings) : Loyal to the Emperor, Hai Jui has a fragant name; Violent and lawbreaking Hsil Ying alone must take the blame. You said the law must be fair and just, And evil men should be eliminated first. HSU CHIEH: Yes, yes, I did say that, too.

All right, then, I

am willing to hand over some property to redeem my son's crimes. (Sings) : It's inglorious that my son has broken the law; To redeem him I wish to help with the military cost. For court has always accepted fines in grain, For lives are saved and yet laws are maintained. HAI JUI: It's another matter to return the land.

I've already

made a public announcement to the effect that all the land which the hsiang-kuan has seized shall be returned to the lawful owners.

Your family has seized

200,000 mou of land, which naturally must be given 125

back to the people in accordance with the law. (Sings) : The hsiccng-kuan are more ferocious than tigers; They're both landgrabbers and tax dodgers. Life in Kiangnan cannot possibly be harder; Without land, the people won't stand it much longer. HSU CHI EH (to himself) : Two hundred thousand moul

Two hundred thousand mou'.

The land has to be returned, and my son must die, too!

Outrageous!

Hai Jui, you are going too far!

(Turning to Hai Jui)

Your Highness, listen to a

word from an old man. (Sings): By nature you have always been honest and straight, But I'm afraid you are too willful and obstinate. Being so nearsighted you fail to watch your step. You are in danger of falling into the abyss ahead. If you are so foolish as to offend the hsiang-kuan, They will all rise against you, united as one. Should events actually follow that course, Very soon you'll have to get off your high horse. HAI JUI: Is that so?

Ha, ha!

The high horse, eh?

fears not even death, let alone dismissal.

Hai Jui Here!

(He takes off his official silk hat.) (Sings) : For twenty years, beneath a cold window, I studied arduously night and morn; Learning Confucius, Mencius and the rest, I modeled my life after the sages in earnest. But you exerted bad influence on the Imperial Court, And officials high and low all followed your example. A philistine's mind and a hypocrite's ways, Are surely deemed by the Emperor as a disgrace. (Speaks):

Prime Minister HsU, here is the silk hat.

Hai Jui does not want to be merely an ordinary official; he wants to be a man of great integrity. 126

The

moment I receive Imperial orders for my dismissal, I will at once return home to till my fields. HSU CHIEH: Your Highness will absolutely refuse to consider our old friendship? HAI JUI: But there is the great law of the Empire.

Hai Jui

dares not put personal concern above public interest. HSU CHIEH: Hsu Ying's punishment cannot be reduced? HAI JUI: You yourself said, Prime Minister Hsu, that the law must be justly and equitably applied, whether the offender is a prince or a commoner.

You also said

crimes must be punished in accordance with the law if there was evidence to prove them. HSU CHIEH: The land must definitely be returned? HAI JUI: Forcible seizure of other people's land cannot be justified by either compassion or reasoning.

So

naturally it must be returned. HSii CHIEH: There's no room whatsoever for compromise? HAI JUI: I am as firm as a mountain, so far as the law is concerned.

Compromise is absolutely out of the ques-

tion. H S U CHIEH: Good, good, very good.

Hai Jui, I am afraid you'll

come to regret all this. 127

HAI JUI: I'll never regret it.

Whether it will mean life or

death, glory or disgrace, I've long since ceased to consider. HSU CHIEH: Does this mean that there's no more friendship beHAI JUI: tween us? That's correct. HSlI CHIEH: Aha!

Hai Juii

(Sings): Behaving recklessly in order to gain fame, You have made the hsiang-kuan your foe. Since you refuse to accept my sincere counsel, We'll see how far you can go. HAI JUI (sings) : Prime Minister you need say no more; To the Emperor I'll always be loyal. If I am dismissed I won't regret a thing; A fragrant name I'll forever retain. (Speaks):

Farewell.

(HSU CHIEH leaves in anger.) HAI JUI: I expected that the old man would come to make a lot of fuss;

I was right.

to give up at that.

It looks like he's not going

Regarding the administrative po-

licy of Kiangnan, all five programs —

elimination

of despots, land survey, simplification and unification of the tax system, flood control, and the return of seized land — sible.

must be carried out as soon as pos-

The more benefits I can bring to the common 128

people, the less possibility of civil disturbances there will be for the Emperor. (Chants) : In old age I'm still as proud and upright as ever, How can I bend low to fawn upon the man in power? (Holding his official silk hat) oh, this official silk hat! Ha, ha, ha ...

(Exit. )

129

Act VIII. COUNTER-ATTACK

Time:

The next day.

Place:

The Hsu residence in Hua-t'ing County. PERSONAE:

HSU CHIEH. HSU'S relatives A and B. COUNSELOR of the Hsu family.

130

(Hsu's relatives

enter.)

RELATIVE A (chants): I feel like my heart is being seared; Why should Hai Jui have suddenly appeared? RELATIVE B (chants): We must try to find a way out; Wise men should not get caught. RELATIVE A: Kinsman, the governor has made an announcement ordering us to return the land.

What are we going to

do? RELATIVE B: I, also, have received the notification. ing is very strong.

The word-

It looks like there's no other

way out for us but to comply. RELATIVE A: I've worked hard all my life.

I just haven't the

heart to part with the land. RELATIVE B: ... Who has? RELATIVE Ah! A: Where are you going? RELATIVE B.I'm going to see our kinsman Hsti Chieh. RELATIVE A: So am I.

His third son has been sentenced to die.

He has gone to the governor's yamen to plead with the governor in person.

We will surely have some

information when he gets back. RELATIVE B: Come on, let's go together. RELATIVE A: Here we are.

Who is in there? 131

(House servant enters.)

HOUSE SERVANT: Ah, it is you, gentlemen. come back yet.

The prime minister hasn't

Please come into the sitting room

and make yourselves at home. RELATIVE A: We would like to have a talk with the counselor. HOUSE SERVANT: Counselor, we have guests. (The counselor enters.) RELATIVE A: The prime minister hasn't come back yet, so we are waiting for him here. RELATIVE B: The governor has issued orders to return the land. The hsiang-kuan of all the prefectures and counties are furious.

We've all talked things over, and we

want the prime minister to give us some idea of what we should do. COUNSELOR: But his notices states 'to return only the land which has been forcibly seized.' that.

We can't argue against

That's why the prime minister also finds the

situation very difficult. RELATIVE A: He has also announced that the court is ready to receive lawsuits.

And as a result, wicked people by 132

the tens of thousands have brought false charges against us hsiang-kuccn. The subordinates are rebel-

ling against their superiors.

What kind of world

is this? COUNSELOR: The people of Kiangnan have always loved lawsuits. After Hai Jui stirred them up, they have become much

RELATIVE B: Counselor, in your view, is it possible that Hsli Ying can obtain a new trial? COUNSELOR: The governor and the prime minister have been friends for many years. pay a visit.

Only just the other day he came to

This time the prime minister went to

return the visit in person.

It's possible that the

governor may be lenient because of this friendship. RELATIVE A: Naturally.

Grand Lord Hsu has been prime minister

for two courts.

The governor must surely take that

into consideration. (HSU CHIEH and his attendant

enter.)

RELATIVES A, B, and COUNSELOR: The prime minister has come back. HSU CHIEH: Yes, I'm back.

I nearly died of anger.

ALL: How so?

The governor did not show you due regard?

HSU CHIEH: What regard!

The land must be returned and my son

must die, too. 133

RELATIVES A and B: Oh, no!

If the prime minister cannot prevail, we are

all finished! HSU CHIEH: Let's not worry too much yet.

We'll take time to

discuss the matter and think up something. RELATIVE A: We and other hsiang-kuan

of various prefectures and

counties have already discussed the matter.

If the

prime minister has some plan that needs financing, we shall all share the expenses. HSU CHIEH: We have to go all the way; we'll just have to get rid of this damned official. for the time being.

We'll endure the pain

When a new official comes, the

world will be ours once again. RELATIVE B: Listen!

I have a scheme.

hsiang-kuan

Let us unite all the

and make a joint impeachment against Hai

Jui for allowing the wicked people to rebel against their superiors, to prey upon the hsiang-kuan

and to

destroy established customs and discipline. HSU CHIEH: No, it won't do.

When we send up our impeachment,

it will be handed over to the Ministry of Provincial Affairs for discussion, which will go on for months and even years.

A distant well is not too helpful

in putting out a fire at hand. RELATIVE A: I have an idea.

Let's put up a large sum of money

to hire an assassin to finish him off once and for all. HSU CHIEH: That's even worse!

First of all, he has military

power, and he is closely guarded. to get at him.

There's no way

And secondly, if it is found out

that we have murdered a high-ranking official, our punishment will not be light. RELATIVES A and B: You say none of the schemes is any good; that means we simply have to accept defeat. HSU CHIEH: Why defeat? Let's try and think up something else. COUNSELOR: Prime minister, I have a plan. RELATIVES A and B: Quick! Let's have it! COUNSELOR: Of course, we'll impeach him for preying on the hsiang-kuan.

But if we want it to proceed more

quickly, we'll have to take a short cut.

Prime

Minister Hsu has a friend at the Imperial Court.

He

can write him a personal letter and present him with an impressive sum, entreating him to approve our petition as soon as it is received.

After we have made

this connection, we will go on to buy our own area, to present an impeachment against Hai Jui.

We'll

attack him simultaneously both from without and within.

Once he leaves here, everything will be all right.

135

HSU CHIEH: This is a very good scheme.

It will get to the very

bottom and it will bring quick results.

However, I

won't be pacified by merely getting him transferred to another office elsewhere.

We must make it so that

he will never again be appointed as a government official . RELATIVES A and B: It sounds wonderful.

Prime Minister, please tell us

your plan. HSU CHIEH (sings): Trying to protect ourselves and our homes, We have altogether devised many schemes. Putting our heads together and joining forces, We shall lay for him inescapable meshes. I will dispatch a messenger to the Imperial Court, To make confidential connections in the Capital. Hai Kang-feng, you just wait a little; We shall see how you extricate yourself. RELATIVES A and B: The sooner it's done, the better. be shared by all the hsiang-kuan.

The expenses will We suggest mes-

sengers be dispatched to the Capital this very night. HSU CHIEH: If you all agree, I'll write letters at once.

We

shall raise three thousand ounces of gold, of which two thousand ounces will be for grandpa at the Imperial court, and one thousand for an official who works at the Capital and is from our own area. Which official would you suggest? RELATIVE Tai B: Feng-hsiang of Chia-hsing County is a relative 136

of mine. sor.

He is now a fifth-grade Supervising Cen-

Since he is also under Hai's order to return

land, he will certainly exert great effort for our cause. HSU CHIEH: Tai Feng-hsiang was a student of mine. will do his best.

I'm sure he

Kinsman, I suggest you go to the

Capital yourself, leaving this very day on a fast horse. RELATIVE Good. B:

I'm going to make preparations, so goodbye. (Relatives A, B, and counselor exit.)

HSU CHIEH: Haha, haha! (Chants) : To make confidential connections at the Imperial Court, A swift horse has been dispatched to the Capital. Before Hai Jui is expelled from his post, We shall never sit down to rest. (Exit.)

137

Act IX. DISMISSAL from OFFICE

Time:

Five months later.

Place:

The main hall in Soochow Governor's yamen. PERSONAE:

HAI JUI. ADJUTANT; ARMY OFFICER; SOLDIERS; YAMEN RUNNERS. TAI FENG-HSIANG, 50 years old, newly appointed Governor of Ying-t'ien. TAI'S adjutant, army officers; soldiers; yamen runners. HSU CHIEH. HSU YING, WANG MING-YU.

138

(Enter TAI FENG-HSIANG in official silk hat and scarlet robe; adjutant, army officer, soldiers, and yamen runners,) with banners and a canopy.)

TAI FENG-HSIANG (chants): I'm going to Kiangnan in grand fashion— with promotion. Ten myriad strings of cash— a cinch. I never offend powerful people high up there— why dare? Wise men swim with the main stream— a peaceful dream. (Speaks):

I am Tai Feng-hsiang, newly appointed

Governor of Ying-t'ien.

The other day I received

Prime Minister Hsu's letter asking me to go with great haste.

So, I must spur my horse and hurry.

(TAI and his men leave the stage.) (HSU CHIEH enters.) HSU CHIEH (chants): Urging my horse on, I'm going on my way to welcome the new governor. Going through great pains, I'm trying desperately to save my son's life. (Speaks) : A messenger from the Execution Office of the Governor's yamen has brought a report that Imperial orders to hold the autumn assize will arrive very soon.

The new Governor, Tai Feng-hsiang, left

the capital quite some time ago.

In order to save

my son's life at this critical moment, I've come on a fast horse to meet the new governor.

I must hurry.

(HSU leaves stage, spurring his horse.) 139

(Adjutant enters.) Adj utant: By order of the governor, the court is now in session. (Officialsj army officer, soldiers3 and yamen runners enter. HAI JUI also enters, in official silk hat and scarlet robe.) HAI JUI (chants) : Obeying orders of the Imperial Court, I'm here to uphold justice and law. If social discipline is to be maintained, It's necessary to get rid of the evil men. (Speaks) : Guards, bring out the two criminals, Hsv3 Ying and Wang Ming-yu.

They are to be executed on

schedule. (HSU YING and WANG MING-YU enter under armed escort.) HAI JUI (sings)-. Hsu Ying, Wang Ming-yu.

Imperial order to hold au-

tumn assize has been received to carry out your death sentences at once. (Reads) : You two have broken the law, Hence have asked for punishment. This is to warn all evil men, That they must their old ways mend. HSU YING and WANG MING-YU: Please, spare our lives, Your Highness. (Both kcwtcw.) HAI JUI: Take them away, and carry out the execution on time. 140

(HSU YING and VANG MING-IU leave under armed escort.) (TAI FENG-HSIANG's adjutant enters.) ADJUTANT: The Emperor's decree! (Music. TAI FENG-HSIANG, HSU CHIEH and their attendants enter.) TAI FENG-HSIANG: Entrusted by Heaven to carry out its will, the Emperor decrees as follows:

"Hai Jui, Governor of

Ying-t'ien is to be dismissed from office and sent back to farming at his native home.

Tai Feng-hsiang

is hereby appointed Governor of Ying-t'ien.

All must

obey." HAI JUI: Long live the Emperor!

May I ask the Emperor's per-

sonal Emissary, what offense Hai Jui has committed to be so dismissed from office and sent back to his native land? TAI FENG-HSIANG: Court officials have impeached you for having acted like a wolf towards the common people and having treated the hsiang-kuan as if they were fish and meat at your dinner table. HAI JUI: Good lord! (Sings) : The hsiang-kuan are violent and cruel, 141than hungry They are greedier wolves.

The people are all poverty-stricken, Because harvest brings them no grain. The story that I oppress the hsaing-kuan3 Is like dream-talk, wild and unrestrained. To dismiss me on the basis of this fantastic tale, Is indeed unfairness, injustice, and foul play. (Speaks) : May I ask the Emperor's Personal Emissary when the new governor will arrive to take office? TAI FENG-HSIANG: I am Tai Feng-hsiang, the new governor.

How do you

do, Your Highness. HAI JUI: How do you do, Your Highness.

Since Your Highness

is here, may I offer you a word of advice? TAI FENG-HSIANG: Please, go ahead. HAI JUI (sings): The greatest evil in Kiangnan are the hsiang-kuanj Farming is impossible, for they've seized all the land. You must redress the injustices done to the people; Without land, they simply cannot live and be peaceful. TAI FENG-HSIANG: Silence I

It's precisely because you ruthlessly

forced the hsiang-kuan to give up their land, and because you acted like a tiger toward the common people, that the Emperor has dismissed you from office. (Sings): Whether you are born high or low, It's predestination, that's all. Hard lives are for the menial laborers, Good fortune belongs to the brainy scholars. Having studied the sage's books, You should know well these facts. You've been a bird of prey to the hsiang-kuan, And a ferocious tiger to the common people; You've indeed committed monstrosities, Which, I must tell you, are unforgivable. 142

HAI JUI: Who has? TAI FENG-HSIANG: You have. HAI JUI: Silence! (Sings) : When you say the people are like tigers, Do you know how the hsiang-kuan mistreat them? You shout loudly at the Imperial Court, That the hsiang-kuan suffer a lot. But are you aware of the heartbreaking fact, That the people have only husks for food? You speak of the people as the foundation of the nation , And you pretend to be fair and benevolent; In reality, you shelter the grafters and deceive the Emperor, You are precisely the devil's accomplice and none other. You should be ashamed of your own shadow by day, And of your bed when you sleep at night! TAI FENG-HSIANG: How dare you insult me!

This is outrageous!

HSU CHIEH: My lords, there's no need to hurt each other's feelings.

Kang-feng, I tried earlier to give you some

sincere advise, warning you not to offend everybody and not to mistreat the hsiang-kuan. too stubborn to listen.

But you were

Now that you're dismissed

from office and are going away, I'd like to present you with a final word. (Sings) : At the prime of your life, You're spirited and obstinate. That's why for many years gone by, You've suffered numerous setbacks. In trying to uphold the law, You went too far and broke the norm. You liked to take extreme measures, Caring not if you badly hurt others. 143

As our last conversations did you no good, So a huge stone has fallen on your foot. May I advise you about your future action: Self-cultivation ought to be your main concern; Conceal those sharp edges of your sword, Don't you ever dare show them again. HAI JUI: My dear Prime Minister! (Sings) : You uttered those words without using your brain, For after dismissal my name remains fragrant. A man should be honest inside and out; How could you have plotted against a friend? HSU CHIEH: Who has plotted against you? HAI JUI: You have. (Sings) : When you were at the Imperial Court, You tried to harmonize the affairs of state. You also had Confucius and Mencius on your lips, And unceasingly praised all ancient rulers. But after you retired and came to the province, You allowed your son to indulge in evil practice; Carrying out robbery, kidnapping, and bribery, He has committed numerous monstrosities. Although you deceived the Emperor with dirty tricks, Although you accuse the people of being wicked, Although you proclaim it's the hsiang-kuan who suffered, You'll never escape the people's rightful anger. Hai Jui may lose his official silk hat, But his conscience will always be clear. Someday when I again become an official, I'll once more try to uphold the law. HSU CHIEH: Since you are so stubborn and refuse to come around, it's useless to say any more. ADJUTANT: It's time.

Please give the order to carry out the

execution. TAI FENG-HSIANG and HSU CHIEH (alarmed) : What execution? 144

HAI JUI: Orders from the Imperial Court have been received to execute Hsu Ying and Wang Ming-yu at once. HSU CHIEH: Ah!

(Pales

and

trembles.)

TAI FENG-HSIANG: Order them to halt the execution! HAI JUI: Order them to carry it out! TAI FENG-HSIANG: The newly-appointed governor orders them to halt. HAI JUI: The present governor orders them to carry it out. TAI FENG-HSIANG: Your Highness, the execution must not be carried out. HAI JUI: Why not? TAI FENG-HSIANG: I received personal instructions from Imperial Court Minister Li, and the Director of Rites Grandpa Feng that HsG Ying's execution is to be halted, pending further decree from the Imperial Court, because Prime Minister Hsu is advanced in years and has served the Empire with much distinction. HAI JUI:

Where is the Imperial decree?

TAI FENG-HSIANG: It will soon arrive. HAI JUI: But, what about now? TAI FENG-HSIANG: Now I am issuing orders to halt the execution upon instructions from Minister Li and Director Feng.

1A5

H A I JUI: You've no authority to issue TAI

orders.

FENG-HSIANG: How's that?

H A I JUI: Because I've not yet h a n d e d over the authority you.

Both the o f f i c i a l seal and the

to

ling-chien*

are still in my h a n d s , so how can y o u issue orders? TAI

FENG-HSIANG: A l l right, then.

Please hand them over.

H A I JUI: Absolutely r.ot. autumn assize.

I have Imperial orders to hold I'll h a n d over the authority

after

the execution. TAI

FENG-HSIANG: Ah, Your H i g h n e s s ! (Sings) : To disobey instructions from your superior, You're committing a crime absolutely u n f o r g i v able. D e a t h to you and a n n i h i l a t i o n to your clan, W i l l soon b e the inescapable consequence. P r i m e M i n i s t e r H s u is advanced in y e a r s , H e n c e the special c o n s i d e r a t i o n h e deserves. It w i l l b e too late to regret, If you insist on being obstinate.

H A I JUI: Haha! (Sings): In accordance w i t h Imperial o r d e r s , I tried the case and p a s s e d s e n t e n c e s ; To carry out the e x e c u t i o n at once, Is merely a m a t t e r of course. A n official m u s t not allow p e r s o n a l sentiments, To interfere w i t h his p u b l i c responsibilities; Should I incur d i s p l e a s u r e b e c a u s e of this, I'll just h a v e to face w h a t e v e r comes. *A flag attached to an arrow signifying the authority to issue o r d e r s . — T r a n s .

146

TAI FENG-HSIANG: You are not afraid of the direct consequences? HAI JUI: A man ought to be strong enough to stand firmly on the earth and carry the weight of heaven on his head. How can he, in fear of death, bend the law to please the offender, and thereby end up as a shameless creature?

(Holding the ling-chienj

Adjutant, give

the orders to carry out the execution. ADJUTANT (taking the ling-chienj: Yes. (Exit adjutant. Three cannon shots are heard. HSU CHIEH faints and falls to the ground. TAI FENG-HSIANG is greatly astonisheds and is at a loss. HAI JUI holds high the official seal.) HAI JUI: Your Highness, here is the official seal. transferring it to you.

Farewell.

(TAI FENG-HSIANG is stunned and stands motionless. HAI JUI is still holding the official seal. Curtain falls.) CHOIR (behind the curtain) : Heaven and earth are freezing, And the piercing wind is howling; The thought of Hai Jui's departure, Has plucked ten thousand heartstrings. As the elder must return home, There's no way to detain him; So every household has incense lit, And hangs up his portrait for worship. End of Play

147

I am now

ASIAN STUDIES AT HAWAII

(No. 1)

Bibliography of English Language Sources on Human Ecology, Eastern Malaysi and Brunei. Compiled by Conrad P. Cotter with the assistance of Shiro Saito. September 1965. Two parts.

No. 2.

Economic Factors in Southeast Asian Social Change. May 1968. Robert Van Niel, editor.

No. 3.

East Asian Occasional Papers editor. May 1969.

(1).

Harry J. Lamley,

No. 4.

East Asian Occasional Papers (2). editor. July 1970.

Harry J. Lamley,

No. 5.

A Survey of Historical Source Materials in Java and Manila. Robert Van Niel. February 1971.

No. 6.

Educational Theory in the People's Republic of China: The Report of Ch'ien Chung-Jui. Translation by John N. Hawkins. May 1971.