Read The Mystery of the Song Dynasty Painting Page 15


  CC nodded thoughtfully as she turned the pages from the poem to the painting, then back again to the poem.

  What we call ‘death’ is really a beginning

  ‘The end’ is just another term for being born

  Every life is a commencement but also a close

  Every epitaph a lullaby

  ‘What a beautiful poem!’ CC exclaimed. ‘It feels so good to look at this painting without that awful feeling of déjà vu that troubled me before. Thank you a million times, Dr Allen.’

  Grandma Wu nodded with satisfaction. Then she got up slowly and stretched. ‘I’ve been sitting still for far too long. It’s time for me to do some tai chi exercises. Now that CC has made a full recovery, Dr Allen, is it all right for me to take her to Chungking as soon as I can get boat tickets? My son is waiting there for us with our three other young charges: David, Sam and Marat.’

  Dr Allen nodded. ‘We’ll miss you both. I hope you’ll come back and visit, but I know these are dangerous times. I can’t help feeling there will be other difficult journeys ahead for all of us.’

  Grandma Wu smiled. ‘It’s the journeys we take in our lifetime that make us who we are.’

  ‘I hope Big Aunt is happy, wherever she is on her journey,’ CC said wistfully.

  Grandma Wu looked at CC over the top of her glasses. ‘Don’t forget the wonderful poem you just read. “What we call death is really a beginning.” Your Big Aunt had a great capacity for happiness. I’m sure that remains true, wherever she is now.’

  ‘I’m going to copy that poem in my diary,’ Dr Allen said. ‘It will give my terminal patients a lot of comfort to learn it by heart.’

  ‘Thank you, Dr Allen and Grandma Wu,’ CC said. ‘I owe a lot to both of you. I’ll never forget everything you’ve done for me.’

  ‘No, CC! Trust me! I should be thanking you and Grandma Wu instead!’ Dr Allen said. ‘Besides learning a lot of history of the Song Dynasty, I also discovered a whole new way of looking at the world. I used to think there was a logical, scientific explanation for everything – especially medical problems – and that death was something final: the absolute end.’

  CC looked up at him. ‘So what do you think now?’

  Dr Allen laughed. ‘In the words of Ah Zhao himself, you he bu ke? Is anything impossible?’

  A detail from Qing Ming Shang He Tu (Along the River at the Qing Ming Festival). This particular scene of the boat about to capsize is described on page 78. The entire painting is seventeen and a half feet long and only ten inches high. Known as China’s Mona Lisa and painted with ink on silk, it captures the holiday atmosphere of ordinary people celebrating Qing Ming, presenting a panorama of Song Dynasty life. Note the period clothing, hairstyles, headgear, sedan chairs, stalls packed with merchandise and the variety of boats on the river.

  From the same painting, this detail shows the ornate guardhouse above the city gate described on pages 90–92. Some guardhouses also served as drum and bell towers. In ancient times, there were no mechanical clocks. Officials kept time by sundials, water clocks, sand clocks or by burning incense sticks. The public would be notified of the time by the daily beating of drums and bells at regular intervals.

  A man with the sleeves of his jacket tied round his waist (front centre) stands among a crowd gathered round an animated storyteller who has a luxurious beard and moustache. (This scene is described on pages 211–212.) Storytellers have a long tradition in China. They combined classical history with contemporary humour to entertain the audience.

  The title of this painting is Auspicious Dragon Rock (Xiang Long Shi ). It was supposedly painted by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty (see pages 141–142 and 153–157) whose shou jin (slender gold) calligraphy can be seen to the left of the rock.

  The painting Ting Qin Tu (Listening to Zither Music) was also presumably painted by Emperor Huizong. It shows the Emperor sitting under a tree and playing the zither to two ministers and a young female attendant. On pages 181–182 Zhang Ze Duan tells his sister Zhang Mei Lan that he painted the attendant to look just like her, thereby making her famous and immortal. The calligraphy and poetry above the picture was written by Cai Jing , the Prime Minister under Emperor Huizong.

  All images reproduced by kind permission of The Palace Museum, Beijing.

  How to Pronounce Chinese Words

  Most of the Chinese words and phrases in this book are pronounced as they are written in English. However, here’s a short guide on how to say some of the trickier words:

  Ba Zi ba tzer

  Cai Jing chai jing

  Cai You chai yo

  cu ju chew jyu

  cun chun

  Da Bi Zi dah bee zuh

  Dong Zhi dong jer

  Gege guh-guh

  Genyue gun-yue

  he li ji qun huh lee gee chun

  Hong Qiao hong chiao

  Huizong hway-joong

  Lei Wei lay way

  Mei Lan may laan

  qi chee

  qin chin

  Qing Ming ching ming

  qing xiao xin ching shiao shin

  Tian Xia Yi Ren tian shia ee ren

  wei qi way chee

  Wu Xing wu shing

  Xiang Long Shi shiang long shi

  Xiao Mei shiao may

  xin shin

  you he bu ke? yo huh boo kuh?

  Ze Duan zuh duan

  Zhang jaang

  Zhao jow

  Glossary of Chinese Words

  Numbers:

  yi 1

  er 2

  san 3

  si 4

  wu 5

  liu 6

  qi 7

  ba 8

  jiu 9

  shi 10

  For numbers 11 to 19, join the word for 10 with the unit number, so 11 is shi yi , 12 is shi er and so on.

  Family, names and people:

  Ah a prefix to a name

  Ah Li the original name of Ah Zhao before Emperor Huizong bestows upon him the royal surname of Zhao

  Ah Wang Mei Lan’s father’s number-one manservant

  An Kai Lady An Kai was the Emperor’s favourite concubine, and was the niece of Commissioner Ye Di

  Baba father

  Cai Jing Prime Minister to Emperor Huizong (AD 1047–1126)

  Cang Bu Lang Zhong

  Director of the Granary Bureau

  Chun Lei ‘spring thunder’; name given by Lei Wei to a zither that he made

  Confucius Chinese philosopher (c.551–547 BC)

  Da Bi Zi ‘big nose’

  Da Ren magistrate (literally ‘big person’)

  Da Si Yue Musician-in-Chief

  Da Yue Ling Music Officer

  dai zhao imperial attendant

  Dian Yue Music Managers

  Fo Ni Northern Song Dynasty Buddhist nun, the religious name of Zhang Mei Lan

  Gao Bi Zi ‘tall nose’

  Gege older brother

  Han Lin Hua Yuan Shang Shu

  Director of the Royal Academy of Art

  Hu Bu Shang Shu Minister of Revenue

  Huizong Eighth Emperor of the Song Dynasty (AD 1082–1135; reigned AD 1100–1126)

  Jiang Fei Fei a friend of CC’s Big Aunt

  Lao Ban proprietor, boss

  Lao Lao maternal grandmother; although Mei Lan would normally only call her birth mother’s mother Lao Lao, she uses this term for her stepmother’s mother too

  Lao Ye Old Master (term of address)

  Lei Wei renowned Tang Dynasty instrument maker, whose name means ‘Mighty Thunder’

  Li Jie famous Song dynasty architect

  Lin Ling Su Taoist priest and Huizong’s spiritual advisor

  Liu Gong Quan Tang Dynasty master of calligraphy (AD 778–865)

  Mencius Chinese philosopher (c. 372–289 BC)

  Nai Ma nanny, wet nurse

  Nai Nai paternal grandmother

  Niang mother; also means ‘young lady’

  Shao Ye Young Master (term of address)

/>   Tian Xia Yi Ren ‘First Man of All under Heaven’ – cipher of Emperor Huizong

  Tian Zi Son of Heaven

  Tong Guan military general, court eunuch, political advisor to Emperor Huizong (AD 1054–1126)

  Wu Nai Nai Grandma Wu

  Xiao Chen Mei Lan’s father’s coachman; xiao (little) is used as a prefix to Chen’s name

  Xiao Jie Little Miss (term of address)

  Xie Lu Lang Composers

  Ye Di commissioner to whom Mei Lan’s father is chief assistant

  Ye Jia Ming CC’s Big Aunt

  Ye Xian CC’s Chinese name

  Ye Ye paternal grandfather

  Zhang Mei Lan Zhang is a family name (surname) and Mei Lan means ‘Beautiful Orchid’

  Zhang Ze Duan famous court painter (AD 1085–1145)

  Zhao royal surname

  Places:

  Bian Liang capital city of China during the Song Dynasty, located in the eastern Henan province

  of China; it is now known as Kaifeng

  Da Cheng Yue Fu Bureau of Music of Great Brilliance

  Da Nei Inner Palace

  Da Wai Outer City

  Feng Jie a town on the Yangtze River, near the Three Gorges Dam

  Genyue imperial park, commissioned by Emperor Huizong

  Han Lin Hua Yuan Royal Academy of Art; it was very prestigious to be accepted as a Han Lin scholar

  Hong Qiao Rainbow Bridge

  Nan Xun Men Southern Infusion Gate

  Rui Si Dian Palace of Divine Inspiration

  Tai Hu Tai Lake

  Tai Miao Grand Ancestral Temple

  Tie Ta Iron Pagoda

  Wan Qin Lo Pavilion of Ten Thousand Zithers

  Xuan De Men Gate of Virtue Proclaimed

  Yuan Qiu Round Mound Altar

  Occasions:

  Dong Zhi Winter Solstice Festival; means ‘winter has arrived’

  Han Shi Jie Cold Food Festival

  Li Chun Spring Equinox

  Qing Ming Jie Clear and Bright Festival, also called Tomb Sweeping Festival

  Xia Zhi Summer Solstice

  Yuan Xiao Jie Feast of Lanterns

  Artistic works:

  Da Guan Cha Lun Treatise on Tea; a classic text by Emperor Huizong on the art of the tea ceremony

  Lun Yu Confucian Analects; a rulebook for life, made up of discussions Confucius had with his students

  Qing Ming Shang He Tu Along the River at Qing Ming (a painting)

  Ting Qin Tu Listening to Zither Music (a painting)

  Xiang Long Shi Auspicious Dragon Rock (a painting)

  Zhou Bi Suan Jing Astronomy and Mathematics in Ancient China: one of the oldest classic Chinese texts on mathematics

  Sayings:

  he li ji qun a crane among hens

  tian xia zhi bian yuan at the edge of civilization

  you he bu ke? ? is anything impossible?

  Words and phrases:

  Ba Zi Eight Characters or Eight Words

  cao shu cursive script

  chi a unit of measurement of approximately thirteen inches

  cu ju football, also called soccer

  cun a unit of measurement of just over one inch

  da zi big characters

  erhu musical instrument like a two-stringed fiddle

  fei qian literally ‘flying money’: bank notes made of paper

  feng shui an ancient Chinese system for harmonizing the flow of energy in a room, or building, or other space or structure; literally ‘wind-water’

  feng zheng kite

  Han Lin being a scholar of the Han Lin Academy was very prestigious

  Han Ren of Han origin

  hua painting

  Jin Shi Imperial Examination, Advanced Scholar Degree

  kou-tou to kowtow: to show respect by bowing low and touching one’s head to the ground

  li strength

  li a unit of measurement of approximately one third of a mile

  niao bird

  qi energy

  qin a zither consisting of a wood frame and seven strings of twisted silk

  qing xiao xin

  please be careful

  qing, qing please, please

  ren man

  san bao literally ‘three treasures’: three male organs consisting of penis and two testicles

  san jue three perfections: painting, calligraphy, poetry

  sheng xiao cycles

  shi poetry

  Shi Er Sheng Xiao Twelve Animals of the Chinese Zodiac: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig

  shou jin slender gold calligraphy

  shu writing; also means ‘book’

  shu fa the art of calligraphy

  suan pan abacus: one of the earliest devices for counting and doing calculations

  tai chi a Chinese martial art practised to promote good health

  Tian Heaven

  Tian Wen Language of Heaven (the study of astronomy)

  Tian Xia Land under Heaven

  tong bi copper coins

  tu zhang chop, stamp, seal or symbol

  wai ren an outsider; someone who doesn’t belong

  wei qi go, a game of strategy for two players, played with ‘stones’ on a board covered with grid lines; the aim is to control as much of the board as possible

  wen fang si bao

  Four Treasures of the Scholar: ink-stick (mo), ink-stone (yan), brush (bi) and paper (zhi)

  Wu Xing Five Elements

  xin heart

  Ya Yue Proper Music

  yamen government office

  Yin – Yang

  essential ‘forces’ or underlying principles in life that are opposites yet balanced, separate yet interdependent

  Yin Yue Improper and Licentious Music

  zhang a unit of measurement of almost eleven feet; ten chi make one zhang

 


 

  Adeline Yen Mah, The Mystery of the Song Dynasty Painting

 


 

 
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