“Waiting for the Unicorn” | Open Indiana

(1856–1904)¹

Wen T’ing-shih (Tao-hsi), a reform-minded official and scholar during the declining years of the dynasty, lived a relatively short but eventful life, observing and participating in the beginnings of the tumultuous changes which his country underwent. The son of an official, he spent his youth in the city of Canton rather than in his native P’ing-hsiang in Kiangsi. In 1882, he attained the chü-jen degree and, by 1890, became a chin-shih, finishing second in the palace examination. He was immediately appointed to the prestigious Hanlin Academy where he also received a quick promotion. His rapid rise, it is said, brought on the jealousy of some of his colleagues, and his progressive ideas and his easy access to the Emperor Kuang-hsü engendered further opposition among the conservatives. By 1896, under the direction of the powerful Empress Dowager Tz’u-hsi, he was denounced and stripped of his rank. When Tz’u-hsi took control of the government in 1898, Wen’s life was threatened and he fled to Japan where he was aided by various Japanese scholars, especially Naitō Kōnan (1866–1934). He did return to China subsequently, but his fortunes never improved. In 1904, he died in his native P’ing-hsiang, not yet fifty years of age.

Wen’s greatest contribution to scholarship was as a historian, especially of the Yüan or Mongol dynasty. As a poet, he is best known as a composer of lyric poems, for which he was acclaimed by his contemporaries. His quatrains translated here tend to juxtapose captivating worlds of natural beauty and a lingering concern with social affairs, thus reflecting the kind of life he led.

(Timothy C. Wong)

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1.Hiromu Momose, ECCP, 2:855–856.

Miscellaneous Verses on Living in the Mountains

I diligently concoct my elixir in a crucible of Himalayan bamboo,

And freely scatter my gold in Jetavana Park.¹

I have but a name untainted, and nothing to say.

The winds of heaven blow about my seat, thick with fallen flowers.

Out of the floodgate of stone, just closed, a three-foot cataract.

From the craggy ascent above dangle ancient vines.

Peering at my window and about to descend: an ape stealing fruit.

Crossing the brook and still looking back: a stork pecking ice.

(Nos. 1 and 2 from a series of 3; Hsü 177:19a-l9b)

(Tr. Timothy C. Wong)

Tune: Lin-chiang hsien
Title: Written on a Boat at Canton, 1882

Searching for spring beyond the Five Ridges,² I find spring’s scenery strange:

Cotton plants blooming everywhere;

The sound of oars and human voices—an indistinguishable yiya.

Southern spirits residing among tamarisks and junipers;

Riverside market stocked with oysters and shrimp.

A song of the Recommended Scholar, a fine, skillful tune:³

I listen casually to the boat-girl’s p’i-p’a.

A silken rain sliced by the wind sends off homing crows.

Lately I’m rather at odds with the world:

I weep no more at the “Song of the Jasmine Princess.”⁴

(YCHT, pp. 23–24)

(Tr. Timothy C. Wong)

Tune: Che-ku t’ien
Title: Impressions

The fires of kalpa: have they ever consumed one speck of dust?

Slipping into the human sea, I find myself renewed.

Idle I finger a little inkstone to grind smooth the affairs of the world;

Drunk, I pluck the flowering branches to mark off the passing of spring.

I listen to the nightwatch,

And the dawn cock’s crowing;

Layer upon layer, last night’s fog locks the city’s double gate.

My platter is piled high with vegetables for the new year,

But I love only the red pepper’s pungent taste.

(YCHT, pp. 20–21)

(Tr. Irving Lo)

NOTES

1. Jetavana Park is said to be a favorite resort of the Buddha Sakyamuni, obtained for him by the elder Anathapindika from Prince Jeta. Unwilling at first to sell it, the prince, in jest, demanded as a purchase price enough gold to cover the park’s entire grounds. To his astonishment, Anathapindika met his price, and the sale was thus concluded.

2. Canton lies to the south of five mountain ridges.

3. Author’s note: “In the middle years of the Tao-kuang reign, Jung, a scholar recommended for office on the basis of his “filiality and uprightness,’ composed a volume of the folksongs of Kwangtung, containing many lovely and mournful lyrics.”

4. The song title derives from a place of that name south of Canton where, legend says, a palace girl named Su-hsing (White Jasmine) of the Southern Han dynasty (mid-ninth century) was buried. Another source says that the place was a burial ground for princesses, and that jasmine was widely planted there.

Waiting for the Unicorn