CH 20

The Cui family’s cemetery was located in the mountains, not far from the countryside estates and farm. However, the mountains were tall and the roads were steep, making access rather inconvenient. Nowadays, the countryside estates and farms were managed by a family that had accompanied Xu furen’s dowry when she had married over. Cui Xie was disinclined to interact with them, and instead found lodgings in a peasant household located next to the ancestral tomb. From morning till evening, he still kept up his studies just like how he did at home, waiting for the stonemasons to carve the stone tablet. He would then choose a good date to rebuild the tomb of Liu furen.

Furen (夫人; Fūrén): the honorific name used to call the Madam of a household

Cui Xie did not bring many books with him, but the ones he did bring would be time-consuming to thoroughly learn and memorize: “ 《Three》,《Hundred》,《Thousand》 in addition to Yan’s encouraging seven-character poem*. Although they were commonly used, they were not explicitly tested in the Imperial examinations. It would be enough to read them through once and copy it to the hard disk; however, the《Rime》and《Rime Dictionary》could not be so hastily read. These things were to be used often and if he wanted to be able to see at a glance how others would employ these techniques and their right or wrong usage,  he would still have to rely on these classics to be able to write up his own poetry and literature couplets.

《Three》,《Hundred》,《Thousand》: During the Ming and Qing dynasties, not only was Confucius’ Four Books and Five Classics the primary focus of education, the Three Character Classic, along with Hundred Family Surnames and Thousand Character Classic formed the basis of elementary education. This group came to be known as San Bai Qian (Three, Hundred, Thousand) from the first characters in the titles. It was the universal introductory literacy texts for students written mainly by Wang Yinglin.

Encouraging (Yan) seven-character poem: The first two sentences describe the learning environment, indicating students should be diligent and the last two sentences use color changes to express that it will be too late to study when you are older. This ancient poem encourages young people to cherish their young age, study diligently, and make a difference. Otherwise, they will get nowhere and regret it too late.

Link: https://www.suxuewang.com/hanyuqiao/shi-102.html 

Yan Zhenqing (simplified Chinese: 颜真卿; traditional Chinese: 顏真卿; pinyin: Yán Zhēnqīng; Wade–Giles: Yen Chench’ing) (709–785) was a leading Chinese calligrapher and a loyal governor of the Tang Dynasty. His artistic accomplishment in Chinese calligraphy is equal to that of the greatest master calligraphers of history, and his regular script style, Yan, is often imitated.

《Rime》and《Rime Dictionary》((simplified Chinese: 韵书; traditional Chinese: 韻書; pinyin: yùnshū)  A rime dictionary is an ancient type of Chinese dictionary that collates characters by tone and rhyme instead of by radical. Specify pronunciations of characters using the fǎnqiè method, giving a pair of characters indicated the onset and the remainder of the syllable respectively. Rime and poetic rhyme are NOT the same things. This dictionary was used to codify reading pronunciations for the correct recitation of the classics and the associated rhyme conventions of regulated verse.

If he was unable to remember the correct antithesis* of certain phrases and rhymes, when it came time to write poetry and compose essays, it was equivalent to an underachieving student who was learning English, to take an Oxford Dictionary and comprehensive grammar collection to participate in a simultaneous interpretation English exam——even if they let you casually open and flip through the book, one would not be able to write anything down if you cannot fundamentally recognize the words.

*Here, antithesis means two lines of poetry matching in sense and sound, often called opposing lines that are parallelly constructed in Chinese literature. 

Example: This first sentence is not parallel: Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method, while now the laboratory method is employed. Modified, it is now parallel: Formerly, science was taught by the textbook method; now it is taught by the laboratory method. Note, that the method of ‘taught’ is now the same in both parts compared to the first sentence. 

In any case, recalling antithesis and couplets was a bit like playing with words and was quite interesting. Memorizing the Rime Dictionary was purely used to sharpen one’s mind. Following along, the daily pronunciations and speaking habits of the people located in the Land of Abundance were poles apart from the mannerisms described in the Rime Dictionary. Some characters with the same pronunciation were classified into two different types and made memorizing it felt quite inhuman.

*Land of Abundance: referring to Sichuan Province, or more specifically the Chengdu Plain, one of the primary food production bases in China. It is the largest plain in southwestern China. It lies on the marginal region of the Sichuan Basin and rivers from the high mountains to the north and west bring soil and water supply to the vast land. Bestowed with a mild climate, ample rainfall, and fertile soil, the Chengdu Plain enjoys a favorable natural environment for bio-diversity and high-yield agricultural production. Most likely, modern rhyme and tone schemes originated from Sichuan which is what Cui Xie is more used to.

However, books such as 《Li Weng’s Rhymes》and 《Sound Rhyme Enlightenment》were all Qing Dynasty works and had not appeared at this time in history. At present, he only had two basic reference books in his hands, so he had to memorize them by brute rote, verbatim memorization. He first memorized the most unrelated parts in the Rime Dictionary. When reading similarly grouped characters, he meticulously dug out which tone and which rhyme part each character belonged to, forcefully deepening his memory through comparison.

《Li Weng’s Rhymes》: enlightenment reading material to help people learn to write modern poems and words to familiarize themselves with antithesis, rhyming, and organizing words. The author, Li Yu, is named Li Weng. the book is divided into volumes one and two and compiles all sorts of subjects like astronomy, geography, flowers, birds, beasts, utensils and has single-character pairs to seven-character pairs for rhyming.

《Sound Rhyme Enlightenment》:reading material to train children to understand and master the prhtym of phonology (the science of speech sounds including especially the history and theory of sound changes in a language or in two or more related languages/the phonetics and phonemics of a language at a particular time.)

Just like learning a new foreign language, memorizing words by means of long and difficult sentences…at least this was easier than truly learning a new foreign language.

Cui Xie read these two sets of books every day and every night. Cui Yuan and his son were afraid that he would become fatigued, so they especially bought river deer, rabbit, pheasant, and pigeons with nourishing medicinal ingredients such as Solomon’s seal, Chinese yam, and wolfberries to supplement his health.

He himself was afraid that sitting and reading for long periods of time would be bad for the spine and the nourishing meals made him unable to sleep. As such, at night he practiced push-ups and abdominal crunches in the room when no one else would see it and occasionally lifted a stool to practice his arm strength.

One day at night, Pengyan saw Cui Xie lifting a stool like a barbell through the window. He thought that some demon had possessed Cui Xie’s upper body and was so scared that he hovered outside for a long time before daring to enter. He whispered to Cui Xie: “What is the Young Master practicing? It’s so ugly, beware that others catch sight of it and make fun.”

Cui Xie’s heart was beating at lightning speed for a spell. Put down the stool, with a sullen face, Cui Xie calmly responded: “I am practicing wrist strength. These past two days, I always felt that I was not strong enough when writing, and my calligraphy does not look as good as before. It is not good to lift this. When we go back, I will find a bag of sand and hang it on my wrist to practice.”

Pengyan immediately retorted in earnest: “Preposterous! Da-ge, those few Imperial edicts you copied are even better then the original ones! I see that there is nothing wrong with your hand, it is merely the calligraphy style that is not good——the Yan script is hard to write. Once we return, you can buy a few copies of  Master Yang’s taiga script for practice and you can definitely write a few good brush strokes.”

Da-ge: elder brother, affection term of endearment used by family members and servants to refer to the Eldest Young Master of the Cui Residence

Yan Script: Yan Zhengqing was a Chinese calligrapher, military general and politician. He was a leading Chinese calligrapher and loyal governor of the Tang DYnasty. His artistic and aesthetic accomplishment in Chinese calligraphy bestows him with the title of as one of the ‘grand calligraphy masters’ in history and his regular script style, Yan, is often imitated in later generations. This style is known to have flow and sharp edges, with a squared shape and spacious center portions with tight outer strokes. His characters were compact vertically. It was upright, muscular, fitting, yet also rich and controlled, which vastly contrasts the early Tang style which was sloped, feminine, pretty and slim.

Taiga Script: the “ministerial style: was a style developed in the Early Ming Period used by the three Yangs (Yang Shiqi, Yang Rong, Yang Pu), officials of the Yongle reign. This script was characterized by a solemn and elegant language, graceful, yet natural. Most poems written in this style were used to celebrate the Ming dynasty, the authority, and the benevolence of its rulers. In this sense, it was a kind of propaganda literature. At the same time, the writings reflected the economic advancement and the political stabilization and normalization of the fifteenth century.

As for Cui Xie’s desire to practice his wrist strength, Pengyan turned around and told this matter to his father. Cui Yuan was very concerned about the Young Master’s affairs and the next morning, he had a serious conversation with him: “Young Master, do not practice by yourself. This training will hurt one’s bones and muscles, causing one to write poorly. When we return, let’s buy a small bow and set up a target in the courtyard. The best way to practice arm strength and breath can be achieved by shooting arrows. We also have horses in the residence. If we find a horsemanship master, it will be easy to travel outside the city and hunt a pheasant or rabbit. This will train you to have such a good body and figure, just like the jinyiwei.”

Jinyiwei: means the ‘Embroidered Uniform Guard’; and was essentially the imperial secret police that served the Emperors of the Ming Dynasty. They are given the authority to overrule judicial proceedings in prosecutions with full autonomy in arresting, interrogating, and punishing anyone, including nobles and the emperor’s relatives. The guards would usually don a distinctive golden-yellow uniform with an identifiable plaque hanging near his torso and carrying a special blade weapon.

Good idea.

Horseback riding and archery are much freer and elegant compared to doing squatting, push-ups and running around the courtyard at home.

He immediately banished his wooden stool for weightlifting into the Cold Palace* and sat under the streaming moonlight from the window, reciting from memory, “The sky will last for a long time. The moon is white and the wind is as clear as the night.”*

*If you have read or watched harem palace novels/dramas when an Emperor banishes a consort/concubine to the Cold Palace, it usually means that consort/concubine has lost all favor and will most likely spend the rest of their lives in misery.

*This poem is from Li Weng’s Rhymes.

In a blink of an eye, it was August 11.

The Yin and Yang Teacher saw that it was an auspicious date and declared that the tomb should be rebuilt and the ground should be moved. The stonemason’s stone stele was also carved, and only waiting on standby to rebuild the tomb.

A Teacher of the Yin and Yang were most likely people whose careers included astrology, fortune-telling, houses, tombs, dreams and so on. They were most likely hired to perform some ancient Chinese rituals according to superstition and ancient Chinese values, particularly values surrounding the death.

Long before this day, Cui Xie painted a self-portrait in front of the bronze mirror. The portrait was painted using fine writing brushes and blending with modern sketching techniques, he used free-flowing, agile strokes to outline the edges and used light, diluted ink to cast shadows. The facial features were exactly the same as the 14-year-old Cui Xie in the mirror, but the portrait’s expression was much more childish and innocent.

He did not call Cui Yuan and Pengyang to take a look at this portrait, instead sandwiching the painting into the 《Three Character Classic》the original owner had kept since childhood. After the tomb was excavated, along with the book and a serpentine jade pendant that the original owner had kept on his body, both objects were placed on the lid of the coffin. He then personally shoveled the evenly wet soil on top, filling in the hole one shovel at a time, covering the objects that had belonged to Cui Xie.

The workers and the Cui Yuan father and son pair joined in on the shoveling, piling the grave high with a mound of fresh dirt and quicklime. Then they quickly sealed the tomb.

Cui Xie knelt in front of the grave, poured out three cups of wine and burned a whole stack of paper money. His fingertips traced the “Unscrupulous Cui Xie Weeps”* meticulously inscribed on the surface of the stone stele, silently praying that this child would be reincarnated into his time and grow up in peace in his next life.

*This phrase is commonly inscribed onto a tombstone in Chinese culture, and basically family members engrave their grief and show their filial piety by saying “This unworthy son erects a grave/grieves”. I hope that makes sense!

He also hoped that in that world, someone could do the same for him before his grave.

After the sacrificial rites to the ancestors were finished, the master and servant trio returned to Qian’an.

It was almost dusk when they arrived home, but the main road seemed more crowded than usual and the carriage creaked along extremely slowly. The three of them thought that something had happened in the count, and once they just arrived at the residence, they realized that it was not others who had blocked up traffic, but they themselves——At the entrance to the old ancestral home of the Cui family, artisans and workers were busy carrying in buckets of soil, compacting the ground. They were erecting extremely lengthy and tall pine poles, and it looked like a four-posted three-gate archway.*

*A four-posted three-gate archway

This is an extremely, extremely ornate archway, and Cui Xie’s residence would not have been this luxurious. It most likely resembles something like this, something much simpler.

Although Cui Xie was not a narcissist, there was no faithful unmarried widow guarding their husband’s memorial or other loyal and dependable figure on this street. It seemed that this archway was only built for him and him only.

He jumped out of the carriage and asked Cui Yuan to drive the carriage through the residence’s back gates. He walked towards a bookkeeper who was supervising the workers and asked, “This da-ge, how did my family suddenly erect an archway?”

Da-ge: older brother

This minor official saw him and quickly cupped his hands in greeting: “Why did Young Master only come back till now? This minor one is called Zhang Xing. The Young Master can call me by name. The County Magistrate stated that he wanted to repair your house once. You stayed in the mountains for so many days, we almost could not enter your residence!”

“Zhang da-ge…didn’t the County Magistrate already bestow rewards? Why is an archway being erected and the residence being repaired again?” In the blink of an eye, Cui Xie saw that the doors to the courtyards were wide open and workers flowed back and forth to move soil and rocks. He was so surprised that he did not know what to say. He silently shut his mouth and inwardly sighed for a while at the Magistrate’s zealous and vigorous actions.

“The Imperial court issued a decree and had even conferred an Imperial plaque. Of course, the county has to allocate funds to construct the memorial archway*, but repairing the residence is da-ren’s compassion for you, and he privately allocated some funds…” Supervisor Zhang glanced at the archway and said with emotion, “If it weren’t for your family, the craftsman and workers hired by da-ren would not have been able to get in and would have waited until you came back.”

*Memorial archway is a kind of monumental architecture commending merit and advertised glory. It was not only placed in rural places, Confucius Temple, but also in former palaces, temples, tombs, ancestral halls, gardens, and the starting point of the Government Office and the main street, intersection, bridges, etc.

daren: honorific to call someone of higher authority than you; literally meaning “bigger person”

The Cui Residence sent someone over again? Were they here to pester him again?

It was not that he was maliciously speculating about others, but ever since he transmigrated over and has had so many dealings with the original owner’s family, but he still hasn’t seen anyone do anything good to Cui Xie. this time…

This time, it was a short and thin woman in her forties. She was dressed in a silk shirt and short unlined gown, with a red and gold embroidered skirt on the bottom, dressed up grandly. She ran out of the door with a smile on her face, dragging her skirt on the ground. When she got closer, she bowed like a flickering candle, holding a handkerchief to dab at her face. Crying and smiling at the same time, she said to Cui Xie: “Xie-ge,  you really have such good future prospects, your grandparents and parents know that you have received a commendation. Everyone is happy for you at home!”

This individual…he had not seen her at home!

Cui Xie reached out a hand to support her, unable to squeeze out that kind of difficult expression of mixed feelings of grief and joy, so he simply said vaguely, “Mama, do not be too emotional. How can we cry on such a good day? Is the family well? How is my grandfather’s illness? Has my grandmother been ill these days? Are my parents doing well these days?”

嬷嬷(mā mā): while it is pronounced mama, it refers to old female servants, and is used similarly to pozi

That mama smiled and replied: “Fine, fine, how can there be anything wrong? You received an Imperial commendation and the Old Master felt so good that he was able to sit upright on the cushioned chair for a while. The Old furen was also extremely overjoyed and asked me to pack some things for you from home. Xie-ge, follow me inside, come take a look at your Grandmother’s kind intentions!”

One side laughed and the other could not stop leaking tears. Cui Xie had no choice but to coax her from crying again when they returned to the residence. He turned around and hurriedly said farewell to Supervisor Zhang and asked him to thank County Magistrate Qi on his behalf and inform him that it was too late today and he would visit the yamen to say his thanks tomorrow.

yamen: administrative government office of a local bureaucrat/official

Supervisor Zhang cupped his hands amusedly and said: “Young Master Cui does not need to be so polite, and feel free to return. See if there is anything that needs to be changed or repaired at home and just tell us once you come back!”

After returning to the residence, Cui Xie learned from Pengyan that this mama’s surname was Zhang and was one of the Old furen’s people. The original owner had lived in a single-door courtyard and this mama often visited and sent some things.

It seemed that this original owner had only been able to grow up as he was now due to this Old furen, and this mama also contributed.

But, he was unsure of how the original owner got along with her, so he could only smile mildly and persuade: “Mama, don’t cry. Once you go back, persuade grandfather and grandmother not to worry about me anymore. I am now the righteous subject of the Imperial court, and often go in and out of the yamen. I am already an adult now.”

Zhang mama wiped away her tears and beamed: “Ai ya, our Xie-ge is already an adult and even can be the Master of a residence now. I have not seen you for some time, and you already look like an adult. You  seem much better than when you were at home the other day. The Old furen and Old Master sent over some things, so if you can accept them, the two elders can rest assured.”

She dragged Cui Yuan and his son to the hallway corridor to take a look and personally opened several trunks to show to Cui Yuan.

These trunks were markedly different from the ones Cui Xie had brought over. These were all carved from dark mahogany wood, the engravings were exquisite. Inside the trunks, there were some glossy and gorgeous satin and brocade materials, fine embroidered objects, incense burners and there were even several trunks of brushes, inks, books, and papers that they had not time to pack when they left the capital, even including several rolls of calligraphy and paintings.

Unexpectedly, the original owner could paint. He had learned from that Teacher Liu invited to teach him two years ago. He could paint a mogu style lotus, but his technique could not be considered to be superb.

Mogu style- is a painting skill or technique in Chinese traditional painting literally meaning ‘boneless’. It is defined by ink and color washes rather than by outlines.

This was truly a surprise.

These garments and material toys were given by the Cui Residence, but he could not sell them for money. Arranging these possessions anywhere were all really the same, and he did not care too much. What really surprised him was that Little Cui Xie could also paint——Teacher Lin was a pure scholar and would not have such sophisticated technical ability. He thought that he would have to find an opportunity to show his painting skills. Since the original body already knew how he no longer needed to hide from Cui Yuan and Pengyan and could pick up this skill in a fair manner and use it.

In the future, if the jinyiwei came to deliver wine, he planned on imitating Zheng Banqiao’s bamboo and stone, accompanied by the phrase ‘a relentless grasp on the verdant mountain-side’ to let Colonel Xie know that he was not illiterate.

Zheng Banqiao, or Zheng Xie was a Chinese painter from Jiangsu. He began life in poverty, but rose in the exam system to become a magistrate at Shandong. However, after 12 years, he became critical of the life of an official as he refused to ingratiate himself with senior officials. When he was reportedly criticized for building a shelter for the poor, he resigned. After that, he expressed himself in art and became one of the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou. He was noted for his drawing of orchids, bamboo, and stones. In 1748 he briefly resumed an official career as “official calligrapher and painter” for the Qianlong Emperor (Qing Dynasty)