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1 Jurchen Elements in the Northern Drama Hu-t'ou-p'ai 虎頭牌 Author(s): Stephen H. West Reviewed work(s): Source: T'oung Pao, Second Series, Vol. 63, Livr. 4/5 (1977), pp Published by: BRILL Stable URL: Accessed: 25/06/ :24 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at. JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. BRILL is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to T'oung Pao.

2 T'oung Pao, Vol. LXIII, 4-5 JURCHEN ELEMENTS IN THE NORTHERN DRAMA HU-T'OU-P'AI X BY STEPHEN H. WEST There are three plays in the Ming dramatic collection, Yiian-ch'iihsian X Et, A Selection of Yian Plays 1), that deal with Jurchen characters 2): Li Chih-fu's J A Pien-i hsing-shih hu-t'ou-p'ai A 4: JE, Wang Shih-fu's i g Ssu ch'eng-hsiang kao-hui iich'un-t'ang Fy V q 3), and Chia Chung-ming's Xipts T'ieh-kuai Li tu chin-t'ung yi-nii A at c 4). Two of these 1) Collected and edited by Tsang Mou-hsiin YAtfJ6 (d. I62I). Originally known as Yiian-jen pai-chung ch'ii 5 A 4 f FM, l One-hundred Examples of the Drama of Yiuan Men, the collection was also known by the title Tiaoch'ung-kuan pai-chung t 34, One-hundred Examples from the Studio of Engraving Insects, a name taken from Tsang's studio. The text was not known by its current name until I9I8, when Commercial Press in Shanghai printed it under the title Yiian-ch'ii hsiian. The date of publication for the original edition of the first fifty plays was I6I5; the second fifty plays were published the following year. See Cheng Ch'ien 99, "Yuan Ming ch'ao k'o pen Yiian-j en tsa-chii chiu-chung t'i-yao" 37 H i'j) 3J ;* 3 A )< IJ, m F,, Tsing Hua Journal of Chinese Studies (New Series) 7.2 (I969), p. I50. The text of Yiian-ch'ii-hsiPan that I am using is the I936 type-set edition by Chung-hua Bookstore of Shanghai. I would like to thank Dr. W. L. Idema of the Sinologisch Instituut for helpful criticism and suggestions on major points in this article. 2) The Jurchen were a semi-nomadic Tungusic tribe who originated in the Sungari River basin, near modern Harbin. In III5, they conquered the Liao dynasty, and in II25 they drove the Sung south of the Huai River. See Ma Tuan-lin A,*& (13th century), Wen-hsien t'ung-k'ao ; At, Volume 3, Wu-ying-tien : A edition, preface dated I749 (Reprinted in Taipei: Hsin-hsing Book Company, I963) , and Feng Chia-sheng and Karl Wittfogel, History of Chinese Society: Liao (907-II25), in Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series, 36 (I946), p ) Wang Shih-fu is best known as the author (or co-author) of Hsi-hsiangchi N P JE, one of the longest Yuan plays, in 20 acts. Wang was a contemporary of Kuan Han-ch'ing MA P, who supposedly authored the last four acts of Hsi-hsiang-chi, hence he probably lived in the late I3th century. For Li-ch'un-t'ang, see Yuan-ch'u-hsiian, II, pp. 900-I3. 4) Chia Chung-ming (I343-I422) wrote this play in the early Ming according to Fu Hsi-hua 4 th :, Ming-tai tsa-chiu ch'uan-mu PAW, t* UtJ F 4

3 274 STEPHEN H. WEST plays deal with traditional Chinese themes. Li-ch'un-t'ang concerns the banishment of an official and his return to grace and Citin-t'ung yii-nii (more popularly known as Chin-an-shou _t, ) is a story of a pair of immortals-the Golden Lad and Jade Girl-who are banished to earth from the Western Paradise of the Queen Mother and then summoned to return. Li Chih-fu's Hu-t'ou-p'ai, the subject of this essay, concerns a family of Jurchen living in Northeast China sometime before the conquest of Sung in II25. The play opens with a visit to the home of the lead character, Shan-shou-ma U,_, by his uncle, Yin-chuma ~Ri t,g. This uncle, who raised the orphaned Shan-shou-ma, is present when an imperial messenger arrives to announce that the young man has been elevated to a high military post. The uncle, a heavy drinker, requests appointment to the post of chiliarch (ch'ien-hu ft p:5), left vacant by Shan-shou-ma's promotion. The nephew grudgingly grants the request. The uncle then returns to his home on the Po-hai i 1 frontier and arranges to move his household southward to Chia-shan k'outzu M [U T f ("mouth of the gorge"), a defile guarding the approach to the Liao frontier 5). Enroute, Yin-chu-ma visits his elder brother Chin-chu-ma + {S,_. Finally arriving to take up his position, he immediately falls to drinking. The Liao make a surprise attack on the border, capture livestock and people, and begin their journey back to their homeland. Roused out of his revelling, Yin-chu-ma pursues them and recaptures their booty. But Shan-shou-ma, having heard of the attack, takes his uncle into custody and brings him to account for his remissness. The remainder of the play is about the family's appeal for leniency after Shan-shou-ma sentences his uncle to death, his capitulation to their pleas, and the eventual reunion of the family. Over the years, this play has been assumed to be an authentic portrayal of Jurchen life and environment. The strength of this (Peking: Tso-chia ch'u-pan-she, I958), p. 41. Chia was also the author of the supplement to the Lu-kuei-pu, the Hsii Lu-kuei-pu ffl A i2. For Chin-t'ung yii-nii, see Yiian-ch'ii-hsiian, II, pp. I093-I06. In addition to these plays in Yiuan-ch'ii-hsiian, there are two other plays, discussed below, that treat Jurchen characters: a fragmentary Yuan play, Chu-kung-tiao t'iao-feng-yiieh tz'u-yiin-t'ing, one of the thirty Yuan woodblock editions, and Huan-men tzu-ti ts'o-li-shen, a Southern Sung nan-hsi. 5) The Po-hai nation was established in 7I2 and existed until Liao domination in 926. It occupied nearly all of present-day Manchuria. See Wittfogel and Feng, p. 59n.

4 JURCHEN ELEMENTS IN THE DRAMA HU-T'OU-P'AI 275 assumption turns on three facts: the author was a Jurchen, the play deals with the Jurchen in a native setting, and the music of act II is known to have a Jurchen origin. However, if we examine these items of evidence we find that the ethnic origin of the author is of little importance, that the play uses traditional Chinese thematic material, and that the only authentic element of Jurchen origin, the music of the second act, proves to be unrelated to the play as a whole. THE AUTHOR As with most figures in the nebulous world of early Chinese drama, little is known about Li Chih-fu, author of Hi-t'ou-p'ai. Chung Ssu-ch'eng's X, W Lu-kuei-pu A X, or Register of Ghosts, (preface dated I330), lists him among those writers in the category, "Those Famous Men of Talent Already Dead Who have Edited Ch'uan-ch'i Circulating in the World" 6). Chung also provides the following succinct statements: "Li Chih-fu. Jurchen. Resided in Te-hsing Admninistration. [Also] known as Li, the fifth, P'u-ch'a g clan" 7). These clues to his existence are fleshed out little by Chia Chung-ming's annotations to the Lu-ktei-pu, but in an elegaic poem, Chia mentions that L-i was one of Te-hsing's burgeoning talents, and that he was a man of a "great Chin family" 8). We do 6) Lu-kuei-pu, in Chung-kuo hu-tien hsi-ch'ii lun-chu chi-ch'eng Aft AAlg -%WZ, Vol. II (Peking: Chung-kuo hsi-chii ch'u-pan-she, I959), p. I04. Chung Ssu-ch'eng (?I279-?136o), tzu Chi-hsien S hao Ch'ou-chai NA, was originally a native of Pien-liang, but later lived in Hangchow. A dramatist himself, his Register is the earliest text of biographical information on san-ch'i% poets and dramatists of the Chin-Yuan period, and is also the earliest source of textual information on Northern drama. His use of the term ch'uan-ch'i is to identify drama rather than non-dramatic verse, for which he uses the term yiieh-fu. 7) According to the Chin kuo-yii chieh e g i, Li was the sinicized surname for members of the Jurchen P'u-ch'a clan. See Chin-shih k, ed. Chang Ch'i-yiin Tx PJ, et al., Volume II, appendix 2, (Taipei, I970), p. 7. Te-hsing Administration, is located near modern Hsiian-hua 9 i between Chang-chia-k'ou F F! J and Peking. 8) Chia's elegy is found in the T'ien-i-ko i -X P edition of the Lu-kuei-pu, an edition that he annotated and re-edited. His postface, dated 1422, indicates the manuscript was compiled some Ioo years before the first reliably dated edition. The T'ien-i-ko "blue-line copy" i-k'* was hand copied by Cheng Chen-to g 1i, Chao Wan-li f X -T, and Ma Lien F,, and was photolithographed by Peking University in It is referred to either as Chia-pen W z or as T'ien-i-ko pen.

5 g t t =Ri t. : (Shanghai, I953), pp STEPHEN H. WEST know that Li was at least a literary acquaintance of the pr-ominent Yuan official and poet, Yuan Ming-shan 9). And so, we can place him in the latter half of the thirteenth, or very beginning of the fourteenth century. Li's writings, except for Hq-t'o"-p'ai, are all lost. The only early comment we have on the quality of his writing is in the Ming work3 T'ai-ho cheng-yin-p' t7paie E3 "ffi,"a Formulary of the Correct Sounds of [the Erag of Supreme Harmony", (preface dated I422) in which Chu Ch'uan fg (d. I448) compared Li's verse to "moon shadows beside the plum tree" 10). This impressionistic criticism, one of many such four-character phrases Chu used to describe poets and dramatists in the section he titled, "Pattern and Force of the Ygeh-f?s of Assembled Heroes of Past and PresentX', is the only early remark we have on the quality of Li Chih-fus writing. Li is known to have authored twelve plays, including H-t'o-p'cli. His other plays, all well-documented in L?X-kgei-px and T'ai-ho cheng-yin-p'q,l, range from history to comedy. All deal with traditional Chinese topics and themes, and it is only Hf-t'o-pXai that is set in a non-chinese environment 11) THE PLAY While the earliest complete text we have of the play H?f-t'o-p'ai is the Yiian-ch'?X-hsWian edition of I6I5, the earliest record of its actual title (cheng-mttg ie. t ) and its topic (t'i-mg gj E ) occurs in the T'ien-i-ko edition of the L?o-kgei-fi?s 12). In this edition, the play 9) Using internal evidence, Sun K'ai-ti 4 e g has shown that two poems were sent to Li Chih-fu by Yuan Ming-shan in the years I See Ygan-ch'"-chia k'ao-lgeh :TC m R t 4, in Chung-kgo hsi-ch'io li-lun 10) T'ai-ho cherlg-yi"-p'u, Chgng-kuo ku-tien hsi-ch'ix lun-chu chi-ch'erzg, Volume III, p. I9. Chu Ch'uan, an early Ming dramatist, was the sixteenth son of the first Ming emperor, Chu Yuan-chang :t7g33%. He was known by several sobriquets, including Ta-ming ch'i-shih 7t W f i, Ch'u-hsien S illli, Han-hsu-tzu itf, and Tan-ch'iu hsien-sheng gta. His formulary is one of several works he wrote on drama and music. He was enfeoffed at Ta-ning 7tv in I39I and at Nan-ch'ang j B in I403. Upon his death, he was awarded the posthumous title of Hsien-wang WJ:iE. 11) A list of these plays can be found in Lu-kuei-pu, p. I09 and in T'ai-ho cheng-yin-p'u, p ) A play is known by its short title, its actual title, and its topic. The short title is an abbreviated form of the "actual title", and is used to identify it in indices and bibliographies. The "actual title" and "topic" are two seven-syllable lines (or tags) appended to each play. Their exact function

6 JURCHEN ELEMENTS IN THE DRAMA HU-T'OU-P'AI 277 is identified by its short title (chien-ming f M) as Hu-t'ou-p'ai, by its topic as Hsing-yiian hsiang-kung ta-tuan-an J X S "The Minister of the Travelling Bureau Greatly Concludes a Case", and by the actual title as Wu-yiian huang-ti hu-t'ou-p'ai P,R,W T 4N, "The Tiger Headed Plaque of the Martial Primal Resplendent Emperor" 13). The short title, or the cheng-ming, or both, are also found in later sources such as T'ai-ho cheng-yin-p'u, Pei-ch'ii shih-i h ), the index to the compendium Yung-lo ta-tien ^ k g, and the catalogues of the Pao-wen-t'ang Wk;2 and Yeh-shih-yiuan -HtZ libraries 15). Only one other source, Yiianch'ii-hsiian, gives the full complement of title and topic, and that citation differs from the earlier record of the Lu-kuei-pu. The differences, while not major, bear directly on the authenticity of the play. Yiian-ch'ii-hsiian lists the t'i-mu as Shu-yiian hsiang-kung ta-tuan-an, substituting the character shu jm for hsing, thus changing the post of the protagonist to Minister of the Bureau of Military Affairs. Tsang Mou-hsiin's text also changes the cheng-ming to Pien-i hsing-shih hu-t'ou-p'ai R Jy T, or "The Tiger-Headed Plaque [that bears the words] 'Execute Affairs at [Bearer's] Convenience and Pleasure' " 16). The change of a single character in the t'i-mu points out an anachronistic element in the topic. The Bureau of Military Affairs (shu-mi-yhan Gj ) was an institutional feature of both the Chin and Yuan dynasties. Established in the Chin in II22 during Wuch'i-mai's % L N campaign against the Sung, it was adopted in an effort to deal with the Chinese and Khitan armies under Jurchen command within a Chinese administrative framework 17). It did not is unknown and my translations here are tentative, more for convenience's sake than for a speculative guess at their function. 13) Lu-kuei-pu, pp. 109, 171 fn ) Probably compiled around I515. I am using a Republican period copy of the T'ien-i-ko text found and annotated by Jen Chung-min ff: {fi a, undated, but with his preface dated January 8, I925. See 29b. 15) The Pao-wen-t'ang shu-mu was compiled by Ch'ao Li X f (fl. 1530). The Yeh-shih-yiian shu -mu, also known as Shu-hu-t'ang ts'ang-shu-mu _tt was compiled by Ch'ien Tseng R (I I). Chapter ten of the latter work gives the titles of many works of drama and fiction. See Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period, ed. Arthur Hummel, Volume I (Washington, 1943), p. 157 and Sun K'ai-ti, Yeh-shih-yilan ku-chin tsa-chiik'ao, Chung-kuo hsi-ch'ii li-lun ts'ung-shu (Shanghai, I953). 16) Yilan-ch'ii-hsiian, Volume I, p ) The Shu-mi-yiian was one of two Chinese-style bureaus established

7 278 STEPHEN H. WEST however, replace the traditional military, political, and social unit of the Jurchen, which was the meng-an g V, mou-k'o A-A organization based on clan structure in the early years of the dynasty 18). The shu-mi-yiian continued in the Yuan, but was decentralized to include travelling bureaus, a feature not found in the bureau of Chin times 19). The confusion of Yuan and Chin ranks and titles is found in other places within the play 20). The most obvious is that of Shan-shouma, the male lead. Prior to his promotion he held the rank of Upper Chiliarch of the Golden Plaque (chin-p'ai shang ch'ien-hu rw1:{,f). While the term ch'ien-hu, or chiliarch, occurs occasionally in the Chin History, the title consistently used for Jurchen military leaders is either meng-an (leader of a thousand) or mou-k'o (leader of a hundred) 21). While the term myriarch (wan-hu -Xp) was used frequently in the Chin 22), the official titles chiliarch and centarch (pai-hu ff p) came into use only in the Yuian 23). In the "Monograph on the Military" in the Yiuan History we find a paragraph dealing explicitly with those titles: Myriarch, Chiliarch, and Centarch are divided into Upper, Middle, and Lower ranks. The Myriarch wears a Golden Tiger Tally that is in the shape in early Chin. The other was the Tu-yiian-shuai-fu Jxf, T W which was collapsed into the Shu-mi-yiian in See the "Monograph on the One- Hundred Offices", in Chin-shih, Volume I, pp. 4I0-I. Wu-ch'i-mai was the second emperor of the Chin, reigning as T'ai-tsung k. On adoption of Chinese official titles and offices to administrate Han armies, see "Monograph on the Military" gzkx in Chin-shih, Volume I, p ) See "Monograph on the Military" in Chin-shih, Volume I, p. 325 and T'ao Chin-sheng V J, "Chin-tai ch'u-ch'i nii-chen ti han-hua" X t ft VI M ; flt3' 4L, Wen shih che hsiieh-pao 3 I 17 (I967), p. 4I. 19) The term "Travelling Bureau" is used in the Chin-shih, but it refers to the military ' organization established by Hsiian-tsung ' after his transfer of the capital to Pien-liang and the desertion of Yen-ching in I214. In that context, I take the term to mean travelling in the sense of "temporary", an euphemism to encourage faith that Yen-ching would be recaptured. 20) For a listing, see Yen Tun-i t t j, Yiuan-chit chen-i 5, 1IiJ * M, Volume II (Peking, I960), p ) See Chin-shik, Volume I, pp ) Ibid. 23) The terms ch'ien-hu and pai-hu occur occasionally in the Chin History, but as descriptive titles for the meng-an and mou-k'o, not as official designations.

8 JURCHEN ELEMENTS IN THE DRAMA HU-T'OU-P'AI 279 of a reclining tiger, its head set with pearls. There are grades of one, two, or three pearls 24). This explanation not only elucidates the relationship between the official rank mentioned in the t'i-mu and the plaque of the chengming, but indicates that the emblem, the Golden Plaque of the Double Tiger Tally (shuang-hu-fu chin-,'ai VtS F), given to Shan-shou-ma as the symbol of his promotion to Grand Marshal of Horse and Infantry in the Empire (t'ien-hsia ping-ma ta-yiian-shuai i, k3t i), is clearly Mongol in origin. If in Chin times this promotion, which the play says put Shan-shou-ma in charge of "the business of the Bureau of Military Affairs", would have been symbolized by the award of a simple "deer tally", (lu-fu ft). The only tiger emblem mentioned in the Chin History is a Tiger Tally (hu-fr 7,) given to Military Review Officers (t'ung-chfin-ssu itj p) 25). There is evidence that the tiger-headed plaque of which the cheng-ming speaks is a Mongol emblem that predates even the Yuan dynasty. Early travel accounts speak of these emblems being borne by the nobles and envoys of Chinggis Khan. These historical sources suggest that the title as found in Yiian-ch'ii-hsiian is the more accurate. In the travel record of the Taoist adept Ch'iu Ch'u-chi _ pr, the Ch'ang-ch'un tao-jen hsi-yu-chi K i, E, the Mongol envoy who comes to invite Ch'iu to the West is described thus: Liu Chung-lu! PTt, privy official, envoy of Chinggis, The Resplendent Emperor, had suspended [from his waist] a Tigerheaded golden plaque. Its writing: "Execute affairs at [bearer's] convenience and pleasure as though the emperor himself were executing them. (Ju chen ch'in hsing pien-i hsingshih same ph is 26)i ) d n The same phrasing is found in Chao Kung's jtfvf Meng-ta pbei-lus :,VI" 24) Yiian-shih 3iP'. (Po-na ed.) 97.2a. 25) Chin-shih, Volume I, p. 433: "October, i ii6, first created golden plaques; later there were regulations that allowed for silver and wooden plaques. Now the golden plaques were awarded to myriarchs, silver to meng-an, wooden to mou-k'o... In II96 created regulations for tiger tallies to ritualize the words of officials. In I2I5 the Bureau of Military Affairs used deer tallies... the Military Review Office used tiger tallies". 26) Ch'iu Ch'u-chi, tzu T'ung-mi :, hao Ch'ang-ch'un-tzu KR4T (II47-I227). The travelogue was actually written by Ch'iu's disciple, Li Chih-ch'ang. ' (n.d.). See Wang Kuo-wei ie M,*, Meng-ku shih-liao ssu-chung M t - PM EE (Peking, I926), pp. 223, 230.

9 280 STEPHEN H. WEST Those who wore golden plaques were first grade officials. [The plaque] carried two tigers facing each other and was called "The Golden Plaque of the Fighting Tigers" 27). It bore Chinese characters, reading: 'The sacred orders of the Resplendent Emperor Chinggis, bestowed by heaven: the [bearer] will execute affairs at his convenience and pleasure' 28). These quotes clearly identify the most important symbol of the play, the tiger-headed plaque, as a Mongol emblem, not a Jurchen insignia of authority. But the disparity between the accounts of the actual title in the Lu-kuei-pt and the Yfian-ch'i-hsfian still remains unaccounted for. If the first four characters of the Lnt-kteipu actual title refer to the inscription on the tiger-headed plaque, then it should read sheng-wu huang-ti A, "The sacred martial resplendent emperor", which is the shortened form of Chinggis Khan's Chinese posthumous temple name. But it reads instead zwu-yiian hiuang-ti, the temple name of A-ku-ta, the founder of the Chin. Ho Liang-chiin {wi a {j, a Ming critic, on the basis of this cheng-ming, postulated that the drama was based on an episode from A-ku-ta's life: Hu-t'ou-p'ai is a story of wu-yiian huang-ti of Chin. Before he formally took the throne, his uncle accompanied him on his departure from the district. In... [the second act], when it reads, Wipe until the cup mouth is clean, Pour until the face of the cup is full, Gazing, looking at the sun at blue heaven's edge, pour out a libation. It's just that I, this Jurchen man, have no other prayer Except that we brothers, young and old, soon meet again. Lwe find] this and other songs [of that act] are pure of emotion and strikingly worded. They are truly performable. One friend, hearing these songs, remarked, "This is the same as the Mu-lan Poem of the T'ang". I was delighted by his appreciative knowledge 29). 27) Wang Kuo-wei considers this phrase, hu-tou chin-p'ai A + s J, to be a corruption of hu-t'ou chin-p'ai. However, in light of the actual award given Shan-shou-ma, I suspect that a plaque of two fighting tigers was indicated. If not, then the double tiger tally probably refers to a tigerheaded tally set with two pearls. See Wang Kuo-wei, p ) Wang Kuo-wei, p Normally attributed to Meng Kung Ij,, Wang has shown that this work was probably written by Chao Kung. See p ) Ho Liang-chiin, Ch'ii-lii, Chung-kuo hu-tien hsi-ch'ii lun-chu chi-ch'eng, Volume IV, p. 9.

10 JURCHEN ELEMENTS IN THE DRAMA HU-T'OU-P'AI 281 What Ho-liang-chtin fails to take into account is that, if the play referred to the Jurchen emperor A-ku-ta, it is unlikely that it would use a posthumous title as an inscription for the plaque. For instance, in tne verified accounts quoted above, the Mongol emblem carries the Khan's contemporary Mongol and Chinese titles. It would be unthinkable for an emperor to use his rniao-liao, (even though he had selected it himself). So, what appears likely is that either Tsang Mou-hsiin, or an earlier editor, probably changed the cheng-ming to pien-i hsing-shih in order to make it conform with accepted practice. Does this mean that all the anachronisms in the text were introduced by later editors? While possible, this seems unlikely. The whole tone of the play revolves around a traditional Chinese theme: the submission of the young to the demands of filial piety. Moreover, many of the descriptions of Jurchen characters are stock Chinese descriptions. Ch'a-ch'a, the female lead, describes herself in stereotyped terms as an artless beauty of nomad birth: Since youth I've been able to ride astride a horse, When did I ever rise to make my toilet? Although innocent of rouge and powder, Nature has provided me a beauty of its own 30). And Shan-shou-ma, on his first appearance, describes himself as the "most in style" of all barbarians in a verse, the lines of which have been lifted from a poem by the T'ang writer Han Hung 4$ " (ca. 766) 31). Furthermore, the third and fourth acts of the play take on the trappings of the traditional Chinese court drama, replete with writs of accusation and threats of torture. In view of these facts, we may safely conclude that the play was done by a Chinese hand-one evidently unfamiliar with Chin custom-and that the anachronisms and discrepancies were not necessarily the product of an editor. If the play is correctly attributed to Li Chih-fu, then we must view him as a totally sinicized author. The centuries that stood between him and his tribal ancestors erased any influences of the Jurchen way of life. The inaccuracies disclose the actual state of his historical knowledge, and the elements of his drama show that he shared the techniques 30) Yiian-ch'ii-hsilan, Volume I, p ) Yiian-ch'ii-hsiian, Volume I, p. 405 and Yiian-ch'ii-hsiian shih :Gd EI t f, ed. Yoshikawa Kojiro J)I I -, et al. (Ky6to, I959) 5.2b.

11 282 STEPHEN H. WEST and the same fund of common knowledge as did other playwrights of the period. THE SECOND ACT But Ho Liang-chiin was on to something when he tried to substantiate the play as a Jurchen creation. His evidence, significantly, comes from the second act. This quarter of the play seems to be autheintically Jurchen, a fact which accounts for its contrast with the other three in both technical convention and plot development. Hit-t'ou-'ai is the only drama in the whole of Yihan-cl'ii-hsiian in which two suites of the same mode are used. The modal sequence of the acts in the play is: ACT MODE LEAD SONG I Iisien-lii tien-chiang-ch'un II shuang-tiao wu-kung-yang III shuang-tiao hsin-shui-ling IV cheng-kung tuan-cheng-hao In Northern drama, shuang-tiao is commonly a fourth-act mode (though it appears in other acts) and hsin-shui-ling is generally the lead aria of that mode. Wu-kung-yang occurs as an optional lead song, much as pa-sheng kan-chou Jk g tx h1i does in the hsien-li# mode. Given the strength of Yuan dramatic convention it appears that one of these suites-undoubtedly that of act IT-was inserted to replace an original suite of another mode. The songs of this suite are known to have been authentically Jurchen (see below). Their titles occur in only a few Yfian dramas, and, in a recognizable sequence resembling a t'ao-shu, onlv in the three plays mentioned above: Hu-t'ou-p'ai, Chin-an-shou, and Li-ch'un-t'ang. Only in Hu-t'ou-p'ai do they occur in a pure form, unmixed with more commonly used songs. A comparison of the three plays will show the extent to which the original sequence was altered. The elipses below indicate places where more common Chinese songs are inserted in the suite:

12 JURCHEN ELEMENTS IN THE DRAMA HU-T'OU-P'AI 283 Hu-t'ou-p'ai Act II Chlin-an-shou Act IV Li-ch'un-t'ang Act IV wu-kung-yang... wu-kung-yang lo-mei-feng (tsao-hsiang-tzu) 32) tsao-hsiang-tzu... a-na-hu... hsiang-kung-ai man-chin-chan shih-chu-tzu tsui-niang-tzu shih-chu-tzu shan-shih-liu 33) ta-pai-men tsui-yeh-ma-so shan-shih-liu 34) shan-shih-liu tsui-niang-tzu hsiang-kung-ai a-na-hu feng-liu-t'i pu-pai-men pu-pai-men t'ang-wu-tai yeh-pu-lo man-chin-chan... hsi-jen-hsin ta-pai-men... m: A it tsui-yeh-mna-so yeh-pu-lo... Pt *- P yiieh-erh-wan hsi-j en-hsin feng-liu-t'i hu-tu-pai t'ang-wu-tai feng-liu-t'i hu-tu-pai t'ang-wu-tai li-t'ing-yen sha 32) Yuan-ch'ii-hsiian does not include this song, although it is found both in Sheng-shih hsin-sheng and Pei-ch'ii shih-i. Also written -$J ~ T: and -Ei t 5Th. 33) Followed by a yao 2>, or "repeat stanza". 34) Ibid.

13 284 STEPHEN H. WEST Even though there are few constant factors among the three suites, the ar-rangement of songs does follow a loose pattern. Since the seventeen songs of the H"-t'o-p'ai suite are called shwh-ch'i hsfcls1-t'o? +t&x ("seventeen and return") in two early formularies, Sheng-shWh hsin-sheng ffi X (preface dated I5I7) and Ygng-Asi ywieh-fg RJE pg (preface dated I566), and are not identified by their dramatic affiliation, we can presume that H-t'o-p'ai represents a base suite. The other two dramas very likely borrowed from that suite to lend a touch of the exotic to what are very traditional Chinese stories 35). There are radical differences between Yvan-ch'ti-hsifan and the music formularies in terms of arrangement and content of the songs. Tsang Mou-hsun's hand is apparent in the former, and he has smoothed out many of the compositions, sacrificing some of the original rhythm for literary parallelism. This editorial interfetence is found in such songs as hx-t-pai, where Tsang deleted several yeh-na tg metrical fillers, presumably so tele lines would tollow more traditional Chinese rhythms. There are a number of songs from this suite that require either yeh-t'c u jt or yeh-nol as part of the prescribed metrical pattern, a practice relatively rate in "Chinese songs". This may be due to the fact that the music, originally written for Jurchen songs that reflected Tungusic syllabic groupings, might have been unsuitable for traditional Chinese metrical or stress patterns. Chou Te-ch'ing JW 1,> it, in the Chqxng-yqxaz E3- m (preface dated I324) called attention to the special case of the Jutchen suite: \Yhen writing yizell-fu (i.e. san-ch'u), one must avoid at all costs any harm to the requirenzents of music. For instance, songs of the type of the Jurchen feng-li-t'i are all sung to Jurchen music. Even though the lyrics are mistaken or inappropriate, as long as the rules of music are not transgressed, a fault will not have been committed 36). This passage from the Chgng-ygan yi-yiix clearly identifies the 35) Ts'ai Mei-piao gt, "Kuan-yu Kuan Han-ch'ing te sheng-p'ing", W tt W ax W bt ft Zl; Kuan Han-ch'ing yen-chis lun-wen chi MM X pw if t i t <, Yuan-ch'u yen-chiu tzu-liao hui-chi X Em H R fl 342, Volume I, ed. Leung Pui-kam thong Kong: Arts' Study, I969), p ) Chou Te-ch'ing (fl. I278-I330) wrote this book in two parts. The first section is his well known treatise on rhymes. The second half is a guide to the composition of drama, including his important "Ten Rules for Composing Lyrics" t g1 + 1t. Passage found in Chung-yixan yin-yun, Chgng-kuo k?x-tien Alsi-ch'ii lun-chg chi-ch'eng, Volume II, p. 23I.

14 JURCHEN ELEMENTS IN THE DRAMA HU-T'OU-P'AI 285 tune feng-liu-t'i as a Jurchen song. The other song titles all appear to be transliterations of Turkic or Tungusic words, or have some other feature that distinguishes them as non-chinese 37). Since the above evidence points to the authenticity of the music, and in light of the fact that the occurrence of an extra suite in the shuangtiao mode so flagrantly violates dramatic convention, can we postulate that this suite and its lyrics were not by the same hand as the rest of the play? If we consider the development of plot and story line, we find that the second act obstructs the evolution of the central plot-the conflict between Shan-shou-ma's filiality and the awesome responsibility concomitant with possession of the Tiger-headed Plaque. The second act is a scene of parting between Shan-shou-ma's uncles, Yin-chu-ma and Chin-chu-ma, the singing lead being Chin-chu-ma, the elder brother. One may advance the argument that the act was inserted as a means of remonstrating with Yin-chuma for his drinking, thereby foreshadowing the events of the last two acts. But all direct remonstrations against Yin-chu-ma's wine-bibbing are expressed only in the dialogue; the only thing resembling such a warning in the arias is a very formulaic, indeed proverbial, injunction: "Covet not wine, envy not wealth" (ch'"uan ni chiu mo t'an/ch'iian ni ts'ai mo lien \ Hardly a specific warning against the habituating danger of drink. The use of pin-pai - b, or dialogue, as a manipulative factor is apparent thi oughout the whole act; it serves to tie, in a tenuous way, the movement in the arias to the fortunes of Yin-chu-ma. The only connection between the songs of act II and the rest of the play are found in man-chin-chan and shih-chu-tzu, the lyrics of which mention Chia-shan k'ou-tzu, the place of action and Shanshou-ma, the protagonist. But in Pei-ch'il shih-i, the earlier version of the place name is hsia-shan-ku ch'ien #, [ & -j, which seems more likely to be a descriptive name rather than a proper noun 38). Also, 37) Cf. Ho Liang-chiin: "'The seventeen and return' of Li Chih-fu's drama..., the 'twenty and return' of Kuan Han-ch'ing, and the 'twelve and return' of Wang Shih-fu's Ko-wu Li-ch'un-t'ang are another mode within the shuang-tiao mode. The sequenced names [of the tunes] like a-na-hu, hsiang-hung-ai, yeh-pu-lo... are all barbarian names and proof of this. Of the three suites only 'seventeen and return' really harmonizesthat is because Li Chih-fu was a Jurchen". (Ch'ii-lii, p. 9). 38) Pei-ch'ii shih-i 3oa.

15 286 STEPHEN H. WEST the personal name Shan-shou-ma occurs in other Yuan dramas 39), and the three syllable name ending in the male designator suffix ma is a common sinicization of Jurchen names 40). So, either the place or personal names could have been inserted at any time into the arias with rio effect on the original metrical pattern. From the reader's point of view, it soon becomes apparent that act II does not fit the rest of the play; conversely, it hinders the development of plot and story line. Aoki Masaru has classified H-t'ou-p'ai as a "simple and natural" (tuin-p'u tzu-jan #t& H j) play of the pen-se t t category, and has suggested that the emphasis of such plavs is on structure and presentation rather than on the quality of the lyrics 41). If this is so, then some unity of action would rank high among the formal requirements of the drama. It therefore seems strange to find an entire act intruding upon the flow of events when its deletion would tighten the plot mechanism of the play. A few readings of the songs of the Jurchen suite will convince one that they are by a different hand than the rest of the play-for they are of much superior poetic quality. After careful reading, the links between the songs and the dialogue are seen to break down. References seem to have been inserted in the dialogue merely to help succeeding songs make sense. For example, Chin-chu-ma (who is introduced only for this one appearance-then is immediately killed off) is abruptly given a son, Kou-p'i p jt (Dog Pelt) in the pin-pai, so that the lines he subsequently sings, of some unspecified individual living a dissolute life in the capital, make sense. Yin-chu-ma: (Speaks) I recall that you, brother, had a son called Kou-p'i. Where is he now? Chin-chu-ma: (Speaks) I had long forgotten him-why did you bring him up again? (Sings) Lyiieh-er-wan] That infuriating, intractable clown of mine; someone saw himn in the capital, companion to dissipated men and consuming women 39) Yen Tun-i, p ) Ibid. 41) Aoki Masaru E t i ie, Chung-kuo wen-hsiieh kai-shuto t _ f4 R", trans. Sui Shu-sen WC (Taipei, I962), pp. II6-7.

16 JURCHEN ELEMENTS IN THE DRAMA HU-T'OU-P'AI 287 in tea houses and wine shopsintimate of the pleasure precincts. Not a single letter sent in all those years.. I have words on the tip of my tongue that I should swallow in my throat 42). This is the only mention of the erring son, and the impression is strong that he appears for the purpose of making these two or three lines of the song yiieh-erh-wan minimally appropiiate or comprehensible. These factors indicate that probably not oinly the music, but the lyrics of the arias as well, have been lifted from another source. Internal evidence demonstrates that the suite deals accurately with Jurchen customs. Styles of dress described in tsui-niang-tzu (see below) are mentioned in Chin History and in other contemporary records 43). A rather rare Jurchen word, che-la-ku pit (meaning unsectioned bamboo pipe-flute), is used. There are also certain ritualistic actions in the suite-gifts of arrows and bowstrings, libations for safe travel, and references to military actions on a southern border-that seem to indicate a militant Northern people. Finally, in the oldest edition of the songs, we find the terin "this Jurchen person" used in reference to the singer 44). If we remove the songs from their dialogue frame and examnine them as a self-contained musical and literary unit, we find that two themes predomninate. One is of parting, the other a description of past glory and present poverty. With a few changes of time-words and pronouns, done easily enough by altering only the padding words, we find the entiie suite concerns someone betrayed by a close relative. The betrayal is unraveled as we move through the suite. The first song concerns preparations for a farewell ceremonly, the second libation and sacrifice to insure a safe trip. (shluang-tiao: zvu-kung-yang) I know sorrow to spare, and frustrations without end, but what could I do since 42) Yiian-ch'ii-hsfian, Volume I, p. 4IO. A court jester, called Kou-erh 6j 5A, appears in act IV of Hu-t'ou-p'ai. Both names, Kou-p'i and Kou-erh, were part of the titles of farce skits found in Ch'o-keng-lu. See Hu Chi IMJ.-,, Sung Chin tsa-chii k'ao J t (Shanghai, I959), pp. I73-I75. 43) See Chin-shih, Volume I, p. 324 and Yiian-ch'ii-hsilan shih 5.i6b. 44) In both Pei-ch'ii shih-i and Sheng-shih hsin-sheng.

17 288 STEPHEN H. WEST I'm bare-handed and empty-fisted? I could but ask others for a loan of coppers to buy this flagon of dreggy wine to treat my second brother to a farewell feast. I know time presses and must not begrudge his going. But when he leaves this time who knows what day we'll meet again. (lo-mei-feng) I have wiped the lip of this cup till clean, and I've poured until the face of the cup is full. Wait until I gaze at the sun at blue heaven's edge and pour a libation- Then this poverty-stricken man can have no other prayer except that we brothers, young and old, soon meet again 45). Then, the song a-na-hu refers to the traditional farewell giftssymbolic (or practical?) offers of arrows and bowstrings and manchin-chan and shih-chu-tzut exhort the traveler to bravery and good behavior. (a-na-hu) If I had again my old family fortune, I could bestow on you some travelling money. But take these two arrows joined and glued from the bamboos of home and these bowstrings struck with wax. (man-chin-chan) I'll speak well-intentioned words to exhort you, "Covet not wine, be not fond of wealth". Then you can long protect our southern border and the approach to Chia-shan Canyon. Lead our army's strength in support of that area. Defend it with all your heart until peace reigns, then you can be promoted with regret or banished without sorrow. 45) Yiian-ch'ii-hsiian, Volume I, p. 4IO.

18 JURCHEN ELEMENTS IN THE DRAMA HU-T OU-P'AI 289 (shih-chu-tzu) Our nephew Shan-shou-ma is meek and mild but those who err need not expect his pity. If you commit a crime demanding punishment, you must die without resenting it, for the commission of Grand Marshal is fiercer than Imperial Order 46). The next six songs pick up on hints already dropped about the singer's poverty and shift to a description of his misfortune, expressing hope that the traveler can restore the family to good fortune. (ta-pai-men) I think not of today and recall only times past, when I kept company with all my relatives. I played the pipes, strummed the strings in infinite happiness at the family feasts of "door visit" 47). (shan-shih-liu) So well I dressed in days gone past, groomed and adorned was I in black shoes and deerskin soft as twining floss; my padded gown was sashed in blue. (tsui-niang-tzu) And my jewels large and round as peas, I alone picked to wear. My turban rose in layers, glittering white, the belt I wore was "jade rabbit", edged with gold. (hsiang-kung-ai) My face a silver basin adorned with paint and powder, my inkblack beard twined in strands and strings. Facing the officials I would hand the wine-tallies about and when the feast and cups were set, send along the first round. 46) Ibid. 47) A visit to the maternal in-laws on the birth of a child. 5

19 290 STEPHEN H. WEST (pu-p ai-men) And when the wavering sound of the che-la-ku flute fell upon my ears, and camelskin drums pounded like spring thunder, I moved forward of the mat; forward of the mat I danced and whirled. The dance finished, who did not praise me. (yeh-pfu-lo) Facing these assembled officials, all my family, a feast to speed you off... It is said, go one must and will not be detained. What day will we meet again 48)? The turning point of the suite occurs in hsi-jen-hsin, and in the ensuing songs the traveler is away, sporting in the capital while the family is abandoned to the winds of winter and pangs of hunger. (isi-jen-hlsin) After we part this morning if we wish to meet again, unless it be in dreams we shall not, and even dreams may not oblige us. Brothers rejected, aunts suffering, nephews burying their resentment. Many are the changes in this world, how hard to separate the good from the merely weak. (tsui-yeh-ma-so) Oh, heaven, rejected and destroyed by you, Oh, heaven, rejected and destroyed by you, I have nothing to sell, nothing to pawn, nothing to eat, nothing to wear, each year a further decline. 48) Yiian-ch'ii-hsiian, Volume I, p. 410.

20 JURCHEN ELEMENTS IN THE DRAMA HU-T'OU-P'AI 29I (yiieh-erh-wan) That infuriating, intractable clown of mine; someone saw him in the capital, companion to dissipated men and consuming women in tea houses and wine shopsintimate of the pleasure precincts. Not a single letter sent in these years... I have words on the tip of my tongue that I should swallow in my throat. (feng-liu-t'i) I have got through to spring; the season of spring is genial warmth; and when it comes to summer days, the season of summer is the brushing of pleasant breezes. \hat then do I fear? I am afraid of autumn's evening and the winter month of solstice, the month of solstice when snowflakes fly. (hu-tu-pai) Ah brother, if I had the wealth of days gone by, my old fields- But I am so straitened now- I own not a flat of tile nor supporting pillar nor crude needle, nor thread of hemp much less fine rice and white flour, thick pongee and thin silk. Brother, aiyagive my parents some face. I fear when the cold season comes, there will be nothing to exchange for our thread-bare robes. Give me something to wear, that I may wear it. I try not to nag or jabber, fret and sigh, but two tears trickle down. I can't vanquish the resentment in my heart or fulfill my life's desires.

21 292 STEPHEN H. WEST (t'ang-wu-tai) Screens and curtains, silk drapes of long ago, embroidered enclosures I once slept within. I now pillow my head on a broken brick, upon an earthen k'ang, upon an earthen k'ang, I curl up on wretched mats. Oh, heaven, what vexation 49). Finally, the coda sings of resentment that the traveler must continue his military duty even though war has ended. He has literally gone "clattering down the road" and left his family to endure another winter alone. (li-t'ing-yen sha) Though sword and shield are set aside, horse and soldier rest, and expeditions are no more; you must still practice spear and sword, twirl the halberd, practice the bow and arrow. You must go forward with firm heart, have no sorrow or grief when you leave the fort, nor fear nor fright within your tent, nor fatigue nor faintness on the battlefield. Your steed clatters down the road, I return dejected to the compound. I'll somehow find the strength to live another year or two. It will be hard to see your face again, And if we are united how distant the road... 50). But who is involved in these scenes? Constant references to family and relatives clearly indicate that the singer and soldier belong to the same clan, though it is difficult to ascertain their exact relationship. The numerous admonitions to the traveller, and the constant repetition of the theme of poverty suggest that the suite might be about a young scion of the family on his way to war. The elders of the family are bestowing on him the hopes that he 49) Ibid., p. 4II. 50) Ibid.

22 JURCHEN ELEMENTS IN THE DRAMA HU-T'OU-P'AI 293 will restore their waning fortunes. If this is the case, then perhaps we may interpret the aria yiieh-er-wan, that sings the opprobrium of the erring son Kou-p'i, as a lament over another brother or son who failed to live up to his task, and with whom the hopes of the family plummeted. Having shown that the entire second act is intrusive, we are still left to account for the reasons for its insertion, and to determine who inserted it. It is commonplace for dramatists to use set pieces that have tested dramatic or comic effect at appropriate points in their works. Farce skits, stereotyped courtroom scenes, poetic passages, and the inevitable declamatory verse of characters upon entrance all recur with frequency and similarity throughout Yfian drama 51). Such recurrence indicates that performability and audience appeal, rather than originality, was the criterion of the play. In the case of the suite of songs used for Hu-t'ou-p'ai, we have only to look at the uniqueness of costumes, makeup, and dancing to find the reason for its adoption. If we can imagine that stage movements, even dancing, accompanied the fine lyrics, then we can sense the visual, as well as poetic, appeal of the suite. The whirling dances of the barbarians must have been a curious delight to Chinese audiences 52), and the elaborate costuming in deerskin, black shoes, and turban was certain to elicit their admiration and appreciation. Moreover, this suite must have repeated a stereotype that Chinese audiences expected in the portrayal of Jurchen characters. In Chinese eyes, the Jurchen were excessively fond of singing and dancing. For instance, the fragmentary Yuan play, Chukung-tiao feng-yiieh tz'u-yiin-t'ing S F' EA 53) and the Southern Sung play Huan-men tzu-ti ts'o-li-shen g H T- A- ) both tell the story of a young Jurchen who falls in love with an actress, is driven from his home by his father, joins an acting 51) The farce skit has been especially well documented in Tanaka Kenji Wl *A L-, "Genbun k R * ", Nippon chigoku gakkaiho5 FH 20 (I969): I69-I92. 52) As in Wu-tung-yi ffil iffi, where An Lu-shan impresses emperor Hsiian-tsung with such a dance. 53) Found only in Yuan woodblock, reprinted in Cheng Ch'ien, Chiaoting Yuan-k'an tsa-chii san-shih chung T3 tgji sj -[+-5.a (Taipei, i962), pp. I8I ) Found in Yung-lo ta-tien 7 k4t (I960, Chung-hua ed.) Volume 13, 99'.

23 294 STEPHEN H. WEST troupe, and then is eventually reunited with his family. These two plays show the consequences of excessive love of the theater, a theme that is repeated in gentler, but nonetheless stereotyped, terms in other dramas. The play Chin An-shou, for example, notes the singing and dancing ability of the Jurchen in an interlude where the Queen Mother of the West, anxious to woo the Golden Lad and Jade Girl back to the land of immortals, brings on her own troupe of Eight Immortals. The dancers are presented for the pleasure of the precious couple, who, we are told, are a discriminating audience: Queen Mother: Golden Lad and Jade Girl, you've been gone a long time from the Jasper Pool. You know for sure you Jurchen can dance and sing; how about having my Eight Immortals dance for you 55)? Costuming was also an important part of the Jurchen set-piece, and the strange clothing and concern over grooming were no less a part of the stereotyped characterization. This concern is also repeated in the fourth act of Li-ch'un-t'ang, in which the Jurchen arias are used. The banished minister of the play (also spoken of as "loving song and dance"), summoned back to court, dons his old clothing in the middle of an emotional outburst reminiscent of that of Hu-t'ou-p'ai. The old minister shows similar concern, but to a lesser degree, for his costuming and grooming as did the protagonist of act II of Hu-t'ou-p'ai. So, although the physical description of the Jurchen in Hn-t'oup'ai is accurate, and can indeed be verified through both historical and collateral dramatic sources, as a people, the Jurchen are still characterized in quite ideal terms. Such a view is not an uncommon view of an ethnic majority, and would most likely be one that was formed by the Chinese. The accuracy of the physical description may mean nothing more than that the suite came from a time when native Jurchen dress, while not commonplace, was not rare in North China. We can only guess who inserted the act. It may be very likely that Li Chih-fu himself adapted it. But given the haphazard transmission of dramatic texts, the uncertain attribution of a play from a 17th century anthology to a r4th century author, and the freedom actors took with their material, such speculation is tenuous. 55) Yiian-ch'ii-hsiian, Volume II, p

24 JURCHEN ELEMENTS IN THE DRAMA HU-T'OU-P'AI 295 We can only deduce that the suite was from another source and that it may have been inserted by the author at the time of creative inception or later, by actor or editor. We can also surmise that the poetic quality of the lyrics and the stereotyped character representation both indicate Chinese authorship. Hence, the only portion of the act that we can accept as truly Jurchen is the music, which of course, had also been incorporated into the larger corpus of ch'ii-style music.