Courtesans and Opium Read online

  The white-haired, toothless one then introduced himself. “My name is Old Hand. I was born in Penitence county in Contrition prefecture. I am not yet sixty, but when I was young and naive, I made the mistake of frequenting the brothel scene, where the sharp tongues and insidious attacks of the prostitutes left me frail and weak, toothless and white-haired. Luckily I had not yet reached the end of my allotted span. I managed to escape the snares of enchantment and see through the vanities of the world, and so I came here to live in seclusion. With plenty of time on my hands, I have written a book about all the things I witnessed and named it Romantic Illusions. I brought it with me today for my old friend’s amusement. I never expected to meet you here.”

  I followed up with more questions. “There are one or two other things I would like to ask Your Reverence,” I said. “What is the book about, and in which period is it set? I hope you will enlighten me.”

  “Although the title does contain the word ‘romantic,’ it does not touch on anything lewd or obscene. Nor does it resemble those historical tales set in the Han, Tang, Song, or Ming dynasties, tales in which for every loyal official there has to be a treacherous one plotting his downfall. Other stock elements are a border state planning an insurrection; a beautiful damsel sent to propitiate the barbarians; battles and victories; and demons and monsters doing their worst.

  “Then there are all those varieties of the love story, in which the boy has an illicit affair or the girl takes a lover or the maid seduces the young master. The couple vow privately to marry but are thwarted by someone, after which the boy dresses up as a girl or the girl as a boy, and they elope together. Or else the girl’s parents resent her fiancé’s poverty and force her to renounce the engagement, then hire a thief to plant stolen goods on the fiancé, who confesses under torture but is rescued from jail or the execution ground. It turns out to be the Dame of Lishan or the Spirit of Planet Venus7 who has rescued him in the nick of time. After he has won first place in the Palace Examination, been appointed governor, and received from the emperor the sword of summary justice, he repays his debts of gratitude and avenges the wrongs done to him. Oh, they’re all the same, these novels! Perhaps the author holds a grudge against someone but keeps it close to his chest and tries to vent his spite by destroying the man’s reputation; or else he admires somebody’s wife or daughter but has had no success with her and writes a lot of novels or plays to show off his erotic or lascivious verses. Such works as these are only too apt to corrupt people’s minds and do harm to social morality.

  “This book of mine, by contrast, is composed of real actions by a handful of people whom I have observed with my own eyes. Nothing has been added, nothing deleted. And now, just as I finish it, by some lucky chance you happen along—I expect fate had a hand in it. I shall give you the book to take back with you. Perhaps it will awaken people from their illusions. Whatever you do, you must not merely skim through it.” With that, he handed me the book.

  There was no time to read it there, so I tucked it in my sleeve. And then in a flash, a gust of fresh wind sprang up and the two old men had vanished! Hastily I cast my eyes up to the heavens and offered them my humble thanks before descending the mountain the same way I had come up. When I reached the lake, however, I found that the once desolate place was now filled with brothels—a veritable riot of color. There were many houses and many prostitutes, all of them gorgeously dressed and elaborately made up. They invited me in, speaking in delightful tones and moving with a sinuous grace. Some of them asked for jewelry, some for dresses, others for money or trinkets. Some invited me in for a drink, others to spend the night. Unable to control my passions, I chose a beautiful one and went with her into her bedroom, where we made love and slept until dawn. But when I awoke and looked about me, all the brothels and beauties were gone! I was lying down in the wilds, and beside me was a bleached skeleton, which gave me such a fright that I let out a great cry and awakened with a start. I concluded it had all been a strange dream—until I felt something in my sleeve. When I took it out, it proved to be a book with the words “Romantic Illusions” on the cover. I was amazed. On opening it, I found a verse that ran as follows:

  Why write Romantic Illusions?

  It’s nothing but rubbish or worse.

  But it just might awaken some fools,

  So let people mock me or curse.

  But whom does Romantic Illusions tell of, and what actions does it tell? Readers, if you do not find my tale too tedious, pray read on and you will find the answer.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Yuan You meets an old friend in a teahouse;

  Wu Jingyu transmits news on the Parade.

  In Jiangdu county of Yangzhou prefecture there lived a man named Yuan You, style Youying. His grandfather, Yuan Zhang, had been a student at the prefectural school, while his father, Yuan Shou, had succeeded in the provincial examination, military division. Yuan You had enjoyed a pampered childhood. He never completed his academic studies and was too slight and feeble to take part in military training. Following precedent, his grandfather bought him a position at the ninth rank, secondary level. He was married to a Mistress Du, but so far they had no children.

  Yuan You was of a wily, deceitful nature, and he was much given to visiting brothels and round-the-clock dissipation. Trading on his grandfather’s prestige, he ran a loan-sharking business, offering loans at two percent interest per month on a principal discounted ten percent or at one percent interest per month on a principal discounted twenty percent.1 He also took up with a gang of rogues who made a habit of shaking down gambling dens and brothels and engaging in all kinds of racketeering and blackmail. When he was in his twenties the senior provincial judge sent down an order to Jiangdu county for his arrest and detention. His father and grandfather, pulling goodness knows how many strings and spending a considerable amount of money, managed to obtain a light sentence for him: he was to be stripped of his rank and exiled to Changshu county in Suzhou prefecture.

  At the end of three years, on the completion of his exile, he returned home, only to find that in the meantime his grandfather had died. He greeted his parents and then his wife, whom he thanked for her scrupulous attendance on his parents during his exile. She responded with a curtsy, and then with bittersweet emotions each told of the sorrows of separation. A banquet was held to celebrate the family reunion.

  After a few days at home, Yuan You held a discussion with his wife. They decided to pawn some of her clothes and jewelry, and with the proceeds he would set himself up again in the loan-sharking business; the interest from the loans would provide them with enough to live on. As a confirmed debauchee, however, he still gathered every day with a handful of friends. This was a case of “birds of a feather,” for the friends were also the kind of men who were used to loan-sharking and frequenting brothels.

  One afternoon he was in the Futura teahouse on the Parade2 drinking tea and chatting with two friends, Jia Ming, a clerk in the offices of the Salt Administration,3 and Wu Zhen, a runner for the Yangzhou Customs. Their lively exchange of views had to do with the brothel scene. One gave it as his opinion that a certain courtesan in a certain house had a nice personality; the second remarked that another courtesan in another house had an especially pleasant manner with her clients; and the third held that one courtesan had the best voice for grand opera, a second for popular song, a third for Beijing opera, while a fourth was the best actress, a fifth had the best head for drink, a sixth kept the best table, a seventh was the best at the game of guess-fingers, and an eighth had the best bed. Then, just as the discussion was at its liveliest, in walked a young man of about twenty with a pale, round face and fine eyes and eyebrows. A large queue hung down his back bound with an expensive black braid. On his head he wore a turquoise blue woolen cap embroidered with gold couching. On the front was fastened a red-gold peony design decorated in kingfisher feather and inset with a crimson gemstone ornament. It also had a crimson silk knob on top and eight-inch raw silk tassels a
rranged at the back. He wore an egg-white gown of imported crepe silk with a corn poppy design, and over it a military-style formal jacket of foreign-blue wool lined with plain white damask and fastened with cassia-bud buttons. From the top button hung an emerald green circular pendant with a dragon motif, attached to which were a gold disk and a gold cord with five gold toothpicks on it. Through the parting in the gown one could see a pair of pale green trousers with an embroidered hem, a belt with a hibiscus design in pale pink, gold, and white, and over trousers of hollyhock imported crepe lined with a jade green light silk, and greenish blue lined socks of Hangzhou silk with a motif of dragons embracing a pillar. On his feet he wore a pair of fashionable reddish black shoes of tribute satin embroidered with white feather. The soles of the shoes were padded with twenty-eight layers of felt.

  On his left thumb he wore an archery ring of pale green and gold pricked with red gold. On his middle finger was a red-gold hoop-shaped ring and two interlocking gold rings, and on his arm a gold rope-style bracelet weighing a good four ounces. In his right hand he held a genuine Zhang Ziyuan4 Hangzhou fan of real ebony with thirty-two ribs and with its sides flecked in gold. A good-looking young page followed him into the teahouse.

  In the inner room, the newcomer caught sight of Yuan You and rushed over and bowed before him, beaming with delight. “Brother, it’s been such a long time since we parted! What luck to meet you here!” Yuan You recognized him at once as a sworn brother from his years of exile in Changshu. His name was Lu Shu, style Wenhua, and he was not yet twenty. His father was a prison officer in the criminal department of Changshu county. Shrewd, capable, and smart, the father had managed to please a succession of magistrates, and, by brokering deals with defendants, had accumulated a great deal of wealth. Lu Shu was an only child, and his father had indulged him to the full, allowing him to lead a life of dissipation. After meeting Yuan You in a Changshu brothel, he had sworn an oath of brotherhood with him and spent his days and nights in Yuan’s company, becoming closer to him than a blood brother. When Yuan You came to the end of his exile and was free to return home, Lu Shu threw a farewell party for him, gave him presents as well as food and drink for the journey, and personally saw him on board the boat. Even then, he was still reluctant to part and said his good-bye in tears.

  Since then Lu Shu had married, but his wife came from a highly educated family and was also very plain. She did not get on at all well with her husband and usually slept in a separate room, as a result of which she had not become pregnant in the two or three years of their marriage. Lu Shu’s father happened to have an elder sister who had married a man living in Yangzhou, and because his son was spending all of his time in the brothels, and because he himself was longing for a grandson, he gave Lu Shu five hundred taels to go to Yangzhou and buy himself a concubine. He added several dozen taels for expenses and told the son to stay with his aunt in Yangzhou and ask his uncle to arrange the marriage for him.

  Having heard that Yangzhou was a city with a luxurious lifestyle, Lu Shu had surreptitiously helped himself to a thousand taels as well as three or four hundred silver dollars5 from his mother’s private savings and tucked the money away in his baggage. He had arrived in Yangzhou only the day before. His uncle’s house was on South Canalside inside Customhouse Gate, and his uncle was in charge of accounts for the Salt Administration. Lu Shu had been welcomed by his uncle and aunt and invited to stay with them and use the study as his bedroom. That afternoon, with nothing particular to do, he had set off for the Parade in search of amusement with his young page, Felix, in attendance. He had watched some magic tricks, looked at a foreign peep show,6 listened to some Huai storytelling,7 and then to some men in drag, with hairpins stuck in their hair, who swayed sinuously as they sang a few popular songs. By that time he was both hungry and thirsty, so he stopped in at the Futura teahouse, where he came upon Yuan You, bowed, and exclaimed, “It’s been such a long time since we parted!”

  Yuan You was quick to return the bow. “Wonderful to see you again, Brother!” he exclaimed, as he invited Lu Shu to join him at his table. Felix paid his respects to Yuan You, who sent him off to join the other pages at a separate table. Jia Ming and Wu Zhen then introduced themselves.

  “How are your parents?” asked Yuan You. “You were all so generous to me when I was in Changshu that I shall never forget it. But what brings you here to Yangzhou?”

  “My parents are quite well, thank you. I’m afraid we treated you poorly; do forgive us. I’ve missed you every day since you left. I’ve been sent here by my father to visit my aunt. I arrived only yesterday and haven’t yet been to visit your family, I’m ashamed to say.”

  “Not at all,” said Yuan You. The two men then brought each other up to date on what had happened to them since they parted. “What is your uncle’s name?” asked Yuan You. “Where does he live, and what work does he do? Tomorrow morning I’ll go and pay my respects to him.”

  “His name is Xiong Dajing. He’s an accountant in the Salt Administration and has a house on South Canalside. But I wouldn’t dream of putting you to the trouble of going there. Let me visit you tomorrow morning.”

  While this exchange was going on, another young man arrived at the teahouse. He, too, was about twenty, with pale, smooth features. He was wearing a flat-crowned cap of pale pink imported crepe. On the front was a twin hibiscus design on a gold and emerald base, in the middle of which was set a crimson gemstone. There was also a crimson knob on top of the cap and crimson tassels over two feet long hanging down behind it. He wore a greenish blue gown of tribute silk, and over it a military-style formal jacket of crepe silk in a large, gold-flecked pattern with a jade green damask lining and gold cassia-bud buttons. From the top button hung a pure white jade pendant with a dragon motif to which was attached a gold cord with three gold toothpicks. He wore pale green over trousers with a red-gold lining of fine silk. His shoes were of black satin in a fashionable style. In his hand he held a genuine speckled bamboo fan measuring one foot square with a famous man’s calligraphy on its white surface.

  He swaggered into the teahouse, followed by his page. The waiters were quick to welcome him, but he ignored them and went straight on inside. At sight of him, Yuan You got to his feet and invited him to join them. The newcomer beamed with delight on seeing Yuan You and bowed in greeting. The others invited him to take a seat, and, after a show of polite reluctance, he joined them at their table and asked their names. Yuan You introduced them, pointing first at Jia and Wu. “This is Jia Ming, style Xinpan, and that is Wu Zhen, style Yingshi. Both are from Yangzhou. This gentleman,” he said, pointing at Lu Shu, “is Lu Shu, style Wenhua, who is from Changshu and arrived here only yesterday. He’s a sworn brother of mine from my days in Changshu.”

  The others then asked the young man’s name. “He’s Wei Bi, style Qingyuan. He’s the most convivial of men. His father is the candidate8 for the Lianghuai region of the Salt Administration, and they have a compound on Brown Rice Lane.”

  As they chatted following the introductions, a few vendors approached Wei Bi, some carrying baskets, others trays, and after placing handfuls of melon seeds, candied fruit, and the like on the table in front of him, they called out “Sir,” then withdrew without saying a word about payment and went off to peddle their wares at other tables. Wei Bi handed around the things that they had left behind.

  Then other vendors came up with baskets of articles to play for, including colorful, highly decorated porcelain, foreign crepe-silk handkerchiefs, wallets, purses, fan cases, dominoes, chessmen, erotic pictures, tobacco cases, and so forth. They stood at Wei Bi’s elbow and cajoled him into playing. He chose four multicolored porcelain teacups from the basket and negotiated a price of three hundred and eighty cash a game. The vendor produced a small stool from under his arm and sat down on it. Then he took out a little brush with which he swept the dust away. He brought out six Kaiyuan coins9 with holes in the middle and tossed them on the floor, then grouped them into three heads and t
hree tails and placed them in Wei Bi’s palm, holding Wei’s wrist with his other hand. Several assistants beside the vendor began clamoring “Go! Go!” The vendor nodded, and Wei Bi arranged the six coins in his fingers and tossed them on the ground. The assistants counted the heads and tails, then gathered up the coins and handed them back to Wei, who threw them down again. In all he threw five times, but had only two wins against three losses. “That’s enough,” he said. Without asking for payment, the vendor got up and, taking his stool and basket with him, went off with his assistants.

  Calling the waiter over, Yuan You ordered wheat cakes with onion sauce, large buns filled with chicken, and so forth, and they had their afternoon tea. As pleasure-seeking young men whiling away the time in idle talk, they grew closer and closer to one another and ended up as firm friends.

  Just then a man who was drinking tea at the next table came over, sat himself down next to Yuan You without a word of greeting to the company, and announced: “Have you heard the latest?” Yuan replied that he hadn’t. “Well, at Soft Quarters near Hongqing Garden, across the river from the Customhouse, they had a girl from Yancheng, Ailin by name, who was working there on a split-fee basis.10 She’d been going with a tailor for over a year, but the man’s wife was jealous and constantly quarreled with her. Last night Ailin went to her room and shut the door as if she were going to sleep, but instead she swallowed some raw opium11 that she’d gotten from who knows where. This morning, when the tailor got up in his wife’s room, he noticed that Ailin’s door was still shut. He called out to her and got no response, so he became suspicious, opened her door, and found her lying dead on the bed. In a panic he rushed off to buy a coffin and had her body laid in it. Right now he’s taking the coffin back to Yancheng. I’m wondering who her relatives are, what they’ll have to say about this, and how it will all play out.