Southeast Asia in Jinghuayuan: from Historiography To

Donatella Guida

SOUTHEAST ASIA IN JINGHUAYUAN:

FROM HISTORIOGRAPHY TO LITERATURE

The novel Jinghuayuan it:tE ~ (Destinies of the Flowers in the Mirror) by Li Ruzhen * 7fr. ~ ,I written at the beginning of the XIX century and published for the first time around 1828, tells in one hundred chapters the story of how a hundred flowers' spirits were incarnated into maidens, punishment for having disobeyed Nature's laws when, following the Empress Wu Zetian's wild order, they caused the flowers entrusted unto them to blossom all at the same time. Even though during their worldly life the maidens have no memory of their true nature, they do however appear endowed with amazing athletic and literary skills, not to mention their extraordinary moral qualities, that will enable them, at the end of the novel, to overturn the usurpress and restore the legitimate Tang dynasty. Within this complex plot that can be read and understood on different deep or surface levels, rich with literary allusions and historical, scientific and philological notions, there is another story - that of the overseas voyage undertaken by the scholar Tang Ao m~, father of Fairy of the Hundred Flowers (Baihua xianzi 13 :tE fill r ). After seeing the imperial exam he has just passed annulled for political reasons, he is so discouraged and disenchanted with his official career that he decides to follow the mysterious advice given to him by the Spirit of Dreams (Mengshen ~ *$ ) to go abroad in search of "famous flowers." If he brings back to their homeland those "flowers,,2 that have been lost beyond the borders - says the Spirit - he will have done such a great deed

I For infonnation about Li's life and works, see Kao 1981.

2 The tenn minghua15:tE also means "beautiful women".

Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 08:25:30PM via free access Donatella Guida as to earn immortality, which in fact Tang is able to reach once his mission has been completed, vanishing thus on the peak of Little Penglai. 3 His daughter's repeated but useless attempts to find him reveal his destiny, indicating at once the vanity and illusiveness of mortal things, compared according to a well-known image to "flowers in the mirror" and "the moon in the water."

Without a doubt the most interesting and lively part of the novel is the story of Tang Ao's overseas voyage (chapters 7-40) that leads the three main characters - Tang himself, his brother-in-law Lin Zhiyang ** Z. ~, a merchant by profession, and the old boatswain Duo Jiugong ~ n 0 - through thirty quite peculiar and extraordinary foreign Countries whose characteristics are often drawn from the literary tradition of fantastic geography. While it is clear that Shanhaijing L1.J '#j ~ (The Classic of the Mountains and the Seas) and Bowuzhi t'!IWJ;:5; (The Report About All Sorts of Miraculous Things) are sources of inspiration for names of the kingdoms visited - Country of the Gentlemen, of the Great People, of the Hanging Ears, of the Restless, of the People Without Intestines, to mention a few - and for some of the peculiarities of their inhabitants, it is not as clear where numerous other elements referring to the foreign populations come from: the author, a skilful and learned writer, must have drawn from more "realistic" sources, as seen from the practical information, given in various places throughout the narration, on travelling and on maritime commerce. By looking carefully at historical sources concerning Southeast Asia, it is possible to find elements that are echoed in the novel Jinghuayuan. The complex and intimate relations between history and literature4 are brought out in this case by the fact that the author elaborates and adapts, according to his literary and allegorical needs, facts taken directly from historiographical works. The purpose of this brief paper is to demonstrate how Li used historiographical notions of maritime countries, and in particular those described of Nanyang, alongside fantastic elements, with the purpose of setting a series of moral examples - positive or negative - that would allow

3 Cfr. Jinghuayuan, 1957, 40:281-2. The name Penglai ~ ~, already mentioned in Liezi, 1979, 5:151-52, indicates a happy island chosen by immortals as their residence. See also Schafer, 1985, pp.51-60.

4 Cfr. Sheldon Hsiao-peng Lu's admirable essay, 1994.

Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 08:25:30PM via free access Southeast Asia in Jinghuayuan: from Historiography to Literature him to stigmatize and ridicule the vices and faults of the common man belonging to the society of his time. The novel mirrors and recreates a portion of the world atlas belonging within the Chinese imagery of the XIX century. The blending of foreign countries and imaginary lands should not been seen as bizarre: to the eyes of the Chinese, that which lies beyond the motherland's borders remains veiled in a mysterious light, and even though there are many available reports by travellers that have ventured beyond them, the other is still considered unknown all the same, so much so that according to the traditional conception the Sky and hereafter are represented as physical places in this world that are reached by travelling through foggy seas and dark paths:s while the famous Bowuzhi (III century) mentions, for example, a path linking the sea to the Milky Way, navigable simply by sailing beyond the known routes during a particular time of the year,6 other works, such as the Ming novel Sanbao taijian Xiyang ji tongsu yanyi .=.. .. ~ ~ gg ~ ~c 3m {~ i~~(The Eunuch Sanbao Travels to the Western Ocean, 1598)7 describe the arrival in a hereafter that lies beyond the lands inhabited by humans,8 thus equating the beyond with the mysterious that represent the other. Therefore, in spite of the geographical closeness and the long tradition of political, cultural and economical relations with the countries of Southeast Asia, begun in the third century B.C. when Qin Shi Huangdi sent his armies to the southern regions, these countries have always kept a place in semi• fantastic travel literature, seen thus through the lens of the traditional stereotypes and fantastic ideas coming from the Chinese vision of the so• called Barbarians, on which the collective imagery is based. While on one hand, the seas of Southeast Asia were made known by a growing commercial development that traced common routes, on the other hand the southern regions still appeared to the Chinese as far away lands, far because of their distance and the problems of communication of the times, but especially far

5 Remember that the Western tradition as well is rich with similar examples: such as Aeneas' trip to the world of the dead described in Virgil's Aeneid, and Dante's Divine Comedy, just to mention the most famous examples.

6 Zhang Hua, 1980, 10: Ill.

7 For this novel, attributed to Luo Maodeng, see Duyvendak 1953 and 1954, Ptak 1985 and 1986, Ru Vi-ling 1989 and 1990.

8 err. Luo Maodeng, 1985,86:1116,87:1117-18.

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ideologically and culturally; their customs were different and often in contrast with those promoted by the predominant Confucianism. In light of this, it is easy to see how come the northern region of present-day Vietnam, bordering China and transformed into a commandery during the Han dynasty (111 B.C.), takes on the name Jiaozhi X lB.l: (Giao-chi): the origin of such a denomination can be explained by the belief in a strange physical characteristic of its inhabitants, whose toes (zhi lB.l:) are supposed to be separated one from another in a way that when they stand, their toes are crossed (jiao X).9 This term, which we can translate therefore with "Crossed Toes," can easily be seen as similar to those used in works belonging to the fantastic geography genre which, rather than mentioning the names of foreign countries, gives them names deriving from the peculiarities of the peoples settled there: Forked Tongues, Three-headed, Long Legs, and so forth. That is why it is not that surprising that Bowuzhi adds precisely Jiaozhi to its list of imaginary kingdoms, stating that it is located East of the Pierced Chests. \0 Due to the enormous amount of historiographical work concerning the countries in Nanyang, and especially the fact that Li Ruzhen's stay in the South was so long, II it appears legitimate to believe that the author placed within his allegorical framework countless elements relative to the southern countries often visited by the inhabitants of the region where he himself lived; the descriptions probably arose in response to the classics which no doubt lacked detailed characterizations of these kingdoms, dedicating in fact very few lines to each population. Li's descriptions appear completely fantastic, but it is also his knowledge of historiographical works that lend vividness to them. Regarding the Country of the Black Teeth (Heichiguo ~ ~ ~ ), for example, Li Ruzhen writes:

9 Cfr. Gu Yanwu, 1900, 118:20a; Pan Dinggui, 10: 115a. Notice, however, that the works also use different characters like X~.J!: in Zhang Xie, [I618] 1981, p.l.

10 Cfr. Zhang Hua, 1980, 2:22. Notice that this same work (2:23) mentions the Country of Da Qin *- ~, usually identified as the Roman Empire, stating that its inhabitants are ten zhang tall, that is, thirty meters.

II Born in Daxing, near Beijing, Li spent about twenty years (1782-1801) in present-day Jiangsu, following his older brother who had been given an official charge in the county of Haizhou.

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That day they reached the Country of the Black Teeth. 12 Its inhabitants not only had completely black bodies, but even their teeth were black, while their lips, eyebrows and red dress, shining, made their black color stand out beyond compare. [ ... ]13

"You wanted to visit the Country, and I also was thinking of doing so to sell my goods," Lin explained, "but I had never traded in that place, that is why I did not know with which articles I would have earned; so I brought some cosmetics, since these people's faces are blacker than coal. How was I supposed to know that, on the contrary, these women consider it vulgar to spread cream and powder on themselves, and not one would consent to buy any, while many of them would like to buy books instead? I couldn't understand why on earth the women would not buy cosmetics but, on the contrary, wanted to purchase books: I asked specific questions until I found out that their social status is based on education." "How come?" asked Tang. "It is their custom to attribute high status to highly educated people, be they rich or poor, while those who are not learned have a low social position," answered Lin. "This is true also for women when they reach a suitable age: if they are known scholars, someone will ask their hand in marriage, otherwise the girls from important families will remain husbandless. That is why throughout the Country men and women study from a tender age. I have heard that next year the king's mother will preside over a certain ceremony of women's exams: since the women learned the news, all desiring to pass them, they want to buy more books than usual.[ ... ],,14

12 Cfr. Shanhaijingfiaayi,"Dahuang dongjint', 1985, p.246.

13 Jinghuayuan, 1957, 16:108.

14 Jinghuayuan, 1957, 18:126-27.

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Attributing the inhabitants with a great passion for study and Chinese books,15 that constitutes therefore an advantageous article of trade, echoes a fact from Dong Xi yang kao, that when referring to liaozhi (Vietnam) relates precisely that. 16 Moreover, even the detail about the teeth refers to the Annamite custom of eating areca leaves and painting the teeth with medicinal substances which are dark in color. A sixteenth century source in a same passage mentions the red color of the lips as well. 17 Fantasy and reality mingle as well when it comes to describing food customs: swallows' nests are a common article in this same region,18 while in the novel - although they are taken as a symbol of the useless waste practised by the rich in showing off sophisticated foods of low nutritional value - they are said to be very inexpensive in the previously visited Country of the Gentlemen (Junziguo ;g T ~).19 In other passages throughout the novel bizarre food customs are observed in various countries; for example, in the Country of the Virtuous Scholars (Shushiguo ~ ± ~D the three main characters go drink in a tavern full of surprises:

Lin had a true passion for wine, that is why when he saw it he was glad, turned to the other two and exclaimed, "Cheers!" and lifting his mug, emptied it all in one gulp. But the minute he swallowed the wine he could not help but knit his brow violently and, as saliva began to flow like a river from his mouth, grasping his chin, he screamed, "Waiter! You made a mistake, you brought us vinegar!"

15 This characteristic gives the author a pretext for a long literary disquisition between Tang and Duo and two local girls that unexpectedly tum out to be so learned and endowed with critical spirit that old Duo's superficial education stands out in contrast. Cfr. Jinghuayuan, 16:111-18:126. See also Guida, 1996, pp.708-18.

16 Cfr. Zhang Xie, [1618] 1981, p.20. Concerning the passion for study see also Zheng Xiao, [1564] I: 15h, that refers to the Annamite city Huanzhou (near present-day Vihn) and Yanzhou (Dien Chau); Luo Yuejiong, [1591] 1983, p.131; He Qiaoyuan, [end XVI cent.-beginning XVII cent.] Chongzhen ed., 103:23a.

17 Cfr. for example Yan Congjian, [1574] 1930, 6:23a; Li Xiangen, [late XVII century] 1887, 10:114a.

18 Cfr. Pan Dinggui, [late XVII century] 1887, 10:115b.

19 Jinghuayuan, 1957, 12:75.

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Sitting next to them was an old hunchback holding a toothpick in his hand, looking very distinguished, dressed like a man of letters and wearing glasses. He was pouring himself wine and drinking alone, rocking in his chair and humming poetry in the classic style. As he sang happily, all of the sudden, hearing Lin say that the waiter had made a mistake and had brought him vinegar, he immediately stopped and, waving his hand several times, said, "If you have already emptied your mug, how can you say anything? If you speak, you involve me as well. I am very afraid, that is why I beg you with all my heart not to say anything!" Hearing these sentences that made no sense, Tang and Duo, confused, could not help but giggle to each other. "There you have another man of letters!" Lin exclaimed. "If I protest against the waiter for having brought me vinegar by accident, what does that have to do with you? Why should I comprise? I'd like to know." Having heard these words, the old man, after scratching his nose with the index and middle finger of his right hand, said, "Listen to me, sir: wine is cheap, while vinegar is expensive. This depends on the taste: wine, tasting light as it does, is cheap, while vinegar is expensive due to its strong flavor. All of the customers here are aware of that. The waiter must have made an error of distraction, you got vinegar instead of wine: what pleasure can be compared to that? [ ... ]"20

The author does not specify whether in the Country of the Virtuous Scholars rice or cereal wine, or rather fruit alcohol was drunk, however - although first of all he means to ironize through the double meaning of the adjective suan M , (acidic, sour) often attributed to literati in the sense of "pedantic," reinforced by the old gentleman's complex reasoning - this detail undoubtedly brings out the fact that the different fermentation systems and the various substances used in the countries of Southeast Asia to obtain alcoholic beverages were often a point of Chinese criticism: they held these methods to be primitive and unsuitable to their needs. In the case of Champa,

20 Jinghuayuan, 1957,23:166.

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Ill. 2 - Tang and Duo escape from the Academy at Lin's arrival (From: Huitu Jinghuayuan)

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Chinese sources even describe the processing of a certain 'wine' done with worms or larva.21 Alongside the countries that act as negative examples, representing man's vices, the author also constructs ideal kingdoms, among which the previously mentioned Country of the Gentlemen particularly stands out:

"I believe," Duo cut in, "that it was the nearby countries that gave the name 'Country of the Gentlemen' to this land, that is why its very inhabitants know nothing about it. As examples of their courtesy, we have just witnessed 'some farmers move the borderline of their own fields in favor of their neighbor, and some passers• by make way for one another on the street;22 all of the inhabitants, officials and commoners, rich and poor, act and speak in an educated and polite manner. It should be no surprise that they have deserved the name 'Gentlemen.' ,,23

Even some of Li's utopian kingdoms find some basis in reality: in the section dedicated to the Khmer kingdom of Zhenla 1li nm 24 there is the same statement concerning the fields, that are said to be without borders, since every farmer cultivates only as much land as he is able to. 25 The same passage mentions how the native population is incapable of breeding silkworms and instead uses bombax trees,26 whose downy fibers are

21 Cfr. Van Congjian, [1574]1930, 7:15a and Mingshi, 1974,324:8392.

22 This description of the ideal Country is carried word for word in Kongzi jiayu, "Haoshengbian", 1987, pp.64-5; Wang Chong, 17l7a; and in a similar way in Shiji, 1:33.

23 Jinghuayuan, 1957, 11 :66.

24 Zhenla corresponds more or less to Cambodia. This word, whose origin is unknown, was replaced during the Wanli epoch (1573-1620) with the name Jianbuzhai *:ljln~, which is the phonetic transcription of the native name.

25 Cfr. Zhao Rukuo [1225] in Hirth and Rockhill, (1911-14) 1961, p.53 repeated almost word for word in Van Congjian, [1574]1930, 8:5a.

26 from ML. bombax, variant of bambax, cotton-wool. Plant belonging to the Bombacaceae family, that includes more than 50 species, mostly arboreal, and grows especially in tropical America but also in the West Indies and Java. The fruit's walls are internally covered with a down that is used as a fiber, similar to the kapok (Malaysian word). The' Chinese word thus translated is mumian *~.

Downloaded from Brill.com09/29/2021 08:25:30PM via free access Donatella Guida woven; later on the book explains how some inhabitants of Xianluo ~ *I, a kingdom that corresponds to present-day Thailand, moved to the site and began silkworm breeding.27 The following passage relative to the Country of Wuxian ~ J9X.28 is surprisingly similar:

"I'd like to know, Duo, what those trees of different heights with dark branches and green leaves are." "The tall ones are mulberry trees, that the people use as firewood, the small ones are called bombax trees." answered Duo. "In this area silk is not produced, there has never been silk fabric, but the people weave the down from the bomb ax fruit to make clothing, therefore Lin has especially brought silk with him in order to sell it." "In the past I have heard that the ancients have handed down that 'the inhabitants of the Country of Wuxian would come and go picking mulberry leaves;,29 I thought that surely this was a place where silk was produced, who would have ever thought that they had mulberry trees and not silkworms!" Tang exclaimed. "It is a shame that such beautiful mulberry trees are put to no use. So Lin will be able to earn a lot from this stop here!" "At first people would come to trade here, and if fortune was on their side, in the end they could make quite a nice profit: since the bombax harvest had been lost, the inhabitants did not have anything to dress themselves with, and as soon as the silk load arrived, they acted as if it were a treasure, there was not a person who did not fight to buy some," Duo said. "Recently these trees have been luxuriant, those who come to trade here do not make much profit; but after all, processing bombax is hard work, and besides, the people here are not expert weavers, so that when silk traders come here the rich and noble families buy up all of the fabric, no matter what the quantity. Therefore it is not possible to foresee their earnings, if the foreign traders are few, then they will earn well.[ ... ]" "Actually, many years ago two young girls came here from a foreign Country; having brought with them numerous silkworms, they breed them and weave the product. Year after year the silkworms have

27 Cfr. Van Congjian, [1574] 1930, 8:5a.

28 Cfr. Shanhaijingjiaoyi, "Haiwai xijing", p.192.

29 'cai sang' tf: ~ (picking mulberry leaves) is also the title of a popular folk song.

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gradually multiplied and now there are others here who have learned the art of weaving and all of them produce clothing with silk thread."lo

In Jinghuayuan the Thai custom of carrying embroidered handkerchiefs at the waisel is attributed to the White People (Baiminguo B .IX ~ ),32 while a very apparently novel-like detail such as distinguishing social rank by the color of dress - as occurs amongst the Virtuous Scholars -

"I would like to know, sir, how come in your honorable Country, men of culture and agriculture, artisans and traders all wear the clothes of learned men," asked Tang. "Are officials also dressed in the same manner? It is difficult to believe that there is no differentiation between the classes!" "Although in our humble Country we usually all dress in the same manner, from the king and aristocrats down to the commoners, there are still differences in fabric and color: yellow is the most respectable color, then come red and purple, blue, and dark green, that is the most common." the old gentleman explained".ll

is said to be practised in Siam where, it appears, red denotes officials of the highest rank.34 Another source,3S speaking of this kingdom, explains that its inhabitants have the habit of asking Zheng He for medicine, and also in the novel there is an episode set in the Country of the Forked Tongues (Qisheguo ItSz 15 ~ i 6 in which a court interpreter goes aboard our travellers' ship to ask

30 Jinghuayuan, 1957,27:194.

31 Cfr. Van Congijian, (1574] 1930, 8:llb, Shen Maoshang, (1609) repro Taipei 1969, p.1689.

32 Cfr. Jinghuayuan, 1957,21:151. See also Shanhaijing jiaoyi, "Haiwai xijinif' , 1985, p.193 and Zhang Hua, 1980,2:21, slightly different from Li Ruzhen's description.

33 Jinghuayuan, 1957,24:169.

34 Cfr. Xie Qinggao, [c.1820] 1936, p.1.

35 Cfr. Chen Lunjiong, [1730], 1985, p.53. "In case of illness, the natives would go, for medicine, to Sanbao, who, not having enough medicine for everyone, would put them in water and have them bathe. Still today, natives and Chinese have the habit of bathing and splashing themselves with water in order to cure themselves."

36 Cfr. Shanhaijingjiaoyi, 1985, "Haiwai nanjing," p.184.

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"I have a daughter, " said the interpreter, bowing to the three men, "whose nickname is Lanyin and who is fourteen years old. She has suffered from dilatation of the abdomen since childhood, she has tried countless medicines all to no avail. Recently her illness has worsened: I do not want to weary you, but if you consented to visit her, I would have her come aboard, she is outside waiting. If you examine her carefully, there might be some hope! If you manage to save her, it will truly be like beginning a new life!" "Ifthat's so, why don't you invite her aboard?" answered Duo. The interpreter sent a servant and shortly an old woman leading Lanyin entered the cabin; the two women bowed to all present and together they sat down. Duo admired the beauty of the girl, who had arched eyebrows and slanted eyes, but a greenish color to her skin and an abdomen swollen like a drum. After visiting her for a long time, Duo was not able to understand what her illness was, and just stared into space. "My friend does not have experience with female disturbances," Tang cut in, "although I am not a doctor, I have received a secret prescription from the ancestors which specifically cures swelling of the abdomen in children. Your daughter's illness - has it appeared recently or has she had it since childhood? If it has appeared recently, I am afraid we are dealing with a disturbance in development, in which case, since I am not an expert in this field, I would not dare give her any medicine. If, on the other hand, she has had it since childhood, it can be cured." "She has had this disturbance since she was five or six," the interpreter answered. "It has been seven or eight years now." "Since it began to manifest itself when she was five, it is a matter of poor digestion due to worms that cause swelling," Tang diagnosed. "Often it is erroneously treated with digestives37 that damage the digestive organs but do not cure the illness. What medicines has your daughter taken over the years? Have you already treated her for worms?"

37 A linguistic curiosity: this word, keshi 5i1I ~ , was originally the phonetic transcription of a Manchurian word which meant agree, confer, favor, benevolence; later, already during the Qing epoch, as our case shows, it quickly changed to the semantic meaning of the characters that had been chosen to transcribe it into Chinese. See Fu Ge's Qing study, Wang Beiping ed., 1984, p.218.

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"I have never treated her for anything like that," answered the interpreter, shaking his head, "I have always given her things like ferments, poncirus trifoliata, crataegus pinnatifida and rhubarb." "You are fortunate to have met me today, because I will cure your daughter!" Tang exclaimed. "The prescription handed down to me from my ancestors is composed simply of 'thunder pills' (mylilta polyporus) and two branches of quisqualis indica, five or six doses are enough to kill the worms and heal the patient." Having said this, he wrote down the prescription. Mrs. LU [i.e. Lin's wife] invited the girl into the internal cabin and offered her tea. Lanyin had studied thirty-six languages with her father: immediately taking a mutual liking to Wanru [i.e. Lin's daughter], she began to talk with her. "All you have to do is boil five qian of 'thunder pills' together with two of atractylodes chinensis," Tang explained, handing the interpreter the prescription, "then after taking out the atractylodes, you peel the 'thunder pills' and cook them until the compound has thickened completely. Then remove the shell from around the quisqualis indica and fry it together with five qian of meat, mix everything, chopping it finely, and divide it into six doses to give to your daughter at meals; you may add to a dose one or two scrambled eggs, oil, onions, garlic and other, frying it all together. The worms smell the eggs, not imagining that inside there is a hidden medicine. Two doses a day are enough to expel the worms and heal the girl in a few days. You see, her yellowish coloring, her thinness, her swollen stomach are symptoms indicating that food has not been digested for some time but has been transformed into a pile of worms. These herbs are the best to kill them off, you will immediately see their effectiveness." The interpreter was very happy and after thanking them profusely, gave leave along with his daughter.38

Some Birmanian tribes' custom of completely covering the body with tattoos from the legs up to the waist or chest, according to the individual's social rank/9 is represented in the Country of the Dark Legs (Yuanguguo ft g~ ~ )40 whose inhabitants

38 Jinghuayuan, 1957,30:212-13.

39 Cfr. Zhu Mengzhen, [c.1585], p.6a.

40 The original name of this country, Xuanguguo (cfr. Shanhaijing jiaoyi, 1985, p.212) has been changed into Yuanguguo due to a taboo connected to the first character (~) belonging to the emperor Kangxi's name.

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on the upper part of their body were similar to other men, while their legs and feet were black like the bottom of a pOt.41

It is not difficult to understand how a similar detail could have tickled the author's imagination. Burma appears in another instance as a source of inspiration: in his detailed description of the embroideress-man in the Country of the Women (Nurenguo f;( A 1/)42 Li was probably inspired by the Birmanian male custom of sculpting their eyelashes and eyebrows;43 in fact even the so-called 'governess' that Lin feared so in the novel44 is mentioned in connection with this country.45 Moreover, almost all of the historiographical sources refer that in the Countries of Southeast Asia it is the women who take care of trading and managing the household economy because they are more intelligent;46 they are held in such great esteem as to be considered more precious than males: in fact, a Chinese who has married a native woman is allowed to bring neither his wife nor daughters to his country, but only his sons.47 After marriage it is the husband who moves into his wife's house so that both of them may take care of her parents; and. men, not women, wear flowers in their hair.48

41 Jinghuayuan, 1957, 15:95.

42 Jinghuayuan, 1957,32:231.

43 Cfr. Van Congjian, [1574] 1930, 9:32a.

44 Lin reaches the Royal Palace to trade but is segregated in order to become, against his will, the woman-King's "concubine." During his imprisonment, he undergoes all sorts of humiliations, from his feet being bound to his ears being pierced. The job of the "governess" (baomu f* fJJ:) is to make sure that Lin's transformation into concubine proceeds according to royal orders; if the hapless showed opposition, she was authorized to punish Lin severely. Cfr. Jinghuayuan, 33:238 and following. See Chang'S translation, 1973, from p.427.

45 Cfr. Peng Songyu, [c.1848] 1936, p.4. For "governess" the word zhanggongpo *g ~ .

46 Cfr. Ma Huan, [1433] 1954, p.19; Van Congjian, [1574] 1930, 8:11b; Luo Yuejiong, [1591] 1983, p.150; Zhang Xie, [1618] 1981, p.35. Da Shan states that it is due to the pre• eminence of yin compared to the weaker yang, cfr. Da Shan, [1699] 1987,4:84.

47 Cfr. Peng Songyu, [c. 1848] 1936, p.6 and Pan Dinggui, [late XVII century] 1887, 10:115.

48 Cfr. Wang Dahai, [1791] 1992, p.31.

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Finally, it is important to take note of the fact that the historiographical sources place the Country of the Women to the East of Java, at the edge of the world: farther east there is only the Wei/u ~ ~ , a great hole where everything flows vertically and there are no more human beings,49 reiterating the Chinese notion of the other as living on the border between facts and mystery, even in the most "realistic" works. Therefore, even though the existence of the Country of the Women has been claimed in China since antiquity, it is possible to see how many elements at least similar to the information related to Nanyang have inspired Li Ruzhen's corresponding description. In the Country of the Great (Darenguo -)( A ~), our travellers run into a strange character that does not fit in their society's social canon:

"It appears we have taken a wrong turn," Duo exclaimed, "luckily over there there's a small temple with a thatch roof, why don't we go look for a monk and ask for directions?" After a while they reached the front of the temple and were about to knock on the door when an old man with a carafe of wine in one hand and a head of pork arrived, opened the front door and was about to enter. Greeting him with joined hands, Tang addressed him. "Excuse me, sir, what is this temple called? Are there any monks?" Excusing himself, the old man entered hurriedly and, setting down the head of pork and the carafe of wine, came out greeting them in his turn. "This temple is dedicated to Guanyin, and I am the monk." Not being able to help but find him bizarre, Lin exclaimed, "If you are a monk, why isn't your head shaved? If you drink wine and eat meat, surely you also keep a nun?!" "Here there is only one nun, and she is my wife," he answered. "In this temple there is no one else, only the two of us, we have attended to it since our youth. [ ... ]"50

49 Cfr. Zhao Rukuo, [1225] in Hirth and Rockhill, 1966, p.75, and Luo Yuejiong, [1591] 1983, p.146, Yang Yikui, [1615] 2:33a.

50 Jinghuayuan, 1957, 14:90.

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The married monk that in the novel causes such reproach from Lin, is a reality in eighteenth century Java: Wang Dahai in fact states that monks and nuns openly marry and have children and no one considers this strange.51 This consideration might veil a critique of the prohibition of marriage for Chinese monks. Another population that the novel's main characters run into during their overseas voyage appears to partially match a mysterious people in Kalimantan who apparently has a human body and bird head: 52

After a few days of navigation they reached the Country ofthe Winged People (Yiminguo "B: ~ ),53 where they went ashore. After having gone quite a few Ii, the three had not yet found a soul. Afraid that they ventured too far, Lin wanted to return to the ship, but Tang was firm in his intention to go and see the inhabitants of this country since he had heard that they had elongated heads and wings with which they could fly over short distances, and moreover, that they were not mammals but hatched from shells. Lin was not able to insist and had to go along. Only after many Ii they saw a few: they had bodies five chi long and heads just a long, bird beaks, red eyes, white hair and wings on their backs; their entire bodies were a brilliant green, as if they were wearing leaves. Some were walking, others were flying, not rising more than two zhang above ground. Their coming and going was a stupendous sight. 54

Even the very short sentences in the models again in this case stimulate the author's imagination; his description of the flying scene of the winged people is quite lively.

51 Cfr. Wang Dahai, [1791] 1992,2:49.

52 CfT. Xie Qinggao, [c. 1820] 1936, pp.21-2.

53 Cfr. also Shanhaijingjiaoyi, 1985, "Haiwai nanjing' p.183 that writes Yuminguo ~~ ~ m the "Feathered People;" ibidem, "Dahuang nanjing," p.258.

54 Jinghuayuan, 1957,27: I 91.

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All of these details, together with the great respect that all the countries visited show towards the Chinese, repeatedly emphasized both in the novel and in historiographical works, go to verify our original hypothesis: actual countries and imaginary kingdoms, united by their bizarre characteristics, coexist, while reality and imagination blend into one another, in literature as in historiography.

translated by H. Goodrich

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III. 3 - The Winged People (From: Huitu Jinghuayuan)

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