Heroines of Jiangyong: Chinese Narrative Ballads in Women's Script

190 Pages·2009·0.832 MB·English

by  Idema, Wilt L.

heroines of jiangyong

HEROINES of JIANGYONG
chinese narrative ballads in women’s script
Translation & Introduction by
wilt l. idema
university of washington press seattle & london
The publication of Heroines of Jiangyong: Chinese Narrative Ballads in
Women’s Scriptwas generously supported by a grant from the Chiang
Ching-Kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange, and by
the Donald R. Ellegood International Publications Endowment.
© 2009 by the University of Washington Press
Printed in the United States of America
Designed by Ashley Saleeba
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The paper used in this publication is acid-free and 90 percent recycled from at least 50 percent
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library of congress cataloging-in-publication data
Heroines of Jiangyong: Chinese narrative ballads in women’s script /
translation and Introduction by Wilt L. Idema.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
isbn978-0-295-98841-2 (hbk. : alk. paper) — isbn978-0-295-98842-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Chinese poetry—Women authors—Translations into English. 2. Chinese poetry—
China—Jiangyong Xian. 3. Chinese poetry—20th century. I. Idema, W. L. (Wilt L.)
II. Title: Chinese narrative ballads in women’s script.
pl2658.e3h45 2009
895.1'1520809287—dc22 2008037004
cover:“Two elderly practitioners of women’s script, Gao Yixian and Yi Nianhua,
exchange their innermost feelings.” Guizhong qiji—Zhongguo nüshu(2005), 35.
frontispiece:A handkerchief with a third day letter in women’s script, originally
in the possession of He Yanxin and currently preserved at the Museum of Ethnology,
Academia Sinica. (Photo: Liu Fei-wen)
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction: Women’s Script 3
PART I: MORAL TRACTS
1 Admonitions for My Daughter 25
2 The Ten Months of Pregnancy 27
3 The Family Heirloom 32
4 The Lazy Wife 38
PART II: NARRATIVE BALLADS
5 The Tale of Third Sister 43
6 The Daughter of the Xiao Family 67
7 Lady Luo 79
8 The Maiden Meng Jiang 84
9 The Flower Seller 98
10 The Demonic Carp 119
11 The Karmic Affinity of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai 123
12 Fifth Daughter Wang 135
Notes 159
Chinese Character Glossary 173
Bibliography 177

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book could not have come about without the
painstaking work many Chinese scholars have done in collecting and tran-
s cribing the manuscripts in women’s script. Through their efforts, they have
made the writings of the women of Jiangyong available to a much wider read-
ership, in China and abroad.
The invitation of Vibeke Børdahl to attend the International Workshop on
Oral Literature in Modern China (Copenhagen, August 29–31, 1996) was a major
stimulus for me to look more closely at the narrative ballads in the women’s
script manuscripts. As a result, I not only presented a paper on this topic at the
conference (a revised version of which serves as the introduction to this vol-
ume) but also prepared Dutch translations of some of these ballads, which are
included in my Vrouwenschrift: Vriendschap, huwelijk en wanhoop van Chinese
vrouwen, opgetekend in een eigen schrift [Women’s script: Friendship, love, and
frustration of Chinese women, recorded in a script of their own]. This experi-
ence strengthened my conviction that these ballads, both as moving narratives
and as texts selected by women for women, well merited a full translation into
English.
The readers for the University of Washington Press provided me with
excellent feedback, and the extensive notes of Fei-wen Liu on the introduction
and each of the translations were especially helpful. As before, working with
the highly professional staff at the University of Washington Press was a plea -
sure. A special word of thanks is due to my copy editor, Laura Iwasaki, who has
vii
carefully vetted my English. I alone, however, take full responsibility for all
remaining errors.
Last but not least, I would like to express my thanks to the friendly staffs of
the Library of the Leiden Sinological Institute and the Harvard-Yenching
Library, who have been extremely efficient in providing me with the materials
I requested, even if these had to be fetched from the other side of the globe.
viii Acknowledgments
heroines of jiangyong