Real Life in China at the Height of Empire: Revealed by the Ghosts of Ji Xiaolan

375 Pages·2014·3.388 MB·English

by  Ji Xiaolian, David E. Pollard

Real Life in China at the Height of Empire

Real Life in China at the Height of Empire
Revealed by the Ghosts of Ji Xiaolan
Edited and Translated by
David E. Pollard
Th e Chinese University Press
Real Life in China at the Height of Empire:
Revealed by the Ghosts of Ji Xiaolan
Edited and Translated by David E. Pollard
© Th e Chinese University of Hong Kong 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may
be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or any information storage and retrieval
system, without permission in writing from
Th e Chinese University of Hong Kong.
ISBN: 978-962-996-601-0
Th e Chinese University Press
Th e Chinese University of Hong Kong
Sha Tin, N.T., Hong Kong
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.chineseupress.com
Printed in Hong Kong
I will a round unvarnished tale deliver.
William Shakespeare
When I write of other people’s aff airs, I always set down what is
told to me; whether it is false, factual, or less than the whole story,
others are in a position to know, but I am not.…
However, since I do endeavour to give a full and fair render-
ing, and try to impart some kind of positive moral—not, as so
many similar works of the past, standing facts on their head,
paying off personal scores, romancing about fi ne dandies and fair
ladies, or catering to prurient interests—I hope that gentlemen of
discernment will not think my work beneath their notice.
Ji Xiaolan
Th e stories the old folks in my village told were mysterious and
scary, but quite spellbinding. In those stories there was no clear
dividing line between living and dead people, neither was there
one between animals and plants; even various objects like a broom,
a human hair, or a tooth that had fallen out could, when the time
was ripe, acquire supernatural powers.
Mo Yan, Nobel laureate in literature
Skeleton Chronology
Western Zhou dynasty circa 11th century BC–771 BC
Eastern Zhou dynasty 770 BC–221 BC
Qin dynasty 221 BC–206 BC
Western Han dynasty 206 BC–AD 25
Eastern Han dynasty 25–220
Th ree Kingdoms 220–280
(Wei, Shu and Wu)
Western Jin dynasty 265–316
Eastern Jin dynasty 317–420
Southern and Northern Dynasties 420–589
Sui dynasty 581–618
Tang dynasty 618–907
Five Dynasties 907–960
Northern Song dynasty 960–1127
Southern Song dynasty 1127–1279
Yuan (Mongol) dynasty 1279–1368
Ming dynasty 1368–1644
Qing (Manchu) dynasty 1644–1911
CONTENTS
List of Illustrations ix
Introduction xi
Illustrations xxxiii
Part I: Th e Supernatural and the Curious
1 Spirits, Spectres and Demons 3
2 Ghosts 20
3 Hauntings 47
4 Foxes 52
5 Fortune-telling 68
6 Beyond Belief 87
7 Reincarnation 100
8 Curiosities 104
9 Th e Wild West 111
Part II: Th e Offi cial’s Milieu
10 Offi cialdom 123
11 Legal Dilemmas and Disputes 135
12 Yamen Staff 152
13 Servants 160
Part III: Family and Friends
14 Hearth and Home 175
15 Piety and Paragons 186
viii | Contents
16 Love Pledged and Blighted 195
17 Friends and False Friends 210
18 Personal 217
Part IV: A Mirror on Society
19 Dogma and Dogmatists 225
20 Morality 239
21 Pedants 260
22 Women 264
23 Homosexuality 281
24 Impersonation 290
25 Fraud 296
26 Merchants 304
27 Bandits, Brigands and Robbers 309
28 Physical Prowess 320
29 Jesuits in China 325
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 1. Ji Xiaolan in offi cial regalia. xxxiii
Figure 2. Emblem for Emperor Qianlong’s imperial robe. xxxiv
Figure 3. Emblem for the court robe of fi rst rank civil xxxv
offi cials.
Figure 4. Th e layout of the imperial garden of xxxvi
Yuanmingyuan.
Figure 5. A couplet in running hand by Ji Xiaolan. xxxvii
Figure 6. Ji Xiaolan’s memorial to the throne in regular xxxviii
script.
Figure 7. Finely crafted purple sand bamboo-shaped xxxix
wrist rest and chestnut-shaped cup.
Figure 8. Translator tries to be friends with author’s ghost xl
in Ji Xiaolan’s old Peking residence.
Figure 9. Luo Pin’s big-headed ghost. 43
Figure 10. Zhong Kui the Ghost Catcher by H. Y. Ting. 46
Figure 11. Ferdinand Verbiest (1623–1688) and his 94
Map of the World.
Figure 12. A hairy savage. 113
Figure 13. Xing Tian. 115
Figure 14. Stage performances as depicted by the famous 295
Qing painter Ju Chao.
Figure 15. Th e Catholic Southern Church in Peking. 330