Table Of ContentTHE PLUM IN THE GOLDEN VASE
P R I N C E T O N L I B R A R Y OF A S I A N T R A N S L A T I O N S
The Plum in the Golden Vase
or，C H IN P’ING M EI
V O L U M E O N E ：
T H E G A T H E R I N G
Translated by David Tod Roy
Copyright © 1993 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press,
Chichester, West Sussex
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hsiao-hsiao-sheng.
[Chin P’ing Mei. English]
The plum in the golden vase, or, Chin P’ing Mei /
translated by David Tod Roy.
p.
cm. 一
(Princeton library of Asian translations)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents: v. 1. The gathering.
ISBN 0-691-06932-8
ISBN 0-691-01614-3 (pbk.)
I. Roy, David Tod, 1933- .
II. Title.
III. Series.
PL2698.H73C4713
1993
895.Γ346—dc20
92-45054
CIP
The publication of this volume was made possible in part through
a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities,
an independent federal agency, to which we would like
to express our deep appreciation
This book has been composed in Bitstream Electra
Princeton University Press books are printed
on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for
permanence and durability of the Committee on
Production Guidelines for Book Longevity
of the Council on Library Resources
Printed in the United States of America ·
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Excerpts reprinted from THE DIALOGIC IMAGINATION, by M. M. Bakhtin,
edited by Michael Holquist, translated by Caryl Emerson and Michael Holquist，
copyright ◎ 1981. By permission of the University of Texas Press.
To a ll those students，friends，and colleagues
W H O P A R T I C I P A T E D W I T H M E I N T H E E X C I T E M E N T
OF E X P L O R I N G T H E W O R L D OF T H E CHI N P I N G MEI
O V E R T H E PAST Q U A R T E R C E N T U R Y
CONTENTS
L i s t o f Il l u s t r a t io n s
xi
A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s
xiii
In t r o d u c t io n xvii
Ca s t o f C h a r a c t e r s
xlix
P re fa c e t o th e Ch i n P ’in g M e i
u -h u a
3
P re fa c e t o th e C h i n P ’in g M e i
6
C o lo p h o n
7
F o u r Ly r ic s t o t h e T u n e “B u r n in g In c e n s e ”
8
Ly r ic s o n t h e F o u r V ic e s t o t h e T u n e “Pa r t r id g e S k y”
10
CHAPTER 1
Wu Sung Fights a Tiger on Ching-yang Ridge;
P，an Chin-lien Disdains Her Mate and Plays the Coquette
12
CHAPTER 2
Beneath the Blind Hsi-men Ch’ing Meets Chin-lien；
Inspired by Greed Dame Wang Speaks of Romance
43
CHAPTER 3
Dame Wang Proposes a Ten-part Plan for “Garnering the Glow”
Hsi-men Ch’ing Flirts with Chin-lien in the Teahouse
62
CHAPTER 4
The Hussy Commits Adultery behind Wu the Elder’s Back；
Yün-ko in His Anger Raises a Rumpus in the Teashop
82
CHAPTER 5
Yün-ko Lends a Hand by Cursing Dame Wang;
The Hussy Administers Poison to Wu the Elder
96
CHAPTER 6
Hsi-men Ch’ing Suborns Ho the Ninth；
Dame Wang Fetches Wine and Encounters a Downpour
111
CHAPTER 7
Auntie Hsüeh Proposes a Match with Meng Yü-lou;
Aunt Yang Angrily Curses Chang the Fourth
125
vili
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 8
All Night Long P，an Chin-lien Yearns for Hsi-men Ch’ing;
During the Tablet-burning Monks Overhear Sounds of Venery
147
CHAPTER 9
Hsi-men Ch'ing Conspires to Marry P，an Chin-lien；
Captain Wu Mistakenly Assaults Li Wai-ch'uan
170
CHAPTER 10
Wu the Second Is Condemned to Exile in Meng-chou；
Hsi-men and His Harem Revel in the Hibiscus Pavilion
188
CHAPTER 11
P，an Chin-lien Instigates the Beating of Sun Hsüeh-o;
Hsi-men C h，in g Decides to Deflower Li Kuei-chieh
205
CHAPTER 12
P，an Chin-lien Suffers Ignominy for Adultery with a Servant;
Stargazer Liu Purveys Black Magic in Pursuit of Gain
224
CHAPTER 13
Li P，
ing-erh Makes a Secret Tryst over the Garden Wall；
The Maid Ying-ch'un Peeks through a Crack and Gets an Eyeful
253
CHAPTER 14
Hua Tzu-hsü Succumbs to Chagrin and Loses His Life;
Li P'ing-erh Invites Seduction and Attends a Party
274
CHAPTER 15
Beauties Enjoy the Sights in the Lantern-viewing Belvedere；
Hangers-on Abet Debauchery in the Verdant Spring Bordello
298
CHAPTER 16
Hsi-men Ch’ing Is Inspired by Greed to Contemplate Matrimony;
Ying Po-chüeh Steals a March in Anticipation of the Ceremony
316
CHAPTER 17
Censor Yü-wen Impeaches Commander Yang；
Li P'ing-erh Takes Chiang Chu-shan as Mate
337
CHAPTER 18
Lai-pao Takes Care of Things in the Eastern Capital;
Ch，en Ching-chi Supervises the Work in the Flower Garden
356
CHAPTER 19
Snake-in-the-grass Shakes Down Chiang Chu-shan；
Li P，
ing-e rh ，s Feelings Touch Hsi-men Ch’ing
376
C O N T E N T S
ix
CHAPTER 20
Meng Yii-lou High-mindedly Intercedes with Wu Yüeh-niang;
Hsi-men Ch’ing Wreaks Havoc in the Verdant Spring Bordello
401
APPENDIX I
Translator’s Commentary on the Prologue
429
APPENDIX II
Translations of Supplementary Material
437
N o t e s 449
Bib l io g r a p h y
543
In d e x
573
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
P’an Chin-lien Disdains Her Mate and Plays the Coquette
31
Beneath the Blind Hsi-men Ch’ing Meets Chin-lien
49
Dame Wang Proposes a Ten-part Plan for “Garnering the Glow”
63
Dame Wang Insists on the Proposed Remuneration for Her Plan
68
Hsi-men C h，in g Flirts with Chin-lien in the Teahouse
74
The Hussy Commits Adultery behind Wu the Elder’s Back
84
Yün-ko in His Anger Raises a Rumpus in the Teashop
94
Yün-ko Lends a Hand by Cursing Dame Wang
101
The Hussy Administers Poison to Wu the Elder
108
Hsi-men Ch’ing Suborns Ho the Ninth
113
Dame Wang Fetches Wine and Encounters a Downpour
121
Auntie Hsüeh Proposes a Match with Meng Yii-lou
135
Aunt Yang Angrily Curses Chang the Fourth
145
All Night Long P，an Chin-lien Yearns for Hsi-men C h，ing
149
During the Tablet-burning Monks Overhear Sounds of Venery
168
Hsi-men Gh，ing Conspires to Marry P，an Chin-lien
172
Captain Wu Mistakenly Assaults Li Wai-ch’uan
186
Wu the Second Is Condemned to Exile in Meng-chou
195
Hsi-men and His Harem Revel in the Hibiscus Pavilion
198
Hsi-men C h，ing and His Cronies Form the Brotherhood of Ten
202
P，an Chin-lien Instigates the Beating of Sun Hsüeh-o
212
Hsi-men Ch’ing Decides to Deflower Li Kuei-chieh
221
P，an Chin-lien Suffers Ignominy for Adultery with a Servant
238
Stargazer Liu Purveys Black Magic in Pursuit of Gain
250
Li P’ing-erh Makes a Secret Tryst over the Garden Wall
263
The Maid Ying-ch'un Peeks through a Crack and Gets an Eyeful
265
Hua Tzu-hsü Succumbs to Chagrin and Loses His Life
286
Li P'ing-erh Invites Seduction and Attends a Party
288
Beauties Enjoy the Sights in the Lantern-viewing Belvedere
305
Hangers-on Abet Debauchery in the Verdant Spring Bordello
313
Hsi-men Gh,ing Is Inspired by Greed to Contemplate Matrimony
318
Ying Po-chüeh Steals a March in Anticipation of the Ceremony
334
Censor Yü-wen Impeaches Commander Yang
342
Li P，
ing-erh Takes Chiang Chu-shan as Mate
354
Lai-pao Takes Care of Things in the Eastern Capital
361
On Seeing P’an Chin-lien Ch’en Ching-chi Loses His Wits
369
Snake-in-the-grass Shakes Down Chiang Chu-shan
389
Eavesdroppers Discuss Li P，
ing-erh，s Feat of Reconciliation
405
Hsi-men Ch，
in g ，s Cronies Make a Fuss over His New Bride
416
Hsi-men Ch’ing Wreaks Havoc in the Verdant Spring Bordello
425
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
T o MY PARENTS, Andrew Tod Roy and Margaret Crutchfield Roy, who
served as Presbyterian missionaries in China and Hong Kong from 1930 to
1972，I owe my initial exposure to Chinese language and culture and my
interest in Chinese literature.
It was not until the summer of 1949 when I was a sixteen-year-old school
boy in Nanking that I began，at the insistence of my mother, the serious
study of the Chinese language, together with my younger brother, James
Stapleton Roy, who is now United States ambassador to China.
During the following decade I was fortunate to be able to study Chinese
poetry with Frederick W Mote；
literary Chinese and Sinological method
with Derk Bodde，Yang Lien-sheng, and Francis Woodman Cleaves；
Chi
nese history with John King Fairbank; Chinese thought with Benjamin
Schwartz; and Chinese literature with James Robert Hightower and David
Hawke s. I was also lucky to have Harold L. Kahn and Lloyd Eastman as
roommates; and Li-li Ch’en，Elling Eide, Philip A. Kuhn, and Nathan Sivin
as fellow students. No one could have had a more distinguished roster of
mentors or more stimulating and congenial classmates.
I first encountered Clement Egerton’s translation of the Chin P’ing Mei
in the library of the University of Nanking in 1949，and it was in the spring
of 1950, not long before the outbreak of the Korean War, that I bought my
first copy of the Chin P’ing Mei tzu-hua in Fu-tzu Miao, an area full of
secondhand bookstores and curio shops adjacent to the Confucian Temple
in Nanking. W hile serving a two-year hitch in the Army Security Agency
between 1954 and 1956，I bought my first copy of Chang Chu-p，
o，s edition
of the Chin P，ing Mei on January 20，1955，in the bookstore of the Confu
cian Temple in Tokyo. In view of the Confucian interpretation of the Chin
P’ing Mei that I was to develop several decades later, it is a Nabokovian
coincidence that the first two copies of the book that I acquired were pur
chased in the purlieus of Confucian Temples.
Over the years, as I read and reread the novel，and especially after I started
to teach it at the University of Chicago in 1967，I began to think I saw things
in it that had not been pointed out before，but I could not have contributed
anything to the study of this tantalizingly enigmatic work if I had not been
able to stand on the shoulders of such giants as the seventeenth-century
critic Chang Chu-p'o (1670-98), and the twentieth-century scholars Wu
Han, Yao Ling-hsi，Feng Yüan-chün，and Patrick Hanan, to name only the
most important of them. Their work has not only provided an indispensable
foundation but has been a constant source of inspiration to me. Like all
students of Chinese fiction and drama, I have also benefited greatly from
xiv
A C K N O W L E D G M E N T S
the pioneering publications of Cheng Chen-to，Sun K’ai-ti，Wu Hsiao-ling,
James Crump, Cyril Birch, Hsii Shuo-fang, and C. T. Hsia.
My most consistent source of stimulation over the years, however, has
been the work of such former students and present colleagues as Andrew H.
Plaks, Daniel Overmyer，Paul V Martinson, Martha Howard, Peter Li, Jean
Mulligan, Katherine Carlitz, Gail King, Sally Church, David Rolston，Indira
Satyendra, Amy McNair, Dale Hoiberg，Janet Lynn, and Charles Stone.
Successive curators of the East Asian Library at the University of Chicago,
including T. H. Tsien，James Cheng, and Ma Tai-loi, himself a major con
tributor to scholarship on the Chin P’ing Meif have provided invaluable help
in keeping me abreast of the flow of current publications on this subject, a
trickle that has recently turned into a flood.
Of those who have read all or part of the manuscript before publication
and whose suggestions have helped to improve it in innumerable ways, I
wish particularly to thank my friend and former colleague Lois Fusek，the
first person to whom I showed the fruits of my labors as I proceeded, and to
whose sensitive ear for stylistic niceties I owe the avoidance of many a blun
der as well as the gift of many a felicitous emendation. Andrew H. Plaks,
David Rolston, and my cousin Catherine Swatek have all read the transla
tion from beginning to end together with the Chinese text and have been
generous enough to share with me their detailed and invaluable critical re
actions. Others who have read parts of the manuscript and offered sugges
tions for its improvement include Steven Black, Katherine Carlitz, Susan
Daruvala, John C. Duggan, Magnus Fiskesjö, Harold L. Kahn, Matthew
Krasowski，Robert A. LaFleur, Lin Chi-ch’eng，Lin Hsiu-ling； Amy Mayer,
Robert H. Mazur, Andrea Paradis, Kenneth W. Phifer, Michael J. Puett,
Alane Rollings, James St. André, Indira Satyendra, Edward Shaughnessy,
Nathan Sivin, Laura Skosey，Charles Stone, Janelle Taylor, and Natalie
Wainright.
To my wife, Barbara Chew Roy, who urged me to embark on this intermi
nable task, and who has lent me her unwavering support over the years
despite the extent to which this work has preoccupied me, I owe a particular
debt of gratitude. W ithout her encouragement I would have had neither the
temerity to undertake the task nor the stamina to continue it.
For indispensable technical advice and assistance concerning computers,
printers, and word-processing programs I would like to thank René Pomer-
leau，my brother James Stapleton Roy, my colleague Ts’ai Fang-p，
ei，and
particularly Charles Stone.
The research that helped to make this work possible was materially as
sisted by a Grant for Research on Chinese Civilization from the American
Council of Learned Societies in 1976-77. The first draft of the translation
itself was supported by a grant from the Translation Program of the Na
tional Endowment for the Humanties in 1983-86. The Department of East
