INTRODUCTION
As is customary in Yuan printings of drama, Huo Guang Remonstrates as a Ghost (Huo Guang gui jian 霍光鬼諫) mentions no author. The bibliographical section of The Register of Ghosts does not contain this title, and A Formulary of Correct Sounds for an Era of Great Peace lists it as an anonymous zaju. It is only Yao Tongshou 姚桐壽 (fl. 1350), in a collection of notes on the area of Haiyan (on the seacoast north of Hangzhou) called Private Notes from a Land of Bliss (Lejiao siyu 樂郊私語), who ascribes this and two more titles to Yang Zi 楊梓 (ca. 1255–1327).1 Yang was a remarkable figure in the world of zaju. A southerner by birth and a high official by virtue of education and family ties, he was also a magnate of the overseas shipping trade.
The Yang family hailed from Pucheng in Fujian province. Little is revealed in historical sources about Yang Zi’s grandfather Yang Chun 楊春, but Yang Zi’s father, Yang Fa 楊發, held high military office under the Southern Song dynasty, attaining the rank of vice campaign commander of the Bureau of Military Affairs. During the final onslaught of the Mongols against the Southern Song, however, he switched his allegiance to the Yuan and by 1277 served under the new regime as pacification commissioner for Fujian province. When the Yuan reinstituted the Maritime Trade Supervisorates in that year, he was put in charge of the three supervisorates of Shanghai, Ganpu 澉浦, and Qingyuan 慶原 (Ganpu was the international harbor of Hangzhou, Qingyuan is the modern city of Ningbo). The Ganpu Maritime Trade Supervisorate was officially abolished in 1298, but Yao Tongshou’s Lejiao siyu indicates that it continued to function as late as 1360. It would appear that members of the Yang family remained in control of Ganpu international trade and ocean shipping for some generations and amassed an enormous fortune.2
Yang Zi probably was born sometime around 1250–55 since his two elder sons were born to separate concubines in 1283. He served with distinction in the unsuccessful Mongol campaign against eastern Java of 1292–1293. Later, in 1314, he attained the rank of vice pacification commander for Zhedong and soon afterward was appointed Hangzhou route commander. Hangzhou is also the most likely place for Yang to have met and befriended the famous songwriter Guan Yunshi 貫雲石 (1286–1324), who lived in Hangzhou for the last six years of his life.3 Yang Zi’s eldest son, Yang Ying (1283–1303), was groomed for an official career but died at a relatively young age. Yang Ying’s younger brother, Yang Shu 楊樞 (1283–1331), took to sea. Starting in 1301 he made a number of trips to the countries bordering the Indian Ocean. In 1327, the year of his father’s death, he took up the post of sea transport vice battalion commander, and in 1331 his rank was raised to that of battalion commander, but he died before assuming the post. Yet a third brother was in charge of the business operations in Ganpu.
According to Yao Tongshou, the Yang family was a great patron of drama. Yao states that Yang Zi wrote his three plays “in order to give expression to the feelings of his grandfather and father” (yi yu zu fu zhi yi 以寓祖父之意).4 Each of the three plays deals with an instance of conspicuous loyalty following a switch of allegiance from an undeserving patron to a more deserving lord. In southern China, Marco Polo assures us, anti-Mongol sentiment ran very high, and Yang Zi apparently felt a need to defend the behavior of his forebears, proving by historical example that turncoats can be heroes too.
The materials for Huo Guang Remonstrates as a Ghost are derived from the biography of Huo Guang (d. 68 BC), whose career is chronicled in great detail in the Hanshu, the dynastic history of the Western Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 8). Huo Guang rose to preeminence at court during the later years of the reign of Emperor Wu, upon whose death he became the real power behind Emperor Zhao (r. 86–74 BC). When Emperor Zhao passed away, Huo Guang and other court officials called the Prince of Changyi (Changyi Wang 昌邑王) to the capital in order to place him on the throne. When the prince failed to behave as expected, he was quickly deposed. In a solemn court meeting, the Prince of Changyi had to listen to a list of his 1,117 crimes, and Huo Guang personally removed the imperial seal from his belt. After sending the Prince of Changyi back to his fief, Huo Guang and his fellow officials installed a grandson of Emperor Wu’s, a minor who had the status of only a commoner. Known to history as Emperor Xuan (r. 73–49 BC), this monarch entrusted the administration of the realm to Huo Guang, whose sons and nephews reached the highest bureaucratic positions and whose daughter, Chengjun 成君, became Xuan’s main wife upon the death of Empress Xu. When Huo Guang fell ill, the emperor even visited him in person to inquire about his health. But following Huo Guang’s death, the emperor moved quickly: the Huo clan was gradually stripped of their power, accused of rebellion, then arrested and executed.
The Hanshu also recounts that Huo Guang’s wife prepared the way to glory for her daughter by having Emperor Xuan’s empress, née Xu, killed after childbirth. When Huo Guang first heard of this, it is said, he was greatly perturbed and wanted to inform on her, but in the end he could never bring himself to do so. Just before the final downfall of his clan, his ghost appeared to his wife in a dream, warning her of impending doom. Her unbridled lust for wealth and power earned Huo Guang’s wife a substantial section in the supplementary biographies of the Lienü zhuan 烈女傳 (Biographies of Exemplary Women) as a negative example. This potted biography stresses the virtue of Huo Guang in contrast to the shameless behavior of his wife, daughter, and sons, and it is this characterization that seems to underlie that of Huo Guang in Huo Guang Remonstrates as a Ghost. Huo’s loyalty to Emperor Xuan, whom he had personally installed on the throne, outstripped even the interests of his own family.
The likelihood of the Lienü zhuan as the direct source of Yang Zi’s play is further strengthened by the remarkably prominent role that Yang Chang 楊敞 (d. 74 BC), a person who is relatively unimportant in history, plays in the drama. In the Lienü zhuan, the biography of the wife of Yang Chang immediately precedes that of Huo Guang’s wife. This biography shows a Yang Chang who is completely paralyzed by fear when Huo Guang and others ask him to participate in deposing the Prince of Changyi but who decides to join them following the resolute intervention of his wife.
Huo Guang Remonstrates as a Ghost is a regular zaju. It consists of four suites of songs assigned to a male lead who plays Huo Guang in each act. The contents of the play may be summarized as follows: In act 1, the Prince of Changyi, who has been summoned to the throne by Yang Chang and Huo Guang, is berated for his 1,117 infractions by Yang Chang, whose remonstrations are completely unsuccessful. Huo Guang decides to speak to the new emperor. He enters the palace, observes the Prince of Changyi at his carousals, and also remonstrates with him, but he also meets with no success. After consultation with Yang Chang, Huo Guang now calls Emperor Xuan to the throne, and the Prince of Changyi is banished. Emperor Xuan summons the two good-for-nothing sons of Huo Guang, Huo Shan 霍山 and Huo Yu 霍禹 (both committed suicide in 66 BC), and appoints them to high positions—despite the loud and repeated protests of their father, who is sent off on an inspection tour of the south.
In act 2, during Huo Guang’s absence from the capital, his two sons conspire with their mother and succeed in installing their sister, Chengjun, in the palace. Upon his return from the south, Huo Guang is met at home by his wife. Surprised at the absence of his children, he is informed by his wife about their positions. Infuriated, he departs for the palace. Huo Guang gives vent to his fury to Yang Chang and berates his two sons. Huo Guang visits the emperor and asks him to dismiss his sons and confine his daughter. A greatly angered Emperor Xuan flatly refuses to do so and orders Huo Guang to leave. Huo Guang thereupon voices his disappointment to Yang Chang.
A chagrined Huo Guang falls ill in act 3 and approaches his death. He admonishes his sons and urges his daughter to assist the emperor in the cultivation of virtue. When Emperor Xuan comes to visit him on his sickbed, Huo Guang first urges him to practice benign government and, afraid that his sons will soon rebel, requests a pardon beyond the grave. He then dies.
In act 4, Huo Shan and Huo Yu do indeed plot rebellion. To warn Emperor Xuan, the ghost of Huo Guang appears to him in a dream and informs him of his sons’ conspiracy. The next morning, Huo Shan and Huo Yu are arrested and executed, and an offering is presented at Huo Guang’s grave.
As is clear from this summary, Yang Zi made very free use of his sources. The historical roles of Huo Guang and Emperor Xuan are reversed: in the play it is the emperor who takes the initiative to raise the relatives of Huo Guang to high positions despite Huo’s own urgent and sincere protests. The text of our play contains no explicit references to Huo’s wife’s murder of the earlier empress—perhaps our author deemed that crime too heinous for inclusion. In the play Huo Guang also castigates his sons for prostituting their sister for their own advancement. No historical source provides a basis for Huo Guang’s long mission to the south and his subsequent absence from court, which seems to have been introduced in the play to explain Huo’s ignorance about his family’s schemes.
The historical Huo Guang, a bureaucrat bent on increasing the power of his own house, is changed in the play to a loyal official who informs against his own wife and sons. This characterization, first hinted at in his wife’s biography in the Lienü zhuan, is completed in act 4 when his ghost appears not to his wife but to the emperor. When caught between loyalty to his lord and protection of his relatives, who shamelessly exploit the emperor’s gratitude, Huo Guang unwaveringly opts for loyalty. But the very severity of Huo’s denunciation of his sons betrays the intensity of such a tragic conflict of interest, from which the protagonist can escape only in an undisturbed grave.
SUGGESTED READINGS
Idema 1989; Kinney 2014; Loewe 1974; O’Hara 1945; Pan 1944; Wagner 1998; Watson 1974a, 1974b.
DRAMATIS PERSONAE IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
| Role type |
Name and family, institutional, or social role |
| MALE LEAD |
HUO GUANG |
| MINOR FEMALE |
CHENGJUN, HUO GUANG’s daughter |
| OLD WOMAN |
MADAME HUO, HUO GUANG’s wife |
| COMIC |
HUO SHAN, HUO GUANG’s son |
| COMIC |
HUO YU, HUO GUANG’s son |
| EMPEROR |
EMPEROR XUAN |
| EXTRA |
YANG CHANG |
NEWLY PRINTED IN HANGZHOU WITH PLOT PROMPTS: HUO GUANG REMONSTRATES AS A GHOST
[ACT 1]
After PRINCE OF CHANGYI enters and opens and after EXTRA speaks—after EXTRA enters, remonstrates, and is not heeded—wait until EXTRA has departed. [You, ] MALE LEAD, enter, dressed in armor as HUO GUANG with a sword at your belt, and open. I am Huo Guang, newly appointed as Grand Marshal. After Emperor Zhao passed away, the Prince of Changyi ascended the throne. Chancellor Yang Chang, from the ranks of civil officials, and I, from the ranks of the military, both set him up. I’ve been sick and haven’t been to morning court for several days. I heard a report that the Prince of Changyi, having been lord for less than a month, has committed one thousand, one hundred and seventeen major crimes. Officials in court and out all say, “It was that old fellow, Huo Guang, and no one else who set him up in the first place.” Hai! What should I do now? I recall that it was no easy thing for the Exalted Ancestor, the first emperor, to establish this great realm, this dynasty of Han.
(XIANLÜ MODE: Dian jiangchun)
King Huai, newly set up,
Sent out Liu Bang and Xiang Yu,
And they drove forth their troops and commanders.5
Western Chu and the state of Qin—
Both had a heroic aura that rose ten thousand feet high.
(Hunjiang long)
Manifesting the expectations of the people,
The Duke of Pei, with halberd and spear, entered Xianyang.
Ziying
Was resigned to surrender at the crossroads,
And the Hegemon King cut his own throat at the Rook River.
Extinguishing Chu and destroying Qin,
The state altars of Liu:
All thanks to
The High Ancestor of Han, who began the enterprise and laid the foundations of state.
…
Who, all day among the music ensemble,
In the sounds of strings and pipes,
Where voices in song warble and wind,
And postures of dance flutter and float.
…
… dressed in dragon robes,
And yet still
Sodden, drunk as mud all day.
He listens to naught but
The tuning of strings, the blowing of bamboo flutes,
Where is any
“Discussing the Way or ordering the state”?7
Speak: Here I am, outside the court gate. I am afraid of bumping into Yang Chang, and I’d better just enter through the ministers’ back gate.—After YANG CHANG has bumped into you and spoken: [You speak:] Your remonstrance was not heeded, Chancellor. Rest easy! I will go in and remonstrate with him.
(You hulu)
Tipsy the whole day, he enters the Land of Drunkenness,
And right now,
He will have surely returned to his grotto chamber,8
Ai!
Already the silver candles are burning on high to shine on rouged beauties.
All one hears
Is the clamorous din of the entrance and exit of singers and dancers,
Or the wavering harmony of the clear tones of Tibetan flutes.
On this very day, I am concerned about peace in the empire.
I must remonstrate with the Prince of Changyi:
When I’ve set aflight songs sung before goblets of Bamboo Leaf,9
He’ll have a change of heart,
Repair the administration of the state,
And put in order the mainstays of the court.
(Tianxia le)
Still
Rotten drunk by the side of a beauty and her patterned zither!
I have passed the Screen of Reverence10—
I must have audience with the Imperial King.
I do not hear
The three cracks of the whistling whip of silence,
I do not see the civil officials arrayed along the left,
Or the military officers
Only the twelve ranks of golden hairpins arrayed as always.
After having audience with PRINCE OF CHANGYI—after [he] speaks:—[You speak:] Do you know your crimes, My Lord?—After PRINCE OF [CHANG]YI speaks—speak: Having been lord for less than a month, you have committed one thousand, one hundred and seventeen crimes—and you still are aware of no wrongdoing?
(Nezha ling)
My lord, it is said
That you are as depraved as the King of Yue, who was infatuated with Xishi,12
As besotted with lust
As the King of Chu, who raped Wu Xiang.13
And you have committed incest in the palace
Like King Zhou, who was infatuated with Da Ji.14
In front of the host of ministers,
The many grandees and councilors,
We should
Go over all of this, and carefully.
(Que ta zhi)
One who so harms the family and state
Or injures the loyal and good
Should, as fast as possible, hand over these rivers and mountains,
And abdicate the Dragon Throne.
Now the troops and citizens of all four corners all praise him15 to the skies,
And his virtue surpasses
Yu and Shun, Yao and Tang.
(Jisheng cao)
About him, I’ve heard this—
His air of benevolence is replete,
His imperial enterprise is brilliant.16
Emperor Zhao has long been buried in his tumulus,
And the Prince of Changyi knows nothing of the manner of the court.
But now
A new Son of Heaven will take the coiling-dragon couch.
This is a case of
“The fields of those before are reaped by those who come after,”
True it is
“On the Yangtze River, waves from behind press on those that went before.”
Wait until PRINCE OF CHANGYI finishes speaking:
(Liuyao xu):
He blocks me head-on,
Lunges directly toward me, and
To my face
Turns black into white, white into black.
He flaunts his
Indomitable hot-blooded gall,
A martial skill not to be vanquished.
But in my eyes he’s merely insignificant and ordinary.
Involuntarily my
Heroic aura rises ten thousand feet!
In a flash, disaster will overtake you at the Screen of Reverence,
And,
Another five steps and blood will spatter the gold steps.
And in that place
Don’t draw out the years and months,
Don’t hang on to an hour of time.
(Yao)
He replies,
Haughty and arrogant,
He flees the dragon couch.
I grab his clothes,
And in this
Very Hall of the Golden Simurgh,17
We two
Square off for a bout.
What I see
Are his words flustered and confused,
His gestures wild and crazy.
When this crisis peaks, he can only panic—
Cross a hero like me, and there’ll be no end to it.
Haven’t you heard that
Zhuan Zhu was able to stab the King of Wu?18
And today, for us
The righteous bond of master and vassal is severed beyond hope.
Since you imitate Li Ji’s destruction of Jin,19
I find it hard to imitate Yi Yin’s support of Tang.20
Speak:
Chancellor, the Prince of Changyi is without the Way. Let the two of us, without the Hundred Officials, civil and military, arrange the proper insignia and the simurgh chariot and proceed to invite our new master. After acting out welcoming EMPEROR, who enters—speak: The Prince of Changyi was without the Way and was unfit to preside over the ancestral temples. Today we establish a new ruler. In unison let our two bodies, civil officials and military officers, shout hurrah. After THE RETINUE speaks—speak: Prince Changyi, the new lord, in his ❍❍ [Sagely Decree]21 has spared you from the death penalty and granted you a fiefdom. Quickly leave the court! After PRINCE OF CHANGYI speaks—after EMPEROR appoints you to office—speak: I request with all my heart to be allowed to retire and live in seclusion.—After EMPEROR summons two COMICS onstage—After he appoints them to office—speak: Your Majesty, how can you appoint two such unfilial sons to so high an office? Truly, one still bears his fetal hair! [(Sing:)]
(Houting hua)
Why should they enjoy the emolument and position of a thousand-stone weight?22
They cheat the myriad people out of their possessions,
But now receive official appointment of the second rank
And control the silver seals of the Three Terraces.23
Them—how can they
Put in order the mainstays of the court?
Truly, these two brats are vulgar louts, uncouth bumpkins.
Two lines of text are too much for them to read,
A single bow is one too many for them to draw.
Just this morning they were bumpkins from the paddy fields,
But tonight they ascend the hall of the Son of Heaven.
(Qing ge’er)
How can they be prime ministers at court, at court?
All in vain, the hopes of the people are now lost, lost.
These two brats grew up in a house that never leaked, that was filled with fine rice and dry firewood.
But you now award them
Purple-corded golden seals,
Feathered banners, and oxtail pennants,
Allow them to sit in state in the central office,
To support and assist my emperor,
To judge and decide the mainstays of court,
To order and regulate both family and state.
What I fear
Is that they will destroy the order of yin and yang,
And so incite the rage of the vaulted blue,
That heaven will send down disaster and calamity,
And set frost flying in the sixth month.24
Drought will kill
The harvest, the mulberry trees,
Waters will flood
The fields, the villages.
The four borders will fill with famine and starvation,
And ten thousand people will flee and fly.
Just look!
They are fiercer than jackals and wolves,
More crude than pigs and goats.
Their countenance: sunken eyes and hollow cheeks,
Their appearance: yellow faced and weak limbed.
Pampered by their daddy’s rice and their mommy’s soup,
They’ve no hope for “noble husband and glorious wife,”
And as a result, bad bones broken, they’re even more unstable.
They are boats without rudders, baskets without bottoms.
My King you must
Reach back and model yourself after Tang of the Shang,25
Subjugate and make vassals of the Rong and Qiang.26
Go to the outskirts to greet those who can govern,
Choose and advance those wise and good,
Select and employ the loyal and good,
Be upright and square in all your actions,
Outstrip the ordinary in talent and wisdom,
Discuss the Way, order the state,
Extend the realm, expand its borders,
And make the myriad countries submit in surrender.
Then the myriad people will have peace and prosperity—
You will live a myriad of lives without end,
And a myriad generations will sing your praise.
But deep-fried monkeys like them
Are frivolous and crazed by nature,
In truth,
Can one believe their portraits will ever be painted in the Unicorn Hall?27
After EMPEROR speaks—speak: Now, I, this single official, this very day bid My Lord adieu and go off to inspect the Five Southern Provinces.28 [(Sing:)]
(Zhuansha Coda)
The emperor has ascended the throne,
Heaven has hung down its signs:
On this very day,
The sky is clear, the sun is bright.
The days of Shun and the years of Yao resonate with the high azure.
Over his head hovers a purple mist, a red aura,
That spreads evenly over the Land of the Five Clouds.29
He, all alone and forlorn, at the bank of the autumn river,
Will hear, year after year,
The echo of springtime thunder that shakes the cosmos in response to heaven.30
One ascends the throne in Jianzhang Palace,31
The other hides himself at ocean’s shore—
This is truly “A true dragon appears in the world, the false dragon goes into hiding.”
Exit.
[ACT 2]
After EMPEROR exits after speaking—two COMICS enter, open and stop—After OLD WOMAN finishes speaking—After two COMICS greet [her], they exit—EMPEROR and retinue enter, open, and stop—After two COMICS enter and offer up MINOR FEMALE—OLD WOMAN enters, speaks again, exits.32 You, MALE LEAD, enter riding a bamboo horse, open: Under commission of the Sagely Directions of our emperor I have made a tour of inspection of the Five Southern Provinces. How quickly has half a year passed! Oh, what a pleasure to reach home today.
([ZHONGLÜ MODE] Fen die’er)
A lean horse, a long whip—
The road stretched on and on, yet could I shirk from this tiring duty?
Worn out by the journey; oh, how bleak a traveler’s lot!
But on behalf of the August One,
I have expended all my energy—
Let him use me to my limits and I will die without resentment.
On this occasion I have undone injustices against the people
And happily return home,
My happy heart’s desire fulfilled.
(Zui chunfeng)
I went a full distance of twenty rest stops,
Passing from one to the other for three or four thousand miles;
In the Five Southern Provinces I was gone for half a year—
Never was a road so distant, so far.
When I thought—of my wife, leaning with anticipation on the door,
Or of my children—in dreams,
They appeared live before my eyes.
Act out returning home: Servants, take my horse.—After OLD WOMAN receives you and stops—After she speaks:
(Hong xiuxie)
I brush the dust from my face,
Overjoyed that we, husband and wife, are together again.
Here at home you must have had a hard time because of the children—
Even though
I have a good salary,
And some public lands—
I think
It’s hard to get by on such a poor income.
Speak:—On the whole trip I thought only of those two. Why didn’t they come to greet me?—After OLD WOMAN speaks—Speak:—And isn’t my daughter, Chengjun, coming from her embroidery chamber to greet me? After OLD WOMAN speaks act out collapsing from anger. [(Sing:)]
(Ti yindeng)
In carrying out their duties, they had no other gift to present
Except to turn over their sister on a platter to the emperor?
No doubt,
A commoner has rushed into a hall of pure gold.
Is this the summoning of worthies, the selection of talent by my emperor of Han?
Think of those days—
One at the foot of the cliff,33
One on the bank of the Wei,34
Even that youngster from Huaiyin who begged for food35—
(Manqing cai)
They never did any
Reaching glory in a single leap,
Never
Offered up their little sister for a bit of cash,
Bartered her for a steady salary.
This breath of rage won’t subside, it chokes my throat,
I am so enraged my hands and feet tremble and shake.
Speak: This very day I will see the Son of Heaven at court and offer my remonstration. Wait for EMPEROR to enter, open, and stop—After EXTRA MALE enters and remonstrates—You, MALE LEAD, enter conveniently—Act out greeting YANG CHANG—After he speaks: Chancellor, call out those two scoundrels for me. After two COMICS enter, speak, and exit.
(Shiliu hua)
I have
Exerted myself for twenty years on behalf of the emperor,
And I once
Occupied the office of commander in chief, controlled all military power.
Now today,
In the central office, they channel the emperor’s edicts,
Barely able to get a promotion,
They act the official.
I once
Braved death fighting on sandy fields,
I once
Slept in frost and camped in snow,
Behind the battle lines and at army’s vanguard.
I recall my
Water-mill whip,
Leather-ridged stave,
And eagle-feathered arrow.
I doffed my metal armor,
To barter for a purple robe to wear.36
(Dou anchun)
Beat these scoundrels who are appointed officials because of an oiled topknot,
Who receive their commissions on account of her powdered face.
Your food and clothing were earned at the belt of a woman’s skirt,
Sword and armor earned my salary and emoluments.
If I don’t beat you to death, I can’t rid myself of this wrong.
Is this what I looked forward to for half a year?
Ask for no consideration of those feelings proper to father and sons,
For we’ve nearly lost the correct demeanor of lord and minister.
After being received in audience by EMPEROR—After EMPEROR speaks:
(Shang xiaolou)
Beat these scoundrels
Who are low in talent, shallow in wisdom.
How could they
Attend you at court, be promoted, transferred?
How can they
Extend the realm, expand the borders,
Order the country, bring peace to the state,
Offer up policies or set out criticism?
To my mind, these scoundrels
Have no exalted insights or long-range vision,
How could they
Occupy the central office and be enfeoffed with an estate of eight districts?
After EMPEROR speaks:
(Reprise)
Should they be allowed
To embezzle money from the Hundred Surnames,
Then betray
The emperor’s edict,
In order, with all gall,
To abuse and oppress the good citizens?
Or annoy and offend the heavenly countenance,
Commit crimes to call down punishment,
And in the end suffer execution in the marketplace?
I fear
It will implicate my whole household, noble and base.
Speak: I beg Your Majesty to degrade these two scoundrels to commoners and to set Chengjun aside in the Cold Palace. May your sagely wisdom be not deluded! After EMPEROR speaks, he and his retinue exit—After YANG CHANG speaks—Speak: The emperor does not heed my remonstration. Enough, enough, enough.
(Shuahai and Four from Coda)
Once it becomes hard to defend myself before the sagely anger of my lord and king,
I can see my aged life trickle away before my eyes.
How can I bear today’s humiliation?
It makes me
Hang my head in silence.
The fulsome rage of the heavenly countenance I could not dispel,
And I irritated him so much
That an immediate beheading was before my eyes.
Everyone is fed up—
In the lightest case, I should be caned a hundred strokes,
In the worst, banished three thousand miles away.
(Three from Coda)
Yes, indeed,
Bi Gan was ripped open at Star-Plucking Tower,37
Qu Yuan drowned in the Miluo River,38
And Fan Li bade Gou Jian adieu at Gusu Terrace.39
Forever have disordered states lacked the Way.
And from antiquity,
Deluded lords have neither valued the worthy,
Nor distinguished between the pure and the muddied.
I’m afraid
They are Robber Zhis who eat the hearts of men40—
How can they be
Yan Yuans, reverential and full of virtuous acts?41
(Two from Coda)
Why did I
Wear myself out as an official,
Why didn’t I
Covet money?
All I considered was that my pure reputation would shine in later years.
I never sought gold or jade, nor noble title upon noble title.
What
Offspring have I who are “each worthier than the other”?
Unfulfilled is my life’s ambition.
Get out of my sight,
Stay away from me!
(Shou shawei Coda)
Even though raised to the very first rank,
And on top of that given extra commissions.
After YANG CHANG speaks:
Who wants to rely on a grand air to manifest his might?
After EXTRA speaks:
I fear
Breeding virgins to gain official title will wind up with only the shallowest good fortune.
Exits.
[ACT 3]
After two COMICS speak—EMPEROR does one scene—EXTRA opens one scene—[You] MALE LEAD, act out being violently ill and enter being supported, open: Since I beat those two miscreants, I have been bedridden for twenty days. How it vexes me. All my merit and labors of earlier days have been wiped out in a single stroke. Act out heaving a long sigh:
([ZHONGGONG MODE] Duanzheng hao)
For my family I’ve labored hard in vain,
On behalf of the state I’ve suffered for naught.
From the very founding of the Han, I’ve supported the fiery Lius,42
I sorrow over my failure, uselessly hang my head.
Without cease
Tears moisten the sleeves of my battle garb.
(Gun xiuqiu)
On that day I came back,
I contracted these symptoms,
All because of
These beasts who shame our family name.
And so this
Damned life was spent, but spent in vain.
Stifling my anger caused incessant coughing,
And now I leave this detailed testament to my wife:
It’s just because
Of the humiliation to our family that I can’t dispel the anger in my heart,
The offering up of their little sister can never conceal the shame on our faces.
Life is like the foam that floats on water’s surface.
Wait until two COMICS enter and act out asking about your illness—Speak:—I’m old.—Both my legs hurt. After two COMICS stretch your legs:
(Tang xiucai)
You have matched the phoenix companion and the simurgh mate,
And have won some rich food and imperial wine.
For you it’s precisely
“That autumn when real men achieve their ambition.”
I will soon
Return to the underworld,
Be buried in a desolate mound—
That will be my final fall harvest.
After MINOR FEMALE speaks—Speak: My child, I’m far from ascending to heaven but close to entering earth. Yet, I have a few words to leave to you. Heed what I say. Wait until MINOR FEMALE finishes speaking:
(Dai guduo)
It looks like your
Revered father may die any moment,
So I ask you to listen to my testament:
Have the emperor
Recruit gentlemen and summon worthies,
Don’t let him
Be led astray by flowers or lust for wine.
I’m afraid these miscreant sons will slander loyal ministers.
You should
Circumspectly, carefully, present your memorial to the lord king himself.
You should imitate
Lady Wuyan, who established the state of Qi,43
Don’t imitate that
Empress Lü who deranged the dynasty of Liu.44
Wait until EMPEROR enters—speaks and stops—You, as MALE LEAD, speak: Ah, I merit ten thousand deaths.
(Tang xiucai)
I, this minister,
Cannot put on the golden seal and its purple cords,
And can barely say, “I bow my head with true trepidation.”
I, this minister,
Cannot carry out the dancing steps that raise the dust in a triple kowtow.
I am moved by Your Majesty’s special concern
For your old court noble,
Whom you’ve come to ask after in person.
After EMPEROR asks after you, speak: There are several affairs in which Your Majesty must heed my petition.
[(Reprise)]
Your Majesty,
Write out writs of amnesty and set the prisoners free,
Lessen taxes and imposts and so show mercy to the populace.
In every route, prefecture, and city, restore the temple buildings.
In executions, do not spare your relatives,
In rewards, do not shun your enemies.
“Grace flows from above.”
(Gun xiuqiu)
Your Majesty, have
Padded uniforms frequently distributed to the army,
And rations of grain daily made available to the troops.
So, even if you use them to their limits, they will not shirk from hardship,
But will risk their lives against sword and halberd, spear and lance.
It’s only when you press for grain or press for taxes,
That, then,
Most likely the grain is not harvested or the wheat will not ripen,
And you will vainly pressure them to the point that each and every family flees—
How can they not fear
Flogging, caning, banishment, or exile?
Your Majesty,
Open the granaries to save the impoverished people,
Then won’t they likely
Enjoy their work, be settled in their homes, and not wander in search of food?
These and only these
Are the prime sources of the ordered state.
The whole entourage enters, report to EMPEROR, stop—Speak:—Your Majesty, these two miscreant sons are bound to rebel in the future—I request a single writ of reprieve to pardon my crimes.—After EMPEROR speaks:
(Tang xiucai)
I, this minister, fear
That they will implicate all of Huo Guang’s family, young and old,
These scoundrels
Are bound to rebel against the universe of our Liu dynasty.
This is
Something that lies ahead that I have already perceived.
These few words—
Mark them in your heart,
Don’t let them slip away!
(Gun xiuqiu)
These two,
Worthy of the sword,
In the end will die worse than pigs or dogs.
I, this minister, fear
That they will implicate my three-foot-high lonely tumulus.
Just because of you two,
They will split open my coffin,
And cut off the head to desecrate my corpse.
A single writ of reprieve will protect this old minister,
And, as if it were a life-protecting amulet, I will guard it tightly within my bosom.
Let them
Cleave open the new grave mound of your deceased father,
But let no person spit and curse over the damned bones of this humble minister—
Great achievement now gone forever!
After EXTRA speaks:
(Three from Coda)
“He who has known to the full the affairs of the world is slow to open his mouth”—
Why
Did you serve our lord and king, but not to the full?
I just want you
To order the country and bring peace to the state,
Leave the wicked and return to the upright,
Attract gentlemen and summon worthies,
Establish the Han and raise the Lius.
Take your example from our noble founder:
Be open-minded and magnanimous,
Have a tolerance as deep as the sea,
Accept remonstrance without interruption.
Rely on the tender protection of high heaven.
I just desire
Your Majesty can comprehend your officials—civil and military—and esteem dukes and nobles.
(Two from Coda)
O, Heaven,
You lengthen the years of those whose evil hearts blind their consciences,
But when it comes to me, who’s served state and family, I’ve drawn the shorter lot.
It is also
Earlier karma from a former life,
That caught up now so that I suffer,
Suffused with illness, sunk in disease—
For a thousand deeds, a thousand ends.
I’ve wound up with nothing but
My three souls fading, fading,
My four limbs burning, burning,
My seven spirits moving away, away.
It makes me
Lower my head in silence,
Tears—that are not just teardrops—flow.
(Coda)
The pulse in my two wrists diminishes to nothing, I am now beyond saving,
The one breath from my mouth does not return—so it is now the end.
I conclude that my spent life will not last long.
After I, this humble minister, have died—now any moment—
I don’t hope for a burial mound on a high plain.
What need for the vain effort of a memorial mass,
Or reading and reciting the scriptures until hoarse?
Don’t think that by these actions the souls of the dead will be spared anxiety.
My reward must be, My Lord and King, that you bestow rich benefice,
And keep in mind my deeds when I administered the state,
Then, when my funeral cortege goes out, meet it at the crossroads,
Ascend the Meridian Gate, and then, My Lord and King, gaze at my catafalque,
If Your Majesty has pity on me, this humble official,
Gaze from afar on my hearse and pour out a libation of a single cup of wine!
Exit.
[ACT 4]
EMPEROR enters, opens. After he signals falling asleep, [you], MALE LEAD, enter, costumed as the sentient soul, and open: Huo Shan and Huo Yu are going to revolt, I had better go and inform the Son of Heaven. Ai! The realm of the Overseer of Darkness is vastly different from the human world.—EXTRA, after performing one scene, exits.—Wait until EMPEROR enters to open a second time.—Two COMICS explain their plans for one scene and exit.
([SHUANGDIAO MODE] Xin shuiling)
Cold, chill, and gloomy, the wind flutters the pennant that summons back sentient souls,45
Yet I, because of this state [of Han]—my whole soul has yet to scatter.46
They raise on high the gauze-globed road shiner,
While lightly shaking the horse’s cinch rings.47
I had better study
How to pile eggs carefully, how to cling to the railing,48
And then
Remonstrate with that humane and virtuous emperor and king of mine.
(Zhuma ting)
The night is still, the watch near midnight,
As I swirl up the ridge and climb the mountains, seek out the old passes leading home.
Clouds gather away, fog disperses
As I enter Chang’an under this cloak of stars, this belt of the moon.
Before, when alive, I summoned my energy to protect these rivers and mountains,
And now, my allotted years finished, I will fulfill my honor in support of the fiery Han.
You watch me now,
Supporting the king or protecting the emperor, I’ll neither shirk nor fear.
Act out entering the palace.—Do the action of standing behind the lamp and waiting until EMPEROR acts out being deeply shaken—after he finishes speaking—speak: I have frightened my master. I, your humble servant, am no malignant spirit.—Wait until EMPEROR speaks.
(Yan’er luo)
I, this humble servant,
Cannot form ranks with the court ministers,
Because my two souls are scattered by the wind.
An incident on the border will be brought up tomorrow,
And in the morning levee, you will hear righteous remonstrance.
Wait until EMPEROR finishes speaking.
(Desheng ling)
Tomorrow it will be a grand minister, in the cold of the fifth watch,49
Right now, it is me, at the third drum, before the watches are finished.
After EMPEROR speaks.
So you want
To banish me from these palace halls,
There’s no
“Please stay behind my aged Mount Tai”?50
In the normalcy of days past
You treated me as if I were Yi Yin or Dan, the Duke of Zhou,
Yet today
You take me to be a malignant apparition, a ghostly demon.
MALE LEAD speaks: Your Majesty, someone is plotting rebellion!—EMPEROR speaks.
(Yan’er luo)
His Majesty says,
“From the east at Hangu Pass,
Westward to the Cloud-Climbing Trestle Way,51
Who is there to spy on me?
Who is there to lightly cross me?”
(Gua yugou)
Your Majesty.
Should be preparing against armor-clad generals crossing the passes in the night,
Instead you treat me, your minister, with no respect.
What I fear—
“It’s too late to patch the boat when it’s in the middle of the river!”
And you will see the Hundred Surnames mired in mud and muck.52
I
Am neither a military genius like Wu Zixu,53
Nor a civil minister to equal Dan, the Duke of Zhou,
O, how pitiful,
Our heaven and earth, conjoined from six directions,
And our rivers and hills that stretch on for ten thousand li.
[Speak]: Your Majesty, Huo Shan and Huo Yu are plotting revolt. Tomorrow they will request that my master go to their private residence. On the signal of striking a metal gong, they will disorder all under heaven. I have come especially to inform you, my master.
Exit.
After EMPEROR has indicated that it is dawn—after two COMICS are apprehended and enter—After EMPEROR makes his judgment and after sending him off with sacrifice.
Nine branches of the clan exterminated, all the young slain,
The whole family decapitated, all the family wealth seized.
How pitiful: Twenty years of public service,
The moist, rich earth on his grave has yet to dry—
This was
“In the Palace of Receiving Sages’ Wisdom, Huo Guang Remonstrates as a Ghost.”
Dispersal Section
| Title: |
In the walled city of Chang’an, Huo Shan plots rebellion, |
| |
In the district of Haihun, the deposed Prince of Changyi runs into trouble. |
| Name: |
In the Hall of Lasting Trust, Emperor Xuan assumes the throne, |
| |
In the Palace of Receiving Sages’ Wisdom, Huo Guang Remonstrates as a Ghost. |
In the Palace of Receiving Sages’ Wisdom, Huo Guang Remonstrates as a Ghost, the end.
At night Wuding dreamt of attaining a sage, who was named Yue. Based on what he had seen in his dream, he looked at the assembled ministers and hundred clerks of his government, but none of them matched. At that point he sent his hundred officers to seek him in the wilds, and he obtained Yue from the precipices of Fu. At this time Yue was a slave, forming walls in the precipices of Fu, and when he was seen by Wuding, Wuding said, “This is he.” He got him and conversed with him, and indeed Yue was a sagely man, so he was raised to be minister and the state of Yin was grandly governed. Therefore, he consequently bestowed on him the surname Fu because of the precipices of Fu and called him Fu Yue.
