Thirty-six

First Year of Imperial Dragon · AD 229

Today, the bingshen day of the fourth month[1], we are gathered at the south outskirts of Wuchang to witness His Lordship ascend the throne as Emperor. Last month, to my astoundment, His Lordship arranged for the family, including Qing'er, Rong'er and Rong'er's parents, to be fetched to Wuchang for the enthronement. Today, we have been allocated a place next to the imperial family, together with the younger Lady Qiao, who is accompanied by her younger son Zhou Yin and his wife, a daughter of the Sun family. Her elder son Zhou Xun had taken His Lordship's eldest daughter Sun Luban as wife, but passed away a few years ago; her daughter Zhou Shuo is wife to Heir Apparent Sun Deng.

Finally, the auspicious hour arrives. His Lordship ascends the altar and reads the edict, 'The Emperor's subject Quan dares to use a black ox[2] to proclaim to the Heavens: the Han dynasty has reigned for twenty-four generations, has spanned four hundred and thirty-four years. Its energy has terminated, its fortune is finished, all that it controls under Heaven has vanished, its territory has fallen apart. The wicked subject Cao Pi then seized the imperial seal, and Pi's son Rui succeeded him in doing evil, taking on a title of which he was unworthy and throwing the system into disarray. I, Quan, was born in the southeast and was fortunate to take on government, making it my goal to establish a peaceful era, executing punishments according to the ruler's word, doing as the common person should. The officials and those in charge of the various provinces, commandries and cities all believe that the Mandate of Heaven is gone from Han, the House of Han has ceased to offer sacrifices to Heaven, the imperial seat is empty, the land is without a ruler. Auspicious omens of many kinds have occurred back and forth, the succession accorded by Heaven now rests upon my person, I cannot but accept. Quan respects the will of Heaven and does not dare to disobey, thus I have carefully chosen an auspicious day to ascend the altar, place the ceremonial pointed jades[3] and five bolts of silk tied together upon the pyre and assume the imperial seat. May the gods, having partaken of it, aid Wu, that she may forever enjoy the blessings of Heaven.'

Minister of Rites[4] Chen Hua then reads another edict proclaiming an amnesty throughout the empire and change of the reign era to 'Imperial Dragon'. His Majesty's father, the General who Smashes Caitiffs Sun Jian is posthumously titled the Martial and Upright Emperor, his mother, Lady Wu, is posthumously honoured as the Martial and Upright Empress and the General who Exterminates Renegades Sun Ce is posthumously honoured as the Diligent Prince of Changsha. The Heir Apparent Sun Deng is made the Crown Prince, and the various officials are promoted and bestowed awards: General who Assists the State[5] and Right Protector of the Army Lu Xun is promoted to First General[6] and Right Protector of a Border Area[7], General of the Left Zhuge Jin is promoted to Senior General[8] and Left Protector of a Border Area, General of the Right and Left Protector of the Army Bu Zhi is promoted to General of the Flying Cavalry[9], General who Conquers the North[10] Zhu Ran is promoted to General of Chariots and Cavalry and Right Protector of the Army, General who Pacifies the South[11] Quan Cong is promoted to Protector General[12] and Left Protector of the Army, General who Exerts Might Zhu Huan is promoted to Front General, the Heir Apparent's staff members[13] Zhuge Ke, Zhang Xiu, Gu Tan and Chen Biao are promoted to Left Assisting Commandant[14], Right Assisting Commandant[15], Commandant who Assists Rightness[16] and Commandant who Supports Rightness[17] respectively and Commandant who Restores Greatness Zhou Yin is made Marquis of a Capital Village[18], among others.

When the ceremony is completed, Lady Qiao's family and my family follow the imperial family back to the palace; it was His Majesty's request that we be present. When we have gathered in the audience hall, His Majesty begins, 'It is thanks to two people that I am who I am today. In the past, Lu Zijing spoke of becoming Emperor; he indeed saw the situation clearly. Without Zhou Gongjin, I could not become Emperor. The empire owes much to them.'

Beside me, Lady Qiao wipes away tears, and I too am assailed by memories of Master Zhou, Zijing, Lady Qiao and me together in the past…

Master Zhang Zhao lifts the bamboo board[19] he holds before him, intending to speak up. His Majesty, perceiving, adds, 'If I had followed Master Zhang's suggestion, I would be begging for food now.'

Ouch! The officials wince at His Majesty's words and Master Zhang prostrates on the ground, ashamed. Beside me, Lady Qiao is also troubled, but it is not our place to speak up in court.

Later, when Lady Qiao's family and my family depart from the palace, we find ourselves approaching Master Zhang's family after turning a corner. Lady Qiao and I glance at each other apprehensively—it would be the epitome of rudeness to walk in the opposite direction or pass by Master Zhang without greeting him, but what can we say that will not aggravate an awkward situation? I ponder the question in the few seconds before reaching Master Zhang, but do not think of a good solution.

'This woman born to the Qiao family pays her respects to Master Zhang,' Lady Qiao greets Master Zhang.

Lady Qiao's greeting gives me courage—perhaps the best approach is simply to address Master Zhang as I would have under ordinary circumstances. 'This woman born to the Cheng family pays her respects to Master Zhang,' I follow suit, followed by our families.

Behind Master Zhang, his eldest son Zhang Cheng gives us a grateful smile, and I know that we have defused a thorny situation.

'Teacher,' Master Zhang's youngest son Zhang Xiu greets Lady Qiao.

'Do you still have time to practise the zither now that you're on the Crown Prince's staff, Shusi?' Lady Qiao enquires of Zhang Xiu.

'I try my best,' Zhang Xiu responds. 'I'd like you to critique my playing again someday, Teacher.'

'I'd be delighted to do so,' Lady Qiao promises.

While I look on with admiration at how successfully Lady Qiao has resolved a delicate situation, I nevertheless feel a tinge of melancholy: will our family never be on good terms with Master Zhang's family?

Afterwards, Lady Qiao updates me on her life for the past twenty years. An accomplished zither player, she accepted students after Master Zhou's demise; Zhang Xiu was one of her first students.

'After Gongjin passed away, I compiled his compositions, musical commentaries and what I could remember of his improvisations and remarks on dynamics and technique,' she recounts. 'Melody of Guangling is the one piece that I never mastered, thus I do not know how to record Gongjin's remarks about it. Gongjin said that you had an affinity with the piece, Elder Sister—would you be willing to play it for me and share with me his comments about it?'

'Of course,' I gladly assent.

In Lady Qiao's residence, I play this zither piece that is unique among zither pieces for its vehement emotions and imposing manner. Master Zhou, I wonder, can your soul in Heaven hear me playing it?

'It's not quite the same as it was twenty years ago,' I inform Lady Qiao. 'Over the years, I altered it based on Master Zhou's comments and my own feeling for the piece. My skill at the zither cannot compare with yours; I fear I've made a fool of myself in front of you, Younger Sister.'

'Not at all. In terms of skill, you may not be as good as me, but in terms of bringing out the essence of this piece, you have done superbly. You're strange, Elder Sister—of all pieces of zither music, this unconventional piece is the one you're best at,' Lady Qiao teases.

'One day, there'll be one who masters the quintessence of Melody of Guangling, and when that person has passed away, there will never be Melody of Guangling again as he played it,' I half-jokingly predict.

'Perhaps so. Do you think it'll happen within our lifetimes?' Lady Qiao pensively asks.

Who knows? For all the suffering that has occurred in this age, it has also been a glorious age, an age of heroes. Who knows what other wondrous tales this age will have to tell?

Footnotes:

[1] The bǐngshēn 丙申 day of the fourth month of the first year of Imperial Dragon was 23 May 229.

[2] Used to make sacrifices to the Heavens.

[3] There were two types of ceremonial pointed jades, 圭 guī and 璋 zhāng. The guī was a flat piece of jade with a pointed top and a flat. The zhāng had the shape of a vertical half of a guī, that is, it had a slanted top.

[4] 太常。

[5] 辅国将军。

[6] 上大将军。

[7] 右都护。

[8] 大将军。

[9] 骠骑将军。

[10] 征北将军。

[11] 绥南将军。

[12] 卫将军。

[13] 中庶子。

[14] 左辅都尉。

[15] 右弼都尉。

[16] 辅正都尉。

[17] 翼正都尉。

[18] 都乡侯。

[19] 笏。This was a long and narrow board made of jade, ivory or bamboo on which notes could be made, which officials in ancient China held before them when they met with the sovereign in court.

See endnotes for chapter notes.