"What is the greatest love story ever written?" This was the topic that Yeh Ching-ping, the late chairman of National Taiwan University's Chinese Literature department, assigned to his class. He had asked his students to think seriously about this topic but he was unprepared for their answer. The result was that, with the exception of one student that turned in a completely blank page, all of his Chinese literature students wrote that the greatest love story ever written was Romeo and Juliet.
 |
(Baoyu and Daiyu in The Dream of the Red Chamber are so well attuned to each other that each knows intuitively what the other is thinking. The novel breaks the mold of formulaic scholar-and-beauty or wall-and-rider tales. (courtesy of Tungta Publishing)) |
Even after Yeh Ching-ping bought a steak for a friend who had bet him on the
outcome of his experiment, he still couldn't believe it. Clearly, the majority
of his students had grown up on "Snow White" and "Sleeping
Beauty." Now, to gain a different perspective we asked a group of
professors to make a list of what they consider to be the most moving love
stories of all time.
The Oil Peddler and the Plum Flower Girl
The story of "The Oil Peddler and the Plum Flower Girl" (a plum
flower girl being a prostitute) begins when an oil peddler named Qin Zhong sees
a famous courtesan. When the commoner Qin Zhong sees the beautiful Plum Flower,
he is immediately overcome with love. Most people would have been intimidated by
her beauty and her fine clothes, but he doesn't even waste time to sigh with
love. Instead, he immediately goes to work saving a few coins a day for over a
year until he has saved enough money to fulfill his single wish of meeting with
his true love.
When they first meet, Plum Flower has had too much to drink. She doesn't
so much as kick off her shoes or let down her hair before she puts her head down
and passes out. Qin Zhong is not discouraged. Rather, brimming over with love,
he just quietly waits for her to wake up. Suddenly she begins to retch, and
without hesitating he opens his robe to catch her vomit. He is from a very low
social position and she has had many bad experiences, but in the end their love
washes their problems away.
Sun Chung-hsing, a professor in the Sociology Department at National
Taiwan University, lists this as his favorite love story. He likes the story
because it does not conform to the traditional story of the talented scholar who
falls in love, but rather focuses on an everyday person who is not exceptionally
good looking or brilliant, nor is he from the upper class. Professor Sun likes
the story because there is not an immediate recognition of love between them as
in most classical Chinese literature, but rather Qin Zhong has to win Plum
Flower's love through his actions. Another example is The Story of Sima Xiang-ru
and Zhuo Wenjun. After Wenjun is widowed she meets and falls in love with Sima
Xiangru who she then dares to elope with. They have the courage to break
society's chains, and through their strong efforts can live their lives together
for ever. Both Sun and Professor Chen Chao-hsu of National Central University's
Chinese Department say they appreciate this story very much.
The Girl with the Red Duster
Qin Zhong, the main protagonist of "The Oil Peddler and the Plum
Flower Girl," is a man of uncommonly deep love. Similarly, the story "The
Girl with the Red Duster who Recognized a Hero's Worth" depicts a woman who
bravely courts the man she loves. Professor Tseng lists this as the best Chinese
love story of all time. This is part of the larger Tang Dynasty romance The
Bearded Man, about the hero Li Jing. In the story, the girl with the red duster
is a singing courtesan in the House of Yang. She sees Li Jing and from his
bearing she immediately recognizes his worth and is drawn to him. That night,
after asking others where Li Jing lives, she goes to the hotel he is staying at.
Following her own desires she goes into his room and says: "I am a
concubine in the House of Yang. I have served him for a very long time, and I
have seen many people in the world. Yet I have never seen anyone like you
before, so I have left his service to go with you." From this, one can see
that she not only loves him but admires him as a person and recognizes his
worth, and sees that he is destined to be a hero. Later in the story, Li Jing
stares at her as she combs her hair. She does not shy away as most women of that
time would have done, and she does not walk like an effete woman. They
immediately swear an oath to be as brother and sister. Because she recognizes Li
Jing's worth before he has attained great status, she is notable as a female
character with great insight and the ability to judge others.
Tseng Chao-hsu feels that the significance of this story lies in the fact
that it addresses a different set of issues from other classical Chinese
stories. "Two of the most fundamental characteristics of traditional
Chinese stories are an emphasis on morality and an inequality between women and
men. This story stands out from these in that the lovers do not dwell on
ceremony, there is no sense of females being inferior to males, and they do not
pedantically dwell on a moral lesson. Instead we can see that this story focuses
on life questions."
The Peony Pavilion
Lee Yuan-chen is a professor at Tamkang University and has been active in
the women's rights movement for many years. She selects The Peony Pavilion as
her favorite love story. Written in the Ming Dynasty, this comedy directly
addresses the issues of love and passion.
In the era that Du Liniang was raised in, women were not allowed to go to
flower gardens because it was thought to be immoral and decadent. The first time
that Du Liniang goes to a flower garden, she does not tell her parents. When she
sees the wide array of blooming flowers, she is awed. "Now bursting with
color, blossoming everywhere, one day they will wither and tumble! Beautiful
moments and lovely scenes-what do they matter? Who will see the beauty in this
house?" Of course, this passage not only reflects her sadness for the end
of spring but also for her own passing youth.
After Du Liniang goes to the gardens, she has a dream in which she sees a
young scholar named Liu Mengmei and has sexual intercourse with him; a scene
which is noteworthy for its delicate description of a woman's needs and
passions. Later in the story Du Li-niang becomes very sick and dies. Her ghost
has sexual relations with Liu Mengmei and she then comes back to life. Liu
Mengmei knows that Du Liniang has come back to life and goes to her grave to try
to free her. Her father sees him, however, and mistakenly believes that the
young scholar has robbed Du Liniang's grave. Her father grabs the young scholar
and begins to beat him, but Liu shouts out, "I kissed her so that her heart
could start beating again. By lying with her I gave her my life essence and
brought her back to life." This story literally emphasizes the life-saving
nature of love and the power of desire.
The script of The Peony Pavilion was adapted from a Song-dynasty story.
Cheng Pei-kai, a professor in the history department of Pace University in New
York, also lists this story as a favorite: "Tang Xianzu changed the plot so
that it was not merely a story in which sexual activity brought life, but one in
which a woman is depicted as having her own desires and pursuing them."
Communicating with a few words
In The Dream of the Red Chamber, the love between Jia Baoyu and Lin Daiyu
gradually grows from a physical relationship into a spiritual relationship.
Through sharing in daily activities such as eating and sleeping together they
slowly develop a rapport. Yu Te-hui is an associate professor at National Dong
Hwa University's Institute of Ethnic Relations and Culture. Although Dr. Yu
works in the social sciences, he states: "Sociological theories and areas
of investigation cannot portray matters of love as well as a great novel.
Although stories are often unstructured, they bring romance to life. The Dream
of the Red Chamber is the perfect example of this."
As an example, let's look at Chapter 32 of The Dream of the Red Chamber.
Jia Baoyu has always had contempt for those who try to talk him into pursuing
the expected paths of government or business. He movingly says: "Daiyu
would never try to convince me to do something like that. If she was the type of
person to say something of that nature we wouldn't be as close as we are."
Lin Daiyu hears this through the closed door and is overwhelmed with both
delight and sadness. Her delight is due to the fact that she thinks of him as
her intimate friend, and on overhearing his speech knows that the feeling is
mutual. But at the same time she is saddened. She knows that everyone feels that
the perfect match for Baoyu is a young woman named Baochai, because they are
from the same social class. Lin Daiyu is merely an orphan, alone, and in failing
health.
Jia Baoyu then goes outside and sees that Lin Daiyu is crying. He gently
wipes away her tears with his hand, and after gazing at her for a while he tells
her: "Don't worry." She is stunned and after an equally long pause,
replies: "Why should I be worried with you here?" Jia Baoyu comforts
her by telling her to worry less and to concentrate on recovering from her
illness. Lin Daiyu is struck by his words, marveling at the extent to which he
understands her. She wants to tell him everything she has been thinking and
feeling, but after struggling to do so, she cannot spit out even one word. She
just gazes at him in silence.
Professor Yu Te-hui comments on this scene: "This passage exemplifies
true love. You say only a few words and I say only a few words yet somehow we
communicate our innermost feelings."
No need to envy the gods
Some years ago, Columbia University in the USA decided to compile The
Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature, to present different
aspects of Chinese culture, and invited a panel of leading international
sinologists to recommend books they felt best exemplified Chinese culture. Only
one book was on every committee member's list: Six Chapters of a Floating Life,
the story of Shen Sanbai and his wife Yunniang. In our survey, Ko Ching-ming, a
professor in NTU's Chinese literature department, and two other college
professors, Lin Chien-hsun and Lin Ching-su, put this at the top of their lists.
Yunniang is also described by many scholars as "the most lovable woman in
Chinese literature."
The love between Shen Sanbai and Yun-niang can be seen in many passages of
the text. This is demonstrated both before and after they are married. In the
passage "Congee," one can see how considerate Yunniang is. Sanbai is a
guest at a party held at Yunniang's house. At the end of the evening he helps by
seeing guests home, and returns very late. He is hungry, but all that is left is
desserts and sweets, which he does not care for. Just as he is trying to decide
whether to eat the sweets, Yunniang pulls out a bowl of congee and some
vegetable dishes, thereby demonstrating that even in her busiest moments she
thinks of his needs.
They often read and talk about poetry and literature together. They also
enjoy gardening and collecting rocks together. Once, she even dresses up as a
man so that she will be allowed to go out with him at night to a temple fair. In
one memorable scene they go for a boat ride together and irreverently use bowls
and plates as drums as they sing with the oarsman. Later in the story she falls
ill for a long time and he takes care of her day and night, attending to her
every whim. Love exists in every aspect of their lives.
Shen Sanbai admits that Yunniang is not very beautiful and that she shows
her teeth when she laughs (which a "proper" woman did not do at that
time), yet he loves her like no other. Ko Ching-ming states: "This story is
significant because it is one of the first stories in Chinese fiction to show
that even ordinary people could have deep and meaningful love. As the proverb
says, 'We don't have the beautiful wings of a phoenix, but there is beauty in
our mutual understanding.'" So, why should we envy the birds and
butterflies in love stories, when in true life we can see true love in every
corner?
The Romeo and Juliet of the East
When the scholars listed the most moving love stories, they left the
story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai off their lists. On closer examination of
the lists I realized that none of the stories were of the "die for love"
genre. Because these scholars are very familiar with classical Chinese love
stories, I was curious as to why this kind of story was not included.
Professor Teng Chao-hsu answered that the reason was that moving love
stories such as this "appeal to your emotions, yet they lack significance.
Through these stories you can appreciate that kind of love but it is not really
worth further thought or admiration."
One such story from the East Jin era is that of Liang Shanbo and Zhu
Yingtai. When she is a teenager, Zhu Yingtai dresses up as a boy and leaves her
hometown to attend school somewhere else. That is when she meets her classmate
Liang Shanbo. When she returns home he finally realizes that she is a woman.
Feeling foolish for this oversight, he returns home to tell his parents that he
wants to marry her, but by that time Zhu Yingtai is already engaged to a member
of the Ma family. Three years later Liang Shanbo falls ill and dies. On the way
to her wedding ceremony Zhu Yingtai visits Liang Shanbo's grave. While she is
there a big storm comes. Just as she is praying at the grave with grief, the sky
and the ground split open, and she jumps into the hole and dies. Later, the two
lovers turn into butterflies and fly into the sky.
In the story The Peacocks Fly Southeast, Jiao Zhongqing and Liu Lanzhi are
a married couple that kill themselves because the young man's mother forces them
apart. Liu Lanzhi lifts up her skirt, takes off her silk shoes and drowns
herself. Jiao Zhongqing hangs himself from a tree in his yard. Later, their
families bury the two lovers together and two intertwined trees grow on their
grave. In the trees there is a pair of mandarin ducks, the symbol of lovers in
China, singing with grief. Whenever people pass by this scene they are touched
and have tears in their eyes.
In traditional society where marriage was arranged by a matchmaker with
the backing of one's parents, lovers were often torn between filial obedience
and loyalty to each other. In many cases the only way for a couple to avoid
breaching one of these affections was to end their lives. Under this great
pressure, two lives were pressed into one. Through death they forged their love
to make it eternal. Tseng Chao-hsu of National Central University's Chinese
literature department states: "What touches people in the story is the
love, not the death."
Why die?
Professor Ko Ching-ming criticizes the message of such stories. "If
we analyze these love tragedies, their deaths are caused not only by society,
but also by their own personalities." As an example of this, Professor Ko
notes that in the seven years that Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai study together,
Zhu Yingtai never gives any hint of love to Liang Shanbo. After her parents
promise her to someone else, neither of them tries to fight for their own
rights. For instance, Zhu Yingtai's father agrees to let his daughter go to
school in spite of the fact that this was highly irregular at the time. This
suggests a certain permissiveness on her father's part, which shows that her
parents are not so strict that they would not listen to the earnest pleas of
their daughter. Also, after her death the Ma family asks the government to grant
her an honorable title. From this we can see that the families concerned are
sensible people and that the lovers should have fought for what they wanted.
In the story The Peacocks Fly Southeast, Jiao Zhongqing, although the head
of his family, succumbs to the pressure of his mother who wants him to divorce
his wife. Rather than trying to resolve the tension between the two women, he is
not assertive, in that all he does is to make a weak threat: "If you send
this woman away, I will not marry anyone else." Even when his wife is
dismissed, he does nothing. When she remarries his response is predictably
passive-aggressive: "You are better off now. I guess I will go die alone."
Professor Ko Ching-ming states: "With a personality like Jiao Zhongqing's,
he can neither maintain his own honor nor fight for his wife's dignity. He is
not a good husband, and since he ends his own life, neither is he a good son to
his mother. This story does invoke sympathy, but on further reflection one must
realize that their deaths are senseless." Professor Ko also feels that the
major cause of the whole tragedy is Jiao Zhong-qing's weak personality, which "loves
but cannot protect."
The most fundamental meaning of love is to understand yourself and to
break free of your shackles, not to seek escape through death. When love gets to
the point where nothing else exists but love, it is like firing the first shot
in a war with life. Yueh Heng-chun, who used to teach in NTU's Chinese
literature department, wrote an article entitled "Romantic Love and
Classical Love," in which she states: "Although this kind of story is
exciting and powerful, there is also an air of destruction." This kind of
love makes one melancholy because at the end the lovers' total destruction is
inevitable.
Don't ever forget
Jiao Zhongqing's mother, upon hearing of Jiao Zhongqing's and Liu Lanzhi's
deaths, breaks down and cries. Love transcends societal restrictions but it is a
sad victory. At the end of the story, the anonymous author states: "Many
thanks for reading my work, but bear it in mind that one should never kill
oneself over love, and one shouldn't interfere with other people's love."
By saying this, the author is issuing a warning for two kinds of people that
cause this kind of tragedy. Who? People who are in higher positions, and lovers
who give up too easily.
Nevertheless, people do not seem to keep this in mind. In a society like
ours today where the liberty of individuals is respected, you don't need to
fight against the structure of society to pursue love. And yet there are still
those that kill themselves for love. For instance, a while ago two high-school
students killed themselves by hurling themselves off the top of a building. They
left a letter requesting that they be buried together. Another young couple
killed themselves by drinking poison. They left 99 roses by their beds. In
Chinese the word "nine" sounds like the word "long" so this
was presumably a symbol of being together forever. In another news story the
famous actress Yu Feng hanged herself because she was suffering in her love
life.
There is a popular song that says "It is easy to fall in love but it
is hard to be together." It is an extreme expression to choose to die for
love, but to face difficulties not only takes courage but wisdom. In Peitou
there is a "Lovers' Temple." At this temple they do not worship the
spirits of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, nor do they worship Romeo and Juliet.
Rather, they worship Sima Xiangru and Zhuo Wenjun. So again, "Don't ever
forget!" There are better solutions than suicide!
(Tsai Wen-ting/tr.
by Marc Moskowitz)
