The Journey to the West, Revised Edition, Volume 2 (86 page)

4
. Pengzu
, the Methuselah of China. An official in the reign of the lengendary King Yao (ca. third century BCE), he was supposed to have lived for over 800 years.

5
. A jade stone: that is, a sonorous stone (
qing
), or humming ears afflicting the very old person.

6
. “When the birds vanish . . .”: a slightly abbreviated form of a famous statement attributed to Fan Li
, who used to warn his friend Zhong
about the character of King Goujian
of the State of Yue
in the Warring States era (468–221 BCE). After Goujian defeated his rival, King Fucha
of the State of Wu
, he demanded the suicide of a minister like Zhong who served him faithfully and assisted him in coming to power. The statement is thus often used to indicate a master’s ingratitude and treachery. See the
Records of the Historian
,
j
41, in
Ershiwushi
1: 0146c–d.

7
. That is, the deepest layer of Buddhist hell.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

1
. Dragon-drivers: that is, immortals or gods who can travel astride mythical creatures.

2
. Six kinds of trees are listed in this line. They are: the
chun
(
Cedrela odorata
), the
shan
(the common pine,
Cryptomeria japonica
), the
huai
(
Sophora japnica
), the
kui
(Chinese juniper,
Juniperus chinensis
), the
li
(the chestnut tree,
Castanea vulgaris
), and the
tan
(sandalwood,
Santalum album
).

3
. Wolf-teeth arrows: a kind of arrow with a sharp head shaped like the fang of wolves, first introduced in the reign of the Song emperor Shenzong (1067–1085). See the
Songshi
, “Bingzhi
,”
j
150, in
Ershiwushi
6: 4974b.

4
. Fire cannons: some kind of firearm using gunpower was already in use, on both land and sea during the Song. See the
Songshi
, “Bingzhi,”
j
150, in
Ershiwushi
6: 4973d. See also SCC, IV/3 (1971): 476; V/6 (1994): 167–69, 229–30; V/7 (1986), the entire volume of which focuses on “military technology.” For Ming uses of rockets and other new fire-weapons, see pp. 13–37; 307–332.

5
. This lyric, written to the tune of “Moon Over West River” with an extra syllable tagged on in the last line, is constructed by means of puns on the names of various kinds of herbs. The names are used for their liteal meanings or the borrowed meanings from their homophones. Thus, line 1: dark heads,
wutou
(literally black head), it is also
Aconitum carmichaeli
, a Chinese aconite tuber collected in spring time. Line 2: the winged horses,
haima
(literally, sea horse), it is also
Hippocamus
, used in traditional Chinese medicine and also a legendary horse with wings. Line 3: lords and nobles,
renshen
and
guangui
are
Panax ginseng
and
Cinnmomum cassia
, respectively. In the translation,
renshen
read as
, gentry, and
guangui
as
, noble official. Line 4: cinnabar,
zhusha
, HgS, or mercury sulfide. Line 5: fathers and sons,
fuzi
(also
Aconitum carmichaeli
), a Chinese aconite tuber harvested in the autumn. In the translation, it is read as
. Line 6: fine men,
binlang
, read in translation as
, cultivated young man. Line 7: fell to the dust,
qingfen
, HgCl
₂
, or mercury chloride, calomel. In the translation, it is read for
qingfeng
, “fall [to the] dust.” Line 8: rouged ladies,
hongniangzi