Read The White Mountain Online
Authors: David Wingrove
The White Mountain (46 page)
| Nai Liu | âEnduring Willow', pen name of Jiang Lei and the most popular Han poet of his age |
| Nicolson, Jack | American actor |
| Nietzsche, Friedrich | German nineteenth-century philosopher |
| Nocenzi, Vittorio | General to Li Shai Tung |
| Oatley, Jennifer | young Englishwoman âprocessed' by Jiang Lei |
| Padgett | retired doctor from Wool |
| Palmer, Joshua | âOld Josh', father of Will and an avid record collector |
| Palmer, Will | landlord of the Banks Arms Hotel, Corfe and son of Josh |
| Pan Chao | the great âhero' of Chung Kuo, who conquered Asia in the first century AD |
| Pan Tsung-yen | friend of Jiang Lei |
| Pavel | young worker on the Plantations, with a crooked back |
| Pei Ko | one of the original Seven, advisor to Tsao Ch'un and subsequently T'ang |
| Pei Lin-Yi | eldest son of Pei Ko |
| P'eng Chuan | Sixth Dragon at the Ministry, âthe Thousand Eyes' |
| P'eng K'ai-chi | nephew of P'eng Chuan |
| Presley, Elvis | American rock and roll singer |
| Ragnar | a mercenary |
| Raikkonen | Marshal in Security |
| Randall, Jack | farmer from Church Knowle and husband of Jenny |
| Randall, Jenny | wife of Jack |
| Reed, Annie | first wife of Jake Reed; mother of Peter Reed and sister of Mary Hubbard (Jake's second wife) |
| Reed, Jake | âLogin' or âwebdancer' for Hinton Industries; father of Peter Reed |
| Reed, Mary | second wife of Peter Reed |
| Reed, May | sister of Jake Reed |
| Reed, Peter | son of Jake and Annie Reed; GenSyn executive |
| Reed, Tom | son of Jake and Mary Reed |
| Rheinhardt | Media Liaison for GenSyn |
| Rory | Music store holder in Dorchester; owner of Rory's Record Shack, father of Roxanne |
| Sam | âHopper' pilot, working for Hinton Industries |
| Sanders | Captain in Security |
| Schwarz | aide to Marshal Tolonen |
| Shan | Han soldier; Captain and one of Jiang Lei's men |
| Shao Shu | First Steward at Chun Hua's mansion |
| Shao Yen | Major in Security; friend of Ming Hsin-fa |
| Shen | Han soldier; bodyguard to Jiang Lei |
| Shen Chen | son of Shen Fu |
| Shen Fu | First Dragon, Head of the Ministry, âthe Thousand Eyes' |
| Shen Lu Chua | computer expert and member of the Ping Tiao âCouncil of Five' |
| Shepherd, Alexandra | wife of Amos Shepherd and daughter of Charles Melfi |
| Shepherd, Amos | great-great-grandfather of Hal Shepherd; chief advisor to Tsao Ch'un and architect of City Earth |
| Shepherd, Augustus | great-grandfather of Hal Shepherd Raedwald |
| Shepherd, Beth | daughter of Amos Shepherd |
| Shepherd, Hal | chief advisor to Li Shai Tung and Head of the Shepherd family; father of Ben and Meg Shepherd |
| Shu Liang | Senior Legal Advocate |
| Shuh San | Junior Minister to Lwo Kang |
| Si Wu Ya | âSilk Raven', wife of Supervisor Sung |
| Spatz, Gustav | Director of the Wiring Project |
| Spirit | Californian rock band |
| Su Ting-an | eighteenth-century Master of wei chi |
| Ssu Lu Shan | official of the Ministry, âthe Thousand Eyes' |
| Stamp, Terence | English actor |
| Su Ting-an | Master of wei chi from the eighteenth century |
| Su Tung-p'o | Han official and poet of the eleventh century |
| Sung | supervisor on the Plantations |
| Svensson | Marshal in Security |
| Sweet Rain | maid to Wang Hsien |
| Tai Yu | âMoonflower', maid to Augustus Ebert, a GenSyn clone |
| Tarrant | lieutenant to DeVore |
| Tender Willow | maid to Wang Hsien |
| Teng | âMaster Teng', a âshou' (literally âa hand'); a servant of the First Dragon, the first lord of the Ministry or âThousand Eyes' |
| Teng Fu | guard on the Plantations |
| Teng Liang | Minor Family princess betrothed to Prince Ch'eng I |
| Trish | artificial intelligence âfilter avatar' for Jake Reed's penthouse apartment |
| Ts'ao P'I | âNumber Three', steward at Tsao Ch'un's court in Pei Ch'ing |
| Tsao Ch'i Yuan | youngest son of Tsao Ch'un |
| Tsao Ch'un | ex-member of the standing committee of the Communist Party politburo and architect of âThe Collapse'; mass murderer and tyrant; âcreator' of the world state of Chung Kuo |
| Tsao Heng | second son of Tsao Ch'un |
| Tsao Hsiao | Tsao Ch'un's elder brother |
| Tsao Wang-po | eldest son of Tsao Ch'un |
| Tsu Chen | one of the original Seven, advisor to Tsao Ch'un and subsequently T'ang |
| Tsu Lin | eldest son of Tsu Chen |
| Tsu Shi | steward to Gustav Ebert; a GenSyn clone |
| Tsu Tiao | T'ang of West Asia |
| Tu Mu | assistant to Alison Winter at GenSyn |
| Tung Ch'i-ch'ang | Ming dynasty shanshui artist |
| Tung Men-tiao | artist of the original Chou (or âState') cards |
| The Verve | English pop group |
| Waite, Charlie | landlord of The New Inn, Church Knowle |
| Wang An-Shih | Han official and poet from the eleventh century |
| Wang Chang Ye | eldest son of Wang Hsien, heir to City Africa |
| Wang Hsien | T'ang of Africa |
| Wang Hui So | one of the original Seven, advisor to Tsao Ch'un and subsequently T'ang |
| Wang Lieh Tsu | second son of Wang Hsien |
| Wang Lung | eldest son of Wang Hui So |
| Wang Ta-hung | third son of Wang Hsien |
| Wang Yu-lai | âcadre'; servant of the Ministry, âthe Thousand Eyes', instructed to report back on Jiang Lei |
| Webber, Sam | youth from Corfe |
| Wei | a judge |
| Wei Shao | Chancellor to Tsao Ch'un |
| Weis, Anton | banker and Dispersionist |
| Wen | Captain in Security on Mars |
| Wen P'ing | close acquaintance and body servant of Tsao Ch'un; a man of great power |
| Wiegand, Max | lieutenant to DeVore |
| Williams, Charles | husband of Margaret and father of Kate; retired head of a stockbroking company |
| Williams, Kate | fiancée of Jake Reed and daughter of Charles and Margaret |
| Williams, Margaret | wife of Charles and mother of Kate |
| Wilson, Dougie | farmer from Kimmeridge |
| Winter, Alison | ex-fiancée of Jake Reed; head of Evaluation at GenSyn; mother of Jake Winter |
| Winter, Jake | only son of Alison |
| Wolf | elite guard on The Domain |
| Wu Chi | AI (Artificial Intelligence) for Tobias Lahm |
| Wu Hsien | one of the original Seven, advisor to Tsao Ch'un and, subsequently, T'ang |
| Wyatt, Edmund | Company head, Dispersionist and (unknown to him) father of Kim Ward |
| Yang Hong Yu | legal advocate |
| Yang Kuei Fei | the famous concubine of T'ang emperor Ming Huang |
| Yates, Andrew Isiah | Prime Minister of the UK in 2043 |
| Ying Chai | assistant to Sun Li Hua, brother to Ying Fu |
| Ying Fu | assistant to Sun Li Hua, brother to Ying Chai |
| Yo Jou Hsi | a judge |
| Young, Neil | Canadian singer-songwriter |
| Yu Ch'o | family retainer to Wang Hui So |
| Ywe Kai-chang | father of Ywe Hao |
GLOSSARY OF MANDARIN TERMS
I
t is not intended to belabour the reader with a whole mass of arcane Han expressions here. Some â usually the more specific â are explained in context. However, as a number of Mandarin terms are used naturally in the text, I've thought it best to provide a brief explanation of those terms.
| aiya! | a common expression of surprise or dismay |
| amah | a domestic maidservant |
| Amo Li Jia | the Chinese gave this name to North America when they first arrived in the 1840s. Its literal meaning is âThe Land Without Ghosts' |
| an | a saddle. This has the same sound as the word for peace, and thus is associated in the Chinese mind with peace |
| catty | the colloquial term for a unit of measure formally called a jin . One catty â as used here â equals roughly 1.1. pounds (avoirdupois), or (exactly) 500 gm. Before 1949 and the standardization of Chinese measures to a metric standard, this measure varied district by district, but was generally regarded as equalling about 1.33 pounds (avoirdupois) |
| ch'a | tea; it might be noted that ch'a shu, the Chinese art of tea, is an ancient forebear of the Japanese tea ceremony chanoyu. Hsiang p'ien are flower teas, Ch'ing ch'a are green, unfermented teas |
| ch'a hao t'ai | literally, a âdirectory' |
| ch'a shu | the art of tea, adopted later by the Japanese in their tea ceremony. The ch'a god is Lu Yu and his image can be seen on banners outside teahouses throughout Chung Kuo |
| chan shih | a âfighter', here denoting a tong soldier |
| chang | ten ch'i, thus about 12 feet (Western) |
| Chang-e | the goddess of the Moon, and younger sister of the Spirit of the Waters. The moon represents the very essence of the female principle, Yin , in opposition to the Sun, which is Yang . Legend has it that Chang-e stole the elixir of immortality from her husband, the great archer Shen I, then fled to the Moon for safety, where she was transformed into a toad, which, so it is said, can still be seen against the whiteness of the moon's surface |
| chang shan | literally âlong dress', which fastens to the right. Worn by both sexes. The woman's version is a fitted, calf-length dress similar to the chi pao . A south China fashion, it is also known as a cheung sam |
| chao tai hui | an âentertainment', usually, within Chung Kuo , of an expensive and sophisticated kind |
| chen yen | true words; the Chinese equivalent of a mantra |
| ch'eng | The word means both âCity' and âWall' |
| Ch'eng Ou Chou | City Europe |
| Ch'eng Hsiang | âChancellor', a post first established in the Ch'in court more than two thousand years ago |
| ch'i | a Chinese âfoot'; approximately 14.4 inches |
| ch'i | âinner strength'; one of the two fundamental âentities' from which everything is composed. Li is the âform' or âlaw', or (to cite Joseph Needham) the âprinciple of organization' behind things, whereas ch'i is the âmatter-energy' or âspirit' within material things, equating loosely to the Pneuma of the Greeks and the prana of the ancient Hindus. As the sage Chu Hsi ( AD 1130â1200) said, âThe li is the Tao that pertains to “what is above shapes” and is the source from which all things are produced. The ch'i is the material [literally instrument] that pertains to “what is within shapes”, and is the means whereby things are produced⦠Throughout the universe there is no ch'i without li . Or li without ch'i .' |
| chi ch'i | common workers, but used here mainly to denote the ant-like employees of the Ministry of Distribution |
| Chia Ch'eng | Honorary Assistant to the Royal Household |
| chi'an | a general term for money |
| chiao tzu | a traditional North Chinese meal of meat-filled dumplings eaten with a hot spicy sauce |
| Chieh Hsia | term meaning âYour Majesty', derived from the expression âBelow the Steps'. It was the formal way of addressing the Emperor, through his Ministers, who stood âbelow the steps' |
| chi pao | literally âbanner gown', a one-piece gown of Manchu origin, usually sleeveless, worn by women |
| chih chu | a spider |
| ch'in | a long (120 cm), narrow, lacquered zither with a smooth top surface and sound holes beneath, seven silk strings and thirteen studs marking the harmonic positions on the strings. Early examples have been unearthed from fifth century BC tombs, but it probably evolved in the fourteenth or thirteenth century BC . It is the most honoured of Chinese instruments and has a lovely mellow tone |
| Chin P'ing Mei | The Golden Lotus , an erotic novel, written by an unknown scholar â possibly anonymously by the writer Wang Shih-chen â at the beginning of the seventeenth century as a continuation of the Shui Hui Chuan , or âWarriors of the Marsh', expanding chapters 23 to 25 of the Shan Hui , which relate the story of how Wu Sung became a bandit. Extending the story beyond this point, The Golden Lotus has been accused of being China's great licentious (even, perhaps, pornographic) novel. But as C.P. Fitzgerald says, âIf this book is indecent in parts, it is only because, telling a story of domestic life, it leaves out nothing.' It is available in a three-volume English-language translation |
| ch'ing | pure |
| ching | literally âmirror', here used also to denote a perfect GenSyn copy of a man. Under the Edict of Technological Control, these are limited to copies of the ruling T'ang and their closest relatives. However, mirrors were also popularly believed to have certain strange properties, one of which was to make spirits visible. Buddhist priests used special âmagic mirrors' to show believers the form into which they would be reborn. Moreover, if a man looks into one of these mirrors and fails to recognize his own face, it is a sign that his own death is not far off. [See also hu hsin chung .] |
| ch'ing ch'a | green, unfermented teas |
| Ch'ing Ming | the Festival of Brightness and Purity, when the graves are swept and offerings made to the deceased. Also known as the Festival of Tombs, it occurs at the end of the second moon and is used for the purpose of celebrating the spring, a time for rekindling the cooking fires after a three-day period in which the fires were extinguished and only cold food eaten |
| Chou | literally, âState', but here used as the name of a card game based on the politics of Chung Kuo |
| chow mein | this, like chop suey, is neither a Chinese nor a Western dish, but a special meal created by the Chinese in North America for the Western palate. A transliteration of chao mian (fried noodles), it is a distant relation of the liang mian huang served in Suchow |
| ch'u | the west |
| chun hua | literally, âSpring Pictures'. These are, in fact, pornographic âpillow books', meant for the instruction of newly-weds |
| ch'un tzu | an ancient Chinese term from the Warring States period, describing a certain class of noblemen, controlled by a code of chivalry and morality known as the li , or rites. Here the term is roughly, and sometimes ironically, translated as âgentlemen'. The ch'un tzu is as much an ideal state of behaviour â as specified by Confucius in the Analects â as an actual class in Chung Kuo, though a degree of financial independence and a high standard of education are assumed a prerequisite |
| chung | a lidded ceramic serving bowl for ch'a |
| chung hsin | loyalty |
| E hsing hsun huan | a saying: âBad nature follows a cycle' |
| er | two |
| erh tzu | son |
| erhu | a traditional Chinese instrument |
| fa | punishment |
| fen | a unit of currency; see yuan . It has another meaning, that of a âminute' of clock time, but that usage is avoided here to prevent any confusion |
| feng yu | a âphoenix chair', canopied and decorated with silver birds. Coloured scarlet and gold, this is the traditional carriage for a bride as she is carried to her wedding ceremony |
| fu jen | âMadam', used here as opposed to t'ai t'ai , âMrs' |
| fu sang | the hollow mulberry tree; according to ancient Chinese cosmology this tree stands where the sun rises and is the dwelling place of rulers. Sang (mulberry), however, has the same sound as sang (sorrow) in Chinese |
| Han | term used by the Chinese to describe their own race, the âblack-haired people', dating back to the Han dynasty (210 BC â AD 220). It is estimated that some ninety-four per cent of modern China's population are Han racially |
| Hei | literally âblack'. The Chinese pictogram for this represents a man wearing war paint and tattoos. Here it refers specifically to the genetically manufactured half-men, made by GenSyn and used as riot police to quell uprisings in the lower levels of the City |
| ho yeh | Nelumbo Nucifera, or lotus, the seeds of which are used in Chinese medicine to cure insomnia |
| Hoi Po | the corrupt officials who dealt with the European traders in the nineteenth century, more commonly known as âhoppos' |
| Hsia | a crab |
| hsiang p'en | flower ch'a |
| hsiao | filial piety. The character for hsiao is comprised of two parts, the upper part meaning âold', the lower meaning âson' or âchild'. This dutiful submission of the young to the old is at the heart of Confucianism and Chinese culture generally |
| Hsiao chieh | âMiss', or an unmarried woman. An alternative to nu shi |
| hsiao jen | âlittle man/men'. In the Analects , Book XIV, Confucius writes, âThe gentleman gets through to what is up above; the small man gets through to what is down below.' This distinction between âgentlemen' ( ch'un tzu ) and âlittle men' ( hsiao jen ), false even in Confucius's time, is no less a matter of social perspective in Chung Kuo |
| hsien | historically an administrative district of variable size. Here the term is used to denote a very specific administrative area, one of ten stacks â each stack composed of thirty decks. Each deck is a hexagonal living unit of ten levels, two li , or approximately one kilometre, in diameter. A stack can be imagined as one honeycomb in the great hive that is the City. Each hsien of the city elects one Representative to sit in the House at Weimar |
| Hsien Ling | Chief Magistrate, in charge of a Hsien . In Chung Kuo these officials are the T'ang's representatives and law enforcers for the individual hsien . In times of peace each hsien would also elect one Representative to sit in the House at Weimar |
| hsueh pai | âsnow white', a derogatory term here for Hung Mao women |
| Hu pu | the T'ang's Finance Ministry |
| hu hsin chung | see ching , re Buddhist magic mirrors, for which this was the name. The power of such mirrors was said to protect the owner from evil. It was also said that one might see the secrets of futurity in such a mirror. See the chapter âMirrors' in The Broken Wheel for further information |
| hu t'ieh | a butterfly. Anyone wishing to follow up on this tale of Chuang Tzu's might look to the sage's writings and specifically the chapter âDiscussion on Making All Things Equal' |
| hua pen | literally âstory roots', these were précis guidebooks used by the street-corner storytellers in China for the past two thousand years. The main events of the story were written down in the hua pen for the benefit of those storytellers who had not yet mastered their art. During the Yuan or Mongol dynasty ( AD 1280â1368) these hua pen developed into plays, and, later on â during the Ming dynasty ( AD 1368â1644) â into the form of popular novels, of which the Shui Hu Chuan , or âOutlaws of the Marsh', remains one of the most popular. Any reader interested in following this up might purchase Pearl Buck's translation, rendered as All Men Are Brothers and first published in 1933 |
| Huang Ti | originally Huang Ti was the last of the âThree Sovereigns' and the first of the âFive Emperors' of ancient Chinese tradition. Huang Ti, the Yellow Emperor, was the earliest ruler recognized by the historian Ssu-ma Ch'ien (136â85 BC ) in his great historical work, the Shih Chi . Traditionally, all subsequent rulers (and would-be rulers) of China have claimed descent from the Yellow Emperor, the âSon of Heaven' himself, who first brought civilization to the black-haired people. His name is now synonymous with the term âemperor' |
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