10

Scholar Han Takes a Wife in a Wave of Panic

Prefect Wu Makes a Match for a Talented Scholar

A poem reads,

In finding a husband for your daughter,

Be sure he is of good character.

As for wealth and rank, leave them to Heaven’s will,

For marriage bonds are made in past incarnations.

Be sure not to break such bonds lightly

With every shift in the winds of fortune.

As they say, in one lifetime, seas may change into mulberry fields. The wealth or poverty of the moment may not last. People of today’s world are so snobbish that as soon as a man passes the imperial civil-service examinations and becomes eligible for government service, suitors for his daughter or son will appear suddenly at his door. But if his position turns out to be of a low grade with meager remuneration or if he dies prematurely, his son or daughter will be as impoverished as before. (MC: Medicine for the ills of our times.) Regrets on the part of the parents-in-law will be too late by that time. In the case of a poor scholar making a marriage proposal to a rich and eminent family, he will be laughed at as a toad in the sewers wanting to eat the flesh of a swan. But when, all of a sudden, the young man passes the exams with high distinction, the parents-in-law will be seized with remorse, blaming themselves for their lack of discernment and lamenting their daughter’s unhappy lot. This explains why those in ancient times who were good at picking sons-in-law turned down marriage offers from rich and eminent families and married their beloved beautiful daughters to, of all people, scholars as worthless as sour pickles and spoiled tofu. Everyone ridiculed those parents-in-law, calling them idiots who wasted the choicest chunks of lamb on dogs. But then, one fine day, the emperor issued a decree to enlist the services of worthy men. The poor scholars soared to the azure clouds of the highest government posts with all their trappings, and their wives suddenly found themselves living in the lap of luxury—all proof of the prophetic vision of the parents-in-law. Verily, a man cannot be known by his looks, nor can the sea be measured with a dipper. What matters is the son-in-law’s personal qualities, not the size of his family fortune. Wei Gao and Lü Mengzheng are cases in point.1

Now let me tell of a highly placed official, Grand Master Xu Wufan, who lived in the state of Zheng during the Spring and Autumn period [770–476 BCE]. His parents had died, leaving him with only a young sister. Sixteen years of age, the young lady had a fair complexion, rosy cheeks, jet-black hair, and well-marked eyebrows. She also excelled in poetry, music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and needlework. Another of her exceptional qualities was that, with her sparkling eyes, she was quite a physiognomist. (MC: As was Miao-shi, Wei Gao’s mother-in-law.)2 When government officials were visiting her brother, she would steal glances at them from behind a screen and tell their backgrounds and their futures with unerring accuracy. This fortune-telling skill added to her reputation. A high-level official, Gongsun Chu, proposed marriage to her, but before the wedding took place, a cousin of his, Gongsun Hei by name and a senior grand master, heard about the young lady’s beauty and engaged a matchmaker to make a marriage offer to the Xu family. Grand Master Xu replied that his daughter was already spoken for.

But this Gongsun Hei was a villain. Abusing his power, he arranged a wedding procession complete with all its paraphernalia and a band of sheng pipes, xiao flutes, and drums. Regardless of whether the Xus were willing or not, he led the procession to the Xu residence. Not knowing what to do, Grand Master Xu resignedly invited both suitors, Gongsun Chu and his cousin, to a feast at his house the next day, so that his sister could make her own decision. (MC: A wise move.)

This being an occasion when he was to be judged for his qualifications as a son-in-law, Gongsun Hei went to the feast extravagantly arrayed in all his finery, and, in a show of his wealth, he brought with him enough gifts of gold, silver, and bolts of colorful silk to fill the reception hall. Gongsun Chu, on the other hand, went in his everyday clothes, nor did he bring many gifts. (MC: The way Wang Xizhi presented himself to his potential father-in-law.)3 All the onlookers broke out in praise of Gongsun Hei (IC: They lack insight.) and felt sure that he would be the chosen one, although they did not give voice to that thought.

After the feast was over, the two candidates said their thanks and went their separate ways. Having observed them from her own room, the young lady said to her older brother, “Gongsun Hei may be a high-ranking official and a handsome man, but there’s a certain air of doom about him. A natural death is surely not in his fate. I’d better marry Gongsun Chu. He may be in for a few setbacks, but in the long run, he’ll be able to enjoy sustained wealth and distinction.” Her brother the grand master agreed. He turned down Gongsun Hei’s offer and betrothed his sister to Gongsun Chu, and the wedding took place on a chosen auspicious day.

With resentment festering in his heart, Gongsun Hei came up with another idea, an evil one. One day, he put on his armor and donned everyday clothes over it. Then he went to Gongsun Chu’s house intending to kill him and get his wife. Someone promptly informed Gongsun Chu about it. Without a moment’s delay, Gongsun Chu picked up his lance and rushed out. Caught off guard, Gongsun Hei was hit by the lance. In pain, he fled through the gate and went straight to the residence of the prime minister Gongsun Qiao to make accusations against Gongsun Chu.

When all the grand masters were called together to discuss this case, Gongsun Chu also attended the meeting and spoke at length in his own defense. In the end, Gongsun Qiao the prime minister said, “The allegation that Gongsun Hei harbored murderous intentions against a younger member of his clan has not been substantiated. But in terms of official ranking, junior officials should submit to the senior, and in terms of age, the younger should yield to the older. The unauthorized use of force by Gongsun Chu, lower in official ranking and younger in age, is punishable by exile.” Then and there, Gongsun Chu was convicted of a crime and demoted to a post in the state of Wu.

When Gongsun Chu returned home, he and his wife Xu-shi fell on each other’s shoulders and wept. After Gongsun Chu was gone, Gongsun Hei savored his victory and threw his weight around with greater abandon. Everyone felt sorry for Xu-shi for having missed the chance to marry him. Even Grand Master Xu himself was not exempt from this vulgar, worldly view. The young lady herself, however, thought nothing of it and waited in a peaceful frame of mind for her husband’s return.

Now, in the state of Zheng, there was a Senior Minister You Ji, who was next in line for the post of prime minister after Gongsun Qiao. But Gongsun Hei plotted day and night to replace Gongsun Qiao himself. The rebellion was about to take place when Gongsun Qiao got wind of it. Acting quickly in a preemptive move, he dispatched officials to charge Gongsun Hei with multiple crimes, and the accused was forced to hang himself. This bore out Miss Xu’s prediction that he was not to die of natural causes.

As for Gongsun Chu, after living in the state of Wu for three years, he was offered amnesty, so he returned to the court and took the senior grand master post that had been vacated by Gongsun Hei, thus reaching the height of wealth and status. He and Miss Xu remained a devoted couple to the end of their days. If Miss Xu had been enamored of the status of a senior grand master and married Gongsun Hei, she would have become a rebel’s wife destined for decades of widowhood. It can thus be seen that one’s status at the present moment does not count.

Storyteller! You’ve got it wrong again! The world abounds in good people who remain paupers all their lives. Do you mean to tell us that every one of them will rise to become officials? A popular saying puts it well, “The here and now is what counts.” What’s the harm in marrying your daughter to a rich man so she can enjoy life’s pleasures, even if only for now?

Gentle reader, I’m afraid it’s not as you imagine. Even those who know how to pick good sons-in-law must follow the dictates of Heaven. Everything, including every intake of food and beverage, is determined by fate. When all is said and done, the best option is to marry a scholar, because a scholar always has a chance to go far.

Let me now tell of a rich man, one with a daughter, who used his wealth to bully the poor and tried to back out of his daughter’s betrothal. It was thanks to a wise and upright prefect that the marriage materialized. The couple later gained riches and honor, and their story became the stuff of legend. There is a poem in testimony:

Consider the case of Hongfu of yore:4

She fled the harem and married Li Jing.

Few can rival her in wealth and honor—

All because she found a hero for herself.

Our story takes place in the Zhengde reign period [1506–21] of this dynasty [Ming]. In Tiantai County of Taizhou Prefecture, Zhejiang, there lived a scholar named Han Shiyu, courtesy name Ziwen. His parents had both passed away, and he had no siblings. He lived all by himself. He had tested into a government school at age twelve and become an erudite scholar. Truly,

In talent, he outshone Cao Zhi;5

In appearance, he equaled Pan An.6

Steeped in learning, he will surely pass the exams,

But for now, he remains a humble student.

For all his talent and learning, he lived in reduced circumstances and supported himself by hiring himself out as a tutor. Living from hand to mouth, he remained unbetrothed at age eighteen.

One day, when the Dragon Boat Festival [on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month] was drawing near, Han Ziwen asked for leave from his school and returned home. After he had spent several days at home, a sudden thought struck him: “It’s time I should be thinking about marriage. With my kind of learning, the daughter of a rich family won’t be shortchanged. But who in this world of ours would want to marry their daughter to me?” After another few moments of reflection, he said to himself, “That may be true, but I shouldn’t be a poor match for the daughter of a scholar like me.” Right away, he opened a gift box that contained payments from his students, weighed out five maces of silver, wrapped up the money, put it in another box, ordered his page boy to carry it, and went with the boy to see Madam Wang the matchmaker.

Han Ziwen’s look of an impoverished man did not exactly fill the matchmaker with enthusiasm. After finishing a cup of tea, Madam Wang asked, “When did you return home, sir? And what brought you here?”

“I came home five days ago. I’m here because I have a favor to ask of you.” So saying, he took the sealed packet from his page boy and presented it to Madam Wang with both hands, saying, “Kindly accept this little gift from me. After your mission is accomplished, you’ll be amply rewarded.”

After some of the usual obligatory words of demurral, Madam Wang accepted the gift and asked, “Could you be looking for a match, sir?”

“Exactly. Being a poor man, I don’t aspire to a marriage alliance with a rich family. I’ll be content with a scholar’s daughter who can cook for me and continue my family line. I have about forty to fifty taels of silver saved from years of teaching, which shouldn’t be too shabby as a betrothal gift. Please find a match for me that fits my status.”

Madam Wang knew that when it came to seeking matches, poor scholars were a picky lot, apt to find candidates either too highly placed or too lowly for them, but she could not very well reject him out of hand. So she said, “I thank you, sir, for your gracious favor. You may go home now and wait while I do a search for you. It may take time. I’ll report to you as soon as I have news.” And so Ziwen went home.

Several days later, Madam Wang walked into Han Ziwen’s house and cried out, “Is the young master home?”

Ziwen went up to her and asked, “How is your search coming along?”

Madam Wang replied, “I wore out a pair of shoes, running here, there, and everywhere for your sake! Well, I just found someone for you. She’s the daughter of Scholar Xu, whose house is near the county yamen. She’s seventeen. Scholar Xu passed away two years ago. His widow isn’t rich, but the family gets by. I told the mother about you, and she seemed to be willing. She said, ‘It’s a good thing for my daughter to marry a scholar, although we women know nothing of literature. The education commissioner will soon be coming to Taizhou to preside over the ranking examination for students at the prefectural school. If the honorable young gentleman can score high on the exam (MC: How could that be taken as proof ? This is but woman talk!), I’ll give you the eight characters that determine my daughter’s natal chart.’ ”7

Confident in his own talent, Ziwen felt quite sure about his chances for success. He said to Madam Wang, “In that case, we can talk about the marriage proposal after the exam.” He treated Madam Wang to a few cups of wine at a wineshop and took leave of her.

Ziwen went back to his school and stayed there for more than a month before the education commissioner’s imminent arrival was announced. A native of Jiangxi, the commissioner was named Liang Shifan. He got to Taizhou several days later. Han Ziwen—wearing a torn cap, a threadbare gown, a tattered ribbon around his waist, and a pair of ragged shoes—joined the procession of government students to welcome the commissioner to the city. After the commissioner offered incense at the local Confucian temple and gave a lecture, a poster was put up announcing that students of the prefectural and county schools of Tiantai and Linhai were to be tested first.

At the examination, Ziwen finished his essays with never a pause of his writing brush and was quite pleased with himself. After he left the examination grounds, he wrote out his essays from memory and showed them to some learned elders and friends. Everyone was impressed. He himself read them over and over again and exclaimed, with a slap on the table, “What graceful prose! I’ll surely be placed in the first rank, if not as an alternate number one!” Then he held the sheets to his nose, sniffed them, and said, “I do detect the fragrance of a wife!”

It so happened that Education Commissioner Liang was a man with precious little learning but an insatiable appetite for taking bribes, and he toadied to both local officials and his superiors. (MC: What kind of an education commissioner is that?) He had recently presided over examinations in Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou, where everyone cursed him. In fact, he narrowly escaped the scholars’ angry fists. There is a doggerel quatrain about him:

Liang in the commissioner’s office

Loves nothing but deep pockets.

He sells diplomas for profit,

To the delight of his patrons.

Another one says,

Sons of the rich laugh with good cheer,

Their brethren all passed, far or near.

Other examinees worry and chafe,

Hating their forebears for their lack of fame.

Another doggerel makes fun of lines from the Four Books and says,8

When a gentleman studies the Way,

People are content, for there is fair play.

When a petty man studies the Way,

He believes everything his books say.

For one ignorant of poetry and the rites,

His father and brothers help him pass the exams.

For one who knows poetry and the rites,

A good man but poor, he stands not a chance.

As poor as he was, Han Ziwen had nothing with which to grease itchy palms. When the list of successful candidates was released ten days later, it was seen that the first and second ranks were all occupied by sons of the rich. You may ask, where is Han Ziwen’s name? Well, it was in the third rank. There is a ci poem, to the tune of “Yellow Oriole,” that describes the woes of one who falls into that rank:

His essays, no better or worse than others,

Deserve neither honors nor disgrace.9

The flourishes of the drumbeats

Dash his fanciful dreams.

He has the talent but not the luck,

While the mediocre rise through the ranks.

He has tarried too long in his subsidized status;

He should qualify for the provincial exams.

But for now, relax, get out of the way

And watch others bask in their glory.

Having received only a third-rank rating, Han Ziwen felt so insulted that he stood petrified, eyes unblinking and mouth agape. Then he lashed out at Education Commissioner Liang with the most scathing expressions in his vocabulary, after which he thought it prudent not to mention his marriage proposal anymore, nor did Madam Wang approach him again. (MC: How disappointing!) With considerable effort, he tried to make himself feel better and said with a sigh, “Curse not the lack of a good matchmaker; within book covers are faces as fair as jade.”

The results of the examination having been announced, Han Ziwen returned to his school, his morale broken. When he saw his employer and his pupils, he blushed furiously and felt overwhelmed with humiliation.

More than a year went by. Emperor Zhengde died [without issue], and at his behest, Prince Xing [his cousin] succeeded to the throne and became Emperor Jiajing [r. 1522–67]. When he was summoned to the palace from his own residence, he was only fifteen years of age. As preparations got under way to select girls from respectable families for the imperial harem, word got around Zhejiang that the imperial court would be picking girls from Zhejiang to serve as palace ladies. The local people, as gullible as they were, swallowed the rumor and rushed to marry off their daughters. In their haste, they ignored proper decorum. (MC: They always embrace such nonsense. The benighted are all alike. Why?) Those who benefited from this flurry of activities were the owners of general stores, musicians, maidservants for the brides, sedan-chair carriers, and hosts of wedding ceremonies. What you will find most ridiculous was the fact that even old widows in their seventies and eighties hastened to remarry because it was said that “every ten palace ladies must be escorted by one widow.” Behold:

Thirteen- or fourteen-year-old boys marry

Twenty-four- or twenty-five-year-old women.

Twelve- or thirteen-year-old girls marry

Thirty- or forty-year-old men.

A crude, stupid, and dark face

Gets passed off as a great beauty.

A wide-hipped squaw

Is taken as a tender blossom.

Those claiming to be chaste widows

And vowing never to remarry

Rush recklessly into marriage,

Even though they will soon be claimed by death.

There was also this poem, interesting but anonymous:

All because of a rumored imperial decree,

Weddings took place with three cups of watery wine.

Those watching the moon through the windows,

Marveled that only Chang’e [the Moon Goddess] remained single. (MC: This is a poem by Bo Ziting, a Yuan dynasty monk. See Records Compiled After Retiring from the Farm.)10

Han Ziwen happened to return to his hometown at this time. Intrigued by the wave of panic spreading across the town, he went for a leisurely walk in search of amusement. Suddenly, someone tugged at him from behind. He turned around and saw that it was Squire Jin from Huizhou, owner of a pawnshop. Squire Jin saluted him and said, “I have a daughter, now sixteen years old. If a scholar like you doesn’t find her too lowly, I propose marrying her to you.” So saying, he produced a card with his daughter’s natal chart on it and rammed it into Ziwen’s sleeve, oblivious of whether Ziwen wanted it or not.

“Don’t make fun of me!” said Ziwen. “I’m an impoverished scholar. I’m not worthy of your daughter!”

With a frown, Squire Jin said, “How can you say such a disappointing thing in this emergency situation! The slightest delay and she’ll be a palace lady. She’s all my wife and I have. Should she be taken to faraway Beijing, we won’t be able to see her again. How can we bear to part with her like that? If you’ll deign to take her, you’ll be saving our lives!” With that, he made as if to drop to his knees.

Ziwen knew all too well that the rumor was baseless, but he was in need of a wife. So instead of talking sense into the man, he quickly took hold of him and said, “I have only forty to fifty taels of silver with me. Even if you overlook my destitution and promise your daughter to me, I won’t be able to come up with money for the wedding.”

“That’s all right!” said Squire Jin. “The imperial court won’t take girls who are already spoken for. We need only hold a betrothal ceremony for now. After this thing blows over, we can take our time preparing for the wedding.”

“That sounds fine,” conceded Ziwen. “But I need to make it clear that you must not back out of it later.” (IC: Important point.)

As desperate as he was, Squire Jin said, “I swear to Heaven that if I back out of the commitment, let me be put to torture in the Taizhou prefectural yamen!”

Ziwen said, “That’s quite uncalled for, but a spoken promise is no guarantee. You can go home now, sir. I’ll bring two friends of mine to your honorable shop (MC: Meticulous.), first to see your daughter and then to ask for a marriage contract from you, so that my friends can affix their signatures on the paper as witnesses. After I present my betrothal gifts, please give me something that belongs to your daughter—a piece of her clothing, a lock of her hair, or fingernail clippings—so that I have something to hold on to should you change your mind.” (IC: This may not be necessary.)

Eager to seal the deal, Squire Jin readily gave his promise, saying, “Why doubt me? Of course I’ll do as you say. I only hope you’ll be quick about it!” As he went away, he kept saying, “I’ll be waiting for you! I’ll be waiting for you!” And so he returned to his pawnshop.

Han Ziwen went to the county school, where he found two friends, Zhang Siwei, courtesy name Anguo, and Li Junqing, courtesy name Wencai. After he told them what had happened and drew up their visiting cards, the three of them went to the pawnshop. Squire Jin greeted them and had tea served. After the obligatory exchange of amenities, the squire called his daughter, Morning Cloud, to the reception room. You may well ask, how did she look? Behold:

Her eyebrows are shaped like spring willow leaves,

Her eyes pools of sparkling autumn water.

Her cheeks are as rosy as peaches,

Her feet tiny bamboo shoots under her skirt.

She may not have the face to topple a state,

But she is certainly a beauty first-rate.

Miss Jin’s looks delighted Ziwen. After she greeted the visitors one by one, she returned to her own room. Ziwen asked a fortune-teller to tell him if his horoscope and Miss Jin’s matched. The fortune-teller said, “It’s a most auspicious match. But before the wedding takes place, you’ll have to put up with some nonsense.”

Squire Jin, in his eagerness to bring off the marriage, said, “What can be better than an auspicious match? ‘Some nonsense’ shouldn’t be anything to worry about!” With that, he produced a full-size foldable red sheet on which was written the following:

This marriage contract is signed by Jin Sheng, a native of Huizhou, whose daughter, Morning Cloud, age sixteen and never before betrothed to anyone, is now engaged to Han Ziwen, scholar of Tiantai County, Taizhou Prefecture. This engagement, made with mutual consent, is irreversible as of this day. The signing of this contract is witnessed by Mr. Zhang and Mr. Li.

Date: The __th day of the __th month in the first year of the Jiajing reign period [1522]

Signatures: Jin Sheng, the engaging party

Zhang Anguo and Li Wencai, the witnesses

After the contract was drawn up, the three of them affixed their signatures on it and gave it to Ziwen for safekeeping. Ziwen made this move out of a desperate wish for self-protection, little knowing that a breach of the contract was in store for him, but I am getting ahead of myself.

To resume: An auspicious day was chosen for the betrothal ceremony. When that day was drawing near, Ziwen bought a few items of clothing and jewelry, packed them with what remained of his savings of a little more than fifty taels of silver, and wrote a card that said, “Betrothal gifts from son-in-law Han Shiyu with a hundred kowtows.” He also gave Zhang and Li one tael of silver each by way of thanking them for serving as matchmakers, and the three of them went to Squire Jin’s pawnshop to complete the ritual.

Squire Jin and his wife, Cheng-shi, with their vast wealth, were not impressed with Ziwen’s shabby gifts, but with the rumor of the selection of palace ladies still in circulation, they felt obliged to accept them. Their return gifts, however, were quite gracious, and, complying with Ziwen’s request, they gave him a lock of their daughter’s fine hair. Ziwen said to himself as he put everything away, “If it were not for the rumors, I wouldn’t have been able to get myself a wife so soon, and a rich wife at that.” Let us leave him with his happy thoughts and move on.

Time flew like an arrow, and the sun and the moon shot back and forth like the shuttle on a loom. Summer gave way to autumn, and the better half of a year went by. By the time the second year of the Jiajing reign period rolled around, rumors about the selection of palace ladies had died down. Now that all was well, Mr. and Mrs. Jin began to regret their daughter’s betrothal to a scholar without a penny to his name. As for Han Ziwen, having spent all his money on the betrothal gifts, he was not yet ready to bring up the subject of the wedding ceremony.

One day, Squire Jin was going over his accounts in the pawnshop when a man came in, followed by a boy seventeen or eighteen years of age. The man cried out, “Are my brother-in-law and my sister home?” The visitor was Squire Cheng of Huizhou, Squire Jin’s brother-in-law. With his son A-shou in tow, he had come from Huizhou to enter into a partnership with Squire Jin in the pawnshop business. Squire Jin promptly greeted them and summoned his wife, Cheng-shi, and daughter, Morning Cloud, to meet them. After the usual exchange of pleasantries, heated wine was served.

In a measured and easy tone, Squire Cheng said, “So, my niece has grown into quite a beauty! Is she engaged? I may be speaking out of turn, but my son isn’t engaged yet. If you, my brother-in-law, don’t look down on us, it would be a good thing to marry them to each other and add another bond to our family ties.”

With a sigh, Squire Jin said, “Yes, you make perfect sense. Why would I be unwilling to marry my daughter to my wife’s nephew? But last year when it was rumored that the court was picking palace ladies, I hastily promised her to a certain Scholar Han, or whatever he’s called. He’s so poor that hunger is written all over his face. Judging by my reading of his face, he’ll never make anything of himself. When Education Commissioner Liang was here the year before last, that pauper placed in the third rank on the exam. (MC: Still tied down to the third rank.) I don’t think he’ll ever do better than that. How can I marry my daughter to such a man? Well, I suppose it’s all because my daughter was born under the wrong star, and now it’s too late to do anything about it.”

Squire Cheng thought for a moment before saying, “So you and my sister really don’t want to marry your daughter to him?”

“I wasn’t lying!”

“If you’re willing to marry my niece to him, let’s drop the subject. But if you’re not, I have a plan to make the yamen rule for canceling the betrothal. That shouldn’t be hard to do.”

“But how do we do it?”

Squire Cheng replied, “Tomorrow, I’ll lodge a complaint with the Taizhou Prefectural yamen against you, saying that my son and your daughter, as cousins, have been engaged since childhood, but because I remained in Huizhou on business all these years, you backed out of the engagement and betrothed your daughter to someone else. I’ll then ask the yamen to rule in my favor. However unworthy my son is, he’s better than that hungry pauper.”

“Sounds good, but he can produce the marriage contract that I had drafted with my own hand and a lock of my daughter’s hair as evidence. How will the yamen rule in your favor? I’m in the wrong after all.”

“My brother-in-law!” said Squire Cheng. “You’re so ignorant about the way the yamen does things! You and I are both natives of Huizhou, and we’re related. So if we claim that my son and your daughter have been engaged since childhood, people will easily believe us. As the saying goes, ‘With money, you can make even the devil turn the millstone for you.’ Since we’re flush with cash, we can well afford to pay bribes high and low. We can ask a local official to approach the prefect and have him declare the marriage contract null and void. (MC: The right approach if the prefect is a fool.) About the lock of hair, it can be anybody’s. We’ll surely get our way! With our deep pockets, you won’t be shortchanged.”

Clapping his hands, Squire Jin exclaimed, “Bravo! Bravo! Let’s get started tomorrow!” That evening, they retired to their rooms after the wine feast was over.

Squire Cheng rose bright and early the next morning, washed and did his hair, and ate his breakfast. Then he engaged a scholar well versed in law, consulted him on the wording of the letter of complaint, and asked a Mr. Zhao to sign the paper as a witness. Squire Cheng and Squire Jin then proceeded to Taizhou prefectural yamen. As a consequence,

Before long, the beauty married the scholar;

Then and there, the plotters were put to torture

The new prefect, Wu Gongbi, had just opened his court session when the two arrived. Without delay, a board was put up in front of the yamen, announcing that the prefect was ready to hear complaints. Squire Cheng went in, as indicated by the board. The prefect asked a civil litigation clerk to take the letter of complaint and hand it to him, and he read it from the beginning:

To Your Honor the Prefect:

I, Cheng Yuan, plaintiff, hereby accuse Jin Sheng, an evil man, of breach of a contract of matrimony.

Jin Sheng betrothed his daughter Jin-shi to my son Cheng Shou. After all the six preliminaries were completed, that evil man moved to Taizhou and broke the betrothal.11 In the _th lunar month of last year, he acted on his own and re-betrothed his daughter to Han Shiyu, a scholar of Tiantai County, as witnessed by Zhao Xiao and others. This is a case involving morality and decency. I beseech Your Honor’s wise ruling so that the original betrothal will be upheld.

Respectfully,

Cheng Yuan, plaintiff, from She County, Huizhou Prefecture

Versus

Defendants Jin Sheng, from She County, Huizhou Prefecture, and Han Shiyu, from Tiantai County, Taizhou Prefecture

Witness: Zhao Xiao, from Tiantai County, Taizhou Prefecture

After reading the complaint, Prefect Wu called Cheng Yuan to him and asked, “Who is Jin Sheng to you?”

With a bow, Cheng Yuan answered, “Your Honor, he’s my sister’s husband. Because we’re close relatives, and my son and his daughter are about the same age, we betrothed the children to each other.”

“Why did he dare to break the commitment?”

“Since he moved to Taizhou and I remained in Huizhou, we came to be separated by a great distance. Last year, Jin Sheng believed rumors about the imperial court selecting palace ladies, and so he promised his daughter to Mr. Han instead. I came to Taizhou recently to visit relatives and was about to take care of the wedding when I learned about the breach of the betrothal. I understand that he did this wrongful thing out of desperation, but how can I let another man take my daughter-in-law for no good reason? (MC: He does have a clever tongue.) If I didn’t appeal to the government, Scholar Han would never return her to me. I beg that Your Honor do right by me!”

Somewhat convinced by his reasoning, the prefect accepted the letter of complaint and announced, “Interrogation of all parties will take place in ten days.”

Cheng Yuan kowtowed and took himself off.

The very day after he heard that the complaint had been accepted, Squire Jin went to see Mr. Zhang and Mr. Li and said in feigned alarm, “What’s to be done? What’s to be done? Back in the days when we were in Huizhou, I promised my daughter to my brother-in-law’s son. After we moved to this prefecture, that emergency situation about the selection of palace ladies came up. Since distant water cannot put out a nearby fire, we betrothed her to your honorable friend in a moment of desperation, with the two of you serving as matchmakers. But as it turns out, my brother-in-law has come here and filed a complaint against me with the prefectural yamen. Now what’s to be done about it?”

Mr. Chang and Mr. Li grew livid with rage. “You senseless old ass!” said one of them. “At the time of the betrothal, goodness only knows how many vows you made. Who wrote that marriage contract? You did! And now you give us this shit! We know what this is all about: You came up with this devious plan because you find Mr. Han too poor. Now, Mr. Han is a talented scholar. He won’t stay poor for the rest of his life. If we call on all our friends in the county, subprefectural, and prefectural schools and go together to the yamen, we can assure you that you’ll be beaten until your ass legs are broken, and your daughter will never have a husband!” (MC: The scholar may be raving mad, but these words do sting.)

Before Squire Jin could defend himself, the two men turned their backs on him, went in a huff to Han Ziwen’s home, and told him about everything that had happened.

Ziwen was so shocked that he stared blankly at them for the longest time, unable to get a word out. In their anger, Zhang and Li wanted Ziwen to join them in rallying friends at his school to lodge a plea with the authorities. But Ziwen, of all people, stopped them, saying, “My two brothers, please don’t! To my way of thinking, if that old ass doesn’t want this marriage to happen, even if we win back the girl, there will be no peace. (MC: Words of profound wisdom.) If scholars like us make our mark in the world, there will be no lack of old and eminent families seeking us out for marriage alliances. He’s but a rich merchant with no distinguished background. What’s so special about him? What’s more, with his kind of money, the yamen will surely judge in his favor. As poor as I am, how can I come up with the money to engage him in a lawsuit? If I make something of myself in the future, I’ll surely have a chance to vindicate myself. Now please go and tell him that if he returns my fifty taels of silver and doubles that amount as compensation, I’ll be willing to withdraw from the engagement.”

Zhang and Li agreed. Ziwen took out the marriage contract, the girl’s natal chart, and the lock of her hair from his box and went with Zhang and Li to the pawnshop. After Zhang and Li repeated Ziwen’s message to Squire Cheng, the latter said jubilantly, “As long as the engagement can be canceled so that I’ll be spared the trouble, I won’t mind parting with the silver.” Right away, he weighed out two ingots of silver worth one hundred taels on the scales and gave them to Zhang and Li. Then he asked Ziwen to write a note announcing his withdrawal from the engagement and demanded the return of the marriage contract and lock of hair.

Ziwen said, “I’ll have enough time to write the disengagement note and return the contract after the case is settled at court. But the case is still pending, and these things shouldn’t be rushed into. I can collect the silver at a later time.”

Squire Cheng gave Zhang and Li two taels of silver and asked them to act on Ziwen’s behalf and request a dismissal of the lawsuit. The two men asked for writing implements, drafted the letter, and went to the prefectural yamen with the plaintiff, the defendant, and Mr. Zhao the witness.

Prefect Wu had just declared the afternoon session of the court open. After the letter was presented to him, the prefect read:

From Zhang Siwei and Li Junqing, students at the Tiantai County School, requesting dismissal of the following case:

Briefly stated, Jin Sheng, a native of Huizhou, had betrothed his daughter to Mr. Cheng before he moved to Tiantai. Having lost touch with Mr. Cheng due to the distance between them, Mr. Jin had no alternative but to betroth his daughter to Mr. Han when she came of age, hence Mr. Cheng’s institution of legal proceedings. However, since Jin Sheng is now willing to return Mr. Han’s betrothal gifts and Mr. Han is willing to withdraw from the betrothal so that the marriage alliance with Mr. Cheng can be maintained, we the undersigned, as relatives, respectfully submit this request so that this lawsuit between relatives can be dismissed peacefully.

Now, this Prefect Wu was from a distinguished family of the Min region [Fujian]. A fair-minded and honorable man, he was drawn not to money but to talent. (MC: Whatever gave him the idea?) It intrigued him that two local landed gentlemen had written to him so soon after he accepted that case. After reading the letter, he raised his head to take a look at Han Ziwen. More than a little impressed by the young scholar’s prepossessing looks, the prefect told him to approach the bench. After Han Ziwen came up and dropped to his knees, Prefect Wu said, “With your kind of impressive looks, I don’t think you’ll be trapped in poverty for long. You could even be a worthy son-in-law of mine. Why did you so lightly accept Mr. Jin’s daughter, and why did you just as lightly withdraw from the engagement?”

Han Ziwen was a man with a most perceptive mind. He had already given up all hope, but on detecting the prefect’s unexpectedly sympathetic tone, he changed his tack and said, “How in the world could I bear to break the engagement? Back when the betrothal was made, even though Jin Sheng vowed to the high heavens, I still doubted his sincerity. So I made him draw up a marriage contract in his own hand, with Mr. Zhang and Mr. Li serving as witnesses. The contract contains the phrase about his daughter being ‘never before betrothed to anyone.’ Then he gave me a lock of his daughter’s hair. I carry it with me at all times and often hold it in my hand, feeling as if my future wife is by my side. Now that I’m to be jilted, how could I take it lying down? Nothing has ever been said about the Jins’ marriage alliance with the Chengs! It’s only because a poor man stands no chance against a rich one that they stirred up these problems where none existed.” Tears rolled down his cheeks as he retrieved Miss Jin’s natal chart, the marriage contract, and the lock of hair from his sleeve and presented them all to the prefect.

After examining each item closely, Prefect Wu ordered the guards to take Cheng Yuan and witness Zhao Xiao to the far side of the courtroom. He then asked Jin Sheng, “Did you betroth your daughter to the Cheng family?”

“Yes, Your Honor, I did indeed,” said Jin Sheng.

“In that case, you shouldn’t have promised her to Mr. Han,” said the prefect.

“It was only because of the rumored selection of palace ladies that I rushed into the engagement with Mr. Han in the haste of the moment, without a second thought. It was out of necessity more than choice.”

“Did you write the marriage contract in your own hand?”

“Yes.”

“The contract contains the phrase ‘never betrothed to anyone.’ How do you explain that?”

“In my eagerness to seal the deal, I agreed to everything he wanted. So I didn’t mean what I wrote.”

His inconsistency enraged the prefect.

“What’s the exact date on which you entered into the betrothal with Mr. Cheng?” asked the prefect.

Unable to answer that question on the spur of the moment, Jin Sheng reflected for a moment or two and said falteringly, “The nth day of the nth month of the nth year.”

Prefect Wu sharply ordered Jin Sheng to withdraw and then called Cheng Yuan to him and asked, “What evidence do you have to prove the engagement between your son and Mr. Jin’s daughter?”

Cheng Yuan replied, “The fact that the six preliminaries have been completed is sufficient evidence.”

“Where’s the matchmaker?”

“The matchmaker is in Huizhou. He hasn’t come.”

“Show me your daughter-in-law’s natal chart.”

“I don’t have it with me.”

With a contemptuous snort, the prefect continued, “When exactly did the betrothal take place?”

Cheng Yuan, too, fell to thinking. Then he said offhandedly, “The nth day of the nth month of the nth lunar year.” It did not tally in the least with the date Jin Sheng had given.

Now fully grasping the situation, the prefect called Zhao Xiao to him. “I understand that you’re the witness,” said he. “But where’s your domicile?”

“I live in this prefecture.”

“If so, how did you manage to learn about what happened in Huizhou?”

Zhao Xiao replied, “That’s because I’m related to both families.”

“If so, do you recall the date of the betrothal?” (MC: The same question crushes all three of them.)

The date Zhao Xiao came up with differed from both versions given earlier. What had happened was that all three of them thought they should be able to breeze through the proceedings with no preparation because they had asked for dismissal of the lawsuit. (MC: The will of Heaven at work.) They little dreamed that the prefect would cross-examine them separately. Those employees of the yamen who had been bribed dared not speak up on their behalf out of fear of the prefect’s strictness. And that was why, unsurprisingly, they gave themselves away.

In a blaze of rage, Prefect Wu said, “How dare such scoundrels so brazenly violate the laws! Never mind that the selection of palace ladies was a baseless rumor. Even if he was stupid enough to be afraid, he didn’t need to use Mr. Han for protection if he could produce evidence of his daughter’s betrothal to Mr. Cheng. (MC: Very smart.) Now, the natal chart and the marriage contract in Mr. Han’s possession are pieces of hard evidence, whereas Cheng Yuan’s testimony is unsubstantiated. In addition, if, as he claims, he came here in order to hold the wedding ceremony, there’s no earthly reason not to bring the matchmaker with him. And what’s the explanation for the discrepancies in the betrothal dates given by all three of you? The fact that Zhao Xiao is a Taizhou native shows that, in your haste to find a witness, you paid him for his services because there were no other Huizhou natives available. This is a case of conspiracy born out of contempt for Mr. Han’s poverty, hence the breach of the previous commitment and the betrothal to Cheng’s nephew. Now what more do you have to say?” He took a bamboo slip, a warrant of authorization for punishment, and ordered that Jin, Cheng, and Zhao each be given thirty strokes of the bamboo rod.

As all three howled in pain, Han Ziwen dropped to his knees and pleaded, “With Your Honor standing up for me and preserving the marriage alliance, Mr. Jin Sheng will become my father-in-law. It wouldn’t do to make an enemy of him. Please show him mercy.” (MC: Mr. Han keeps the larger picture in mind.)

The prefect said, “For Mr. Han’s sake, I’ll show Jin Sheng mercy and reduce the number of strokes by half. But Cheng Yuan and the witness are to be shown no mercy.”

And so the thrashings went on. Not having bribed the lictors in advance because they had not anticipated any trouble, all three were beaten until their skin split, their flesh ripped, and they wailed nonstop. In the meantime, Han Ziwen, Zhang Siwei, and Li Junjie stood off to one side and rejoiced inwardly. This bore out the vow that Squire Jin had made earlier.

With his writing brush, Prefect Wu crossed out the letter appealing for dismissal of the case and made the following ruling:

Han the scholar without a penny to his name

Sought a fair maiden but to no avail.

Jin Sheng in his fabulous wealth

Got a scholar but then threw him away.

With the father-in-law such a poor judge of men,

Another who sought the bride hatched an evil plan.

In the lawsuit, Cheng has no proof of the old betrothal,

While Han holds evidence of the new commitment.

With one hundred taels of silver from the yamen as betrothal gift,

Jin’s daughter will be returned to Han.

Jin Sheng, Cheng Yuan, and Zhao Xiao are hereby put under the rod

For their willful flouting of the law.

After delivering his ruling, the prefect gave Miss Jin’s natal chart, the marriage contract, and the lock of hair back to Han Ziwen. Everyone bid farewell to the prefect and left the court. Squire Cheng, having accomplished nothing, smarted from the humiliation, and Han Ziwen threw curses at him all along the way, calling him a stupid old ass and saying, “A fine thing you did! A heck of a fine thing you did! And I thought you wouldn’t feel the pain of the strokes!”

Squire Cheng swallowed the insult without venturing one word in response. Moreover, because Zhao Xiao had been subjected to punishment because of him, he was obliged to join Squire Jin in paying the man off in order to seal his lips about the scandal. As he walked along, he kept muttering bitterly to himself. This is indeed a case of Zhou Yu’s self-proclaimed wonderful stratagem ending up as a double loss.12 They then parted company and went their separate ways.

Having gone through all these unpleasant events, Han Ziwen acted quickly to forestall more breaches of promises. He hastily packed the one hundred taels of silver with some presents and asked that the wedding take place on his chosen auspicious day. As before, he enlisted Zhang and Li as messengers. Since Prefect Wu was on Han’s side, Squire Jin dared not show him less than proper respect. He thought of joining hands with Cheng to bribe higher-ups, but there was no way he could bypass the prefectural and county yamens. Choking with silent fury, as it were, he resigned himself to following Han Ziwen’s behest in everything.

After the wedding ceremony, when Morning Cloud the bride saw Mr. Han for the first time, she fell for his impressive looks. And with his outstanding talent, which was quite a match for her beauty, she could not care less about his lack of means. As was to be expected, the loving young couple wallowed in unions of delight, and the bride begrudged her father for having unnecessarily made so much trouble. Indeed, if he had known that the lamp flame could have served as a kitchen fire, he would have cooked the rice long ago.

Nothing of note occurred until the next year, when Education Commissioner Tian Hong presided over the preparatory provincial exams. Highly recommended by Prefect Wu, Han Ziwen made it to the top rank on the list of successful candidates. Both at the triennial provincial-level examinations in the fall and, later, at the national-level examinations in the spring, he scored at the top, and his wife, daughter of the Jin family, was made a lady. The father-in-law was full of remorse for what had happened in the past. (MC: For a man without insight, he couldn’t have acted otherwise.) If he could have foreseen that Han Ziwen would go this far, Jin Sheng would have been willing to give his daughter to him even as a concubine. There is a quatrain in testimony:

Lü Mengzheng was once also an impoverished man;13

Do not look at a hero with snobbish eyes.

A man with a sense of justice is hard to come by;

The prefect was as upright and wise as Gu Hong.14