Six Records of a Floating Life

“She held my hands without saying a word. Our souls became smoke and mist. I thought I heard something, but it was as if my body had ceased to exist.”

Shen Fu uses figurative language to describe the depth of emotion he felt upon reuniting with Chen Yun, which is reinforced by the description of their wordlessness and sudden separation from reality. The metaphor of their “souls becom[ing] smoke and mist” creates a strong impression of the transcendent nature of their joining. The metaphor also signals the romantic, even sexual, nature of their reunion because a man and woman becoming “smoke/mist” and “rain” together is a euphemism for sex in some classical Chinese texts.

“Yün’s habits and tastes were the same as mine. She understood what my eyes said, and the language of my brows.”

Shen Fu illustrates the closeness between him and his wife; not only do they have much in common, but they are able to understand each other without speaking. This quote also hints at Chen Yun’s subservient position in the marriage, since the onus to accommodate her husband’s wishes and discern his thoughts is placed on her. Even in these early moments of apparent marital bliss, Filial Piety and the Position of Women becomes apparent in Chen Yun’s role with Shen Fu.

“By this time the scent of jasmine in their hair had mixed with the aroma of the wine, all of it overlaid by the smell of perspiration in their make-up. It was quite overpowering.

‘The stink of commoners fills the bow of this boat,’ I joked. ‘It’s enough to make a man sick.’”

In this quote, Shen Fu uses evocative and highly descriptive language to build a realistic and vivid sensory portrait of the aroma in the boat. He also shows his cleverness by appearing to insult the women so as to provoke the boatman’s daughter into losing her temper and their bet, when in fact he was simply referencing a prior conversation with Chen Yun about jasmine. The couple’s banter and private jokes are illustrative of their closeness and shared sense of humor, building upon the theme The Enduring Nature of Love and Companionship.

“We had intended, after the incense was burned and they had become sisters, that we should carry on drinking. As it turned out, however, Han-yüan [Han Yuan] had promised to go on a trip to Stone Lake, so she left as soon as the ceremony was over.”

This quote foreshadows the fact that Han Yuan would ultimately not be joining their household. The swearing of sisterhood and any genuine desire Han Yuan may have had to stay with the couple means less than her other obligations. Just as she must leave prematurely to attend to a prior engagement, so too is she—as a courtesan—not free to take up their proposal when a better offer is made.

“I laughed, and asked her, ‘Are you trying to imitate Li-weng’s Pitying the Fragrant Companion?’

‘Yes,’ she replied.”

This quote references a work of classic literature in which a woman organizes for her husband to take on her female lover as a concubine so that the two women could continue their relationship. This humorous reference notes the similarities between Chen Yun’s behavior and that of the wife in Pitying the Fragrant Companion, including her insistence on finding Shen Fu a concubine, and her affection for Han Yuan. Chen Yun’s agreement could either be interpreted as her jokingly joining in on the banter, or as a confession of the depth of her feelings for Han Yuan.

“Since growing up I have sometimes thought that the battle of the two insects was probably an attempted rape. The ancients said, ‘Rapists deserve death.’ I wonder, was this why the insects were eaten by the toad?”

In this quote, Shen Fu illustrates the differences between the perspective of a child and that of an adult, showing how seemingly innocent incidents in childhood can take on sinister or erotic overtones with the retrospective wisdom of experience. Shen Fu also shows his erudition by referencing ancient strictures and uses a rhetorical question to invite the reader to ruminate on his theory. This also inadvertently highlights the implicit gender inequality that victimizes women in his society, as well as the theme Filial Piety and the Position of Women, since he sees no issue in the fact that both violator and victim received the same “punishment” from the toad.

“Once at a home in Yangchou [Yangzhou] I saw a potted boxwood and a potted Cyprus that had been presented by a visitor from Yüshan, but this was at the home of a merchant and their being in such a place was as pitiful as brilliant pearls being thrown into the darkness.”

Shen Fu uses a simile to compare the potted tree to pearls. Both cultivated trees and pearls are phenomena that take many years of gradual and cumulative effort—on the part of the cultivator and the oyster—to produce something of great value and beauty. The ignorance of the merchant and his company is likened to darkness, since the products of so much effort cannot truly be appreciated in either environment.

“This is a way of showing the small in the large: in an unused corner plant some bamboo, which will quickly grow tall, then plant some luxuriant plum trees in front to screen it.

This is a way to show the large in the small: the wall of a small garden should be winding and covered with green vines, and large stones decorated with inscriptions can be set into it.”

In this quote, Shen Fu uses anaphora in the repetition of the phrase “This is a way of showing/this is a way to show…” at the beginning of each sentence (the grammatical change is a choice of the translator; both phrases are identical in the original Chinese). He also uses antimetabole by repeating and reversing the words “the small in the large” and “the large in the small.” These literary devices create a sense of unity in the listed instructions, showing how all these elements come together to create a single harmonious end product. The repeated elements also simplify the instructions, making them more memorable for easy application.

“‘When an insect dies its colours do not change,’ Yün said. ‘You could find an insect like a praying mantis, a cicada, or a butterfly, and kill it by sticking it with a pin. Then use a fine wire to tie its neck to a flower or a blade of grass, arranging its feet to grasp the stem or stand on a leaf. It will look just as if it were alive. Wouldn’t that work?’

I was delighted and did as she suggested. No one who saw these insects failed to praise them. It is hard to find such clever women these days!”

Shen Fu directly quotes Chen Yun, giving her full credit for the ingenuity of her idea and giving the reader a more complete picture of her style and mannerisms. He includes his own reaction and that of his friends, implicitly inviting the reader to agree with the unanimous opinion of approval, which is emphasized by his use of an exclamation.

 “But now we are all parted like clouds blown by the wind. The jade is broken, the incense buried! I cannot bear to look back.”

Shen Fu uses dramatic figurative language to describe how he and his companions have parted ways with an elevated sense of pathos and a tragic mood. He uses first a simile, then metaphors to compare the parting to irreversible endings in familiar objects. The depth of his sorrow is conveyed through the truncated clauses and his use of an exclamation mark.

“Four things were forbidden at the Villa of Serenity: talking about official promotions, official business, or the eight-legged official examinations, and playing cards or dice. […] Four things were encouraged: generosity, romantic refinement, an unrestrained atmosphere, and peace and quiet.”

This quote lists forbidden activities immediately followed by encouraged traits. This format creates an immediate, comprehensive impression of what life in The Villa of Serenity was like and what their priorities were. Placing the opposite lists in close succession juxtaposes the two categories of behavior, giving a more striking and intuitive impression of the atmosphere cultivated there.

“Why are there misfortunes in life? They are usually the retributions for one’s own sins, but this was not so with me!”

Shen Fu asks this rhetorical question with a tone of plaintive self-pity. He eschews any responsibilities for the hardships that befall him and declares himself an unfortunate exception to rules of celestial justice. This exclamation is a touch comical and ironic, not merely for the melodrama of his phrasing, but because the forthcoming parts of the text make it clear that some of Shen Fu’s misfortunes were at the very least exacerbated, if not outright caused by his “sins.”

“I called her name a thousand times, but she could not speak. Two streams of agonized tears owed from her eyes in torrents, until finally her panting grew shallow and her tears dried up. Her spirit vanished in the mist and she began her long journey. […] I looked up but saw nothing, there was nothing for my two hands to hold, and my heart felt as if it would shatter. How can there be anything greater than my everlasting grief?”

This quote provides a detailed, drawn-out description of Chen Yun’s final moments, making clear through dramatic language and vivid imagery the pain that both she and her husband underwent on her deathbed. Shen Fu’s pathos-laden final rhetorical question is a lament, a plea for sympathy, and an expression of his indescribable grief.

“By now, my heart was pounding and my knees were trembling, and I wanted to call in my guardian. But then I thought of Yün’s gentle and impressionable spirit, and feared she might be repelled by having another man in the room. […] I went out to tell Yü-men what had happened; he thought me very brave, not realizing that in fact I was merely transported with love the whole time.”

The description of Shen Fu’s bodily reaction to fear builds tension in the first part of this quote. However, the inherent horror of the supernatural is contrasted with the familiarity and tenderness of Shen Fu’s feelings for Chen Yun. In this way, Shen Fu shows that their The Enduring Nature of Love and Companionship transcends and overcomes even death.

“Although I, your elder brother, have been un filial, I have certainly never done anything evil or improper. If you think I have come home just to claim my inheritance, you should know I have not inherited the slightest thing. My hurrying back for the funeral was simply fulfilling my duty as a son. How could you possibly think I wanted to fight about an inheritance? A man’s honour lies in being able to stand on his own two feet. I returned with nothing, and I will leave with nothing!”

Shen Fu’s use of direct speech here allows him to reiterate and clearly express the extent of his outrage and indignance at his brother’s assumptions without the layer of removal that the intercession of his narrative voice would give. His anger is shown in his use of rhetorical questions, repetition of the word “inheritance,” and use of the exclamation mark. These, along with the short sharp sentences, add impact to his words.

“He presented me with a concubine, a young woman who renewed in me the spring dreams of life. I was thrown back into the maelstrom of daily existence, a dream from which I do not know when I shall awake.”

“Spring dreams” refer both to Shen Fu’s renewed sense of hope and connection to the world of the living, and the renewal of his youthful romantic feelings. He is also euphemistically referring to his reawakened lusts, since “spring dreams” can refer to teenage fantasies or nocturnal emissions, and he equates his daily existence sans Chen Yun with dreaming.

“Yün then made an excuse to send the girl out, and asked me, ‘Did you get very drunk again today?’ I told her about all the places we had visited, and she listened enchanted for a long time.”

In this quote, inadvertently or not, Shen Fu hints at the extent of his reliance on alcohol (and potential alcoholism), since even his mild mannered and perpetually supportive wife is assuming he got “very drunk” rather than just drinking socially. This is an especially pathos-laden revelation that evokes sympathy for Chen Yun’s position because Shen Fu did in fact get drunk that day, but it also doesn’t address Chen Yun’s question. There’s nothing she can do but listen to him, enchanted or not, on whatever subject he chooses to speak.

“All this is just a general description of the gardens. I cannot completely describe all their examples of beauty and skillful workmanship. They probably should be looked upon as a beautiful woman handsomely dressed, rather than regarded as one would a simple country girl.”

Shen Fu compares the gardens with a beautiful woman, but one who has cultivated and supplemented her beauty at significant expense according to the fashions of the day, rather than someone unrefined and naturally beautiful. In this way, he shows his appreciation for the work and skill of the gardeners, as well as that of the young women who apply themselves to bettering their looks. He also shows his awareness of the artifice of these pinnacles of refinement and beauty.

“It was said that once, if a man looked into them, they would reflect what he had been in a former life. But when Huang Tsao [Huang Chao] came there, he is supposed to have looked into the walls and seen the image of an ape, and then he set fire to the pavilion and burned the walls so that they lost their powers.”

This is a comedic local legend about the famous leader of a peasant rebellion, told casually to produce a humorous effect. It is a parable showing the harmful effects of pride and the fragility of precious cultural heritage when faced with the destructive power of unrestrained violence, particularly from those who are not educated or enlightened enough to appreciate them.

“Men who want to be monks must live in this kind of secluded place, seeing and hearing nothing for their entire lives, so that they can meditate in tranquility. At a place like Tiger Hill in my home county, all day long there is nothing for the eye to see but bewitching boys and captivating girls, nothing for the ear to hear but the music of strumming instruments and songs, and nothing for the nose to smell but good food and ne wines. How could a monk there make his body like dried wood, or his heart like dead ashes?”

Shen Fu describes succinctly why he is too taken with the simple sensory pleasures of life to become a monk. Whether he’s accurate in generalizing his own weaknesses to the general population of monks is unclear. The repetition of the structure “nothing for the [sensory organ] to [sense] but…” adds weight to his argument as each iterated pleasure builds on the former to create a sensory landscape of temptations. He ends his persuasive declaration with a rhetorical question that encourages the listener/reader to agree.

“People say that young men should not come to Kwangtung [Guangdong], to keep from being led astray by the beautiful girls. But who could be attracted by this gaudy clothing and barbarous southern language?”

Shen Fu’s xenophobia is common for a man of his class and background, since “non-standard” dialects of Chinese and “foreign” customs were greatly looked down upon by the cultural elite. He objectifies the women by reducing them to the characteristics that do not appeal to him and also displays his tendency to prefer standard, conventional experiences, pleasures, and forms of beauty over anything more novel or challenging.

“Tsui-ku [Cui-gu] then told me of the hardships of their life of constantly welcoming new guests and seeing off old ones. […] Tsui-ku [Cui-gu]’s tears had been falling unconsciously as she spoke, and now Hsi-erh [Xi’er] also began to weep silently.”

This quote, and the longer eluded passages of this section, show the powerlessness and hardships faced by Cui’gu, Xi’er, and the millions of other girls and women forced or pressured into sex work during the Qing dynasty. The bleak picture of their lives as well as their visceral emotional reactions evokes a strong sense of pathos and pity, and also casts a sinister, unsympathetic pall over Shen Fu’s exploitative and short lived “kindness” towards them.

“They addressed the owner as ‘landlord’, and were obedient, sincere, and pleasant. If angered by unfair treatment they became wilder than wolves or tigers, but if spoken to pleasantly as equals they quickly turned submissive.”

Shen Fu describes the peasants as a collective whole, showing the disregard and lack of understanding that many of his class felt for the peasantry. He does, however, appreciate their good qualities and their sense of justice and pride, the comparative “wilder than wolves or tigers” as much an expression of admiration as a word of caution against mistreating them.