The Tower of Reading
念樓中秋
The Fifteenth Day of the Eighth Month of the lunar calendar, a day that in 2024 falls on the 17th of September, marks the Mid Autumn Festival 中秋節. A major public holiday in the People’s Republic since 2008, the Mid Autumn Festival is also known as 團圓節, the Festival of Reunions and, internationally, as Mooncake Festival; it is a celebration of unity, togetherness, familial harmony and even conjugal felicity. Reunions were so rare and hard won in both China’s dynastic and modern eras that it is hardly surprising they are marked so frequently in the calendar and commemorated in a myriad of ways.
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In 2023, we celebrated Mid-Autumn Festival in The Tower of Reading with Lone Hill in Moonlight 孤山夜月 by Li Liufang (李流芳, 1575-1629). In 2024, we mark the festival with two poems and two further selections from Zhong Shuhe’s The Tower of Reading. The first poem, by Su Dongpo, is one of the most famous, if wistful, celebrations of Mid Autumn. The second, by Li Bo, however, is a memorable paean to the spring, the season in the Southern Hemisphere when the present essay was written.
As we noted in Introducing The Tower of Reading, be it in approach, temper or style, Zhong Shuhe’s work chimes with our advocacy of New Sinology. Taken as a whole, The Tower of Reading, a compendium of short excerpts from the corpus of pre-modern Chinese, is also something of a commentary on China, one selected an interpreted by a littérateur who is imbued both with the ethos of China’s dual enlightenments (1917-1927 and 1977-1989) and the long tradition of what Republican-era writers like Zhou Zuoren and Lin Yutang championed as Chinese humanism.
Through his translations, Zhong Shuhe helps readers appreciate pithy original texts which, more often than not, are in a terse telegraphic style that can easily elude the modern reader. In his appended commentaries Zhong reflects on a range of issues, drawing on life lessons while addressing a future that, as he suggests in asides ‘hidden between the lines’, may possibly be less ideologically hidebound than the present.
In The Wairarapa, home to China Heritage, the full moon of September 2024 was hidden by cirrostratus clouds, in our solitary appreciation of the moment, however, we appreciate the breeze and the promise of toasting the moon. In the words of Xie Hui 谢譓 of the Southern Song:
不妄交接，門無雜賓 … 入吾室者但有清風，對吾飲者唯當明月。
— Geremie R. Barmé
Editor, China Heritage
17 September 2024
甲辰年八月八日中秋節
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Mid Autumn Festival in New Sinology Jottings:
Also in China Heritage:
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Contents
(click on a section title to scroll down)
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The Same Fair Moon
Su Dongpo
Mid-Autumn,
I stayed up till dawn drinking,
and wrote this thinking of my brother
To the tune ‘Water Song’
When did such a bright moon ever shine?
Raising my goblet, I question the dark firmament:
What year is it tonight
in the Bright Palace of Heaven?
How I wish I could return home to the moon,
That I could ride the wind there,
but I fear that the cold,
high in those jade towers, in that crystal world,
might be too intense to bear.
So I’ll dance here instead
down in the mortal world,
I’ll play with my bright moonlit shadow.
Here it comes again,
moving round the vermilion mansion,
shining through the fretted casement,
in on the sleepless.
What right does it have
to be so cruel?
What right to choose
To shine so full,
So bright,
when we’re so far apart?
Mankind has its
Sorrows and joys,
Meetings and partings.
The moon waxes and wanes
in clear or cloudy skies.
Things were ever imperfect.
May we all live long,
May we all share,
though a myriad miles apart,
the same fair moon.
蘇東坡
辰中秋，
歡飲達旦，大醉。
作此篇，兼懷子由
水調歌頭
明月幾時有，
把酒問青天。
不知天上宮闕，
今夕是何年。
我欲乘風歸去，
又恐瓊樓玉宇，
高處不勝寒。
起舞弄清影，
何似在人間。
轉朱閣，
低綺戶，
照無眠。
不應有恨，
何事長向別時圓。
人有悲歡離合，
月有陰晴圓缺，
此事古難全。
但願人長久，
千里共嬋娟。
— trans. John Minford
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月下獨酌
李白
花間一壺酒，獨酌無相親。
舉杯邀明月，對影成三人。
月既不解飲，影徒隨我身。
暫伴月將影，行樂須及春。
我歌月徘徊，我舞影零亂。
醒時同交歡，醉後各分散。
永結無情遊，相期邈雲漢。
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Drinking Alone in the Moonlight
Li Bo
Beneath the blossoms with a pot of wine,
No friends at hand, so I poured alone;
I raised my cup to invite the moon,
Turned to my shadow, and we became three.
Now the moon had never learned about drinking,
And my shadow had merely followed my form,
But I quickly made friends with the moon and my shadow;
To find pleasure in life, make the most of the spring.Whenever I sang, the moon swayed with me;
Whenever I danced, my shadow went wild.
Drinking, we shared our enjoyment together;
Drunk, then each went off on his own.
But forever agreed on dispassionate revels,
We promised to meet in the far Milky Way.
— trans. Arthur Waley
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Thoughts at Mid Autumn
Tonight is Mid Autumn again. Though fit enough in both body and mind, my best years have been spent in idleness. Such a situation may well anger anyone with the slightest ambition, but since I have never had any lofty hopes, I don’t feel particularly frustrated by my enforced state. I even luxuriate in it.
But of all evenings, tonight it is raining and the full moon is occluded by cloud. There’s scant sign of the autumn at all and all I can hear is the drip-drip-drip of water from the eves.
How many Mid Autumn festivals does one get to enjoy in a lifetime? This damnable weather means that this night won’t count.
— Gong Wei, Notes from a Forest of Bird’s Nests
trans. G.R. Barmé
今夕是中秋節矣。病侵強歲。閒過清時。功名之士。所為短氣。不佞緣以藏拙。亦自不惡。但檐溜泠泠。月光隱翳。絕無佳景。一生不知幾度此節。似此便可扣除。
— 龔煒，《巢林筆談》
A Comment from The Tower of Reading
In the brief span allotted to us, there are precious few moments of potential delight offered to us. If something happens to spoil such occasions — like clouds obscuring the full moon or rain on the Double Ninth Festival — it is, of course, frustrating.
It is, however, only those with a measure of taste or cultural aspiration who really get upset about such things. Things are quite different for old comrades who are expectantly waiting around to be notified about some celebratory meeting or other. For them, getting such an invitation is true cause for celebration.
I’m not particularly cultured, nor am I a person of refined taste. I rarely take part in such traditional activities as finding an elevated vantage point from which to appreciate the moon or indulge in those other, more modern, cultural pursuits, nor am I particularly interested. But I am positively uninterested in taking part in any kind of meeting, in particular because I’m now long retired. For me ‘retirement’ 退休 tuì xīu means just that — being allowed both ‘to retreat’ 退 tuì and ‘to rest’ 休 xīu, or be left alone. Why would I want to take part in any meeting?
[Note: Zhong Shuhe, a man variously employed and denounced by the Communist Party over the decades, known all too well that of which he writes.]
Original Chinese Text
學其短：The selected Classical Chinese text;
念樓讀：Zhong Shuhe’s translation into Modern Chinese; and,
念樓曰：Zhong Shuhe’s comment.
絕無佳景 龔煒
今夕是中秋節矣。病侵強歲。閒過清時。功名之士。所為短氣。不佞緣以藏拙。亦自不惡。但檐溜泠泠。月光隱翳。絕無佳景。一生不知幾度此節。似此便可扣除。
【学其短】
- 本文錄自龔煒《巢林筆談》卷四。
【念樓讀】今天晚上，又是中秋了。
未老的身心，被病耗著；大好的年華，被迫閒著。想上進的人，只怕誰都會慪氣；平生無大志的我，卻正可借此躲懶，並不覺得有什麼難過。
可是今夜卻偏偏碰上這討厭的雨。
月光被雨雲遮住了，眼前不見半點秋色，耳中也只有單調的檐溜聲。
一生一世，也不知過得了幾個中秋，像今天晚上這樣殺風景的，簡直不能算數。
【念樓曰】人生苦短，一年中有數的幾個有點情趣、差堪玩味的日子，如果又因為什麼白白糟踐掉了，例如中秋無月、重陽遇雨，的確是憾事。
但也得對文化生活有理解、有追求的人才會有此感覺，專門等著通知開會的老同志殆未足以語此，當然等到了通知能夠去開會，可能也是他們的幸福。
我也是一個沒什麼文化品位的人，賞月登高乃至現代化的各種文娛活動，從來都很少參加，也沒什麼興趣。不過頂不感興趣的還是開會，已經退休，就應該“退”、應該“休”了，還要去開什麼會呢？
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Source:
- The second selection from Gong Wei’s Notes from a Forest of Bird’s Nests 巢林筆談, Studying Short Classical Chinese Texts with The Master of The Tower of Reading 《念樓學短》，上冊，長沙：岳麓書社，2022年，第468-469頁。
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What are your Plans on this Festive Occasion?
We made quite an occasion of the Lantern Festival earlier this year and I have very fond memories of our revelries. Time has passed so very quickly and here we are already in mid autumn. No wonder my thoughts have turned to a friend whose company I enjoyed so recently.
Dear brother, I’ve been remiss in not replying to your letter and I hope that you are not angry with me. In my defense, I have quite a pile of correspondence waiting a reply.
I’m planning to go into the city for Mid Autumn to enjoy the Mooncakes there that are as inviting as the moon itself and some of those gorgeous lotus roots [dug up from lakes and ponds at this time of year]. Such moments are all too precious and shouldn’t be wasted. I wonder if you also plan to venture into the city?
— Xu Simei, Letters from The Pavilion of Autumn Waters
trans. G.R. Barmé
元夜連袂看燈。極一時徵逐之樂。流光如駛。忽屆新秋。節序懷人。何能已已。承寄家兄一函。為理積牘。裁答久稽。或不罪其疏節耶。弟擬中秋返省。餅圓似月。藕大如船。三五良辰。何堪虛度。不知足下亦作思歸之計否。
— 許思湄，《秋水軒尺牘》
A Comment from The Tower of Reading
In an essay about traditional letter writing, Zhou Zuoren had the following to say about Xu Jiacun’s collected letters [from which the above text is taken]:
Rather than making extravagant claims about this book, let’s just say that it is well-known. One of the people who annotated the volume commented that, ‘the style is overwrought and the ideas somewhat self-indulgent, both qualities that appeal to the hacks who seek something to emulate’. As a mediocre model for the composition of letters, this volume has long been dismissed by literary cognoscenti and the mere mention of it makes people shake their heads in disapproval; but I feel that they really are going too far.
Even though one can hardly make a claim in favour of Xu’s work, it has a certain value nonetheless … Admittedly, there is nothing new in his work that might appeal to modern readers, but regardless of that there is a certain winsomeness in the author’s descriptions of minutiae. I would argue it is in and of itself interesting enough.
In the Qing dynasty people who failed in the imperial exams often sought employment as functionaries in local government offices. [Xu Jiacun, aka Xu Simei, was employed as a ‘functionary’ 幕僚 for some four decades during the mid Qing dynasty.] As assistants to appointed officials they had a particular role to play in state affairs, for weal or bane. Recluses [like the fellow to whom the author addresses this short note] pursued their own weal and kept out of things altogether. Neither enjoyed higher station than the other. Reading this letter you get a glimpse of their particular sensibilities and it is certainly better than having to plow through fawning declarations of loyalty or formulaic letters of appreciation that are a major part of public life.
[Note: For more on Zhou Zuoren in The Tower of Reading, see Inspiration & Taste — considering ‘On the Spur of the Moment’.]
Original Chinese Text
學其短：The selected Classical Chinese text;
念樓讀：Zhong Shuhe’s translation into Modern Chinese; and,
念樓曰：Zhong Shuhe’s comment.
節序懷人
【念樓讀】元宵之夜，結伴看燈，你呼我趕，真是一段快樂的記憶。時間匆匆過去，如今已是秋天，有時仍不免想起那次同游的朋友。
家兄的信，遲遲沒有奉答。希望你不要生氣——這裡拖沓的沒復的信還有一大堆呢。
中秋節我準備回省城一趟。想想那裡香甜的月餅和新鮮的藕吧，能不能又一次結伴同行啊？
【念樓曰】周作人在《再談尺牘》文中評論許葭村的尺牘道：
《秋水軒尺牘》與其說有名還不如說是聞名的書，因為如為他作注釋的管秋初所說，“措詞富麗，意緒纏綿，洵為操觚家揣摩善本”，不幸成了濫調信札的祖師，久為識者所鄙視，提起來不免都要搖頭，其實這是有點兒冤枉的。秋水軒不能說寫得好，卻也不算怎麼壞，據我看比明季山人如王百谷所寫的似乎還要不討厭一點，不過這本是幕友的尺牘，自然也有他們的習氣，……不會講出什麼新道理來，值得現代讀者傾聽。但是從他們談那些無聊的事情可以看出一點性情才氣，我想也是有意思的事。
做幕友是“士不遇”的另一條出路，即為得“遇”的官們去幫忙或幫閒，而山人則只幫閒不幫忙。其實二者並無高下之分，選讀他們的尺牘，也只是欣賞一點性情才氣，無論如何，總比看效忠信或隨大流表態的各種公開信好一些。
復錢繩茲 許思湄
元夜連袂看燈．極一時徵逐之樂．流光如駛．忽屆新秋．節序懷人．何能已已．承寄家兄一函．為理積牘．裁答久稽．或不罪其疏節耶．弟擬中秋返省．餅圓似月．藕大如船．三五良辰．何堪虛度．不知足下亦作思歸之計否．
【學其短】
- 本文錄自許思湄《秋水軒尺牘》。
- 許思湄，字葭村，清山陰（今紹興）人。
- 錢繩茲，未詳。
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Source:
- The last letter in ‘Eleven Short Letters of Greeting’ 問候的短信十一篇, Studying Short Classical Chinese Texts with The Master of The Tower of Reading 《念樓學短》，下冊，長沙：岳麓書社，2022年，第424-425頁。
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