More About The Erotic Room

Literary allusions galore

More About The Erotic Room

Now we really get into the historical and literary references. This will be a short translation segment as we work our way through all the allusion going on here. This type of section can be especially confusing to Western readers who are not intimately familiar with Chinese history and traditional literature.

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My Translation

There was a mirror on the table. This was the precious mirror that had once stood in Empress Wu Zetian’s mirrored chamber. On one side of the table was the golden platter on which Zhao Feiyan had once danced. On top of that was the quince that An Lushan had thrown, bruising Yang Guifei’s breast.

Above that stood the precious couch on which Princess Shouyang once lay beneath the Hanzhang Palace eaves. It was hung with the pearl curtain crafted by Princess Tongchang.

“This place is perfect!” said Baoyu with a smile. “Absolutely perfect!”

“Even an immortal might want to stay in my room,” replied Lady Qin with a laugh. As she spoke, she unfurled the gauze bedding once washed by Xi Shi, and adjusted the mandarin duck pillow that Hongniang once held.

And then the older maids carefully settled Baoyu into his bed and withdrew quietly, leaving only Xiren, Meiren, Qingren, and Sheyue, his four personal maids, to attend to him. Lady Qin then had them go out and watch the eaves to prevent the cats from fighting.

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Translation Critique

Hawkes

David Hawkes translates 鏡室 (mirror room) as “tiring-room,” which is an archaic English term I’d never heard of before. It apparently refers to the room where actors would dress for the stage, and comes from a combination of “attiring” and room. I’m not sure what Hawkes meant by this translation.

Hawkes calls Zhao Feiyan (趙飛燕) “Flying Swallow,” which must be incredibly confusing to anybody reading his translation. 飛燕 literally means “flying swallow,” but the average reader unfamiliar with Chinese history wouldn’t know that he was talking about a person.

Hawkes translates 鴛枕 (“mandarin duck pillow”) as a “double head rest.” I’m not familiar enough with The Romance of the Western Chamber at this point to judge whether this is a good translation or not.

Yang

The Yangs kindly point out each of the historical and fictional characters mentioned here, though they don’t provide enough context to help us understand what in the world is going on.

The Yangs have Lady Qin tell the younger maids “to wait on the verandah and watch the kittens and puppies playing there.” It’s technically not a great translation, but it conjures up a somewhat hilarious mental image that contrasts nicely with all the obvious erotic allusions. I actually think their translation is probably better than the original in that sense.

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Chinese Text

案上設著武則天當日鏡室中設的寶鏡。一邊擺著趙飛燕立著舞過的金盤，盤內盛著安祿山擲過傷了太真乳的木瓜。上面設著壽昌公主於含章殿下臥的寶榻，懸的是同昌公主制的連珠帳。寶玉含笑道：「這裡好，這裡好！」秦氏笑道：「我這屋子大約神仙也可以住得了。」說著，親自展開了西施浣過的紗衾，移了紅娘抱過的鴛枕。於是眾奶母伏侍寶玉臥好了，款款散去，只留下襲人、媚人、晴雯、麝月四個丫鬟為伴。秦氏便叫小丫鬟們好生在簷下看著貓兒打架。

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Translation Notes

武則天, or Wu Zetian, was China’s only female leader. Historical records don’t record that she had a “mirror room” (寶鏡), though later legends and erotic literature associated her reign with all sorts of decadence and indulgence. This “mirror room” carries strong erotic implications, which carry over to Jia Baoyu’s discovery of the very same legendary mirror on the table.

趙飛燕 (Zhao Feiyan was the name of a legendary Han dynasty era dancer and consort. There’s an old legend that she once danced on a tray held by attendants, hence the “golden platter” (金盤) reference. More on her here.

安祿山 (An Lushan) was the Tang dynasty general whose rebellion nearly toppled the empire in the late 750s. The quince (木瓜; you can also call it a “papaya”) incident is an apocryphal story about him throwing the fruit at Yang Guifei, accidentally injuring her breast. Yang Guifei is referred to here as 太真 (Tai Zhen), which was her alternate literary name.

壽昌公主 (Princess Shouyang) was a princess during the Liu Song dynasty (also known as the Former Song dynasty, from 363 to 422 AD). There’s a story of her waking up from a nap she took under the Hanzhang Palace eves only to find a plum blossom on her forehead. The plum blossom left a floral imprint that inspired a new makeup trend. The couch (寶榻) here is supposedly what she slept on.

同昌公主 (Princess Tongchang) was a Tang dynasty era princess known for her extravagant dowry. This included pearl-encrusted curtains. She passed away early, which means that she became a symbol of doomed opulence. Here, the direct reference to a “pearl curtain” (連珠帳) is a direct reference to those pearls; 珠 means “pearl.”

西施 (Xi Shi) was one of China’s famous Four Great Beauties and lived during the Spring and Autumn period. The emperor saw her washing gauze (紗衾) outside before he selected her.

紅娘 (Hongniang) is a fictional character from The Romance of the Western Chamber (西廂記). We’ll see more references to this Yuan dynasty play as we move along. There are probably more references to The Romance of the Western Chamber in Dream of the Red Chamber than to any other literary work. Hongniang’s role in the play is to facilitate the affair between the two lovers. As such, her “mandarin duck pillow” (鴛枕) symbolizes marital love.