The Imperial Focus On Women
There are two really interesting things going on in yesterday’s translation post.
The first is the language that Jia Lian uses, which is very hard to explain without jumping somewhat deep into the Chinese text. For example, here are his first two sentences:
如今當今體貼萬人之心，世上至大莫如『孝』字，想來父母兒女之性，皆是一理，不在貴賤上分的。當今自為日夜侍奉太上皇、皇太后，尚不能略盡孝意，因見宮裡嬪妃才人等皆是入宮多年，拋離父母，豈有不思想之理？
The current Emperor takes into consideration the desires of every person. He considers that the greatest virtue in the world is filial piety, because the bond between parent and child is the same for all, regardless of rank or status. After attending day and night on the Emperor Emeritus and Empress Dowager, the Emperor feels that he cannot come close to fully expressing his filial devotion. Observing that the imperial concubines and court ladies have spent many years in the palace, and that they are all cut off from their parents, how could he not think that they long for home?
There’s a lot here that is difficult to translate. The use of formal and archaic phrases such as 當今 and 豈 and so forth give his statement a real formal touch, almost like he memorized this speech beforehand.
It’s actually quite similar to how Jia Yucun spoke way back in chapter 2, including these crazy metaphysical excursions like this one:
Not all male characters in Dream of the Red Chamber speak like they are reciting imperial edicts. However, this sort of thing happens periodically in this book, and it’s interesting to point it out.
But the most interesting thing about Jia Lian’s speech is his focus on the women of the imperial family.
Look at this part, for example:
因此，二位老聖人又下諭旨說：椒房眷屬入宮，未免有關國體儀制，母女尚未能愜懷。
Therefore, the two elder leaders issued an imperial decree, stating that the relatives of palace concubines entering the palace might be at odds with state protocol, and that the reunion between mother and daughter might not be wholly satisfying.
The unusual and somewhat bizarre part here is the focus on the relationship between mother and daughter (母女). Why would this be so important? Why not emphasize that the fathers of the imperial concubines miss their daughters so much?
And, of course, there is another reference to 情, or emotion:
庶可盡骨肉私情，共享天倫之樂事。
In this way, the private affections of flesh and blood might be fully satisfied, and there might fully be the joy of a family reunion.
In other words, the whole purpose of this imperial edict is to satisfy the emotional longing that mothers and daughters have for each other.
It seems to run contrary to everything one would expect from a political edict in imperial China. And that alone is simply fascinating.
Another great post. I think this is connected partly to Qing censorship - an attempt to get the book to be approved - but it also has a fairytale element to it. The Qing emperors did not rule alongside their parents and in fact were ruthless about matters of power and succession. Nor, as you note, did they have much interest in edicts like this. So it seems to me that there are actually fantasy elements to the novel and that this is part of its world building (to use a genre term).