The Red Mansion

Chapter 98 Xiangling Learns Poetry
In this era, in wealthy families, young men's bedrooms often have an outer bed for the maid who serves the man to sleep in at night, so that the maid can take care of the man's tea, and be called to get up and sit down at night.

This is the case with Jia Baoyu in "Dream of the Red Chamber". When he was seventeen or eighteen years old, his bedroom still had an outer bed for his maid Xiren to sleep on at night.

Since Jiang Nian came to Beijing, he also set up an outer bed in his bedroom for Xiangling to sleep in. One reason was that the house was small, but there were many people. If Xiangling lived elsewhere, she would be crowded. Living in Jiang Nian's bedroom, she had a better environment.

However, Jiang Nian never liked to be disturbed when he was concentrating on studying or working. When he was working hard in his study, he usually did not let Xiangling stay in the study.

This night.

Jiang Nian had been hunched over his desk in his study for a long time, feeling bored from the exhaustion of writing. So, he put down his book and stood up to go to the inner courtyard to look at the starry sky.

He opened the door of the study, walked lightly on purpose, crossed the main room, and came to the door of the bedroom on the other side. He saw Xiangling sitting on the L-shaped Arhat bed, holding a scroll and reading it seriously. Under the light, her brows were filled with deep thought.

Xiangling noticed someone at the door. She looked up and saw it was Jiang Nian. She quickly stood up and called out softly, "Master."

Xiangling walked up to Jiang Nian and asked, "Master, are you going to sleep?"

Jiang Nian said, "It's not time to go to bed yet. I've been sitting in the study for a long time and I'm getting bored. I want to take a break and go stargazing outside. Are you studying poetry?"

Xiangling nodded and replied, "I'm studying the Complete Works of Wang Wei that Master gave me."

Jiang Nian has been working hard for more than two months since he came to Beijing. Interestingly, his maid Xiangling is also working hard.

Jiang Nian's reasons for striving hard are complex, and he has lofty ambitions and extraordinary aspirations.

The reason why Xiangling worked so hard was simple and pure, that is, she had a strong interest in poetry and wanted to be able to write good poems and recite them elegantly.

On the way to Beijing, Jiang Nian and Xiangling admired the beauty of "the setting sun at the ferry, a solitary smoke rising from the village" along the Grand Canal. At the time, Jiang Nian urged Xiangling to read more and learn to write, hoping she might one day compose her own poetry. This simple remark sparked a passion for poetry in Xiangling, a kind of enlightenment.

In the two months since arriving in Beijing, Xiangling has been diligently studying and learning to read. Her educated mother, Feng Shi, has been attentive to her education, and Jiang Nian has even arranged for Xue Baochai to teach her. With these two excellent teachers, coupled with Xiangling's considerable talent and diligence, her literacy has improved rapidly.

Recently, Jiang Nian specially gifted Xiangling a set of Wang Wei's Complete Works, which includes over 300 of Wang Wei's poems. Xiangling treasured it so much that she couldn't let it go. For the past few days, she has been immersed in Wang Wei's poetry all day long.

Tonight, Xiangling is "hard at work" studying the Complete Works of Wang Wei. Jiang Nian asks Xiangling, "How many of Wang Wei's poems have you read?"

Xiangling answered frankly, "I only understood about thirty poems. My reading skills are limited, so there are many things I don't understand. Whenever I encounter something I don't understand, I have to ask my mother or Miss Xue for help, which takes up a lot of time."

Jiang Nian smiled and praised, "In just a few days, you have been able to understand more than thirty poems by Wang Wei. This is rare."

Hearing Jiang Nian's praise, Xiangling's face lit up with joy. She smiled and said, "I must thank you again for giving me the Complete Works of Wang Wei. Before, I had never read his poems and didn't understand their beauty. Now that I've read over thirty of them, I know that his poetry is truly excellent."

Xiangling continued, "For example, in the poem 'Presented to Pei Xiucai Di in My Leisurely Residence in Wangchuan,' there's a line in it: 'The setting sun hangs over the ferry, a solitary smoke rises from the village.' It was my grandfather who read it to me on the Grand Canal. I remember him saying the beauty of this line lay in the words '余' and '上'. At the time, I didn't understand the beauty of these two words, but now I understand their charm. It's hard to imagine how he could have come up with these two words! Reading this poem today, it feels like I've been transported back to that place on the Grand Canal."

Xiangling's interest grew as she continued, "In his poem 'Envoy to the Frontier,' there's the line 'A lone smoke rises straight over the vast desert, the setting sun is round over the long river.' At first glance, the word 'straight' seems illogical, and the word 'round' seems too vulgar. But when I close the book and think about it carefully, it seems to describe this scene. If I were to find two more words to replace these two, I wouldn't be able to find any. Just now I was reading 'Autumn Night in the Mountain Retreat,' which has the line 'The bamboos rustle with the returning washerwomen, the lotus leaves stir with the descending fishing boats.' The words 'return' and 'descend' are both perfectly commonplace, yet used here, they are indescribably wonderful."

Jiang Nian saw Xiangling becoming increasingly enthusiastic, seemingly ready to talk non-stop. Hearing this, he quickly interrupted, "It seems you're making rapid progress in poetry. If you continue to study diligently, I think you'll be able to understand all three hundred poems in the Complete Works of Wang Wei in two or three months. Once you've mastered Wang Wei's poetry, I'll give you collections of Du Fu and Li Bai. With these three as a foundation, you can begin writing your own poetry."

In fact, this is the method used by Lin Daiyu to teach Xiangling poetry in the original novel.

In the original novel, Lin Daiyu asked Xiangling to read 100 five-character regulated verses by Wang Wei, and then read the seven-character regulated verses by Du Fu and the seven-character quatrains by Li Bai. With these three as a foundation, and then reading the poems of other poets, with Xiangling's talent, she could become a poet.

Xiangling was so excited when she heard this that she couldn't express it in words. She quickly said, "Thank you very much, sir. You are so kind to me."

Jiang Nian treated Xiangling very well. In this era, how many wealthy men would let their maids learn poetry? Jiang Nian not only let Xiangling learn poetry, but also asked Xue Baochai to teach Xiangling, gave Xiangling poetry collections, and occasionally even encouraged and guided her personally.

Jiang Nian changed the subject and said, "I'm going to the courtyard to watch the stars. Come with me."

Xiangling, however, brought the conversation back to poetry, her eyes bright as she spoke: "Yesterday I read Wang Wei's 'Autumn Nights with Mr. Cui'. There's a line in it, 'The moon is high, hiding the Big Dipper; the clouds dissipate, revealing the Crimson River.' I was quite puzzled. I asked my mother, but she wasn't sure either, so I asked Miss Xue. Miss Xue explained that 'the Big Dipper' refers to the Big Dipper, so called because the stars are intertwined like a pearl. 'The Crimson River' refers to the Milky Way, which is in the south, and the south is associated with fire, which is red. So the Milky Way is named after the south's crimson color. The meaning of this line is: when the moon is high in the sky, the Big Dipper is hidden in the moonlight; when the clouds dissipate, the Milky Way appears, stretching across the night sky like a crimson ribbon, radiant and brilliant. It describes the magnificent scene of the moon rising, the stars disappearing, the clouds parting, and the river appearing. The words 'hidden' and 'revealed' are also used brilliantly. My lord, Miss Xue is truly a man of great talent!"

Jiang Nian: “…”

(End of this chapter)