shang
the south
shan shui
The literal meaning is ‘mountains and water’, but the term is normally associated with a style of landscape painting that depicts rugged mountain scenery with river valleys in the foreground. It is a highly popular form, first established in the T’ang Dynasty, back in the seventh to ninth centuries AD.
shao lin
specially trained assassins, named after the monks of the shao lin monastery
shao nai nai
Literally, ‘little grandmother’. A young girl who has been given the responsibility of looking after her siblings.
she t’ou
a ‘tongue’ or taster, whose task is to safeguard his master from poisoning
shen chung
‘caution’
shen mu
‘she who stands in the door’: a common prostitute
shen nu
‘god girls’: superior prostitutes
shen t’se
special elite force, named after the ‘palace armies’ of the late T’ang dynasty
Shih
‘Master’. Here used as a term of respect somewhat equivalent to our use of ‘Mister’. The term was originally used for the lowest level of civil servants, to distinguish them socially from the run-of-the-mill ‘Misters’ (hsian sheng) below them and the gentlemen (ch’un tzu) above.
shou hsing
a peach brandy
Shui Hu Chuan
Outlaws of the Marsh, a long historical novel attributed to Lo Kuan-chung but re-cast in the early 16th century by ‘Shih Nai-an’, a scholar. Set in the eleventh century, it is a saga of bandits, warlords and heroes. Written in pure pai hua – colloquial Chinese – it is the tale of how its heroes became bandits. Its revolutionary nature made it deeply unpopular with both the Ming and Manchu dynasties, but it remains one of the most popular adventures among the Chinese populus.
siang chi
Chinese chess, a very different game from its Western counterpart
Ta
‘Beat’, here a heavily amplified form of Chinese folk music, popular amongst the young
ta lien
an elaborate girdle pouch
Ta Ssu Nung
the Superintendancy of Agriculture
tai
Literally ‘pockets’ but here denoting Representatives in the House at Weimar. ‘Owned’ financially by the Seven, historically such tai have served a double function in the House, counterbalancing the strong mercantile tendencies of the House and serving as a conduit for the views of the Seven. Traditionally they had been elderly, well-respected men, but more recently their replacements were young, brash and very corrupt, more like the hoppoes of the Opium Wars period.
t’ai chi
The Original, or One, from which the duality of all things (yin and yang) developed, according to Chinese cosmology. We generally associate the t’ai chi with the Taoist symbol, that swirling circle of dark and light supposedly representing an egg (perhaps the Hun Tun), the yolk and the white differentiated.
tai hsiao
a white wool flower, worn in the hair
Tai Huo
‘Great Fire’
T’ai Shan
Mount T’ai, the highest and most sacred of China’s mountains, located in Shantung province. A stone pathway of 6293 steps leads to the summit and, for thousands of years the ruling emperor has made ritual sacrifices at its foot, accompanied by his full retinue, presenting evidence of his virtue. T’ai Shan is one of the five Taoist holy mountains, and symbolizes the very centre of Chaina. It is the mountain of the sun, symbolizing the bright male force (yang). ‘As safe as T’ai Shan’ is a popular saying, denoting the ultimate in solidity and certainty.
Tai Shih Lung
Court Astrologer, a title that goes back to the Han Dynasty
T’ang
Literally, ‘beautiful and imposing’. It is the title chosen by the Seven, who were originally the chief advisors to Tsao Ch’un, the tyrant. Since overthrowing Tsao Ch’un, it has effectively had the meaning of ‘emperor’.
Ta Ts’in
The Chinese name for the Roman Empire. They also knew Rome as Li Chien and as ‘the land West of the Sea’. The Romans themselves they termed the ‘Big Ts’in’ – the Ts’in being the name the Chinese gave themselves during the Ts’in dynasty (AD 265–316).
te
‘spiritual power’, ‘true virtue’ or ‘virtuality’, defined by Alan Watts as ‘the realization or expression of the Tao in actual living’
t’e an tsan
ti tsu
a bamboo flute, used both as a solo instrument and as part of an ensemble, playing traditional Chinese music
ti yu
The ‘earth prison’ or underworld of Chinese legend. There are ten main Chinese Hells, the first being the courtroom in which the sinner is sentenced and the last being that place where they are reborn as human beings. In between are a vast number of sub-Hells, each with its own Judge and staff of cruel warders. In Hell, it is always dark, with no differentiation between night and day.
Tian
‘Heaven’, also, ‘the dome of the sky’
tian-fang
literally ‘to fill the place of the dead wife’; used to signify the upgrading of a concubine to the more respectable position of wife
tiao tuo
bracelets of gold and jade
T’ieh Lo-han
‘Iron Goddess of Mercy’, a ch’a
T’ieh Pi Pu Kai
Literally, ‘the iron pen changes not’, this is the final phrase used at the end of all Chinese government proclamations for the last three thousand years.
ting
An open-sided pavilion in a Chinese garden. Designed as a focal point in a garden, it is said to symbolize man’s essential place in the natural order of things.
T’ing Wei
The Superintendancy of Trials, an institution that dates back to the T’ang dynasty. See Book Six, The White Mountain, for an instance of how this department of government – responsible for black propaganda – functions.
T’o
‘camel-backed’, a Chinese term for ‘hunch-backed’
tong
A gang. In China and Europe these are usually smaller and thus subsidiary to the Triads, but in North America the term has generally taken the place of Triad.
tou chi
Glycine Max, or the black soybean, used in Chinese herbal medicine to cure insomnia
Tsai Chien!
‘Until we meet again!’
Tsou Tsai Hei
‘the Walker in the Darkness’
tsu
the north
tsu kuo
the motherland
ts’un
A Chinese ‘inch’ of approximately 1.4 Western inches. Ten ts’un form one ch’i.
Tu
Earth
tzu
‘Elder Sister’
wan wu
literally ‘the ten thousand things’; used generally to include everything in creation, or, as the Chinese say, ‘all things in Heaven and Earth’
Wei
Commandant of Security
wei chi
‘The surrounding game’, known more commonly in the West by its Japanese name of Go. It is said that the game was invented by the legendary Chinese Emperor Yao in the year 2350 BC to train the mind of his son, Tan Chu, and teach him to think like an emperor.
wen ming
a term used to denote civilization, or written culture
wen ren
the scholar-artist; very much an ideal state, striven for by all creative Chinese
weng
‘Old man’. Usually a term of respect.
A diviner; traditionally these were ‘mediums’ who claimed to have special pyshic powers. Wu could be either male or female.
Wu
‘Non-being’. As Lao Tzu says: ‘Once the block is carved, there are names.’ But the Tao is unnameable (wu-ming) and before Being (yu) is Non-Being (wu). Not to have existence, or form, or a name, that is wu.
Wu ching
the ‘Five Classics’ studied by all Confucian scholars, comprising the Shu Ching (Book Of History), the Shih Ching (Book of Songs), the I Ching (Book of Changes), the Li Ching (Book of Rites, actually three books in all), and the Ch’un Chui (The Spring And Autumn Annals of the State of Lu).
wu fu
the five gods of good luck.
wu tu
the ‘five noxious creatures – which are toad, scorpion, snake, centipede and gecko (wall lizard)
Wushu
The Chinese word for Martial Arts. It refers to any of several hundred schools. Kung fu is a school within this, meaning ‘skill that transcends mere surface beauty’.
wuwei
Nonaction, an old Taoist concept. It means keeping harmony with the flow of things – doing nothing to break the flow.
ya
Homosexual. Sometimes the term ‘a yellow eel’ is used.
yamen
the official building in a Chinese community
yang
The ‘male principle’ of Chinese cosmology, which, with its complementary opposite, the female yin, forms the t’ai ch’i, derived from the Primeval One. From the union of yin and yang arise the ‘five elements’ (water, fire, earth, metal, wood) from which the ‘ten thousand things’ (the wan wu) are generated. Yang signifies Heaven and the South, the Sun and Warmth, Light, Vigor, Maleness, Penetration, odd numbers and the Dragon. Mountains are yang.
yang kuei tzu
Chinese name for foreigners, ‘Ocean Devils’. It is also synonymous with ‘Barbarians’.
yang mei ping
‘willow plum sickness’, the Chinese term for syphilis, provides an apt description of the male sexual organ in the extreme of this sickness
yi
the number one
yin
The ‘female principle’ of Chinese cosmology (see yang). Yin signifies Earth and the North, the Moon and Cold, Darkness, Quiescence, Femaleness, Absorption, even numbers and the Tiger. The yin lies in the shadow of the mountain.
yin mao
pubic hair
Ying kuo
English, the language
ying tao
‘baby peach’, a term of endearment here
ying tzu
‘shadows’ – trained specialists of various kinds, contracted out to gangland bosses
yu
Literally ‘fish’, but, because of its phonetic equivalence to the word for ‘abundance’, the fish symbolizes wealth. Yet there is also a saying that when the fish swim upriver it is a portent of social unrest and rebellion.
yu ko
a ‘Jade Barge’, here a type of luxury sedan
Yu Kung
‘Foolish Old Man!’
yu ya
deep elegance
yuan
The basic currency of Chung Kuo (and modern-day China). Colloquially (though not here) it can also be termed kuai – ‘piece’ or ‘lump’. Ten mao (or, formally, jiao) make up one yuan, while 100 fen (or ‘cents’) comprise one yuan.
yueh ch’in
a Chinese dulcimer, one of the principal instruments of the Chinese orchestra
Ywe Lung
Literally ‘The Moon Dragon’, the wheel of seven dragons that is the symbol of the ruling Seven throughout Chung Kuo: ‘At its centre the snouts of the regal beasts met, forming a rose-like hub, huge rubies burning fiercely in each eye. Their lithe, powerful bodies curved outward like the spokes of a giant wheel while at the edge their tails were intertwined to form the rim.’ (Chapter Four of The Middle Kingdom).
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The transcription of standard Mandarin into a European alphabetical form was first achieved in the seventeenth century by the Italian Matteo Ricci, who founded and ran the first Jesuit Mission in China from 1583 until his death in 1610. Since then several dozen attempts have been made to reduce the original Chinese sounds, represented by some tens of thousands of separate pictograms, into readily understandable phonetics for Western use. For a long time, however, three systems dominated – those used by the three major Western powers vying for influence in the corrupt and crumbling Chinese empire of the nineteenth century: Great Britain; France; and Germany. These systems were the Wade-Giles (Great Britain and America – sometimes known as the Wade System), the École Française de L’Extrême Orient (France) and the Lessing (Germany). Since 1958, however, the Chinese themselves have sought to create one single phonetic form, based on the German system, which they termed the hanyu pinyin fang’an (Scheme for a Chinese Phonetic Alphabet), known more commonly as pinyin, and in all foreign language books published in China since 1 January 1979 pinyin has been used, as well as being taught now in schools alongside the standard Chinese characters. For this work, however, I have chosen to use the older, and, to my mind, far more elegant transcription system, the Wade-Giles (in modified form). For those now used to the harder forms of pinyin the following may serve as a basic conversion guide, the Wade-Giles first, the pinyin after.
p for b
ch’ for q
ts’ for c
j for r
ch’ for ch
t’ for t
t for d
hs for x
k for g
ts for z
ch for j
ch for zh
The effect is, I hope, to render the softer, more poetic side of the original Mandarin, ill served, I feel, by modern pinyin.
The translation of Meng Chiao’s, ‘Impromptu’, is by A. C. Graham from his excellent Poems of the Late T’ang, published by Penguin Books, London, 1965. The translation of Po Chu-I’s ‘To Li Chien’ is by Arthur Waley, from Chinese Poems, published by George Allen and Unwin, London, 1946.
The quotation from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is from the Samuel B. Griffith translation, published by the Oxford University Press in 1963. The quotation from Arthur Koestler’s The Act of Creation is from the Hutchinson & Co. Edition, published in London, 1969, reprinted with their kind permission.
The translation from Nietzsche is by R. J. Hollingdale and is taken from Beyond Good and Evil (Prelude To A Philosophy Of The Future), published by Penguin Books, London, 1973.
A marvelous recipe for Yang Sen’s ‘Spring Wine’ – mentioned in the opening to this volume – can be found on page 163 of Chinese Herbal Medicine by Daniel P. Reid, published by Thorsons, London in 1987.
Finally the game of wei chi mentioned throughout this volume is more commonly known by its Japanese name of Go, and is not merely the world’s oldest game but its most elegant.
David Wingrove
April 1990/July 2011
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks must go, once again, to all those who have read and criticized parts of Chung Kuo during its long gestation. To my editors – Nick Sayers, Brian DeFiore, John Pearce, Alyssa Diamond – for their patience as well as their enthusiasm; to my Writers Bloc companions Chris Evans, David Garnett, Rob Holdstock, Garry Kilworth, Geoff Ryman, Simon Ings, Bobbie Lamming and Lisa Tuttle; to Andy Sawyer for an outsider’s view when it was needed; and, as ever, to my stalwart helper and first-line critic, Brian Griffin, for keeping me on the rails.
Thanks are also due to Rob Carter, Ritchie Smith, Paul Bougie, Mike Cobley, Linda Shaughnessy, Susan and the girls (Jessica, Amy and baby Georgia) and Is and the Lunatics (at Canterbury) for keeping my spirits up during the long, lonely business of writing this. And to ‘Nan and Grandad’ – Daisy and Percy Oudot – for helping out when things were tight... and for making the tea!
Finally, thanks to Magma, IQ and the Cardiacs for providing the soundtrack.
Table of Contents
Author biography
Title page
Copyright page
Contents
INTRODUCTION
PROLOGUE The Sound of Jade – Summer 2206
PART TEN The Art of War – Summer 2206
Chapter 43 The Fifty-Ninth Stone
Chapter 44 Conflicting Voices
Chapter 45 Connections
Chapter 46 Thick Face, Black Heart
PART ELEVEN Shells – Autumn 2206
Chapter 47 The Innocence of Vision
Chapter 48 Compulsions
IN TIMES TO COME…
Character listing
Glossary of Mandarin terms
Author’s note
Acknowledgments