Poems Presented and in Reply, together with Li Zhangwu, Woman of the Wangs - PART A

[TN: Not nearly as long as the previous chonky episode, but with 8 poems, I’m still serializing.]

In 787, Li Zhangwu of Zhongshan was traveling around Huazhou. On the street north of the marketplace, he saw an extremely beautiful woman, and he succeeded in renting a room at her house. The woman he followed was the daughter-in-law of the head of the Wang family. The two found each other pleasing and privately conversed. After a month, his expenses were more than 30,000 all told, and the daughter-in-law’s expenses also more than doubled, as their loving feelings overflowed. Zhangwu denounced the woman while giving her silk cloth with paired mandarin ducks, and the Wang Woman replied with a jade finger-ring. They each made a poem and then parted. [TN: First two poems] Eleven years later he returned, but the Wang clan elder had retired and was traveling, and there was no one at the house, the daughter-in-law having already died. The wife of the neighbor to the east, Yang, told him that, as she approached death, she’d entrusted a message for him, saying, “When that gentleman Li the 18th arrives here, should he request temporary lodgings, he’ll have his desired spirit meeting with Fang Zuzhong.” At this, Zhangwu immediately borrowed a place to rest at the house, set out food and drink, and recited a memorial ceremony. As a result, he saw the Wang Woman gradually appear in the north corner of the room. They greeted each other and embraced overnight, conversing as if happy all their lives. When the Dawn Watch came, from under the bed came a choking sob, but still they said their farewells with poems, then she went into the corner of the room and never reappeared.

Zhangwu Gave the Wang Woman Silk with Paired Mandarin Ducks
        I blame the duck-print silk
Knowing it’s bound with several thousand threads.
After I am gone, seek conjugal love—
It ought to hurt, though it’s not time to go.

The Wang Woman Replies to Li Zhongwu with a White-Jade Ring
                Twirl round this finger-ring:
You’ll pine for me, seeing the ring, heavy with memories.
        I want my lord to grasp this trifle long—
        Follow the ring, which doesn’t have an end.

与李章武赠答诗
作者：王氏妇
〈中山李章武，贞元三年，客游华州，于市北街见一妇甚美，遂赁舍其家。主人姓王，此则其子妇也。两相悦而私焉。月馀，计用直三万馀，子妇所供费亦倍之，情好弥切。章武告妇，赠鸳鸯绮，子妇荅以玉指环，各为诗别。至十一年，重游，则王氏长老舍业远游，室无一人，子妇殁已再周矣。有东邻妇杨，道其临殁相托语云：“李十八郎至此，乞暂留止，冀神会于髣髴中。”章武于是仍就其家借憩，具酒食呼祭，果见王氏从室北角冉冉至，迎拥共宿，叙平生欢。至五更，下床呜咽，仍各为诗叙别，自屋角去，不复见。〉

怨鸯绮，
知结几千丝。
别后寻交颈，
应伤未别时。〈章武赠王氏鸳鸯绮〉

捻指环，
相思见环重相忆。
愿君永持玩，
回圈无终极。〈王氏答李章武白玉指环〉


Huh—two poems by living people are given first, before getting to the ghost poem. Of course, this time it’s confusing as one is by her while she’s still alive. (She does get the first word when she's a ghost, next installment) Keeping everything in story order is definitely easier, with this one. I do not know why the narration never uses the woman’s full name, even though we get it, let alone what the significance of this is.

Zhongshan is a mountain range in southern Shaanxi, south of Chang’an (modern Xi’an), and Huazhou was a prefecture at the foot of Mt. Hua, eastern Shaanxi—so at the start, Zhangwu hasn’t wandered all that far from home. The daughter-in-law seems to be widowed but still living with her husband’s family. Mandarin ducks, which mate for life, are symbols of conjugal love—and are typically not given as a break-up present.

---L.