Asiapacific Security

Akbar Yahe

editAkbar Yafu is a male actor from mainland China. The representative work is ” In That Faraway Place “.

Iqbal Yahefu, an actor of Xinjiang Film and Television Art Troupe, was inUncle Adijiang in the TV series “In That Faraway Place”Play as Shadick in TV series “From General to Soldier”Played as Grandpa Hasmu in the TV series “Sword of Swords”Uncle Kurban in the TV series “Oriental”Play the Old Man of Flame Mountain in the TV Series “Journey to the West”The TV series “Anar Khan” as the housekeeper of AbulizActing as Secretary of Tulson in the movie “New Countryside”

The Tiger Killer v. The Golden Lotus

Among all the stories of lovers, heroes, and villains that populate the great classical novels of China, how many have the distinction of appearing in more than one? Only one. The tale, told in two of the novels, which concerns Wu Song the “Tiger Killer”; and Pan Jinlian the “Golden Lotus” (because of her tiny feet), the adulterous wife of his elder brother. The story, told and retold in the novels, is repeated again frequently in film. Here, then, is the full story.

The story of Wu Song appears first in the SHUI-HU ZHUAN (aka The Water Margins; first popularized in English by Pearl S. Buck as All Men are Brothers, which is not a translation but a new title of her own devising), an epic novel about imperial corruption balanced by heaven sending down 108 demon stars, who become righteous outlaws against injustice. In this vast, sprawling novel, Wu Song makes a strong impression early on, but after his story is told, blends into the background for much that remains. He first appears in Chapter 23, and his story continues through Chapter 32. Over the course of his adventures, he is lauded a hero, promoted to Captain of the Guard, then becomes a murderer, and finally a fugitive, before joining up with the other outlaws of the marsh. The part of the story that concerns us here, of Wu Song, his elder brother, and his brother’s wife, is told in Chapter 24 – Chapter 26.

These three chapters become a cornerstone of the later novel CHIN PING MEI (aka The Plum in the Golden Vase, alternatively titled The Golden Lotus). Here, the story expands from three chapters to ten, and focuses on Pan Jinlian, the adulterer, instead of Wu Song the hero. The main character of the novel is actually Ximen Qing, a swaggering pervert of an official who gathers up lots of women in indecent ways, and over the course of 100 chapters deflowers, debauches, buys an aphrodisiac from the personification of a penis, and finally gets his comeuppance in the end, dying graphically and horribly from an overdose of the ancient Viagra. In the sprawling scope of the novel, Pan Jinlian is but one of his conquests.

The two accounts are similar in many ways (and indeed, in some passages copied verbatim), but told with a different emphasis. The story in THE WATER MARGINS follows Wu Song, and we learn what becomes of him after the tale, while in CHIN PING MEI we see the story from Pan Jinlian’s point of view, and learn what becomes of her afterwards. What follows is an outline of the story, from both sources. I’ve used as my english language sources THE TIGER KILLERS, book two of the Water Margins translation by John and Alex Dent-Young [1], and THE GATHERING, volume one of the Plum in the Golden Vase translation by David Tod Roy [2]. These are my favorite versions of these stories in English. Young and Young’s translation of THE WATER MARGINS is a great read, and very thorough, but lacking in scholarly rigour. Roy’s translation of CHIN PING MEI is quite simply the best translation of any ancient Chinese text I have ever read in my life, period — though be warned, only three of the five planned volumes of David Tod Roy’s translation have appeared to date.

The Tale

The two sources for the story share much in common, but also diverge in several crucial moments. As was expected, THE WATER MARGINS takes more time to explore the character and motivation of Wu Song, while CHIN PING MEI details further Pan Jinlian and especially Ximen Qing, who becomes the central character of the story following the events described here.

Regardless of source, the tale can be divided into five parts: 1. The Tiger Killer, 2. The Temptation, 3. The Affair, 4. The Murder, and 5. The Revenge. The largest discrepancy between the two sources is in the fifth part, The Revenge. More on that later. But now, the story begins:

The Tiger Killer
This part of the tale is told best in THE WATER MARGINS. Wu Song has greatly overstayed his welcome at Chai Jin’s mansion, hanging on for a year, abusing the staff, and coming down with malaria. A chance encounter with Song Jiang, “The Opportune Rain,” a righteous and respected official, does much to restore his health and spirits, and so he leaves for home, apologetic for his behaviour before. On his way, he gets completely knock-down wasted on wine — 18 bowls when ordinary folks pass out after 3. Then, thoroughly knackered, he heads into Jingyang Pass as the sun goes down. The innkeeper pleads for him to wait until morning because of a fierce tiger in the area. Wu Song responds:

“Balls! I tell you, if there really is a tiger, it doesn’t scare me. What you want is to get me to stay in your house so you can come in the middle of the night and rob me of my money and my life. That’s why you’re trying to intimidate me with some tale of a fucking tiger!”

He leaves the innkeeper fuming, only to come upon a government sign an hour up the pass warning of the tiger as well. Too embarassed to go back, he decides to head up the mountain anyway, where naturally, he runs smack into the man-eating beast.

Interestingly, Wu Song’s character is much kinder in the CHIN PING MEI, and seems to climb the mountain trail out of bravery, not out of foolish drunkenness.

He dispatches the tiger with some effort, then heads on his way when some hunters appear and he tells them what happened. They don’t believe it, even when he points out that he’s completely covered with blood. So he leads them back up the mountain to show the dead tiger (Again, the CHIN PING MEI story is simpler — the hunters see him defeat the tiger with their own eyes). He is led to the town of Yanggu at the base of the pass and heralded as a hero. He is given a cash reward, which he distributes among the hunters. Impressed, the magistrate quickly appoints him head of the guards. Wu Song accepts the position, cancelling his plans to go home.

2. The Temptation
This part of the tale is almost identical in both versions. Wu Song bumps into his older brother, who has also moved to this town. Elder Wu, nicknamed “The Three Inch Poxy Midget” [or the “Three-inch Mulberry-bark Manikin”] is a homely dwarf who gets by selling wheat cakes. He implores Wu Song to move in with him, and he agrees. Only trouble is, Elder Wu is married to Pan Jinlian, a ravishingly beautiful and talented young woman who despises him.

How the dwarf and the beauty were married is barely mentioned in THE WATER MARGINS but elaborated on at length in CHIN PING MEI. To summarize quickly, she was a servant girl in a rich old merchant’s household. He had his way with her, his wife found out, he married her off to Elder Wu who rented a storefront from him because he was nearby and he could sneak over and continue to copulate with the girl whenever Elder Wu was out. This is how “Such a fine piece of mutton ended up in the mouth of a dog”. Finally, the rich merchant died (a “venereal chill”), and his wife drove Elder Wu and Pan Jinlain away. They moved to Yanggu, and so ran into Wu Song.

Pan Jinlian immediately takes a shine to hunky Wu Song, and tries to get him drunk and seduce him at every opportunity. He finally tells her off and leaves, warning her:

Don’t ever dare behave in that disgusting manner again…[or] I swear to you this: even though my eyes tell me you’re my sister-in-law, my fists won’t care!

Pan Jinlian tries to trick Elder Wu into believing his younger brother took a pass at her, instead of the other way around, but he doesn’t fall for it. Wu Song moves out.

A few months later, Wu Song must leave to accompany a caravan to a distant city. He visits his brother and sister-in-law before he leaves, suggesting that he leave to sell wheat cakes late and come home early, and close his shutters and lock up right away so no trouble happens. He also suggests to Pan Jinlian that she try not to act like such a hussy, which pisses her off greatly. In the end, Wu Song leaves, and his brother does as he recommends. And now, the trouble really begins.

3. The Affair
Pan Jinlian, while closing the blinds one day, drops the rod on the head of a passerby, who happens to be the sexually insatiable Ximen Qing. He gets an eyeful of the beauty and can’t stop thinking about her…………………….

“Besides the noble art of getting things done, there is the noble art of leaving things undone. The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of non-essentials.”

“No one realizes how beautiful it is to travel until he comes home and rests his head on his old, familiar pillow. ”

“Those who are wise won’t be busy, and those who are too busy can’t be wise.”

“When Small men begin to cast big shadows, it means that the sun is about to set.”

“The busy man is never wise and the wise man is never busy.”

“Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.”

“I regard the discovery of one’s favorite author as the most critical event in one’s intellectual development.”

“Probably the difference between man and the monkeys is that the monkeys are merely bored, while man has boredom plus imagination.”

“The moment a student gives up his right of personal judgment, he is in for accepting all the humbugs of life”

“The wisdom of life consists in the elimination of the nonessentials.”