A
Mulan Tale with Difference (2)
越剧:
孟丽君 Story of A
Chinese Cross Dresser
In the Roayl Garden
An episode in the opera,
Meng Lijun played by Ms Wang Wenjuan (王文娟), Emperor
played by Ms Jin Meifang (金美芳) whose
depiction of the emperor is so charming
and amusing that it has become a true
classic.
上林御苑春光浓，杏花初谢桃花红，春风时好时又恶，花开花落皆春风。
The
royal garden in the spring season, peach
flowers are in full blossom. Their fate,
however, depends on the wind, which is
not consistent, now tender now robust.
Emperor:
The monarch and the prime minister, ride
on ambling horses side by side, which
makes me so thrilled. If the PM is indeed
a female, I’ll divorce my empress in
the first instance. Now let me make sure
she is indeed a lass in man’s dress.
Lijun:
The monarch and the prime minister, ride
on ambling horses side by side, which
makes me so concerned. His motivation is
rather suspicious, I must be highly
vigilant and very cautious.
皇帝：上林三春好风光，君悦臣欢同玩赏。
Emperor:
What a magnificent scene in the spring
garden, what a marvellous time we spent
in each other’s company.
孟丽君：层楼飞阁多玲珑，画栋雕梁好辉煌。
Meng
Lijun: The towering terraces,
the elegant verandas and the skilfully
painted beams are indeed impressive to
me.
皇帝：奇花烂漫辅锦绣，佳木葱笼亦馨香。你看那鸿雁飞过声声鸣，卿可知此鸟乃是恩爱禽。
Emperor:
The rare blossoms spread all over like a
giant carpet, the aging trees shade the
ground with verdant green light. Look at
these birds, do you know they fall in
love with each other at first sight.
孟丽君：臣只闻此鸟识礼仪，你看他该后不前排字行。
Meng
Lijun: I’m unaware of their love stories, but I’ve heard they
all know their proper places, which is
why they can fly in team without chaos.
皇帝：君赐臣一幅湖山收眼底 …
Emperor:
I’ve offered you to view this stunning
landscape …
孟丽君：臣报君万家忧乐常注心。万岁呀居安思危古之训，微臣岂敢忘重任。
Lijun:
I’ll return you with my hard work. Your
Majesty, we live in a time of peace and
prosperity, but if we pay no attention to
the perils in the society, we’ll be in for a
nasty surprise of social instability.
Emperor:
My dear prime minister, you are indeed
the pillar of my imperial court, who
never fails to admonish me to stick on to
the right route. But today is a day for
fun, let’s not worry about the world
around. You are renowned for your talent
on poem, I would like you to
compose verse matching my rhyme:
I
don’t know which one is more charming:
the peach flowers in sunny reflection, or
the beautiful face by the blossom.
孟丽君：(吟)花开花谢园中景，云去云来岭上峰。园中红叶俱飘落，岭上青松色更浓。
Lijun:I know which one is more enduring:
the flowers in the garden will not
flourish beyond the season, but the pines
on the mountain will be forever
green.
Emperor:
Her literature talent is just
astonishing, if only I can have her as my
full-time companion. Let me make another
close examination ... Oh, my dear prime
minister, how come as a bloke you were
unable to hold your horse's reins tight?
孟丽君：只因我自幼多病常娇养，从小在父母宠爱中，惯坐轿子不骑马，因此是我上桥险把马缰松。
Lijun:
Ah, Your Majesty, as a kid I
used to get sick quite often, and always
travelled by sedan.
皇帝：信步来到龙池边，见龙池中对对游鱼戏水中，我与卿水里照影影成双，正好比一龙一凤喜相逢。
Emperor:
I’m viewing the reflection in
the pool, and see the profile of a royal
couple.
Lijun:
I have trouble to understand
your remark, I only see the reflection of
one monarch. Your Majesty, I thank you
for your hospitality, but now the sun is
setting in the west and I must return to
my unfinished official duty.
皇帝：国事不妨明日再了，今日莫扫寡人之兴哦。内伺，摆驾天香阁，待朕与卿痛饮一杯。
Emperor:
Leave it for the next day.
Tonight let’s drink to our heart's
content at the Terrace of Heavenly Scent.
Emperor:
This is the most beautiful
flower in my garden; you are the most
beautiful person in my kingdom. Yet it
looks so pale in comparison, so lowers
its head in humiliation. My dearest prime
minister, Mr Pan is said to be the No.
one handsome scholar, I say you are
ten-times better. During the morning
meeting in court, we had this storm in a
teacup, all because you are too
charismatic, so I can’t blame the
general for losing his mind, 'cause my
heart is also after you all the way
around. I wish we can share our artistic
moment more often, I fancy we can
exchange our views without obstruction, I
aspire we can forever together reign the
kingdom, I hope in no occasion we shall
experience a separation. Oh, my dear dear
prime minister, the true wealth is one’s
youthfulness, let’s not disappoint the
moon goddess with our empty wine cups.
Lijun:
I’m grateful for your trust in me with
the top official duty, thus obliged to
serve the kingdom to my best capacity. O,
Sire, the storm in the teacup shall soon
be over, once the clouds are dispersed,
we’ll again have a sunny weather. I'm
not sure what's moon goddess's
pereference, but to me the wealth and the
nobleness are as illusive as the clouds
floating in the skies.
The
garden crisis was temporarily put on hold
due to the unexpected arrival of the
empress and an urgent report that PM's
residence was caught in fire, which were
in fact all pre-arranged by Lijun.
Early
next morning, she went to see empress
dowager in the excuse of presenting a
portrait of Guanyin Bodhisattva, crafted by herself, as
her gift since the old lady's birthday
was about to come in a few days. Along
with the portrait was her letter,
detailing her reason for cross-dressing
and pleading for dowager’s forgiveness
and help.
Lijun
was put on trial before the royal court
with the top adviser as the co-public
prosecutor and the emperor acting as the
chief magistrate. Ignoring the strong
opposition and protest, the emperor
sentenced Lijun to life in palace. But
his ruling was reversed by a higher court
judge, the empress dowager.
"My
dear son, haven’t you heard this piece
of Chinese wisdom: It is important to
secure bliss from heaven, but what is
more important is to win the hearts and
minds of the majority people in the
kingdom*. My dear boy, haven’t
you heard this saying: Only when the boss
is victorious he will obtain a dignified
team; only when the leader is mindful of
danger in times of peace he will regain
the order in the face of chaos. My dear
child, remember this fact: Only when the
foundation is strong a skyscraper can be
built; we will lose our support if we
allow property developer to demolish the bridge
after we crossed the river. The
government is like a boat and the people
in grassroots are like water; managing
the state affairs is similar to sailing a
boat in the lake. If we follow the wind
and the current, the boat will progress
fast; and if we sail against the trend,
we may just go stuck. Bearing in mind, my
dear kid: Although the water in a river
can facilitate a boat to carry out a
voyage, it can also tip it over when it
is in outrage. Therefore be careful and
forever careful with every decision you
made, if you don’t want to see the boat
capsized. "
The
emperor was touched by his mommy's
reasoning, and agreed not to appeal
higher court's decision. So Meng Lijun
was released from the palace and married
the young general, her beloved
sweetheart, and the couple happily lived
together … ever after ...
On 4 July,
1945, Mao Zedong, the late
leader of CCP and PRC,
met Mr Huang. Huang said
to Mao, "I’ve
never heard, let along
seen any person or family
or organisation or
dynasty or country being
able to break this spell:
People always start a new
task or a new reform or a
new revolution with
energetic and disciplined
new approach, but the old
habits die hard and soon
catch up with them,
before long everything
just return to the old
way (其兴也勃焉，其亡也忽焉)."
To which, Mao Zedong replied:
We believe we can break
this vicious circle
through a grassroots
movement called people’s
democracy [which
is different from a
superficial and
ritualistic voting
system-based Western
style democracy]. We’ll
let ordinary people from
grassroots level keep the
government in check. When
everyone in the society
takes the responsibility
of monitoring the nation’s
political, social and
economic system, we'll be
able to avoid to go back
to the old path following
the change in the
leadership (只有让人民起来监督政府，政府才不敢松懈。只有人人起来负责，才不会人亡政息).
