Ice and Fire: Chung Kuo Series (48 page)
Read Ice and Fire: Chung Kuo Series Online
Authors: David Wingrove
Tags: #Fiction, #Action & Adventure, #General, #Science fiction, #Dystopian
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
Wu
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 un-nameable (
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,
Vigour, Maleness, Penetration, odd numbers, and the Dragon. Mountains are
yang
yang kuei tzu
Chinese name for foreigners, ‘Ocean Devils’. It also is 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 symbolises 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 snounts 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 AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
T
hanks must go to all those who have read and criticized parts of the many different
drafts of
Chung Kuo
over the twenty-eight years
of its creating: to my good friends and ‘Writers’ Bloc’ companions – Chris Evans,
David Garnett, Rob Holdstock, Garry Kilworth, Bobbie Lamming, Lisa Tuttle and Geoff
Ryman
– for honing the cutting edge; to John Murry – alias Richard Cowper – both for sharing
what he knew, and for long years of patient husbandry; to my brother Ian, much-loved,
ever-enthusiastic; to Ritchie Smith, dear friend, drinking companion and ‘Great Man’;
to Andrew Motion – for finding ‘A Perfect Art’ not so perfect and giving good
reasons; and to my agents, Hilary Rubinstein, Clarissa Rushdie and Diana Tyler. Their
comments and advice have helped me avoid many pitfalls and – without doubt – given
shape to the
final manuscript.
I would also like to offer thanks to Bruce Sterling for the inspiration given by his
excellent novel,
Schismatrix…
and for five of his words, now embedded in my text.
I reserve special thanks for two friends whose encouragement, advice and criticism
throughout have been invaluable: Brian Griffin for unerringly knowing (better than
me sometimes) what I’m
up to; and Robert Carter not merely for the introduction to
Wei Chi
and his patient and astute reading of the emergent book but for all the long years
of friendship. To you both,
Kan
Pei
!
To my editors, Nick Sayers at New English Library and Brian DeFiore at Delacorte,
Nic Cheetham of Corvus and now to Sara O’Keeffe for taking over at the helm – I can
only say thanks
for the many kindnesses, and for making the whole business of editing so enjoyable.
Their patience, cheerfulness and encouragement were more than I could ever have hoped
for.
To Christian Vander and Magma, for the music…
Finally, thanks to my partner-in-crime, Brian Aldiss. If anyone’s shadow lies behind
this work, I guess it’s yours. This is delivery on the Planetarium
speech that time!
David Wingrove
December 1988/May 2012
CREDITS
T
he version of the
I Ching
or
Book of Changes
quoted from throughout is the Richard Wilhelm translation, rendered into English
by Cary F. Baynes and published by Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1951.
The translation of Ch’u Yuan’s
T’ien Wen
, or ‘Heavenly Questions’ is by David Hawkes from
The Songs of the South, An Anthology of Ancient Chinese
Poems
, published by Penguin Books, London, 1985.
The translation of Chiang Yen’s ‘Lady Pan’s “Poem on the Fan”’, from the
Yu T’ai Hsin Yung
, is by Anne Birrell, from her annotated version of
New Songs From A Jade Terrace
, published by George Allen & Unwin, London, 1982.
The quotation from Rainer Maria Rilke’s
Duino Elegies
is from the Hogarth Press, fourth edition, 1968, translated by J. B. Leighman and
Stephen Spender.
The game of
Wei Chi
mentioned throughout this volume is, incidentally, more commonly known by its Japanese
name of
Go
, and is not merely the world’s oldest game but its most
elegant. As far as this author knows it has no connection to the trigram of the same
name in the
I Ching
– the sixty-fourth, ‘Before Completion’, but a playful similarity
of the kind beloved of the Han might possibly be noted.
Finally,
The Game of Wei Chi
by D. Pecorini and T. Shu (with a Foreword by Professor H. A. Giles) is a real book
and was published by Longmans, Green & Co. in 1929. It was, alas, long
out of print, and I have Brian Aldiss to thank for my much-treasured copy. It was
my fond hope that its use herein might some day lead to the re-publication of this
slender classic, as proved the
case.
David Wingrove
December 1988/April 2011