Six Records of a Floating Life

Author: Shen Fu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: Yu Qitang's younger sister-in-law and Wang Xuzhou's granddaughter. On the day of the wedding, there was a shortage of pearl flowers. Yun presented to my mother what she had received during the engagement ceremony. The maids and servants were reluctant to part with them. Yun said, "Women are inherently pure Yin, and pearls are the essence of pure Yin. When used as hair ornaments, they completely suppress Yang energy. How can they be valuable?" Yet she cherished broken books and damaged paintings. She would collect incomplete books, categorize them, and compile them into volumes, naming them "Incomplete Fragments." For damaged calligraphy and paintings, she would find old paper to repair them, ensuring they were complete before rolling them up. She called them "Discarded Fragments Collected." During her spare time from needlework and household chores, she would tirelessly engage in these tasks without tiring. Yun would consider a small piece of paper found in broken baskets and damaged scrolls as a treasure. An old neighbor, Feng, often collected and sold such scattered papers. Her hobbies were the same as mine, and she could read my eyes and understand my expressions. Every gesture she made conveyed her thoughts clearly. I once said, "I pity you for being a woman and staying hidden. If you could transform into a man, we could explore famous mountains, search for scenic spots, and roam the world—wouldn't that be wonderful?" Yun replied, "That's no challenge. After my hair turns gray, though I may not be able to travel to the Five Great Mountains, I can visit places nearby like Tiger Hill and Ling Rock, as well as the West Lake to the south and Ping Mountain to the north. We can travel together." I said, "I'm afraid your steps will be too difficult when your hair turns gray." Yun replied, "If not in this life, then in the next." I said, "In the next life, you will be a man, and I will be a woman to follow you." Yun said, "Only by not forgetting this life will we find true meaning." I laughed and said, "Even a bowl of porridge was hard to discuss in our youth. If we don't forget this life in the next, on our wedding night, we'll have endless conversations about past lives—there won't be a moment of sleep." Yun said, "It is said that the Old Man under the Moon is the god who oversees marriages in the human world. Since we are already destined to be husband and wife in this life, our future union must also rely on divine power. Why not draw an image of him and worship him?" There was a man named Qi Liuji named Zun from Tiao River who was skilled in painting portraits. I commissioned him to draw an image: one hand holding red silk threads, the other carrying a staff with a marriage ledger. He was depicted with a childlike face and crane-like hair, racing through a misty, ethereal realm. This was a masterpiece by Qi. My friend Shi Zhuotang wrote a praise for the image, which was hung in our inner room. Every New Moon and Full Moon, my wife and I would burn incense and pray. Later, due to family hardships, the painting was lost, and I don't know who ended up with it. "The next life is uncertain, but this life is at rest," the two of us, with such devotion, were truly watched over by the gods? P18-19