290 t He F i v e Dy na s t i e s anD t He s ong Dy na s t y
still remember deep palace old event 猶記深宮舊事
(yóu jì shēn gōng jiù shì)
that person just sleep in 那人正睡裡
(nà rén zhèng shuì lĭ)
fly near moth dark green 飛近蛾綠 ▲
(fēi jìn é lǜ)
don’t be like spring wind 莫似春風
(mò sì chūn fēng)
not care delicate gracious 不管盈盈
(bù guăn yíng yíng)
early for arrange prepare gold chamber 早與安排金屋 ▲
(zăo yŭ ān pái jīn wū)
however let every piece follow waves away 還教一片隨波去
(hái jiào yí piàn suí bō qù)
shall but resent jade dragon mournful tune 又卻怨、玉龍哀曲 ▲
(yòu què yuàn yù lóng āi qŭ)
wait that time again look for secret fragrance 等恁時、重覓幽香
(dĕng nèn shí chóng mì yōu xiāng)
already enter small window horizontal scroll 已入小窗橫幅 ▲
(yĭ rù xiăo chuāng héng fú)
Jiang Kui is known to history as an accomplished poet, musician, and literary
and art critic.5 His original compositions and treatises as well as random notes
on music have survived from his time to become invaluable in the study of Song
dynasty music. From the limited sources still available, we know that he was re-
garded by his contemporaries as a talented prose writer and calligrapher as well.
Despite all this evidence of an artist and scholar par excellence, Jiang Kui was not
one of the particularly prominent figures. Unlike most great Song poets who had
double careers as statesmen and scholar-artists, he was never able to participate
officially in the important affairs of his age. Successive failures in the civil service
examination and other forms of official recruitment left him a buyi, a “man in
linen (ordinary) clothes,” or a mere commoner, throughout his life. Jiang Kui was
only in his early teens when his scholar-official father died, and his father’s death
marked the beginning of the poet’s life of poverty. We know, for instance, that
Jiang sold his calligraphy as one means of support. Other, perhaps more substan-
tial, support came through the patronage of prominent friends, who often enjoyed
wide acclaim as artists themselves.
Fan Chengda, mentioned in the preface to “Secret Fragrance” and “Dappled
Shadows,” was one of Jiang Kui’s most prominent patron-friends. One anecdote
concerning their friendship merits mention. When the poet left Fan Chengda’s
residence in Suzhou for his own home in Wuxing on the lunar New Year’s Eve, as
a parting gesture, Fan Chengda presented him with a maid of talent and beauty
by the name of Xiaohong (Little Scarlet). That very same evening, as Jiang Kui and