The Mystery of the Song Dynasty Painting (8 page)

‘Let him complain!’ exclaims Gege. ‘I hate memorizing those ancient books! And you’re to stop calling me Young Master, and my sister Little Miss. From now on, you call me
Gege
(Older Brother) and her
Xiao Mei
(Little Sister). Do you hear?’

Grasping Ah Li’s hand with his right hand, and mine with his left, Gege continues, ‘If we can’t make a new life together, at least we can be members of the same family.’

Ah Li is clearly very happy, but for once he doesn’t know what to say.

Gege smiles. ‘You see, Ah Li – you aren’t the only one who can change the way people look at things. Mind you –’ he glances at his latest attempt at calligraphy – ‘if you can help me change my way of looking at these words, I’ll be forever in your debt. Since I can’t change places with you, then at least you can teach me to think the way you do.’

‘I will,’ Ah Li promises. ‘Tomorrow, let’s hold our brush in our left hand instead of our right. Doing calligraphy with the opposite hand will make us look at words in a new way and give us a fresh, unfamiliar feeling.’

It turns out that only Ah Li can do calligraphy with his left hand. Gege and I find it so difficult that we soon give up. But Ah Li’s left hand is just as dexterous as his right. In fact, he can draw or write calligraphy with both hands at the same time! Amazing!

Soon, the two of them are spending part of each afternoon painting everything from landscapes to flowers, while I read aloud to entertain them. Baba has instructed Teacher Lai to buy books in the market for us, so we can read and expand our minds. Since I love reading, I ask Ah Li to build six bookshelves in his shed, and I fill them with books.

8

Jade Dog

A few months later, Baba summons Ah Li to his study.

‘I have a special job for you. Our young Emperor Huizong
is a gifted artist and calligrapher, interested in anything to do with art. For his birthday, I want you to carve him a dog out of jade. His Majesty was born in the Year of the Dog, and this is his fifth year on the throne. Do your best. If His Majesty likes your work, your future is assured.’

‘
Lao Ye
(Old Master),’ Ah Li replies. ‘I’m honoured. Before I do anything, I need to find a suitable piece of jade.’

‘Won’t any good piece do?’

‘Far from it. Every piece of jade is different. Each has its own “personality”. I need to choose one with qualities that speak to me; preferably a jade with a shape and colour that remind me of something memorable… loyalty and constancy perhaps? Or whatever is at the root of man’s love for dogs.’

‘Well said! Go and find the jade you’re looking for and get to work.’

Ah Li goes to the city five days in a row and finally finds a greenish-white piece of jade that satisfies him.

‘It’s not only the colour,’ he says to Gege and me as he shows us the stone. ‘It’s the shape and texture as well. Can you see it? In this piece of stone there’s a dog that’s begging to be released. I’m going to carve His Majesty a jade dog that will defy time, because it will be forever young and full of hope.’

Whenever he isn’t busy in the garden, Ah Li shuts himself in his shed and works on his jade, behind a screen, permitting no one to see it until it is finished. For the unveiling, he invites only four people: Baba, Niang, Gege and me. He throws back the dust cloth covering the jade and unveils an adorable puppy with floppy ears. Its head is cocked to the right. Its tongue hangs out of its mouth, as if it’s panting on a hot summer day. Besides being a work of art, the dog’s very posture suggests carefree youth and happy romps on grassy slopes. All of us are delighted and thrilled. Even Niang is impressed, for once.

‘Beautiful!’ she exclaims.

‘This sculpture will be unique, even in His Majesty’s Palace!’ Baba says. ‘It will make your reputation!’

‘Congratulations!’ I add. ‘I’m going to write a poem about your jade dog, in my notebook.’

Gege is speechless for a long time. Finally, he pats Ah Li on the back. ‘I don’t know how you did it, but you’ve released the spirit of a dog from a piece of stone. Remarkable! Simply marvellous!’

Baba presents the sculpture to Emperor Huizong on his birthday. His Majesty is impressed and asks for the name of the artist. Baba reports that Ah Li is an illiterate orphan descended from one of the barbarian tribes to the west of China.

Ah Li thinks this is the end of the matter. But, one afternoon, not long after the Emperor’s birthday, I’m with Nai Ma in my bedroom. She’s going through my clothes chest, checking for anything that might need cleaning, repairing or discarding. This is one of my least favourite jobs and I would much rather be reading or playing a game of chess or
wei qi
, but Nai Ma is being unusually persistent and won’t be dissuaded from the task at hand, however tedious.

‘I have no time to play today, Little Sister. Your Niang has been complaining that you look unkempt and that you’re bringing the family name into disrepute,’ she says.

‘Since when did Niang care what I look like, or even notice that I’m part of this family?’

Nai Ma looks anxiously around, which makes me laugh.

‘What – do you think Niang might be creeping up behind you? When did she last set her tiny little feet in my room? I can’t remember her being here for five years or more.’

‘I think you’ll find her taking much more interest in you in the future, Little Sister.’ She picks up my favourite long, faded, blue cloth trousers that are frayed at the bottom and puts them in the pile of clothes to be given to the cook’s daughter.

‘What do you mean, Nai Ma?’ I ask, as I quickly but quietly move my trousers to the ‘keep’ pile that’s going back into the chest.

Nai Ma looks as if she would like to say more, but then she purses her lips together and tries to change the subject.

I’m just about to tease her and ask what she was going to say when there’s a commotion outside. I race for the stairs as fast as I can, to find out what’s happening, and nearly collide with Gege who has exactly the same idea.

He takes the stairs two at a time and gets there before me. We look into the courtyard and see nine men, dressed in flowing silk robes, coming through the front gate. Eight of them are carrying an impressive sedan chair draped in yellow silk. Their tall, distinguished leader strides in first and asks for Baba. He’s wearing an official hat with the bamboo on each side sticking straight out, signifying his elevated rank. Sitting on the chair is not a person but a large, yellow silk envelope.

‘These men are from the Palace!’ Gege whispers. ‘Only the Emperor himself is entitled to use a chair draped in yellow silk! Yellow is the imperial colour.’

We watch as Baba comes forward to greet his visitors. At the sight of the yellow chair and letter, Baba falls to his knees and
kou-tous
(kowtows) nine times. Meanwhile, everyone in the courtyard is kneeling and kowtowing towards the chair, including the visitors.

The leader gets up first and helps Baba to his feet. The two men bow formally to one another.

‘General Tong Guan
!’ Baba exclaims in an excited voice. ‘What an honour!’

‘I am here to deliver a letter from His Majesty to someone in your household, named Ah Li.’ The leader’s voice is surprisingly high and squeaky but full of authority.

Baba turns to Ah Wang, who is kneeling near the wall and trembling with fear. ‘Go and order Ah Li to come here at once!’

We can see that Ah Wang doesn’t want to believe that the letter is for Ah Li, but of course he has to do as he’s told.

Ah Li arrives and kneels on the ground in front of the sedan chair. He’s ordered to kowtow nine times. The man with the squeaky voice hands Ah Li the yellow silk envelope with both hands, together with five ounces of silver: a special award from the Emperor. Ah Li kowtows again and says that he’s unable to read His Majesty’s letter because he’s illiterate.

‘Keep kneeling and listen carefully!’ Tong Guan announces haughtily, as he unfolds a slip of yellow paper from the envelope. ‘This is His Majesty’s decree:
We are highly pleased with the jade dog that was carved by the barbarian Ah Li. As a mark of special favour, We grant him five ounces of silver. In addition, We give him permission, from now on, to use the name Zhao
– which is Our royal surname – as his personal surname.