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Authors: David Wingrove

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Nai Liu
‘Enduring Willow', pen name of Jiang Lei and the most popular Han poet of his age
Nicolson, Jack
American actor
Nietzsche, Friedrich
German nineteenth-century philosopher
Nocenzi, Vittorio
General to Li Shai Tung
Oatley, Jennifer
young Englishwoman ‘processed' by Jiang Lei
Padgett
retired doctor from Wool
Palmer, Joshua
‘Old Josh', father of Will and an avid record collector
Palmer, Will
landlord of the Banks Arms Hotel, Corfe and son of Josh
Pan Chao
the great ‘hero' of Chung Kuo, who conquered Asia in the first century
AD
Pan Tsung-yen
friend of Jiang Lei
Pavel
young worker on the Plantations, with a crooked back
Pei Ko
one of the original Seven, advisor to Tsao Ch'un and subsequently T'ang
Pei Lin-Yi
eldest son of Pei Ko
P'eng Chuan
Sixth Dragon at the Ministry, ‘the Thousand Eyes'
P'eng K'ai-chi
nephew of P'eng Chuan
Presley, Elvis
American rock and roll singer
Ragnar
a mercenary
Raikkonen
Marshal in Security
Randall, Jack
farmer from Church Knowle and husband of Jenny
Randall, Jenny
wife of Jack
Reed, Annie
first wife of Jake Reed; mother of Peter Reed and sister of Mary Hubbard (Jake's second wife)
Reed, Jake
‘Login' or ‘webdancer' for Hinton Industries; father of Peter Reed
Reed, Mary
second wife of Peter Reed
Reed, May
sister of Jake Reed
Reed, Peter
son of Jake and Annie Reed; GenSyn executive
Reed, Tom
son of Jake and Mary Reed
Rheinhardt
Media Liaison for GenSyn
Rory
Music store holder in Dorchester; owner of Rory's Record Shack, father of Roxanne
Sam
‘Hopper' pilot, working for Hinton Industries
Sanders
Captain in Security
Schwarz
aide to Marshal Tolonen
Shan
Han soldier; Captain and one of Jiang Lei's men
Shao Shu
First Steward at Chun Hua's mansion
Shao Yen
Major in Security; friend of Ming Hsin-fa
Shen
Han soldier; bodyguard to Jiang Lei
Shen Chen
son of Shen Fu
Shen Fu
First Dragon, Head of the Ministry, ‘the Thousand Eyes'
Shen Lu Chua
computer expert and member of the
Ping Tiao
‘Council of Five'
Shepherd, Alexandra
wife of Amos Shepherd and daughter of Charles Melfi
Shepherd, Amos
great-great-grandfather of Hal Shepherd; chief advisor to Tsao Ch'un and architect of City Earth
Shepherd, Augustus
great-grandfather of Hal Shepherd Raedwald
Shepherd, Beth
daughter of Amos Shepherd
Shepherd, Hal
chief advisor to Li Shai Tung and Head of the Shepherd family; father of Ben and Meg Shepherd
Shu Liang
Senior Legal Advocate
Shuh San
Junior Minister to Lwo Kang
Si Wu Ya
‘Silk Raven', wife of Supervisor Sung
Spatz, Gustav
Director of the Wiring Project
Spirit
Californian rock band
Su Ting-an
eighteenth-century Master of
wei chi
Ssu Lu Shan
official of the Ministry, ‘the Thousand Eyes'
Stamp, Terence
English actor
Su Ting-an
Master of
wei chi
from the eighteenth century
Su Tung-p'o
Han official and poet of the eleventh century
Sung
supervisor on the Plantations
Svensson
Marshal in Security
Sweet Rain
maid to Wang Hsien
Tai Yu
‘Moonflower', maid to Augustus Ebert, a GenSyn clone
Tarrant
lieutenant to DeVore
Tender Willow
maid to Wang Hsien
Teng
‘Master Teng', a
‘shou'
(literally ‘a hand'); a servant of the First Dragon, the first lord of the Ministry or ‘Thousand Eyes'
Teng Fu
guard on the Plantations
Teng Liang
Minor Family princess betrothed to Prince Ch'eng I
Trish
artificial intelligence ‘filter avatar' for Jake Reed's penthouse apartment
Ts'ao P'I
‘Number Three', steward at Tsao Ch'un's court in Pei Ch'ing
Tsao Ch'i Yuan
youngest son of Tsao Ch'un
Tsao Ch'un
ex-member of the standing committee of the Communist Party politburo and architect of ‘The Collapse'; mass murderer and tyrant; ‘creator' of the world state of Chung Kuo
Tsao Heng
second son of Tsao Ch'un
Tsao Hsiao
Tsao Ch'un's elder brother
Tsao Wang-po
eldest son of Tsao Ch'un
Tsu Chen
one of the original Seven, advisor to Tsao Ch'un and subsequently T'ang
Tsu Lin
eldest son of Tsu Chen
Tsu Shi
steward to Gustav Ebert; a GenSyn clone
Tsu Tiao
T'ang of West Asia
Tu Mu
assistant to Alison Winter at GenSyn
Tung Ch'i-ch'ang
Ming dynasty
shanshui
artist
Tung Men-tiao
artist of the original
Chou
(or ‘State') cards
The Verve
English pop group
Waite, Charlie
landlord of The New Inn, Church Knowle
Wang An-Shih
Han official and poet from the eleventh century
Wang Chang Ye
eldest son of Wang Hsien, heir to City Africa
Wang Hsien
T'ang of Africa
Wang Hui So
one of the original Seven, advisor to Tsao Ch'un and subsequently T'ang
Wang Lieh Tsu
second son of Wang Hsien
Wang Lung
eldest son of Wang Hui So
Wang Ta-hung
third son of Wang Hsien
Wang Yu-lai
‘cadre'; servant of the Ministry, ‘the Thousand Eyes', instructed to report back on Jiang Lei
Webber, Sam
youth from Corfe
Wei
a judge
Wei Shao
Chancellor to Tsao Ch'un
Weis, Anton
banker and Dispersionist
Wen
Captain in Security on Mars
Wen P'ing
close acquaintance and body servant of Tsao Ch'un; a man of great power
Wiegand, Max
lieutenant to DeVore
Williams, Charles
husband of Margaret and father of Kate; retired head of a stockbroking company
Williams, Kate
fiancée of Jake Reed and daughter of Charles and Margaret
Williams, Margaret
wife of Charles and mother of Kate
Wilson, Dougie
farmer from Kimmeridge
Winter, Alison
ex-fiancée of Jake Reed; head of Evaluation at GenSyn; mother of Jake Winter
Winter, Jake
only son of Alison
Wolf
elite guard on The Domain
Wu Chi
AI (Artificial Intelligence) for Tobias Lahm
Wu Hsien
one of the original Seven, advisor to Tsao Ch'un and, subsequently, T'ang
Wyatt, Edmund
Company head, Dispersionist and (unknown to him) father of Kim Ward
Yang Hong Yu
legal advocate
Yang Kuei Fei
the famous concubine of T'ang emperor Ming Huang
Yates, Andrew Isiah
Prime Minister of the UK in 2043
Ying Chai
assistant to Sun Li Hua, brother to Ying Fu
Ying Fu
assistant to Sun Li Hua, brother to Ying Chai
Yo Jou Hsi
a judge
Young, Neil
Canadian singer-songwriter
Yu Ch'o
family retainer to Wang Hui So
Ywe Kai-chang
father of Ywe Hao

GLOSSARY OF MANDARIN TERMS

I
t is not intended to belabour the reader with a whole mass of arcane Han expressions here. Some – usually the more specific – are explained in context. However, as a number of Mandarin terms are used naturally in the text, I've thought it best to provide a brief explanation of those terms.

aiya!
a common expression of surprise or dismay
amah
a domestic maidservant
Amo Li Jia
the Chinese gave this name to North America when they first arrived in the 1840s. Its literal meaning is ‘The Land Without Ghosts'
an
a saddle. This has the same sound as the word for peace, and thus is associated in the Chinese mind with peace
catty
the colloquial term for a unit of measure formally called a
jin
. One catty – as used here – equals roughly 1.1. pounds (avoirdupois), or (exactly) 500 gm. Before 1949 and the standardization of Chinese measures to a metric standard, this measure varied district by district, but was generally regarded as equalling about 1.33 pounds (avoirdupois)
ch'a
tea; it might be noted that
ch'a
shu, the Chinese art of tea, is an ancient forebear of the Japanese tea ceremony chanoyu. Hsiang
p'ien
are flower teas,
Ch'ing ch'a
are green, unfermented teas
ch'a hao t'ai
literally, a ‘directory'
ch'a shu
the art of tea, adopted later by the Japanese in their tea ceremony. The
ch'a
god is Lu Yu and his image can be seen on banners outside teahouses throughout Chung Kuo
chan shih
a ‘fighter', here denoting a
tong
soldier
chang
ten ch'i, thus about 12 feet (Western)
Chang-e
the goddess of the Moon, and younger sister of the Spirit of the Waters. The moon represents the very essence of the female principle,
Yin
, in opposition to the Sun, which is
Yang
. Legend has it that Chang-e stole the elixir of immortality from her husband, the great archer Shen I, then fled to the Moon for safety, where she was transformed into a toad, which, so it is said, can still be seen against the whiteness of the moon's surface
chang shan
literally ‘long dress', which fastens to the right. Worn by both sexes. The woman's version is a fitted, calf-length dress similar to the
chi pao
. A south China fashion, it is also known as a
cheung sam
chao tai hui
an ‘entertainment', usually, within
Chung Kuo
, of an expensive and sophisticated kind
chen yen
true words; the Chinese equivalent of a mantra
ch'eng
The word means both ‘City' and ‘Wall'
Ch'eng Ou Chou
City Europe
Ch'eng Hsiang
‘Chancellor', a post first established in the Ch'in court more than two thousand years ago
ch'i
a Chinese ‘foot'; approximately 14.4 inches
ch'i
‘inner strength'; one of the two fundamental ‘entities' from which everything is composed.
Li
is the ‘form' or ‘law', or (to cite Joseph Needham) the ‘principle of organization' behind things, whereas
ch'i
is the ‘matter-energy' or ‘spirit' within material things, equating loosely to the
Pneuma
of the Greeks and the
prana
of the ancient Hindus. As the sage Chu Hsi (
AD
1130–1200) said, ‘The
li
is the
Tao
that pertains to “what is above shapes” and is the source from which all things are produced. The
ch'i
is the material [literally instrument] that pertains to “what is within shapes”, and is the means whereby things are produced… Throughout the universe there is no
ch'i
without
li
. Or
li
without
ch'i
.'
chi ch'i
common workers, but used here mainly to denote the ant-like employees of the Ministry of Distribution
Chia Ch'eng
Honorary Assistant to the Royal Household
chi'an
a general term for money
chiao tzu
a traditional North Chinese meal of meat-filled dumplings eaten with a hot spicy sauce
Chieh Hsia
term meaning ‘Your Majesty', derived from the expression ‘Below the Steps'. It was the formal way of addressing the Emperor, through his Ministers, who stood ‘below the steps'
chi pao
literally ‘banner gown', a one-piece gown of Manchu origin, usually sleeveless, worn by women
chih chu
a spider
ch'in
a long (120 cm), narrow, lacquered zither with a smooth top surface and sound holes beneath, seven silk strings and thirteen studs marking the harmonic positions on the strings. Early examples have been unearthed from fifth century
BC
tombs, but it probably evolved in the fourteenth or thirteenth century
BC
. It is the most honoured of Chinese instruments and has a lovely mellow tone
Chin P'ing Mei
The Golden Lotus
, an erotic novel, written by an unknown scholar – possibly anonymously by the writer Wang Shih-chen – at the beginning of the seventeenth century as a continuation of the Shui
Hui Chuan
, or ‘Warriors of the Marsh', expanding chapters 23 to 25 of the
Shan Hui
, which relate the story of how Wu Sung became a bandit. Extending the story beyond this point,
The Golden Lotus
has been accused of being China's great licentious (even, perhaps, pornographic) novel. But as C.P. Fitzgerald says, ‘If this book is indecent in parts, it is only because, telling a story of domestic life, it leaves out nothing.' It is available in a three-volume English-language translation
ch'ing
pure
ching
literally ‘mirror', here used also to denote a perfect GenSyn copy of a man. Under the Edict of Technological Control, these are limited to copies of the ruling T'ang and their closest relatives. However, mirrors were also popularly believed to have certain strange properties, one of which was to make spirits visible. Buddhist priests used special ‘magic mirrors' to show believers the form into which they would be reborn. Moreover, if a man looks into one of these mirrors and fails to recognize his own face, it is a sign that his own death is not far off. [See also
hu hsin chung
.]
ch'ing ch'a
green, unfermented teas
Ch'ing Ming
the Festival of Brightness and Purity, when the graves are swept and offerings made to the deceased. Also known as the Festival of Tombs, it occurs at the end of the second moon and is used for the purpose of celebrating the spring, a time for rekindling the cooking fires after a three-day period in which the fires were extinguished and only cold food eaten
Chou
literally, ‘State', but here used as the name of a card game based on the politics of Chung Kuo
chow mein
this, like chop suey, is neither a Chinese nor a Western dish, but a special meal created by the Chinese in North America for the Western palate. A transliteration of
chao mian
(fried noodles), it is a distant relation of the
liang mian huang
served in Suchow
ch'u
the west
chun hua
literally, ‘Spring Pictures'. These are, in fact, pornographic ‘pillow books', meant for the instruction of newly-weds
ch'un tzu
an ancient Chinese term from the Warring States period, describing a certain class of noblemen, controlled by a code of chivalry and morality known as the
li
, or rites. Here the term is roughly, and sometimes ironically, translated as ‘gentlemen'. The
ch'un tzu
is as much an ideal state of behaviour – as specified by Confucius in the
Analects
– as an actual class in Chung Kuo, though a degree of financial independence and a high standard of education are assumed a prerequisite
chung
a lidded ceramic serving bowl for
ch'a
chung hsin
loyalty
E hsing hsun huan
a saying: ‘Bad nature follows a cycle'
er
two
erh tzu
son
erhu
a traditional Chinese instrument
fa
punishment
fen
a unit of currency; see
yuan
. It has another meaning, that of a ‘minute' of clock time, but that usage is avoided here to prevent any confusion
feng yu
a ‘phoenix chair', canopied and decorated with silver birds. Coloured scarlet and gold, this is the traditional carriage for a bride as she is carried to her wedding ceremony
fu jen
‘Madam', used here as opposed to
t'ai t'ai
, ‘Mrs'
fu sang
the hollow mulberry tree; according to ancient Chinese cosmology this tree stands where the sun rises and is the dwelling place of rulers.
Sang
(mulberry), however, has the same sound as
sang
(sorrow) in Chinese
Han
term used by the Chinese to describe their own race, the ‘black-haired people', dating back to the Han dynasty (210
BC
–
AD
220). It is estimated that some ninety-four per cent of modern China's population are Han racially
Hei
literally ‘black'. The Chinese pictogram for this represents a man wearing war paint and tattoos. Here it refers specifically to the genetically manufactured half-men, made by GenSyn and used as riot police to quell uprisings in the lower levels of the City
ho yeh
Nelumbo
Nucifera, or lotus, the seeds of which are used in Chinese medicine to cure insomnia
Hoi Po
the corrupt officials who dealt with the European traders in the nineteenth century, more commonly known as ‘hoppos'
Hsia
a crab
hsiang p'en
flower
ch'a
hsiao
filial piety. The character for
hsiao
is comprised of two parts, the upper part meaning ‘old', the lower meaning ‘son' or ‘child'. This dutiful submission of the young to the old is at the heart of Confucianism and Chinese culture generally
Hsiao chieh
‘Miss', or an unmarried woman. An alternative to
nu shi
hsiao jen
‘little man/men'. In the
Analects
, Book XIV, Confucius writes, ‘The gentleman gets through to what is up above; the small man gets through to what is down below.' This distinction between ‘gentlemen' (
ch'un tzu
) and ‘little men' (
hsiao jen
), false even in Confucius's time, is no less a matter of social perspective in Chung Kuo
hsien
historically an administrative district of variable size. Here the term is used to denote a very specific administrative area, one of ten stacks – each stack composed of thirty decks. Each deck is a hexagonal living unit of ten levels, two
li
, or approximately one kilometre, in diameter. A stack can be imagined as one honeycomb in the great hive that is the City. Each
hsien
of the city elects one Representative to sit in the House at Weimar
Hsien Ling
Chief Magistrate, in charge of a
Hsien
. In Chung Kuo these officials are the T'ang's representatives and law enforcers for the individual
hsien
. In times of peace each
hsien
would also elect one Representative to sit in the House at Weimar
hsueh pai
‘snow white', a derogatory term here for
Hung Mao
women
Hu pu
the T'ang's Finance Ministry
hu hsin chung
see
ching
, re Buddhist magic mirrors, for which this was the name. The power of such mirrors was said to protect the owner from evil. It was also said that one might see the secrets of futurity in such a mirror. See the chapter ‘Mirrors' in
The Broken Wheel
for further information
hu t'ieh
a butterfly. Anyone wishing to follow up on this tale of Chuang Tzu's might look to the sage's writings and specifically the chapter ‘Discussion on Making All Things Equal'
hua pen
literally ‘story roots', these were précis guidebooks used by the street-corner storytellers in China for the past two thousand years. The main events of the story were written down in the
hua pen
for the benefit of those storytellers who had not yet mastered their art. During the Yuan or Mongol dynasty (
AD
1280–1368) these
hua pen
developed into plays, and, later on – during the Ming dynasty (
AD
1368–1644) – into the form of popular novels, of which the
Shui Hu Chuan
, or ‘Outlaws of the Marsh', remains one of the most popular. Any reader interested in following this up might purchase Pearl Buck's translation, rendered as
All Men Are Brothers
and first published in 1933
Huang Ti
originally Huang Ti was the last of the ‘Three Sovereigns' and the first of the ‘Five Emperors' of ancient Chinese tradition. Huang Ti, the Yellow
Emperor, was the earliest ruler recognized by the historian Ssu-ma Ch'ien (136–85
BC
) in his great historical work, the
Shih Chi
. Traditionally, all subsequent rulers (and would-be rulers) of China have claimed descent from the Yellow Emperor, the ‘Son of Heaven' himself, who first brought civilization to the black-haired people. His name is now synonymous with the term ‘emperor'

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