Text of 鍾九鬧漕

We provide here two versions of an epic, a popular performative text about the rebellion of Zhong Renjie. The first version was collected and collated by local cultural cadres in the 1950s. The second version is of unknown provenance. It appears to be more faithful to the text in circulation in the oral tradition.

Glossary

企 - qǐ - stand on tiptoe

当差 - dāng chāi -yamen runner, clerk

鳌鱼 - áo yú - a mythical fish, with the head of a dragon and the body of a fish

三班六房 - sān bān liù fáng - general reference to all the clerks in county yamen

青天 - qīng tiān - honorable and upright officials; or the qualities of honor and uprightness

提牌 - tí pái - minor clerks dependent on higher officials, often with a negative connotation

九州 - jiuzhou - another name for China

司法 - sifa - judicial administration

良人 - liangren - husband

肺腑肝 - feifugan - the bottom of one's heart, literally "lungs, inner organs, and liver"

太爷 - taiye - district magistrate

剪裁 - jiancai - to trim (when composing a text)

軟木 - ruanmu - soft wood, cork; this begins an extended metaphorical reference to wood as talent

棟樑材 - dongliangcai - literally "ridge-pole timber;" "ridge-pole" is often used to imply central support (i.e. of the state, of a movement), and "timber" to imply talent

扣饷银 - kouxiangyin - to reduce soldiers' allowance

毫釐絲忽 - haolisihu - four measure words less than "fen"

水腳 - shuijiao - the cost for river transport

印號 - yinhao - official seals and titles

大堂 - dà táng - the meeting hall in the local magistrate's where official business was handled

二堂 - ertang - the room behind the meeting hall in the local magistrate's where official business was handled

逢凶化吉 - fengxionghuaji - to land on one's feet

戰篩篩 - zhànshāishāi - to shiver with fear

嬌娥 - jiao'e - ladies with fair countenance

桂花廳 - guìhuātīng - interior chambers of a house, where women resided

提臺 - titai - another honorific for 提督, provincial commander-in-chief

製臺 - zhitai - another honorific for 總督, governor-general