Can Xue - Five Spice Street

Throughout the story of our Five Spice Street, the widow has been a glittering presence, and we want to sum up her historical contributions and discuss her character.

Thus far, we have described only her external image and physique, as well as the aspects of her character that derive from them. Our impression seems to be: her special stature and essence are responsible for her important position on Five Spice Street. This ‘‘specialness,’’ the source of her contributions, consists of her provocative sexual power, without which her contributions (rated almost as highly as those of the geniuses) would most likely have gone unnoticed by both the elite and the people. We need to correct this impression.

Our conclusion is just the opposite: her brilliant status on our Five Spice Street as a sort of heroine, the people’s love and esteem, didn’t result from her individuality but from her universality and typicality. To begin with, the widow’s sexual power lasted into her old age, and it was precisely this that most characterized Five Spice Street. People on Five Spice Street were full of youthful spirit. On the whole street, you could hardly find a single impotent man or frigid woman. Everyone was a master of sexual techniques. Everyone was in high spirits about ‘‘spare-time recreation’’-even old men of eighty and youngsters of thirteen. The people here are healthy, creative, and ambitious. Madam X called them ‘‘counterfeit,’’ never imagining that in her quest to become prominent, people might become suspicious about her own sexuality.

An example can demonstrate that our people are not counterfeit (this kind of example can be found everywhere). Old Meng from the pharmacy, for instance, is eighty-three this year and is as dissolute as ever. Such an example is rare in both ancient and modern times. On the outside, Old Meng doesn’t appear strong at all, but frail. Yet inside, his muscles are steel and his bones are iron; his vigor hasn’t diminished one bit. Not only is he not afraid of shacking up with someone, but he can actually ‘‘satisfy’’ a young person and even make her ‘‘surrender’’! This example alone should refute Madam X’s charge. Naturally, to recover their youth, the people on our Five Spice Street use various elixirs that have been handed down for generations. Old Meng has benefited greatly from those medicines in his pharmacy, and so he stays young. Not long ago, he actually dumped the wife of Madam X’s husband’s good friend and picked up a sixteen-year-old nursemaid. All day long, that nursemaid stayed inside the loft and looked after the house for him. Her ‘‘face was like peach blossoms,’’ and her skin was ‘‘creamy white’’! As for Old Meng, his appearance made people think ‘‘the older, the stronger’’! Among our people, this general characteristic was inherited, and it also benefited from the feng shui here. This feng shui not only gave us immunity but also boosted our ability to procreate and strengthened us by the day. Our numbers grew. The widow’s sexual power was in inverse proportion to her ability to procreate. We’ll deal with this later.

Madam X’s vilification of the people on Five Spice Street isn’t worth discussing. Sex on Five Spice Street was never a problem from ancient times to the present. Just look at our descendants: that will settle the argument. Abstinence is the only problem, not encouragement. All of us abide by the rules. We’re cultured and refined and put into practice the civil ‘‘spare-time recreation.’’ Any lechery or anything against the law is censured. (For example, Old Meng has been reproached: even if he could ‘‘satisfy’’ that girl, and even if some people secretly envied him, his behavior has been condemned by certain authorities. We hope he will ‘‘reform’’ and be legally married to her.)

Second, her whole life, the widow has repressed her sexual desire. She never had a carnal relationship with any man other than her husband: she became a model of propriety on Five Spice Street and influenced many young men and women (for example, Madam X’s husband’s good friend, the young coal worker, Madam X’s female colleague, and also the writer and others). Because of this, spiritual friendships became customary on Five Spice Street: outsiders felt refreshed by the novel atmosphere. Yet we have to say that this wasn’t the widow’s invention. The old woman with the black felt hat and her older male cousin, and also lots of other people, demonstrate this psychology. The widow’s contribution was in carrying forward and developing this character. Spiritual friendship was definitely higher than physiological function, and it is this that led humankind to mutual dependence and created history. Even in marriage, spiritual relationships can predominate; the writer has witnessed many examples of couples especially strongly united through their spiritual love, even to the point of ignoring physiological needs. They seldom indulged in ‘‘spare-time recreation’’; indeed, some didn’t indulge at all, but their feelings for one another were deeper and more sincere than those of other people. Such a union was the perfect model and could last forever, despite leaving no descendants.

The writer definitely isn’t advocating this insipid ascetic life but hopes only that everyone will elevate spiritual love to the first position. Ever since experiencing waves of emotion, our young coal worker has greatly matured. He broke off his sexual relationship with Old Woman Jin and moved into the work shed of Madam X’s husband’s good friend. They became permanent neighbors. This was a priceless example of returning to the fold, even though he was not nearly as perfect as the widow, Madam X’s husband’s good friend, and the lonely old woman. He was a youngster, influenced by unhealthy thinking, who had made mistakes and matured relatively late. He had been controlled by Madam X over a long period and had indulged in the ways of the flesh. Old Woman Jin was even worse. But now the darkness had passed; they awakened and were thoroughly ashamed. Full of self-reproach, they made up their minds to begin anew and struggle against their evil lust. The day he moved, he was very happy. Old Woman Jin ran over, barefoot and with disheveled hair, to help him. She was as energetic as a young girl. Clenching her teeth, she carried a desk on her back and walked as though flying. She said, ‘‘I’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time.’’ She also said, ‘‘When he was five, I figured he had prospects. After being tutored by me, he is getting better and better by the day.’’ In order to celebrate the young coal worker’s separate household and the beginning of his new life, everyone squeezed into the work shed and sang songs and-shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand-danced a circle dance. Unexpectedly gaining a companion in the same boat as he was, Madam X’s husband’s good friend wept and wailed. Then he laughed and told everyone: he didn’t have to worry that there would be no one to continue his work. He had crawled inside a long, dark tunnel for years, but now he could see a ray of light!

After the young coal worker moved, the widow stayed five days and five nights at his work shed in order to teach by personal example as well as by instruction. She thought the youth was still thinking erratically, and that this mustn’t be treated lightly. So she abandoned everything to help him. For five days and five nights, the two confided in each other non-stop. When they tired of talking, they slept back to back on the earthen ground (from this time on, the young coal worker slept on the ground) and continued talking in their dreams. They spoke about paradise. After five days and five nights, the young coal worker became a deep thinker. At every sentence the widow spoke, at every imperceptible sigh, he was moved to the marrow of his bones and quivered all over. He wept uncontrollably when she stroked his soft hair with her warm hand. ‘‘My previous life was like a nightmare,’’ he confessed. ‘‘Ah, I wish I could be reborn, I wish I could start over!’’ The widow consoled him: In fact, he had indeed been reborn and had started over. There would still be a lot of time ahead. If he lived as if each day were a year, as she did, he would discover just how clear and rich, and how significant, his life would be. She was now so sublime she was qualified to commune with the gods. When she opened her eyes, she could see things in paradise, but she still wasn’t satisfied. Her greatest joy was to continue remolding herself. She told the young coal worker that as an elder and a mentor, she had to understand all the details before she could suit the remedy to the sickness. If he and Madam X had had a carnal relationship, he should speak of it without omitting anything. If, however, his love was unrequited, he should reveal the details of his lewd thoughts. The more detailed, the better in curing him of his illness. She could understand even the filthiest things and wouldn’t deride him. Rather, this was the first step to starting over. Not until he ‘‘got rid of the stale’’ could he ‘‘take in the fresh.’’