THE LUMINOUS PEARL

Text by Guo Dan Translation by Shi Yu Illustrations by Haolun Zhang

Ancient tales about gods can be more creative than we expect. Though meaningless, some tales can be imaginatively wild. One of the most wellknown tales is Hangao Jiepei (Two Goddesses Giving Away a Pendant), from the Tales of Gods-Two Goddesses by the River, by Liu Xiang from Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD), “Two ladies, whose names were unknown to others, were wandering by the Hanjiang River when they encountered Zheng Jiaofu. Zheng Jiaofu was amazed by these two ladies, who appeared out of nowhere. He said to his servant, “I would like to ask their permission tohave their pendants…” Finally, he did get to keep their pendants.

The tale had an impact on many writers following Liu Xiang. Li Han, a poet from Five Dynasties (907-979), mentioned this pendant-giving tale in Meng Qiu, a textbook for children). Yan Shu, a poet from Song Dynasty (960-1279), wrote in his famous poem Magnolia that the action to give away a pendant is an action that loving ones in fairy tales would do. There are also a number of poems that eulogize this story.

Now I have also a jade pendant, however, I know not to whom I shall give it.

Do you know there is a tune for Ci (one of traditional poem styles) called To Whom Shall I Give My Pendant? The name of this tune came from the tale in which two goddesses give Zheng Jiaofu their pendants. Pendant? The name of this tune came from the tale in which two goddesses give Zheng Jiaofu their

This tune consists of 66 words arranged in two tune styles and rhythms. To Whom Shall I Give My Pendant originally came from one of the pieces by Yan Jidao. Yan Jidao was the youngest son of Yan Zhu. He was my favorite Ci poet; I even wanted to marry him when I was a child. Ironically, the best Ci poet is inferior to those guys selling counterfeit things online.

In case you were wondering, the two Goddesses were in Hubei province, thus the one by the side of West Lake in Hangzhou is not a goddess, she is Bai Niangzi – the lady of white.

Kallen Guo

senior filmmaker, socialite and bestselling author, authored Don't Fall in Love with Zurich, the winner of The Best Foreign Language Novel.

郭丹

资深影视人、名媛、畅销书作家。代表作包括最佳外语小说奖获得作品《别爱苏黎世》等。

解佩令

古代的神仙故事，不像现在这么宣化教义。它经常天马行空而毫无意义。其中的佼佼者便是《汉皋解佩》。汉朝刘向《列仙传·江妃二女》：“江妃二女者，不知何所人也，出游于江汉之湄，逢郑交甫，见而悦之，不知其神人也，谓其仆曰：‘我欲下请其佩。’……遂手解佩与交甫。”

五代李瀚 《蒙求》诗：“渊客泣珠， 交甫解佩。”宋朝晏殊 《木兰花》词：“闻琴解佩神仙侣，挽断罗衣留不住。”元代李裕 《次宋编修显夫南陌诗四十韵》：“楚女窥墙日，文园病渴年。合欢连组带，解佩杂芳荃。”清钮琇《觚剩·河东君》：“盖就新去故，喜极而悲，验裙之恨方殷，解佩之情逾切矣。”

我如今亦有玉佩，却不知解与何人。

你们知道有个词牌令叫作《解佩令》不？始见于晏几道《小山乐府》。调名取义于郑交甫遇汉皋神女解佩事。双调，六十六字，上下片各五仄韵。第一、二句亦有不用韵者。晏几道是晏殊的小儿子，亦是我最喜最怜的词人，幼时我想嫁给他。而在当今社会人的眼里，做词牌令的男子甚至不及做假货电商的男人厉害。

汉皋在湖北，站在西湖边就不是神女，是白娘子啦～