The Wife’s Pillow

By Huo Qi

The Wife’s Pillow

By Huo Qi

Zuo Zongtang came from a poor family and could not afford a decent marriage when he was 20, an age at which most men already had a wife and kids. He married Yiduan of the Zhou family, a renowned and rich family in Xiangtan (a town in Hunan Province, middle south China). Miss Zhou Yiduan received a good education from her mother and was known to be a talented poet, as well as beautiful Lady. In a traditional Chinese marriage, the wife will leave her parents’family and join her husband’s; however, because of the conspicuous gap between Zuo’s and his wife’s families, Zuo had to leave his family and became a member of Zhou family.

As a married man Zuo tried to earn his official rank and riches through passing the Keju (the imperial examination system). Unfortunately, he failed to pass the metropolitan examination (the national class). After that he had to earn a living by teaching. Later he worked as a private tutor of a governor’s son for eight years. During these years being a teacher, Zuo left his beloved wife at home to travel from one place to another, feeling increasingly depressed at his unfulfilled expectations.

Yiduan knew well about her husband’s pain and loneliness. She was worried that Zuo would feel hopeless and give up, or that he might end up visiting prostitutes or using drugs. In one of their few meetings in 1835, before Zuo went to the imperial capital to take the metropolitan exam once again, Yiduan made a pillow for him and embroidered on it a pattern of “a Fishing Village in the Afterglow.” It took Yiduan three days and three nights to finish the work. In the pattern there was a fishing boat fastened beside the willow, and across the fogged green river the tree-covered mountains could be seen in the distance. The wife also embroidered one of her own poems beside the pattern:

Fastened in emerald mist are the boat and his net. This is the evening scene of home, my lord.

Do know in the hazy dreams I wait for you;

And do let this landscape touch your heart’s chord.

“My lord,” Yiduan said gently, “whenever you see the pillow in your journey, please think of me. It will represent my love and accompany you to all the faraway places you go.”

Zuo took the pillow with him in his travels. On every lonely night in the unfamiliar land, during moments of nostalgia and insomnia, he touched the pillow, silently read Yiduan’s affectionate poem, and felt that she was right there with him. Thus within the cuddling warmth his fretful mind was soothed, and he fell into a peaceful sleep.

Sadly, Zuo failed to pass the metropolitan exam in 1835 for the second time, and then in 1838 for the third time.

The man was plunged into the depths of despair. He swore that he would forget his ambition and think no more than being a peasant. Desperately, he burned his collection of books, and also threw the pillow into the fire.

Y i d u a n saw this and ordered the servants to rescue the books. She put herself in danger by getting the pillow out of the fire. The pillow was partly burnt, and Yiduan burst into tears.

“You did this to break my heart,” she said to her husband, “but I still have faith in you. You will be somebody one day.”

With his wife’s comfort and encouragement, Zuo regained confidence. He then concentrated on practical studies such as politics, agriculture, hydrology, military strategies, and western sciences. Whenever he became inactive, he saw the pillow (already mended anew by Yiduan) and felt refreshed.

An opportunity finally emerged. In 1852, the troops of the “Taiping Rebellion” besieged Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province. Under such crisis, the governor of Hunan, Zhang Liangji, asked Zuo to lead the army in the city. Zuo did his best all day and all night to arrange the defense. After three months of siege the city wall still stood; and the rebellion force retreated to the north.

That was the beginning of Zuo’s brilliant career. Thereafter he led the imperial army to defeat the Taiping Rebellion, and then the “Nian Rebellion.” He re-conquered the lost land of Xinjiang. He was also a leading figure in “the Westernization Movement.” His official rank reached the first class when he became “The Grand Secretary of Dongge” at the age of 61. He had real power in the empire.

In 1870, when Zuo was commanding a campaign, he received a message that said Yiduan had passed away at home. The mighty general shed bitter tears in anguish. He held his wife’s pillow in arms and said,

“The wailing bird is separated from his mate. Only this pillow will accompany me in the rest of my days.”

(From Folk Legends, Issue 12, 2016. Translated: Wang Xiaoke.)

晚清名臣左宗棠，從小家境貧寒，到了20歲時還討不到老婆。周家是湘潭名門望族，家道殷實。周家小姐周詒端才貌雙全，自幼隨母讀書作詩，是小有名氣的女詩人。左宗棠入贅周家，成了“倒插門”女婿。

左宗棠結婚后，參加會試，但名落孫山。

左宗棠只得設帳授徒，當上了教書先生，靠學生家長奉送的酬金為生。后給兩江總督的兒子當私塾先生，一干就是八年。這期間，左宗棠和妻子聚少離多。

常年在外奔波顛沛，加上寄人籬下的生活，讓心性高傲的左宗棠異常苦悶。

常言道，知夫莫過妻。夫人周詒端深知左宗棠懷才不遇、孤寂冷清，又擔心丈夫自暴自棄，眠花宿柳或吸食鴉片，她想給夫君精神上慰藉。

1835年，左宗棠赴京參加會試前夕，周詒端親手為他縫制一只枕頭，并一針一線在枕頭上繡了幅《漁村夕照圖》，畫面為一葉輕舟，系在楊柳之下，遠山籠翠，碧水含煙。在這幽雅畫面邊，周詒端又繡上自寫的一首小詩：“小網輕舟系綠煙，瀟湘暮景個中傳。君如鄉夢依稀候，應喜家山在眼前。”

周詒端花了三天三夜的時間，終于縫繡好“漁村夕照枕”。

左宗棠臨行前，她深情款款地將枕送到左宗棠手里，說：“老爺，見枕如見妾，枕在妾在。他鄉寂寞的夜晚，枕著它，如妾伴在你夢中。”

后來，左宗棠每逢外出，必帶“漁村夕照枕”在身邊。客居異鄉，孤枕寒衾，鄉愁潮涌，難以入睡之時，他就在心中默念浪漫多情的枕上詩，猶如愛妻就在身旁，既溫馨又幸福，浮躁的心緒慢慢平靜下來，心中的煩惱也漸漸煙消云散，酣然入睡。

夫人周詒端那充滿鄉情、親情、愛情的“漁村夕照枕”，成為左宗棠客居異鄉的安眠藥。

1838年，第三次會試不第歸來，左宗棠處于人生的最低谷，發誓終生不問世事，安心做個湘上農人。

他將所有的藏書付之一炬，氣急之中，也將“漁村夕照枕”扔到火中。

周詒端忙指揮家人搶救書本，更不顧自身危險，親自從熊熊大火中搶出枕頭。枕頭已燒了一個大洞，周詒端抱著破枕大哭，對左宗棠說：“老爺連枕頭都燒了，那是在剜妾的心，妾堅信夫君不會‘漁樵了此生’。”

后來，左宗棠用心深鉆方輿、農桑、水利、軍事、洋務等經世之學，偶有疏懶，一見周詒端縫補如新的“漁村夕照枕”，便重振信心。

周詒端也全掬一心，撫慰夫憂，安慰他，鼓勵他，激發左宗棠的雄心。

左宗棠終于等來出頭的機會。

1852年，太平天國大軍圍攻長沙，省城危在旦夕，左宗棠應湖南巡撫張亮基之聘出山，受托執掌長沙城全部軍事。左宗棠不分白天黑夜地辛勤操勞，使太平軍圍攻長沙三月不下，撤圍北去。

左宗棠一生的功名也就從此開始，他先后平定太平天國，鎮壓捻軍，興辦洋務，收復新疆。在61歲那年，左宗棠官至東閣大學士，成為權傾一時的清末名臣。

1870年，左宗棠在軍營中指揮作戰時，接到夫人周詒端在長沙病逝的消息，左宗棠悲痛異常，這位馳騁疆場、威風八面的英雄，抱著“漁村夕照枕”潸然淚下說：“‘珍禽雙飛失其儷，繞樹悲鳴凄以厲’，從此只有此枕伴我了。”

（摘自《民間傳奇故事》 2016年第12期）

漁村夕照枕

文|霍琪