Week 5 Analysis: A Close Reading

Feng Menglong, “Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger” (497-517)

            In reading this story, a passage that sticks out to me is the small poem on the very last page: “Do not talk idly of romance if you don’t know the game; a world is hidden there within love’s name. If one knew all of the love that was in love to know, the epithet “romantic” should be thought no cause for shame” (517). This stuck out to me because this phrase practically summarizes the whole point of the story involving love and betrayal. One other reason this stuck out to me is because it is slightly depressing in the fact this poem concludes the fact that this woman died from a love that ended in ruins. One last reason that this stuck out to me is because this poem got me thinking back all the way to the beginning on where their “love” began.

            This passage conveys a sense of depression because it covers the fact that one should not dabble in romance if they do not understand the full meaning behind it. This specifically has me looking back to when Tenth feels betrayed originally when Li is quick to sell her off for money in order to get a connection with his father again. Thus, these actions are making him a deceiver in love. That is why this passage gives off a feeling of depression in the words “Do not talk idly of romance if you do not know the game” (517). It is also depressing because of the fact it connects to the whole story where love leads to destruction where Tenth commits suicide. When reading this poem you can feel the disappointment in the men, Li Jia and Sun Fu; because of the fact this woman died over a deceitful love that was not worthy of her. The disappointment lies with Li Jia because of his deceit towards Tenth when it comes to money. The disappointment lies with Sun Fu because he simply wants Tenth because she is beautiful and not because of love. Therefore, they do not fully understand the world of love. This passage also connects us to the beginning with it words. For example, “Now our young master Li was a dashing fellow who had never before encountered real womanly charms” (501). This sentence is from all the way back to the beginning where he was just beginning to “love”. However, when looking back at these words and connecting it to this poem, I realize that this is foreshadowing the fact that he does not know real love and the fact that he does not handle this real woman well at all throughout the whole story, like him borrowing money from her often or even selling her off. In general, he was never fully immersed in the knowledge of love and was never worthy of Tenth.

            The author fully connects the story with the last line in this poem: “the epithet “romantic” should be thought no cause for shame” (517). This fully connects the story because the whole time, Master Li is under the stress of shame due to the fact he married a “whore”. Throughout the story, he was worried that he would only be shamed by his father for being married to her. Therefore, he went out of his way to find a way for her to be accepted when in reality, if he really loved her then he would not have cared about the shaming of others. Therefore, he never fully understood love and the name of love was only thrown around by many in the story. In conclusion, Romance was simply used without its proper use.

"Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger". The Norton Anthology World Literature, Third Edition, Vol. D. Martin Puchner. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. Pages 497-517. Fairfield Medium with the display set in Aperto.