Formerly, when Xiao Yi was conquered at Jiangling, he did not regret the loss of his kingdom, but he did destroy his books and paintings [so that his enemies would not obtain them]. When Yang Guang was over- thrown at Jiangdu, he did not bemoan his own death, but he did arrange to take his books and paintings with him into the afterlife.2 Isn’t it so that what a person naturally treasures he will never forget, even in death? In my case, is it that Heaven considers me too insignificant to possess these alluring things? Or is it that my husband has consciousness in the after- life and still prizes these things so tenaciously that he won’t let them re- main behind in this world? Why else would they be so difficult to acquire but so easy to lose?
From the time I was two years younger than Lu Ji when he wrote his rhapsody until I was two years older than Qu Yuan when he perceived the error of his ways, that is, in thirty-four years, how numerous have been the worries and losses I have suffered!1 Nevertheless, possession is always followed by loss, just as the act of gathering always gives way even- tually to dissolution. It is a fundamental principle of things. One man loses a bow; another man finds it. What does it matter? The only reason I have taken the trouble to record all this here is to warn persons of later generations who are learned and fond of ancient things.
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Re: 2.3 金石錄後序 Afterword to Catalogue of Inscriptions on Metal and Stone
Date: 2022-01-12 11:52 pm (UTC)From the time I was two years younger than Lu Ji when he wrote his rhapsody until I was two years older than Qu Yuan when he perceived the error of his ways, that is, in thirty-four years, how numerous have been the worries and losses I have suffered!1 Nevertheless, possession is always followed by loss, just as the act of gathering always gives way even- tually to dissolution. It is a fundamental principle of things. One man loses a bow; another man finds it. What does it matter? The only reason I have taken the trouble to record all this here is to warn persons of later generations who are learned and fond of ancient things.
[see endnote]