YUT HO (DOVE) A Girl Is Born Facing Out
The 1st to 28th day of the 4th lunar month in the 9th year of the Tung Chee emperor’s reign(May 1–28, 1870)
The day Yut Ho turns seventeen, a matchmaker pays a visit to her family’s apartment in Rice City—Kwangchow, or what the foreigners have named Canton. “Marry a chicken, follow a chicken; marry a dog, follow a dog,” the matchmaker recites. “A bamboo door should be paired with a bamboo door; a wooden door with a wooden door.” She pauses to let the girl and her parents take in the aphorisms, then she focuses her hard eyes on the father. “Your daughter’s complexion is as pale as that of the white peach. Her hair is as black as raven feathers. Her feet are perfect golden lilies, and I can see from the embroidered designs on her shoes that she’s been well trained in wom-anly skills. I have heard from your neighbors that she possesses the Four Virtues—obedience, timidity, reticence, and adaptability.” The matchmaker falls silent to allow the praise to soften the parents before her. Then, “She reminds me of one of the Four Great Beauties, of whom it is said each was so exquisite she could lay waste to cities and lands.”The father lifts his brows, interested at last. “Her given name is Yut Ho, but we have always called her Dove.”“Ah,” the matchmaker says, rubbing her chin. “Let me guess. You were inspired by the Great Beauty Wang Chao-chun, who was so capti-vating that when birds glimpsed her, they forgot to flap their wings and fell from the sky. Very subtle to name your daughter for one of the birds rather than for Chao-chun, which can mean Fells-Geese, Drops-Birds, or—”
“Entices-Birds-to-Fall,” the father finishes.“All versions are too negative for such beauty,” the matchmaker comments, “while many stories and traditions tell us that the dove is a symbol of faithfulness and filial duty.”The father chuckles, happy for the appreciation of his knowledge of literature, art, and the benefits of nuance when applied to naming.“You have generations of imperial scholars in your family,” the matchmaker goes on, with the father believing more compliments are coming. Instead, she frowns and thumps her thighs with her palms, signaling a change in tone. “While the men in your lineage have not distinguished themselves enough to have grand appointments or receive emoluments from the emperor, neither were they sent to the farthest reaches of the empire.”“Your point?” the girl’s father asks, embarrassed. After all, why poke a stick into a skinny dog’s ribs when he already knows he’s hungry? Likewise, the matchmaker has no need to jab at the father’s failings when the evidence is all around them. The apartment is passable but shabby. The family’s clothes are made of silk that has frayed at the edges. The scholar’s wife’s face bears wrinkles caused by money worries, dis-appointment, and the physical exhaustion that comes from running a diminished household without help from servants.“I could easily match Dove into another scholar’s family—bamboo door to bamboo door,” the matchmaker says. “But I have a different opportunity that will be financially more rewarding.”The father leans forward. “Go on.”The matchmaker presents her offer. “I am acting on behalf of a woman whose husband, a wealthy merchant, lives in Lo Sang—Los Angeles. She is a grass widow—a woman whose husband is gone for years at a time in the Flowery Flag Nation—America. As a good wife, she wishes to remain in China to take care of her in-laws and children, manage the household, and perform all rites to keep her husband’s ancestors happy in the Afterworld. She’s looking for someone young to become a second wife and provide her husband with amusements in the barbarian land.”
Continue reading the extract here….
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