The Cantos Project - LVI

LVI

Billets, biglietti, as coin was too heavy for transport,
but redeemed the stuff at one third
And Ou-Kiai had another swat at the tartars
and licked ‘em
And Yu-Tchong, governor of Kingtcheou in the Chensi
said: my spies have told me etc/
easy to start a war,
not easy to finish one.
SUNG died of levying taxes
gimcracks, SUNG died under HOEI the slider,
And there was a man named Tchinkis in Tartary
hearing of alphabets, morals, mores
and a man named Yeliu-Tchutsai.
Yeliu apaoki Ouanyen akouta,
of Kin, of Khitan, and Genghis of Yuen,
hearing of alphabets
and Yeliu Tchutsai said to Ogotai:
tax, don’t exterminate
You’ll make more by taxing the blighters
thus saved several millyum lives of those chinamen
Bojars thought land was for grazing.
ten percent tax on hooch, 3 1/3rd on necessities
And they tried to stop the Tartars on Hoang Ho
day falls like a fluttering flag
East princes went by the valley of box wood
to cover Mt Kuai with a palace ...
‘There is’, said the Taozers,
‘A medicine that gives immortality.’
and ships sent (li Sao) to Japan.
Mt Tai Haku is 300 miles from heaven
lost in a forest of stars,
Slept on the pine needle carpet
sprinkled horse blood
praying no brave man be born among Mongols
Ouen yan Tchin hochang of Kin.
YAO, CHUN, YU controller of waters
Bridge builders, contrivers of roads
gave grain to the people
kept down the taxes
Hochang, eunuchs, taoists and ballets
night-clubs, gimcracks, debauchery
Down, down! Han is down
Sung is down
Hochang, eunuchs, and taozers
empresses’ relatives, came then a founder
saying nothing superfluous
cleared out the taozers and grafters, gave grain
opened the mountains
Came taozers, hochang and debauchery
And litterati fought fiercer than other men to keep out the mogul
drifting dung-dust from the North.
Hochang southward like rabbits
half a million in one province only
mus ingens, ingens, noli meum granum comedere
No slouch ever founded a dynasty
Died Kin Lusiang, historian and Confucian
all mulberries frozen in Pa Yang
Where were two million trees and beyond that
Litterati fought fiercer than other men
Hail breaking the trees and walls
in I-Tching-tcheou
Crops gone.
Against Ogotai’s catapults Nik-ia-su used powder
May the white birds remember this warrior, good at logistics
Ozin (Wodin) Youriak had ‘em set out mulberry trees
Ghenso was for no taxes, grew up as a labourer
A hundred chi of rice for ten denars
that is an ½ ounce of silver
ZinKwa observed that gold is inedible
Stored grain against famine
observed that jade is inedible
And they used invisible writing
in Ten Bou’s time came a white phoenix
and in this time was Yeliu Tchutsai
Meng Kong still held against Mogols.
Han, Lang, Ouen, Kong,
Mie, Kien, Tchong, King
Fou, Pong, Chun King
gone
Vendome, Beaugency, Notre Dame de Clery,
and they took law against Yeliu, but his leaving
was 13 flutes, his lute and his library
to refute charge of embezzlement
And after him died Meng Kong.
Kujak was crowned
And the first day they put on their white clothes
and the second day red robes
and the third day were all lords in violet,
scarlet the fourth day, and Kujak went against Hungary
made war on Poland, on Prussia
and Mengko took off taxes
And in Caï Fong they made a grain dividend
and gave instruction in farming
ploughs, money, ammassi
YAO, SHUN, YU, Kung
TCHIN OUANG, OUEN, Ghengiz Khan
And Mengko went into Bagdad, went into Kukano
and died by the wall at Ho-tcheou
Ogotai reigned for nine years
Kublai ascended Mt Hianglou
the Kiang full of war junks
that SUNG thought security
LI TSONG believed his news service
wrongly
Kublai before him
and about him damned rascals, courtezans, palace women
Cliques, easy wars without justice.
And Kublai said: Sung laws very beautiful
unlike their conduct
Kiassé harmed SUNG more than Mongols
North is the cradle of mongols
Pasepa gave them their alphabet
1000 words mongol, and 41 letters
SUNG sank by Yai island. The line of Ghengiz called YUEN
this dynasty mo’gol
Hoang-ho’s fount in a sea of stars.
Ouang tchi slew Ahama. Ouen Tiensiang was faithful.
War scares interrupt commerce. Money was now made of brass
and profit on arms went to the government
wine taxed high, settlers licensed.
Lou-chi brought back the grafters (Ahama’s)
and boosted the tea tax
Tchin-kin disgusted by the size of the tax receipts
and L Sieuen staved off a war with Japan
staved off a war on Annam
said: Taxes are not abundance
Yeliu resumed the imperial college, gathering scholars
KUBLAI was a buggar for taxes
Sangko stinking with graft
Ouantse made a law code
eliminated 250 tribunals, that mostly did nowt but tax
KUBLAI died heavy with years
his luck was good ministers, save for the treasury.
‘As hunger alone drove them to brigandage
they wd/ continue bandits till fed’
This known in the time of TIMOUR
The last SUNG fled in what was left of a navy
went down in sea waves, came mongols
of Ghengiz
rose KUBLAI
HIA, CHANG, TCHEOU
were great lines till Kungfutseu
Then were HAN
TÇIN
TANG
SUNG
Then these mongols or YUEN
Ghengiz, Ogotai, KUBLAI KHAN
that came into Empire
From the Isle of Yai, no more SUNG counting
and mogols stood over all China
89 years more till MING came, 1368
that is from Ghengiz an hundred and 60 (Cambuskin)
And in south province Tchin Tiaouen had risen
and took the city of Tchang tcheou
offered marriage to Ouang Chi,
who said: It is an honour.
I must first bury Kanouen. His body is heavy.
His ashes were light to carry
Bright was the flame for Kanouen
Ouang Chi cast herself into it, Faithful forever
High the hall TIMOUR made her.
And in the 8th moon the public works and corvée department
presented GIN TSONG a volume on mulberry culture
by Miao Haokien where he explains in detail the
growing of silk worms
and of unwinding cocoons
and the Emperor had this engraved with all diagrams
and distributed throughout all China
nor had any emperor more care to find men of merit---
doing what KUBLAI had intended---
than had Aïulipata called GIN TSONG
(Algiaptou khan) honouring Kung with the rites.
And his son died of assassins
died of the gang of Tiemoutier, lamas, foés,
shit and religion always stinking in concord
Came Jason against these assassins
came CHUNTI last of the mogul.
Two million families went down in famine
blood rained on the high land
green hair came down like rain
Hanjong levelled the temples
his folk burst into joy
to put land back under tillage
CHUNTI came to the college, as had not in 12 years of reign
gave a silver seal to Kung’s epigon
but gangsters continued
a pirate declined to turn mandarin,
a comet exploded in Pleiades
Hoang-ho shifted its bed
and they said that the Milé Buddha
had come down to turn out the mogul,
pseudo-Sung put on red hats
Tienouan beat the rebels, Taipou was killed by rebels
Singki respected
and the lamas put on a ballet for CHUNTI
in ivory headgear
castagnettes crinkling and clacking, and a Tang dance
without fancy clothes
Kongpei said to Toto: Don’t open dispatches.
Dragon barge drifted with music
Statue poured water amidship
Spirits struck the night watches
they say CHUNTI invented this clockwork
The Red Caps called their candidate Ming Ouan
as if emperor
Left monkhood and put manhood on
to end the line of Ghengiz khan
Yuentchang ceased being hochang
took Ito Yen without pillage
and passed over Kiang river
conquered the Taiping province
Comet in Tchang star, over Tai Ming shone the meteor
broom-shaped
Ming coming out of South Country, In 35 years’ dissolution
CHUNTI ceased from the throne.
Died Yukiou of more than ten wounds
Now in Chang-tou was ruin
the high house of KUBLAI cast down
Came Ming slowly, a thousand, an hundred thousand
the pirate Kouetchin came to him
At court, eunuchs and grafters
among mongols no man trusted other
The empress’ folk in Corea killed off king Peyen
Of MING were now 200,000
that fought three days in the boat fight
there by lake Peyan
to Hoang Ho the river
Yeougin and the Tching brothers
till Leou Lean was arrowed.
And they left Tchin-li his father’s treasure
but took his grain for the people.
Came MING thus to KianKing, say 1368
For crime after TIMOUR the mandate
left YUEN mongols
No slouch ever founded a dynasty
From Ghengiz were 8 score years until MING time
Said now YUENTCHANG
suis fils d’un pauvre laboureur
In a village of Ssetcheou in the province of Kiangnan
at seventeen was made shaveling
then enrolled under Tsehing the captain
This is called Destiny
Schicksal to bring peace to the Empire
Li, Su, Tong and I
were four musketeers
We were workmen in the same village
we were plain sojers together
If we can take Chantong province, we can take Pekin
(and did so, 1368)
He said to Su Ta: Do as you deem
CHANG, CHOU, and HAN rose by talents
Once we four were lucky to have even canvas coats
Mongols are fallen
from losing the law of Chung Ni
(Confucius)
HAN came from the people
How many fathers and husbands are fallen
Make census
Give rice to their families
Give them money for rites
Let rich folk keep their goods by them
Let the poor be provided
I came not against YUEN
but against grafters and rebels
I rebelled not against KUBLAI, not against Ghengizkhan
but against lice that ate their descendants.
TAI TSONG
KAO TSEU
TAI TSOU
and now HONG VOU three hundred, three hundred
each had 300 years by the mandate
five cycles of 60 years
Mongols were an interval
‘Once again war is over. Go talk to the savants.’
He gave fur coats to the troops in Ninghia
Showed no zenophobia. Moguls wd/ not have chinese in office.
In Pekin he paid the soldiers
To peasants he gave allotments
gave tools and yoke oxen
No eunuchs to serve save as domestics
‘Don’t believe all you are told by officials
‘I suggest’, said HONG VOU, ‘that you get a faculty
a good faculty before increasing the number of students.’
He declined arab cosmetics
Capn Yé-ouang built an ice wall
to keep off the Yuen
which they took for a real wall.
‘Coreans are gentle by nature’.
and that year the Emperor died.
Five planets were in conjunction.
In ‘84 died General Li-ouen, in ‘85 Su Ta
in 1386 peace
HONG VOU declined a treatise on Immortality
offered by Taozers, Et
En l’an trentunième de son Empire
l’an soixante de son eage
HONG VOU voyant ses forces affoiblir
dict: Que la vertu t’inspire, Tchu-ouen.
Vous, mandarins fidèles, lettrés, gens d’armes
Aidez mon petit-fils à soutenir
La dignité de cest pouvoir
le poids de son office
Et comme au Prince OUEN TI
jadis des HAN
Faictes moi mes funérailles.

a.d. 1225/65

a.d. 1278

a.d. 1295

b.c. 202
a.d. 265
a.d. 618
a.d. 950

a.d. 1312/20

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