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Rani Kheir
Dr. Andrew Jones
Chinese 7B
Du Tenth
The Ming dynasty experienced rapid economic development, nearly all the way till its
eventual collapse. As it goes, with wealth and power comes greed and corruption, and for writer
Feng Menglong, such was the root of inauthenticity. Feng felt that to attain authenticity, one
must have sincere feelings, and must not value commodities over them; however, he was fully
aware of the Confucian social structure in place that inherently supported the commodification of
social relationships. He also believed that the Ming government was a propagator of this
monetized system of values, and that society has become inauthentic as a result. This problem is
thoroughly explored in his short story, “Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger”. The courtesan
Du Tenth is stuck as a commodity to be sold, and though she has authentic feelings, her attempt
to escape the world of commodities ultimately fails because the method used relies upon money.
Feng illustrates a paradox between her true feelings and the monetary transactions surrounding
her to argue that Ming society can’t return to the realm of authenticity because this social
structure values money and commodities over sincere feelings.
From the beginning, Feng uses Du Tenth as a trope for authenticity, developing
associations between her and various monetary transactions. The juxtaposition of these two
elements hints at their paradoxical relationship; however, before correlating the significance of
this paradox with Feng’s argument, it is necessary to distinguish how he depicts authenticity
through Du Tenth’s sincere feelings. The initial encounter that Du Tenth has with Li Jia goes,
“when she noticed how sincere and earnest young master Li was toward her, she was very much
inclined to throw her lot with him” (Owen 837). The author demonstrates her sincerity here by
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portraying her trusting nature. She only just met Li Jia, who must spend money every time he
wants to see her, and who refuses to marry her because he fears his father, yet she continues to
devote herself to him. Her authenticity is further established when Li Jia finally exhausts his
funds on Du Tenth. The author writes, “But that Du Tenth had a real affection for master Li, and
the more she saw the hard financial straits he was in, the warmer she grew toward him” (Owen
838). Within the length of two paragraphs, Feng provides two instances where Du Tenth has
chooses to ignore the monetary aspect of her relationship with Li Jia. She is aware of their
individual circumstances, yet she chooses to believe in love nonetheless. This is precisely how
Feng perceives authenticity: feelings that are unyielding to the temptations of money and to the
restrictions of the Confucian social structure. This decision to place parallel scenarios back-toback also serves to hint at the paradox early on. Du Tenth is still a commodity here, but she still
feels as though she is developing a sincere relationship through which she can escape that world.
As the story develops, Feng uses these juxtapositions between Du Tenth’s authenticity
and the monetary transactions surrounding her to highlight their paradoxical relationship. Li Jia
fails to borrow any money to purchase Du Tenth from her mistress, to which Du Tenth
comments, “‘Can it be that people have grown so unfeeling that you cannot raise the three
hundred?’” (Owen 841). At this point in the story, the reader is aware of the theme of monetized
relations, and so the irony of this statement becomes apparent. From Du Tenth’s perspective, she
is trying to escape her role as a commodity of the Ministry of Music, and so there is no insincere
intention in asking for money to help accomplish this; however, from the literati-class
perspective, Li Jia’s actions diverge from the path of sincerity for the same reason. Through this
ironic statement, Feng implicitly points to the monetized values of Ming society and further hints
at the paradox. More emphasis is given to highlight this paradox within the next few scenes.
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When Li Jia’s friend Liu Yu-chun helps him obtain money for Du Tenth, he clarifies, “‘It was
not for your sake that I borrowed this money, rather because I am moved by the sincere feeling
of Du Tenth’” (Owen 842). Here a male scholar, who may very well be Feng’s literary
embodiment of his own values, recognizes the sincerity of Du Tenth. What’s more important,
though, is that he himself is acting sincerely in gifting this money to Li Ja. The author places Liu
Yu-chun here to create a parallel between him and Du Tenth, in which both of them attempt to
free Du Tenth from her commodified state through monetized transactions, thus strengthening
the apparentness of the paradox.
Subsequently, the following scenes illustrate the attempt to free Du Tenth from the realm
of commodified relationships, only to end with the paradox that she cannot escape by way of
monetary transactions. Li Jia comes up with the money to buy her freedom, half from his sincere
friend and half from Du Tenth herself. Du Tenth confronts her mistress, stating, “‘If Mama
should go back on her word and prevent us, my husband will take the silver away, and I will
make an end of myself this very instant’” (Owen 843). Feng uses this transaction to foreshadow
the beginning of the end for Du Tenth. She believes she is finally free from her role as a
commodity, though she was just purchased, and is so passionate that she threatens to kill herself
before returning to that role. Furthermore, the mistress may have gone back on her word had Du
Tenth not threated to cause her a loss of profit. This ultimately points out that the monetary
transaction taking place is in paradoxical relation with authenticity, because even though in both
cases she will no longer be a courtesan, her only routes available are to continue as a commodity
and be purchased, or to die as a commodity trying to escape. This comes full circle when Du
Tenth is again sold at the end of the story. Upon the realization that Li Jia desires to sell her to
the salt merchant Sun Fu, she reacts cleverly, admonishing, “‘Go first thing in the morning to
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settle it with him….But a thousand taels of silver is a serious matter. You must be sure to have it
counted out in full’…Having said this, she attentively made herself up with powder and
perfume” (Owen 852-3). Du Tenth sets out to exact her revenge by insisting that Li Jia count the
money in full before she commits suicide, which in the rhetorical sense serves to contrast her
sincere feelings with that of the value of money. Plunging herself into the ocean along with the
jewel box, after dressing up and adorning herself, symbolizes both the fulfillment of her role as a
commodity and the realization that as a female commodity in the system, she could never have
escaped through the exchange of monetary items. Thus, the paradox comes full circle as Feng’s
way to implicitly criticize Ming upper-class society. But how does the text extend its criticism of
values to this Confucian-influenced society?
Feng encompasses the emperor, his constituents, and the Confucian social structure of the
Ming in his criticism implicitly throughout the story. The story begins with a piece of Ming
dynasty propaganda, which Feng uses to give a basis for his sarcastic and ironic comments to
come. The Ming capital is likened to a “golden citadel, a heavenly mansion” and the emperor
who resides there is referred to as the “Son of Heaven” (Owen 835). Then, as the story
progresses, the reader will encounter comments such as, “When Li Jia had the three hundred in
hand, it was like a gift dropped from Heaven” (Owen 842), and “‘How could the Heavenordained relation of father and son be permanently cut off?’” (Owen 844). The first comment
arrives when Li Jia accumulates the necessary amount of money to purchase Du Tenth; Feng
adds this comment to extend the blame of Li Jia’s monetized values, using Heaven as a trope for
the emperor. The second comment develops two points: The first is that the commodified
relationship between Li Jia and his father, and ostensibly all commodified human relationships,
is the fault of the emperor. The second is that of the Confucian social structure being referenced,
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which will be elucidated in the subsequent paragraph. More evidence of this comes when Sun Fu
tells Li Jia, “‘This snowstorm which has delayed our boats was Heaven’s way of granting me the
chance to meet you” (Owen 848). Again, Feng uses this trope as a means to indicate that the
problem of monetized values has resulted in this commodification of social relationships. Tying
in the emperor’s subjects, the main source of evidence for this is none other than “fake insides”
Li Jia. Beyond the word play of his name, Li Jia fully embodies the ramifications of the problem
at hand. Feng points to this in the beginning when he writes, “…there were several types of
advantage for those who bought academy scholar status in this way…Among this number there
was a young man surnamed Li, named Jia…” (Owen 836). The Ming emperor decided to accept
bribes of money in exchange for a pass to the civil service exam, and for Feng, who failed the
exam numerous times, this was infuriatingly unjust. Thus, Li Jia is literally the result of the
corrupt, monetized values of the Ming governing authorities. There are many examples in which
Li Jia figuratively exemplifies these values as well, the best of which is when he tells Du Tenth,
“‘If I had not encountered you, my dear benefactress, I, Li Jia, would have been left without even
a place to be buried. I will never dare forget this debt of gratitude as long as I live’” (Owen 846).
Besides his demeaning use of the noun “benefactress”, Li Jia makes it clear that he is grateful for
the monetary aspect of Du Tenth’s actions, and not the sincere feelings that come with it.
As for the Confucian aspect of Feng’s criticisms, it is also embedded within various parts
of the story. As aforementioned, the author has Du Tenth describe the relationship between
father and son as “Heaven-ordained”, or supported by the emperor. This is a typical reference to
the Confucian social hierarchy, along the same reasoning as the relationship between the
emperor and his subjects, the husband and his wife, etc., which is that of subordination. This
structure inherently supports the commodification of social relationships in that the
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establishment of a hierarchal relationship naturally harmonizes with the establishment of
monetized values. Furthermore, Feng adds various quotes that are attributed to Confucius in
order to solidify the inclusion of this structure into his criticisms. Among these are, “‘Within the
four seas all are brothers’” (Owen 848) and “Originating in feeling and stopping in accordance
with propriety” (Owen 852). The first quote plays on the motif water that exists in the story,
wherein water is troped as authentic feeling, ironically suggesting that these propagators of
monetized values are not within the realm of authenticity. The second quote arrives once Du
Tenth has learned of Li Jia’s plan to sell her, in which she sarcastically refers to the Classic of
Poetry as a means to highlight the existence of Confucian values within Li Jia’s actions.
In conclusion, Feng uses the story of Du Tenth to criticize the current state of the Ming
dynasty. He combines the theme of authenticity through sincere feelings with the problem of the
Ming society’s obsession with money to develop a paradoxical relationship between them. This
paradox is Feng’s method in which he brings his criticisms to the foreground, using it to both
emphasize the existence of this problem, but also to demonstrate that it cannot be resolved by
means of monetary transactions. The author’s rhetoric exudes sarcasm and irony, which
ultimately adds to the power of his sentiments that permeate throughout the story. Feng
Menglong truly desired for his country to return to the way of authenticity – he himself must
have had a heart of gold!