Lories May Be Hazardous (A Cautionary Tale)

Abstract

In 1125 AD, Vladimir Monomakh, Grand Prince of Kievan Russia, Defender of the Faith against the heathen Polovtsy, died. But not before reminding his sons, in. writing, that he had been "twice tossed by bisons, gored by a stag, bitten by a bear and thrown to the ground by a wolf' (Wallace et al, 1967). One presumes such things occurred at different times. In 1121, Pierre Abelard, brilliant philosopher and theologian, was declared a heretic by the Council of Soissons. In 1122, the Concordat of Worms divided "the investiture of bishops between the ecclesiastical and lay powers, creating a truce in the struggle for dominance between the papacy and the German emperors" (Fleming, et al, 1988, p. 198). Around this time in England, Adelard of Bath was translating Arabic mathematics. In 1123, the Venetians destroyed the Egyptian Navy, making possible, the following year, the Crusader's capture of the ancient city of Tyre. Jerusalem remained the provenance of the Knights Templars and Hospitalers. Meanwhile, in Cambodia, under the glorious reign of Suryavarman II, Angkor Wat was created. And, some time before 1126, Huizong, Emperor of China, painted an Ornate Lorikeet that lived in his capital city of Kaifeng, more than 2,500 miles from its island home.

The Emperor also wrote the inscription that accompanies the picture. There are those who consider it the greater work of art (Loehr, 1980, p. 193). I did not expect what happened when I took a copy of this more than eight centuries old calligraphy to the monthly gathering of international students that meets in Fort Worth under the auspices of a local Baptist Church. With one glance, my friend Christine Liu exclaimed, "Song Huizong!" Mrs. Liu majored in Chinese Literature at Fu Jen Catholic University in Taipei. Though of course, she told me, the Emperor's calligraphy is unmistakable - the epitome of the highly admired style known as "Slender Gold." Max Loehr (1980), the eminent Harvard scholar of oriental art, wrote that Huizong's "Slender Gold" is "marvelous calligraphy ... , possibly the most enduring of his achievements. His characters are formed with a buoyant, elastic strength; they are lucid in structure, yet joyously unpedantic and, in a word, the ultimate of elegance."

I am indebted to Mrs. Liu. She is completing her second Master's Degree, in music (her first was in education), and pays careful attention to her two teenaged children. Yet she spent the better part of a day preparing a translation. With some liberties I have taken in interpretation, here is what the Emperor wrote in the early years of the Twelfth Century:

"[The) Five-colored Parakeet comes from beyond Lingnan to be maintained in a boundried space. Tame and lovely, it calls and flies back and forth at will in its specially built enclosure. In this busy spring time, flying above the apricot blooming all over, its attitude calm, it possesses a unique presence . If I extend my eyes to look, the effect is superior to a picture's.

Thus [follows) this poem:

Psittacine,

Product of Nature [or Heaven)

Ibis rare species, Presented as homage from Afar.

Tbe whole body with five colors, which is an unusual attribute. It utters/air sounds.

Flying with purpose, Precious feathered.

Pausing to be satisfied with the hearts of rice and sorghum.

Colored like yellow silk [are the borders of] its breast. Sky-blue-colored are its feet. Truly lovely.

Tbus have I written a new poem for future recitation and enjoyment."

Needless to say, Mrs. Liu and I were not after Art but information. (Mrs. Liu did point out that "Flying with purpose" and "Pausing to be satisfied" were meant to be a balance in contrasts, a structure of convention.

From this it can be gathered that the individual in the picture was the only bird of its kind in Huizong's possession. He also makes it plain that it was a treasured rarity. It was not however, the first "Five-colored Parakeet" in China.

From the Third Century AD there exists mention of "Five-colored" and "Red" parrots arriving in China. While he thinks some of the "Red Parrots" may have been Moluccan Cockatoos, Dr. Edward Schafer (1963), the enormously erudite Berkeley authority on Tang Dynasty China's contacts with the rest of the world, otherwise identifies these birds as Lories or Lorikeets. During the Tang Dynasty (618-906 AD) at least seven "Five-colored Parrots" arrived at the capital city Changan (present day Xian). Some came from such unlikely places as Vietnam, India and Iran. How and why these Indonesian birds arrived by such circuitous routes is a subject our editors suggested would be best covered in a separate article.

While vivid accounts of these Tang birds have come to us across 11, 12, and 13 centuries (Schafer, 1963), there are no surviving pictures, and written descriptions match no real species. As far as I know, Huizong's Twelfth Century Lorikeet is the first to reach China, of whose species - and thus also its habitat - we can be certain.

At casual glance, the identity of Huizong's "Five-colored Parakeet" may not be at once apparent. Perhaps the most recognizable feature of the Ornate Lorikeet - the brilliant yellow on the neck and borders of the chest (commented on in the...