by Pu Songling
Ji, calmly acting like it was nothing strange, proceeded to tell her that he’d developed a rapport with the fox. Suddenly realizing what had happened, his wife declared, “That fox must’ve put some kind of drug into the wine.” She remembered that cinnabar was supposed to be effective in driving out such evil effects, so she ground some up and mixed it with wine for Ji to drink.
Moments later, Ji suddenly cried out, “What could’ve made me become a thief!” His wife then explained what had happened, leaving Ji at a loss about what to do. Soon he heard that it was the wealthy family that had been robbed, for the news had already been bruited throughout the village. Ji ate nothing for the rest of the day and just didn’t know what to do.
His wife then came up with a strategy and sent him under the cover of night to fling the stolen goods back over the wealthy family’s wall. Ji did as she advised. When the wealthy family discovered that the stolen items had been returned, the matter was dropped.
Ji took first place in the civil service examinations that year and was to be given a special position that amounted to a double award in recognition of his moral excellence. The week that his award was to be given to him, a poster was pasted up on the outer wall of a public office, declaring: “This Ji stole a fur robe and a pot from a family, so why is he being praised for his morality?” It was posted at the highest point of the building’s side, so even standing on tiptoes, someone couldn’t have simply reached up to paste it there.
Other scholars who found this suspicious took down the poster and asked Ji about it. Scholar Ji was startled by the poster, thinking that no one but his wife would have known that he was the thief; furthermore, the public office was closely observed, so how could anyone have come there and pasted up the poster unnoticed? Accordingly, he realized: “This must be the work of the fox.” Thus he told them the whole story, holding nothing back, and the other scholars consequently considered him even more deserving of his award.
Ji thought to himself: I never did any harm to the fox, yet it has repeatedly made trouble for me, so maybe it was acting for some villain who felt too ashamed to do me harm himself.
The collector of these strange tales remarks, “Scholar Ji wanted to guide the wicked spirit to behave correctly, but instead it left him confused by its wickedness. Since the fox certainly wasn’t committing any great evil, Ji tried to deal with it patiently, but the fox just responded by playing tricks on him. But when one doesn’t carry over positive qualities from a previous life, or lacks a mate who can help bring out his best qualities, it’s hard for him to stop once he takes a wrong step in life just like Yuan She, who was guided to do wrong even to his own family members and to widows: depraved behavior indeed! Alas! Now that’s something to fear!”
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Yuan She: Also known as Yuan Juxian (see Zhu 3:1615-16n24), a character described in the 汉书 (Book of the [Earlier] Han Dynasty).
Wu Muxin reports, “In the reign of Kangxi, a respected county magistrate in Zhejiang was investigating a particular prisoner. The man was accused of committing a robbery, and his face was had been carved with characters spelling out his crime, but the magistrate felt that there were some details that needed to be cleared up. The magistrate checked the character signifying “robbery” on the prisoner’s face and found it inconsistent with official calligraphy, so he had someone obliterate that character; then, after the facial wound had healed, the magistrate had someone recarve a new character in its place.
“The supposed thief responded by improvising a quatrain on the spot:
‘I hold the mirror to examine my face,
I see fresh blood dripping from an old wound.
If I’d known that it would cause me so much unpleasantness,
I’d have hesitated to steal, to avoid meeting an official who’s picky about characters.’
“Barely suppressing a smile, the magistrate commented, ‘A poet should be content with his scholarly successes—yet you became a thief?’
“The man then improvised another response:
‘The young man acquired knowledge and aspired to success,
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Wu Muxin: This is the same individual who claims to have been an eyewitness to the events of story #475, “The Harbinger Birds.”
Kangxi: This Qing emperor ruled from 1662-1722/3.
‘I’d have hesitated to steal…’: This line begins with the character qie (窃), which can mean both “steal” and “I”; the prisoner acknowledges his awareness that a misreading of the character is responsible for his incarceration.
But his family’s poverty crushed his dream.
He hopes to gain assets of capital and interest to buy a government position.’”
From this, I assume that the xiucai became a robber because he wished to pursue an ambitious political career. The thieving fox tricked scholar Ji into taking the money but the scholar subsequently repented and said he was misled by the fox, though he’d simply succumbed to the fox’s bribes! What a laugh.
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Xiucai: A successful candidate in the imperial civil service examination at the county level.
477. Retribution
There was a certain scholar in Anqiu who’d mastered the skill of fortune-telling. He behaved in a recklessly mischievous manner, often abusing his reputation as a fortune-teller to convince people to go crawl into a hole or to climb up to some plateau.
One day, he suddenly fell ill, and when medicine failed to help him recover, he declared, “I’ve truly received my comeuppance. Since the underworld is angry with me for making a mockery of fate, it’s giving me this dire punishment, so what can medicine possibly do!”
As he was dying, his eyes suddenly went blind, and without any apparent cause, both of his hands broke off.
The uncle of a fellow named Jia had no children. Jia used this to his advantage, since he wanted to be made his uncle’s heir. After his uncle died, his land and property all became Jia’s, but then Jia defaulted on the agreements he’d made with his uncle about the estate.
Then another one of his uncles, who happened to own a spacious household, also happened to have no children. Jia accordingly ingratiated himself by treating the uncle like a father. When this uncle died, Jia again went back on his word. Hence he was able to combine the wealth of three families into one. Jia became the wealthiest man in his village.
One day, he became violently ill, and as though he’d gone mad, he cried, “So you want to live like a rich man, eh?” Next he took a sharp blade and began cutting off slice after slice of his flesh, tossing the bits to the ground. Then he exclaimed, “You take everything that others have left behind for their descendants, yet you still want to have something left for yours!”
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Anqiu: Located in central Shandong province.
Upon slashing open his stomach and pulling out his intestines, he died. Soon afterwards, his son also died, with the result that their family’s possessions were returned to the families of his uncles. What a horrible revenge!
478. Gongsun Xia
A young man named Guo, from Baoding, was making ready to go to the capital to offer some money in hopes of obtaining a county official’s position. He’d just finished packing when he fell ill, and for more than a month he couldn’t get out of bed.
All of a sudden one day, a boy servant came in to announce, “A visitor has arrived.” Guo immediately forgot about his illness and hurried out to welcome his visitor.
The man was dressed elegantly, like someone of high rank. After bowing respectfully three times, he entered the house, where Guo bowed in response, to inquire from whence he’d come.
The man then introduced himself: “I am Gongsun Xia, an advisor of the Eleventh Prince. I heard that you were preparing for a trip to secure a county-level appointment, but if that’s your intention, wouldn’t it be more desirable to pursue a prefecture-level appointment?”
Guo modestly declined, explaining, “I don’t have enough money
to buy that kind of post, so I don’t dare indulge such excessive ambition.” Gongsun asked him to strengthen his resolve, offering to put up half of the necessary amount himself with the understanding that Guo would repay the loan once he received the position.
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Baoding: A prefecture in Pu’s time, now a city in Henan province. Gongsun: A two-character surname (a relative rarity in Chinese); perhaps the best-known literary example is the Daoist hero Gongsun Sheng, from The Water Margins (水浒传).
Overjoyed, Guo asked him for additional advice. “I’m like a brother to the provincial governor,” replied Gongsun, “so you’d only need to offer five thousand min to help guarantee the relationship. At the moment, they’re understaffed at Zhending, so that’s a possibility if you act quickly.” Guo wondered whether he could only take a position within his own province. Gongsun laughed, “You’re so rule-bound! Where money’s involved, what restriction can’t be overcome, regardless of where you’re from?”
Guo still hesitated, worried that Gongsun was wrong about his assumptions. Gongsun assured him, “There’s nothing to worry about. Here’s the truth of the matter: there’s an opening in the underworld for the position of city god. Your allotted life span has come to an end, and your death has already been recorded in the Hell King’s register. Take advantage of the advice I’ve given you, and you can still become a man of high rank in the underworld.”
He stood to say goodbye, telling Guo, “You can think it over by yourself, and in three days we’ll meet again.” Then he walked out the door, mounted his horse and rode off.
Opening his eyes all of a sudden, Guo subsequently informed his wife and children that he was about to die. He directed them to bring out enough money to purchase ten thousand stacks of hell cash, to purchase a prefectural position if one was open. They heaped it up in the courtyard, along with servant effigies and paper horses, then started burning them all, day and night, till their ashes stood as tall as a mountain.
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Min: A string of one thousand coins.
Zhending: A prefecture in Pu’s time, now a county in Hebei province.
Hell cash: A symbolic paper currency that’s burned so the dead can draw upon it for bribes, etc. in the underworld.
Three months later, Gongsun came again. Guo brought out money designated for bribes and Gongsun consequently led him to a public office, where Guo spotted a high official sitting at the head of a hall and proceeded to do obeisance to him. The high official cursorily asked him his name, encouraging him to remain “honest, upright and circumspect.” Then he picked up the registration documents for assigning official positions and called for the next case to be presented.
Guo kowtowed and left the office’s hall. He considered that he’d just been a lowly student in the imperial academy before, and if he didn’t buy himself a higher rank, some official clothing, or proper conveyance, the underworld wouldn’t respect him. As a result, he purchased some horses and carriages; then he had some ghost servants take a resplendently-decorated carriage to go bring his favorite concubine to him.
By the time they had finally set out, it seemed that there were representatives from the nobility already waiting along the road. Guo traveled about a li, satisfied to be greeted all along the way. Suddenly a lead rider stopped to clang the zheng as banners were unfurled. Guo felt anxious, then noticed that all the riders had prostrated themselves along the road; moreover, the men were small, about a chi in height, with horses the size of raccoons.
As a coach drew before them, a voice announced in awe, “Guandi has arrived!” Guo, terrified, climbed down from his carriage and prostrated himself on the ground.
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Li: A distance equal to 1/3 mile.
Zheng: An elongated, bell-like instrument used to accompany marching army troops.
Chi: A length equal to 1/3 meter.
Guandi: Guan Yu (d. 219 C.E.), one of the three peach garden oath brothers from the epic sanguo yanyi (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), a valiant warlord for the Shu kingdom’s attempts to restore the Han dynasty to power, subsequently deified as Guandi, and known also as Guangong (see Sonder-gard and Collins 50-73). Portraits give him an iconic, long beard.
In the distance he saw that the god was followed by four or five riders who slackened their reins as they arrived. His beard blew about his cheeks, but not like people portrayed it in the mortal world; his expression was fierce and brave, his eyes so wide that they virtually stretched to his ears. From horseback, Guandi asked, “What official is this?”
“He’s the prefect of Zhending,” said another. Guandi exclaimed, “Trivial though a prefect may be, what upright man would flaunt himself exaggeratedly like this!” When Guo heard this, he felt scared and quickly drew back, timidly turning away like a little boy. Guandi told him to get up, ordering him to follow them on horseback.
The way led to a palace hall which Guandi entered and took a seat facing the south, then ordered writing materials to be given to Guo in order for him to write down his home village and name. When he was finished, Guo submitted what he’d written.
Guandi examined it, then angrily roared, “This is spelled incorrectly, and the characters aren’t even drawn accurately! This is some kind of wealthy cheater, unworthy of assuming an official’s office!” Then he ordered an investigation of the records regarding Guo’s moral deeds.
A man knelt before him, holding out the register for perusal, but the deity couldn’t find anything written in it about Guo. Guandi sternly cried, “Actively seeking a government position is a small sin, but trying to buy an official title is a serious one!”
Before long, the armored god slapped manacles on Guo and left. Two men came and grabbed Guo, tore off his cap and robe, then beat him fifty times, nearly stripping the flesh from his buttocks, before driving him outside the hall’s gates. He looked all around, but his carriage and horses had vanished, and he was in too much pain to walk, so he just collapsed in the grass.
It was then that he recognized where he was, realizing that he wasn’t very far from his own home. Luckily, his body felt light as a leaf, so he was able to arrive at his house in just a day and a night. It felt all of a sudden like he’d awakened from a dream as he lay on his bed, groaning in pain. His family members gathered to ask him what was wrong, so he just said that he was feeling some pain in his legs.
He learned that he’d apparently been dead for seven days by the time he revived. Thus he demanded, “What has become of A-Lian?”—this was the baby name of his favorite concubine. Earlier, A-Lian had been sitting and conversing when suddenly she cried, “He’s been made the prefect of Zhending, so he’s sent for me to join him there.” Then she went into her room and applied cosmetics to splendid effect, but when she was finished, she died that night. The other family members described it as very strange.
Beating his chest, Guo deeply regretted his earlier request and ordered his servants not to bury his concubine’s body, hoping that she, too, might return to life. Her corpse remained silently lifeless for several more days, and then he had her buried.
Guo fell ill and recovered only very gradually, with the pain in his legs becoming so severe that it was six months before he could get up and walk again. He frequently commented, “The utter loss of my high office, and the excruciating punishment the underworld inflicted on me, all of that I could endure; but not to realize that I was condemning my beloved concubine—that is truly unbearable.”
The collector of these strange tales remarks, “Oh my! This wealthy cheater wouldn’t be qualified to take any official position! If one is offered inside information on positions to buy in the underworld, I’m afraid that even in those places where Guandi can’t seem to reach, those who try to purchase their way into authority can be severely punished.
“Master Guo Huaye, from my home village, who was conducting business similar to what Guandi did with the fellow from Baoding, was regarded as something like a god among human beings. Master
Guo was a bluntly honest man, and had been recognized for this by the emperor, so he was en route to the most recent important position to which he’d been appointed. There were few other travelers around, and only four or five servants traveling with him.
“A vehicle carrying over twenty passengers happened along, with a few dozen riders preceding it, and something like a hundred horse grooms following behind. Master Guo didn’t know what official they must be accompanying, so he rode ahead of the group, then behind them, and sometimes right among them. The riders at the front of the procession became angry at his intrusive presence and started yelling for him to go away; Master Guo, however, didn’t turn to look back at them. He fled the scene and it wasn’t until he came to an enormous town that he finally stopped.
“Afterwards, he sent some men to make discreet inquiries, learning that the official was just a imperial academy graduate who was on his way to accept an appointment in Hunan. Then Guo dispatched someone to summon this scholar to come and speak with him. When the student heard this, he gulped in panic, asking the messenger in turn about Guo’s official background, slowly coming to realize the full extent of his authority and feeling frightened that he’d underestimated the official’s position.
“In formal dress, he prostrated himself before the influential gentleman. Master Guo asked him, ‘Are you that fellow, the county-level official?’
“‘That’s correct,’ replied the student.
“‘You come from a small village,’ Master Guo noted, ‘so how can you support a following of so many servants like this? If you assume your new office, the common people of the whole region will suffer as a result! I can’t allow you to bring harm to the people, so you’d best turn around and go home, rather than going ahead.’
“At this, the student kowtowed and said, ‘But I still have my imperial diploma.’