Dreaming of Zhou Gong

by Traci Harding

  ‘No! She said no?’ Dan queried his brother in his chamber, where Ji Fa had withdrawn following his meeting with Yi Wu. There was barely enough time left for him to eat, change and leave for the evening ceremony.

  ‘I am sorry, Dan, but brother Yi was most insistent that Wu Fen Gong is not going to escape her verdict,’ Fa conveyed as he ate. ‘But she did invite us to witness the rite in question.’

  ‘Did you tell her we would pay handsomely for him?’ Dan stressed.

  ‘I did.’ Fa looked bored with the conversation. ‘The Wu are not interested in earthly treasure. They have more resources than we do, and they don’t want their doctrine passed on to the uninitiated beyond these walls.’

  This news seriously deflated Dan’s ambitions. ‘What of Fen’s woman, Nuan? Did you ask about her?’

  ‘I did.’ The Xibo looked at his brother. ‘It is as the Great Mother said … Nuan was banished and what became of her after the ferry dropped her at the jetty, Yi Wu does not know.’

  ‘I see.’ Dan did not consider the information very helpful. ‘At least we know she is probably still alive.’

  ‘What good will it do you to find her, if you cannot have the boy?’ Fa asked. ‘You’re not thinking of doing anything that might offend our hosts, I hope. With the Wu, every situation is a test of character.’

  ‘I assure you, my brother,’ Dan replied, trying not to take offence, ‘I seek only to fulfil a promise I made to Wu Fen Gong. And speaking of concern, I am not happy about you attending this ritual alone tonight —’

  ‘No need to be unhappy, Dan.’ Fa brushed off his protest. ‘As the candidate, there will be several rites I will be required to attend alone, so I’m afraid you will have to get used to it.’

  Dan was a little affronted. ‘My opinion is usually more valued by you.’

  ‘In earthly affairs, I have no greater advisor, Dan, but in regard to the will of heaven, brother Yi is the expert and I trust her more than I would our own mother.’

  ‘One day with a veiled woman can convince you —’

  ‘She was not veiled,’ the Xibo advised with a sly elitist grin, and Dan was shocked by the claim.

  ‘You saw her face?’ He was fascinated.

  His older brother nodded, his smile growing wider. ‘She looks my age, and very beautiful … serene,’ he added, ‘just as great-grandfather claimed.’

  ‘How can that be?’ Dan was sceptical. ‘How can you be sure it was Yi Wu that you spoke with?’

  ‘She is not like any other woman I have ever met, or any man for that matter. She is almost like a spirit: wise, composed, selfless —’

  ‘But not forgiving,’ Dan interrupted his Xibo’s litany of praise.

  ‘She does not view earthly affairs as we do, Dan. Just because the Great Mother will not give you what you want, that does not mean her judgement is unwise.’

  ‘But she is going to burn him?’ Dan was beginning to wonder if his brother had been bewitched.

  ‘We kill men every day!’ Fa roared, standing to defend his new ally.

  ‘This boy is not your average man,’ Dan argued, although clearly his brother was at his wits’ end. ‘He may be the only one of his kind —’

  ‘End of subject!’ Fa decided, most annoyed. ‘I will not have this issue interfering with our true purpose for being here.’ The Xibo drew a deep breath to compose himself. ‘Can’t you be a bit philosophical about this, Dan?’

  That query, coming from his brother, was decidedly odd.

  ‘Trust that everything will unfold according to the will of heaven,’ Fa advised. ‘Nothing we simple folk on earth can do will prevent that. In which case, we must trust that Tian knows best and that everything is as it should be.’

  Ji Fa was never philosophical, so this suggestion made Dan’s jaw drop. ‘Who are you? And what have you done with my brother?’

  The Xibo was amused by Dan’s reaction. ‘I feel like I have been touched by a greatness this day that I cannot explain … I only know that I have never felt as calm, focused and as sure about the future in my life.’

  Dan finally realised what was driving his suspicion of the Great Mother. It was envy — envy of Ji Fa’s privileged relationship with the Wu. ‘That is well,’ he said, resolving to be supportive. After all, he’d been the one who had convinced the Xibo to seek out the Wu — he should be pleased that the bonds of a strong partnership were forming. ‘I shall not detain you from your engagement any longer.’

  ‘I wish it was you, Dan.’ Fa delayed his departure. ‘I know you’d understand so much more —’

  ‘If it was meant to be me, I would have been born second, not fourth. You are right, brother, everything is as it should be. I accept it,’ he said, to put his brother at ease on the previous matter. ‘Thank you for your help, and may the oracle show you favour this night.’

  The Xibo smiled, sincerely grateful for Dan’s support. ‘You’d think I would be afraid of meeting the ruler of heaven …’ Fa quietly consulted his feelings a moment to be sure. ‘… but I’m not.’

  ‘Nor should you be,’ Dan insisted. ‘Tian needs good service and we shall provide it.’

  The brothers each braced their hand around the other’s wrist and shook firmly, nodding in full agreement that this was destiny.

  When Ji Fa entered the temple of Tian, the large interior had been transformed.

  The water in the pool had been drained and replaced by a number of huge drums — some also strapped to the central pillars — and there was no space between the instruments for the drummers to stand. Drums were pounding as Ji Fa entered, but these drummers were positioned around the outer wall.

  Yi Wu sat upon her throne on the far side of the performance area and, unveiled, she smiled in greeting. Ji Fa returned the gesture.

  Where the feasting table had been, a large cushioned chair was placed, facing into the temple. Beside the small throne stood Jiang Huxin, wearing only her thin transformation robe of white.

  ‘Welcome, my candidate.’ In her hands was a cup of steaming liquid, which she brought forward and held out in offering to him. ‘This is an elixir of waking sleep. It will expand your consciousness and aid you to comprehend the oracle.’

  Without questioning the contents, Fa accepted her offering and drank it down. The taste was very floral with a touch of spice. ‘Delicious.’ He smiled, and returned the vessel to her, whereupon it vanished from her hand.

  ‘I shall be beside you all the way.’ Huxin removed her robe and dropped to all fours.

  As she transformed into the tigress, the Xibo could barely breathe until the animal arose and, circling around behind him, came to stand at his side. The tigress then accompanied him to his seat and settled alongside him.

  The drums fell silent, and the haunting sound of Jiang Hudan’s voice filled the heavenly space. Singing canon, Yi Wu followed, echoing her note, and the rest of the women present followed their Shifu.

  The sound sent the Xibo’s senses reeling in a most pleasurable, emotion-fuelled way. His body began to tremble and his eyes floated with tears of pure joy.

  Jiang Hudan emerged from behind the throne of the Great Mother in a swathe of colourful silken fabric and with one high, graceful leap, she came to land solidly atop the grouping of drums in the empty pool. The pounding sound of her landing was echoed by the drummers around the walls. In her hand, Hudan held a hooked staff of carved wood and inset atop the staff, where the head began to curve, was a glowing gemstone, a ball of fiery red.

  This staff was as much of a legend as its wielder and was called Taiji, which meant the supreme, or ultimate, pole. Not only in the sense that Taiji was a staff, but also in the sense of opposing poles: yin–yang, light–dark, above–below, right–left, front–back. Hence, Taiji granted the wielder a supreme polarity which was non-polar — a perfect state of non-judgement, through which to channel the will of heaven.

  Hudan chanted another note, echoed by Yi Wu, and then her brothers, before somersaulting over to hit the dru
ms which were strapped to pillars, with her feet; bouncing off a drum below with her staff, she then swung her feet over to hit drums on the opposite side of her stage. Drummers with instruments of a corresponding tone echoed her notes and timing from the periphery. Each note sung was higher, and with each new octave the glowing ball in Jiang Hudan’s staff changed, moving through the colour spectrum. The ball progressed from red to orange, to yellow, to green, and a beautiful scent arose from nowhere, and grew more and more intoxicating.

  When the highest note was sung, the light in the staff turned bright blue. Hudan whirled into the air, until her body suddenly stilled and floated in mid-air.

  The temple fell silent and a strange darkness descended, sending a chill of awareness through Fa’s being, for he recalled a poem about the Wu his great-grandfather had told him.

  See the Wu, how skilled and lovely,

  whirling, dipping like birds in flight.

  Unfolding the words in time to dancing,

  pitch and beat all in perfect accord!

  The spirits descending,

  bring darkness to the world.

  Had Tian descended?

  A small blue light pierced the darkness, and as its intensity grew, Fa realised it was the glowing ball of Taiji. But it was not Jiang Hudan holding the staff of polarity now, but a tiny little person, half Hudan’s height.

  The tigress left the Xibo’s side to welcome the visitor, circling and rubbing gently against it, whereby Huxin received a pat on the head for the warm welcome.

  ‘Dear little puss, you’ve brought me a candidate for a new mandate, so I hear … shall we take a look at him?’

  Fa was rather shocked to hear the voice of a woman, when he’d been expecting that a man ruled heaven. Not only was the voice female, but high-pitched like a child’s; surely the Ruler of Heaven was not a little girl?

  ‘You flatter me, Ji Fa, for in truth, I am much older than you.’

  The figure got close enough to perceive clearly by the light of her staff, and what Fa saw was a fully grown woman in a body barely big enough for a five-year-old girl. Her skin was as white as the finest Shang porcelain, and although she was clearly a mature woman, there was not a single wrinkle on her tiny face. Her eyes were large, round and the most mesmerising shade of brilliant blue. He could not see the shading of her hair, for her head and body were completely covered by her deep blue robe and hood.

  ‘You are Tian?’ Fa inquired with a squeak of surprise in his voice.

  ‘And you are Tian, in some higher consciousness,’ she replied, ‘and a very old soul indeed.’ She looked aside to Huxin and stroked her. ‘He is the one we foresaw.’

  ‘You foresaw?’ Fa was confused. ‘But I thought Hudan —’

  ‘We are but messengers who bring you a missive from your future, Ji Fa.’ She reached out and placed the palm of her tiny hand against Fa’s forehead, and a string of visions began streaming into his mind, answering his questions faster than he could conceive of them. With his entire being trembling, Fa’s mind reached information overload and he passed into a fitful sleep.

  4

  THE YEAR OF GENGYIN

  When the Xibo awoke, the morning after his oracle reading with the Wu, Dan had been present to check on his brother’s wellbeing and ask him about the events of the previous night. Ji Fa assured Dan he was in excellent health and spirits. When asked if he had discovered what tribute Tian expected of them for the service of the Wu, the Xibo said only that he had been advised and wished to return to Haojing immediately to get to work. He added that they’d been invited back to the House of Yi Wu Li Shan to celebrate the New Year, which, coincidentally, was to be the year of Gengyin — metal tiger. Despite Dan voicing his desire to avoid Wu Fen Gong’s execution, which was to be part of the festivities, Fa insisted his brother must come, as the Great Mother intended to grant Dan a private audience on the first day of the New Year. For some reason, the honour felt more like entrapment, but Dan did not voice this feeling to his brother.

  ‘When are we going to war?’ Dan had hoped to get a straight answer to that question at least.

  ‘As soon as Tian sends me the sign,’ was Fa’s reply.

  When asked what this sign would be, Dan had been assured that Fa would know it when he saw it, before requesting that Dan trust and have a little patience.

  Huxin had repeatedly advised Dan to trust his elder brother’s judgement, and he did. Dan just hoped that Fa’s aims were not being distorted by the grandeur and mystery of the Wu and their heavenly agenda.

  As a rationalist, Dan decided to avoid forming an opinion until he’d spoken with the Great Mother directly. If Yi Wu had somehow enchanted his brother, could she enchant him also? He could only pray to his ancestors that his decision to guide his brother to the House of Yi Wu Li Shan had been the right one, and that his fears of manipulation were completely groundless and only a sad projection of the old fears the evil Su Daji had ignited in him.

  In the month that followed, Dan had to concede that, at least initially, he was surprised and rather pleased by the form their tribute to Tian had taken. Yi Wu had not asked for riches, veneration, labour, protection or property, but for massive political and social reform to be implemented across the land once it was united under the Zhou banner. The basis of these reforms was the creed of the Wu.

  Yi Wu had told Ji Fa that she was concerned that only nobles were bound to marry, have children and be responsible for those children. Meanwhile, no one was bound to take care of the children of the lower classes, who were, more often than not, bastards, or orphans. Young unwanted local girls were always welcome at Li Shan, but unwanted boy children were left to make, or lose, their way alone. What she had suggested by way of a solution was that those of the lower classes who got married should be granted a plot of land, so they could build a house for themselves and their offspring and could feed themselves, and then be given another plot to farm for the state. This practice, which would solve many problems in the long run, would take a massive effort to implement. In preparation, the prime minister, the Xibo and Dan worked on creating an entirely new feudal system and writing down a detailed code of social conduct that would be enforced under law once the land was united. It was Ji Fa’s goal to have a draft of their proposal ready to present to the Great Mother for Tian’s consideration on the eve of the New Year.

  The day the Xibo and Dan were due to depart for the House of Yi Wu, there was a miraculous occurrence at their residence in Haojing.

  A heavy mist had settled over the city during the night. Only a day away from new moon, the night was near to pitch dark and shadowless. In the dawn hour of the rabbit, Ji Fa and Dan were summoned from their beds to see that hundreds of large sealed bronze urns had appeared overnight beneath a cloud in the central courtyard. As they stood gaping from the top of the stairs, looking over the mist-filled yard of urns, the Xibo was handed a note written on silk.

  ‘I have questioned my entire guard and no one saw anyone arrive, my lord,’ informed the very embarrassed captain of the night watch. ‘I found that message tied to one of the urns.’

  ‘Is this the sign?’ Dan brushed his unbound hair from his face. He was sure it must be, this being the miracle it was.

  ‘No.’ The Xibo remained absorbed in the missive he was reading. ‘Some of these urns contain wine, but most contain water,’ Ji Fa said with immense relief. Fresh, clean water was scarce, as the drought had continued unabated. ‘This is a New Year’s gift to the people from the Great Mother of Li Shan.’

  ‘The Wu!’ The night watchman looked at the anomaly in a whole new light.

  Dan smiled at the thoughtful and timely gift. Approval of the Wu by the people would be strengthened, right before Ji Fa was about to announce his allegiance with their house. ‘Very clever.’ The fact that the urns had just appeared in the courtyard overnight only added to the validity of the gift being heaven sent.

  ‘Rain would be more clever,’ Fa commented, for if the Wu could accompli
sh this feat, surely just making it rain would be easier and more widely beneficial?

  ‘The Wu will not make it rain, as that would look good for the emperor,’ Dan pointed out. ‘They will wait until they can be seen by the people to make it rain in your honour and not that of Zi Shou. This way there can be no doubt as to who the gift has come from.’

  ‘Only one tenth of this gift is for the House of Ji and its troops; the rest must be distributed to the people in the name of the Great Mother of Li Shan,’ the Xibo instructed the head of his watch. ‘See that it is done.’

  The guard confirmed the order and departed to see it carried out.

  ‘News of this will spread during the course of the festival like wildfire. It will be the talk of the entire land before long.’ Dan was happy to see the Great Mother’s plan finally taking form.

  ‘And I’m not sorry that I won’t be in town to hear the gossip.’ The Xibo grinned, already basking in the glory of his association with the Wu. ‘You were right, Dan. We are witnessing the birth of a legend.’

  ‘Indeed.’ Dan was not feeling quite so confident. ‘We can only hope it ends triumphantly.’

  ‘No doubt of it.’ Fa headed indoors to be met by a flock of squires — yet to dress their Xibo properly — and officials waiting for an explanation. ‘Let us depart as soon as possible,’ he called back to Dan, who nodded in agreeement.

  Although he’d had mixed feelings about the Wu, Dan couldn’t wait to return to their home. Maybe he could yet save Wu Fen Gong from the fire. If not, he expected to have the death of the only male in the Wu’s temple explained the following day, when he met with the Great Mother herself.

  Their departure from Haojing had not been as effortless as they had hoped, so it was well after noon by the time the Xibo, Dan and a small guard departed the city. The ride to Li Shan was swift however; because of the drought, fording the rivers proved to be no major problem.