by Pu Songling
358. The Emperor of the Eastern Mountain
The sub-prefect of Yangzhou had a dream one night that the divine Emperor of the Eastern Mountain was summoning him with indignant gestures and facial expressions. He looked up and saw a man who served the deity standing beside him, trying to intercede for him. Then he woke up, thinking it an evil omen.
Early in the morning, he went to pay a visit to a temple of the Emperor of the Eastern Mountain, and silently began praying for protection against disaster. Later, when he emerged from the temple, he saw a man in an herbal shop whom he felt looked somewhat like the man he’d seen in his dream. He asked about the man, and learned that he was a doctor.
As he was proceeding homeward, he fell violently ill. He sent a servant to ask the doctor to come see him. The doctor arrived with a prescription of medicine already prepared, and though the sub-prefect took it at sunset, by midnight he was dead.
It’s been said that the Hell King and the Emperor of the Eastern Mountain have dispatched as many as 108,000 male and female ghost servants into the mortal world, where they’ve become occult doctors acting as “messengers of the dead.” You’d better scrutinize your medicine before you take it!
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Yangzhou: A city in Jiangsu province.
Emperor of the Eastern Mountain: Greatest of the terrestrial divinities in early Chinese mythology, this deity is associated with Mt. Tai, a Daoist sacred mountain, in Shandong province.
359. Xiaomei
Wang Muzhen, from Mengyin, came from a wealthy family. He happened to be traveling through Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, when he saw an old woman weeping beside the road, so he asked her what was wrong.
“Before my husband died, he and I had a son,” she explained, “but now he’s been sentenced to death for a crime, so who can possibly get him out of it?” It was in Wang’s nature to behave generously towards others, so he noted the man’s name and then used his money to mediate the matter, with the result that the man was subsequently exonerated of the crime.
When the man was released and heard that Wang had saved him, he couldn’t figure out the reason for it; thus he paid a visit to Wang’s home, moved to tears as he thanked him, and asked him why he’d interceded. “Simply because I pitied your elderly mother,” replied Wang.
The astonished man told him, “But my mother’s been dead for a long time now.” Wang then appeared equally mystified. At sundown, when the old woman arrived to express her gratitude, Wang accused her of misleading him.
The old woman explained, “What I told you is the truth: I’m an aged fox from the mountains to the east. Twenty years ago, the young man’s father made love to me one night, and hence I couldn’t bear to see my beloved husband become a ghost without any family members to visit his grave.” Wang, although frightened, felt respect for the fox and wanted to ask some further questions, but she’d already vanished.
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Mengyin: A county in Shandong province.
Originally, Wang’s wife had been a virtuous and devoted Buddhist who refused to eat meat or to drink wine; she set aside a clean room, and hung a picture of Guan Yin there, and because she’d had no son, day after day she burned incense and prayed in supplication. The goddess accordingly was extremely solicitous, always showing her in visions how to help others avoid problems, and for this reason she depended on the guidance of the goddess in all her family matters.
After awhile, Wang’s wife fell severely ill, so she had a bed moved into the shrine room; she had additional bedding brought into the innermost room, then directed the door of the room to be locked, as though the room was waiting for someone to occupy it. This puzzled Wang, but he considered that the severity of his wife’ illness had perhaps confused her, so he couldn’t bear to distress her by denying her request.
She remained ill in bed for two years, and since she found noise extremely disturbing, she avoided contact with other people and slept alone. Yet if anyone eavesdropped on her, it would sound like she was talking to someone; but when they opened the door and looked in on her, she was all by herself. In the midst of her sickness, Wang’s wife kept thinking about their fourteen-year-old daughter and pressed her husband every day to make arrangements for her marriage.
As soon as the ceremony had been performed, she called Wang to her bedside, grasped his hand and exclaimed, “Now I can bid you farewell! When I first fell sick, the Bodhisattva Guan Yin told me that it was my fate to die quite soon; I thought about it all the time, and since our daughter hadn’t yet been married, she gave me a bit of medicine in order to keep me alive until that could be arranged. Last year, just as she was preparing to return to the South Sea, she delayed long enough to offer me her maidservant, Xiaomei, to take care of you for me.
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Guan Yin: Buddhist goddess of mercy.
“Now that I’m about to die, an ill-fated person, I won’t be able to bear you a son. But I love Bao’er dearly, and I fear that you’ll marry a wife who’s resentful of them and will try to throw mother and son out of your home. Xiaomei is elegant-looking, gentle and kind, and after I’m gone, she can be your new wife.”
Wang had a concubine who’d given birth to a son named Bao’er. Wang thought his wife was simply speaking nonsense, so he replied, “You’ve shown great devotion to the Bodhisattva, but now aren’t these words awfully mistrustful?”
“Xiaomei’s handled my affairs for more than a year now,” she told him, “and we’re so close that it’s like we’re the same person, so I’ve already asked her to marry you.”
“Where is this Xiaomei then?” Wang inquired.
“She’s already here in the room, isn’t she?” answered his wife. He had more he wanted to ask her, but by then she had shut her eyes and had already passed away.
Wang kept vigil over his wife outside her room that night, and when he heard the sound of pitiful, choking sobs, he felt quite startled and suspected that it was a ghost. He called for maidservants to unlock the door, and when they looked inside, they discovered a sixteen-yearold beauty, dressed in mourning attire.
Taking her to be a goddess, the group surrounded her and began kowtowing. The girl wiped away her tears and helped them up. As Wang gazed at her, she merely bowed her head meekly. “If my wife’s words, prior to her death, were accurate,” he said, “please come into the main hall, so my children can pay their respects to you; if that’s not possible, I wouldn’t dare maintain any vain hopes, and would ask you to excuse me.” The girl shyly came out, and from there they went to the main hall.
Wang sent a maidservant to set up a seat for her on the south side, then he did obeisance before her, while she immediately returned his gesture; then in order of seniority, beginning with the lowliest, everyone in the household took their turns kowtowing their respects as the girl sat there in sincere formality, receiving them; but when Wang’s concubine entered and did likewise, the girl quickly helped her to her feet.
Since Wang’s wife first fell ill, the maidservants had become lazy, and some had even taken to pilfering things, so the household had been in decline for some time. As the servants entered to pay their respects, they reverently lined up to wait upon the girl. “I was moved by your mistress’s great kindness to me,” she told them, “thus I decided to stay here in the mortal world, and now that I’ve been entrusted with the authority to supervise household affairs, you all need to purify your hearts and give the master your dedicated service, so I won’t have to punish you, despite your considerable past transgressions; otherwise, you won’t be wondering long about who’s running this household now!”
When they looked at her sitting there, she looked just like the mirror image of Guan Yin in the hanging portrait, which a sudden breeze caused to move. They grew fearful upon hearing her words and frantically swore that they’d do as she said. Xiaomei then made all the necessary funeral arrangements, ensuring that everything was just so. From this poi
nt forward, in all matters big or small, the maidservants didn’t dare to behave lazily.
All day long, Xiaomei managed every facet of the household to the degree that if Wang was planning to do something, he had to coordinate his plans with her before going forward; although they saw each other nightly, there was never any talk of them becoming intimate. After his wife had been buried, Wang wanted to consummate the arrangement his wife had mentioned to him, but he didn’t dare suggest it to Xiaomei, so he urged his concubine to hint at the matter to her.
“I’ve agreed to do what Master Wang’s wife so earnestly requested of me,” she replied, “so in all fairness I can’t simply take my leave; however, matrimony is a most solemn ceremony, and mustn’t be treated carelessly. Master Huang is respected and well-reputed, so if Master Wang will ask him to approve the ceremony to unite our families, I’ll certainly do as he wishes.”
At that time, Huang Taipu, from Yishui, had resigned from his official post and was living in retirement, but he had always been very close to Wang’s father, remaining in friendly contact with him. Wang went to see him personally and told him everything that had transpired. Huang thought it highly unusual and returned together with Wang.
When Xiaomei heard them arrive, she came out and kowtowed. Unnerved upon seeing her, Huang took her to be a celestial being, so he humbly declined her obeisance; subsequently, Huang offered her a munificent dowry, saw to it that the marriage ceremony was properly conducted, and then took his leave. Xiaomei gave Huang presents of pillows and slippers, as if he was her father-in-law; following this, they all behaved increasingly like relatives.
Once they were married, Wang still thought of Xiaomei as a divine spirit and was reverential even during their lovemaking, venturing to ask her what it was like to be a Bodhisattva. “You’re so silly,” Xiaomei replied with a laugh, “for how can I really be a divine spirit if I’ve married someone in the mortal world?” Wang persisted in his questions about her. She cautioned him, “You mustn’t push this too far, but as long as you’re treating me as a goddess and continue making your offerings to me every day, you’ll be able to avoid misfortune.”
Xiaomei treated their servants very leniently, always grinning at them and never criticizing; yet on one occasion, when the maidservants were engaged in crude or lascivious teasing, they happened to see her off in the distance and immediately fell silent. Xiaomei laughed and told them, “Do you really believe I’m a goddess? What a goddess I’d make! Truly, I’m just a younger cousin of your late mistress, and we were close since childhood; when she fell ill, she sent for me to come and see her. Knowing that if I was in the presence of Master Wang, day after day, people might become suspicious of something going on between us, I accordingly pretended to be a divine spirit so I could be shut up in the room with his wife, but really, I never was one.” The servants still didn’t believe her.
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Yishui: A county located in Shandong province.
But in the days that followed, as they served at her side and saw her engaged in various activities, no different than any ordinary person, the rumors about her gradually ceased. Among the most recalcitrant or obstinate maidservants, however—those whom Wang had already punished painfully, though this had proven ineffective at bringing about a change in them—if Xiaomei indicated with even a single word that she wasn’t entirely pleased with them, they would immediately do whatever she asked of them.
They all commented, “We don’t know what it is about her. For sure, it’s not that we’re afraid; but when we see the way she looks, our hearts turn soft and we can’t stand the thought of disobeying her.” Hence all of the previously neglected matters in the household were taken care of. Within a few years, Wang’s farmland holdings increased until his storehouse held ten thousand dan of grains.
Then after several years, Wang’s concubine gave birth to a daughter. Xiaomei gave birth to a son—and when the son was born, his left arm had a red birthmark on it; hence he was called Xiaohong. When the baby was a month old, Xiaomei sent her husband to invite Master Huang to a grand banquet.
Huang sent lavish congratulatory gifts, but included his regrets that owing to his advanced age, he couldn’t make the long journey; Xiaomei dispatched two old women to prevail upon him strongly, until he finally agreed to come. Bao’er brought the baby out and bared the infant’s left arm, showing Huang the reason behind the child’s name. Then they asked him whether this was auspicious or ominous.
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Ten thousand dan: A volume equal to 28,377.593 bushels.
Xiaohong: Meaning “Little Red,” keeping in mind that red signifies joyous occasions, success, etc.
With a smile, Huang answered, “This is a fortunate mark, so you can revise his name and call him Xihong.” Xiaomei was very pleased and expansively kowtowed to Huang. That same day, music flowed through the family’s courtyard while relatives and guests filled it like a marketplace. Huang stayed with them for three days before returning home.
Suddenly a carriage arrived outside their gate to transport Xiaomei to her parents’ home. For over ten years previously, no one related to Xiaomei had inquired about her, so everyone started talking about this unexpected appearance, though Xiaomei acted like there was nothing unusual about it. She put on her make-up, took Xihong in her arms, and expressed her desire that Wang accompany her, so he joined them.
After they’d traveled twenty or thirty li, and had come to an isolated spot where there were no other travelers around, Xiaomei had the carriage stop, directed Wang to disembark, and sent the servants away so they could speak, exclaiming, “Master Wang, my dear Master Wang, our time together has been short, and our separation shall be long—it’s a cause for great sorrow, isn’t it?”
Shaken by this, Wang wanted to know what she meant. “Who did you once say I was?” Xiaomei asked.
“I don’t remember,” he muttered.
“Is it true,” she inquired, “that in Jiangnan, you once saved a man from a death penalty?”
“Yes, it is,” Wang answered.
Xiaomei explained, “The old lady who was weeping by the roadside was my mother; she felt moved by your kind generosity, and began thinking of ways to reward you, and then, because your wife was such a devout Buddhist and so attached to Guan Yin, she sent me over as recompense for your compassionate act. Now we’ve been fortunate in the birth of this child, so my mother’s desires have been accomplished.
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Xihong: Meaning “Fortunate Red” or “Happy Red.”
Li: A distance equal to 1/3 mile.
Jiangnan: The southeastern region south of the Yangzi River, here focused mostly on northern Zhejiang/southern Jiangsu territory.
“But I can see that your inauspicious fortune will catch up with you if this boy stays at home, and I’m afraid you won’t be able to have another, so I’m going to take him with me to my parents’ home to guard him from disaster. You must keep this in mind: If someone in your family happens to die, as the first cock begins to crow, you must travel to the Willow Dike on West River, and when you see someone arrive, carrying a sunflower lantern over his shoulder, stand in his way, begging tearfully for him to exempt you from calamity.”
“I promise,” Wang assured her. He asked her then when she’d be able to return home.
“I can’t predict in advance,” she replied. “I want you to keep what I’ve said in mind, and it won’t be long till all of this is past.”
They grasped hands before parting, sorrowfully exchanging tears. When she climbed back into the carriage, it quickly sped away like the wind; Wang watched until he could no longer see it in the distance, then finally headed home.
Six or seven years passed without any news about Xiaomei or Xihong. Suddenly a plague broke out on the outskirts of the city and began spreading, killing a great many people, while one of Wang’s maidservants fell ill and died three days later. Wang thought about Xiaom
ei’s former advice and became quite concerned.
That same day, while entertaining some visitors, he became very drunk and passed out. After he regained consciousness, he heard a rooster crowing, so he quickly got up and hurried to Willow Dike, where he saw a lantern’s light shining as it moved away from him, as though it had already passed by there. He ran in pursuit of it, then stopped when he was about a hundred paces away, for the more he chased it, the further away it seemed to move, till gradually he could no longer see it, and filled with bitter regret, he returned home. Several days later, he fell violently ill and died.
The Wang family contained quite a few scoundrels, who began ganging up and encroaching on Wang’s concubine and her children, brazenly harvesting Wang’s crops and cutting down his trees, while his family’s fortune declined further each day. A year went by and Bao’er died, hence the Wang family’s scandalous activity escalated since there was no master of the household to challenge them.
The relatives’ deprivations became even more flagrant as they divided up Wang’s land between them, while leaving his stable empty of livestock; then they wanted to divide up Wang’s house itself, so several men arrived and dragged the concubine out of it by force, in order for them to sell her. Wang’s concubine loved their little girl and held onto her tearfully, while their neighbors were moved to pity by this cruel treatment.
Just then, as disaster loomed, they heard what sounded like a sedan chair arrive outside their gate, so they went to take a look—and there was Xiaomei and Xihong, climbing out of the sedan chair. She looked around at the crowd gathered there and asked, “Who are these people?” The sobbing concubine then told her about everything that had happened.