by Pu Songling
He didn’t know what to do, so he sold his house and went to live in a cave, carrying a knife with him as he begged along the roadsides. It was suggested that perhaps it might be better for him to exchange the knife for what he needed; but Liang refused to do so, explaining, “Living in the wilds, I have to be on guard against tigers and wolves, using it to protect myself.”
Out on the road after this, he ran into the man who’d advised him to sell Cuixian, and Liang approached him like he was going to tell him his woes; all of a sudden, he pulled out the knife and stabbed the man to death, then was arrested immediately afterward. When officials looked into the matter and learned what had motivated him, they couldn’t bring themselves to execute him, so instead they sentenced him to prison, where he died of disease.
The collector of these strange tales remarks, “A man who shares his home with a gorgeous beauty shouldn’t trade that even for the life of a mighty king! Liang was already an immoral person, but he just blamed his guilty actions on his wicked friends; this is something such friends need to recognize and guard against. Every man who visits brothels will try to seduce others to his lewd behavior, but that just makes them all immoral, and even if the business doesn’t turn out too badly, there’s no way to blame it on anything but one’s own depravity.
“He waits until he has no jacket to cover his body, his wife no pants, everyone’s pointing accusingly at him, he’s on the verge of dying even though he’s not ill, and he’s obsessed with the thought of his poverty; he grits his teeth in hate at the prospect of being poor. In the still of the night, he shivers beneath a cow blanket, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
“He clearly recalls the time before he was reduced to his present circumstances, the period when his decline began, the reasons behind that decline, and the individuals responsible for it. At this point, the weak man will get up and start cursing; the strong man will brave the cold though naked, make a fire, and keep a sharpened knife handy, lying in wait with it throughout the night.
“Thus if you help people through kind deeds, it’s like you’re offering them olives; if you seduce people into evil acts, it’s like you’re giving out rotten meat. Everyone who hears this should reflect on its implications, and no one should be afraid of speaking out about it!”
218. The Witch’s Trance-Dance
There’s a popular tradition in Jinan: it’s common there that when someone falls ill, a woman with magical skills is brought to the sick person’s bedside to divine the seriousness of the sickness. An old witch is asked to strike an iron hoop against one side of a drum, and then to perform something they say is called the “Witch’s Trance-Dance.” And this custom is especially widespread in Beijing.
Young married women of respectable families also consult witches from time to time. Meat is placed in one basin, and wine in another, and both are set on a table in the main room of the house. Then a large candle is lit, illuminating the room like daylight. The woman ties a short skirt around her clothing, and lifts up one foot to perform a “Consultation Dance.” Two people take her arms, standing on either side of her to support her while she does this.
The woman begins babbling nonsensically, first as though singing, and then as though offering a blessing; a number of the words are meaningless, without rhyme or reason. People then begin thunderously beating several drums in the room, creating a booming clamor. The woman opens and closes her lips to the accompaniment of the various drums, so one can’t really make out what she’s mouthing.
Afterwards, her head droops, while her eyes roll to the side; she’s standing thanks to the others holding her up, and would fall flat if they took their hands away. Suddenly she spins around, stretches her neck and leaps several chi off the ground. In an awe-inspiring tone, she says to all of the women in the room as they look on in amazement, “The ancestors have come for the food.”
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Jinan: Capital of Shandong province.
Then with a gentle puff, she blows out the light, plunging the room into darkness. The consulting women hold their breath fearfully as they stand in the dark, not daring to utter a word; besides, speaking wouldn’t be heard anyway, due to the noise of the drums. In moments, they hear the woman’s stern voice calling out the courtesy names of parents-in-law and sisters-in-law, then the young women relight the candle, bend down, and ask for prediction of future weal and woe.
When the women look inside the basins holding the wine and meat, they’re all empty. They observe the woman’s facial expressions, distinguishing whether they’re happy or angry. In a respectful manner, they gather together and ask her questions, and she offers some kind of responses.
If someone among them is skeptical about all this, the god in the body of the woman already knows that, so she points out that certain individual and accuses the person of mocking her, declaring how disrespectful this is, and threatening to take off her pants. When the insulted skeptic suddenly begins looking around, she finds herself stark naked, her clothes placed in the top of a tree outside the house.
Manchurian women are especially sincere about treating such matters with respect. If there are any uncertainties, they resolve them in this way. Quite often they put on full make-up, ride around on a fake tiger or horse while grasping a long weapon, and then, dancing around on a bed, perform something they call the “God of Tigers Dance.” The horse or tiger empowers a woman to act with decisive authority, and the dance allows her to make raucous noise as long as she can stand it. If she cites the names of Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, or Marshall Zhao for authorization, no one raises a complaint.
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Chi: A distance equal to 1/3 meter.
The power they wield gives them a somber appearance that some people find particularly frightening. There are husbands who try to peep through the windows, to see what their wives are wearing and doing—and the wives, holding long weapons, thrust them through the windows and impale the men’s hats, which they then take back inside.
In one family, the old women, daughters-in-law, and daughters live like sisters, standing closely together, and always go out in a single file, with no dissension, and no slouching.
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Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, or Marshall Zhao: Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, along with Liu Bei, form the three heroic sworn brothers at the heart of the classic Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Marshall Zhao is also known as Zhao Gongming, the god of wealth.
219. The Iron Skin Method
Sha Huizi had a method for making his skin as powerfully hard as iron. When he joined two fingers together and chopped forcefully with them, he could cut through the neck of an ox; with a single violent jab, he could penetrate an ox’s belly.
Once he was at Master Qiu Pengsan’s house, where there was a large log hanging up, and he directed two strong servants to hold it firmly and strike at him violently; Sha exposed his naked belly to the log swinging at him, which struck him with a banging sound, and then bounced off quite a distance.
Next he took out his sexual organ and placed it on a boulder, before grabbing a length of wood and smashing it down on himself like a hammer, though without causing the least bit of damage. But he was still afraid of knives.
220. The Mighty General
Zha Yihuang was from Zhejiang. As he was taking in some of the countryside on Tomb-Sweeping Day, while visiting an ancient temple, he spotted an ancient bell as large as two enormous stone urns in front of one of the buildings; but just at ground level, there was an imprint of a hand on it, as smooth as though it had been freshly made.
This seemed curious to Zha, so he bent low to peek at what was underneath it, and discovered a bamboo basket that looked big enough to hold about eight sheng, though he couldn’t tell what was inside it. He had several men to try to pick up the bell, and despite lifting with all their might, they couldn’t move it even a little. Zha became even more puzzled. Thus he decided to sit down and have a drink while wait
ing for the person who’d left the basket there.
He hadn’t been there long when a beggar entered the temple, carrying some food that he’d acquired, intending to add it to a pile already accumulating underneath the bell. With just one hand, he picked up the bell and held it aloft, while with the other hand he placed the food in the basket; he came and went three or four times, till he seemed to have gathered enough. When he was finished, he covered the basket up again, and then left.
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Tomb-Sweeping Day: Part of the Qingming (Clear Brightness) Festival, includes “clearing weeds from the graves, cleaning up the tombs themselves and making offerings” to honor the dead, a ritual remembrance that also serves to usher in the beginning of spring (Palmer et al. 197).
Sheng: A sheng is equal to a pint (dry measure), or to a liter (liquid measure).
In a short while he returned, and took out some of the food to eat. When he was finished, he put the bell back where it’d been, as lightly as if he were simply opening and closing a box. Everyone sitting there was utterly amazed.
“Why’s a powerful man like you living like a beggar?” asked Zha.
The man replied, “I eat a whole lot, so no one wants to hire me.” Since Zha took him to be an extraordinarily strong fellow, he advised the man to join the army. The beggar sadly explained that he couldn’t afford the journey to go join up. Consequently, Zha took him home and fed him; he figured that the man ate enough to feed five or six men. He then gave the beggar some new clothes and shoes, and also presented him with fifty taels to cover his traveling costs.
After more than ten years, Zha’s nephew became a county magistrate in Fujian, and a General Wu Liuyi suddenly showed up one day to call on him. As they were entertaining themselves with conversation, General Wu asked him, “What is your relation to Zha Yihuang?”
“He’s my uncle,” the nephew replied. “But where do you know him from, general?”
“Zha Yihuang was my teacher,” the man explained. “That was ten years ago, and I’ve been thinking about him a lot. I hope you’ll send him an invitation to come and visit me.”
The nephew freely promised to do so. He thought to himself: My uncle’s known as a learned scholar, so how could he have had a military man as a pupil?
Coincidentally, Zha Yihuang had just arrived for a visit, so he was told about General Wu. He wracked his thoughts for some time, but couldn’t recall the man. Because he wished to acknowledge the generous invitation he’d received, he called for servants and horses and left to pay a visit to the general’s home.
General Wu hurried out to greet him at his front gate. When Zha saw him, he believed he’d never set eyes on him before in his entire life. He started to suspect that the general had mistaken him for someone else, while the general began acting even more reverentially towards him.
He respectfully invited Zha to come inside, and they passed through three or four gates, till suddenly Zha spotted women coming and going, realizing that they had come to the general’s private living quarters, so he immediately went no further. With his hands clasped together, the general then bowed to him, urging him to enter.
Soon they climbed the steps leading up to a hall, where a screen was set aside, and as they moved to take their seats, it became apparent that all of the servants were women. As they sat down, Zha was intending to ask some questions, but the general made a small gesture with his chin, and as soon as one of the servants had carried in his official uniform, he quickly stood up to put it on. Zha had no idea why he was doing this.
A throng of the women servants held out his sleeves and straightened his lapel as he slipped on his uniform, while he’d previously directed several of them to ensure that Zha remain seated where he was, and once he had put on his military dressing, he began kowtowing in formal respect, as though Zha was the emperor or his own father. Zha was absolutely bewildered, since he had no explanation for the general to be acting this way.
After Zha had stopped Wu from bowing to him, the general then put his civilian clothing back on and took his seat, to attend to his guest. “Sir,” he laughed, “don’t you remember the beggar who lifted up the bell?” At that point, everything became clear to Zha.
Later on, General Wu put on a magnificent banquet, while his family played music to entertain them. Afterwards, when they’d finished having some drinks, the crowd of servant women lined up to wait upon Zha. The general went into Zha’s bedroom, inspecting it to be sure that everything was ready for his guest to spend the night, and then left.
Zha had gotten a bit drunk that night, so he rose rather late the next morning, and the general had already been outside his bedroom door for some time, inquiring after his guest. Zha felt rather uneasy, and expressed his desire to return home. The general did everything necessary to detain his guest, including removing the wheels from his carriage and securing the keys to the house, so Zha was forced to stay.
He noticed that General Wu spent the day doing nothing but inventorying the number of his maidservants, male servants and soldiers, mules and horses, as well as all his clothing and other belongings, supervising while all this was recorded in an accounts ledger, warning that nothing must be left out. Zha figured that this was simply the way the general managed his household, so he didn’t question it any further.
One day, while he was holding the accounts ledger, the general told Zha, “Everything that I own today is the result of the great generosity that you bestowed on me. Every maidservant, everything in the house—I can’t keep them all for myself, sir, I have to give you half.” Stunned, Zha declared that he couldn’t possibly accept. The general, however, would not listen to his refusal.
From his storehouse, he had several tens of thousands of strings of cash and taels brought out, and then ordered it all separated into two piles. According to the accounts ledger, there were also antiques and furniture items to consider, so they were carried into the hall until it was almost filled. Zha remained firm in his requests for the general to cease dividing things, but Wu paid no attention to him.
When the general had finished summoning a number of his servants by name, he ordered the men to pack up everything for Zha’s journey home, while directing the women to collect the everyday utensils, and instructing them to handle everything for Master Zha with respectful attention. With sincere respect and awe, they all promised to obey the general.
Wu saw to each of the women servants as they climbed into carriages to leave, while grooms led the horses and mules, with all the attendant noise of departure, and then he returned to say goodbye to Zha. After all this, Zha took part in the compilation of a historical chronicle that led to his arrest, though he was finally able to avoid prosecution thanks to the power of General Wu’s influence.
The collector of these strange tales remarks, “Helping out a stranger with such generosity, without even asking him his name, is truly the act of a man equal to the chivalrous heroes of antiquity! And as the general in turn requited him, his own generosity proved to be forthright and uninhibited, of the sort rarely seen in any age. With such broadmindedness, both of them deserved to become noted and influential, rather than dying unknown and poor. Therefore we realize that it was no accident that two such virtuous men actually got to meet each other.”
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A historical chronicle: Zha’s trouble was related to the work he contributed to the Book of the Ming (ming shu), construed as seditious by the Qing court for its support of the preceding dynasty’s policies. See Zhu (2:765n20).
221. The White Lotus Society
Xu Hongru, leader of the White Lotus Society, came into possession of an occult treatise that could summon spirits. When he made a casual trial of it, those who looked on felt so greatly astonished that later on the people who came to be his disciples were as numerous as flocks of ducks. Afterwards, he realized that he had called up a destructive entity.
Accordingly, he took out a mirror to carry arou
nd, saying that it could reveal someone’s entire life. He hung it in his courtyard, directing people to look at their reflections in it, where he might see one person wearing an official’s ceremonial hat, someone else wearing yet another kind of official’s hat, and yet another person wearing some kind of official clothing—all appearing differently. People found this to be even more uncanny.
Following upon this, the news spread fast and wide, with a constant stream of many people visiting him.
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Xu Hongru . . . White Lotus Society: The Buddhist secret society known as White Lotus, with its adherents reputedly possessing magical abilities, originated at least as early as the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368), but was periodically revived in opposition to political pressures, including the Manchu overthrow which led to establishment of the Qing dynasty. In 1622, Xu declared the end of Ming dynasty rule, “instigated a large-scale rebellion in southwestern Shandong” (Naquin 340), and assumed for himself the title of “the Renaissance Great-Blessedness Emperor” (Yang 220). See story #154, “The White Lotus Society Master.”
Xu subsequently proclaimed, “Anyone who appears as an official or a noble in the mirror is to become a civil or military leader, which is the fate decided by the Tathagata Buddha. Everyone must do this, without shrinking from it.” Hence he began by checking his own reflection, and in the mirror was reflected as an imperial figure, dressed in the crown, jade, and robe of the emperor. The multitudes of observers looked at each other in fright, and did their best to show respect for him.
Xu then began referring to himself as a nobleman, establishing a realm to govern, and the multitudes all happily acceded to his rule and did whatever he ordered. It wasn’t many months before he’d gathered a faction that was calculated at about ten thousand members in the region surrounding Teng and Ze, where the people were swept away by Xu’s reputation.