The Golden Lotus, Volume 1

by Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng

  “If you think that,” Ximen said, “we will have the sacrifice at Abbot Wu’s temple at the beginning of the new year.”

  “The Sixth Lady told me yesterday that the boy had not been very well,” Yueniang said. “She was thinking about giving the boy a name.”

  “Well, we have the very place,” Ximen Qing said. “We will enroll him at the Temple of the Jade Emperor.” He said to Daian: “Who has come from the temple?”

  “The novice Ying Chun,” Daian told him.

  Ximen Qing went out to see the young man. The novice kowtowed and said: “My master sends his compliments to you. He has nothing worthy to offer you, but ventures to send these trifles. They are for you to distribute among your servants.”

  Ximen Qing made a moderate reverence to Ying Chun, and asked him to thank the Abbot for his gifts. Then he invited the young novice to take a seat. Ying Chun bowed. “How dare I sit in your presence?” he said. But Ximen made him sit down, saying that he wished to talk to him. The novice was wearing a small hat and a long black gown. He was very modest in his bearing, and only after much hesitation was persuaded to take a chair and sit down. “What are your commands?” he asked. “In the first month of the new year,” Ximen Qing said, “I wish to make a sacrifice, and would venture to ask your master to make the necessary arrangements. And I wish, too, to enroll my son’s name in the register of your temple. But perhaps your master is too busy?”

  The novice rose hastily. “Since such is your desire,” he said, “even if we had other religious duties on that day, we should put them off.”

  “Then what about the ninth day?” Ximen Qing said. “Isn’t that the birthday of the Gods?”

  “Yes, that is the birthday of the Gods,” the young priest said, “and it is written in the Book of the Jade Casket that upon that day we should pray the Gods to bless us, and the five blessings will descend together. It is an excellent day for fasting and worship. May I ask how many degrees of sacrifice you will require?”

  “My son was born in the seventh month,” Ximen Qing said. “At that time I vowed to make sacrifice of a hundred and twenty degrees.”

  “How many priests do you wish to take part in the sacrifice?”

  “Let there be sixteen,” Ximen Qing said.

  A table was set, and the young priest was offered tea. Ximen gave him fifteen taels of silver for the expenses of the sacrifice, and one tael in return for the Abbot’s gift. “There is no need for your master to prepare things,” he said to the novice. “I myself will send paper offerings, incense and candles.”

  The young priest was so delighted that he completely forgot himself. He pissed himself and farted like thunder. He thanked Ximen Qing over and over again.

  On the eighth day of the first month, Daian was sent to the temple with a measure of fine rice, a supply of paper money, and ten catties of official candles. He also took with him five catties of incense, and sixteen rolls of unbleached material for other things that were needed by the priests. In addition, Ximen Qing sent two rolls of brocade, two jars of Southern wine, four live geese, four live chickens, a set of pig’s trotters, a leg of mutton and ten taels of silver. All this was for the enrollment of the baby’s name.

  Cards of invitation to the ceremony were sent to Uncle Wu, Uncle Hua, Ying Bojue and Xie Xida. Chen Jingji, on horseback, went to the temple to see that everything was in order.

  The ninth day came. Ximen Qing did not go to his office, but rose very early, dressed, then mounted a great white horse and set off by the East Gate to the Temple of the Jade Emperor. Attendants marched before and behind him. Even from a far distance they could see the banners, decorations and arches that had been set up. Soon they reached the temple gate and Ximen dismounted.

  Passing through the first gate, he came to another, the Gate of the Meteor, on either side of which were scarlet boards, seven feet long, with these words written upon them.

  Then Ximen Qing came to the main sanctuary. There, written in twenty-four characters, they saw a sign:

  In gratitude to Heaven and Earth we offer our treasures.

  May our land be blessed and our benefactors rewarded.

  We take an ally to ourselves, and enroll his name.

  May all good fortune descend abundantly upon our altar.

  On either side were scrolls, bearing the inscriptions:

  Established before the Heavens

  May we behold the majesty of DAO

  And manifest our singleness of heart

  and

  Here is the honorable dwelling of the Most High,

  Here can we behold the glory of the Pure Cultivation,

  Here would we show our gratitude for every blessing.

  Ximen Qing went up to the shrine. Before the table of incense stood a boy, with a ewer, in which Ximen Qing washed his hands. Then an acolyte knelt down and invited him to burn incense. Ximen Qing prostrated himself before the altar. Abbot Wu was wearing a hat of the Nine Yang Thunder, with rings of jade and a sky-blue vestment, broad-sleeved and embroidered with the crane and the twenty-eight stars. A silken girdle was about his waist. He came down from the lectern and made a priestly reverence to Ximen Qing.

  “Unworthy priest that I am,” he said, “your misdirected kindness has often made me its object, and I have frequently received precious gifts from you. Consequently I feel that if I refuse them, I shall not be truly sincere; and if I do accept them, I must be ashamed. It is my duty to pray that your son may have length of days. Why should you send me such valuable presents? I am truly embarrassed. Besides, your gifts for the purposes of the sacrifice have been far too generous.”

  “But it is I who feel grateful for the trouble you have taken,” Ximen Qing said. “I have done nothing to repay you. These things are a very slight token of my appreciation, and nothing more.”

  After these polite exchanges, the priests who stood on either hand came to greet Ximen Qing, and he was invited to go to the Abbot’s cell. This was a large hall, three rooms wide, called the Hall of Pine Trees and of Cranes. There tea was served.

  Ximen Qing sat down and told Qitong to take a horse for Ying Bojue. “I don’t think he can have a horse, so that is why he has not arrived yet.”

  “The donkey that Brother-in-law Chen rides, is here,” Daian said.

  “Very well,” Ximen said, “let him take that.” Qitong went away.

  When the Abbot had finished his reading of the sacred books, he came to offer tea to Ximen and then sat down to talk. “Realizing the keenness of your desire to worship Heaven,” he said, “I rose this morning at the fourth watch and read many sacred texts at the altar for you. Today is the third dawn and the ninth revolution, and I performed all the necessary exercises for the worship of the Jade Pivot. I also prepared a document with your son’s birthday and his eight characters, and presented the name to the Three Most Mighty Ones. The name I chose for him was Wu Yingyuan, calling upon him every blessing, continual prosperity and strength of body. I made ready a sacrifice of twenty-four degrees to offer to Heaven and Earth, twelve more for the glory of the gods, and still another twenty-four for the dead. So we have a hundred and eighty degrees in all.”

  Ximen Qing thanked the Abbot. After a while the drum was heard, and he was asked to go to the altar to see the document of enrollment. He dressed himself in a scarlet robe of ceremony with a five-colored badge of rank. Then he fastened about himself the girdle with the buckle of gilded rhinoceros horn. When he came to the altar, a lector, robed in purple, began the reading of the sacred purpose.

  The devout Ximen Qing, dwelling in Xianpaifang of Qinghe in the Province of Shandong, venerating the sacred Principle, comes to implore a blessing, to offer sacrifice, and to pray for peace. He was born at the hour of midnight, on the twentieth day of the seventh month of the year Bingyin. His wife Wu was born at the hour of midnight, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month in the year Wuzhen.

  There the lector stopped. “Have you,” he said to Ximen Qing, “any other members o
f your household whom you would wish me to include?”

  “Simply write this,” Ximen said. “Li, born at the hour of dawn on the fifteenth day of the first month in the year Xinwei, and the boy Guan’ge, born at the hour of Shen on the twenty-third day of the seventh month in the year Bingshen.”

  The lector repeated this after him and returned to his reading.

  This day, I, Ximen Qing, and all my household come to fulfill our humble duty and to do worship before the Mighty Creator. My life is but a particle of dust from the lowest order of the Three Forces. Yet when I go out and come in; when I rise from my bed or seek it, I am ever indebted to the protection of the Dragon Heaven. Seasons change from hot to cold, yet the mercy of the Almighty never faileth me.

  I have an appointment among the soldiery and a post in the Imperial Guard: I bask in the sunshine of the Emperor’s favor; wealth and riches have come to me.

  Therefore, with humble devotion, I make this sacrifice towards the twenty-four regions in thankfulness for the great mercies bestowed on me by Heaven and Earth and to acclaim the benefits of the Kingly One. Twelve sacrifices I offer in honor of the True God whose birthday we celebrate this day.

  May I be blessed by the Five Fortunes, may I prosper and the gifts of Heaven descend upon me.

  On the twenty-third day of the seventh month last year, my second wife Li bore me a son, Guan’ge. At that time I prayed for her safe delivery and that good fortune might be with the child. This son, Guan’ge, I pray may be received into the religious life in the sanctuary of the Three Holy Ones, receiving the name Wu Yingyuan.

  I vowed that I would make sacrifice of a hundred and twenty degrees that my seed may be continued after me and that this my son may enjoy length of days.

  I desire to do worship to the spirits of three generations of the House of Ximen, to my grandfather Ximen Jingliang, to my grandmother Li, to my father Ximen Da and my mother Xia, to my late wife Chen, and all those who have died, one after the other. Whether they have ascended to Heaven I know not, or whether they have gone down to the place below. I offer twelve sacrifices that the omnipotent DAO may set them all upon the way of life. In all I offer a hundred and eighty degrees of sacrifice. Look graciously upon this petition and grant these blessings.

  Upon this the ninth day of the first month in the third year of the reign Xuan He, the feast of the birthday of the Gods, in humble duty I come to the sanctuary of the Most Beneficent Jade Emperor, here, by the ministry of the priests, to give thanks to Heaven and Earth, and to pray that the Gods may bestow their blessing upon me and give me peace. Here I have enrolled the name of my son and recited the sacred scriptures that blessings may be multiplied. I have kept the great fast for a day and a night to invoke the glory of the Three Worlds and to welcome the Chariot of the God of Ten Thousand Heavens.

  May He grant lasting peace to all my household and ensure that the Four Seasons shall be harmonious and fruitful.

  For this I place my trust in the power of DAO and pray that manifold blessings may be bestowed.

  This have I set down with faithful care.

  When this had been read, the priests brought many talismans, petitions and papers and asked Ximen Qing to look at them one by one. There were between a hundred and eighty and a hundred and ninety of them, all well done and in excellent order. Then they showed him the talismans, petitions and papers for the enrollment of the child’s name under the protection of the Three Holy Ones. The task was too great for Ximen Qing. He had observed the great care that the Abbot brought to his duties, so he contented himself with offering incense and signed the documents. He called for a roll of silk to be brought and given to Abbot Wu. The Abbot refused it for a long time, but finally bade a boy receive it.

  Then a priest at the corner of the sanctuary beat the drum with a roaring like spring thunder and the others played their instruments. The Abbot vested himself in a scarlet robe with embroidery of the five colors, and red shoes. He took up an ivory scepter. Then he dispatched all the documents and went to the altar to await the coming of the Gods, and a bell was rung on either side. Ximen Qing was escorted to the altar, and there offered incense on both sides of the sanctuary of the Three Holy Ones. He opened his eyes wide and gazed at them. Ximen Qing went around the altar and offered incense. When he was done, the servers invited him to go to the Hall of the Pine Trees. In the innermost room, a fine carpet had been laid and animal charcoal was burning in the brazier. After a while Ying Bojue and Xie Xida arrived. They greeted Ximen Qing and each of them offered a star of silver as tea money. “We should have liked to send some tea,” they said, “but it is a long way, and we offer this trifle instead.”

  Ximen Qing would have none of it. “Really,” he said, “I have no patience with you. I invited you. Why should you do this? My relative Wu will bring something for tea, and that will be enough for all of us.”

  Ying Bojue hastily made reverence and said: “If you insist, we must take it back.” Then he looked at Xie Xida. “It is your fault,” he said, “I told you our brother would not accept it. Now, you see, he upbraids us.”

  Then Wu and Hua came, and each of them brought two boxes of fine cakes to have with tea. Ximen Qing asked Abbot Wu to accept them. After tea a vegetarian meal was prepared, and Ximen Qing and the others took part in it. The Abbot had engaged a storyteller, who told them all about Hong Men of the Han Dynasty.

  When the Abbot had finished attending to the papers, he came in and sat down with them. He asked if Guan’ge himself was to be brought that day.

  “No,” Ximen Qing said, “he is very small, and my wife was afraid that the distance might be too much for him. But this afternoon his clothes are coming and we will offer them before the Three Holy Ones. I imagine that will have the same effect.”

  “I agree,” Abbot Wu said, “it is the best thing you could do.”

  “In every other respect,” Ximen Qing said, “the child is getting along very well, but he is much too easily alarmed. I have three or four maids and a nurse to look after him, but something is always disturbing him. We dare not let dogs or cats come anywhere near him.”

  “Rearing a child is no easy business,” Uncle Wu said. Then Daian came and said that Li Guijie and Wu Yin’er had sent Li Ming and Wu Hui with tea. Ximen Qing ordered them to be brought in. The two boys came, carrying boxes, which they presented on their knees. When the boxes were opened, it was seen that they contained all kinds of delightful cakes, and tea with rose petals. Ximen Qing asked Abbot Wu to accept them.

  “How did you come to know about this?” he asked Li Ming. “This morning,” Li Ming said, “I met Uncle Chen riding along the street. He told me that you were performing your devotions here today, and I went home and told Guijie’s mother. She told Wu Yin’er, and they asked us to come and bring you their best wishes. Really they would have come themselves, but it would have been hard for them to get here. These poor cakes are to be given to your servants.”

  Ximen Qing said that the two boys must have food, and the Abbot sent them to a room aside. Even the porters who had come with them were given a meal.

  In the afternoon there were further devotions. The Abbot had prepared a large table of food, a jar of Jinhua wine, and, for the baby, a Daoist hat of black silk, with trimmings of gold, a black Daoist gown made of linen, and another of green cloudy silk. There were tiny black silk shoes and a yellow girdle, a yellow cord from the shrine of the Three Holy Ones, a purple cord from the Patroness of Children, and a silver necklet, on which was engraved: “Gold and jade fill the hall. Long Life, Honor and Riches be thine.” There was a talisman of yellow silk with red characters to drive away devils. This bore the inscription: “God said the word” and “Long Life and Health.” The parcels were tied with yellow string and set upon a square tray. Plates of fruit were on the table.

  A boy was told to take from a bag copies upon red paper of all the texts they had been reciting, and the Abbot asked Ximen Qing to look at them. The papers were then put into boxes, and
in all there were eight bundles to be sent to Ximen’s house. Ximen was very pleased. He told Qitong to go at once and tell the people at home that the messenger must be given two handkerchiefs and a tael of silver.

  This day was Pan Jinlian’s birthday. Aunt Wu, old woman Pan, Aunt Yang and Miss Yu were sitting in Yueniang’s room when the presents came from the temple. They set them on four tables, but even so there was not room for all. The ladies came to look at them.

  “Come quickly, Sixth Sister,” Jinlian said to Li Ping’er, “your baby’s teacher has sent him some presents. Here is a little Daoist hat and robes. Oh, look! There are some little shoes too.”

  Yulou went forward and took the little shoes in her hands. “See how very careful those priests are,” she said. “These little shoes with their white silk heels are done in Daokou work, and the laces in Fangsheng. The clouds are very well done. The priest who did this must have a wife. He could never do such good needlework himself.”

  “Nonsense,” Wu Yueniang said, “if he is a monk, how can he have a wife? He must employ someone to do the work for him.”

  “If the Daoist monks have wives,” Jinlian said, “Nun Wang here and the Abbess can make excellent girdles; must we assume that they have husbands?”

  “Oh, the monks,” Nun Wang said, “can go anywhere in those hats of theirs, but we of the Buddhist persuasion are recognized wherever we go.”

  “They tell me,” Jinlian said, “that your convent, the Temple of Guanyin, is opposite the Daoist monastery. You remember the saying: ‘ When a house of nuns stands near a house of monks, something is bound to happen.’ ”

  “The Fifth Lady loves to talk nonsense,” Yueniang said.