Strange Tales from Liaozhai--Volume 6

by Pu Songling

  Lou replied, “His mother said his name was Yansheng.”

  Astonished, Deng cried, “This is really my son!”

  He asked Lou when the boy and his mother had shown up, and found it to be the same night that he and Fang Wenshu parted. When Deng then described how he met Fang Wenshu and how they went their separate ways, the couple felt very fortunate to be together once again. They still expected that Fang would return for a visit, but they never saw her again.

  489. Qin Hui

  In Qingzhou, Grand Secretary Feng’s family killed a pig and burned off its bristly hairs, discovering characters underneath its coat that read, “seventh incarnation of Qin Hui.” When they cooked the meat so they could eat it, the pork gave off such a repulsive smell that they tossed all of it to the dogs.

  Alas! The Qin Hui flesh was so disgusting that even the dogs knew better than to eat it!

  I heard a person from Yidu recall that the Grand Secretary’s grandfather, in a former life, had been framed at the Song court when Qin Hui committed his treachery, which is why the grandfather showed the utmost respect for Yue Wumu his whole life long.

  At Qingzhou, beside the Changbei thoroughfare, a great tomb to General Yue was built, and statues of Qin Hui and Mo Qiqi kneeling down before it were included. As passersby came and went, they could stop to pay their respects to General Yue, throw some stones at Qin and Mo, and burn some incense all at the same place.

  _________

  Qin Hui: This treacherous Song dynasty chief counselor (1090-1155) has traditionally been held responsible for the execution/murder of the venerable General Yue Fei (1103-42). Qingzhou: A prefecture in Shandong province.

  Grand secretary: An appointment through the Hanlin Academy, in time it came to be associated with “the Inner Court” and the grand secretaries were considered “agents of the Emperor” (Hucker 467).

  Yidu: The seat of Qingzhou prefecture.

  Yue Wumu: This posthumous name was granted in 1169 to Yue Fei by the Emperor Xiaozong.

  When Qing soldiers were marched to fight against Yu Qi, early in the days of the new dynasty, the Feng family’s sons and grandsons destroyed the statue of Yue Wumu. Several li from there, there was a popular temple called “The Descendents of the Empress,” where they carried the figures of Qin Hui and Mo Qiqi, and set them there, kneeling before the temple. Apparently, in every generation, someone will make some kind of mistake regarding a Du Shiyi or a Wu Zixu, which is really quite ridiculous.

  _________

  Mo Qiqi: This treacherous court official from the South Song Dynasty was also known by his literary name, Yuan Zhong. He was complicit with Qin Hui in framing and murdering General Yue Fei. Four metal statues (originally bronze, and then after repeated damage, cast again in iron) were commissioned by Emperor Xiaozong and placed, kneeling, before Yue Fei’s tomb: Qin Hui; his wife, Lady Wang; and two subordinates, Mo Qixie and Zhang Jun.

  Yu Qi: A long-lived leader of the Han majority people in China who fought against Qing forces during the reign of Shunzhi (emperor from 1644-1661).

  Li: A distance equal to 1/3 mile.

  Du Shiyi . . . Wu Zixu: Pu is suggesting that some people have a hard time keeping the various names for individuals straight, leading to confused or inaccurate information being spread about them. Du Shiyi is another name for the renowned poet, Du Fu (712-70), yet on one occasion a group of scholars failed to recognize Du Shiyi as Du Fu, and at a temple to memorialize the poet, they erected a female statue rather than one to honor the named poet. Wu (d. 484) was a high minister for the state of Wu in the Spring and Autumn era; he provoked prince Guang to overthrow king Liao and take his throne, then Wu used his resulting position to avenge his own father’s death. Wu Zixu is the style name of Wu Yun—which also happened to be the name of an eighth-century Daoist master.

  Within the boundaries of Qingzhou, for a long time there was a Dantai Ziyu temple. At the time when Wei Dang was at the height of his power, someone wanting to curry favor with him destroyed the Dantai Ziyu temple, leaving the remains to become a Eunuch Wei temple. This astonished everyone who heard about it.

  _________

  Dantai Ziyu: Dantai Mieming, whose courtesy was Ziyu, is known as the “ugly disciple” of Confucius; when Dantai proved a success later in life, the master conceded that he had misjudged him due to his appearance.

  Wei Dang: Better known as Wei Zhongxian (1568-1627), the notorious eunuch who entered imperial service to elude creditors and who ruthlessly persecuted anyone who opposed him.

  490. The Zhedong Scholar

  A certain scholar Fang from eastern Zhejiang had been traveling through Shanxi, teaching students as he went. He often took the opportunity to brag about his bravery.

  One night, as he was lying in bed naked, suddenly some kind of hairy creature dropped onto his chest from above with a disturbing sound; it felt like a large dog that was panting heavily, its four feet twitching in the air. Terrified, Fang wanted to get up; it held him down with its two front feet, frightening him so badly that he passed out.

  When a few moments had elapsed, it felt like something sharp had gotten into his nose, triggering an enormous sneeze and recovery. Afterwards, he saw that there was a light twinkling in the room, and a beautiful woman was sitting on the edge of his bed, laughing as she exclaimed, “What a man! Such unwavering courage!” Fang realized she must be a fox, which scared him all the more.

  The woman began to touch his privates playfully until he became aroused, and they made love together. Six months went by with the two of them living together happily in love like a married couple.

  One day, while the woman was lying in bed, Fang stealthily covered her with a hunter’s net. When she awoke, she didn’t dare move and just whimpered. Fang laughed but didn’t release her.

  The woman changed all of a sudden into a white vapor, flowing over and under the bed, sneering with hatred, “So you were never really in love with me! Now you can accompany me as I leave.” The vapor grabbed at his hand and dragged him along, though he couldn’t feel his body or move of his own accord.

  They went out his gate and rose up in the air together like a single flying body. Immediately thereafter, the woman let go of his hand, causing Fang to feel dizzy and plummet downward.

  It just so happened that an aristocratic family had trapped a tiger in their garden, which they shut up in a polished wooden cage with a rope net spread over the top. Fang fell into the net, which sagged on one side; as he dipped down in the net, his body was hanging halfway upside down. When he looked down, he could see the tiger crouched in its cage, looking up, and then it leapt up at him. As it came within a chi of him, he felt the last of his courage completely stripped away.

  The gardener came to feed the tiger and thought it quite strange when he spotted Fang. He reached up to help Fang down, but found him in a death-like state; moments later, Fang regained consciousness, and described to the gardener all that had happened to him. It turned out that he’d come down to earth near the border of Zhedong, meaning that he was just about four hundred li from his home. The garden’s owner offered him some money and then sent him home.

  When he arrived, he told people, “Even though she made me feel like I’d died twice, I’d never have made it home if not for the fox.”

  _________

  Chi: A length equal to 1/3 meter. Li: A distance equal to 1/3 mile.

  491. The Girl from Boxing

  Among the people of Boxing, there was a certain Wang, whose daughter had reached the age of fifteen. There happened to be a particular local tyrant who’d caught a glimpse of her and decided to wait until she came outside, then kidnapped her without anyone else realizing what had happened.

  After they reached the tyrant’s house, he forced himself on her, but when Wang’s daughter screamed and desperately resisted his efforts, he responded by strangling her to death.

  There was a deep pool of water outside the tyrant’s gate, so he took a stone and tied it to the girl, then to
ssed it with her corpse into the pool. Wang searched and searched for his daughter, trying to figure out why there was no sign of her anywhere.

  As the sky suddenly turned to rain, thunder and lighting began pounding the tyrant’s house, till at the sound of a thunderclap, a dragon swooped down, tore off the tyrant’s head, and then flew away. As the heavens cleared, the daughter’s corpse floated up to the surface of the pond—one hand clutching a human head, which, when people looked closely at it, proved to be the tyrant’s head.

  When the local officials learned of this, they interrogated the tyrant’s servants, revealing what the evil man had done.

  _________

  Boxing: A county in Shandong province.

  Had Wang’s daughter somehow turned into a dragon? Otherwise, how could this have happened? Strange indeed!

  492. Junior Officials

  In Jinan, Vice Magistrate Wu, who reviewed cases, was known to be an upright man who couldn’t be swayed by flattery. At that time there were plenty of objectionable practices, corruption was common, and public money was being embezzled, but the high officials were always protected from prosecution, the spoils of their graft shared out among their subordinates so no one dared to accuse them.

  Some of this money was assigned to Vice Magistrate Wu, but he refused to accept it; when he turned down the money, regardless of how vehemently he was coerced to accept it, he was furiously cursed. With even stronger language, he responded to their actions by exclaiming, “Though my rank is low, I’m led by the emperor—I can be impeached, but not cursed. If you want me dead, I can die; but I won’t be a shameful embarrassment, forcing innocent people to pay bribe money!”

  The higher officials then changed their expressions and tried to become conciliatory. The men all told the vice magistrate that a man can’t always adhere rigidly to what’s correct; and if a man can’t keep himself on the path of what’s just, how can he blame others if they can’t follow the path of justice!

  It happened that in Gaoyuan there was a man named Mu Qinghua, who was possessed by a fox so it could discuss matters with people, and though it sounded like the fox was sitting right there with them, they could never see him. Vice Magistrate Wu came to Gaoyuan, where there were visitors speaking with the fox through Mu, one of whom asked him, “As an immortal you can’t help but know the answer to this, so I’d like to ask—are there any officials in Gaoyuan that you’d consider almost worthy of their titles?”

  _________

  Jinan: Capital of Shandong province.

  Gaoyuan: Ancient name of modern Gaoqing county, Shandong province.

  The fox’s voice replied, “There’s a junior official.” They all laughed at this. Then they asked him to elaborate on his comment, so he told them, “In this prefecture, out of seventy there might be two who could accurately be called bureacrats, but if you’re talking about men you might truly call officials, I know of only one, Vice Magistrate Wu.”

  It was at that time, in Tai’an, that a man named Zhang was serving as department magistrate, an unaffected and stubborn fellow, who was called “the wooden stake.”

  It was common for wealthy officials and their powerful colleagues to climb Mt. Tai, their official retinues and carriages giving way to sedan chairs that carried them up, making all kinds of demands on the people of Tai’an, who suffered from having to do their bidding. Department Magistrate Zhang put a stop to it.

  Whenever some dignitary demanded a sheep or pig from one of the locals, Zhang would intervene to say, “I can offer my only sheep and my only pig—please kill them to treat your servants and yourself.” The important visitors subsequently would choose not to do anything. Zhang kept his distance from such officials, and had successfully kept them apart from his wife and children for twelve years.

  He’d come from far away to Tai’an, and was separated from his wife and son for twelve years, so when he was appointed to his official position, his wife and son came to reunite with him, which made him very happy. About a week later, Zhang’s wife calmly inquired of him, “You’re just as poor as you were before, so how is it that as the senior member of the family, you’ve been unable to arrange anything for your descendents?”

  _________

  Tai’an: Now a city, but a Shandong prefecture in Pu’s time, located near Mt. Tai, one of the five sacred mountains of Daoist lore.

  The official became enraged, launching a torrent of abuse and shouting for her to be beaten, then forced the wife to prostrate herself so she could receive a beating. The official’s son placed his body over his mother’s, begging his father not to have her beaten. Zhang didn’t stop to distinguish one from the other, but proceeded to beat them both unrestrainedly before stopping.

  His wife asked for a carriage to take her and her son back home, then swore angrily at the official, “Even if you die, I won’t be coming back here again!” A little more than a year later, the man did indeed die.

  Zhang should be called a stubborn official indeed, since he refused to compromise his standards. But because he treated his wife, who’d been separated from him for so long, like this, losing his temper due to a single sentence, we can tell that he was deficient in humanity! The way that he enforced his official position on his wife makes his action seem even more amazing than that of a ghost or spirit.”

  493. The Beggar Immortal

  Due to his family’s celebrated position, Gao Yucheng lived in a sizeable place in Jincheng. He was adept at acupuncture and moxibustion, and didn’t distinguish between the poor and the wealthy when he was caring for people.

  A beggar with an infected sore on his shin came into their village, lying at the side of the road in pain as his wound discharged blood and pus, stinking so badly that no one could approach him. The locals were afraid that he was dying, so they gave him something to eat each day. Gao saw the man and felt sorry for him, so he sent some men to pick him up and bring him to his home, where he arranged a place for him to stay.

  His family members couldn’t stand the smell, so everyone covered their noses and kept their distance. Gao took out some herbs to burn and performed moxibustion on the beggar, and each day prepared vegetables for him to eat.

  A few days later, the beggar asked for some noodle soup. This made Gao’s servants angry, so they scolded him for his demand. When Gao heard about this, he ordered the servants to give the beggar some noodle soup.

  _________

  Jincheng: There were many places called Jincheng in Pu’s day, although Jinling (modern Nanjing) was also known as Jincheng (Zhu 3:1665n1).

  A little while later, the beggar began asking for meat and wine. The servants went straight to Gao and exclaimed, “This guy’s really crazy! First he’s lying by the side of the road, begging for something to eat, since he had nothing; then, after a few simple meals that are no longer good enough for him, he gets noodle soup, but next he expects meat and wine. This man’s behaving like a glutton and the only proper thing to do is to toss him back out in the road!”

  Gao inquired about the man’s sore, and the servants told him, “The scab that gradually formed has since come off, but he’s acting like he still can’t walk around, faking that he’s in pain with muttered groans.”

  “It’s not much expense!” Gao told them. “Give him the wine and food as gifts while he’s regaining his strength, so he won’t think that we’ve treated him like an enemy.” The servants falsely pretended that they would do so, but actually refused to give the beggar what he’d requested; each of them chatted amongst themselves, laughing together at their master’s naiveté.

  The next day, Gao went to see the beggar, who despite his lameness stood up to thank him, saying, “You received me with great kindness when I was facing life or death, and now that I’m improving, I feel most grateful for your benevolence. Though I’m now recovering, I’m still not strong, so I was foolishly hoping for a little more to eat.” Thus Gao learned that his orders hadn’t been carried out, and he called for the servants who disobeyed him
and had them beaten, then ordered them to serve wine, roast meat, and fried cakes to the beggar.

  The servants punished in this way swallowed their resentment until midnight, when they set fire to the beggar’s quarters and only afterwards cried out for help. By the time Gao got up to investigate, the room was already burnt to cinders, and he gasped, “The beggar must be trapped inside!” He supervised as his entire household worked to extinguish the blaze.

  In the midst of the fire, he spotted the beggar lying there in a drunken slumber, his snoring as loud as a thunderstorm. Gao shouted for him to get up, and when he awoke, the beggar asked in surprise, “Where’d the room go?” Everyone there began to realize with a start that this was no ordinary beggar. Gao began treating the beggar even more respectfully, allowing him to stay in the guest room and providing him with new clothing, while also spending time sitting with the beggar each day.

  Gao asked the man his name, and the beggar replied, “I’m Chen Jiu.”

  After he’d been staying there for several days, Chen began to look even more vibrant, and spoke with a learned style. He happily enjoyed playing chess, and Gao always lost whenever he played him; then there were days when Gao studied with Chen, learning certain arcane mysteries from him.

  In this manner, six months passed with the beggar saying nothing about leaving, while Gao felt unhappy when he was separated from Chen for any time. Whenever valued guests arrived, Gao always had Chen join them for drinks. Any time someone threw the dice for a drinking game, Chen always called out the right numbers so he and Gao didn’t suffer any penalties. Gao found this quite remarkable.

  If Gao asked Chen to perform some magic for him, Chen would reply that he didn’t know any. One day, he told Gao, “I want to take my leave now. You’ve been so profoundly kind to me that I’d like to invite you to share a modest repast with me, but you mustn’t bring anyone else with you.”