Paper Mage

by Leah R. Cutter

  “Good journey you too,” she said, bowing from where she was seated. She smiled at him, and wondered again what Udo had said to him.

  Udo started to rise as well when Xiao Yen stopped him.

  “Stay,” she said.

  Udo sank back to the floor with a grunt. Though he’d had his share of the wine, he didn’t seem as drunk as Ehran. He did seem tired, maybe from all the planning and fierce bargaining for their trip.

  “Tuo Nu, could you walk Ehran home? Udo will follow soon,” Xiao Yen said.

  Tuo Nu let Ehran out the door, then turned back. “Are you sure you don’t want a chaperon?” he asked, indicating Udo with his chin.

  Udo gazed at Xiao Yen with a satisfied look, like a man just finished with dinner and staring at dessert.

  Xiao Yen said, “No, I can handle him. He will be along in a short time.”

  Tuo Nu said, “All right. If you shout, the neighbors will hear.”

  Xiao Yen was outraged. What did he mean by that? Before she could respond, he stepped out the door.

  “I have present for good-bye,” Xiao Yen told Udo. She picked up the small wooden box she had sitting next to her. From inside the box, she took another box made out of white folded paper. She placed the paper box on the table before them.

  “What’s that?” he asked.

  “Puzzle,” she said. Eight rings decorated the top of the paper box, made of strips of paper that had been twisted once, then folded together. “You must learn puzzle to open box. Very important,” she added, when he looked skeptical.

  Xiao Yen counted through the rings, from the smallest to largest. Then she showed him how to untwist them, starting with the second and fourth rings. He seemed intrigued, and learned faster than Xiao Yen had hoped. Finally, they were at the last fold. Xiao Yen made Udo practice every twist up to the last fold twice, to make sure he had it memorized. Then she moved the box to the center of the small table, undid the last fold, and blew on the box.

  It unfolded itself rapidly, fold upon fold, like a giant lotus blossom. A deep tone, like echoes from a bronze bell, filled the tiny room. Twice more the paper unfolded, then it lay on the table like a blanket, its secret revealed. In its center sat a large glittering pile of gold, silver, and jewels.

  Udo’s eyes were more round than Xiao Yen had ever seen them. His mouth opened and shut, but no sounds came out.

  “This rat dragon treasure. For your banished,” she added.

  “Banishment,” Udo corrected her, without taking his eyes from the pile. “Why?” he asked, unable to articulate more.

  “You foreigner. This not your home. You go home now,” Xiao Yen said, wishing again that she could speak his language better. She longed to tell him how alien he was, how much he belonged in his own land. Or how much his understanding had helped her.

  “Thank you,” he said, turning to look at her. Some of the age in his eyes had turned to wonder, taking years off his face.

  “Last fold, not strong,” she instructed. “Only open box, one, maybe two more times. Understand?” she told him, starting to fold up the box again. Udo nodded. She didn’t think he could only open it a couple of more times, but she didn’t want him to show it to Ehran, not yet, not until they were on their way home.

  Xiao Yen showed Udo how to crease the four corners, then gather them together so the folds touched. The dazzling white paper folded so stiffly, but felt like smooth silk when she stroked it. She tugged on it three times, then let go as the paper folded itself back up. Soon it was in its compact form again. Xiao Yen picked up the box and handed it to Udo the same way Old Zhang had handed it to her, hands held high with head bowed.

  Udo accepted the box. He grunted when he felt how light it was. He shook it. No sound came from within it.

  Then Xiao Yen gave him the wooden box that she’d had a cooper make that afternoon. Udo put the paper box inside the wooden one and gazed at it for another moment. The paper reflected every bit of candlelight in the room, and shone against the red silk lining the box.

  Udo closed the lid reluctantly. The top of the wooden box had a twisted gold chain painted on it. He touched the painting and asked, “What’s this for?”

  Xiao Yen touched the matching twisted gold dragon whisker around her neck and replied, “For luck.”

  Xiao Yen slipped into Wang Tie-Tie’s room as quietly as a mouse slipping away from a cat. She’d arrived during the middle of the day, when the household napped, thereby avoiding seeing anyone else. She’d wanted to see Fat Fang before she saw her family, but he’d refused to see her without an appointment, which she now had, one hour hence.

  Wang Tie-Tie didn’t wake up until Xiao Yen reached out and touched her. Then her eyes snapped to attention. Only they held life. The rest of Wang Tie-Tie’s body didn’t change. It had betrayed her, grown weak while her mind stayed alert, alive.

  “Did you?” was Wang Tie-Tie’s question.

  Xiao Yen suppressed her smile. Of course, Wang Tie-Tie wouldn’t waste time asking Xiao Yen of her journeys or express surprise at seeing her. She would only ask of Xiao Yen’s duty. Wang Tie-Tie had chosen her course, as surely as Xiao Yen had chosen her own.

  Silently, Xiao Yen brought the peach out of her sleeve and presented it to her aunt, holding it above her head. When she heard Wang Tie-Tie’s intake of breath, she lowered her hands and allowed herself to look at her aunt. The wonder suffusing Wang Tie-Tie’s face filled Xiao Yen with joy. She wished she could somehow bottle the moment, like a magical elixir that she could later open and enjoy again and again.

  Wang Tie-Tie looked past the peach into Xiao Yen’s eyes. “Thank you,” she said, her voice breaking.

  “I was only doing my duty,” Xiao Yen replied.

  Wang Tie-Tie sighed. “You have done your duty,” she said. “Nothing less would ever satisfy either you or me. You are my true heir.”

  Xiao Yen bowed her head, knowing she’d just received the highest praise Wang Tie-Tie could give. To her, only duty mattered. Nothing, not love, gratitude, or family, was as important.

  With great ceremony, Xiao Yen gave the peach to Wang Tie-Tie.

  The peach glowed like a candle in Wang Tie-Tie’s pale fingers. It lit up her face as she brought it closer, illuminating the wrinkles around her eyes, the translucent quality of her skin.

  With the first bite, the peach dissolved into a golden blanket, like ten thousand dust motes spinning in evening sunlight. The light wrapped itself around Wang Tie-Tie’s body, encasing her in a fine, translucent veil. Then it lifted up, taking Wang Tie-Tie’s soul with it, through the ceiling, flying to the Isle of the Blessed.

  Xiao Yen stayed kneeling on the hard floor for a long while. She’d just caused another’s death, another black mark against her soul. It seemed to be her fate.

  Xiao Yen reached up to hold Wang Tie-Tie’s hand. It was already cool to the touch. The wrinkled skin felt softer than Gan Ou’s new baby, as if all the living Wang Tie-Tie had done had polished her skin until it was smooth like silk. Her aunt had been such a strong influence in Xiao Yen’s life. She was glad that Wang Tie-Tie would now watch over Xiao Yen forever, through every cycle of Xiao Yen’s death and rebirth. This made her smile through her tears.

  Xiao Yen kissed the back of Wang Tie-Tie’s hand, then placed it on the bed. She stood up slowly, as if some of Wang Tie-Tie’s age had found its way into her knees.

  Wang Tie-Tie’s eyes were already closed. The lines of her face had softened in death, and her cheeks seemed more filled out.

  Xiao Yen thought of the golden outline of the girl Mei-Mei that Old Zhang had shown her, and could see the resemblance now in Wang Tie-Tie’s face. What a beauty she’d been. Xiao Yen bowed again to Wang Tie-Tie, as deeply as she’d bowed to Old Zhang. She slipped out the door as quietly as she’d come.

  It was time to see Fat Fang and warn him of the coming danger.

  “I know it isn’t adequate, for a great mage like you, but I pray that an honorable person like yourself can find it in your
heart to accept such lodging from our humble village.” The headman stumbled over his tongue many more times as he walked with Xiao Yen past the edge of the village, into the fields.

  Xiao Yen fanned herself as she walked. She’d have to get used to the hot, humid weather in this province. She’d never been so far south before.

  A shack stood at the end of the first rice paddy, its door facing north, with windows on all sides. The village was giving it to her in exchange for her protective creatures and spells. It was made from a light wood, with a plain roof. Fields surrounded it on three sides. A limestone cliff stood to the west. Xiao Yen felt the quiet rising from the rock, through the chatter of the headman.

  “It will be perfect,” Xiao Yen said. She needed to be out in the fields to watch for animals that may come and trample the crops, and to give the village warning if bandits or soldiers approached.

  The front room held a desk and chair, with a few pillows and some shelves. The back room, with a window facing the cliff, had a platform bed in it, piled with covers. Both rooms smelled musty. Though the air was still, Xiao Yen heard a wind blowing in her head, a comforting rushing sound. She would be just fine here. She’d always wanted a room of her own, like Master Wei’s or Tuo Nu’s. She’d be alone here, and possibly lonely, but with calm and magic running through the core of her life, through her choices.

  She thanked the man again as she ushered him out the door. She breathed a quick prayer of thanks to Master Wei, for helping her with this appointment. She would make him proud.

  After Wang Tie-Tie’s death, Fu Be Be had at first assumed Xiao Yen would get married. Xiao Yen hadn’t fought with her mother like she had while she’d still been at school. Xiao Yen had just insisted, quietly, continually, that she was going to continue her life as a mage. Eventually, her mother had given way, and even helped her get this appointment. Xiao Yen still wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because Fu Be Be had grown resigned to Xiao Yen’s avowal of following her magic. Maybe it was because of the siege and attack on Bao Fang, and she thought that sending her daughter south might keep her out of harm’s way. Or maybe it was because this village was close to her mother’s home village. Xiao Yen had assured her mother many times that she’d look after all the people in the whole area.

  Xiao Yen might never have a child of her own, but she could adopt all the people here as her children, as Fat Fang had the people in Bao Fang.

  Xiao Yen looked around the room trying to decide where to hang the copy of her family poem, the one Wang Tie-Tie had given her when she’d been in school. She needed to burn incense for Wang Tie-Tie, for Vakhtang, for the others she’d known who now walked beyond the Yellow River.

  Xiao Yen took a deep breath, taking in the quiet. Her soul expanded to fill the empty places in the room. A deep joy bubbled inside her, sounding like a sparkling stream full of spring rain. Her choices might not be easy, but they were hers. She had her own life, her own duty to follow. There was much work to do. Now she had the time and place to do it.

  It felt good to be home.

  * * *

  This isn’t a complete bibliography of all the research sources I used for this novel. It is a good starting point for readers interested in the Tang dynasty and in all things Chinese.

  Non-Fiction

  Beckwith, Christopher I. The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia. Princeton University Press, 1987.

  Capon, Edmund and Werner Forman. Tang China: Vision and Splendor of a Golden Age. Macdonald & Orbis, 1989.

  Cave, Roderick. Chinese Paper Offerings. Oxford University Press, 1998.

  De Mente, Boye Lafayette. NTC’s Dictionary of China’s Cultural Code Words. NTC Publishing Group, 1996.

  Eberhard, Wolfram. A Dictionary of Chinese Symbols. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1983.

  Engel, Peter. Folding Universe. Vintage Books, 1989. (This is actually a book on origami.)

  James, Peter and Nick Thorpe. Ancient Inventions. Ballantine Books, 1994.

  Lu, Henry C. Chinese Herbal Cures. Sterling Publishing Co., 1994.

  Schafer, Edward H. The Golden Peaches of Samarkand. University of California Press, 1963.

  Smith, Arthur H. Village Life in China. Little, Brown and Company, 1970.

  Spring, Madeline. Animal Allegories in Tang China. American Oriental Society, 1993.

  The Red-Crowned Crane. China Pictorial Press.

  Waldron, Arthur. The Great Wall of China. Cambridge University Press, 1990.

  Williams, CAS. Chinese Symbolism and Art Motifs. Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc., 1974.

  Yang, Jwing-Ming. Ancient Chinese Weapons. Yama Martial Arts Association, 1999.

  Myth

  Bucher, J. Frank. The South River Pagoda. Fithian Press, 1988.

  Carpenter, Frances. Tales of a Chinese Grandmother. Charles E. Tuttle Company, Inc., 1980.

  Palmer, Martin and Zhao Xiaomin. Essential Chinese Mythology. Thorsons, 1997.

  Walters, Derek. An Encyclopedia of Myth and Legend. Diamond Books, 1995.

  The World of Chinese Myths. Beijing Language and Culture Center Press, 1995.

  Fiction and Poetry

  Hughart, Barry. The Bridge of Birds. St. Martin’s Press, 1984.

  Lao-tsu. Too Te Ching. Translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English. Vintage Books, 1989.

  Lewis, Elizabeth Foreman. Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1965.

  Liu, Wu-Chi and Irving Lo. Sunflower Splendor: Three Thousand Years of Chinese Poetry. Indiana University Press, 1975.

  Spence, Jonathan D. The Question of Hu. Vintage Books, 1989.

  Tu Fu. The Selected Poems of Tu Fu. Translated by David Hinton. New Directions Books, 1989.

  Van Gulik, Robert. Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee. Dover Publications, 1976.

  Web Sources

  Web sites come and go faster than spring flowers, but when last I checked (July 2002), all these sites were available.

  Wonderful English-Chinese dictionary. Plus flash cards to help you learn Chinese, your name in Chinese, and many other fun topics:

  http://www.mandarintools.com

  Virtual tours of China:

  http://www.chinavista.com/discover.html

  Deity worship through folk prints. Many articles on how Chinese use paper. Plus a shop:

  http://www.chinavista.com/experience/joss/joss.html

  Mini-histories, plus news on what’s happening currently:

  http://www.china-contact.eom/e.html

  Encyclopedia Mythica:

  http://www.pantheon.org/mythica/

  Mythology on the Web:

  http://www.mythsearch.com/

  Myths and Legends:

  http://www.myths.com/pub/myths/mythold.html

  Folklore and mythology texts:

  http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/folktexts.html