suffering from a protracted illness, when suddenly he felt, as it
were, a warm glow rising from his extremities upwards. By the time it
had reached his knees, his feet were perfectly numb and without
sensation; and before long his knees and the lower part of his body
were similarly affected. Gradually this glow worked its way up until
it attacked the heart,[305] and then some painful moments ensued.
Every single incident of Mr. T‘ang’s life from his boyhood upwards, no
matter how trivial, seemed to surge through his mind, borne along on
the tide of his heart’s blood. At the revival of any virtuous act of
his, he experienced a delicious feeling of peace and calm; but when
any wicked deed passed before his mind, a painful disturbance took
place within him, like oil boiling and fretting in a cauldron. He was
quite unable to describe the pangs he suffered; however, he mentioned
that he could recollect having stolen, when only seven or eight years
old, some young birds from their nest, and having killed them; and for
this alone, he said, boiling blood rushed through his heart during the
space of an ordinary mealtime. Then when all the acts of his life had
passed one after another in panorama before him, the warm glow
proceeded up his throat, and, entering the brain, issued out at the
top of his head like smoke from a chimney. By-and-by Mr. T‘ang’s soul
escaped from his body by the same aperture, and wandered far away,
forgetting all about the tenement it had left behind. Just at that
moment a huge giant came along, and, seizing the soul, thrust it into
his sleeve, where it remained cramped and confined, huddled up with a
crowd of others, until existence was almost unbearable. Suddenly Mr.
T‘ang reflected that Buddha alone could save him from this horrible
state, and forthwith he began to call upon his holy name.[306] At the
third or fourth invocation he fell out of the giant’s sleeve,
whereupon the latter picked him up and put him back; but this happened
several times, and at length the giant, wearied of picking him up, let
him lie where he was. The soul lay there for some time, not knowing in
which direction to proceed; however, it soon recollected that the land
of Buddha was in the west, and westwards accordingly it began to shape
its course. In a little while the soul came upon a Buddhist priest
sitting by the roadside, and, hastening forwards, respectfully
inquired of him which was the right way. “The record of life and
death for scholars,” replied the priest, “is in the hands of
Wên-ch‘ang[307] and Confucius; any application must receive the
consent of both.” The priest then directed Mr. T‘ang on his way, and
the latter journeyed along until he reached a Confucian temple, in
which the Sage was sitting with his face to the south.[308] On hearing
his business, Confucius referred him on to Wên-ch‘ang; and, proceeding
onwards in the direction indicated, Mr. T‘ang by-and-by arrived at
what seemed to be the palace of a king, within which sat Wên-ch‘ang,
precisely as we depict him on earth. “You are an upright man,” replied
the God, in reply to Mr. T‘ang’s prayer, “and are certainly entitled
to a longer span of life; but by this time your mortal body has become
decomposed, and unless you can secure the assistance of P‘u-sa,[309] I
can give you no aid.” So Mr. T‘ang set off once more, and hurried
along until he came to a magnificent shrine standing in a thick grove
of tall bamboos; and, entering in, he stood in the presence of the
God, on whose head was the _ushnisha_,[310] whose golden face was
round like the full moon, and at whose side was a green willow-branch
bending gracefully over the lip of a vase. Humbly Mr. T‘ang prostrated
himself on the ground, and repeated what Wên-ch‘ang had said to him;
but P‘u-sa seemed to think it would be impossible to grant his
request, until one of the Lohans[311] who stood by cried out, “O God,
Thou canst perform this miracle: take earth and make his flesh; take a
sprig of willow and make his bones.” Thereupon P‘u-sa broke off a
piece from the willow-branch in the vase beside him; and, pouring a
little of the water upon the ground, he made clay, and, casting the
whole over Mr. T‘ang’s soul, bade an attendant lead the body back to
the place where his coffin was. At that instant Mr. T‘ang’s family
heard a groan proceeding from within his coffin, and, on rushing to it
and helping out the lately-deceased man, they found he had quite
recovered. He had then been dead seven days.
FOOTNOTES:
[305] See No. XIV., note 97.
[306] See No. LIV., note 293.
[307] The God of Literature.
[308] See No. LXXVII., note 76.
[309] See No. XXVI., note 182.
[310] A fleshy protuberance on the head, which is the distinguishing
mark of a Buddha.
[311] The eighteen personal disciples of Shâkyamuni Buddha. Sixteen of
these are Hindoos, which number was subsequently increased by the
addition of two Chinese Buddhists.
CLI.
FÊNG-SHUI.[312]
At I-chow there lived a high official named Sung, whose family were
all ardent supporters of Fêng-Shui; so much so, that even the
women-folk read books[313] on the subject, and understood the
principles of the science. When Mr. Sung died, his two sons set up
separate establishments,[314] and each invited to his own house
geomancers from far and near, who had any reputation in their art, to
select a spot for the dead man’s grave. By degrees, they had collected
together as many as a hundred a-piece, and every day they would scour
the country round, each at the head of his own particular regiment.
After about a month of this work, both sides had fixed upon a suitable
position for the grave; and the geomancers engaged by one brother,
declared that if their spot was selected he would certainly some day
be made a marquis, while the other brother was similarly informed, by
his geomancers, that by adopting their choice he would infallibly rise
to the rank of Secretary of State. Thus, neither brother would give
way to the other, but each set about making the grave in his own
particular place,--pitching marquees, and arranging banners, and
making all necessary preparations for the funeral. Then when the
coffin arrived at the point where roads branched off to the two
graves, the two brothers, each leading on his own little army of
geomancers, bore down upon it with a view to gaining possession of the
corpse. From morn till dewy eve the battle raged; and as neither
gained any advantage over the other, the mourners and friends, who had
come to witness the ceremony of burial, stole away one by one; and the
coolies, who were carrying the coffin, after changing the poles from
one shoulder to another until they were quite worn out, put the body
down by the roadside, and went off home. It then became necessary to
make some protection for the coffin against the wind and rain;
whereupon the elder brother immediately set about building a hut close
by, in which he purposed leaving some of his attendants to keep
guard; but he had no sooner begun than the younger brother followed
his example; and when the elder built a second and third, the younger
also built a second and third; and as this went on for the space of
three whole years, by the end of that time the place had become quite
a little village. By-and-by, both brothers died, one directly after
the other; and then their two wives determined to cast to the winds
the decision of each party of geomancers. Accordingly, they went
together to the two spots in question; and after inspecting them
carefully, declared that neither was suitable. The next step was to
jointly engage another set of geomancers, who submitted for their
approval several different spots, and ten days had hardly passed away
before the two women had agreed upon the position for their
father-in-law’s grave, which, as the wife of the younger brother
prophesied, would surely give to the family a high military degree. So
the body was buried, and within three years Mr. Sung’s eldest
grandson, who had entered as a military cadet, actually took the
corresponding degree to a literary master of arts.
[“Fêng-Shui,” adds the great commentator I Shih-shih, “may or may
not be based upon sound principles; at any rate, to indulge a
morbid belief in it is utter folly; and thus to join issue and
fight while a coffin is relegated to the roadside, is hardly in
accordance with the doctrines of filial piety or fraternal love.
Can people believe that mere position will improve the fortunes of
their family? At any rate, that two women should have thus quietly
settled the matter is certainly worthy of record.”]
FOOTNOTES:
[312] Literally, “wind and water,” or that which cannot be seen and
that which cannot be grasped. I have explained the term in my _Chinese
Sketches_, p. 143, as “a system of geomancy, by the _science_ of which
it is possible to determine the desirability of sites,--whether of
tombs, houses, or cities, from the configuration of such natural
objects as rivers, trees, and hills, and to foretell with certainty
the fortunes of any family, community, or individual, according to the
spot selected; by the _art_ of which it is in the power of the
geomancer to counteract evil influences by good ones, to transform
straight and noxious outlines into undulating and propitious curves,
and rescue whole districts from the devastations of flood or
pestilence.”
[313] As a rule, only the daughters of wealthy families receive any
education to speak of.
[314] A reprehensible proceeding in the eyes of all respectable
Chinese, both from a moral and a practical point of view; “for when
brothers fall out,” says the proverb, “strangers get an advantage over
them.”
CLII.
THE LINGERING DEATH.
There was a man in our village who led an exceedingly disreputable
life. One morning when he got up rather early, two men appeared, and
led him away to the market-place, where he saw a butcher hanging up
half a pig. As they approached, the two men shoved him with all their
might against the dead animal, and lo! his own flesh began to blend
with the pork before him, while his conductors hurried off in an
opposite direction. By-and-by the butcher wanted to sell a piece of
his meat; and seizing a knife, began to cut off the quantity required.
At every touch of the blade our disreputable friend experienced a
severe pang, which penetrated into his very marrow; and when, at
length, an old man came and haggled over the weight given him, crying
out for a little bit more fat, or an extra portion of lean,[315] then,
as the butcher sliced away the pork ounce by ounce, the pain was
unendurable in the extreme. By about nine o’clock the pork was all
sold, and our hero went home, whereupon his family asked him what he
meant by staying in bed so late.[316] He then narrated all that had
taken place, and on making inquiries, they found that the pork-butcher
had only just come home; besides which our friend was able to tell him
every pound of meat he had sold, and every slice he had cut off. Fancy
a man being put to the lingering death[317] like this before
breakfast!
FOOTNOTES:
[315] Chinese tradesmen invariably begin by giving short weight in
such transactions as these, partly in order to be in a position to
gratify the customer by throwing in a trifle more and thus acquire a
reputation for fair dealing.
[316] It was only his soul that had left the house.
[317] See No. LVI., note 322.
CLIII.
DREAMING HONOURS.
Wang Tzŭ-ngan was a Tung-ch‘ang man, and a scholar of some repute, but
unfortunate at the public examinations. On one occasion, after having
been up for his master’s degree, his anxiety was very great; and when
the time for the publication of the list drew near, he drank himself
gloriously tipsy, and went and lay down on the bed. In a few moments a
man rushed in, and cried out, “Sir! you have passed!” whereupon Wang
jumped up, and said, “Give him ten strings of cash.”[318] Wang’s wife,
seeing he was drunk, and wishing to keep him quiet, replied, “You go
on sleeping: I’ve given him the money.” So Wang lay down again, but
before long in came another man who informed Wang that his name was
among the successful candidates for the highest degree. “Why, I
haven’t been up for it yet;” said Wang, “how can I have passed?”
“What! you don’t mean to say you have forgotten the examination?”
answered the man; and then Wang got up once more, and gave orders to
present the informant with ten strings of cash. “All right,” replied
his wife; “you go on sleeping: I’ve given him the money.” Another
short interval, and in burst a third messenger to say that Wang had
been elected a member of the National Academy, and that two official
servants had come to escort him thither. Sure enough there were the
two servants bowing at the bedside, and accordingly Wang directed that
they should be served with wine and meat, which his wife, smiling at
his drunken nonsense, declared had been already done. Wang now
bethought him that he should go out and receive the congratulations of
the neighbours, and roared out several times to his official servants;
but without receiving any answer. “Go to sleep,” said his wife, “and
wait till I have fetched them;” and after awhile the servants actually
came in; whereupon Wang stamped and swore at them for being such
idiots as to go away. “What! you wretched scoundrel,” cried the
servants, “are you cursing us in earnest, when we are only joking with
you!” At this Wang’s rage knew no bounds, and he set upon the men, and
gave them a sound beating, knocking the hat of one off on to the
ground. In the _mêlée_, he himself tumbled over, and his wife ran in
to pick him up, saying, “Shame upon you, for getting so drunk as
this!” “I was only punishing the servants as they deserved,” replied
Wang; “why do you call me drunk?” “Do you mean the old woman who cooks
our rice and boils the water for your foot-bath,” asked his wife,
smiling, “that you talk of servants to wait upon your poverty-stricken
carcase?” At this sally all the women burst out in a roar of
laughter; and Wang, who was just beginning to get sober, waked up as
if from a dream, and knew that there was no reality in all that had
taken place. However, he recollected the spot where the servant’s hat
had fallen off, and on going thither to look for it, lo! he beheld a
tiny official hat, no larger than a wine-cup, lying there behind the
door. They were all much astonished at this, and Wang himself cried
out, “Formerly people were thus tricked by devils; and now foxes are
playing the fool with me!”[319]
FOOTNOTES:
[318] See No. CXXIII., note 234.
[319] A common saying is “Foxes in the north; devils in the south,” as
illustrative of the folk-lore of these two great divisions of China.
CLIV.
THE SHE-WOLF AND THE HERD-BOYS.
Two herd-boys went up among the hills and found a wolf’s lair with two
little wolves in it. Seizing each of them one, they forthwith climbed
two trees which stood there, at a distance of forty or fifty paces
apart. Before long the old wolf came back, and, finding her cubs gone,
was in a great state of distress. Just then, one of the herd-boys
pinched his cub and made it squeak; whereupon the mother ran angrily
towards the tree whence the sound proceeded, and tried to climb up it.
At this juncture, the boy in the other tree pinched the other cub, and
thereby diverted the wolf’s attention in that direction. But no sooner
had she reached the foot of the second tree, than the boy who had
first pinched his cub did so again, and away ran the old wolf back to
the tree in which her other young one was. Thus they went on time
after time, until the mother was dead tired, and lay down exhausted on
the ground. Then, when after some time she shewed no signs of moving,
the herd-boys crept stealthily down, and found that the wolf was
already stiff and cold. And truly, it is better to meet a blustering
foe with his hand upon his sword-hilt, by retiring within doors, and
leaving him to fret his violence away unopposed; for such is but the
behaviour of brute beasts, of which men thus take advantage.
CLV.
ADULTERATION[320] PUNISHED.
At Chin-ling there lived a seller of spirits, who was in the habit of
adulterating his liquor with water and a certain drug, the effect of
which was that even a few cups would make the strongest-headed man as
drunk as a jelly-fish.[321] Thus his shop acquired a reputation for
having a good article on sale, and by degrees he became a rich man.
One morning, on getting up, he found a fox lying drunk alongside of
the spirit vat; and tying its legs together, he was about to fetch a
knife, when suddenly the fox waked up, and began pleading for its
life, promising in return to do anything the spirit-merchant might
require. The latter then released the animal, which instantly changed
into the form of a human being. Now, at that very time, the
wife of a neighbour was suffering under fox influence, and this
recently-transformed animal confessed to the spirit-merchant that it
was he who had been troubling her. Thereupon the spirit-merchant, who
knew the lady in question to be a celebrated beauty, begged his fox
friend to secretly introduce him to her. After raising some
objections, the fox at length consented, and conducted the
spirit-merchant to a cave, where he gave him a suit of serge clothes,
which he said had belonged to his late brother, and in which he told
him he could easily go. The merchant put them on, and returned home,
when to his great delight he observed that no one could see him, but
that if he changed into his ordinary clothes everybody could see him
as before. Accordingly he set off with the fox for his neighbour’s
house; and, when they arrived, the first thing they beheld was a charm
on the wall, like a great wriggling dragon. At this the fox was
greatly alarmed, and said, “That scoundrel of a priest! I can’t go any
farther.” He then ran off home, leaving the spirit-merchant to proceed
by himself. The latter walked quietly in to find that the dragon on
the wall was a real one, and preparing to fly at him, so he too
turned, and ran away as fast as his legs could carry him. The fact was
that the family had engaged a priest to drive away the fox influence;
and he, not being able to go at the moment himself, gave them this
charm to stick up on the wall. The following day the priest himself
came, and, arranging an altar, proceeded to exorcise the fox. All the
villagers crowded round to see, and among others was the
spirit-merchant, who, in the middle of the ceremony, suddenly changed
colour, and hurried out of the front door, where he fell on the ground
in the shape of a fox, having his clothes still hanging about his arms
and legs. The bystanders would have killed him on the spot, but his
wife begged them to spare him; and the priest let her take the fox
home, where in a few days it died.
FOOTNOTES:
[320] In no country in the world is adulteration more extensively
practised than in China, the only formal check upon it being a
religious one--the dread of punishment in the world below.
[321] The text has here a word (literally, “mud”) explained to be the
name of a boneless aquatic creature, which on being removed from the
water lies motionless like a lump of mud. The common term for a
jelly-fish is _shui-mu_, “water-mother.”
CLVI.
A CHINESE SOLOMON.