both began to weep. Notscha, however, came to them and said: "Why do
you weep? I will just go to my master, the Great One, and he will know
what is to be done." And no sooner had he said the words than he had
disappeared. He came into his master's presence and told him the whole
tale. The latter said: "You must get ahead of the dragon, and prevent
him from accusing you in Heaven!" Then he did some magic, and Notscha
found himself set down by the gate of Heaven, where he waited for the
dragon. It was still early in the morning; the gate of Heaven had not
yet been opened, nor was the watchman at his post. But the dragon was
already climbing up. Notscha, whom his master's magic had rendered
invisible, threw the dragon to the ground with his armlet, and began
to pitch into him. The dragon scolded and screamed. "There the old
worm flounders about," said Notscha, "and does not care how hard he is
beaten! I will scratch off some of his scales." And with these words
he began to tear open the dragon's festal garments, and rip off some
of the scales beneath his left arm, so that the red blood dripped out.
Then the dragon could no longer stand the pain and begged for mercy.
But first he had to promise Notscha that he would not complain of
him, before the latter would let him go. And then the dragon had to
turn himself into a little green snake, which Notscha put into his
sleeve and took back home with him. But no sooner had he drawn the
little snake from his sleeve than it assumed human shape. The dragon
then swore that he would punish Li Dsing in a terrible manner, and
disappeared in a flash of lightning.
Li Dsing was now angry with his son in earnest. Therefore Notscha's
mother sent him to the rear of the house to keep out of his father's
sight. Notscha disappeared and went to his master, in order to ask him
what he should do when the dragon returned. His master advised him and
Notscha went back home. And all the Dragon Kings of the four seas were
assembled, and had bound his parents, with cries and tumult, in order
to punish them. Notscha ran up and cried with a loud voice: "I will
take the punishment for whatever I have done! My parents are
blameless! What is the punishment you wish to lay upon me?" "Life for
life!" said the dragon. "Very well then, I will destroy myself!" And
so he did and the dragons went off satisfied; while Notscha's mother
buried him with many tears.
But the spiritual part of Notscha, his soul, fluttered about in the
air, and was driven by the wind to the cave of the Great One. He took
it in and said to it: "You must appear to your mother! Forty miles
distant from your home rises a green mountain cliff. On this cliff she
must build a shrine for you. And after you have enjoyed the incense of
human adoration for three years, you shall once more have a human
body." Notscha appeared to his mother in a dream, and gave her the
whole message, and she awoke in tears. But Li Dsing grew angry when
she told him about it. "It serves the accursed boy right that he is
dead! It is because you are always thinking of him that he appears to
you in dreams. You must pay no attention to him." The woman said no
more, but thenceforward he appeared to her daily, as soon as she
closed her eyes, and grew more and more urgent in his demand. Finally
all that was left for her to do was to erect a temple for Notscha
without Li Dsing's knowledge.
And Notscha performed great miracles in his temple. All prayers made
in it were granted. And from far away people streamed to it to burn
incense in his honor.
Thus half a year passed. Then Li Dsing, on the occasion of a great
military drill, once came by the cliff in question, and saw the people
crowding thickly about the hill like a swarm of ants. Li Dsing
inquired what there were to see upon the hill. "It is a new god, who
performs so many miracles that people come from far and near to honor
him." "What sort of a god is he?" asked Li Dsing. They did not dare
conceal from him who the god was. Then Li Dsing grew angry. He spurred
his horse up the hill and, sure enough, over the door of the temple
was written: "Notscha's Shrine." And within it was the likeness of
Notscha, just as he had appeared while living. Li Dsing said: "While
you were alive you brought misfortune to your parents. Now that you
are dead you deceive the people. It is disgusting!" With these words
he drew forth his whip, beat Notscha's idolatrous likeness to pieces
with it, had the temple burned down, and the worshipers mildly
reproved. Then he returned home.
Now Notscha had been absent in the spirit upon that day. When he
returned he found his temple destroyed; and the spirit of the hill
gave him the details. Notscha hurried to his master and related with
tears what had befallen him. The latter was roused and said: "It is Li
Dsing's fault. After you had given back your body to your parents,
you were no further concern of his. Why should he withdraw from you
the enjoyment of the incense?" Then the Great One made a body of
lotus-plants, gave it the gift of life, and enclosed the soul of
Notscha within it. This done he called out in a loud voice: "Arise!" A
drawing of breath was heard, and Notscha leaped up once more in the
shape of a small boy. He flung himself down before his master and
thanked him. The latter bestowed upon him the magic of the fiery
lance, and Notscha thenceforward had two whirling wheels beneath his
feet: The wheel of the wind and the wheel of fire. With these he could
rise up and down in the air. The master also gave him a bag of
panther-skin in which to keep his armlet and his silken cloth.
Now Notscha had determined to punish Li Dsing. Taking advantage of a
moment when he was not watched, he went away, thundering along on his
rolling wheels to Li Dsing's dwelling. The latter was unable to
withstand him and fled. He was almost exhausted when his second son,
Mutscha, the disciple of the holy Pu Hain, came to his aid from the
Cave of the White Crane. A violent quarrel took place between the
brothers; they began to fight, and Mutscha was overcome; while Notscha
once more rushed in pursuit of Li Dsing. At the height of his
extremity, however, the holy Wen Dschu of the Hill of the Five
Dragons, the master of Gintscha, Li Dsing's oldest son, stepped forth
and hid Li Dsing in his cave. Notscha, in a rage, insisted that he be
delivered up to him; but Wen Dschu said: "Elsewhere you may indulge
your wild nature to your heart's content, but not in this place."
And when Notscha in the excess of his rage turned his fiery lance upon
him, Wen Dschu stepped back a pace, shook the seven-petaled lotus from
his sleeve, and threw it into the air. A whirlwind arose, clouds and
mists obscured the sight, and sand and earth were flung up from the
ground. Then the whirlwind collapsed with a great crash. Notscha
fainted, and when he regained consciousness found himself bound to a
golden column with three thongs of gold, so that he could no longer
move. Wen Dschu now called Gintscha to him and ordered him to give his
unruly brother a good thrashing. And this he did, while Notscha,
obliged to stand it, stood grinding his teeth. In his extremity he saw
the Great One floating by, and called out to him: "Save me, O Master!"
But the latter did not notice him; instead he entered the cave and
thanked Wen Dschu for the severe lesson which he had given Notscha.
Finally they called Notscha in to them and ordered him to be
reconciled to his father. Then they dismissed them both and seated
themselves to play chess. But no sooner was Notscha free than he again
fell into a rage, and renewed his pursuit of his father. He had again
overtaken Li Dsing when still another saint came forward to defend the
latter. This time it was the old Buddha of the Radiance of the Light.
When Notscha attempted to battle with him he raised his arm, and a
pagoda shaped itself out of red, whirling clouds and closed around
Notscha. Then Radiance of Light placed both his hands on the pagoda
and a fire arose within it which burned Notscha so that he cried
loudly for mercy. Then he had to promise to beg his father's
forgiveness and always to obey him in the future. Not till he had
promised all this did the Buddha let him out of the pagoda again. And
he gave the pagoda to Li Dsing; and taught him a magic saying which
would give him the mastery over Notscha. It is for this reason that Li
Dsing is called the Pagoda-bearing King of Heaven.
Later on Li Dsing and his three sons, Gintscha, Mutscha and Notscha,
aided King Wu of the Dschou dynasty to destroy the tyrant Dschou-Sin.
None could withstand their might. Only once did a sorcerer succeed in
wounding Notscha in the left arm. Any other would have died of the
wound. But the Great One carried him into his cave, healed his wound
and gave him three goblets of the wine of the gods to drink, and three
fire-dates to eat. When Notscha had eaten and drunk he suddenly heard
a crash at his left side and another arm grew out from it. He could
not speak and his eyes stood out from their sockets with horror. But
it went on as it had begun: six more arms grew out of his body and two
more heads, so that finally he had three heads and eight arms. He
called out to his Master: "What does all this mean?" But the latter
only laughed and said: "All is as it should be. Thus equipped you will
really be strong!" Then he taught him a magic incantation by means of
which he could make his arms and heads visible or invisible as he
chose. When the tyrant Dschou-Sin had been destroyed, Li Dsing and his
three sons, while still on earth, were taken up into heaven and seated
among the gods.
Note: Li Dsing, the Pagoda-bearing King of Heaven, may
be traced back to Indra, the Hindoo god of thunder and
lightning. The Pagoda might be an erroneous variant of
the thunderbolt Vadjra. In such case Notscha would be a
personification of the thunder. The Great One (Tai I),
is the condition of things before their separation into
the active and passive principles. There is a whole
genealogy of mythical saints and holy men who took part
in the battles between King Wu of Dschou and the tyrant
Dschou-Sin. These saints are, for the most part,
Buddhist-Brahminic figures which have been reshaped. The
Dragon-King of the Eastern Sea also occurs in the tale
of Sun Wu Kung (No. 74). "Dragon sinew" means the spinal
cord, the distinction between nerves and sinews not
being carefully observed. "Three spirits and seven
souls": man has three spirits, usually above his head,
and seven animal souls. "Notscha had been absent in the
spirit upon that day": the idol is only the seat of the
godhead, which the latter leaves or inhabits as he
chooses. Therefore the godhead must be summoned when
prayers are offered, by means of bells and incense. When
the god is not present, his idol is merely a block of
wood or stone. Pu Hain, the Buddha of the Lion, is the
Indian Samantabharda, one of the four great Boddhisatvas
of the Tantra School. Wen Dschu, the Buddha on the
Golden-haired Mountain Lion, (Hou), is the Indian
Mandjusri. The old Buddha of the Radiance of the Light,
Jan Dong Go Fu, is the Indian Dipamkara.
XIX
THE LADY OF THE MOON
In the days of the Emperor Yau lived a prince by the name of Hou I,
who was a mighty hero and a good archer. Once ten suns rose together
in the sky, and shone so brightly and burned so fiercely that the
people on earth could not endure them. So the Emperor ordered Hou I to
shoot at them. And Hou I shot nine of them down from the sky. Besides
his bow, Hou I also had a horse which ran so swiftly that even the
wind could not catch up with it. He mounted it to go a-hunting, and
the horse ran away and could not be stopped. So Hou I came to Kunlun
Mountain and met the Queen-Mother of the Jasper Sea. And she gave him
the herb of immortality. He took it home with him and hid it in his
room. But his wife who was named Tschang O, once ate some of it on the
sly when he was not at home, and she immediately floated up to the
clouds. When she reached the moon, she ran into the castle there, and
has lived there ever since as the Lady of the Moon.
On a night in mid-autumn, an emperor of the Tang dynasty once sat at
wine with two sorcerers. And one of them took his bamboo staff and
cast it into the air, where it turned into a heavenly bridge, on which
the three climbed up to the moon together. There they saw a great
castle on which was inscribed: "The Spreading Halls of Crystal Cold."
Beside it stood a cassia tree which blossomed and gave forth a
fragrance filling all the air. And in the tree sat a man who was
chopping off the smaller boughs with an ax. One of the sorcerers said:
"That is the man in the moon. The cassia tree grows so luxuriantly
that in the course of time it would overshadow all the moon's
radiance. Therefore it has to be cut down once in every thousand
years." Then they entered the spreading halls. The silver stories of
the castle towered one above the other, and its walls and columns were
all formed of liquid crystal. In the walls were cages and ponds, where
fishes and birds moved as though alive. The whole moon-world seemed
made of glass. While they were still looking about them on all sides
the Lady of the Moon stepped up to them, clad in a white mantle and a
rainbow-colored gown. She smiled and said to the emperor: "You are a
prince of the mundane world of dust. Great is your fortune, since you
have been able to find your way here!" And she called for her
attendants, who came flying up on white birds, and sang and danced
beneath the cassia tree. A pure clear music floated through the air.
Beside the tree stood a mortar made of white marble, in which a jasper
rabbit ground up herbs. That was the dark half of the moon. When the
dance had ended, the emperor returned to earth again with the
sorcerers. And he had the songs which he had heard on the moon written
down and sung to the accompaniment of flutes of jasper in his
pear-tree garden.
Note: This fairy-tale is traditional. The archer Hou I
(or Count I, the Archer-Prince, comp. Dschuang Dsi), is
placed by legend in different epochs. He also occurs in
connection with the myths regarding the moon, for one
tale recounts how he saved the moon during an eclipse by
means of his arrows. The Queen-Mother is Si Wang Mu
(comp. with No. 15). The Tang dynasty reigned 618-906
A.D. "The Spreading Halls of Crystal Cold": The goddess
of the ice also has her habitation in the moon. The hare
in the moon is a favorite figure. He grinds the grains
of maturity or the herbs that make the elixir of life.
The rain-toad Tschan, who has three legs, is also placed
on the moon. According to one version of the story,
Tschang O took the shape of this toad.
[Illustration: "BESIDE IT STOOD A CASSIA-TREE."
--_Page 54_]
XX
THE MORNING AND THE EVENING STAR
Once upon a time there were two stars, sons of the Golden King of the
Heavens. The one was named Tschen and the other Shen. One day they
quarreled, and Tschen struck Shen a terrible blow. Thereupon both
stars made a vow that they would never again look upon each other. So
Tschen only appears in the evening, and Shen only appears in the
morning, and not until Tschen has disappeared is Shen again to be
seen. And that is why people say: "When two brothers do not live
peaceably with one another they are like Tschen and Shen."
Note: Tschen and Shen are Hesperus and Lucifer, the
morning and evening stars. The tale is told in its
traditional form.
XXI
THE GIRL WITH THE HORSE'S HEAD OR THE SILKWORM GODDESS
In the dim ages of the past there once was an old man who went on a
journey. No one remained at home save his only daughter and a white
stallion. The daughter fed the horse day by day, but she was lonely
and yearned for her father.
So it happened that one day she said in jest to the horse: "If you
will bring back my father to me then I will marry you!"
No sooner had the horse heard her say this, than he broke loose and
ran away. He ran until he came to the place where her father was. When
her father saw the horse, he was pleasantly surprised, caught him and
seated himself on his back. And the horse turned back the way he had
come, neighing without a pause.
"What can be the matter with the horse?" thought the father.
"Something must have surely gone wrong at home!" So he dropped the
reins and rode back. And he fed the horse liberally because he had
been so intelligent; but the horse ate nothing, and when he saw the
girl, he struck out at her with his hoofs and tried to bite her. This
surprised the father; he questioned his daughter, and she told him the
truth, just as it had occurred.
"You must not say a word about it to any one," spoke her father, "or
else people will talk about us."
And he took down his crossbow, shot the horse, and hung up his skin in
the yard to dry. Then he went on his travels again.
One day his daughter went out walking with the daughter of a
neighbor. When they entered the yard, she pushed the horse-hide with
her foot and said: "What an unreasonable animal you were--wanting to
marry a human being! What happened to you served you right!"
But before she had finished her speech, the horse-hide moved, rose up,
wrapped itself about the girl and ran off.
Horrified, her companion ran home to her father and told him what had
happened. The neighbors looked for the girl everywhere, but she could
not be found.
At last, some days afterward, they saw the girl hanging from the
branches of a tree, still wrapped in the horse-hide; and gradually she
turned into a silkworm and wove a cocoon. And the threads which she
spun were strong and thick. Her girl friend then took down the cocoon
and let her slip out of it; and then she spun the silk and sold it at
a large profit.
But the girl's relatives longed for her greatly. So one day the girl
appeared riding in the clouds on her horse, followed by a great
company and said: "In heaven I have been assigned to the task of
watching over the growing of silkworms. You must yearn for me no
longer!" And thereupon they built temples to her in her native land,
and every year, at the silkworm season, sacrifices are offered to her
and her protection is implored. And the Silkworm Goddess is also known
as the girl with the Horse's Head.
Note: This tale is placed in the times of the Emperor
Hau, and the legend seems to have originated in
Setchuan. The stallion is the sign of the zodiac which
rules the springtime, the season when the silkworms are
cultivated. Hence she is called the Goddess with the
Horse's Head. The legend itself tells a different tale.
In addition to this goddess, the spouse of Schen Nung,
the "Divine Husbandman," is also worshiped as the
goddess of silkworm culture. The Goddess with the
Horse's Head is more of a totemic representation of the
silkworm as such; while the wife of Schen Nung is
regarded as the protecting goddess of silk culture, and
is supposed to have been the first to teach women its
details. The spouse of the Yellow Lord is mentioned in
the same connection. The popular belief distinguishes
three goddesses who protect the silkworm culture in
turn. The second is the best of the three, and when it
is her year the silk turns out well.
XXII
THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN
The Queen of Heaven, who is also known as the Holy Mother, was in
mortal life a maiden of Fukien, named Lin. She was pure, reverential
and pious in her ways and died at the age of seventeen. She shows her
power on the seas and for this reason the seamen worship her. When
they are unexpectedly attacked by wind and waves, they call on her and
she is always ready to hear their pleas.
There are many seamen in Fukien, and every year people are lost at
sea. And because of this, most likely, the Queen of Heaven took pity
on the distress of her people during her lifetime on earth. And since
her thoughts are uninterruptedly turned toward aiding the drowning in
their distress, she now appears frequently on the seas.
In every ship that sails a picture of the Queen of Heaven hangs in the
cabin, and three paper talismans are also kept on shipboard. On the
first she is painted with crown and scepter, on the second as a maiden
in ordinary dress, and on the third she is pictured with flowing hair,
barefoot, standing with a sword in her hand. When the ship is in
danger the first talisman is burnt, and help comes. But if this is of
no avail, then the second and finally the third picture is burned. And
if no help comes then there is nothing more to be done.
When seamen lose their course among wind and waves and darkling
clouds, they pray devoutly to the Queen of Heaven. Then a red lantern
appears on the face of the waters. And if they follow the lantern they
will win safe out of all danger. The Queen of Heaven may often be seen
standing in the skies, dividing the wind with her sword. When she does
this the wind departs for the North and South, and the waves grow
smooth.
A wooden wand is always kept before her holy picture in the cabin. It
often happens that the fish-dragons play in the seas. They are two
giant fish who spout up water against one another till the sun in the
sky is obscured, and the seas are shrouded in profound darkness. And
often, in the distance, one may see a bright opening in the darkness.
If the ship holds a course straight for this opening it will win
through, and is suddenly floating in calm waters again. Looking back,
one may see the two fishes still spouting water, and the ship will
have passed directly beneath their jaws. But a storm is always near
when the fish dragons swim; therefore it is well to burn paper or wool
so that the dragons do not draw the ship down into the depths. Or the
Master of the Wand may burn incense before the wand in the cabin. Then
he must take the wand and swing it over the water three times, in a
circle. If he does so the dragons will draw in their tails and
disappear.
When the ashes in the censer fly up into the air without any cause,
and are scattered about, it is a sign that great danger is
threatening.
Nearly two-hundred years ago an army was fitted out to subdue the
island of Formosa. The captain's banner had been dedicated with the
blood of a white horse. Suddenly the Queen of Heaven appeared at the
tip of the banner-staff. In another moment she had disappeared, but
the invasion was successful.
On another occasion, in the days of Kien Lung, the minister Dschou
Ling was ordered to install a new king in the Liu-Kiu Islands. When
the fleet was sailing by south of Korea, a storm arose, and his ship
was driven toward the Black Whirlpool. The water had the color of ink,
sun and moon lost their radiance, and the word was passed about that
the ship had been caught in the Black Whirlpool, from which no living
man had ever returned. The seaman and travelers awaited their end with
lamentations. Suddenly an untold number of lights, like red lanterns,
appeared on the surface of the water. Then the seamen were overjoyed
and prayed in the cabins. "Our lives are saved!" they cried, "the Holy
Mother has come to our aid!" And truly, a beautiful maiden with golden
earrings appeared. She waved her hand in the air and the winds became
still and the waves grew even. And it seemed as though the ship were
being drawn along by a mighty hand. It moved plashing through the
waves, and suddenly it was beyond the limits of the Black Whirlpool.
Dschou Ling on his return told of this happening, and begged that
temples be erected in honor of the Queen of Heaven, and that she be
included in the list of the gods. And the emperor granted his prayer.
Since then temples of the Queen of Heaven are to be found in all
sea-port towns, and her birthday is celebrated on the eighth day of
the fourth month with spectacles and sacrifices.
Note: "The Queen of Heaven," whose name is Tian Hou, or
more exactly, Tian Fe Niang Niang, is a Taoist goddess
of seamen, generally worshiped in all coast towns. Her
story is principally made up of local legends of Fukien
province, and a variation of the Indian Maritschi (who
as Dschunti with the eight arms, is the object of quite
a special cult). Tian Hou, since the establishment of
the Manchu dynasty, is one of the officially recognized
godheads.
XXIII
THE FIRE-GOD
Long before the time of Fu Hi, Dschu Yung, the Magic Welder, was the
ruler of men. He discovered the use of fire, and succeeding
generations learned from him to cook their food. Hence his descendants
were intrusted with the preservation of fire, while he himself was
made the Fire-God. He is a personification of the Red Lord, who showed
himself at the beginning of the world as one of the Five Ancients. The
Fire-God is worshiped as the Lord of the Holy Southern Mountain. In
the skies the Fiery Star, the southern quarter of the heavens and the
Red Bird belong to his domain. When there is danger of fire the Fiery
Star glows with a peculiar radiance. When countless numbers of
fire-crows fly into a house, a fire is sure to break out in it.