one day Liu-lang again said he had come to bid Hsü farewell. Hsü
thought he had found another substitute, but Liu-lang told him that
his former behaviour had so pleased Almighty Heaven, that he had been
appointed guardian angel of Wu-chên, in the Chao-yüan district, and
that on the following morning he would start for his new post. “And if
you do not forget the days of our friendship,” added he, “I pray you
come and see me, in spite of the long journey.” “Truly,” replied Hsü,
“you well deserved to be made a God; but the paths of Gods and men
lie in different directions, and even if the distance were nothing,
how should I manage to meet you again?” “Don’t be afraid on that
score,” said Liu-lang, “but come;” and then he went away, and Hsü
returned home. The latter immediately began to prepare for the
journey, which caused his wife to laugh at him and say, “Supposing you
do find such a place at the end of that long journey, you won’t be
able to hold a conversation with a clay image.” Hsü, however, paid no
attention to her remarks, and travelled straight to Chao-yüan, where
he learned from the inhabitants that there really was a village called
Wu-chên, whither he forthwith proceeded and took up his abode at an
inn. He then inquired of the landlord where the village temple was; to
which the latter replied by asking him somewhat hurriedly if he was
speaking to Mr. Hsü. Hsü informed him that his name was Hsü, asking in
reply how he came to know it; whereupon the landlord further inquired
if his native place was not Tzŭ-chou. Hsü told him it was, and again
asked him how he knew all this; to which the landlord made no answer,
but rushed out of the room; and in a few moments the place was crowded
with old and young, men, women, and children, all come to visit Hsü.
They then told him that a few nights before they had seen their
guardian deity in a vision, and he had informed them that Mr. Hsü
would shortly arrive, and had bidden them to provide him with
travelling expenses, &c. Hsü was very much astonished at this, and
went off at once to the shrine, where he invoked his friend as
follows:--“Ever since we parted I have had you daily and nightly in
my thoughts; and now that I have fulfilled my promise of coming to see
you, I have to thank you for the orders you have issued to the people
of the place. As for me, I have nothing to offer you but a cup of
wine, which I pray you accept as though we were drinking together on
the river-bank.” He then burnt a quantity of paper money,[535] when
lo! a wind suddenly arose, which, after whirling round and round
behind the shrine, soon dropped, and all was still. That night Hsü
dreamed that his friend came to him, dressed in his official cap and
robes, and very different in appearance from what he used to be, and
thanked him, saying, “It is truly kind of you to visit me thus: I only
regret that my position makes me unable to meet you face to face, and
that though near we are still so far. The people here will give you a
trifle, which pray accept for my sake; and when you go away, I will
see you a short way on your journey.” A few days afterwards Hsü
prepared to start, in spite of the numerous invitations to stay which
poured in upon him from all sides; and then the inhabitants loaded him
with presents of all kinds, and escorted him out of the village. There
a whirlwind arose and accompanied him several miles, when he turned
round and invoked his friend thus:--“Liu-lang, take care of your valued
person. Do not trouble yourself to come any farther.[536] Your noble
heart will ensure happiness to this district, and there is no occasion
for me to give a word of advice to my old friend.” By-and-by the
whirlwind ceased, and the villagers, who were much astonished,
returned to their own homes. Hsü, too, travelled homewards, and being
now a man of some means, ceased to work any more as a fisherman. And
whenever he met a Chao-yüan man he would ask him about that guardian
angel, being always informed in reply that he was a most beneficent
God. Some say the place was Shih-k‘êng-chuang, in Chang-ch‘in: I can’t
say which it was myself.
FOOTNOTES:
[532] See No. XLV., note 267.
[533] We have in this story the keynote to the notorious and
much-to-be-deprecated dislike of the Chinese people to assist in
saving the lives of drowning strangers. Some of our readers may,
perhaps, not be aware that the Government of Hong-Kong has found it
necessary to insert a clause on the junk-clearances issued in that
colony, by which the junkmen are bound to assist to the utmost in
saving life. The apparent apathy of the Chinese in this respect comes
before us, however, in quite a different light when coupled with the
superstition that disembodied spirits of persons who have met a
violent death may return to the world of mortals if only fortunate
enough to secure a substitute. For among the crowd of shades, anxious
all to revisit their “sweet sons,” may perchance be some dear relative
or friend of the man who stands calmly by while another is drowning;
and it may be that to assist the drowning stranger would be to take
the longed-for chance away from one’s own kith or kin. Therefore, the
superstition-ridden Chinaman turns away, often perhaps, as in the
story before us, with feelings of pity and remorse. And yet this
belief has not prevented the establishment, especially on the river
Yang-tsze, of institutions provided with life-boats, for the express
purpose of saving life in those dangerous waters; so true is it that
when the Chinese people wish to move _en masse_ in any given
direction, the fragile barrier of superstition is trampled down and
scattered to the winds.
[534] As there are good and bad foxes, so may devils be beneficent or
malicious according to circumstances; and Chinese apologists for the
discourtesy of the term “foreign devils,” as applied to Europeans and
Americans alike, have gone so far as to declare that in this
particular instance the allusion is to the more virtuous among the
denizens of the Infernal Regions.
[535] See No. XCVII., note 505.
[536] A phrase constantly repeated, in other terms, by a guest to a
host who is politely escorting him to the door.
CVIII.
THE PRIEST’S WARNING.
A man named Chang died suddenly, and was escorted at once by
devil-lictors[537] into the presence of the King of Purgatory. His
Majesty turned to Chang’s record of good and evil, and then, in great
anger, told the lictors they had brought the wrong man, and bade them
take him back again. As they left the judgment-hall, Chang persuaded
his escort to let him have a look at Purgatory; and, accordingly, the
devils conducted him through the nine sections,[538] pointing out to
him the Knife Hill,[539] the Sword Tree, and other objects of
interest. By-and-by, they reached a place where there was a Buddhist
priest, hanging suspended in the air head downwards, by a rope through
a hole in his leg. He was shrieking with pain, and longing for death;
and when Chang approached, lo! he saw that it was his own brother. In
great distress, he asked his guides the reason of this punishment; and
they informed him that the priest was suffering thus for collecting
subscriptions on behalf of his order, and then privately squandering
the proceeds in gambling and debauchery.[540] “Nor,” added they, “will
he escape this torment unless he repents him of his misdeeds.” When
Chang came round,[541] he thought his brother was already dead, and
hurried off to the Hsing-fu monastery, to which the latter belonged.
As he went in at the door, he heard a loud shrieking; and, on
proceeding to his brother’s room, he found him laid up with a very bad
abscess in his leg, the leg itself being tied up above him to the
wall, this being, as his brother informed him, the only bearable
position in which he could lie. Chang now told him what he had seen in
Purgatory, at which the priest was so terrified, that he at once gave
up taking wine and meat,[542] and devoted himself entirely to
religious exercises. In a fortnight he was well, and was known ever
afterwards as a most exemplary priest.
FOOTNOTES:
[537] The spiritual lictors who are supposed to arrest the souls of
dying persons, are also believed to be armed with warrants signed and
sealed in due form as in the world above.
[538] Literally, the “nine dark places,” which will remind readers of
Dante of the nine “bolgie” of the _Inferno_.
[539] This is a cliff over which sinners are hurled, to alight upon
the upright points of knives below. The branches of the Sword Tree are
sharp blades which cut and hack all who pass within reach.
[540] A crime by no means unknown to the clergy of China.
[541] That is, when the lictors had returned his soul to its tenement.
[542] See No. VI., note 52.
CIX.
METEMPSYCHOSIS.
Mr. Lin, who took his master’s degree in the same year as the late Mr.
Wên Pi,[543] could remember what had happened to him in his previous
state of existence, and once told the whole story, as follows:--I was
originally of a good family, but, after leading a very dissolute life,
I died at the age of sixty-two. On being conducted into the presence
of the King of Purgatory, he received me civilly, bade me be seated,
and offered me a cup of tea. I noticed, however, that the tea in His
Majesty’s cup was clear and limpid, while that in my own was muddy,
like the lees of wine. It then flashed across me that this was the
potion which was given to all disembodied spirits to render them
oblivious of the past:[544] and, accordingly, when the King was looking
the other way, I seized the opportunity of pouring it under the table,
pretending afterwards that I had drunk it all up. My record of good
and evil was now presented for inspection, and when the King saw what
it was, he flew into a great passion, and ordered the attendant devils
to drag me away, and send me back to earth as a horse. I was
immediately seized and bound, and the devils carried me off to a
house, the door-sill of which was so high I could not step over it.
While I was trying to do so, the devils behind lashed me with all
their might, causing me such pain that I made a great spring, and--lo
and behold! I was a horse in a stable. “The mare has got a nice colt,”
I then heard a man call out; but, although I was perfectly aware of
all that was passing, I could say nothing myself. Hunger now came upon
me, and I was glad to be suckled by the mare; and by the end of four
or five years I had grown into a fine strong horse, dreadfully afraid
of the whip, and running away at the very sight of it. When my master
rode me, it was always with a saddle-cloth, and at a leisurely pace,
which was bearable enough; but when the servants mounted me
barebacked, and dug their heels into me, the pain struck into my
vitals; and at length I refused all food, and in three days I died.
Reappearing before the King of Purgatory, His Majesty was enraged to
find that I had thus tried to shirk working out my time; and, flaying
me forthwith, condemned me to go back again as a dog. And when I did
not move, the devils came behind me and lashed me until I ran away
from them into the open country, where, thinking I had better die
right off, I jumped over a cliff, and lay at the bottom unable to
move. I then saw that I was among a litter of puppies, and that an old
bitch was licking and suckling me by turns; whereby I knew that I was
once more among mortals. In this hateful form I continued for some
time, longing to kill myself, and yet fearing to incur the penalty of
shirking. At length, I purposely bit my master in the leg, and tore
him badly; whereupon he had me destroyed, and I was taken again into
the presence of the King, who was so displeased with my vicious
behaviour that he condemned me to become a snake, and shut me up in a
dark room, where I could see nothing. After a while I managed to climb
up the wall, bore a hole in the roof, and escape; and immediately I
found myself lying in the grass, a veritable snake. Then I registered
a vow that I would harm no living thing, and I lived for some years,
feeding upon berries and such like, ever remembering neither to take
my own life, nor by injuring any one to incite them to take it, but
longing all the while for the happy release, which did not come to me.
One day, as I was sleeping in the grass, I heard the noise of a
passing cart, and, on trying to get across the road out of its way, I
was caught by the wheel, and cut in two. The King was astonished to
see me back so soon, but I humbly told my story, and, in pity for the
innocent creature that loses its life, he pardoned me, and permitted
me to be born again at my appointed time as a human being.
Such was Mr. Lin’s story. He could speak as soon as he came into the
world; and could repeat anything he had once read. In the year 1621 he
took his master’s degree, and was never tired of telling people to put
saddle-cloths on their horses, and recollect that the pain of being
gripped by the knees is even worse than the lash itself.
FOOTNOTES:
[543] In A.D. 1621.
[544] According to the _Yü-li-ch‘ao_, this potion is administered by
an old beldame, named Mother Mêng, who sits upon the Terrace of
Oblivion. “Whether they swallow much or little it matters not; but
sometimes there are perverse devils who altogether refuse to drink.
Then beneath their feet sharp blades start up, and a copper tube is
forced down their throats, by which means they are compelled to
swallow some.”
CX.
THE FORTY STRINGS OF CASH.
Mr. Justice Wang had a steward, who was possessed of considerable
means. One night the latter dreamt that a man rushed in and said to
him, “To-day you must repay me those forty strings of cash.” The
steward asked who he was; to which the man made no answer, but hurried
past him into the women’s apartments. When the steward awoke, he found
that his wife had been delivered of a son; and, knowing at once that
retribution was at hand, he set aside forty strings of cash to be
spent solely in food, clothes, medicines, and so on, for the baby. By
the time the child was between three and four years old, the steward
found that of the forty strings only about seven hundred cash
remained; and when the wet-nurse, who happened to be standing by,
brought the child and dandled it in her arms before him, he looked at
it and said, “The forty strings are all but repaid; it is time you
were off again.” Thereupon the child changed colour; its head fell
back, and its eyes stared fixedly, and, when they tried to revive it,
lo! respiration had already ceased. The father then took the balance
of the forty strings, and with it defrayed the child’s funeral
expenses--truly a warning to people to be sure and pay their debts.
Formerly, an old childless man consulted a great many Buddhist priests
on the subject. One of them said to him, “If you owe no one anything,
and no one owes you anything, how can you expect to have children? A
good son is the repayment of a former debt; a bad son is a dunning
creditor, at whose birth there is no rejoicing, at whose death no
lamentations.”[545]
FOOTNOTE:
[545] And such is actually the prevalent belief in China to this day.
CXI.
SAVING LIFE.
A certain gentleman of Shên-yu, who had taken the highest degree,
could remember himself in a previous state of existence. He said he
had formerly been a scholar, and had died in middle life; and that
when he appeared before the Judge of Purgatory, there stood the
cauldrons, the boiling oil, and other apparatus of torture, exactly as
we read about them on earth. In the eastern corner of the hall were a
number of frames from which hung the skins of sheep, dogs, oxen,
horses, etc.; and when anybody was condemned to re-appear in life
under any one of these forms, his skin was stripped off and a skin was
taken from the proper frame and fixed on to his body. The gentleman of
whom I am writing heard himself sentenced to become a sheep; and the
attendant devils had already clothed him in a sheep’s-skin in the
manner above described, when the clerk of the record informed the
Judge that the criminal before him had once saved another man’s life.
The Judge consulted his books, and forthwith cried out, “I pardon him;
for although his sins have been many, this one act has redeemed them
all.”[546] The devils then tried to take off the sheep’s-skin, but it
was so tightly stuck on him that they couldn’t move it. However, after
great efforts, and causing the gentleman most excruciating agony, they
managed to tear it off bit by bit, though not quite so cleanly as one
might have wished. In fact, a piece as big as the palm of a man’s hand
was left near his shoulder; and when he was born again into the world,
there was a great patch of hair on his back, which grew again as fast
as it was cut off.
FOOTNOTE:
[546] Note 533 to No. CVII. should be read here. To save life is
indeed the bounden duty of every good Buddhist, for which he will be
proportionately rewarded in the world to come.
CXII.
THE SALT SMUGGLER.
Wang Shih, of Kao-wan, a petty salt huckster, was inordinately fond of
gambling. One night he was arrested by two men, whom he took for
lictors of the Salt Gabelle; and, flinging down what salt he had with
him, he tried to make his escape.[547] He found, however, that his
legs would not move with him, and he was forthwith seized and bound.
“We are not sent by the Salt Commissioner,” cried his captors, in
reply to an entreaty to set him free; “we are the devil-constables of
Purgatory.” Wang was horribly frightened at this, and begged the
devils to let him bid farewell to his wife and children; but this they
refused to do, saying, “You aren’t going to die; you are only wanted
for a little job there is down below.” Wang asked what the job was; to
which the devils replied, “A new Judge has come into office, and,
finding the river[548] and the eighteen hells choked up with the
bodies of sinners, he has determined to employ three classes of
mortals to clean them out. These are thieves, unlicensed
founders,[549] and unlicensed dealers in salt, and, for the dirtiest
work of all, he is going to take musicians.”[550]
Wang accompanied the devils until at length they reached a city, where
he was brought before the Judge, who was sitting in his Judgment-hall.
On turning up his record in the books, one of the devils explained
that the prisoner had been arrested for unlicensed trading; whereupon
the Judge became very angry, and said, “Those who drive an illicit
trade in salt, not only defraud the State of its proper revenue, but
also prey upon the livelihood of the people. Those, however, whom the
greedy officials and corrupt traders of to-day denounce as unlicensed
traders, are among the most virtuous of mankind--needy unfortunates
who struggle to save a few cash in the purchase of their pint of
salt.[551] Are they your unlicensed traders?” The Judge then bade the
lictors buy four pecks of salt, and send it to Wang’s house for him,
together with that which had been found upon him; and, at the same
time, he gave Wang an iron scourge, and told him to superintend the
works at the river. So Wang followed the devils, and found the river
swarming with people like ants in an ant-hill. The water was turbid
and red, the stench from it being almost unbearable, while those who
were employed in cleaning it out were working there naked. Sometimes
they would sink down in the horrid mass of decaying bodies: sometimes
they would get lazy, and then the iron scourge was applied to their
backs. The assistant-superintendents had small scented balls, which
they held in their mouths. Wang himself approached the bank, and saw
the licensed salt-merchant of Kao-wan[552] in the midst of it all, and
thrashed him well with his scourge, until he was afraid he would never
come up again. This went on for three days and three nights, by which
time half the workmen were dead, and the work completed; whereupon the
same two devils escorted him home again, and then he waked up.
As a matter of fact, Wang had gone out to sell some salt, and had not
come back. Next morning, when his wife opened the house door, she
found two bags of salt in the court-yard; and, as her husband did not
return, she sent off some people to search for him, and they
discovered him lying senseless by the wayside. He was immediately
conveyed home, where, after a little time, he recovered consciousness,
and related what had taken place. Strange to say, the licensed
salt-merchant had fallen down in a fit on the previous evening, and
had only just recovered; and Wang, hearing that his body was covered
with sores--the result of the beating with the iron scourge--went off
to his house to see him; however, directly the wretched man set eyes
on Wang, he hastily covered himself up with the bed-clothes,
forgetting that they were no longer at the infernal river. He did not
recover from his injuries for a year, after which he retired from
trade.[553]
FOOTNOTES:
[547] Salt is a Government monopoly in China, and its sale is only
permitted to licensed dealers. It is a contraband article of commerce,
whether for import or export, to foreign nations trading with China.
In an account of a journey from Swatow to Canton in March-April, 1877,
I wrote:--“_Apropos_ of salt, we came across a good-sized bunker of it
when stowing away our things in the space below the deck. The boatmen
could not resist the temptation of doing a little smuggling on the way
up.... At a secluded point in a bamboo-shaded bend of the river, they
ran the boat alongside the bank, and were instantly met by a number of
suspicious-looking gentlemen with baskets, who soon relieved them of
the smuggled salt and separated in different directions.” Thus do the
people of China seek to lighten the grievous pressure of this tax. A
curious custom exists in Canton. Certain blind old men and women are
allowed to hawk salt about the streets, and earn a scanty living from
the profits they are able to make.
It may interest some to know that in the cities of the north of China
_ice_ and _coal_ may only be retailed by licensed dealers, who retain
such authority on the condition of supplying the yamêns of the local
mandarins with these two necessaries, free of all charge.
[548] The Styx.
[549] These words require some explanation. Ordinarily they would be
taken in the sense of casting _cash_ of a base description; but they
might equally well signify the casting of iron articles of any kind,
and thereby hang some curious details. Iron foundries in China may
only be opened under license from the local officials, and the
articles there made, consisting chiefly of cooking utensils, may only
be sold within a given area, each district having its own particular
foundries from which alone the supplies of the neighbourhood may be
derived. Free trade in iron is much feared by the authorities, as
thereby pirates and rebels would be enabled to supply themselves with
arms. At the framing of the Treaty of Tientsin, with its accompanying
tariff and rules, iron was not specified among other prohibited
articles of commerce. Consequently, British merchants would appear to
have a full right to purchase iron in the interior and convey it to
any of the open ports under Transit-pass. But the Chinese officials
steadily refuse to acknowledge, or permit the exercise of, this right,
putting forward their own time-honoured custom with regard to iron,
and enumerating the disadvantages to China were such an innovation to
be brought about.
[550] The allusion is to women, of a not very respectable class.
[551] No Chinese magistrate would be found to pass sentence upon a man
who stole food under stress of hunger.
[552] His own village.
[553] The whole story is meant as a satire upon the iniquity of the
Salt Gabelle.
CXIII.
COLLECTING SUBSCRIPTIONS.
The Frog-God frequently employs a magician to deliver its oracles to
those who have faith. Should the magician declare that the God is
pleased, happiness is sure to follow; but if he says the God is angry,
women and children[554] sit sorrowfully about, and neglect even their
meals. Such is the customary belief, and it is probably not altogether
devoid of foundation.