Part 16 (1/2)
Once the Eight Immortals (see Chapter XI) were on their way to Ch'ang-li Shan to celebrate the birthday anniversary of Hsien Weng, the G.o.d of Longevity. They had with them a servant who bore the presents they intended to offer to the G.o.d. When they reached the seash.o.r.e the Immortals walked on the waves without any difficulty, but Lan Ts'ai-ho remarked that the servant was unable to follow them, and said that a means of transport must be found for him. So Ts'ao Kuo-chiu took a plank of cypress-wood and made a raft. But when they were in mid-ocean a typhoon arose and upset the raft, and servant and presents sank to the bottom of the sea.
Regarding this as the hostile act of a water-devil, the Immortals said they must demand an explanation from the Dragon-king, Ao Ch'in. Li T'ieh-kuai took his gourd, and, directing the mouth toward the bottom of the sea, created so brilliant a light that it illuminated the whole palace of the Sea-king. Ao Ch'in, surprised, asked where this powerful light originated, and deputed a courier to ascertain its cause.
To this messenger the Immortals made their complaint. ”All we want,”
they added, ”is that the Dragon-king shall restore to us our servant and the presents.” On this being reported to Ao Ch'in he suspected his son of being the cause, and, having established his guilt, severely reprimanded him. The young Prince took his sword, and, followed by an escort, went to find those who had made the complaint to his father. As soon as he caught sight of the Immortals he began to inveigh against them.
A Battle and its Results
Han Hsiang Tzu, not liking this undeserved abuse, changed his flute into a fis.h.i.+ng-line, and as soon as the Dragon-prince was within reach caught him on the hook, with intent to retain him as a hostage. The Prince's escort returned in great haste and informed Ao Ch'in of what had occurred. The latter declared that his son was in the wrong, and proposed to restore the s.h.i.+pwrecked servant and the presents. The Court officers, however, held a different opinion. ”These Immortals,”
they said, ”dare to hold captive your Majesty's son merely on account of a few lost presents and a s.h.i.+pwrecked servant. This is a great insult, which we ask permission to avenge.” Eventually they won over Ao Ch'in, and the armies of the deep gathered for the fray. The Immortals called to their aid the other Taoist Immortals and Heroes, and thus two formidable armies found themselves face to face.
Several attempts were made by other divinities to avert the conflict, but without success. The battle was a strenuous one. Ao Ch'in received a ball of fire full on his head, and his army was threatened with disaster when Tz'u-hang Ta-s.h.i.+h appeared with his bottle of l.u.s.tral water. He sprinkled the combatants with this magic fluid, using a willow-branch for the purpose, thus causing all their magic powers to disappear.
Shui Kuan, the Ruler of the Watery Elements, then arrived, and reproached Ao Ch'in; he a.s.sured him that if the matter were to come to the knowledge of Shang Ti, the Supreme Ruler, he would not only be severely punished, but would risk losing his post. Ao Ch'in expressed penitence, restored the servant and the presents, and made full apology to the Eight Immortals.
The Dragon in the Pond
One day Chang Tao-ling, the 'father of modern Taoism,' was on Ho-ming Shan with his disciple w.a.n.g Ch'ang. ”See,” he said, ”that shaft of white light on Yang Shan yonder! There are undoubtedly some bad spirits there. Let us go and bring them to reason.” When they reached the foot of the mountain they met twelve women who had the appearance of evil spirits. Chang Tao-ling asked them whence came the shaft of white light. They answered that it was the _yin_, or female, principle of the earth. ”Where is the source of the salt water?” he asked again. ”That pond in front of you,” they replied, ”in which lives a very wicked dragon.” Chang Tao-ling tried to force the dragon to come out, but without success. Then he drew a phoenix with golden wings on a charm and hurled it into the air over the pond. Thereupon the dragon took fright and fled, the pond immediately drying up. After that Chang Tao-ling took his sword and stuck it in the ground, whereupon a well full of salt water appeared on the spot.
The Spirits of the Well
The twelve women each offered Chang Tao-ling a jade ring, and asked that they might become his wives. He took the rings, and pressing them together in his hands made of them one large single ring. ”I will throw this ring into the well,” he said, ”and the one of you who recovers it shall be my wife.” All the twelve women jumped into the well to get the ring; whereupon Chang Tao-ling put a cover over it and fastened it down, telling them that henceforth they should be the spirits of the well and would never be allowed to come out.
Shortly after this Chang Tao-ling met a hunter. He exhorted him not to kill living beings, but to change his occupation to that of a salt-burner, instructing him how to draw out the salt from salt-water wells. Thus the people of that district were advantaged both by being able to obtain the salt and by being no longer molested by the twelve female spirits. A temple, called Temple of the Prince of Ch'ing Ho, was built by them, and the territory of Ling Chou was given to Chang Tao-ling in recognition of the benefits he had conferred upon the people.
The Dragon-king's Daughter
A graduate named Liu I, in the reign-period I Feng (A.D. 676-679) of the Emperor Kao Tsung of the T'ang dynasty, having failed in his examination for his licentiate's degree, when pa.s.sing through Ching-yang Hsien, in Ch'ang-an, Shensi, on his way home, saw a young woman tending goats by the roadside. She said to him: ”I am the youngest daughter of the Dragonking of the Tung-t'ing Lake. My parents married me to the son of the G.o.d of the River Ching, but my husband, misled by the slanders of the servants, repudiated me. I have heard that you are returning to the Kingdom of Wu, which is quite close to my native district, so I want to ask you to take this letter to my father. To the north of the Tung-t'ing Lake you will find a large orange-tree, called by the natives Protector of the Soil. Strike it three times with your girdle and some one will appear.”
Some months later the graduate went to the spot, found the orange-tree, and struck it three times, whereupon a warrior arose from the lake and, saluting him, asked what he wanted. ”I wish to see your great King,” the graduate replied. The warrior struck the waters, opening a pa.s.sage for Liu I, and led him to a palace. ”This,” he said, ”is the palace of Ling Hsu.” In a few minutes there appeared a person dressed in violet-coloured clothes and holding in his hand a piece of jade. ”This is our King,” said the warrior. ”I am your Majesty's neighbour,” replied Liu I. ”I spent my youth in Ch'u and studied in Ch'in. I have just failed in my licentiate examination. On my way home I saw your daughter tending some goats; she was all dishevelled, and in so pitiable a condition that it hurt me to see her, She has sent you this letter.”
Golden Dragon Great Prince
On reading the letter the King wept, and all the courtiers followed his example. ”Stop wailing,” said the King, ”lest Ch'ien-t'ang hear.” ”Who is Ch'ien-t'ang?” asked Liu I. ”He is my dear brother,”
replied the King; ”formerly he was one of the chief administrators of the Ch'ien-t'ang River; now he is the chief G.o.d of Rivers.” ”Why are you so afraid that he might hear what I have just told you?” ”Because he has a terrible temper. It was he who, in the reign of Yao, caused a nine-years flood.”
Before he had finished speaking, a red dragon, a thousand feet long, with red scales, mane of fire, b.l.o.o.d.y tongue, and eyes blazing like lightning, pa.s.sed through the air with rapid flight and disappeared. Barely a few moments had elapsed when it returned with a young woman whom Liu I recognized as the one who had entrusted him with the letter. The Dragon-king, overjoyed, said to him: ”This is my daughter; her husband is no more, and she offers you her hand.” Liu did not dare to accept, since it appeared that they had just killed her husband. He took his departure, and married a woman named Chang, who soon died. He then married another named Han, who also died. He then went to live at Nanking, and, his solitude preying upon his spirits, he decided to marry yet again. A middleman spoke to him of a girl of Fang Yang, in Chihli, whose father, Hao, had been Magistrate of Ch'ing Liu, in Anhui. This man was always absent on his travels, no one knew whither. The girl's mother, Cheng, had married her two years before to a man named Chang of Ch'ing Ho, in Chihli, who had just died. Distressed at her daughter being left a widow so young, the mother wished to find another husband for her.
Liu I agreed to marry this young woman, and at the end of a year they had a son. She then said to her husband: ”I am the daughter of the King of the Tung-t'ing Lake. It was you who saved me from my miserable plight on the bank of the Ching, and I swore I would reward you. Formerly you refused to accept my hand, and my parents decided to marry me to the son of a silk-merchant. I cut my hair, and never ceased to hope that I might some time or other be united to you in order that I might show you my grat.i.tude.”
In A.D. 712, in the reign-period K'ai-yuan of the Emperor Hsuan Tsung of the T'ang dynasty, they both returned to the Tung-t'ing Lake; but the legend says nothing further with regard to them.
Shang Ti, the Supreme Ruler, conferred on Liu I the t.i.tle of Chin Lung Ta w.a.n.g, 'Golden Dragon Great Prince.'