Eleventh century / 11th century – Zhiguai Translations

Entering Water, Saving Mother 赴水救母

When Su Song (1020-1101)[1] was Governor of Wuzhou, his mother, Lady of the Wei Realm, boarded a boat to visit him at his place of work, and the gentleman had set out to meet her. While going upstream on the Xiang River, they encountered a rapid torrent, and the boat turned side-on to the flow and threatened to capsize. The gentleman cried out, and without fear of the water swam out to save her. Before long, the boat suddenly recovered its alignment, allowing the lady to climb onto the bank. It then capsized. It is certain that, moved by his earnest filial piety, the spirits acted to shield and support her; this is the only explanation of this occurrence.

Anon, Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 前1.18 (Tale 29):

赴水救母

蘇頌知婺州日，其母魏國夫人方乘舟而來任所，公往迎迓。偶泝湘江，水暴迅，舟橫欲覆，公哀號，不懼水漲，赴水救之。未及，舟忽自正，及夫人甫出抵岸，舟乃覆。信知孝誠所感，神物護持，方能至此。

Yuan Haowen 元好問, Chang Zhenguo 常振國 (ed), Xu Yijian zhi 續夷堅志 (Continued Records of the Listener), and Anon., Jin Xin 金心 (ed.) Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi 湖海新聞夷堅續志 (Continuation of Records of the Listener with New Items from the Lakes and Seas) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1986)

[1] On the polymath Su Song 蘇頌, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Su_Song.

Not Taking Other’s Property 不取他物

Yang Zhongfeng Cun was from Bantang, in Jishui. In the eighth year of the Song Yuanfeng era (1085 CE), he was going to the provincial capital Kaifeng, and stayed in a traveller’s hostel in Xizhou. When he lay down, he became aware of something between mat and bed and which stuck into his [109] back; when he uncovered and looked at it this turned out to be salt production certificates to 20,000 yin in value. The following day, he asked the host: “Who stayed here the previous evening?” The host replied: “A great Huaidian merchant, surnamed such-and-such, was the guest.” The gentleman said: “He is an old acquaintance; if he returns, tell him I’m staying on such-and-such a road, with such-and-such a family.” He also wrote large characters on the wall, reading: “On such-and-such a year, month and day, Yang Cun of Luling stayed here.” He then went on his way. Before many days had passed, the merchant did indeed follow his former route, searching everywhere for it. When he reached the village to rest, the landlord told him about the gentleman, taking him to see the words he had written on the wall, after which he set off to the capital to visit the gentleman. The gentleman said: “So it turns out to be yours then! We should inform the authorities so they can return it to you.” The merchant said: “As you instruct.” The gentleman asked the officials to give all of it to the merchant, but the officials divided it in two halves. The gentleman said: “Had your servant wanted it, he could already have possessed it all merely by staying quiet.” The merchant had no option, so relinquished several hundred strings of coins to fund meals at the Xiangguo Monastery in the capital, in order to pray for the gentleman’s good fortune. That year, the gentleman was included on the list of imperial examination graduates. He rose through the government ranks up to Grand Master of Palace Service, and his sons and grandsons achieved great eminence.

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 前2.108-9 (Tale 188):

不取他物

楊中奉存，吉水湴塘人。宋元豐八年，赴省開封，宿息州旅舍。既卧，覺牀席間有物礙其 [109] 背，揭視之，乃鹽鈔二萬引。明日，詢主人曰：「前夕何人宿此？」主人曰：「淮甸一巨商某姓客也。」公曰：「此吾故人，設其人回，可與之言，吾在某坊某人家安歇。」又大書於所宿之房曰：「某年月日，廬陵楊存寓此。」遂行。不數日，商人果從故道，處處物色之。至息邨，主人以公言告，且使自觀壁間所書，乃徑去京師訪公。公曰：「果汝物耶！當聞之官以歸汝。」商曰：「如教。」公請府悉以授商，府使中分之。公曰：「使某欲之，前日奄為已有，泯默不言矣。」商不能強，乃捐數百緡，就京師相國寺設齋，為公祈福。是年，公中焦蹈榜下。歷官至中奉大夫，子孫貴顯。

Yuan Haowen 元好問, Chang Zhenguo 常振國 (ed), Xu Yijian zhi 續夷堅志 (Continued Records of the Listener), and Anon., Jin Xin 金心 (ed.), Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi 湖海新聞夷堅續志 (Continuation of Records of the Listener with New Items from the Lakes and Seas) (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1986).

Two Immortals Hidden In Bamboo 二仙隱竹

It was winter, on the second day of the eleventh month of the second year of the Zhiping era (2 December, 1065), when Huang Tingjian (1045-1105)[1] wrote Meiting Ji as a monk of the Jing Hall. Reading ‘Youguai Lu’, we find:

The clerk Lu Yanchang had a great bamboo that towered into the clouds; it was probably three chi (about 1m) in circumference. When he cut it open, he found within it two elderly immortals facing one another, who said: “After a life of deep roots and unswerving uprightness, it is a pity when the owner chops it down.” After speaking, they mounted the clouds and departed. Tingjian remarked: “This is exactly like the business of the ancients and the immortals in the tangerine garden.”[2]

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 後1.132 (Tale 231):

二仙隱竹

黃庭堅，治平二年冬十一月初二日為鏡堂僧作《梅亭記》。閱《幽怪錄》云：鄜延長吏有大竹淩雲，可三尺圍，伐剖之，見內有二仙翁相對，云：「平生深根勁節，惜為主人所伐。」言畢，乘雲而去。庭堅曰：「此與昔人橘園叟之事無異。」

[1] On Huang Tingjian, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huang_Tingjian

[2] This refers to tale 230, ‘Four Immortals Play Chess’ 四仙弈棋, found here: https://huhaixinwen.wordpress.com/2018/08/02/four-immortals-play-chess-%E5%9B%9B%E4%BB%99%E5%BC%88%E6%A3%8B/

A Spring Contains A Pig-Dragon 泉有豬龍

By the side of a road in Qingshen County within Meizhou there is a small Buddha Hall, commonly known as the Buddha of the Sow Mother. When Su Dongpo (1037-1101) asked the local people about this, they said: “A century ago a sow prostrated herself there, and transformed into a spring with two carp; she was a pig-dragon. People petitioned the sow to grant them motherhood, and erected a Buddha Hall over it, hence the name.” The spring emerged upwards from rock, its depth not reaching two chi (about 66cm), but even in severe droughts it never stopped running. People could never see the carp, however. One day Dongpo told this to his wife’s brother Wang Yuan, but Yuan thought it absurd and preposterous. Unable to settle Yuan’s doubts, he went together with Yuan to pray at the spring, where the latter said: “Grant, if this is not all nonsense, another glimpse of the fish.” Before long the two carp emerged once again. Yuan was terrified, bowing over and over again and requesting forgiveness for his misdeed, and then departing.

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 後2.266 (Tale 483):

泉有豬龍

眉州青神縣道側有小佛堂，俗謂豬母佛。蘇東坡問之土人，曰：「百年前有牝豬伏於此，化為泉，有二鯉魚在泉中，蓋豬龍也。人請牝豬為母，而立佛堂其上，故以名之。」泉出石上，深不及二尺，大旱不竭，而鯉莫有見者。一日東坡以其事告妻兄王愿，愿疑之妄誕，不平其疑，與愿俱至井禱之泉上曰：「予若不妄言，魚當復見。」已而二鯉復出，愿大驚，再拜謝罪而去。

A Well Contains A White Dragon 井有白龍

When Su Dongpo (1037-1101) arrived to the east of Hainan City, he came across a pair of wells, sited very close to one another, and having savoured their differences, named them the Paired Wells, their water flowing from the stones of a cliff. Dongpo drank their waters and was surprised by [266] them, saying: “I seek a white dragon but have not yet seen it; now I know that it dwells in these waters!” His travelling companion was surprised by this question, and asked about its motivation, saying: “The white dragon will emerge from among us; please wait a moment.” Presently they saw a tail like a silver serpent sprout from his back, and the water clouding as mist and vapour rolled across its surface; raising his head like the finest chopsticks [?], he swam away. Later, the prefectural commander Zhang Zixiu had a convent built atop the well, calling it Remembering Those Afar, with a pavilion named Water Drawn From Afar.

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 後2.265-66 (Tale 482):

井有白龍

蘇東坡至海南城東，見有雙井，相去咫尺，而味兩般，號雙井，水源出巖石中。東坡酌水異 [266] 之，曰：「吾尋白龍不見，今知居此水中乎！」同遊者怪問其故，曰：「白龍當為我出，請徐待之。」俄見其脊尾如生銀蛇，忽水渾有雲氣浮水面，舉首如插工筯，乃泳而去。後有郡守張子修為造庵井上，號思遠，亭名泂酌。

A Painted Child is Able to Cry 繪兒能啼

Mao Hui (Artist Mao) came from Suichang, and was skilled at making the most fascinating paintings. He often went to the Guangren Temple on Ceng Peak, where the disciples did not follow the appropriate rites. He entered the Buddha chamber, painted a woman breastfeeding an infant at the base of the wall, and then left. Suddenly at night there came the sound of a child crying, and people marveled at it. One day when Hui arrived, the monks told him of this, and Hui laughed: “If you want it to stop, that is very easy!” He therefore increased the breast, so it was inside the baby’s mouth, and from then on the sound of crying stopped.

Moreover, in a pavilion of the Nanzhou Monastery in Songyang hangs a silk scroll presented in the Jiayou era (1056-63), on which the Compiler Gong Yuan 龔原 (1078-1101) inscribed this poem: “Gentleman Mao of our city, Paintings exquisite and enthralling.” The assistant minister Zhou Wan also composed a poem for presentation to him; his skill was indeed outstanding.

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 前2.81 (Tale 140):

繪兒能啼

毛繪，遂昌人，善畫入神。常至曾山廣仁院，其徒不之禮。入佛殿畫一婦人乳一小兒於壁角而出。遇夜有兒啼聲，怪之。一日繪至，僧語及，繪笑曰：「若欲絕之甚易！」乃添（「添」原作「啼」，據元刻本改。）乳入口，自此啼聲遂止。又在松陽南洲寺閣畫帛道猷相，嘉祐中，待制龔原題詩其上云：「吾邑毛生者，畫格妙入神。」侍郎周綰亦作詩贈之，其術亦不俗矣。

Fostered Swallows Show Gratitude 飼燕知恩

During the Yuanyou era (1086-1094), a daughter of the Wang family, named Yasan, lived in Qingxi, in Yanzhou. She saw a mother swallow, whose three chicks were not yet able to leave the nest, being eaten by a cat, and daily took food to feed them, until they grew up and flew away. That winter, Yasan fell ill and died. The next spring, the three swallows returned, flying around and around her room without stopping. Her mother said: “You are flying in search of Yasan, aren’t you? Yasan is dead; she is buried in the back garden. Follow me if you want to find her.” Her mother walked, the swallows flying behind her, until they reached the garden, where she pointed to the tomb. The three swallows flew to the grave, crying out, and then, using their beaks, all dug themselves into the earth and died.

Anon, Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 前2.120 (Tale 209):

飼燕知恩

元祐間，嚴州青溪王氏女，名亞三。見燕母為貓所食，有未出巢燕子三，每日將飯飼之，後長大飛去。其冬，亞三病死。次春，三燕復來，飛繞其屋不已。母曰：「你飛尋亞三否？亞三已死，葬在後園中，欲尋則隨我去。」母行，燕飛隨後，至園，母指墓，三小燕飛鳴於墓，以嘴鑽入墓土中皆死。