medieval culture – Zhiguai Translations

Yao Yuanqi 姚元起

Yao Yuanqi, of Henei, lived close to a mountain forest. His family all went into the countryside to raise their crops, and his seven-year-old daughter was left alone to mind the house. She gradually became thin and emaciated. When her parents asked her about this, the girl told them: “There’s often this man. More than a zhang (c.3.3m) tall, he has four faces, each face having the seven apertures.[1] He calls himself Marshal of the High Heavens, and swallows me whenever he comes, so I come out through his lower end. This has happened several times. He told me: ‘Be sure never to speak of me. If you talk about me you will spend a long time in my belly.’” The family locked their doors and sighed in horrified astonishment. They then moved away to avoid him.

From Lingguizhi.

Li Fang 李昉, et al., Taiping guangji 太平廣記 (Extensive Gleanings from the Era of Great Harmony), 10 vols (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1961), vii, 320.2534:

姚元起

河內姚元起。居近山林。舉家恒入野耕種。唯有七歲女守屋。而漸覺瘦。父母問女。女云。常有一人。長丈餘而有四面。面皆有七孔。自號高天大將軍。來輒見吞。逕出下部。如此數過。云。慎勿道我。道我。當長留腹中。闔門駭惋。遂移避。出靈鬼志

[1] I.e., two eyes, two nostrils, two ears and a mouth.

Good Omens 瑞應

The nine-tailed fox is a mystical animal. In terms of appearance, it is red in colour and has four feet and nine tails. It emerged from the Realm of the Green Mound.[1] Its cry is like that of a baby. Eating it will prevent a person from encountering noxious or demonic energies; it also serves a kind of poison.[2]

From Ruiyingbian.

Li Fang 李昉, et al., Taiping guangji 太平廣記 (Extensive Gleanings from the Era of Great Harmony), 10 vols (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1961), ix, 447.3652:

瑞應

九尾狐者。神獸也。其狀赤色。四足九尾。出青丘之國。音如嬰兒。食者令人不逢妖邪之氣。及蠱毒之類。出瑞應編

[1] Qingqiu 青丘 was regarded as a place in the far east, beyond the seas.

[2] In this context the choice of the title ruiying 瑞應, which usually refers to auspicious portents resulting from virtuous rule, is a little confusing.

A Fox-Dragon 狐龍

Beneath Lishan there was a white fox. It startled and bothered the people below the peak, but they were unable to get rid of it. One day during the Tang Ganfu era (874-80 CE), it suddenly took a bath in a hot spring. Before long, clouds arose and mists bubbled up, and a violent wind began to blow. It transformed into a white dragon, ascended the clouds and departed. For some time afterwards there was dark and gloom, and people frequently saw the white dragon soaring over the mountain’s flanks. This continued for three years. Then an old man appeared, approaching each night and weeping before the peak. After several days people waited for him and asked him why. The old man said: “My Fox-Dragon is dead. That is the reason.” They asked him why he called it a fox-dragon, and again why he wept. The old man said: “The fox-dragon was a fox and became a dragon. After three years it died. I am the fox-dragon’s son.” The people questioned him again, asking: “How can a fox turn into a dragon?” The old man replied: “This fox grew endowed with the vital energy of the west, its whiskers white in colour. It did not travel with the crowds, did not join with its vicinity. The fox was entrusted with the skirts of Lishan for more than a thousand years. Later, it happened to unite with a female dragon. The heavens were aware of this, and so decreed it become a dragon, and also that, like a human, it could leave the mortal plane and become a sage.” When he had finished speaking he vanished.

From Qishiji.

Li Fang 李昉, et al., Taiping guangji 太平廣記 (Extensive Gleanings from the Era of Great Harmony), 10 vols (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1961), x, 455.3718:

狐龍

驪山下有一白狐。驚撓山下人。不能去除。唐乾符中。忽一日突溫泉自浴。須臾之間。雲蒸霧湧。狂風大起。化一白龍。昇天而去。後或陰暗。往往有人見白龍飛騰山畔。如此三年。忽有一老父。每臨夜。即哭於山前。數日。人乃伺而問其故。老父曰。我狐龍死。故哭爾。人問之。何以名狐龍。老父又何哭也。老父曰。狐龍者。自狐而成龍。三年而死。我狐龍之子也。人又問曰。狐何能化為龍。老父曰。此狐也。稟西方之正氣而生。胡白色。不與衆遊。不與近處。狐託於驪山下千餘年。後偶合於雌龍。上天知之。遂命為龍。亦猶人間自凡而成聖耳。言訖而滅。

出奇事記

The Xiao of Geshan 閣山𤡔

In the xinmao year of the Gandao era (1171 CE), no rain fell in Raozhou for a very long time, and the rivers’ flow was blocked. Three fishermen of Geshan Route went empty-handed to the Fan River to catch fish. Two went ahead, but one of them felt his two thighs suddenly turn cold as ice, feeling a slight trace of saliva, and, terrified lest there be the lair of a xiao beneath him, scrambled out urgently.[1] One person alone did not see this and, having told his family he would provide for them, stayed to return at dusk. Two days later, his corpse floated some five li distant, with a fist-sized hole below the left thigh, the whole body entirely white, that being due to a xiao having curled around it and sucked his blood. In shape the xiao is just like an eel, eight or nine chi in length (c.2.7m), and is a kind of flood dragon. Among the Geshan populace, one Li Shi once caught one of these.

Hong Mai, Yi Jian Zhi, ii, 丙17.509

閣山𤡔

亁道辛卯歲，饒州久不雨，江流皆澁。閣山道漁者三人，空手入番江捕魚。二人先出，其一覺兩股忽冷如冰，微有涎沫，懼𤡔穴其下，故急出。獨一人不見，告其家守之，至暮而還。後二日，尸浮於五里外，左股下一穴如拳大，舉體皆白，蓋為𤡔所繞而吮其血也。𤡔狀全與鰻鱺魚同，長至八九尺，亦蛟類也。閣山民李十嘗捕得之。

Hong Mai 洪邁, He Zhuo 何卓 (ed.), Yi Jian Zhi 夷堅志 (Record of Yi Jian) 4 vols (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1981)

[1] The character xiao 𤡔 is treated by the MOE dictionary of character variants as a variation on xiao 梟 ‘owl’, but this story clearly indicates a rather interesting and different aquatic nature for the creature in question. See http://dict2.variants.moe.edu.tw/yitia/fra/fra01951.htm.

Aunty Wang’s Daigan Pole Tricks 戴竿伎王大娘

At the court of Dezong (of the Tang, r. 779-805 CE), there was a Daigan acrobat, a married woman from Sanyuan, who could balance eighteen people on top of her head and walk.

Li Rong 李冗, Du yi zhi, 獨異志 (Outstanding Fantastic Stories), 上1.4 (Tale 27):

戴竿伎王大娘

德宗朝，有戴竿三原婦人王大娘，首戴十八人而行。

Li Rong 李冗, Du yi zhi, 獨異志 (Outstanding Fantastic Stories) in Du yi zhi, Xuanshi Zhi 獨異志，宣室志 (Outstanding Fantastic Stories, Stories from the Chamber of Dissemination), edited by Zhang Yongqin 张永钦 and Hou Zhiming 侯志明 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju, 1983)

Zhao Wei 趙未

Zhao Wei of the Jin, when he was eight sui in age, grew prodigiously in a single night, his body reaching eight chi (c. 2.4m), and whiskers covering his entire chin. Three days later he died.

Li Rong 李冗, Du yi zhi, 獨異志 (Outstanding Fantastic Stories), 上1.4 (Tale 25)

趙未

晉趙未，年八歲，一夕異長，身長八尺，髭鬚滿頷。三日而死。

Sima Yi 司馬懿

Prince Xuan of Jin Sima Yi could turn and see his own back.

Li Rong 李冗, Du yi zhi 獨異志 (Outstanding Fantastic Stories), 上1.2 (Tale 11):

司馬懿

晉宣王司馬懿，自顧見背。

Punishing A Python Through The Law 法誅蟒精

The Qiongzhou Daoist Zhang Biyun (lit. ‘Jade Cloud Zhang’) performed the Thunder Rites. He was famous across Sichuan, supernatural beings resenting and fearing him. At that time the ‘Disciple of Heshan’ Wei Wenweng (Wei Liaoweng 魏了翁?[1]) was governing Xuzhou, and his wife fell ill, the sickness persisting for a long time without recovery, so he dispatched a runner with a letter describing it, sending it to Biyun. Biyun thus wrote out two talismans and gave them to the runner, praying and saying: “Burn these within the hall, and through this a thing within your kitchen will be cremated.” The runner returned and reported to Wenweng, burning it as instructed. Several days later, they found the chambers filled with a foul smell, and suddenly noticed beneath a shelf [164] a giant python, five or six zhang in length (c.17-20m), and already quite dead. His household then understood that this was a python demon, and his wife’s illness was then cured.

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 後1.163-64 (Tale 284):

法誅蟒精

邛州道士張碧雲，行雷法，四川有名，鬼神望而畏之。時魏鶴山弟文翁知敘州，內人得病，纏緜不愈，差二承局持書與狀，去投碧雲。碧雲即書二符與承局，祝云：「堂內焚化，以一就竈中焚化。」承局歸告文翁，如其言焚之。數日後，但聞滿屋臭穢，忽於閣（「閣」原作「闔」，據明刻本改。）板 [164] 下見一巨蟒，長五六丈，已死。其家方知為祟者蟒也，夫人之病遂安。

[1] On Wei Liaoweng 魏了翁, see http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Song/personsweiliaoweng.html

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).

The Lord of Profound Heaven Manifests 玄帝現像

Wang Daozhi was known as Lay Scholar Free of Knowledge, and lived to the west of Anfu. In his household were collected eighteen of the very finest statues of arhats, and every month he had monks perform rites and make offerings to them. They had a plum blossom [129] that fruited in its porcelain vase, and people thought this an auspicious sign. One day, his family fell ill, and he dreamed that two scrolls were offered before the arhats, saying: “You should go north in person, and ask the Profound Emperor to provide healing.” The following day, a monk came to the gate and asked: “Why do you not attend the immortal?” He replied: “I have no image.” The monk said: “You should invite an artist.” An image of the emperor then appeared on the table, face like a full moon, black robes and golden armour, feet treading on turtles and serpents, five generals to his right and left, holding knives, grasping banners held erect and surrounded by streamers. Known as the Five Dragons, their might and grandeur was far beyond that which one might usually see. When the image was finished it was traced by hand and then vanished. The illness was then cured, and his household treasured the icon.

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 後1.128-29 (Tale 223):

玄帝現像

王道之，號無識居士，住安福之西。其家蓄十八羅漢像最精妙，月月命僧禮而供之。有梅花 [129] 結實於甆瓶，人以為瑞。一日，其家病作，羅漢前兩軸獻夢云：「待自去北方，請玄帝來救治。」明日，一僧登門曰：「如何不奉真聖？」答曰：「無像。」僧曰：「可邀畫匠（「匠」原作「像」，據明刻本、明抄本改。）來。」就桌上現（此處原衍「像」字，據明刻本、明抄本刪。）出帝像，面如滿月，皁袍金甲，足踏龜蛇，左右五將，持刀執纛樹幡，號五龍，猛烈雄偉，非尋常所有者。描訖，像隨手而沒。後病癒，其家寶藏之。