Heavenly Wrath On Corrupt Officials 天譴墨吏

At the beginning of the Tang Zhenguan era (627-49 CE), the Director of Danyang, Wang Qiong, was summoned and dismissed in his third year. Qiong was extremely resentful, and took a great deal of money, visiting the Maoshan Daoist Ye Lingzhong, and seeking a memorial to the throne that would predict the future. Lingzhong was ninety years old, and, when forced to produce the petition, the paper floated up on incense smoke and disappeared into the mists. Soon after it fell back to the ground, with a note in red ink added to the end: “Accepting a hundred liang of gold, taking three years’ salary, murdering two people; these will be resolved after death.” One year later, Qiong died suddenly without illness.

上1.16 (Tale 85):

天譴墨吏

唐貞觀初，丹陽令王瓊，三年調集，遭黜。瓊甚憤惋，乃齎百千，詣茅山道士葉靈中，求章奏以問吉凶。靈中年九十，強為奏之，其章隨香烟飛上，縹渺不見。食頃復墮地，有朱書批其末，云：「受金百兩，折祿三年；枉殺二人，死後處斷。」一歲，瓊無疾暴卒。

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)

A version of the same tale, showing several variations, is found in the Taiping Guangji:

Ye Xuzhong 葉虛中

At the beginning of the Tang Zhenguan era (627-49 CE), the Director of Danyang, Wang Qiong, was summoned and dismissed in his third year. He was extremely resentful, and visited the Maoshan Daoist Ye Xuzhong, seeking a memorial to the throne that would predict the future. Xuzhong was over ninety years old, and, when forced to produce the petition, the paper floated up on incense smoke and disappeared into the mists. Soon after it fell back to the ground, with a note in red ink added to the end: “Accepting a hundred liang of gold, taking three years’ salary, murdering two people; these will be resolved after death.” One year later, Qiong did indeed meet a sudden end. From Duyizhi.

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), ii, 73.456-57:

葉虛中

唐貞觀初。丹陽令王瓊。三年調集。皆黜落。甚憤惋。乃齋宿于茅山道士葉虛中。求奏章以問吉凶。虛中年九十餘。彊為奏之。其章隨香煙飛上。縹渺不見。食頃復墮地。有朱書批其末云。受金百兩。折 [457] 祿三年。枉殺二人。死後處分。後一歲。瓊果得暴疾終。出獨異志

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Hou Jing’s Tumour 侯景瘤

Hou Jing[1] often had a tumour, which was like a small turtle. Whenever he enjoyed victory, it would grow. On the day of his defeat and death, it shrank by one cun (c. 3.33cm).

Li Rong 李冗, Du yi zhi, 獨異志 (Outstanding Fantastic Stories), 上1.15 (Tale 80):

侯景瘤

侯景常有一瘤，如小龜。每戰勝，龜則起。及其敗死之日，瘤入一寸。

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)

[1] On Hou Jing 侯景 (503-52CE), courtesy name Wanjing 萬景, leader of an uprising against Emperor Wu of Liang in 548 CE, see:  https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BE%AF%E6%99%AF.

Zhang Baocang Achieves Eminence Through Medicine 張寶藏因醫致貴

During the Tang Zhenguan era (627-49 CE), Zhang Baocang was returning to Yueyang after ending his duty as Chief Secretary to the Imperial Guard, when he encountered a youth hunting and eating fresh meat in the wilds. Leaning against a tree he let out a long sigh and said: “Zhang Baocang is aged seventy and has never once had meat and wine like this; what a shame!” By his side there was a monk, who pointed and said: “Within sixty days, you will ascend to the third official grade; how is this something to sigh over?” When he finished speaking, he vanished. Baocang marvelled at this, and immediately returned to the capital. At that time Taizong (r. 626-49 CE) was suffering terribly with dysentery, and a crowd of physicians had no effect, so a decree was promulgated asking whether anyone in the court or retinue had the ability to treat the illness, promising them a rich reward. Baocang had once suffered from the same disease, so prepared a memorial to the throne in answer to the decree, prescribing beans simmered in milk. The emperor took it, and recovered instantly. A decree was passed down to the minister of state appointing him to the fifth official grade. Wei Wei obstructed this, so for more than a month he did not advance any plans. The emperor’s illness recurred, and he asked his retinue: “I previously took beans simmered in milk and this was effective.” He again ordered them to bring him forward, and after a single sip was cured once more. The emperor asked: “I had ordered to award him advancement to grade five, but have not seen him accept the post; why is this?” Wei was afraid, and said: “At the time the decree was issued, it was not clear whether this would be a military or civil branch of the clerks.” The emperor grew angry: “For governing we require a chancellor; we might as well appoint him to the third grade. I am the Son of Heaven; how can this not be up to me?” He therefore said in a loud voice: “Granted civil office in the third grade!” He stood and was appointed Minister for Protocol, and that was exactly sixty days later.

Li Rong 李冗, Du yi zhi 獨異志 (Outstanding Fantastic Stories), 上1.13 (Tale 74):

張寶藏因醫致貴

唐貞觀中，張寶藏為金吾長史嘗因下直歸櫟陽，路逢少年畋獵，割鮮野食。倚樹長歎曰：「張寶藏身年七十，未嘗得一食酒肉如此者，可悲哉！」傍有一僧，指曰：「六十日內，官登三品，何足歎也。」言訖不見。寶藏異之，即時還京。時太宗苦病痢疾，衆醫不效，即下詔問殿廷左右，有能治此疾者，當重賞之。寶藏曾困此疾，即具疏答詔，以乳煎蓽方進。上服之，立瘥。宣下宰臣：與五品官。魏微難之，逾月不進擬。上疾復作，問左右曰：「吾前服乳煎蓽茇有效。」復令進之，一啜又平復。上問曰：「嘗令與進方人五品官，不見除授，何也？」徵懼曰：「奉詔之際，未知文武二吏。」上怒曰：「治得宰相，不妨授三品；我天子也，豈不及汝邪？」乃厲聲曰：「與三品文官！」立授鴻臚卿，時正六十日矣。

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)

Pei Zhang’s Unhappy Wife 裴章薄妻

Pei Zhang was from Hedong; his father Zhou had once garrisoned Jingzhou. Their private monk, Tan Zhao, had made great achievements in the Way, and able to comprehend good and bad fortune. As a youth Zhang had profound respect for Tan Zhao, who said that his career and prestige would surpass that of his father. When Zhang reached the ‘capping age’ (i.e., adulthood, at around 20), his father married him to a daughter of the Li family. On passing the age of thirty, Zhang followed a posting to Taiyuan, leaving his wife in Luozhong, ‘passing the door but never entering’ (i.e., being too busy to visit), never taking her along with him. Lady Li felt herself to have been born under an unlucky star, often wearing coarse clothes and a mourning hairstyle, reading Buddhist texts and eating simple food. After a further decade, when his father transferred from Jingzhou to garrison Taiyuan, Tan Zhao followed him. Zhang therefore saw Zhao to renew their acquaintance, but Zhao was shocked and sighed for a long time, addressing him: “Fifty years ago this poor cleric often said Your Excellency would scale the heights; now you are quite weakened and exhausted. How has this happened?” Zhang told him of his unhappy wife. Zhao said: “The lady has complained to the Lord on High, and he punishes Your Excellency.” Ten days later, he cut his stomach open with a knife in the bathtub; his five organs fell to the ground, and he subsequently died.

Li Rong 李冗, Du yi zhi 獨異志 (Outstanding Fantastic Stories), 上1.13 (Tale 73):

裴章薄妻

河東裴章者，其父胄，曾鎮荊州。門僧曇照，道行甚高，能知休咎。章幼時為曇照所重，言其官班位望過於其父。章弱冠，父為娶李氏女。乃三十年餘，章從職太原，棄其妻於洛中，過門不入，別有所挈。李氏自感其薄命，常褐衣髽髺，讀佛書，蔬食。又十年，嚴經自荊州移鎮太原，曇照隨之。章因見照敍舊，照驚噫久之，謂之曰：「貧道五十年前常謂郎君必貴，今削盡，何也？」章自以薄妻之事啟之。照曰：「夫人生魂訴上帝，以罪處君。」後旬日，為其下以刀劃腹於浴斛，五臟墮地，遂死。

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)

Cui Gong Attains the Way 崔公得道

Cui Gong Attains the Way 崔公得道

In the renchen year of the Zhiyuan era (1292), Cui Gong of Qingchengshan in Guanzhou lived with old woman Cui in a thatched cottage by the mountain gate intersection and sold firewood. One day, he was going into the hills to gather firewood, when suddenly Magu (the Hemp Maiden Immortal)[1] was sitting there on a rock. He bowed to her, and the immortal asked him: “Do you desire an official post?” Cui replied: “What would I do with an official post?” She asked again: “Do you desire money?” He replied: “Too much money harms a person.” She asked again: “Do you desire magnificent clothing?” He replied: “I’m a man who sells firewood; what would I do with magnificent clothes?” She again asked: “If these three are not desired by you, what is it that you want right now?” Cui Gong laughed and said: “I need this beard to sweep the floor; that would be the best thing.” Magu stroked the beard and drew back her hand, the beard extending along with her hand, eventually growing to reach the ground. When he returned home, people thought it a marvel. Afterwards, he stopped eating, and told people’s fortunes as if he were a spirit, the entire town gathering like a wall of spectators. They each offered cloth or money as alms, but he wouldn’t accept even a single piece of copper cash. A year later, husband and wife both went into the mountains, and where they ended up nobody knows.

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 後1.148 (Tale 259):

崔公得道

至元壬辰，灌州青城山崔公，與崔婆在山門路口茅屋下賣柴。一日，入山采柴，忽麻姑仙坐石上，拜之，仙問曰：「汝欲官否？」崔應云：「我用官何為？」又問：「欲錢否？」應云：「錢多害己。」又問：「欲華衣否？」應云：「我是賣柴漢，何用華衣為？」又問：「此三者非汝所欲，今所欲何事？」崔公笑云：「我要此鬚拖地便好。」麻姑引手捋之，鬚隨手而長，竟至垂地。歸家，人以為訝。後不食，言人禍福如神，合城觀者如堵。凡有布施錢，一文亦不受。一年後，夫妻俱入山，不知所終。

[1] On Magu, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magu_(deity)

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).

Immortal Lü’s Prophetic Poem 呂仙詩讖

During the Song Xuanhe era (1119-25), Huizong (r.1100-1126) provided meals for a thousand Daoists, only omitting a single name; when a Daoist suffering from leprosy requested a meal, the supervisor of the gate categorically refused this. At that time, Huizong was in conversation with the priest Lin Lingsu (1076-1120), when the Daoist suddenly appeared to his majesty, and he urgently sent people to deliver the meal. The Daoist scratched one of the hall pillars with something tucked in the sleeve of his robe and departed. Huizong saw and marveled at this, and rose to look, finding chalked writing that read:

Loud talk and empty words as if all alone,

Pity the wise monarch who cannot encounter truth.

If His Majesty asks his servant what is yet to come,

Pray attend to the springs of wu, wei, bing and ding.

It indeed turned out that in the bingwu and dingwei years of the Jingkang era (1126 and 1127), the two emperors suffered their northern troubles.[1]

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 後1.130 (Tale 226):

呂仙詩讖

宋宣和間，徽宗齋設一千道人，只闕一名，適有一風癩道人求齋，監門官力拒之。其時，徽宗與道士林靈素在便殿談話，而道人忽在階下，急遣人送去赴齋。道人以布袍袖在殿柱上一抹而往，徽宗見而怪之，起身觀柱上，有粉筆書云：「高談闊論若無人，可惜明君不遇真。陛下問臣來日事，請看午未丙丁春。」果而靖康丙午丁未，二帝有北行之難。

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] This presumably refers to Huizong’s abdication in 1126 and the capture of Huizong and his son Qinzong by Jin forces in 1127.

Rain Hat and Rice Husk 青笠米皮

Ying Long, the talented scholar from Zou, once said:

In Yu Borough there is Ruiguang Crag, a little over ten li from the county seat, and in it there is the platform where the prime minister Li Gang (1083-1140) used to read. Long ago on the crag there was a monk called Danxia [56], who was able to predict the future. One day he went to visit the monk, knocked on his door, and received a note that read: “The rain hat, removing the rice husk, in this season, will be truly radiant.” Later the gentleman served as prime minister, during the Jingkang 靖康 era (1126-27). These words can therefore be understood and verified: the ‘rain hat’ (qingliruo 青笠箬) is Jing 靖; ‘removing the rice husk’ 米去皮 makes kang 康.

Anon., Huhai xinwen yijian xuzhi, 前1.55-56 (Tale 98):

青笠米皮

鄒狀元應龍嘗謂：予里中有瑞光巖，去縣十餘里，中有丞相李綱讀書臺。昔巖中有僧丹霞 [56] 者，能前知。一日訪僧，扣之，乃書云：「青箬笠，米去（「米去」原作「去米」，據元刻本改。）皮，此時節，正光輝。」後公於靖康年作相。因知此言之驗，青笠箬靖也，米去皮康也。

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).