The Boy Zhang Enters the Nether World 張童入冥

Old Zhang, of Hantou Village in southern Pinghu, made his living by trapping quail, so people named him ‘Quail’. Already quite old, he had only one son, who, having reached childhood, died suddenly one day. The elderly [5] couple, thinking they would have nobody to rely on in their old age, wailing in great sadness, regretting that they had not all died. The following day they had planned to bury him, but still could not bear to, instead building a mound of bricks one or two chi (30-60cm) from the ground, and saying: “Our child will come back to life.” People scoffed at their foolishness, but some also mourned with them.

When after three days they returned to the grave, wailing and crying ceaselessly, they suddenly heard a groaning sound from within the tomb; the old couple said, shocked: “Our son’s immortal soul really has returned!” Scattering boards and bricks, they hauled out the coffin and carried it back home. Presently he asked for congee, and, after a good while had passed, said: “In the beginning, I was arrested by somebody and taken to the nether world officials, and I was sad and told their master: ‘Think of my old parents; I beg to live a full life. I will regret terribly never seeing them after my funeral is complete.’ The nether world official felt some sympathy, and told him: ‘You will now be released to return. Tell your father that if he can give up hunting and fishing as his profession, your lifespan will be extended.’”

His father, on hearing these words, burned all his nets and equipment, and carried his son to a temple to make offerings. In the temple there was a monk surnamed Lü, not yet forty years of age and unusually majestic in appearance, who had formerly been the leader of a merchant caravan supplying the prefecture. The Zhang boy asked him: “Has the Master returned to life too?” Lü asked, “How could he have died?” The Zhang boy replied: “When I was in the nether world waiting to be advised I saw the master on a copper column in a corner of the hall, feet bound with iron ties. A prison guard went and beat him under the arm until blood dripped out. When I was about to be released and come back, I asked: ‘Why is Master Lü being punished?’ They replied: ‘He often omits scripture readings at refectory meals, and therefore receives this retribution.’” On hearing this Lü was deeply shocked. He had suffered a weeping ulcer in his armpit, which had persisted over three years, and which the boy could not have known about. Lü then took up a clean and solitary existence, chanting sutras daily as his work. After three years his ulcer was cured.

Senior Officer Zhao witnessed this himself.

Yuan Haowen 元好問, Xu Yijian zhi 續夷堅志 (Continued Records of the Listener), 1.4-5 (Tale 10)

張童入冥

平輿南函頭村張老者，以捕鶉為業，故人目為鵪鶉。年已老，止一兒，成童矣，一旦死。翁 [5] 媪自念老無所倚，號哭悶絕，恨不俱死。明日欲埋之，又復不忍，但累甎作邱，入地一二尺許，云：「吾兒還活。」人笑其癡，而亦有哀之者。三日復墓，慟哭不休，忽聞墓中呻吟聲，翁媪驚曰：「吾兒果還魂矣！」撒棺甎，曳棺木出，舁歸其家。俄索湯粥，良久，說：「初，為人攝往冥司，兒哀訴主者：『爹娘老可念，乞盡餘年，葬送畢，死無所歸恨。』冥官頗憐之，即云：『今放汝歸，語汝父，能棄打捕之業，汝命可延矣！』」其父聞此語，盡焚網罟之屬，挈兒入寺供佛。寺有一僧呂姓者，年未四十，儀表殊偉，曾上州作綱首。張童即前問僧：「師亦還魂耶？」呂云：「何曾死？」張童言：「我在冥中引問次，見師在殿角銅柱上，鐵繩繫足，獄卒往來以棓撞師腋下，流血淋漓。及放歸時，曾問監卒：『呂師何故受罪？』乃云：『他多脫下齋主經文，故受此報。』」呂聞大駭，蓋其腋下病一漏瘡，已三年矣，兒初不知。呂遂潔居一室，日以誦經為課，凡三年，瘡乃平。 趙長官親見之。

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)

Zheng Congjian 鄭從簡

The hall in which the Zhou Counsellor of the Left Zheng Congjian lived was often disturbed, so had a shaman inspect it. He was told: “There are corpses lying there, one surnamed Zong, and his wife surnamed Kou, beneath the hall’s foundations.” When questioned further they said: “The gentleman is seated over our gate, and is often affected as we come and go. The gentleman is then unhappy. We do not mean for this to happen.” He dug into the ground for three chi (c.99cm), and indeed found old bones, with an inscription that matched what he had been told. He transferred and reburied them, after which the incidents ceased.

From Chaoyeqianzai.

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, 329.2611:

鄭從簡

周左司員外郎鄭從簡。所居廳事常不寧。令巫者視之。曰。有伏尸。姓宗。妻姓寇。在廳基之下。使問之曰。君坐我門上。我出入常值君。君自不嘉。非我之為也。掘地三尺。果得舊骸。有銘如其言。移出改葬。於是遂絕。出朝野僉載

Zhang Xiwang 張希望

When the Zhou Dynasty Metropolitan Commandery official Zhang Xiwang moved to an old mansion and rebuilt it, he was visited by the sorcerer Ping Yi, who told him: “You’re about to renew the stable floor, but there’s a corpse lying there. It is very angry, and the gentleman ought to avoid it. Wang laughed, and told him: “Through youth and adulthood I’ve never believed such things; the gentleman should not speak of them.” Several months later, Yi entered and saw a spirit wielding bow and arrows. It followed behind Xiwang, and, as he reached the stairs, the spirit drew the bow and shot him in the shoulder. Xiwang felt a pain in his back, rubbing it with his hand. He died that day.

From Zhiguai.

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, 329.2611:

張希望

周司禮卿張希望。移舊居改造。見鬼人馮毅見之曰。當新廄下。有一伏尸。極怒。公可避之。望笑曰。吾少長已來。未曾信如事。公勿言。後月餘。毅入。見鬼持弓矢。隨希望後。適及階。鬼引弓射中肩膊。希望覺背痛。以手撫之。其日卒。出志怪

A Baxia Native 巴峽人

During the Tiaolu year (679 CE), a person was travelling to Baxia and, tying up his boat at night, suddenly heard someone chanting verse:

Autumn path filled with yellow leaves,

Cold snaps the dewy grass.

The gibbons’ calls cut short,

An exile’s tears leave many tracks.

The voice was very forceful, indignant and sad, and carried into the heavens, reciting several dozen verses in all. On first hearing it, he thought it must be a passenger on the other boat, who had not yet retired to sleep. At dawn he went to call on them, but there was no boat at all, only an empty hillside, a stony spring, and a quiet valley. In the place from which the chanting of verses had come lay a skeleton.

From Jiwen.

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, 328.2608:

巴峽人

調露年中。有人行於巴峽。夜泊舟。忽聞有人朗詠詩曰。秋逕填黃葉。寒摧露草根。猿聲一叫斷。客淚數重痕。其音甚厲激昂而悲。如是通霄。凡吟數十遍。初聞。以為舟行者未之寢也。曉訪之。而更無舟船。但空山石泉。谿谷幽絕。詠詩處有人骨一具。出紀聞

Wang Zhi 王志

In the third year of the Tang Xianqing era (658 CE), Wang Zhi, from Qizhou, was appointed as a county magistrate in Yizhou. When his term expired he returned home. He had a beautiful daughter, who had died on her way to be married. Her coffin had been placed for several months in a monastery.  Within this monastery there was a student who slept in one of the rooms, and early one night he saw the girl come to him, beautiful and resplendently ornamented. She wanted to open her heart and enfold him; the student accepted her, and over a month they grew very close, the girl giving him a bronze mirror, a towel and a comb. When the magistrate wanted the student to leave, he and the girl shared a final secret farewell.

Her family had been searching without success for the gifts, and when the magistrate sent people to search the rooms, they were discovered in the student’s chambers. The magistrate sent his retinue to bind the student, believing that he had stolen them. The student appealed and explained that he had not only received those items, but had also been left an upper and lower robe by her. When the magistrate sent people to open the coffin and check, it turned out to lack these garments, and having seen this proof, treated this as settling the matter. Asking about him in the village, it was established that he was from Qizhou, had followed his parents to a posting in the south, and, after his mother and father had died, he travelled the various prefectures to study and was due to return soon. The magistrate granted him robes and a horse, packing his things and returning together, where he treated him as a son-in-law and they felt great affection for one another.

From Fayuanzhulin.

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, 328.2608:

王志

唐顯慶三年。岐州人王志。任益州縣令。考滿還鄉。有女美。未嫁道亡。停縣州寺中累月。寺中先有學生。停一房。夜初見此女來。粧飾華麗。欲伸繾綣。學生納之。相知經月。此女贈生一銅鏡。巾櫛各一。令欲上道。女與生密共辭別。家人求此物不得。令遺巡房求索。于生房得之。令遺左右縛此生。以為私盜。學生訴其事。非唯得此物。兼留上下二衣。令遺人開棺檢之。果無此衣。既見此徵。于是釋之。問其鄉里。乃岐州人。因從父南任。父母俱亡。遊諸州學問。不久當還。令給衣馬。裝束同歸。以為女夫。憐愛甚重。出法苑珠林

Zhang Cong 張琮

At the beginning of the Yonghui era (650-56 CE), Zhang Cong was serving as Magistrate of Nanyang. In his bedchamber he heard a sound like groaning bamboo coming from before his bed, but when he looked there was nothing to see. This continued over several nights. He found it very strange, so prayed: “If there is a spirit here, we ought to talk.” That night, a person suddenly emerged from among the bamboo, extremely old and ugly in appearance. Stepping forward, it explained: “During Zhu Can’s rebellion[1] your servant was in the army, and killed by Can. My remains lie right in front of the government office pavilion, and one of my eyes has been damaged by a bamboo root. I cannot bear this suffering. Because of the magistrate’s benevolence and wisdom, I thus bring this report. Were my grave moved this would be very fortunate, and I would not dare forget such generous benevolence.” The magistrate asked: “If this is the case how have we not been able to hear one another sooner?” He then agreed, and the following day, to provide a new coffin, had people dig there.

They did indeed find a corpse, with a bamboo root piercing through its left eye, dressed in clothing from that time. He had it reburied outside the town walls. Later he executed a village elder by flogging. The elder’s family, wishing to take revenge, plotted to wait outside the magistrate’s home at night for him to emerge, so they could kill him. It happened that fire took hold in the town, spreading to more than ten houses. The magistrate was just leaving to inspect this, when he caught sight of the spirit, who blocked his horse’s path, and told him: “The government office is no place for you in the deep night, and there is treachery afoot.” The magistrate asked who was behind this, and it replied: “Those who were previously tried in the government office.” The magistrate then returned home, surprising and capturing the family the next day. When questioned this was all verified, so he punished them thoroughly. That night he made further offerings at the tomb, and he had an inscribed stone added, reading:

Sacrifice self in the realm’s crisis,

Death and unforgettable loyalty.

The blazing martyr soul,

A true ghost hero.

From Guangyiji.

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, 328.2603:

張琮

永徽初。張琮為南陽令。寢閣中。聞階前竹有呻吟之聲。就視則無所見。如此數夜。怪之。乃祝曰。有神靈者。當相語。其夜。忽有一人從竹中出。形甚弊陋。前自陳曰。朱粲之亂。某在兵中。為粲所殺。尸骸正在明府閤前。一目為竹根所損。不堪楚痛。以明府仁明。故輒投告。幸見移葬。敢忘厚恩。令謂曰。如是何不早相聞。乃許之。明日。為具棺櫬。使掘之。果得一尸。竹根貫其左目。仍加時服。改葬城外。其後令笞殺一鄉老。其家將復仇。謀須令夜出。乃要殺之。俄而城中失火。延燒十餘家。令將出按行之。乃見前鬼遮令馬曰。明府深夜何所之。將有異謀。令問為誰。曰。前時得罪於明府者。令乃復入。明日。掩捕其家。問之皆驗。遂窮治之。夜更祭其墓。刻石銘於前曰。身狥國難。死不忘忠。烈烈貞魂。實為鬼雄。出廣異記

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[1] This is Zhu Can 朱粲 (d. 621 CE), a warlord active in the latter years of Sui rule and during the establishment of Tang government, with a fearsome reputation for cruelty.

Liu Shulun 柳叔倫

At the beginning of the Song Emperor Xiaowu’s Daming era (457-65 CE), Commander-in-Chief Liu Shulun was lodging in the former residence of the Hengyang Wang. In the fifth year Daming (461 CE), he suddenly saw a footprint, two cun in length (c.6.6cm). Lun had a maid called Xixin, and when he sent her to fetch water to launder clothes, a thing appeared in the empty air, overturning the vessel and spilling the water. Lun drew his knife and called out to the maid, then heard something rush closely past him, so chopped at it with the blade, feeling it strike home. When he shone firelight upon it, blood covered the ground. Twenty days later, the maid fell ill and died. Lun then moved her corpse outside. The following day he went to find the corpse but was unable to find it.

From Guanggujinwuxingji

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, 325.2582-83:

柳叔倫

宋孝武大明初。太尉柳叔倫。住故衡陽王故第。大明五年。忽見一腳跡。長二寸。倫有婢細辛。使取水澣衣。空中有物。傾器倒水。倫拔刀呼婢。在側聞有物行聲。以刀斫之。覺有所中。以火照之。流血覆地。後二十日。婢病死。倫即移尸出外。明日覓尸。不知所在。出廣古今五行記

Qu Jingzhi 區敬之

In the first year of the Liu Song Yuanjia era (424 CE), Qu Jingzhi, who was from a Nankang County barracks household, boarded a boat with his son to travel upstream from the county. Threading deep into small streams, they reached wild and difficult territory where humans had never before set foot. In the evening they climbed the bank and found a place to spend the night, but Jingzhi suffered a sudden illness and died. His son kindled a fire and guarded the body. Suddenly he heard the distant sound of a voice, calling out “Uncle!” The filial son was suspicious and alarmed, but in the blink of an eye the shouting person was [2571] right there. About as tall as a human, it was covered in hair, right down to its feet, and a great deal of hair covered its face, leaving the seven apertures[1] quite invisible. It then asked the filial son his family and given names, and gave its condolences. The filial son was terrified, and assembled his firewood into a blaze. The thing told him it had come to offer sympathy, and that there was no reason to be afraid. He was about to feed the fire higher, when the figure sat by the corpe’s head and began to wail. When the boy stole a glance at it in the firelight, he noticed that the thing’s face covered the dead man’s, and that the corpse’s was split open down to the very bone. The filial son was horrified, and wanted to strike it, but had no stave or weapon. Before long, his father’s corpse was reduced to a succession of white bones, the skin and flesh having entirely vanished. He never worked out what kind of deity or spirit it was.

From Shuyiji.

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, 324.2570-71:

區敬之

南康縣營民區敬之。宋元嘉元年。與息共乘舫。自縣泝流。深入小溪。幽荒險絕。人跡所未嘗至。夕登岸。停止舍中。敬之中惡猝死。其子燃火守尸。忽聞遠哭聲。呼阿舅。孝子驚疑。俛仰間。哭者已 [2571] 至。如人長大。被髮至足。髮多蔽面。不見七竅。因呼孝子姓名。慰唁之。孝子恐懼。遂聚〈遂聚二字原空缺。據明鈔本補。〉薪以燃火。此物言故來相慰。當何所畏。將須燃火。此物坐亡人頭邊哭。孝子於火光中竊窺之。見此物以面掩亡人面。亡人面須臾裂剝露骨。孝子懼。欲擊之。無兵杖。須臾。其父尸見白骨連續。而皮肉都盡。竟不測此物是何鬼神。出述異記

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[1] The ‘seven apertures’ qiqiao 七竅 are the two eyes, two nostrils, two ears and a mouth.

Zhu Tai 朱泰

Zhu Tai’s home was in Jiangling. During the [Liu] Song Yuanhui era (473-77 CE), he fell ill and died, but before he could be buried he manifested and took visible form. Returning to sit beside his corpse, he comforted his mother, and the gathered throng all saw him. Indicating the items laid out to accompany him to the grave, a matter in which he followed a frugal ideal, he asked his mother: “Our family is relatively poor, and now Tai has died, and can no longer offer support. How can so much be expended on a burial?”

From Shuyiji.  

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, 323.2565:

朱泰

朱泰家在江陵。宋元徽中。病亡未殯。忽形見。還坐尸側。慰勉其母。衆皆見之。指揮送終之具。務從儉約。謂母曰。家比貧。泰又亡歿。永違侍養。殯殮何可廣費。出述異記

Lü Shun 呂順

[2552] When Lü Shun had prepared his wife for burial, he wished to marry a younger paternal cousin of hers. He therefore prepared three tombs, but each fell into disrepair and not one was completed. One day Shun was lying down during the daytime when he saw his wife coming to him. She got into bed with him, her body as cold as ice. Shun spoke of the differences between living and dead, and sent her away. His wife later also saw her younger relative, and told her, angrily: “How many males are there under heaven? Yet you and I have to share a husband. He may not be able to finish those tombs. I will do it.” Presently both husband and wife passed away.

From Youminglu.

(uncertain translation)

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, 322.2551-52:

呂順

[2552] 呂順喪婦。要娶妻之從妹。因作三墓。構累垂就。輒無成。一日順晝臥。見其婦來就同寢。體冷如冰。順以死生之隔。語使去。後婦又見其妹。怒曰。天下男子復何限。汝乃與我共一婿。作冢不成。我使然也。俄而夫婦俱殪。出幽明錄