She tells him, “Be sure to come early tomorrow morning.”

38

Ren the Filial Son with a Fiery Disposition Becomes a God

The point of this lyric poem is that lust and desire make you forget who you are, and, therefore, one should be always on guard against such lapses.

The story goes that in the first year of the Shaoxi reign period [1190] under Emperor Guangzong of the Southern Song dynasty, there lived, in front of a government wine storage house at the southern end of Clear River District in the prefectural city of Lin’an, an immensely rich man named Squire Zhang, who owned an herbal medicine store specializing in products of Sichuan and Guangdong. The store was located in the front of his residence. His mother had passed away. Now in his sixties, he had only one son, who was called First Master Zhang Xiu. At age twenty, he was a clever and handsome young man. The family business kept him in the store every day. Believing that the thriving business was too much responsibility for their young son, the couple hired a general manager for the store, twenty-five-year-old Mr. Ren Gui.

Ren Gui’s mother had died when he was very young, leaving him with only his father, who was blind and could do no more than sit at home all day long. Every day, Ren Gui the filial son said good-bye to his father before he left home and greeted him when returning at night. He lived, as had his ancestors, on Ox-Skin Street in Jianggan. That winter, he got married, through a matchmaker, to a twenty-year-old woman of remarkable charm called Shengjin, daughter of the umbrella-maker Mr. Liang, who lived in the same city, near Rixin Bridge by the river.

After marrying Ren Gui, the woman never stopped secretly blaming her parents, for she felt wretched married to such a down-to-earth and unromantic man. “Of all places,” she thought to herself, “my parents sent me o here, so far away from home that I cannot easily go back any time I want.” Every day, she pulled a long face and wore a frown, nor was she in any mood for dolling herself up as before. Ren Gui’s busy schedule, leaving home early and returning late, added to her discontent.

The fact of the matter was that the woman had had an illicit relationship, before her marriage, with Zhou De, son of Editorial Assistant Zhou, who lived across from her parents’ house. This Zhou De was a handsome man with graceful manners and was given to indulgence in wine and women. Much favored by women, this thirty-year-old man wanted no wife but only illicit love a airs. That he had clandestine dates with Sister Liang was common knowledge to all the neighbors. That was why her parents, although they had no male issue,¹ had no choice but to marry her o to Jianggan to avoid further gossip. Being an unsophisticated man, Ren Gui took her in without any investigation into her background. However, although she was now Ren Gui’s wife, her heart was still with Zhou De, and their passion for each other was by no means at an end.

Time sped by. Indeed,

It was now the eighteenth day of the eighth month, when the Qiantang River was at its highest tide of the year. All the fashionable men and women of the city turned out to watch the tide. Zhou De and his two brothers also preened themselves and went out of the city through Tide-Watching Gate. It was a busy scene with carriages and horses coming and going, and crowds of people milling around like ants. Instead of watching the tide with the crowd, Zhou De shook himself free of his two brothers and made his way straight to Ren Gui’s home on Ox-Skin Street. As it happened, Ren Gui’s father had the habit of sitting under the eaves behind the closed gate, intoning Buddha’s name. When Zhou De knocked at the gate with the handle of a fan, Mr. Ren Senior thought it was his son coming back and groped his way out to open the gate. Knowing that this must be Mr. Ren Senior, Zhou De said, “Sir, please accept a bow from me.”

Realizing that this was not his son’s voice, the old man asked, “Who might you be? What brings you here?”

“Sir, I am Umbrella-Maker Liang’s sister’s son. My cousin is married to your son. I’m here to see her on my way to watch the tide. Is your son, my brother-in-law, at home?”

Since the visitor claimed to be his daughter-in-law’s kinsman, the sightless Mr. Ren Senior invited him in and called out toward the inner quarters of the house, “Daughter-in-law, your cousin is here to see you.”

The woman was sulking upstairs when she heard the call. In great haste, she liberally applied rouge and powder and put on hairpins and bracelets and, donning some brightly colored clothes, rushed downstairs, taking three steps in two. A peek through the cotton curtain assured her that it was none other than her sorely missed dear lover. Emerging from behind the curtain, she stepped forward to greet him, a radiant smile on her lips. At the sight of her, Zhou De felt

The two sat down, shoulder to shoulder. The sight of Zhou De sent the woman into raptures. Unable to control herself, she lifted the curtain while holding Zhou De’s hand, saying without meaning what she said, “Cousin, let’s go upstairs for a chat.” Mr. Ren Senior remained sitting on the bench under the eaves, intoning Buddha’s name.

Barely were the two upstairs than they fell into each other’s arms. The woman cursed, “You won’t live long, you scoundrel! You made me miss you so much that I got sick! Why didn’t you come to see me for so long? You heartless rascal!”

With a laugh, Zhou De said, “Sister, after you got married and left for the upper reaches of the river, I missed you so much that I almost died. I often wanted to come, but I didn’t dare to because your husband might have found out.” While uttering these words, he carried her to the bed. Loosening their belts and taking o their clothes, they renewed their pledges of love and fulfilled their desire to the utmost. Truly,

The above lyric poem to the tune of “Song of the Southern Country” is a description of this love scene in broad daylight. After the game of clouds and rain was over, they adjusted their clothes. Holding Zhou De in her arms, the woman said, “My husband leaves home early and comes back late. If you do indeed care for me, come here often and just say you are visiting. The old man is blind. What will he know! We’ll just enjoy ourselves upstairs. Don’t you ever let me down.”

“My good sister, my darling, I will never let you down. If I do, may I fall into Avichi Hell and su er for ten thousand kalpas without ever regaining human form.”

At Zhou De’s curse upon himself, the woman turned his face toward her, stuck her tongue into his mouth, and said, “My darling, I didn’t love you in vain. From now on, come often to see me. Don’t ever make me wait for you at the door.” Much as they hated to take leave of each other, they could do no better than go downstairs for Zhou De to bid Mr. Ren Senior goodbye and leave the house. The woman told her father-in-law, “He’s my aunt’s son. He’s a kind and honest man, so simple-minded that he never has much to say.” (An honest man indeed! As the proverb puts it, “No three hundred taels of silver buried here.”)²

Mr. Ren Senior said, “Good, good.”

The woman went to the kitchen and served the old man lunch before she went back upstairs and slept until evening set in. Ren Gui came home and mounted the stairs after first greeting his father. Husband and wife, having nothing to say to each other, slept until day broke. Ren Gui took leave of his father and went back into the city.

From that time on, Zhou De became restless, his thoughts constantly with the woman. Barely had two days gone by than he would go again for a tryst to quench his fiery passion. In those days, Ox-Skin Street was sparsely inhabited. Therefore, the few neighboring families the Rens were friends with knew nothing about the a air.

However, quite unexpectedly, Zhou De got involved in a lawsuit and failed to show up for two months. Consumed with lust and dashed hopes, the woman became feverishly ill. Indeed,

Soon enough, the Lantern Festival rolled around again, and residents of Lin’an erected frames at their doors to display colorful lanterns in celebration. It so happened that Zhou De’s lawsuit had been brought to a close. Putting on nice clothes, he set out on his way at around nine in the morning for a visit.

With a salute to Mr. Ren, who was intoning Buddha’s name at the gate, he walked upstairs. The two partook of the roast goose meat that he produced from his sleeves, loosened their clothes, and went to bed. As sweet to each other as sugar and honey and as inseparable as lacquer and glue, they experienced the very height and fulfillment of love, enjoying each other more than ever before. After such a long separation, they could hardly tear themselves away from each other’s tight embrace. At such considerable length did they sport with each other that they were still upstairs at three in the afternoon. Hungry and resentful, Mr. Ren Senior thought to himself, “How come that cousin of hers spent a whole day up there?” He called out from downstairs, “I’m hungry! I want something to eat!”

The woman replied, “I have a stomachache. Wait for me. I’ll be down shortly.”

Swallowing his anger, Mr. Ren went to the door and sat down again. “There must be something fishy going on,” he thought to himself. “I’ll ask my son tonight when he returns.”

The lovers now had to let go of each other. They softly descended the stairs and slowly opened the door. Zhou De took himself o . Feigning a stomachache, the woman served Mr. Ren some food and went back upstairs to think about her lover, and there we shall leave her.

When Ren Gui returned home in the evening and greeted his father, the latter said to him, “My son, don’t go upstairs right away. I have something to ask you about.”

Ren Gui stopped to listen.

“There is a certain cousin in your parents-in-law’s family who came here on the eighteenth day of the eighth month last year on his way to watch the tide and since then has been frequently coming for visits. I don’t mind if he always goes directly upstairs to talk, but this morning he came again, and they stayed up there until afternoon without serving me lunch. I couldn’t help calling your wife. The cousin heard me and left in a hurry. I am much puzzled. I’ve been meaning to ask you about this, but I always forget because you leave home early and return late. To my thinking, if a man and a woman spend a whole day upstairs, an a air must be going on. There’s nothing a blind old man like me can do. You’ll have to find out about this yourself, but take your time.” Ren Gui seethed with anger at these words and stormed up the stairs. Indeed,

Ren Gui stormed up the stairs in a rage. Without voicing his thoughts, he told himself, “I’ll control myself for the moment and see what this woman has to say for herself.” At the sight of his wife sitting there, he asked, “Has father had his supper yet?”

“Yes,” came the reply. She lit the lamp, spread out the bedding, took o her clothes, and lay down. Ren Gui followed her onto the bed, but, instead of lying down, he sat by the pillow and said, “Let me ask you something. Why does a cousin often come to visit you? Tell me which one he is.”

At these words, the woman sat up and put on her clothes. Her willowlike brows tightly knit, her eyes opening wide, she declared, “He is the son of my father’s sworn sister. Out of their concern for me, my parents tell him to visit me often. What’s there to be so suspicious about?” She demanded in a tantrum, “Who’s been tongue-wagging? I’m not to be easily bullied like some defenseless old granny! Every brick you throw needs to land somewhere. Tell me who’s been throwing rumors around. I’ll go with you for some good questioning.”

Ren Gui said, “Not so loud! Father told me just a moment ago that a cousin of yours spent a whole day today upstairs. That’s why I asked you. If there’s nothing to it, that’ll be that. You don’t have to get so worked up.” So saying, he took o his clothes and went to sleep, but the woman continued with her show of hysteria, saying between sobs and gasps for breath, “My parents should have known better than to marry me o to this place. Then they wouldn’t have to send someone to visit me and set tongues wagging.”

And so her raving and ranting went on. Unable to go to sleep, Ren Gui could not do otherwise than sit up, move to her side, embrace her, and say soothingly (The word “soothingly” [fuxu] is nicely chosen), “Oh well, it’s my fault. For the sake of our marriage, I apologize.” The woman threw herself into Ren Gui’s arms and conjured up a game of clouds and rain that lasted half the night. We shall speak no more of this.

Ren Gui rose at daybreak and went into the city after taking leave of his father. Every day he worked assiduously, leaving home early and returning late. The lust-crazed woman, however, had her mind set on meeting her lover. She thought to herself, “I’ll have to come up with some trick to get out of here. I won’t be able to get together with Zhou De and have a good time unless I find an excuse to go back to my parents’ house.” Day and night she turned the idea over and over in her mind. In the meantime, another half month passed by.

One day after mealtime, Zhou De came again. He opened the gate and charged straight into the house and up the stairs without a word of greeting to Mr. Ren Senior. The woman put her arms around him and said under her breath, “That blind old donkey told his son that you often come to sit and talk with me upstairs. I defended myself until my lips cracked before I got myself o the hook. I can’t bear the thought of not seeing you ever again. We need to come up with a plan for me to go home so that we can enjoy ourselves to the full.”

Zhou De knitted his brows in thought and came up with a plan. “The cats are crying like crazy on the roof,” he said. “If you get hold of one and hold it to your chest, it’ll surely scratch you. You can then let it go, lie down in bed, and weep until your husband comes back. When he asks you, which he will certainly do, say to him, ‘Your good father has been making passes at me. I resisted, so he scratched my chest.’ You can then burst into loud sobs. Your husband will surely send you back home. In that way, we’ll get to enjoy ourselves every day. Won’t that be better than stealing an occasional tryst? Stay at home for three months to half a year before we think about what to do next. What a brilliant plan!”

The woman exclaimed in admiration, “I didn’t love you in vain! You have a good heart and a sharp mind, too!”

Without even taking o their clothes, they fell back on the bed for another game of clouds and rain. After it was over, Zhou De scurried downstairs in haste. Indeed,

The woman bade her time for a few more days before she caught a cat, bared her chest, and put the cat under her clothes. Finding itself all covered up, the cat kicked and scratched with all its might. In spite of the pain, the woman waited until her breasts were all lacerated before she loosened her clothes and let it go. It was already past three in the afternoon. Instead of preparing supper, she threw herself on her bed with her clothes on and rubbed her eyes till they were fiery red. She then wept and screamed by turns until dusk fell and Ren Gui returned home. After greeting his father, Ren Gui proceeded to the inner quarters of the house. Failing to find his wife, he called out, “Wife, why aren’t you downstairs?” At this, the woman broke into louder wails, whereupon Ren Gui went up, asking, without an inkling as to the cause, “Have you had supper? Why are you crying?”

It was only after he repeated his questions several times that the glibtongued slut started screaming between sobs, “You’d better not ask, for you’ll only be bringing out the shame I’ve su ered! Write a statement of divorce and send me back to my parents. I can’t put up with such humiliation. If you don’t send me back, I’ll kill myself tomorrow!” And she started wailing again.

“Stop crying. Tell me what’s bothering you.”

The woman got up, dried her tears, and showed him her lacerated breasts criss-crossed with seven or eight welts. “A fine thing your dear father did to me!” she said. “This morning, after I saw you o at the door, I came back upstairs. Little did I know that the beastly old donkey noiselessly followed me up. With one sweep, he gathered me into his arms, fondled my breasts, and tried to force himself on me. As I resisted, he wildly scratched my breasts without letting go of me. It was only when I screamed that he gave up and groped his way downstairs. I’ve been waiting anxiously for your return.” So saying, she broke into loud sobs and continued, “Such filthy, beastly things don’t ever happen in my family.”

“Don’t be so loud!” admonished Ren Gui. “If the neighbors hear this, we won’t look too good.”

“If you’re afraid of gossip, get me a sedan-chair tomorrow, let me go home, and I’ll call it quits.”

A filial son though Ren Gui was, when he heard the trumped-up story, a smoldering rage burned his heart. (How can a filial son not know his father’s character? How wrong Ren Gui is! He should have known better.) He said, “This truly bears out the saying. ‘It’s easy to draw a tiger’s skin but not its bones. It’s easy to know a person’s face but not his heart.’ So this is what happened! Now I know there’s no truth whatsoever to all those things he made up about some a air between you and your cousin. From this day on, I will not so much as look at that old beast! Stop crying, wife. Go prepare supper and then go to bed.”

Secretly delighted that her husband believed her story, the woman went downstairs, cooked supper, ate, and went to bed. Truly,

Ren Gui was so enamored by the charms of that woman that he did not bother to verify the facts with his father. The following morning, after he rose and ate breakfast, he called a sedan-chair and sent the woman back to her home with a roast goose and two bottles of fine wine. The woman gathered her clothes together into a parcel and mounted the sedan-chair, without a word of goodbye to Mr. Ren Senior. As soon as she reached her home, she went upstairs. Zhou De came over at news of her arrival. The two fell into a tight embrace and laid themselves down on her mother’s bed for fulfillment of their desires. Zhou De said, “Wasn’t that a wonderful plan?”

“Yes, indeed! Let’s have some fun the whole night through to make up for what we’ve lost.”

After their intimacy, Zhou De wanted to go down to buy some wine and food. The woman said, “I’ve brought some roast goose and fine wine to share with you. If you want to buy anything, some fish, vegetables, and fruit will be enough.” (They do know how to live it up.)

In a short while, Zhou De came back with a fish, a pig’s trotter, fresh fruits of all colors, and a big bottle of Wujiapi liquor. By the time the maid Spring Plum had finished preparing the meal, it was already about three in the afternoon. The woman set the table. With her parents taking the seats of honor, Zhou De and the woman sitting opposite each other, and the maid serving the wine, the company of four drank until the first watch of the night. Dinner over, Mr. Liang and his wife went downstairs to retire for the night. The younger couple remained upstairs. Indeed, never before had their joy been so complete. They had just decided to go on with their sporting for the rest of the night when they heard knocks at the door. Indeed,

As I was saying, the two of them were determined to enjoy the whole night when, all too unexpectedly, there came knocks at the door. Spring Plum was cleaning up the kitchen range when she heard the knocks and went with a lamp to answer the door. It was Ren Gui. Petrified with alarm, she screamed from where she was standing, “Mr. Ren Gui is here!”

Zhou De hurriedly put on his clothes and rushed downstairs. As he desperately tried to think of a place to hide, the privy in the empty lot came to his mind, and there he went. The woman slowly walked downstairs and said, “Why are you here at this late hour?”

Ren Gui replied, “The city gate was closed by the time I was ready to leave. I thought of spending the night with Squire Zhang, but it’s too late. That’s why I came here to stay for the night.”

“Have you had supper?”

“Yes. I just want some warm water to wash my feet with.”

With alacrity, Spring Plum brought over a washbowl so he could wash his feet. The woman went upstairs first, while Ren Gui made his way to the privy. All would have been well if there had been someone to stop him from going, but as it was, he almost died a violent death because of this visit to the privy. Indeed,

Ren Gui had barely stepped into the lavatory than Zhou De suddenly emerged and grabbed him tight, yelling, “Stop thief!” Mr. Liang and his wife, the woman, and the maid all brought sticks of firewood and showered him with blows. “It’s me, not some thief !” cried Ren Gui. They would not listen but gave him a good thrashing. Zhou De took advantage of the commotion and slipped away. The beating did not stop until Ren Gui cried himself hoarse. When a lamp was brought over, the crowd stood agape with astonishment as they saw it was Ren Gui. Ren Gui said, “I was grabbed by a real thief but you beat me while the real thief got away.”

They grumbled with feigned regret, “Why didn’t you say so sooner! We thought you were the thief, and in the meantime, the real one got away.” So saying, they went their separate ways.

Swallowing the humiliation, Ren Gui said to himself, “Could it be that they hid someone there and beat me up only because I stumbled upon their secret? Let me not rush things but carefully try to find out about this.”

As it was already the third watch by the night-watch drum, he retired to Mr. Liang’s bed. But his troubled thoughts kept him awake. When the fifth watch was struck at last, he rose, dressed, and made for the door, even though it was not yet quite light.

Mr. Liang said, “Wait until daybreak, and have some breakfast before you go.”

Still aching all over from the beating, Ren Gui was in no mood to answer him. He opened the front gate, closed it after himself, and, under the starlight, headed straight for Tide Watching Gate.

It was too early. The gate was not yet open. (Good plot.) Numerous brokers and peddlers with loads of salt across their shoulders were seated by the gate, waiting for it to open. Some people were singing, some chatting, some engaged in small business transactions. Ren Gui sat down among the crowd and retired into his own thoughts. You may very well say that coincidences do happen. Indeed,

Ren Gui was brooding over his own troubles when a man said, all of a sudden, “A funny thing happened to a neighbor of mine, Liang the umbrella-maker.”

“What was it?” asked another man.

“Well, the Liang family has a daughter, now in her twenties, with the pet name of Shengjin. Before she married, she had an a air with Zhou De, son of Editorial Assistant Zhou, opposite their house. Last year, she married a certain Ren Gui, manager of a medicine store, living on Ox-Skin Street outside the city. That Zhou De still kept up his visits but was exposed by the blind father-in-law and could not go any more. Yesterday, the daughter returned home. Last night, Zhou De bought food and fine wine and feasted until late at night. The two were enjoying themselves upstairs when the least expected thing happened. As it was too late for the son-in-law to get out of the city, he went to his parents-in-law’s house to spend the night. Zhou De the adulterer was so shocked that, for lack of a place to hide, he took refuge in the lavatory. But it so happened that Ren Gui also went there to relieve himself. Now wasn’t that a funny thing? That Zhou De was indeed a smart one. He grabbed Ren Gui and yelled, ‘Stop thief!’ The parents-in-law and the daughter went up and beat Ren Gui to a pulp while the adulterer got away. Now that’s an extraordinary thing, if ever there is one in this world!”

The audience clapped their hands and said laughingly, “That man is a real pushover! Didn’t he know he was being cheated by the adulterous couple?”

The man continued, “If that happened to me, I would cut them in half with a sharp cleaver! That man is no hero, all right. Must be a faint-hearted sort.”

Another man commented, “Maybe he didn’t know his wife was having an a air. That’s why things got so far.” This remark was followed by another burst of laughter. Indeed,

Ren Gui overheard every word of the conversation. The gate opened at this juncture. The crowd poured out of the city and dispersed in various directions. Ren Gui, however, instead of going out the gate, turned back to Squire Zhang’s house, where he took three to five taels of silver, with which he bought a knife at an ironsmith’s shop, slipped it into its sheath, and strapped it to his waist. Recalling that the temple of the duke of Yan the Water God by Qiantang Gate was most responsive to prayers, he bought a white rooster, incense, candles, and paper horses and took them to the temple. There he lit the incense sticks and prayed, “Gods, please show your power! I, Ren Gui, am married to a woman of the Liang family. She has an adulterous relationship with her neighbor Zhou and, at night . . . ”

After the prayer was over, he drew the knife from its hilt, picked up the rooster, and asked for a sign from heaven: “If I am to kill one person, make the chicken jump once on the ground. If I am to kill two people, make it jump twice.” With a single plunge of his knife, he chopped o the rooster’s head. The rooster jumped on the ground four times in a row before it gave a mighty leap all the way from the ground over the beam and fell down again, making altogether five jumps. Ren Gui slipped the knife back into the sheath and bowed repeatedly, wishing that the gods would lend him their divine power for his revenge. Having burned the paper, he walked out of the temple and onto the street. Hither and thither he wandered, but, unable to think up a plan, he returned by night to Squire Zhang’s house. He was in no mood to attend to any business matters.

The following morning, he rose early and strapped the knife to his waist but was not at all sure what to do. He would have gone to the Liang house to have it out with them if not for fear that Zhou De might not be there. Killing the woman alone would not mean much. Turning these thoughts over and over in his mind made him wish he could sink his teeth into that man. His steps took him to a place where he was to throw all his usual caution and kindness to the winds. Indeed, he wreaked havoc on Rixin Bridge and caused quite a stir throughout the city of Lin’an. Truly,

Ren Gui went wherever his steps took him until he found himself in his older sister’s house by Meizheng Bridge. He said to his sister, “I have some things to take care of in the next couple of days. There’ll be no one to take care of father. So do not refuse if he has to stay with you for a while.”

His sister replied, “He can stay as long as he wants.” She did indeed send her son to get her father and bring him to her house.

That day, Ren Gui again wandered aimlessly in the streets before returning to his sister’s house, where he saw his father and gave him to understand the situation. “That evil woman,” he said, “fooled me with her wicked stories about you, Father. I almost fell into her trap. How am I to avenge myself?”

“Throwing her out is enough,” said his father. “Why do you have to be so bitter?”

Ren Gui continued, “If ever she should run into me, I won’t let her get away!”

“Don’t do anything reckless. Why don’t you just keep away from her house, divorce her, get yourself a good wife, and be done with it?”

“I know what to do,” said Ren Gui. He took leave of his father and sister and went to the city in none too amiable a mood.

Dusk had set in by this time. He went to Squire Zhang’s house and acquainted the squire with all the details. “Now that my father is with my sister, I have no more worries.”

Squire Zhang o ered him this counsel: “Be patient. Think well before you do anything. The ancients say, ‘ To convict an adulterous couple, catch them in the act. To convict a thief, produce the stolen goods.’ If you make a mess of it, you’ll su er, and all for nothing. If you are thrown into a prison cell to await execution, no one will be there to help you. It’s better to take my advice than to kill. Make no enemies but only friends.” At these words of admonishment, Ren Gui hung his head without saying a word.

The squire had a waiting woman set out some wine and food for Ren Gui and told him to retire to his room for the night and not to decide upon anything until the following day. Ren Gui thanked the squire.

Once in his own room, he threw himself onto the bed without bothering to take o his clothes, his heart in as much pain as if stabbed by a knife. He tossed and turned through four watches of the night, his rage mounting higher and higher, until, unable to control himself any longer, he rose, quickly got dressed, strapped his knife to his waist, groped his way to the kitchen, quietly opened the door, and leaned himself against the rear wall. The wall being not overly high, one stride took him to the top. The late summer and early autumn moon was shining as brightly as daylight. In one leap, he landed on the ground with the exclamation “So be it!” And so he headed straight for his parents-in-law’s house.

When he was about ten houses away from his destination, he stood still under the eaves in the darkness, thinking to himself, “I’m going to do it, all right, but how do I get the door open?” It was at this moment of indecision that Mr. Wang, peddler of sesame-seed cakes, was seen walking along, carrying a load of cakes across his shoulders and striking a small bamboo tube in his hand. All of a sudden, Ren Gui’s parents-in-law’s door swung open. Out came Spring Plum, who stopped Mr. Wang and bought some cakes from him. Ren Gui said to himself, “That fellow is indeed meant to die!”

Taking three steps in one, he ran into the house and headed straight for Mr. Liang’s room by the stairs. Knife in hand, he opened the door and saw his parents-in-law both asleep. “So, that rascal Zhou De must be upstairs,” he thought. Pinning the old couple down, he cut o their heads with two swings of his knife and threw the heads down to the foot of the bed. He was on the point of taking the stairs when Spring Plum, having closed the door, appeared by the side of the stairs. Ren Gui grabbed her and warned, “Don’t scream! If you do, I’ll kill you. Tell me, where’s Zhou De?”

Recognizing Ren Gui’s voice, the woman knew that things had gone wrong. Seeing a knife in his hand, she screamed, “Mr. Ren is here!” In a rage, Ren Gui cut o her head with one swing of his knife. With the girl’s head now on the ground, Ren Gui stormed up the stairs in great strides to kill the adulterous couple. Truly,

Before Ren Gui ran up the stairs, the man and the woman had been cavorting in bed. At Mr. Wang’s strikes of the bamboo tube, they had awakened Spring Plum and told her to buy some sesame-seed cakes. The bedroom door was left open, and the lamp on the table still on. By the time Ren Gui approached the bed, the woman already knew, for she had heard Spring Plum’s screams and was pretending to be asleep. Pinning down her head with one hand, Ren Gui slit her throat with the other hand, cut o her head, and threw it on the floor. “Now I feel avenged on this score,” he said aloud, “but I won’t be fully satisfied until I do away with that scoundrel Zhou De.” He suddenly recalled that the rooster he killed in the temple had jumped five times. Now that he had killed his father-in-law, mother-in-law, his wife, and the maid, the four killings accounted for only four of the jumps. “That the chicken gave a final jump from the beam must foreshadow something.” So thinking, he raised his head, and whom did he see but Zhou De, naked, lying on the beam on his stomach.

“Come down quick!” shouted Re Gui. “I’ll spare your life if you do!”

Zhou De had climbed up in a moment of desperate haste. The sight of Ren Gui threw him into such jitters that he lost the use of his four limbs and remained transfixed as if in a spell.

In a moment of blinding rage, Ren Gui climbed up the beam from the bed and stabbed Zhou De indiscriminately with his knife. How pitiful! Zhou De fell down from the beam, head first. Ren Gui jumped down and, with a foot planted on his chest, stabbed him another ten times or so. Then Ren Gui cut o the man’s head, loosened his hair, and tied his head to that of the woman. Slipping the knife back into its sheath, he walked downstairs, the two heads in hand. He picked up the maid’s head at the foot of the stairs and went searching for the heads of the parents-in-law. He then loosened the hair, tied all five heads together, and put them on the ground.

It was now broad daylight. “I have killed to my heart’s content,” he thought to himself. “ To get caught fleeing from the scene is by no means a heroic thing to do. I’d be better o surrendering myself to the authorities so that, even if I am cut to pieces, my name will go down to posterity.” So thinking, he opened the door, summoned the neighbors, and announced to them, “As you all know, my wife was a loose woman. I have killed her and the entire family plus the adulterer Zhou De. I’m afraid that if I leave the scene, you the neighbors might be implicated in a lawsuit. Therefore, I ask that you take me to the authorities.”

The neighbors did not believe what they had heard. As they hurried into Mr. Liang’s room for a look, what confronted their eyes were the old couple’s headless bodies. At the foot of the stairs was lying the corpse of the maid. As they ascended the stairs, they found Zhou De dead in a pool of blood, with stab wounds all over his body, and the woman dead in bed. (Good recapitulation, much like the style of the Grand Historian [Sima Qian].) Appalled at the sight, the neighbors walked down the stairs, only to see the five heads tied together in a cluster. “What a man!” they exclaimed. “We’ll go to the authorities and tell them what happened.” They called in more neighbors, who came with the neighborhood headman and the police to arrest Ren Gui. As they were trying to bind him up with ropes, Ren Gui said, “Don’t bother. I’m quite ready to pay for what I did. I will not cause you any trouble.” So saying, he picked up the five heads and strode out the door. The crowd of neighbors followed him out. The street was filled with countless men and women eager to take a look at the scene. Having caused such a stir throughout the city, Ren Gui became indeed

Followed by the neighbors, Ren Gui arrived in the yamen of the magistrate of Lin’an. Hearing that it was a case of murder, the much appalled magistrate quickly called his court to order. With lictors standing in rows flanking both sides of the hall, Ren Gui put down the five heads and the knife and dropped to his knees.

“My name is Ren Gui,” he said. “Twenty-eight years of age, I am a native of this prefecture, where my ancestors established their residence on Ox-Skin Street by the mouth of the river. My mother having died early, I used to live with only my blind father. In the winter of the year before last, I married, through a matchmaker, the daughter of Mr. Liang, who lived near Rixin Bridge by the river, and the marriage lasted until today. Without any business of my own, I have been working as a manager for Squire Zhang’s store. My long work day displeased the woman who was my wife. On the eighteenth day of the eighth month last year, my father was sitting downstairs intoning Buddha’s name when Zhou De came. Claiming himself to be a cousin of the woman’s, while actually he was a neighbor who had begun an illicit a air with her before she married me, he went upstairs to talk with her. From then on, he came frequently. But my father, being blind, had no idea what was going on.

“One day, my father told me, ‘There is a cousin who often comes to sit upstairs. There must be an a air going on.’ Thus warned, I lashed out at the woman, but, in a moment of credulousness, I believed her lies about my father’s advances to her. Therefore, I sent her back to her parents’ home three days ago. That same day, as I left my work late after the closure of the city gate, I went instead to my wife’s home to stay for the night, much to the surprise of the adulterer, who then fled to the privy. Before I retired for the night, I also went to the privy, only to be grabbed by him and accused as a thief. At his cries, my parents-in-law, the woman, and the maid all came out and gave me a sound beating with sticks of firewood while the adulterer slipped away. I went back home in pain, upset that I didn’t even have a way to avenge myself. However, when night came, I took a knife and went into their house, killing first my parents-in-law and the maid before I went upstairs and killed that slut. As I suddenly raised my head, I saw Zhou De lying on the beam on his stomach. So I climbed up and stabbed him to death with the knife. I am now turning myself in with the five heads in the hope of getting a fair judgement from Your Honor.”

The magistrate was struck speechless. After he recovered a considerable time later, he questioned the neighbors to verify the truth of Ren Gui’s words and, having established the facts, ordered Ren Gui to commit the confession to paper in his own handwriting. He then sent a county marshal and several lictors to take Ren Gui back to the house to verify the identity of the corpses. A heaving mass of spectators swarmed to the scene.

That day, they went together to Mr. Liang’s house. All of the five corpses were identified and examined and the gate of the house sealed up. The county marshal brought his charge back to the magistrate’s court, reporting, “Five corpses have been found and identified, just as the murderer confessed.”

The magistrate said, “Even though he did confess everything, he is not to be exempted from punishment.” By order of the magistrate, Ren Gui was beaten twenty strokes before he was put in a big cangue, iron shackles, and manacles and brought under guard to the prison cell designated for those under death sentence. The neighbors all returned home. The local authorities were instructed to sell all of the Liang family assets. The proceeds were used to buy five coffins. The bodies were laid in the coffins, which were then put aside to await further orders from the authorities.

In prison, Ren Gui won general respect for his character. His meals were well taken care of. No more need be said of this.

The magistrate of Lin’an took counsel with the officer on duty about Ren Gui’s case. While it was agreed that Ren Gui was a man of real character, it was a pity that he had been so ruthless. There was very little room for any maneuvering in his favor. They had no alternative but to submit a report to the Ministry of Punishment, which, in turn, reported to the emperor, at whose orders the chief judge gave the verdict, after investigation, that the killing of the adulterous couple was justifiable but that of the parents-in-law and the maid was not. The local authorities were ordered to execute the prisoner within sixty days by dismembering his body in a local public place. The bodies of Mr. Liang and the others were to be cremated and all their property confiscated by the government.

Several days after the decree reached the yamen, the magistrate had the county marshal lead lictors and soldiers into the prison to bring Ren Gui out. When the magistrate showed Ren Gui the verdict from the imperial court, Ren Gui realized the extent of his crime and lowered his head in submission to the death sentence. By the magistrate’s order, Ren Gui was freed from the cangue and chains and put on the wooden donkey. There, for all to see, were

With two rounds of drum-beating and a bang of the gongs, the county marshal and his men pushed Ren Gui along to Ox-Skin Street to show him to the public. Headed by a poster displaying all the charges against him, the procession moved ahead. Men armed with clubs and sticks brought up the rear. They reached Ox-Skin Street and formed a circle around the execution ground to wait for the execution to take place at the scheduled time of a quarter to noon. Spectators filled up the street. As the time drew near, a most extraordinary thing happened. All too unexpectedly, the sky darkened. As the sunlight faded away, a fierce gust of wind sprang up. It blew up sand and stones, soil and dust with blinding force, driving the panic-stricken onlookers scurrying away in all directions.

In a short while, when the storm died down and the sky cleared up, the county marshal, the executioner, and onlookers found Ren Gui dead in an upright sitting position on the wooden donkey, freed from the ropes and the long nails. “Never has such an extraordinary thing happened in all of history!” exclaimed the crowd in unison. Numbed with awe, the overseer of executions hastily ordered the lictors to watch over Ren Gui’s corpse, while he himself rode to Lin’an on a horse to report the matter to the magistrate, who, astounded by the news, promptly mounted his sedan-chair and, together with the overseer, rushed to the scene. Ren Gui had indeed willed his death. The magistrate went to the minister of punishment to make his report and ordered that the local residents keep a night vigil by the corpse.

The following morning, the matter was reported to the imperial court to be settled by imperial decree. The next day, at about nine in the morning, an order from the Ministry of Punishment was delivered to the magistrate, directing that convict Ren Gui’s body be immediately cremated instead of dismembered. Consequently, the county marshal lit the cremation fire right there on the street. Tens of thousands of local residents as well as people from out of town swarmed to the scene, exclaiming, “Who has ever seen such an extraordinary thing?”

Upon learning about Ren Gui’s death, Mr. Ren Senior and his daughter prepared some food, and, with the grandson supporting the blind old man and the daughter carrying the sedan-chair, they went to the execution ground and tearfully o ered sacrifices. Then, Ren Gui’s sister had her son help his grandfather back home, where they went on with their life, supporting the old man in his old age.

Let us not encumber our story with trivialities. Tw o months later, Ren Gui’s ghost began to come out often at dusk. Those passersby who saw him would fall ill upon returning home, but all ailment went away upon the o ering of food and paper money right there on the street. One day, Ren Gui attached himself to the body of a little boy who came to Ox-Skin Street to play and announced to the crowd of spectators, “The Jade Emperor loves me for the honest, upright, filial, and loyal man I was and, upon recommendations from the local deities and guardian spirits of various places, has ordered me to be the guardian spirit of Ox-Skin Street. All good people may build a temple where my house used to be and make o erings to me every spring and autumn so that I will protect the nation and the people.” Having said these words, the boy regained consciousness. Who among the local residents would dare to be incredulous when witnessing such a display of superhuman power?

That very day, they pooled their resources and bought some timber, with which they built a temple where Ren Gui’s house had stood. Without any delay, they hired a skilled sculptor of Buddhist images to make a holy image of Ren Gui, placed the statue in the middle of the hall, and reverently provided sacrificial animals and other o erings to him. Henceforth, the temple was never short of worshippers making o erings, nor was Ren Gui ever remiss in responding to their prayers. The temple still stands to this day. A later poet inscribed a poem on the wall of the temple in praise of Ren Gui’s willing himself to death and rising to the status of a deity. The poem says,