7 TIGER AND SNAKE BLOCK THE ROAD TO TEST HAN XIANG

Do not laugh at brambles,

They produce iris and orchid.

Remove the brambles’ thorns,

And view iris and orchid in your palm.

Up close, iris and orchid are fragrant.

At a distance, brambles stick in your garment.

In the courtyard one plants iris and orchids,

But the brambles remain beside the road.

As it happened, when the girl pushed Xiangzi out the door, the moon and stars were not shining and he could not make out the road. All he could do was to concentrate his spirit, stabilize his breathing, sit under a big tree, and wait for the daylight.

However, he did not take into account that the girl would grumble to her grandfather, “Such a handsome little master. Surely he is suffering unbearable hardships. You should have let me hang him from that rafter, then he would have come round to marrying into our family as a son-in-law. It makes no sense that you drove him out, Grandfather. If he met a tiger or a wolf on the road, wouldn’t it maul and kill him? Then how could we find him again? It was such a handsome little master that came to me.”

But the next moment she was cursing Xiangzi again, saying, “That villainous little Daoist doesn’t look people in the eyes and treats them with complete disrespect. He must have been born from a hollow mulberry tree, or else come into the world by bubbling up from a river. Outside at night, if he isn’t mauled by a tiger, he’s sure to be injured by a snake. Then he’ll be dragged about by pigs or gnawed at by dogs—all because he was ungrateful for my warm solicitude toward him.”

The next moment she again cried out, “How can such a handsome man be, at heart, so stupid? Why are you so obstinate? Are you Liuxia Hui born again, or Lu Zhonglian come back into the world?”¹

A minute later she called the old grandfather and said, “Grandfather, you are sending him to his doom! Quickly light a torch and bring him back. He mustn’t uselessly throw away his life.” But a minute after that she said, “You are old, and almost blind and deaf. In the darkness you won’t find him. I expect he hasn’t gone far. Although my shoes are curved and my stockings small, let me go myself and ask him to come back.”

These seductive tones, delicate expressions, and soft words were all blown into Xiangzi’s ears by a favorable wind, in the hope of touching him. However, Xiangzi’s ambition to cultivate himself was firm as metal and stone, and was not affected in the least. When he heard her words, he became all the more impatient. Without concern for the darkness he marched off blindly.

He had not walked thirty or fifty paces when he suddenly heard the voice of the wind weeping in the trees, the sound of water flowing. A tiger ghost called out, and a mountain elf responded.

He had been running for two or three miles when ahead he saw two lanterns shining brightly. A great gust of wind roared up behind the lanterns, but the lights shone straight at Xiangzi, not shaking at all in the wind.

Xiangzi chanted to himself, “My masters are powerful and perceptive. Seeing me unable to walk in this darkness, from afar they sent two lamps to give me light.” By this time, the lamps had come slowly up in front of him, just half an arrow-shot away.

But they were not two lamps at all, but the gleaming eyes of a fierce tiger. When the tiger saw Xiangzi, he threw himself into a mighty pose.

The head lowered, the tail moving, from his mouth a roar like thunder. His body tense, the claws scratching the ground, beating up dust. The whole body covered with stripes and dots, the silky hairs hard like needles of steel. His eyes full, his teeth densely lined up like swords and lances. When foxes and rabbits in the mountains hear his voice, they go into hiding. When musk deer and bucks in the valleys smell his scent, they conceal themselves. This truly is the king among beasts with golden eyes and white forehead. He does not yield to the black roars of the dark panther and the yellow lion.

Xiangzi had not realized that it was a tiger, but still took it for two bright lanterns. When he saw from afar that they were the eyes of a tiger, he was so startled that he fell to the ground paralyzed with fear.

The tiger moved all around Xiangzi’s body, circling to the left, coming round to the right, sniffing here and snuffling there, but it seemed he would not eat dead meat. Suddenly he turned Xiangzi’s body around with his paw.

Finally Xiangzi’s soul returned to his body, as if he was just awakening from a dream. Trembling with fear, he got up and said, “My masters possess the magical powers to subdue dragons and suppress tigers. Now that I have given up all family affairs and am looking for my masters far away, it makes no sense that I should lose my life in the mouth of a tiger.”

With an effort he stepped forward and shouted, “Tiger, as the chief of all beasts in the mountains, you should understand something of human nature. I, Han Xiang, have abandoned the graves of my parents and the love of wife and child. The masters I am seeking are lords who are willing to forsake their bodies and lose their lives. They’re not the sort of itinerant Daoists who covet life and are afraid of death. Now you put up this mighty pose, but I won’t be afraid of you. Nor will I follow the example of the old Buddha who cut his flesh to feed the eagles and forsook his body to feed the tigers. If you frighten me to death, beast, my masters won’t forgive you. Besides, I’ll make sure to accuse you when I arrive at the palace of King Yama. If you eat me, don’t think you will get off unscathed.”

When the tiger heard this, he looked as if he understood human language. He shook his head, swung his tail, and ran off into the flowing mists of the mountains.

At this point, Xiangzi finally understood his mind, realized his nature, and returned to his original self. This poem puts it well:

Do not say that there are no spirits—they do indeed exist.

Look up: they are just three feet above your head.

Had he still made the smallest distinctions in his mind,

In the fierce tiger’s jaws his life would have ended.

When Xiangzi saw that the tiger was gone, he hurried on a few paces, only to see soaring clouds subduing the peaks, the high morning red winging the mountain ranges. The peaks were soaring, the ravines plunging deep, filled with mist.

The sky gradually lightened. Xiangzi was just about to walk ahead to look for human habitation, beg some vegetarian food, and after eating set off again, when suddenly a bright flash of fire lit up the darkness of clouds and mist. He could make out a broad road.

It so happened that there were no inns in the vicinity, and few people traveled in this area. When Xiangzi focused his eyes and looked closely, he saw a poisonous serpent, as thick as a house pillar and seven or eight fathoms long, lying on the ground and blocking his path. So great was the serpent’s fierceness that travelers did not come close. Here is a rhapsody to illustrate it:

The whole body covered with scaly armor like a red dragon appearing in the mountains; the whole body gleaming like a brush fire scorching the foot of high ranges. Head aloft, tongue protruding, fierce and unyielding, it faced now south, now north. Hollow eyes and cruel jaws, ugly and evil, it darted east and west. At the end of its tail there was a hook—get hit and it’s all over. Among the scales it had spurs—they inflict grievous injury. Could it be the white dragon who, disguised as a fish, fell into Yu Qie’s net?² It was certainly more than the drunkenly drawn bow shape to which the retainer of Chu added feet.³ At that point Han Xiang had not yet lived up to Sunshu Ao, who buried the double-headed snake and became renowned in all three parts of Chu,⁴ or Peigong of Han, who punished with his sword the snake who blocked the road, securing the three territories of Qin.⁵

When the snake saw Xiangzi, it blew out a mouthful of poisonous breath, and Xiangzi fell to the ground in a state of alarm and fright. However, unexpectedly, the snake slithered off into the grass and bushes.

The reader will ask, “The snake and the tiger had come to pursue and attack Xiangzi. Why didn’t they eat him instead of going quietly away?” The only reason was that Xiangzi had turned his back on uncle and aunt, had given up wife and child, had traveled over land and water for ten thousand miles, had cultivated himself and discerned the Way.

The two masters Zhong and Lü were afraid his mind of the Way might not be firm and his fickle human mind might burst forth suddenly, so that it would be difficult for him to renounce and transform his wordly body and ascend to the heavenly realms. Therefore they materialized the snake and the tiger to frighten him in order to see if he would backslide and regret his decision. Since Xiangzi did not do so, the snake and tiger naturally did not dare injure him.

Masters Zhong and Lü, with their eyes of wisdom, immediately saw that Xiangzi was chaste, unafraid of snakes and tigers, and undaunted by hardship and labor. He truly was a disciple of the School of Mysteries. They were willing to deliver him, but were still afraid that his demonic obstructions to enlightenment were not yet removed, that the roots of sin were not yet purified. So they commanded a demon judge, “Test him under the Yellow Sand Tree. If he spews out the true fire of samadhi, we will finally allow him to come and see us. Should he shrink back in fear, withdraw, and hide, we will throw him into the underworld and he shall never again be reborn.”

The demon judge received the order and went under the Yellow Sand Tree, where he blocked the road. How did this demon judge look?

A hideous head, his face fierce and evil. A hideous head, like that of a snake-dragon coming out of an earth hole. His face fierce and evil, like that of a guardian spirit standing by the temple gate. His body an indigo color overlayed with red, long teeth in his blue face. On his hands and feet the muscles lay bare and the bones shone through, his hooked fists covered in red hair. Seeing him from afar, he seemed to reach the sky and cross the earth, more awesome than a fierce guardian spirit. Seeing him from nearby, he extended wide and round like a winnowing fan and a rice peck. If he was not Death himself from the netherworld, chasing after souls, he surely must have been that iron-shod and bronze-headed pilgrim in search of the sutras.⁶

As soon as Xiangzi saw the demon judge blocking the road, he thought, “I have come ten thousand miles over land and water in the search for my masters. My only wish is to meet the ones who may satisfy my long-harbored ambition. Who would have expected that all along the way I would encounter so many obstacles? It’s not that the masters don’t come to save me—no, the reason must be that my mind of the Way is not firm. That’s why I haven’t succeeded in finding my masters. I’ll step forward and ask what kind of demon this is, and then decide what to do.”

Xiangzi straightened up, quickly put his clothes in order, and shouted, “Where do you come from, strange spirit? What is your place, evil demon? How dare you come and block my way?”

“I am an upright and unselfish general of awe-inspiring reputation, a divine lord, majestic and fierce, just and possessing the Way,” the demon judge answered. “At the place I occupy, I have received temple sacrifices for a thousand years. I particularly like to eat the liver and gall of living people, as well as whole bodies of blood and flesh. You, little Daoist, are not enough to give me a full meal. What do you want here?”

Xiangzi said, “The world holds only the Heavenly Emperor, the gods, the immortals, the city gods, and the earth gods who assure that wind and rain are seasonable and who protect the common people. How can there be someone called ‘divine lord,’ who indulges his nature by being greedy and rapacious, and who gives rein to the passions of his mouth and stomach? Judging by your words, you are nothing but a demonic spirit and a ghostly apparition, pretending to possess divine efficaciousness and recklessly devouring living people, arrogating to yourself heavenly authority. I, Han Xiangzi, not shirking hardships, have been looking for my teachers over ten thousand miles. I escaped with my life from the mouths of snakes and tigers; why should I be afraid of an evil demon blocking my way?”

When the demon judge heard his words, he raised the flames of desire and fanned the smoke of passion, causing the sky to be covered until it was so dark that one could not see the palm of one’s extended hand. The broad road was black, as if blocked by a bronze wall or iron masonry. In the smoke and flames appeared strange forms and abnormal shapes, monstrous things long and short, big and small. I don’t know how many thousands or hundreds there were altogether, all laughing and tittering, rushing straight at Xiangzi.

Xiangzi having come to this place was just like a chicken having fallen into the latrine. Ten thousand maggots crowded together, a rank odor fell onto the earth, and a thousand ants accumulated. In such a situation, one’s mind might easily be seized by anxiety and one’s will might become disoriented, like a dog who has lost its master. But fortunately Xiangzi’s nature was firm and his spirit clear, like that of a dragon hibernating in a cave. Immediately he straightened up and without retreating a single step he spat out a flaming red Perfect Fire, which rushed against the evil demon. What did this Perfect Fire look like?

Without furnace and without stove, it emerges from the Cinnabar Field and passes out through the throat. Without flames and without smoke, it jumps from the Niwan Palace, its brilliance shaking the silvery sea. Blazing without the help of sulphur, dazzlingly red, it shoots straight up to the constellations of Dipper and Herdboy. Why bother with boxes and drums to draw wind? Soaring red, this fire distantly rushes into the Milky Way. Hit by it, your head gets scorched and your forehead boiled, both transformed into swirling ashes. All nearby flee in a hurry and hide out of sight. Truly your mind’s spirit terrace has its own seeds—why beg them from your neighbor? As they are produced in the heart’s vermilion palace, do not let all your yang be exposed to the light of day.

When Xiangzi spewed forth this Perfect Fire, three feet and three inches high, it scattered all the demons. Only then did Xiangzi set his mind at rest and say, “If I hadn’t received the secret formulas from my masters and produced a Perfect Fire to scatter these evil demons, they would have overwhelmed me and carried me off to the netherworld.” Thereupon he walked ahead with great steps and resumed his journey.

After several peaceful and uneventful days, he saw a high mountain in the distance ahead. What did it look like?

Green cliffs and azure ranges many feet high, soaring loftily to touch the layered clouds. Red precipices and blue peaks tens of thousand feet high, rocky summits linking up with the higher realms. On the top of ranges pines and cedars stand in close array, on the flanks and in the hollows grass and iris grow luxuriantly. Among flying birds there are dark cranes and blue phoenixes, yellow orioles and long-tailed fly-catchers. Among walking beasts there are black bears and blue deer, dark panthers and gray musk deer. Flying falcons and chasing with hounds, in winter hunters set their traps everywhere. Seeking stillness and searching for the mysterious, Daoists stay here in all seasons. It really is the place of the grottoes of gods and immortals, a ladder to the Penglai Isles.

When Xiangzi saw it, he said, “The high mountains ahead must be the Zhongnan Mountains. That must be where the two masters live.” He ran up the mountains, seeking to find the masters. Only then would his mind be satisfied. As the following poem puts it:

If one is sure to attain the Way, why worry that the road of immortality is long?

If one’s literary talents are great, why fear that success in the examinations may come late?

As Xiangzi hastened up the mountain, he said to himself, “Why is it that after walking so many roads, I still see no sign of my masters? I don’t know on which peak they live.”

Just at that moment he happened to look up. In the dark forest undergrowth a signboard with golden letters was visible. “That place must be their hermitage,” Xiangzi said.

Hastily he walked on in great strides, pulling himself up on climbing plants and holding on to creepers. He saw layers of pines adorning the rocks, rows of cedars leaning against the walls. Around the mountain ranges clouds swirled. On a strangely shaped peak in the sunlight there stood a lonely tree, surrounded by a multitude of mountains. In a cave in the distance he saw an immortal sitting on a stone bed.

When Xiangzi turned his gaze, he could no longer see the gold-lettered signboard, nor the grotto of the divine immortal. Looking left and right, he did not see the road either. Suddenly he was anxious. He looked up to heaven and shouted, “Masters, Han Xiang today walked to this place, yet still he does not get to meet you. It must be because my determination for the Way is not firm that you do not come to receive me. However, my determination to cultivate myself will end only when I die. If that is not sufficient then I will commit suicide here, and let my soul go find you.”

Just then he heard the sound of a flute in the distance. When he looked carefully, a herdboy, astride a black ox, was riding by in the woods. Xiangzi shouted, “Elder Brother Shepherd, come over here. I want to ask you for some information.”

“It’s full of the nets of dust and desire over there,” the herdboy answered. “What sort of man are you that you willingly walk there and don’t turn back? I know that trap, and I won’t walk into it.”

“Older Brother Shepherd, please show me the road of life,” Xiangzi implored him mournfully. “Once I have escaped from these nets, I will give you many thanks!”

“In that case, my black ox knows the way,” the herdboy said. “Wait until I have led him over to you, then we will ride together on his back. Thus I will lead you slowly out to the road of life.”

“Elder Brother, do not deceive me,” Xiangzi said.

And really, the herdboy rode the ox straight over to Xiangzi and called on him to climb up on its back. The herdboy sat before him, playing on his flute in bird-like tunes the following poem, even as they rode on:

The ox roars and acts wildly,

Control it with a rope through its nose.

If it is even a little relaxed,

Confusion and desires will expel your original yang.

When Xiangzi heard the sound of the flute, a thought suddenly struck him and he asked, “Older Brother Shepherd, who taught you to play this flute?”

“It is my master who taught me,” the herdboy said.

“Who is your master?”

“My master is no common man, but a divine immortal of Heaven.”

“It wouldn’t happen to be the master Zhongli?”

“If you are talking about that Zhongli,” replied the herdboy, “He’s a hot-tempered, covetous demon. He kills people without batting an eye. He is certainly no divine immortal!”

“It would not happen to be Master Lü Dongbin?” Xiangzi then asked.

The herdboy laughed and said, “Daoist Lü got drunk three times in the tower of Yueyang, played selfishly with White Peony, sold false ink in Dingzhou, and hawked poor combs in Xunyang. Every time, he used trickery to cheat people. He is even less a divine immortal than Zhongli.”

“You have eyes, but you do not recognize Mount Tai, and you just use your mouth to talk nonsense,” Xiangzi scolded him. “These masters of mine, Zhongli and Lü, are the leaders of the heavenly immortals, the superiors of the divine sages. If you’ve never met them, then leave it at that. How dare you slander them?”

“In these mountains, there is hardly a day or an hour when I do not see divine immortals,” the herdboy said. “Since you esteem these two unworthy Daoists, I will be honest with you. If you want to meet my master, there will be many difficulties. But if you only want to seek Zhong and Lü, they are not far from here. I can take you there all right.”

“Elder Brother, I only want to meet masters Zhong and Lü,” Xiangzi said. “May I trouble you to show me the way?” The herdboy pulled at the ox’s nose-rope, and they rode off toward the east.

At this moment it was as if Xiangzi was awakening from a dream. It was just as described in this poem:

By clearly pointing out the even road,

He lifted a man out of the nets of Heaven and Earth.

If you do not know where Xiangzi went, listen to the explications of the next chapter.