It is said that in the Tang dynasty, at the time that the Huang Chao rebellion threw everything into chaos, the ruler of Min, in Fuzhou, was a man surnamed Wang, whose given name was Shenzhi. His second son, Wang Yanbin, came to take up the office of prefect of Quanzhou Prefecture in Fujian. In his territory, at a distance of twenty-five li from the East Gate, there was a river called the Luoyang.¹ In The Ji Commandery Chronicle (Jijun zhi) there is a legend that when the High God of the Dark Heaven of the Northern Bourne (Beiji Xuantian Shangdi) attained incarnation as a buddha, he cut open his belly and threw his entrails into this river. His entrails turned into two monsters, a turtle and a snake; the turtle turned into a ferryboat and the snake its steersman.² All the time, under the pretext of ferrying passengers across the river, they carried them to the middle of the river, overturned the boat, and devoured all the traveling merchants. When Prefect Wang Yanbin heard of this, he was so troubled that he wanted to build a bridge as a way to save people. But Luoyang River was so deep as to be bottomless, and the tidal current was swift, making it difficult to bring the work to completion; the ends of the bridge were always washed away, so that it could not be completed. Time and again the gold and silver in the state treasury were exhausted, to the tune of a hundred million thousand cash. He was at his wits’ end.

At that time the Dragon King of the Four Seas went to wish Guanyin, the Buddha of the South Sea, a long life. She was sitting on a lotus pedestal in the Purple Bamboo Grove.³ Gazing into the distance with her eye of wisdom she saw a trail of demonic vapor rising into the clouds.⁴ She asked, “What is this called?”

The Dragon King replied, “It is a demonic vapor.”

Before he had finished speaking, there was a flash, and the Dragon King of the South Seas, Aolian, reported to the Buddha, “Now, on Luoyang River, there are two monsters: a turtle and a snake. On the river they have harmed many living beings. Prefect Wang Yanbin wants to find a way to save travelers, and he is supervising the construction of Luoyang Bridge in order to benefit the coming and going of merchants, so that they can avoid being harmed by these two monsters. But the tidal current is turbulent, and the violent waves are difficult to hold back, so that the bases of the pillars never reach solid ground. The amount of labor has been colossal, and considerable wealth has been spent.”

Guanyin said, approvingly, “It’s wonderful that even in the mortal world there is this sort of good person who desires a way to save the common people! As Prefect Wang is an ordinary mortal, how could he achieve anything? Wait while I work a spell to call up the boat of mercy to assist him, since he is working all alone.” Then she chanted the true scriptures and incantations, and summoned the local god of Luoyang.

When the local god heard the summons from Guanyin, he immediately went to bow at her pedestal. The bodhisattva Guanyin then came down from her pedestal and went into the Purple Bamboo Grove, where she picked a single bamboo leaf and a branch of willow. With the local god she rode an auspicious cloud, and in a flash had arrived at Luoyang River. There she took from her sleeve the bamboo leaf and blew on it with her buddha wind, turning it into a brightly colored boat. The local god turned into a boatman and the willow wand into a punting pole, while Guanyin herself turned into a beautiful woman. They punted the boat into the middle of the river and in a moment brilliant colors shone forth, enveloping the boat.⁵

Just then Prefect Wang happened to stroll down to the riverbank, where he saw the brilliant light shining in the middle of the river. Not knowing the cause, he immediately sent someone to investigate. In a short while the servant returned, and reported, “Within the brilliant light there is a brightly colored boat, and in the boat there is a beautiful woman. It is said that having learned of your noble sir’s virtuous government and righteous desire to build a bridge across the Luoyang, and your inability to succeed, she made a vow on the boat that any nobles or wealthy people right on down to commoners could throw coins at her. She will marry anyone who succeeds in striking her. If no one is able to strike her with a coin, all the gold and silver can be added to your funds to build the bridge.”⁶

When Prefect Wang heard this report, he was overjoyed. He promptly posted an announcement telling the common people that any and all could come to Luoyang River to throw coins at the beautiful woman. Within a day this set the people astir, and one and all brought their money, each hoping to carry off the beautiful wife. Availing themselves of this occasion to throw coins at the beauty, the elite and common people from all around flung coins, sending their money flying. Wang Yanbin was delighted beyond all expectation, and immediately called for several dozen little boats to encircle the brightly colored boat. From that moment, the little boats returned each day filled with the tossed coins, and the money was turned over to the treasury. Prefect Wang was elated. But when joy reaches its extreme, it turns into sorrow.

By coincidence Master Pure Yang Lü (Lü Chunyang), the Great Immortal of the Eight Grottos, was returning from riding the clouds beyond the sea, on his way back to Penglai, the Isle of the Immortals.⁷ From within the cloudy brightness, he saw rosy clouds soaring up into the sky above Luoyang River. With his cloud whisk he brushed aside the clouds to take a look, and in no time at all knew the cause.

Now we will turn to the city of Quanzhou where there was a certain Wang Xiao’er, who was by nature upright and honest. People had given him the nickname Elder Brother Scallion, because early every morning he carried vegetables to the market. He was frugal and thrifty, and led a quiet life. Originally he had hoped to take a wife, carry on the family name, and continue the sacrifices.⁸ He came to the bank of the Luoyang, where there was a large crowd of people who had come to throw coins at the beautiful woman.

At this time Elder Brother Scallion, too, brought all the coins he had saved up and hurled them into the river; however, no matter how he pitched the coins, he could not hit the target. As a result, he could neither eat nor sleep, and became despondent. As luck would have it, he ran into Master Pure Yang Lü on the road by the river. Master Lü saw Elder Brother Scallion tossing coins till midday. Never hitting the target, he kept sighing, frustrated and furious, so Master Lü came to his aid. With a flick of his cloud whisk, he parted the beauty’s cloudy defenses. She was unable to raise her defenses in time, and in an instant a coin struck the topknot of her hair. Elder Brother Scallion was overjoyed at his luck, which seemed to have come out of the blue. But in the blink of an eye, both the brightly colored boat and the beautiful woman sank into the river. Seeing this, Elder Brother Scallion ground his teeth in rage; he thought and thought, but could not come up with a plan. Then he hurled himself into the river. His soul remained intact and traveled to Luoqie Mountain.⁹ We won’t speak of this any further.

As we take up our tale anew, Guanyin opened wide her eye of wisdom and saw Pure Yang Lü standing on top of the cloud. She cursed him, saying, “A dumb beast like that has no sense of propriety!” Then she sent the Five Thunders (Wu Lei) to strike him. The Immortal Ancestor Lü saw them coming and for an instant was helpless with fright. Unable to escape back to his mountain, he hastily fled to Liang Hao’s study.¹⁰

He called to Licentiate Liang, “In a moment of distraction, I offended the Heavenly Court, which has dispatched the Five Thunders to strike me. Save me!” As he spoke, the sound of thunder rolled violently. Liang Hao was so frightened that his hands and feet were like ice, and he was unable to reply. Pure Yang Lü said, “If you are willing to rescue me, then that would give this poor Daoist a place to hide.” Liang Hao agreed with alacrity. Pure Yang Lü then turned himself into a tiny insect, ran under Liang Hao’s fingernail, and hid himself. He waited for an hour and three quarters, until the thunder no longer rolled. There was nothing the Five Thunders could do, so they were obliged to go back to the Purple Bamboo Grove, having failed to carry out the Buddha’s orders. At this time, an hour and three quarters having already elapsed, Pure Yang Lü resumed his original form. He thanked Liang Hao and returned to Zhong Mountain, as he did not dare remain in these harrowing circumstances any longer.¹¹

Merciful Guanyin’s compassion was aroused. She took Wang’s wandering soul and ordered the Powerful Guardian of Luoqie Mountain to escort it to Gutian County in Fuzhou Prefecture, to be reincarnated in the Liu Tong family. There it transmigrated into another body, with the name Liu Qi. Guanyin then bit her finger. A drop of her Buddha’s blood fell into the Chen Chang family in Xiadu in Fuzhou, and was reincarnated as a girl, with the name Chen Jinggu. We will speak of this later.

We now return to Luoyang Bridge to take up our story. From the time that Wang Yanbin of the Tang dynasty built the bridge up to the time of Emperor Renzong of the Song dynasty it was altogether 240 years, and the bridge had become damaged.¹² As before, the two monsters—the turtle and the snake—were once again killing living beings on the river.

On one occasion the mother of Cai Xiang, Madame Weng, was in the boat of these two monsters. They were about to kill her, when they heard a command from the sky: “Top Scholar Cai is now in the boat. Do not kill anyone!” Everyone on the boat heard this voice, but careful investigation revealed that there was no one named Cai. How could they know that a flower-selling girl on board was pregnant? Her husband’s surname was Cai, and his given name was Fu.

The flower-selling girl instantly made a vow, saying, “If the baby I am carrying is a boy, and if in future he is indeed the Top Scholar, I will rebuild Luoyang Bridge.” She was already ten lunar months pregnant, and that very day she gave birth to a boy, whom she named Cai Xiang. Later he indeed became Duanming Scholar (Duanming Xueshi) Cai. He was by nature extremely perceptive, and before long he made the top of the list of candidates. He was assigned the office of prefect of his home prefecture.

His mother explained to him, “Previously on Luoyang River I vowed that if my son came first on the list of scholars, I would rebuild the bridge over the river.”

Cai Xiang wished to carry out his mother’s vow, and immediately began construction work to rebuild the bridge. But because the tide was deep, the piers were dashed to pieces each time, and construction could not get under way. Prefect Cai thought long and hard, but couldn’t come up with a plan. Then he formally ascended the hall of his yamen, summoned three divisions of runners, and in his booming official voice asked, “Is there one among you who is able to go under the sea (xia de hai)?”

In fact, there was a runner who went to kneel at the foot of the steps to the upper hall. He reported, “Noble Sir, I am Xia Dehai [“Sea of Virtue Xia,” his name being homophonous with “Able to go under the sea”].”

When Prefect Cai heard this, he said with delight, “If you are indeed able to go under the sea, I will give you five taels of silver as a reward.”¹³ He ordered the secretary to prepare a message, which he gave to Xia Dehai to take to submit to the Water Office of the Dragon King of the South Seas.

When Xia Dehai saw the silver, he was extremely happy, but when he saw the document, he was terrified. He said, “My surname is Xia and my given name is Dehai, but it is certainly not the case that I can go under the sea!”

When Prefect Cai heard this, he shouted in a loud voice, “Nonsense!” Then from his raised platform he threw the document down to Xia Dehai in the lower hall, and withdrew.

Xia Dehai picked it up and went home, weeping bitterly. When his wife asked why he was weeping, he explained the reason from beginning to end. His wife argued, “Lucky people naturally of themselves obtain Heaven’s assistance. There is no need to be alarmed.”

Xia Dehai took the silver he had received as a reward and prepared wine and delicacies. When he was intoxicated with food and drink he went to the seashore, planning to throw himself into the sea and commit suicide. He stretched out on the beach, thinking that the tide would rise and he would float away, and fell fast asleep. In a short while he was snoring thunderously. His snoring disturbed a Water Office soldier, who went straight to the Crystal Palace to report to the Dragon King, saying, “Prefect Cai Xiang of Quanzhou has sent runner Xia Dehai to deliver a message. Please instruct me how to deal with it.”

The Dragon King answered, “This evening prepare a document in reply to put in its place.”

When day broke, Xia Dehai’s drunkenness had worn off. He patted his chest and the document was still there, so he took it out to have a look. It wasn’t the original! His heart leaping with joy, he rushed back to the yamen. Just then the prefect ascended the hall, and Xia Dehai presented the reply. Cai Xiang opened it and had a look. There was nothing but the single graph “vinegar” (cu) and that was all! He thought that it surely meant between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. (you) on the twenty-first day of the month. He waited until this time—between 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. on the twenty-first day—arrived.¹⁴ Then he immediately began construction work. The seawater suddenly retreated, leaving the ground dry. Cai Xiang was delighted, and promptly rewarded Xia Dehai by making him leader of his division. He ordered runners to go all around to recruit artisans and stonemasons, and waited for them all to arrive. Then Cai Xiang personally supervised the construction and restoration, and with such a labor force the piers were finished in no time at all. Prefect Cai was overjoyed. In less than a day the horizontal beams were likewise complete, ready for inauguration.

Cai Xiang then chose an auspicious day for it. He summoned all the civil and military officials, the gentry and the elders, and all the villagers who had both good fortune and longevity, and together they crossed the bridge. That day they employed the imperial soldiers. The common people, the gentry, and the officials all thought to themselves that if this day went without mishap the bridge would surely not fall into decay for ten thousand years.

Cai Xiang, along with the crowd, began to cross the bridge. When they reached the middle, they saw descend from the sky a god whose appearance was extraordinary, and form terrifying, who shouted, “I am the celestial Ninth Dragon Star!”

Prefect Cai replied, “I am the earthly Prefect Duanming Scholar Cai.”

Just at this moment the imperial soldiers advanced from the head of the bridge, while Prefect Cai descended from the opposite end. After a few steps, Prefect Cai thought to himself that Ninth Dragon Star’s appearance was indeed extremely bizarre; he was just about to turn his head for another look when the imperial soldiers’ god struck him, causing him to stumble and fall down unconscious. His face was purple and his eyes red, his body lifeless and cold. The crowd of runners saw this, and quickly used a sedan chair to carry him to the yamen, but he was already dead. In order to construct the bridge over the Luoyang, respected Duanming Scholar Cai had not only exhausted his family’s wealth, he had also lost his life. It was indeed a great pity! We won’t speak of this any further.

To continue our story, Luoyang Bridge was built so low that when the water rose, it covered the bridge to a depth of three feet. During the previous dynasty [the Ming], in Chidian Village in Jin Jiang County in Quanzhou Prefecture,¹⁵ there was a very wealthy man whose surname was Li and whose given name was Wu. His family was immensely rich. He had accidentally harmed his father’s younger brother, and he had also beaten a servant to death. He was about to go to the Autumn Assizes of the Ministry of Justice to answer for his crimes.¹⁶

When he set out, he had to cross Luoyang Bridge. At this exact moment a high tide surged over the bridge, and Li Wu, sitting inside the prison cart, was completely covered by the water. He quickly made a vow, saying, “If I, Li Wu, get out of this, and am not guilty and return home to Quanjun Prefecture, I vow to raise the height of this bridge by three feet.”

To continue our story, Chen Jinggu had grown up. She was a beautiful girl, her speech solemn and never careless. Each day in the embroidery room she cultivated herself in tranquility, chanting sutras and bowing to the Buddha from dawn to dusk. She did not concern herself with trivial matters.

Liu Qi, too, had grown up. It happened that this was the time when Fuzhou was holding its civil service exams.¹⁷ Liu Tong took his son, Liu Qi, to Fuzhou to enter the exams. They found temporary lodgings in the house of Lin Bashu, a seller of sundries, who was the next-door neighbor of Chen Chang, Chen Jinggu’s father. One day, when they had some free time, Liu Tong took his son to the countryside to relax. They were nearly home when there was a sudden downpour, and Liu Tong and his son took shelter from the rain under the eaves of Chen Chang’s house.

By chance, Chen Chang opened the door and saw the two cultured guests, one old and one young. Clasping his hands together, Chen Chang bowed politely and began to speak. “You two noble sirs are seeking shelter from the rain. Come into my lowly cottage for a time and have some tea.”

When Liu Tong heard this, he beamed. He bowed in return, saying, “This foolish man and his son are total strangers to you. How could we dare accept your invitation?” When he had finished speaking, they entered, went to the upper hall, and carried out the rituals of guest and host. Only after all this did they have tea.

While this was going on Lin Bashu had gone into the street to get more goods to restock. When he returned to his shop, he didn’t see Liu Tong and his son, so he asked his assistant about them. The assistant replied, “They just took shelter from the rain at Chen Chang’s house next door.” Lin Bashu then went to Chen Chang’s upper hall. The two bowed to each other and sat down, and Chen Chang ordered his wife to prepare wine to entertain them.

While they were drinking the wine, Lin Bashu said to Chen Chang, “Previously Elder Brother Liu Tong wanted to take your beautiful daughter as a wife [for his son], but it didn’t work out. Today, by chance, the fate of Heaven brings them together again. My friend Elder Brother Liu’s son is young and erudite. He is now at the provincial examinations, where the golden roster of successful candidates will surely bear his name. Furthermore, he is well matched in age for your daughter. It is just the right time for a wedding. If you two don’t reject me, I am willing to take charge of the arrangements in order to achieve the matrimonial happiness of your two families. I don’t know what you two elder brothers think of this.”

When Chen Chang heard this he was overjoyed. Liu Tong, too, was happy to go along, and said, “No day is better than today.” Then he took a gold armlet from Liu Qi’s arm. Offering it with both hands, he presented it to Lin Bashu, saying, “This is to reward you for all your trouble in bringing our families together. I will not forget it even at the end of my days, when I am old and toothless.”¹⁸

Beaming, Lin Bashu accepted the armlet. He turned to Chen Chang and said, “I hope that your daughter and the son of my very old friend will grow old and white-haired together.”

Chen Chang was grateful. He took his leave of the future father-in-law and of Lin Bashu, and went directly back into the inner rooms. He said to his wife, Madame Ge, “Dear wife, many times we have talked about the fact that our daughter is grown up but not yet happily married. Today Heaven has sent us a marvelous, predestined relationship. Our neighbor Lin Bashu has a good friend from Gutian. For many generations without interruption, the men in the family have been literati. The future father-in-law is surnamed Liu, and his personal name is Tong. The future son-in-law is young and talented and, furthermore, he is both well-mannered and handsome. For him to marry our daughter would indeed be a marriage made in Heaven, and would fulfil our most cherished dream.”

Madame Ge saw how happy her husband was. She knew their future son-in-law was a person of exceptional ability. Then she took a gold hairpin and gave it to Chen Chang, who went directly out of the hall. He thanked Lin Bashu, saying, “My wife has heard that we could get such an outstanding son-in-law, and that it is all due to your suggestion. We are extremely grateful.” Then he presented the gold hairpin to Lin Bashu.

Bashu in turn gave it to Liu Tong, saying, “My sole hope is that your worthy son, Liu Qi, will be the top candidate in the exams and that they will soon be a harmonious couple.” Liu Tong accepted the hairpin and tucked it into his sleeve. He instructed his son to change chairs and, inviting Chen Chang to sit on the higher one, thanked the future father-in-law. Chen Chang declined three times, and only accepted Liu Qi’s two bows. Liu Qi’s family, along with the go-between, then bowed again and took their seats at the banquet. Joyfully, they drank to their hearts’ content, and by dusk they were all drunk. Only then did the banquet end, and they went home to bed.

A few days later it happened that the Great Master (Zongshi) Li Tongren arrived in Min to hold an exam to select scholars.¹⁹ When Liu Qi heard of this, he followed the crowds to enter the lists. In a short time the exam topic was announced, and when Liu Qi saw it he was extremely happy; he wrote an essay and was very satisfied with it. When it was time for the Great Master to post the list of successful candidates, Liu Qi was the eleventh Cultivated Talent (Xiucai) in Gutian.²⁰

When Liu Qi saw the list, he was thrilled. He dressed up according to custom, and only then did he pay his respects to the Great Master to thank him. When this duty was completed, Liu Tong took Liu Qi to Xiadu. After they had finished paying their respects to the bride’s parents, they took leave of their relatives by marriage. They also said goodbye to Lin Bashu and returned to Gutian.

When Liu Tong saw his wife and son, he said, “Our son and the Chen family are now relatives by marriage. Furthermore, Liu Qi has taken up his responsibilities as a Cultivated Talent.” When he finished speaking, his wife, Madame Li, was very happy. They hung up lanterns and colorful festoons for the celebration. Guests came in throngs to congratulate them, and they gave a banquet and paid their respects to the guests.

On that day Lin Bashu, too, set out for Gutian to carry out some business. Liu Tong gave Lin Bashu his son’s horoscope card and betrothal gifts to take with him to give to Chen Chang. Chen Chang accepted the son’s horoscope card and reciprocated with his daughter’s, which he gave to Lin Bashu to take to Gutian to give to Liu Tong.²¹

From this time three years passed. Liu Qi went to Fuzhou to await selection as police chief for Luoyuan.²² On the day appointed for him to take up his post, Liu Qi registered as police chief and returned to Gutian. It happened that Lin Bashu was spending the night at the Lius’ home. They prepared the betrothal gifts, chose an auspicious day for the wedding, and entrusted Lin Bashu to take the gifts to the Chen family. The day was agreed on to go to the door to receive the bride and take her [to her new] home. Behind the bridal chamber Liu Tong and his son packed their bags. Then Liu Qi departed first, in order to take up his official post, and Lin Bashu took the gifts and schedule and gave them to the Chen family. He explained to Chen Chang that he should accept the gifts, and they settled on the wedding day.

Now we will return to Chen Jinggu, who was upstairs. When she heard that her mother had betrothed her to Liu Qi of Gutian, she wept in secret every day, saying, “Earlier I vowed before the Buddha never to marry, to observe Buddhist rules, and to serve the Buddha all my life. How could I have known that my parents would promise to give me in marriage? I’m afraid that these two old people have miscalculated.”

In a short while the wedding day arrived, but Jinggu paid no heed. In appearance, she looked just as if she were not a bride. Rather, she was calm, and she deliberately remained upstairs reciting sutras. The Liu family came to receive the bride. Loud music filled the air, and the bridal sedan chair arrived along with all the people, who waited in the hall. Anxiously, Chen Chang and his wife urged Jinggu to come downstairs, get dressed, and climb into the sedan chair.

First they spoke moderately to mollify her. Then they used protocol to persuade her. And then they used principles to berate her. Who could have known that Jinggu’s heart was as hard as iron? Not yielding, she only recited sutras. Chen Chang was very impatient—it was urgent! Still, Jinggu would not obey her parents. How could she not have known that disobeying her parents was the very definition of being unfilial? How could she continue to serve some Buddha or other, continuing to recite some sutra or other?

Losing his temper, Chen Chang tore down the ink drawing of Guanyin that hung on the wall and trampled it to shreds. The couple moved to grab Jinggu; however, just as they took hold of her, Lokapala (Hufashen), angered by their destruction of the image, grabbed a stick and struck them.²³ He hit Chen Chang on the back, and with the other end he struck Madame Ge. The two old people screamed and fell to the floor unconscious. In an instant Guanyin (Fozu) dispatched Shancai and Liangnü.²⁴ Carrying Jinggu up into the sky, they departed. Chen Chang and his wife still lay unconscious. The crowd of relatives and neighbors rushed upstairs, but all they saw was the two old people lying on the floor; they had no idea what had happened. The crowd revived them, and the old couple moaned and groaned without stopping.

When the relatives asked them in detail what had happened, Chen Chang explained, “We were telling our daughter to come downstairs and get dressed, but she refused to listen. She kept reciting sutras in front of the Buddha. When I saw that she wouldn’t obey, I lost my temper, tore down the picture of Guanyin, and trampled it. Suddenly I saw a god dressed in armor holding a stick. He beat me on the back, and it hurt so much I thought I would die. Hurry! Take my unfilial daughter and get her dressed.”

The relatives said, “We’ve just come upstairs, but we don’t see Jinggu.” They searched the upstairs, but there was no trace of her. Nor had they seen her come downstairs. Where could she have gone? Chen Chang and his wife didn’t see their daughter, and they felt their backs hurt even more. All they could do was cry and wail. The relatives and the whole family, old and young alike, rushed around in panic. The go-between, Lin Bashu, also had no idea what had happened. He heard the whole family clamoring and wailing. In short, the happy fate of the two families ended in ill will and bitterness, their happiness turned into sorrow and tears. They didn’t yet know where Jinggu was or how this marriage would end. To see how it is resolved, you will have to read the next chapter.