Hidden and Visible Realms

Early Medieval Chinese Tales of the Supernatural and the Fantastic

Zhenjun Zhang

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9780231547055
• Topic: Letteratura
• Subtopic: Collezioni letterarie asiatiche

Chinese culture of the Six Dynasties period (220–589) saw a blossoming of stories of the fantastic. Zhiguai, "records of the strange" or "accounts of anomalies," tell of encounters with otherness, in which inexplicable and uncanny phenomena interrupt mundane human affairs. They depict deities, ghosts, and monsters; heaven, the underworld, and the immortal lands; omens, metamorphoses, and trafficking between humans and supernatural beings; and legendary figures, strange creatures, and natural wonders in the human world.

Hidden and Visible Realms, traditionally attributed to Liu Yiqing, is one of the most significant zhiguai collections, distinguished by its varied contents, elegant writing style, and fascinating stories. It is also among the earliest collections heavily influenced by Buddhist beliefs, values, and concerns. Beyond the traditional zhiguai narratives, it includes tales of karmic retribution, reincarnation, and Buddhist ghosts, hell, and magic. In this annotated first complete English translation, Zhenjun Zhang gives English-speaking readers a sense of the wealth and wonder of the zhiguai canon. Hidden and Visible Realms opens a window into the lives, customs, and religious beliefs and practices of early medieval China and the cultural history of Chinese Buddhism. In the introduction, Zhang explains the key themes and textual history of the work.

1

THE WONDER OF LOVE

1. LIU CHEN AND RUAN ZHAO1

In the fifth year of the Yongping reign period (58–75) under Emperor Ming of the [Eastern] Han Dynasty (25–220), Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao, natives of Shan County,2 went together to Mount Tiantai to gather paper mulberry bark;3 there they got lost and could not return home. After thirteen days, they had exhausted all of their provisions and were starved almost to death.

From a distance they saw a peach tree bearing much fruit on top of the mountain, but the cliffs were steep, the stream deep, and they could not find a path leading up to the top. They climbed by grabbing the kudzu vines, and thus they were eventually able to get to the top. After they each ate several peaches, their hunger ceased and their bodies were filled with energy.

They went back down the mountain and scooped up water with cups, intending to wash their faces and rinse their mouths, when they saw some turnip leaves, which were extremely fresh, being swept downstream from the mountain’s interior. Then a cup that contained sesame seeds mixed with yellow millet drifted down as well.

“Judging from this, we know someone’s residence is not far from here!” Liu and Ruan said to each other. So they dove together into the water, swam upstream two or three li, and were able to cross the mountain before climbing out of the large stream.

By the stream were two girls of wonderful natural endowment and matchless beauty. Upon seeing the two men wade ashore with the cup in hand, they smiled and exclaimed, “Mr. Liu and Mr. Ruan caught the cup that we set adrift!”

Liu Chen and Ruan Zhao did not know them, yet the two girls called them by their surnames, as if they were all old friends. Thus they were delighted to see one another.4

“Why do you come so late?” the two girls asked. Then they invited the two men into their home.

Their house had a roof of bronze tiles.5 By the south and the east walls stood two large beds, both draped with crimson silk curtains. On each upper corner of the curtains, bells in gold or silver hung. By the head of each bed, ten servant maidens stood.

An order [from the two girls] was passed down [to the maids], saying: “Mr. Liu and Mr. Ruan have just scaled mountains and valleys. Although they have just eaten the carnelian fruits, they are still weak and tired. Hurry up and cook something for them!”

The foods they cooked were millet with sesame seeds, dried goat meat, and beef; all were delicious. When Liu and Ruan were finished eating, wine was laid out, and a crowd of girls approached. Each of them held three or five peaches in their hands, smiling and saying to the two girls, “Congratulations on the arrival of your bridegrooms!”

Music was played while they drank to their hearts’ content. Liu and Ruan were filled with both happiness and apprehension. Once it was dark, each of them was ordered to sleep on one of the curtained beds, and the two girls went to sleep together with them for the night. The voices of the girls were gentle and sweet, making both men forget their worries.

Ten days later, Liu and Ruan intended to go home and made a request to do so. The two girls said, “You’ve already come here, and it was your fated fortune that led you here. Why do you still want to return?” Thus they remained there for half a year. When the climate, grass, and trees all indicated that it was the spring season, hundreds of birds were chirping and singing. This made the two men harbor even more sadness, and they earnestly pleaded to return. The girls replied, “If you are still tied to sinful, worldly cravings, then what can we do!” Consequently, they summoned thirty or forty girls, who had showed up previously, to gather and play music. Then all of them escorted Liu and Ruan together, showing them the way to return home.

By the time they came out of the mountain, their relatives and old friends had all passed away, the town and their residences had been changed, and there was no one left who knew them. Making inquiries, they found their seventh-generation grandsons, who had heard that their ancestors once entered the mountain and were lost, unable to return. During the eighth year of the Taiyuan reign (383) of the Jin dynasty (265–436), Liu and Ruan suddenly left again, and nobody knew where they had gone.

(GXSGC, #38. 361–62; FYZL, 31. 967–68; TPYL, 41. 194b–95a)

2. THE GIRL WHO SOLD FACE POWDER6

There was once a very rich family that had only a single son. The parents doted on the boy and were excessively indulgent with him. Once when the boy was wandering in the market, he saw a beautiful young girl selling face powder. He fell in love with her but found no means to express his feelings. Pretending to buy face powder, he went to the market every day. Upon purchasing the powder, he would leave without a single word.

Gradually, the girl became deeply suspicious. The next day, when the boy came again, she asked, “After buying this powder, what are you going to do with it?”

The boy replied, “I love you, and I didn’t dare tell you. Yet I always desire to see you. By buying this powder, I am able to view your lovely face. That is all.”

The girl became upset, yet was deeply touched as well, so she promised him a private meeting. The time was set for the following evening.

That evening, the boy was quietly lying in his room, waiting for the girl’s arrival. Once it was dark, the girl arrived as expected. The boy was extremely overjoyed. He held the arms of the girl and cried, “My long-cherished wish will now be fulfilled!” He jumped in excitement—and thereupon died.

The girl was seized with anxiety and fear, not knowing what to do. Consequently she fled, returning to the powder store the next morning.

At breakfast time, the parents of the boy were surprised that he had not yet gotten up. When they went to look at him, they found that he was dead. As his corpse was about to be put into a coffin and brought to the graveyard, they opened his bamboo suitcase and found more than one hundred packets of face powder in different sizes, all piled together.

The mother of the boy exclaimed, “It must be this face powder that killed my son!” Then they went to the market and purchased face powder everywhere they found it.

Upon reaching the girl, by comparison they found that her method of tamping the powder into packets matched what they had seen previou...