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by Yuan Mei |
| The military commander of Shandong's Jining region was
a man by the name of Wang. One night he dreamed that the famous general
Zhou Chang of the Guandi Temple at the southern gate said to him, "If you
renovate the Guandi Temple you will receive five thousand caddies filled
with gold."
Wang, of course, was not at all inclined to believe in such a dream, but the next night he had a similar dream. This time he was visited by the great general Guan Ping, who said, "Zhou Chang is one of us. More important, he is one of the most honest people you will ever meet, so you shouldn't doubt his words. "The five thousand caddies of gold that he promised are waiting for you under the statue's incense altar. If you come tonight while it's dark, you'll be able to pick up all five thousand." Naturally, Wang was extremely excited at this news. At the same time, he was quite scared at the thought of dealing with such powerful spitits. He ran through the situation in his mind. "If there really is gold hidden under the altar, then maybe I should go and claim it as my own." Thus resolved, he called his son to accompany him, took some sacks in which to carry the treasures home, and set off for the temple. Arriving nearly at dawn, they saw a black fox sleeping at the foot of the altar. Its slumber disturbed, the fox looked up at them with piercing eyes that glittered like gold. Commander Wang then understood his mission. "Guandi has ordered me to expurgate this demon!" So, with the help of his son, he bound the fox with rope, stuffed it into a sack, and proceeded home. Along the way a voice came from within the sack: "I am an immortal fox and yesterday I got drunk and accidentally vomited all over Guandi"s temple. In his anger he called you in a dream to come and get rid of me, but I regret my crime--it was only a temporary lapse. "As you can see, I have been vigilant in cultivating myself for more than a thousand years, so won't you please let me out of this sack? I would make it worth your effort." Wang asked in jest what benefit he could possibly gain, and the fox replied, "You will receive five thousand caddies of gold by your next birthday." From this reply Wang realized that the promise made to him by the two great generals, Zhou Chang and Guan Ping, was to be fulfilled, so he immediately released the fox. It leaped to the ground and instantly transformed into a white-haired old man. The man wore a scarf around his neck that fluttered out on either side, his speech was gentle, and he had a sophisticated air. All in all, the old man appeared both refined and friendly. Back home, Wang prepared a great feast in the old man's honor and the two chatted on and on about the state of the world and what it was all coming to. Near the end of the conversation Wang asked how a humble regional commander such as himself could possibly be given five thousand caddies of gold. The fox replied, "There are numerous extremely wealthy people in Jining, and each is more evil and immoral than the next. I'll choose a few of the worst offenders and start a campaign of terror to scare them--throwing bricks around, smashing their roof tiles, and the like. "For good measure, I'll gice them all a dose of fever and headaches. They'll soon call up a few mystical Daoists and exorcists for protective charms and incantations. "Now this is where you come in. I want you to go to their houses and tell them that you'll rid them of the demons with some of your own protective charms. "Write a few silly characters on some paper, then burn it and toss it into the air. That will be the sign for me to move on to someone else's house. We'll repeat the process for the next month and watch as the gold caddies sent by your grateful neighbors pile up. "Just be warned, though--once you've reached five thousand caddies you must stop, because after all, you are only a regional commander. Once my debt to you has been repaid, you'll not see me again." Sure enough, several families in Jining City were terrorized by a supernatural force. It seemed as if there would be no end to the chaos. However, just when the afflicted families were at their wits' end, Commander Wang would roll up, perform his rituals, and the chaos would instantly cease. After the month was out he had indeed accumulated five thousand caddies of gold. Two hundred of these he put towards renovating the Guandi Temple, taking special care to make offereings to Generals Zhou and Guan. He then put in a request for early retirement on the grounds that his health was failing. This was duly granted and he returned to his native village. To this day, Commander Wang lives a prosperous and peaceful life. |
