answering questions

4- T a n g Ta l es (ch ua n - q i) J1i D u r i n g t h e Ta n g , a n o l d trad i t i o n of p rose a n ecdotes was tra n sfo r m e d i nto a fu l l y dev e l o p e d fictio n a l fo r m , l ater k n o w n as chuan-qi-"tra n s m i tt i n g accou nts of re­ m a r k a b l e th i n g s . " A l t h o u g h the m aj o r ity of s u c h sto r i e s treated some for m of t h e s u ­ p e r n atu r a l , t h e re w e r e a l so p u re l y h u m a n l ove sto r i e s a n d tal e s o f h e ro i s m . O n e o f t h e m o s t c o m m o n types c o m b i n e d t h e s u p e r n atu r a l w i t h t h e l ove story o r erot i c e n ­ c o u n te r .

A c o m m o n c o n c e r n i n ta l e s of l ove was fa i t h k e p t a n d fai t h b ro k e n . B y keep i n g fa i t h w i t h a n ot h er, a c reatu re o f t h e s p i r i t wor l d c ou l d r i s e t o t h e l ev e l o f a h u m a n b e i n g , a n d b y b re ak i n g fa i t h a h u m a n b e i n g c ou l d s i n k t o t h e besti a l . T h e m o d e l o f s u c h rel ati o n s h i ps i s p ra g m a t i c a n d e c o no m i c : e a c h p a rty g i ves s o m eth i n g esse n ­ t i a l , a n d so l o n g as accou n ts a r e b a l a n ce d , n o m ec h a n i s m o f retr i b u t i o n i s set i nto m ot i o n . I f, h o wever, o n e p a rty fai l s to pay b a c k w h at is g i v e n , the c o n seq u e n ces a re d i re .

M a n y of t h e s e sto r i e s take p l ace i n C h an g - a n a n d g i ve u s a v i v i d p i ctu re o f l ife i n t h e c i ty i n t h e e i gh t h a n d n i n t h c e n t u r y . O n e i m p o rta n t n a rrative d e v i c e fo r putt i n g you n g h e roes i n t h e beds of you n g h e r o i n e s was C h a n g - a n ' s ward syste m , b y w h i c h t h e c i ty w a s d iv i d e d i n v a r i o u s " q u arte r s , " e a c h sepa rated from t h e others b y wal l s that wo u l d b e l o cked at s u n set and opened o n l y at d a y b re a k . Anyone w h o fou n d h i m s e l f i n a q u a rter oth e r t h a n h i s own a t d u s k w ou l d h ave t o stay t h e n i gh t .

Two Ta l es of Keep i n g F a i t h ,�-�

Sherr Ji-j i ( £1 . c a . 8 0 0 ) , " Rerr's Story " Ren was a woman of the werefolk.

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And there was Wei Yin, now a lord governor, ninth i n seniority i n his branch of the family, maternal grandson of Li Hui, the Prince of Xin-an. Wei Yin was an undisciplined and wild young man, who loved to drink .

And there was his uncle's sister's husband, surnamed Zheng, though I don't recall his given name . In his early years Zheng had practiced the mar­ tial arts, and he too loved wine and pretty women. Being poor and without family of his own, he lived as a dependent of his wife ' s family. Once he and Wei Yin found one another, they were inseparable wherever they went.

In August of the summer of 7 5 0 , Wei Yin and Zheng were riding together on the lanes of Chang-an on their way to a drinking p arty in the Xin-chang Quarter. When they reached the southern part of the Xuan-ping Quarter, Zheng excused himself for some reason or other and asked Wei Yin to go on ahead by himself, saying that he, Zheng, would be along shortly. Wei

The Tang Dynasty

Yin then went off east riding his white horse, while Zheng rode his donkey south into the no rth gate of the Sheng-ping Quarter . There he came upon three women walking along the street, of whom the middle one, dressed in white, was a rare beauty. No sooner did he see her than Zheng was infatu­ ated. He whipped his donkey now in front of her, now behind, always on the point of bantering with her flirtatiously, but not daring. From time to time the woman in white cast a sidelong glance at him, having understood what was on his mind. Then Zheng j oked with her, " And how is it that such a beautiful woman as yourself is going on foot ? " The woman in white laughed, " What can I do but go on foot if someone doesn't loan me his mount ? " Zhang replied, " This miserable mount is hardly an adequate al­ ternative to such a lovely person walking, but I will offer it to you at once. I would b e quite content to follow you on foot . "

They looked at each other and laughed out. As they went along to­ gether, he fell increasingly under her spell, and they gradually began to be­ have quite familiarly with one another. Zheng followed the women; and by the time they reached the Le-you Gardens in the east, i t was already getting dark. Here they came to a compound with earthen walls and a carriage gate. The buildings inside were quite well built and properly proportione d. As the woman in white was about to go in, she looked around and said, " Wait here for a little while. " Then she went inside, l eaving one of her female bond­ servants in the open gate. The bondservant asked his name and family; and after Zheng had told her, he asked of the woman in white. The servant an­ swered, " Her name is Ren, and she is the twentieth in seniority. "

After a short while he was invited in. Zheng tied his donkey at the gate and left his cap on the saddle. He first met a woman in her thirties, who wel­ comed him. This was Ren's elder sister. Rows of candles were lit, various dishes set out, and cups of wine were raised in frequent toasts. Having changed her attire, Ren came out. They drank until they were tipsy and very merry. As the night drew on, they finally went to bed. Her features were cap­ tivating and her body was b eautiful. In the way she looked when s inging and laughing and in all her movements there was a sensual loveliness that was virtually not of this mortal world.

When it was almost dawn, R e n said, " You had best go now. My broth­ ers are attached to the Music Academy, which is under the j urisdiction of the Southern Guard Command. Early in the morning they will rise and go out, so you cannot linger here . " They agreed on a future meeting, and he left.

Having set o u t , he c a m e to t h e ward gates, which had not y e t b e e n un­ barred. There was the shop of a Turkish pastryseller beside the gate, whose owner was j ust then hanging up his lanterns and firing his ovens. Zheng went in through the curtains to rest and sat down to wait for the drums that would announce the opening of the gates . As a consequence he got to talking with the shopowner, and p ointing to where h e had spent the night, Zheng asked him, " When you turn east from here, ther e's a gate. Whose compound is that ? " The shopowner replied, " That's j ust wasteland surrounded by a bro-

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ken-down wall-there a r e no buildings there . " Zheng said, " But I j ust passed by the place-how can you say that there ' s nothing there ? " and he argued with the m an stubbornly. Then the shopowner realized, " Ah ! now I under­ stand. There i s a fox there that often seduces men to spend the night with her. I 've already seen this happen a few times now. Are you another one who has met her ? " Zheng' s face flushed and he didn' t tell the truth: "No, no. "

In full daylight he went back to look at the spot and did see the earthen wall and carriage gate j ust as before; but when he peered inside, it was all overgrown with scrub, with abandoned garden plots. After he got home, he saw Wei Yin, who berated him for missing the party. Zheng didn't let on what had happened and excused himself with s ome other story. Neverthe­ less, he kept imagining Ren ' s sensual beauty, and the desire to see her again remained unforgotten in his heart.

A dozen or so days passed. Zheng was out and going into a clothing store in the Western Market when all at once he saw her, accompanied by her ser­ vants as before. Zheng instantly shouted to her. Ren turned to the side and tried to lose herself i n a crowd to avoid him. But Zheng kept shouting to her and pushed his way forward. Finally she stood with her back to him, screening her face from his sight with a fan that she held around behind her. "You know, so why do you come near me ? " He answered, "I do know, but I don't care . " She replied, " The situation makes me very embarrassed. It's hard to look you in the face. " Zheng then said, " Since I think on you so in­ tently, how can you bear to reject me ? " She replied, " How could I dare re­ j ect you ? It's j ust that I am afraid of being despised by you . "

Zheng then swore a n o ath, and the import of what h e said was very mov­ ing. At this Ren turned her eyes to him and removed the fan, revealing the same dazzling sensual b eauty that she had before. To Zheng, she said, " I ' m n o t t h e only o n e of m y k i n d in t h e human . .\Vorl d . Y o u j ust d o n ' t recognize them . Don't think of me as a singular fieak . " When Zheng entreated her, telling her o f his j oy in her, she replied, " The only reason my kind i s despised and loathed by human beings is because we are thought to harm people. I'm not like that. I f you don't despise me, I would want to s erve you all my days as your wife . " Zheng agreed and began to make plans where she could live. Ren said, "To the east of this spot, where a large tree comes out from among the roof beams, there is a quiet, secluded lane; you could rent a place there for me to live. That man who went riding a white horse east from the south­ ern part of the Xuan-ping Quarter earlier-wasn't he your legal wife ' s brother ? H i s house h a s ample furniture a n d household goods that y o u could borrow. "

At the time Wei Yin's uncle was serving in posts out in the provinces, and three apartments' worth of his household goods were kept in storage . Following her suggestion, Zheng first went to inquire about the lodgings, then went to see Wei Yin to borrow the household goods. When Wei asked what h e wanted them for, Zheng said, "I have j ust gotten myself a beauti­ ful woman and have rented lodgings for her; now I need to borrow house-

The Tang Dynasty

hold goods to fix the place up. " Wei Yin laughed . " Considering your looks, you must surely have gotten yourself a spectacularly ugly woman. How could you possibly get a perfect beauty ? "

After loaning him things like curtains, beds, and mats, Wei had a quick­ witted servant boy follow Zheng and spy out where he was going. In a short time the lad rushed back to make his report, panting and streaming with sweat. Wei Yin met him and asked, " Was she there ? " and further, " What did she look like ? " The lad said, " She is a wonder-the world has never seen her like . " Wei Yin's family and kin were widely spread and numerous; moreover, having gone on escapades since his early years, he ha d come to have extensive grounds to make j u dgments of beauty. He then asked, " Is she as beautiful as so-and-so ? " The lad answered, "That person is not of her caliber . " W e i Y i n brought up four or five beautiful women for com­ parison, and in each case the boy said, " Not o f her caliber . " At that time Wei Yin's sister-in-law, the sixth daughter o f the Prince of Wu, had a full and sensual b e auty like that of a goddess, and both sides of the family had always acclaimed her t h e foremost in b e auty. So W e i Y i n said, "Is she as beautiful as the sixth daughter of the Prince of Wu ? " And again the boy said, "Not of her caliber . " Wei Yin slapped his hand down in amazement. " How could there be such a person in the world ? " He instantly ordered water to b e drawn so that he could wash his neck, put his turban on, applied lip balm, and set off.

Zheng happened to b e out when he arrived . On entering the gate, Wei Yin saw a young servant boy holding a broom sweeping; there was a bond­ servant at the gate, but he saw no one else. He then asked information of the s ervant boy, who laughed and said, "Ther e ' s no such person here . " Wei Yin was looking all around the inside of the rooms, when he caught sight of a red skirt showing bene ath a door panel. He forced his way in to check it out and saw Ren, who had curle d up to hide behind the door panel. Wei Yin dragged her out, bringing her over into the light so he could take a l o o k at her. S h e virtually exceeded w h a t he had been told. W e i Y i n wanted her so much t h a t he behaved l i k e a madman. He threw his a r m s around her and forced himself on her, but she would not submit. Wei Yin used h i s strength to hold her fast, and when the situation became desperate, she said, " I sub­ mit, but please loosen your grip a little . "

When he did as she asked, she fought back as she had before. This hap­ pened several more times, until Wei Yin exerted all his strength to hold her fast. Ren ' s own strength was exhausted, and she was sweating as if she had been soaked by rain. Realizing that she couldn't escape, she let her body relax and didn't resist any more, yet her expression changed to one of heartfelt sadness. Wei Yin asked why, saying, " How unhappy you look ! " Ren gave a long sigh. " It's j ust that I feel s orry for Zheng . " Wei Yin said, "What do you mean ? " She replied, " Zheng is six fee t tall yet is unable to protect one woman-how can he be a real man ! You, sir, have led a life of wild excess since your youth and have had many b eautiful women-a multitude of

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Anthology of Chinese Literature

those you have encountered have been comparable in beauty to me. Yet Zheng, who is poor and of humble background, has only myself to suit his fancy. Can a heart that has had something in abundance b e so hardened as to plunder the same from someone who does not have enough ? I feel sorry for his p overty and want, that he is unable to stand on his own. He wears your clothes and eats your food, and thus he is bound by you. If he could provide even simple food for himself, he should not be brought to this . " In Wei Yin's d omineering arrogance there was some sense of j ustice. Hearing what she had said, he immediately set her down, and straightening his clothes, he apologized, saying, "I can't do this . "

A short time later Zheng arrived, and looking a t Wei Yin, h e beamed with j oy . From that point on, Wei Yin provided Ren with all her firewood, grain, and meat. Now and then Ren would stop by. In her comings and go­ ings she would sometimes go by carriage, sometimes ride a horse, sometimes travel in a sedan chair, and sometimes walk-her choice was not uniform. Wei Yin would go about with her every day, and be extremely happy to do so; the two grew very familiar and intimate with one another, and there were no barriers between them, except for sexual intimacy. Wei Yin came to love her and honor her. He begrudged her nothing, and at every meal and every time he drank, she never left his thoughts. Ren knew that he loved her, so she a pologized to him. "I am ashamed to be loved by you so much, but this poor b o dy is inadequate to answer your generous feeling. I cannot betray Zheng, thus I cannot accommodate myself to your pleasure. I am from this region of Qin, and I grew up in this, Qin's greatest city. My family is one of entertainers, and many of my relations on both sides have been kept as con­ cubines . For this reason I am well acquainted with all the winding lanes of Chang-an's pleasure quarters . There may be some beautiful and pleasing young girl who has not yet been taken-letfue bring one for you. For I want by this to repay your goodness . " Wei Yin said, "What good luck ! " In the bazaar there was a woman who sold clothes called Miss Zhang, with smooth and bright skin. Wei Yin had always been attracted to her, so he asked Ren if she knew her. Ren replied, " That is my cousin. It will be an easy matter to bring her to you . " And after about two weeks she finally bro ught her .

A few months later, Wei Yin grew tired of her and dismissed her. Ren then said, " The women of the marketplace are easy to procure and not worth much effort. If there is someone absolutely out of reach, someone hard to devise a plot to get hold of, j ust tell me-for I want to be able to use all my strength and wit in this . " Wei Yin then said, " D uring this most recent Cold Food Festival I was visiting Thousand Blessings Temple along with a few other comp anion s . l There I saw a musical p erformance arranged by Gen­ eral Diao Mian in the great hall. There was a skilled flageolet player of about sixteen years of age, her hair done in a pair of coils that hung down to her ears . She had an air of sweetness about her and was utterly desirable. Do

'The Cold Food Festival was a s p r i n g festival in w h i c h the u s e o f fire was fo r b i d d e n .

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you know her, by chance ? " Ren replied, " That is Chong-nu. Her mother is, in fact, a cousin of mine. It's possible to go after her . " Wei bowed to her with respect, and Ren promised him.

Ren then began to pay frequent visits to the Diao household. After some­ what more than a month, Ren wanted two bolts of the highest grade silk to use as a bribe. Wei Yin provided these. Two days later, Ren was dining with Wei when Diao Mian sent a servant leading a black steed to bring Ren to see him. On hearing this summons, she said to Wei Yin with a smile, " It ' s worked . " Earlier R e n had given Chong-nu something t h a t m a d e h e r grow sick , an illness that neither acupuncture nor medicines could reliev e . Her mother and Diao Mian were extremely worried about her and were going to summon a soothsayer . Ren secretly bribed the soothsayer, and pointing out where she lived, she ordered him to say that it would b e lucky to trans­ fer her there. After examining the illness, the soothsayer said, " It is not ad­ vantageous for her to b e in this house; she should go reside at such-and-such a place to the southeast where she will obtain quickening life forces. " When Diao Mian and the girl's mother made a thorough survey of the location, it turned out that Ren's residence was in the area. Diao Mian consequently asked that Chong-nu be allowed to stay there. Ren made a pretense of ob­ j e cting on the grounds that her house was small and cramped, and agreed only after they entreated her earnestly. Then Chong-nu, with all her clothes and ornaments carried in litters and accompanied by her mother, was sent to Ren ' s . When she got there, her sickness got b etter. Just a few days later Ren s ecretly led Wei Yin to her, and he had intercourse with her. After a month she was pregnant. Her mother was frightened and immediately took her back to Diao Mian's, from which point the affair was over.

On another occasion Ren said to Zheng, " Would you be able to get five or six thousand cash? I have a scheme to make you a profit. " Zheng said, " All right " ; and by going to borrow money from people, he got six thou­ sand cash. Ren then said, " In the market there is someone selling a horse with something w"rong with one of its legs . Buy it, take it home, and take care of it. " Zheng went to the market and at last saw a man leading a horse and looking for a buyer. There was a flaw on one of its left legs. Zheng b ought it and took it b ack home with him. His wife ' s brothers all ridiculed him, saying, " That creature was j ust something someone was trying to get rid of. Why did you buy it ? " Not long afterward Ren said, " Sell the horse now. You should get thirty thousand cash for it. " Zheng then went to offer the horse for sale. When someone offered him twenty thousand cash, Zheng refused to part with it. The whole market was saying, " What problem does the first man have that he is willing to spend so much, and why does the other man love the horse s o much that he won't sell ? " Zheng rode the horse back home, and the man who had wanted to buy it followed after him, re­ peatedly raising his offer until it reached twenty-five thousand. Zheng, how­ ever, would not part with it, s aying, "I won't sell it for less than thirty thou­ sand. " His wife ' s brothers all crowded around and berated him; unable to

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maintain himself against them, he sold it, never getting the full thirty thou­ sand.

Afterward he secretly confronted the buyer and asked him why he had been willing to pay s o much. It turned out that one of the imperial horses kept in Zhao-ying Co unty had something wrong with one of its legs . This horse had died three years ago, and the functionary in charge had not promptly taken it off the official records. The government office had sent an allowance for its upkeep totaling sixty thousand cash, and he speculated that if he were to buy another for half that amount, he would still be reap­ ing a handsome profit. If there were a horse to make the full complement, then the functionary would get its entire allowance for fodder and grain. And since what he would have to pay would be less than he made, he bought it.

Since her own clothes were old and frayed , Ren also asked Wei Yin for clothe s . Wei was going to buy whole bolts o f cloth to give her, but she did­ n't want that: "I want to get clothes that are ready-made . " Wei Yin then called s omeone from the market, Old Zhang, to make the purchases for her, and he had Zhang meet Ren to find out what she wanted. When he saw her, Zhang was alarmed and said to Wei Yin, " This woman has to b e a goddess o r someone related to the imperial house whom you have secretly carried off. She is not someone who should b e kept in the mortal world. I urge you to send her b ack as quickly as possible b efore some disaster b efalls you. " That was how much her beauty could stir people. In the end he found ready­ made clothes for her, and she did not sew them herself. He did not, how­ ever, understand why.

More than a year later, Zheng was selected for a military post and was appointed assistant director for military �ffairs of the Huai-li district, which was in Jin-cheng C()unty. Since Zheng had a legal wife and household, he might go out for the day, but he always slept home at night. It always upset him that he could not have Ren with him every night. When he was a b out to leave to take up his post, he invited Ren to go along with him. Ren did not want to go: " Traveling together for weeks on end cannot be considered a pleasure. Please j ust estimate how much will keep me provided with meat and grain, and I will stay here as always, awaiting your return . " Zheng en­ treated her e arnestly, but she grew only less willing. Zheng then sought out Wei Yin to provide help in persuading her, and to gether they urged her once again and questioned her on her reasons for refusing. After a long time Ren said, "A soothsayer said that it would be unlucky for me to travel west this year, and that's why I don't want to go. " Zheng was completely infatuated with her and could think o f nothing else. Together with Wei Yin he laughed, saying, "How can you be so intelligent, yet be led astray by such mumbo­ j umbo ? " They stuck to their request, and Ren said, "If by chance the sooth­ sayer 's words prove true, what good will it do if I die for you for nothing ? " And b oth of them said, " How could this happen ? " -and they pleaded as earnestly as b efore. Unable to have her own way in this, Ren went. Wei Yin loaned her a horse and held a parting banquet for them at Lin-gao, waving his arms to them as they went off on their way.

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After two days of travel, they reached Ma-wei . Ren was riding her horse in front, and Zheng was riding his donkey b ehind. Further b ehind, the two women s ervants were riding apart. At that time the Imperial Groom of the West Gate had been hunting with his dogs for ten days in Luo River County, and he happened to meet them on the road. One of his dark gray dogs leaped out from among the grasses, and Zheng saw Ren fall to the ground in a flash, reverting to her original shape and running s outh. The gray dog chased her .

, Zheng ran after it shouting, b).lt he couldn't stop it. After a little more than a league the dog caught her.

With tears in his eyes, Zheng took money from his purse and paid to have her buried. And he had a piece of wood carved as the grave marker. When he went back, he saw her horse grazing on the grasses beside the road. Her clothes were left draped on the saddle, and her shoes and stockings were still hanging in the stirrups, as if a cicada had metamorphosed from its shell. Nothing else was to b e seen but her hair ornaments, which had fallen to the ground. The two women servants were also gone .

After a little more than ten days, Zheng returned to the city. Wei Yin was delighted to see him and greeted him, asking, " No harm has come to Ren, has there ? " Zheng's eyes streamed with tears as he replied, " She ' s dead . " Hearing this, Wei Yin was stricken with grief, and the two men clasped one another there in the room, giving full expression to their sor­ row. Softly Wei asked the cause of her death, and Zheng replied, " Sh e was killed by a dog. " Wei Yin then said, "H owever fierce a dog may be, how could it kill a human b eing ? " Zheng answered, " It was not a human being . " Wei Yin was shocked. " What d o y o u mean, 'not a human being' ? " Then Zheng told him the whole story from beginning to end. Wei Yin was amazed and could not stop sighing. On the next day, he ordered a carriage to be made ready and went off with Zheng to Ma-wei. H e opened her tomb, looked at her, and went back feeling a lingering unhappiness. When he thought back on all that had happened, only the fact that she did not make her own clothes was rather strange in comparison to human b eings.

Afterward Zheng served as a supervisor-general, and his household b e ­ c a m e very wealthy, with o v e r t e n h o r s e s in h i s stables. H e died at t h e a g e of sixty-five.

During the D a-li Reign, 1, Shen Ji-ji, was living in Zhong-ling and used to go a bout wi th Wei Yin. Wei told this story often, with the resul t tha t I learned many of the details. Later Wei Yin became Palace Censor, as well as Prefect of Long-zhou, where he died without returning to the capital .

I am struck that s u c h humanity c o u l d b e found in t h e feelings of a crea­ ture so alien. When someone used violent force on her, she did not a ban­ don her principles, and she met her death by sacrificing herself for someone else. Among women today there are those who are not her equal. It is un­ fortunate that Zheng was not a perceptive man, merely attracted b y her beauty and not seeing the evidence of her nature. Supposing there had been some scholar of profound discernment, he would surely have been able to investigate the principles in such a transformation, to discern the lines of dis -

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tinction between human beings and spirits, to write it out in a beautiful style, and thus to transmit such subtle feelings to posterity-he would not limit himself to j ust savoring her good looks and a love story. It is a pity !

In 7 8 1 , I left my post as Reminder of the Left and was going to Wu. Gen­ eral Pei Ji, the Vice Governor of Chang-an Sun Cheng, the D irector of the Ministry of Revenue Cui Xu, and the Reminder of the Right Lu Chun all happened to be going to live in the Southeast. In the j ourney from Qin to Wu we all followed the same route, both land and water. At the time, the former Reminder Zhu Fang was also traveling, and he went along with us. We floated down the Ying River and then the Huai, our double boat car­ ried along by the current. By day we would feast and at night tell stories, with each of us presenting strange tales. When these gentlemen heard of the events surrounding Ren, all were deeply touched and amazed. As a conse­ quence, they asked me to transmit it as an account of strange things.

-Written by Shen Ji-j i

T r u e s e l f- s a c r i f i c e i s most often fo u n d i n wo m e n , b u t a n s we r i n g devot i o n i n m e n i s a l so a c k n o w ledged . F ro m " R e n ' s Sto ry, " i t m a y seem t h at a l ove affa i r w i t h a c rea­ t u re from beyo n d the h u m a n wor l d was a safe u n d e rta k i n g ; but Re n ' s su r p r i s e on fi n d i n g t h at Zheng sti l l wa nted h e r, in s p i te of the fact that she was a we re-fox, was m o re in keep i n g with c o n v e nt i o n a l w i s d o m that m i scege n a t i o n with s u p e r n atu ra l b e i n gs o r g h osts was b a d fo r o n e ' s h e a l t h a n d fo rt u n e . Neverth e l ess, a w i l l i n g ness to b rave such a p ro h i b i t i o n m i g h t be as m u c h a p roof of l ove a n d rec i p rocat i n g fa ith as of overwh e l m i n g l u st, as see m s to h ave been t h e case w i t h Z h e n g .

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Li Jing-liang ( fl . 794 ) , " Li Zhang-wu' s Story"

The ancestry of Li Zhang-wu, otherwise known as Li Fei, was traced to the Zhong-shan region. From his earliest years he was intelligent and well in­ formed, and whatever happened he knew what to do. He was, moreover, a skilled stylist, and his writings always reached the height of perfection. Al­ though he had a high opinion of his own achievements in improving him­ self, he abhorred putting on airs. He was of a refined and handsome ap­ pearance and was genial to those who approached him. He was a good friend of one Cui Xin of Qing-he, another cultured gentleman and a co llector of antiquities. Because of Zhang-wu' s astute intelligence, Cui Xin would often seek him out for discussions; together they penetrated the most subtle mys­ teries and thoroughly investigated questions. Contemporaries compared Zhang-wu to Zhang Hua of the Jin Dynasty.

In the year 7 8 7 , Cui Xin had taken the post of administrative aide to the prefect of Hua-zhou, and Zhang-wu came from Chang-an to visit him. Sev­ eral days later he was out walking, and saw a very beautiful woman on the northern avenue of the market. He then concocted a story, telling Cui Xin that he had to have some dealings with an old friend outside the city. He next rented lodgings in the beautiful woman's home. The master of the house was named Wang, and the woman was his daughter-in-law. Zhang-wu was