A Xia

Scholar Jing of Wendeng County, Shandong Province, had already won great fame when he was still young. He was a neighbor of scholar Cheng Sheng. Their studies were separated only by a low wall.

One evening, scholar Cheng was crossing a barren and deserted open space when he heard a woman crying in the pine woods. When he drew near, he saw a belt thrown across a tree branch, and the young woman seemed on the verge of hanging herself. Scholar Cheng asked why she wanted to die. She answered, mopping away her tears, “My mother is away and trusted me to my cousin. But he is a low creature and refuses to go on supporting me. I’m alone in this world. I’d better just die.” After that, she cried some more. Cheng unfastened the belt from the tree and advised the young woman to marry someone. She was worried that she had nobody to whom she could trust her life. Cheng therefore suggested she stay at his house for the time being. She agreed.

When they got to scholar Cheng’s home, Cheng lit the lamp and looked at the woman carefully. She was really beautiful and Cheng was very pleased. He wanted to take liberties with her. The woman resisted his embrace, crying aloud. The noise disturbed scholar Jing and he climbed over the wall and looked around. Cheng had by then set the woman free. Seeing Jing, the woman stared at him for quite some time before she ran out of the room. Scholar Cheng and scholar Jing ran after her but lost track of her.

Jing went home. He closed the door and was ready to go to bed when the woman came out from the depths of the room towards him, lithe and graceful. Jing was surprised and asked her what she was up to. The woman said: “He (scholar Cheng) is not a good fellow and has no good luck. So he is not the person I can trust my life to.” Jing was very pleased and asked her name. She said:”My family has lived in Shandong for generations. My family name is Qi, and I used to be called A Xia when I was young.” Jing poked at her with flirting words. She just smiled and showed no signs of resistance. So, the two lived together.

Scholar Jing’s friends frequently visited him in his study and A Xia had to always hide herself in another room. A few days later, she said: “So many people come and go. It’s too bothersome. I’d better leave for a little while. I’ll come in the evenings from now on.” Jing asked: “Where do you live?” She answered: “Not far from here.”She was gone. True, she came in the evening. The two loved each other very much.

A few days later, A Xia said to scholar Jing: “We love each other so much, but our liaison has not got a right name. My father is an official in the west. My mother and I are going to his place tomorrow. Perhaps, I can take this opportunity to tell them of our affair and ask for their permission for our marriage.” Jing asked: “How long will you be away?” She said ten days.

After A Xia left, Jing thought to himself that it was not proper for him to live in the study long. On the other hand, he was afraid that his wife might be jealous if he asked A Xia to live in the inner courtyard. He decided to divorce his wife. Having made up his mind, he scolded his wife whenever she came. Unable to bear it, his wife cried and wanted to kill herself. Jing said: “Your death would disgrace me. You’d better go back to your parents’ home.” He therefore forced her to leave. The wife said in tears: “I haven’t done anything wrong since I married you ten years ago. Why are you so adamant?” Jing took no heed of her lament and urged her to go. The wife left. Jing then cleaned the house, whitewashed the walls and looked anxiously forward to A Xia’s return. But there was no sign of her.

After the divorce, the wife asked Jing’s good friends to convey to Jing her hope for remarriage. Jing did not agree. She had to marry a man named Xiahou. The land of the Xiahou’s home bordered on that of Jing’s. The two families had long feuded with each other over the land. Hearing that his wife was married to Xiahou, Jing was all the more angry. But he could comfort himself that A Xia would come to him some day. A year had passed. Still, there was no sign of A Xia. The birthday of the Sea God came and the shrine was crowded with celebrating people. Jing was also there. He spotted from afar a young woman who looked very much like A Xia. He pushed his way to her but she got lost in the crowd. He followed her out of the shrine gate, but she was quickly disappeared. Jing tried to catch up with her but failed. He had to return home crestfallen.

Half a year later, scholar Jing was walking on the road when he saw a young woman in red clothes, who, followed by an old servant, was riding on a black donkey and going in his direction. Jing recognized her as A Xia. He asked the servant who the woman was. The servant said: “She is the second wife of Young Master Zheng of Nancun Village.”The woman heard their conversation and turned around. Jing looked at her carefully. True, it was A Xia. He was very angry that she had married another man and cried loudly: “A Xia! How can you forget your promise about marriage.” The servant wanted to beat Jing, thinking he was taking liberties with his mistress. A Xia stopped him. She lifted her veil and said to Jing: “You heartless creature. How can you have the face to see me?” Jing said:”It is you who have done me wrong. I have done nothing wrong to you.” A Xia said: “You betrayed your wife. It’s worse than if you had betrayed me. You have treated your wife so badly, much more than others. Your name had been registered by the divine hand on the list of successful candidates of imperial examinations at the provincial level because your ancestors did a lot of good. So I promised to marry you. Now that you have deserted your wife, your name has been erased. Wang Chang, is to be the No. 2 successful candidate of this session instead. I’ve already married Young Master Zheng and you don’t have to care for me any more.” Jing was dumbfounded and could not say a word. A Xia whipped her donkey and was gone. Jing was left there, regretful and depressed.

Jing did fail to pass the imperial examination, and Wang Chang was the second successful candidate as A Xia had said. Young Master Zheng also passed the examinations. Jing had made himself a reputation for disloyalty. He remained single since he was over forty years, old and poor. He had to eat at friends’ houses time and again. Once he went to Master Zheng’s house and the latter treated him to a meal and planned to put him up for the night. A Xia went out to see who the guest was and recognized Jing. Her heart went out to him and she asked Zheng: “The guest is Jing, isn’t he?” Zheng asked why she knew him. A Xia said:”I took refuge in his house before I married you and was taken good care of by him. Although he is base and mean, his ancestors did a lot of good. Moreover, he is a friend of yours. You should show your friendship by giving him something.” Zheng agreed. He gave Jing a new padded jacket to replace the latter’s tattered one and asked Jing to stay at the house for a few more days. One night, Jing was going to bed when a maid came in and gave him twenty or so taels of silver. He heard A Xia’s voice outside the window, saying: “The money is from my individual collection in order to repay the kindness you did me in the past. With this, you can marry a woman and have a family. You are lucky that your ancestors did so many good deeds that they can still cover their posterity. Never do anything immoral that will reduce the length of your remaining life.” Jing thanked her.

With the money, scholar Jing bought a maid from an official’s household. She was ugly and had a quick temper. They had a son. The son eventually became a successful candidate for the highest imperial examinations. Master Zheng was eventually made a high official in the Board of Civil Office. When he died, A Xia sent his coffin to the cemetery to be buried. When A Xia’s covered carriage came back, people lifted the curtain only to find it empty. People now knew that she was not a human being.

Alas, when a man loses his conscience and is fickle in his affections, the result can mean falling between two stools. The divine punishment is severe enough.