Bai Yuyu

Wu Qing’an, also known as Wu Yun, distinguished himself when he was still a boy. A taishi (court historian) by the name of Ge was impressed by his writing and asked a friend to invite Wu to his residence.

The meeting allowed Ge to judge Wu’s eloquence himself. “A gifted man like Wu should never live in poverty,” he said and asked the friend to pass the word to Wu that if he worked hard and succeeded in the imperial civil service examination, he could marry his daughter. Ge’s daughter was a beauty at that time. Hearing this, Wu was excited and encouraged.

However, he failed the examination at the county level and sent a message to Ge, saying “I’m destined for an official career, but it is hard to know when that will happen. Please allow me three years to succeed. If I still fail, you can marry your daughter to someone else.” Afterwards, he studied even harder.

One moon-lit night, a xiucai (one who passed the civil service exam at the county level) came to Wu’s house. This man had a fair complexion, close-cropped beard, a slim figure and long fingernails. He introduced himself as Bai Yuyu. As soon as they fell into conversation, Wu found Bai’s words enlightening and invited him to stay the night. The next morning, as Bai was leaving, Wu said he was welcome any time. Bai was touched by his hospitality and promised to come back for a longer stay. They set a date and bid each other good-bye.

When the date of their appointment came, an old servant arrived first bringing some cookware. He was soon followed by Bai Yuyu on a steed. Wu found a room for him and the horse was led away by the servant. The two men enjoyed each other’s company because they had so much in common. Wu noticed that Bai had never read baguwen(stylized, eight-part essays designed for imperial civil service exams), only some unheard-of books. Asked why, Bai said with a laugh, “Every man has his aspirations. I’m not interested in an official career.” One evening, over cups of wine, Bai lent Wu a book on how to maintain health. Wu found the subject boring, so he put it aside.

A few days later, Bai said to Wu, “The book I lent you is the best of Huang Tingjing. It is a ladder and a vessel to the land of the immortals.” “That is not my concern at the moment,” Wu said with a smile. “Besides, those who seek immortality must first rid themselves of worldly desires. I’m afraid, I am not ready for that now.” “Why not?” Bai asked. Wu said he constantly thought of his duty to sire a son to carry on the family line. “If so, why are you postponing your marriage?” With a grin, Wu quoted a line from Mencius, “I have a weakness. I have a lust for women.” Bai laughed and also quoted a line from Mencius, “Your Highness ought to have excellent taste.” He asked Wu to tell about his sweetheart. Wu told the whole story. Bai doubted if Ge’s daughter was as beautiful as he said. Wu swore the girl’s beauty was known to everybody in the area. Bai smiled and said nothing.

The next day, Bai packed up his luggage without notice and came to say good-bye. Sorry to see him go, Wu talked on and on. Bai asked his boy servant to go on ahead with his luggage. As they were talking, a cicada landed on the table. Bai stood up and said, “Here comes my carriage. If you miss me, you just sleep in my bed.” Before Wu had a chance to ask why, Bai had shrunk to the size of a thumb and mounted the cicada. With a shrill, the cicada soared into the sky and disappeared into the clouds in a wink. Wu realized that Bai was no ordinary mortal. He stood in astonishment for a long, long time.

A few days went by. It was drizzling one day when Wu began to really miss Bai Yuyu. He went to look at his bed. There was nothing on it except the footprints of some rats. Wu heaved a sigh and brush it clean. Then he unrolled the mattress and lay down. Soon he fell asleep and saw Bai’s boy servant coming to lead the way. After walking for a while, they saw a bird, called Tongfeng, descending from the sky. The boy said, “The day is getting dark. You may take a ride on this bird.” Wu hesitated, fearing the bird was too small for him. “Please have a try” the boy said. Wu agreed. The bird seemed to have a big back and there was even some room left over. The boy servant climbed onto the bird’s rump. With a croak, the bird flew off into the sky and before long they saw a vermilion-painted gate. The boy got off first and helped Wu climb down. “Where are we?” Wu asked. “This is the gate of heaven,” the boy said. Wu spotted an enormous tiger sitting by the gate. Seeing he was terrified, the boy walked by his side as a shield as they passed the tiger.

Inside was a different world. The boy led him to the Moon Palace where crystalline stairs made them feel as though they were walking on a mirror. Two orange trees with trunks wider than a man’s out stretched arms towered into the sky. The air smelled of fragrant flowers. There was no place like this on earth. Beautiful maids went in and out of pavilions and mansions that all had red windows. Their beauty was unimaginable. The boy said, “The maids in the palace of the Heavenly Mother are even more charming.” Fearing his master had waited too long, the boy led Wu out of the Moon Palace in a hurry.

Before long, they saw Bai Yuyu waiting by a gate. The two friends walked inside hand in hand. Wu was amazed at the sight: a dear stream flowed in front of a building which had white marble steps and carved banisters. It looked just like the Moon Palace. After they sat down, a fair young girl brought them fragrant tea. Bai then asked for wine. Four beautiful maids appeared and bowed to them, their jade ornaments clanging. They stayed behind to serve them. Wu felt an itch on his back, immediately one maid put her soft, long-nailed hand inside his clothes to scratch the spot for him. Wu was ecstatic and, under the influence of wine, he began to lose his self-control and flirted with the four beauties. But the maids just smiled and turned their faces away. Bai asked them to sing a song, and one in a red silk gown began to sing, after refilling the wine cups. Others accompanied her on the flutes. Afterwards, another maid in a green gown also offered a song, but the other two, in.purple and white gowns, just giggled and nudged each other to be the next to sing. Bai ordered them to either perform a song or serve more wine. The maid in a purple dress hastily took up Wu’s cup to fill it. Wu took the opportunity to pinch her wrist. The maid smiled shyly and shaking, knocked over the cup. Bai reproached her. She picked up the cup, still smiling, and murmured, “As cold as the hand of a ghost.” Bai burst into a laugh and told her to sing and dance as a punishment. She was forced to obey. After that, the maid in the white dress offered to fill the cups. Wu said he had had enough, but seeing her somewhat embarrassed, he reluctantly downed another cup.

In Wu’s eyes, each of the four maids was a ravishing beauty. Suddenly he said to Bai, “Back in the mundane world, it is so hard to find a real beauty. But you have so many around. May I have one of yours?” Bai laughed, “You already have your sweetheart. I don’t think anyone here matches your choice.” Wu said, “Only today I realize how foolish I am.” Then, Bai asked the four maids to come forward for Wu to choose. Dazzled, Wu did not know whom to choose. Since he had touched the hand of the maid in the purple dress, Bai asked her to make up a bed for Wu. That night, Wu slept with her and had a great time. He asked for a love token, and the maid gave him her gold bracelet.

Next day, the boy servant came and urged Wu to leave quickly. The maid withdrew from them. Wu asked where Bai was. The boy replied, “He went to the holy court early in the morning and asked me to see you off.” With regrets, Wu followed the boy back home. When the heavenly gate finally loomed ahead, Wu found the boy had disappeared. Suddenly the giant tiger roared and jumped at him. Wu fled in terror. He felt he was airborne and falling from the sky. The panic awoke him to a sunny morning. He straightened his clothes and felt something on the bed. It was the gold bracelet. Wu was amazed. Afterwards, he lost interest in his studies and women, and dreamed of leaving the ordinary world. Only the thought that he still had no son worried him constantly.

More than ten months passed. Wu was taking a nap one day, and in his dream he saw the maid in purple entering his room with a baby in her arms. “This is your flesh and blood. The baby is not accepted up in heaven, so I came to leave him with you,” she said. Having put the baby on the bed and covered it with some clothes, she was about to go. Wu grabbed her and urged her to stay. She said, “Our last meeting was a wedding, this meeting is our farewell. If you wish, we may still have one day of reunion.”Wu woke up and found the baby in his bed. He held him up and went to see his mother. The old lady was very pleased and hired a wet nurse for the baby, who was named Mengxian(Dream Fairy).

Wu sent someone to tell taishi Ge that he wanted to live a hermit’s life and practice for immortality. It was time for taishi to find another man as his son-in-law. The taishi would not accept, at first, but Wu insisted. So, the taishi told his daughter what had happened. She said, “Everybody knew that I was engaged to Wu. If you find me another man, it will be like a remarriage for me.” Taishi told Wu the concern of his daughter. Wu said, “I have no more interest in official rank and marriage. I’ve not gone into the mountains simply because my mother is still alive.” Taishi related this to his daughter. She said, “I won’t mind if he is poor and I’m willing to eat herbs with him. If he leaves home, I will stay and take care of his mother. I won’t marry anyone else.” Seeing she was so determined, the taishi chose an auspicious date and married his daughter to Wu along with a cart full of dowry. Wu was grateful for her devotion and loved her dearly. The young wife was very attentive to her mother-in-law and was even more obedient than a bride from poor family.

Two years later, Wu’s mother died. His wife sold her dowry to buy a coffin and arranged a decent funeral. Wu was moved and said, “With a good wife like you I won’t have any worry. Once I achieve immortality, the whole family can follow me to heaven. Now, I will go to a remote place and leave everything to you.” She was very understanding and didn’t beg him to stay.

After Wu was gone, his wife managed to handle the burden of both making a living and bringing up his child. Mengxian grew up quickly and was a prodigy. He won the title juren (one who passed the civil service examination at the provincial level during the Ming and Qing dynasties) at the age of fourteen and a year later he was admitted to the Imperial Academy. The emperor praised him on several occasions and conferred an honorary title on his mother.

One autumn day, when frost had dusted the fields, Mengxian asked about his father. His mother told him everything. Mengxian wanted to quit his official post to look for his father, but his mother said, “Your dad left us over ten years ago and must have achieved immortality. How can you find him?”

Later, Mengxian was sent by the emperor to offer sacrifices on the sacred Hengshan Mountain in the south. He and his entourage were ambushed by bandits on the way. At that very moment, a sword-wielding Taoist appeared and drove away the robbers. Mengxian thanked the Taoist and wanted to give him some gold and silver, but the Taoist refused. He gave Mengxian a letter, saying, “I have an old friend who happens to live in your home village. Please give this to him.” “What’s his name?” Mengxian asked. “His name is Wang Lin,” the Taoist said. Mengxian tried hard to recall anyone with that name. “He is really nobody and you probably don’t know him,” the Taoist said. Before leaving, he brought out a gold bracelet. “I picked up this lady’s item on the road. It is useless to me. I want to give it to you as a gift.” It was a beautifully crafted bracelet with exquisite patterns. Mengxian tucked it in his inner pocket.

When he returned to his home village, Mengxian went from door to door but still did not find the man named Wang Lin. So he opened the letter, which read：
“We were husband and wife for three years and then were separated. I owe you so much for doing everything for mother’s burial and rearing our son. I can’t repay what you’ve been through all these years. But I want you to take this pill and become an immortal.”

Mengxian could not figure out who Wang Lin was, so he showed the letter to his mother, who burst into tears after reading it. “This is your father’s letter. Wang Lin was my childhood name.” Mengxian also showed her the bracelet. She said, “This belonged to your first mother. Your father showed this to me once.” They examined the pill inside the letter. It was as big as a bean. Mengxian said excitedly, “Now my father has become an immortal. You can take this pill and live forever, too.” But his mother did not swallow it. She stowed it away.

When the taishi came to see his grandson, she read Wu’s letter to him and took out the pill. The taishi cut it in half and shared the pill with his daughter. At once, they felt rejuvenated. The taishi looked at least twenty years younger and was so energetic that he preferred walking to riding a carriage. Others in the family had to jog along to keep pace with him.

After the New Year, a big blaze occurred in the capital. The fire continued for the whole day. At night, the Wu family dared not go to sleep and gathered in the courtyard. The fire burned all around and was approaching the houses of their neighbors. The family milled about like ants in a hot pan. Suddenly, the gold bracelet Mengxian’s wife was wearing creaked and flew off, turning into a halo of several acres over the family houses. The opening of the bracelet pointed toward the southwest. The phenomenon amazed everyone. Soon, there was fire coming from the west. As soon as it neared the house under the halo, it turned away. When the fire receded, the family thought the bracelet would never be recovered. Just then, the halo turned back into a bracelet and fell to where they stood. The big fire destroyed tens of thousands of houses in the capital. The Wu neighbors all lost their homes to flames, but Wu’s houses still stood. Only a small building in the southwestern corner was burnt, and that was in the direction of the opening in the halo. When Mengxian’s mother turned fifty, people found she still looked like a woman in her twenties.