Early in the Qing Dynasty, many people were incriminated in Yu Qi’s rebellion. People in Qixia and Laiyang counties suffered most. A few hundred people were captured each day and all of them were executed. Their blood painted the ground red and their skeletons were stacked in mountain-like piles. The authorities showed their leniency by issuing a batch of coffins for their burial. Timber in the carpenters’ shops in Jinan was requisitioned for the job. As a result, many of the dead were buried on the southern outskirts of Jinan.
In the thirteenth year of the reign of the Qing Emperor Kangxi(1674), a scholar of Laiyang County came to Jinan, the provincial capital. Two or three of his good friends had been among those executed. So, he brought some paper money and wine to the wilderness where he burnt the money and poured the wine on the ground in memory of his dead friends. That night, he stayed in a temple.
The next day, he went into the inner city for some business and did not return when darkness fell. Suddenly, a young man came to pay him a visit. Seeing the scholar from Laiyang was out, the young man took off his hat, climbed up on his bed and lay on his back without even taking off his shoes. The scholar’s servant asked who he was. The young man, his eyes closed, did not answer.
After a while, the scholar from Laiyang came back and he could not recognize the youth lying on the bed in the darkness either. So he went up to the bed and asked the young man who he was. The latter said loudly, with his eyes staring:”I’m waiting for your master. You keep asking for my identity. Am I a robber or bad guy?” The scholar smiled and said: “The master is before you.” The young man hastily got up and put on his hat. He gave the scholar a cupped-hand salute, sat down and exchanged heart-felt greetings with the scholar. The scholar thought that his voice sounded faintly familiar. So he asked his servant to light an oil lamp. Now he saw the man in front of him was Zhu Sheng who had been incriminated in the Yu Qi’s rebellion and executed. The scholar was horrified and kept stepping back from the man. Zhu took his hand and said: “I used to be your friend. Why do you shun me now? Although I’m a ghost, I still remember friendships and will never forget. I have one thing to ask of you. I hope, you harbor no misgivings about me or look down on me.” Only now, the scholar sat down and asked what Zhu wanted him to do. Zhu said:”Your niece lives alone and isn’t married. I want to marry her. But whenever I send a match-maker to her, she turns me down, on the pretext that she has no orders for marriage from her parents or other elders. I hope you will put in a few good words for me.” The scholar indeed had a niece. Her mother had died early and she had been sent to a scholar to be brought up. She had not returned to her own home until she was fifteen years old. She, too, had been taken prisoner and brought to Jinan. Hearing the news of her father’s tragic death, she was tremendously shocked, cried bitterly and died. The scholar asked Zhu Sheng, his young visitor, “She has her father in Hades. Why have you come to me for help?” Zhu said: “Her father’s coffin has been removed to another place by his nephew. So the father isn’t there. The scholar asked: “With whom is the girl living?”Zhu said:”With a neighbor, an old woman.” The scholar was worried that a live mortal was no match for ghosts. Zhu said: “If you promise to help me, I would like to invite you to my place.” Saying this, Zhu stood up and reached for the scholar’s hand. The scholar declined the invitation again and again. Finally he asked Zhu: “Where are we going?” Zhu said: “You just follow me.” Reluctantly, the scholar went with him.
They headed north and had walked a li or so when they saw a large village of a hundred households. When they got to the gate of a courtyard, Zhu went up to knock on the door. Presently, an old woman came to answer the knock and asked Zhu what he was there for. Zhu said: “Please tell the young lady that her uncle is here.” The old woman went to announce their arrival and came back after a while to usher the scholar in. She turned round and said to Zhu: “There are only two thatched cottages in the courtyard. Would you please wait there?”
The scholar followed her in. What he saw was a desolate courtyard covering half a mu of land on which were erected two small houses. His niece greeted him weepingly at the entrance of the house. The scholar found tears running down his cheeks, too. The room was dimly lit. The niece was pure and pretty just as she’d been during her lifetime. She gazed at the scholar tearfully and asked after her aunts-in-law. The scholar said:”They are all well. Only my wife has passed away.” The niece again cried:”I was brought up by uncle and aunt. I have not repaid you, yet am myself already dead. What regret I feel. Last year, my father’s nephew moved my father’s body to a different place, and I was left here alone. I’m lonely here like a homeless autumn swallow. Uncle, you still have me, a wronged ghost in the nether world, though you sent me money and cloth, which I have already received.” The scholar then told her Zhu Sheng’s intention. She lowered her head and said not a word. The old woman said:”Master Zhu has already sent Old Lady Yang here to propose several times. I think it is a good match but the young lady doesn’t want to be careless and casual. Now that you are here, the matter can be settled.”
At that moment, a young woman of about eighteen came in gently, followed by two maids. At the sight of the scholar, she turned back and intended to slip away. The niece grasped her clothes and said:”You don’t have to go. This is my uncle, not a stranger.” The scholar gave the young woman a cupped-hand salute and the latter returned it with a curtsy. The niece introduced her: “This is Jiuniang (the ninth lady or daughter) of the Gongsun family of Qixia County. Her father was a son of a big and rich household, which is now bankrupt. Life is getting tough for them. She has relations with me alone and comes here each morning and evening.” The scholar stole a glance at her and saw a beautiful lady with crescent-like smiling eyebrows and crimson cheeks, the result of shyness. He said: “At the first glance, I knew that Jiuniang was a daughter in a rich and cultured household. How could a girl from a poor or petty family be so beautiful!” The niece said:”She is also a girl of literary brilliance. She writes excellent poems. She gives me advice and comments on my own poems.” Jiuniang said smilingly:”Why do you badmouth me, you naughty girl. It will make your uncle laugh.” The niece continued, with a smile, “Look, uncle, now that my aunt has died and you are not yet married again, wouldn’t you like such a young woman as Jiuniang?” Hearing this, Jiuniang jumped, giggling, and accused the niece of being mad! Then, she was gone.
Although her words sounded like a joke, the scholar grew very fond of her. The niece seemed to have sensed it and she said:”Nobody else is as beautiful as Jiuniang. Uncle, you may go to her mother and propose the marriage if you don’t mind that she is a ghost.” The scholar was overjoyed at what his niece said but was also worried that a live man could not marry a ghost. The niece said: “Never mind. You two are fated to be together.” So the scholar said goodbye and went out. The niece said to him:”In five days, I’ll send for you when the moon is high and the whole world is quiet.”
Once outside, the scholar saw no signs of Zhu Sheng. Looking up, he saw a half-moon hanging high in the sky and in the dim moonlight the path along which they had trekked. Suddenly, he saw a south-facing residence ahead and Zhu Sheng was sitting on the stone steps of the entrance. Zhu sprang to his feet and came to greet the scholar:”I’ve been waiting for you for a long time. Please come into my house.” So saying, he took the scholar’s hand and the two went into Zhu’s house. Zhu thanked the scholar very much. He took out a gold wine cup and a hundred pearls and said to the scholar: “I have nothing valuable. These things may be used as engagement gifts.” After a while, he said: “Although I have some wine, I’m afraid I can’t treat you to that because it was something in the nether regions. What should we do?” The scholar thanked him and said good-bye. Zhu accompanied him towards home. Then they parted.
When the scholar got back to the temple where he was staying, monks and servants clustered around to see what had happened to him. The scholar hid the truth from them and said only: “When I said I had met a ghost, I was just joking with you. Actually, a friend of mine invited me to his place to drink wine.”
Five days later, Zhu Sheng came, dressed in fine clothes and waving a fan gently. He was obviously happy. He stopped outside the courtyard gate and bowed to the scholar. After a while, he said to the scholar:”Your wedding ceremony is ready and is set for tonight. Please go now.The scholar said: “I haven’t sent her betrothal gifts because I did not know her response. How shall I now that there’s little time.” Zhu said: “I have already sent the engagement presents to her for you.” The scholar was deeply grateful and went with him. They went straight to Zhu’s home. The scholar’s niece, who was in festive attire, came out smiling to greet them. The scholar asked: “when did you get married?” Zhu answered for her: “Three days ago.” The scholar then took out the pearls Zhu had given him last time and presented them to his niece as an additional engagement gift. The niece accepted the pearls after first declining. She said to the scholar: “I’ve conveyed your intention to Jiuniang’s mother. The old lady was very pleased. But she said that she was reluctant to let Jiuniang be married to someone in a far away place because she herself is old and lonely. So, it has been arranged that you will go to their home to get your bride. There is not a single man in their house. You may go with my husband.” So, Zhu led the scholar away.
At the end of the village, there was a residence with its gate wide open. The two went straight into the hall. After a while, they heard a voice announcing: “The old lady.” Presently, two maids heiped an old lady up the stone steps of the hall. The scholar was on the verge of giving her a grand bow when the old lady said: “I am too old and senile to return your salute. We’d better skip the courtesies.” She then bade the maids set the table for a rich feast. Zhu Sheng, too, bade his own servants to take out some dishes and placed them before the scholar. Wine cups were also prepared. And wine was poured into the scholar’s cup. The dishes were just the same as those in the physical world. Only the hosts were given to drinking wine themselves, without urging the guest to drink.
After the feast, Zhu went home. The maids led the scholar into the wedding chamber. Jiuniang was already sitting by the side of the burning wedding candles, waiting for the arrival of the scholar. They fell in love with each other at first glance. Now the newly weds enjoyed their love very much. Originally, Jiuniang’s mother was to have been taken to the imperial capital. But she died on the way to Jinan, because the torment of the journey was too much for her to bear. Jiuniang followed her mother by hanging herself. When Jiuniang told all this to the scholar in their wedding bed, she sobbed so sadly that she could not go to sleep.
At daybreak, Jiuniang urged: “You should leave now, for the time being. But don’t wake the maids and servants.” From that time on, the scholar came to Jiuniang at night and went at daybreak. He loved his wife deeply.
One night, the scholar asked Jiuniang: “What’s the name of the village?” Jiuniang said: “It’s called Laixia Village because the inhabitants here are mostly new ghosts who were people living in Laiyang and Qixia before their death.” The scholar was very sad, after hearing this. Jiuniang said sadly: “We are now a thousand li from our hometown and are like rootless grass, drifting all the time. My mother and I feel lonely and sad. I hope you will take our remains to our hometown and bury them by the side of our ancestral tombs so that we have somewhere to return to eternally. In this way, we are still immortal after our death.” The scholar promised her. Jiuniang continued: “Human beings and ghosts must take different roads in the final analysis. So it’s not good for you to stay here long.” Then she gave the scholar a pair of silk socks and tearfully urged him to go.
The scholar left the house, greatly saddened. He was beside himself with sorrow. Profoundly melancholy, he simply could not tear himself away from his wife’s place. So he went to Zhu Sheng’s house and knocked at the door. Zhu came out barefooted to greet him. His niece got up too, disheveled, and came out in surprise to ask what had happened. The scholar remained sad and distressed for a long time before he told the couple what Jiuniang had said to him. The niece, hearing this, said: “I had been thinking the same thing. It is indeed not good for you to stay here long because this is not the human world.” After this, they wept bitterly. The scholar had to go away, with tears in his eyes.
When he got back to his place and lay down, he tossed about in the bed until daybreak. He wanted to go and find the grave in which Jiuniang was buried but could not because he had forgotten the road marks. He had to go there at night. What he saw now were thousands of graves crowding the place and the road leading to Jiuniang’s village was lost among the graves. He had to turn back, sighing and filled with regret. When he opened the silk socks and started to examine them carefully, the socks turned to ashy pieces that blew away in the wind. He decided to pack and go back to his hometown in eastern Shandong.
Half a year passed and the scholar still could not forget Jiuniang. So, he came to Jinan again, in the hope of meeting her. When he got to the southern outskirts of the city, the sun was setting. He tied his horse to a tree in the courtyard and went into the jungle of groves with quickened paces. What he saw were endless tombs one after the other, which were rendered vague and blurred by the overgrowth. Phosphorescent lights dotted the place and the crying of foxes was to be heard. Waves of chills went down his back. Frightened and broken-hearted, he went back to the place where he was staying and gave up all hope. So, he rode eastward to his hometown. After covering a li or so, he saw in the distance a woman walking alone in the graveyard. Her manners and bearing were strikingly similar to those of Jiuniang. The scholar rode up to her quickly to take a closer look. It was indeed Jiuniang. So he got down from the horse to talk to her. But the woman walked on as if she did not know him. The scholar took a few more steps forward. The woman looked upset and screened her face with her sleeve. The scholar hastily called out: “Jiuniang.” The woman disappeared all of a sudden. And is all we know.
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