Zhang Cheng

There was a man surnamed Zhang in Henan Province whose ancestors were from Shandong. During the latter part of the Ming Dynasty, when Shandong was in wide-spread turmoil, his wife was captured and taken away by Manchu soldiers. After that, as Zhang often used to travel to Henan, he decided to settle down there.

He married a woman from there who gave him a son named Zhang Ne. Soon, his wife died, and he married yet another time. She, too, gave birth to a son and they called him Zhang Cheng. Zhang Ne’s stepmother, named Niu, was by nature harsh and cruel. Viewing the child as a thorn in her flesh, she treated him as a servant and gave him only coarse food to eat. He was to cut one dan(Note: dan is a historical Chinese unit of weight. ‌1 dan‌ equals ‌100 catties‌ and is standardized as ‌50 kilograms‌ in the metric system.) of firewood every day and if he couldn’t make the quota, he would receive a lashing and other fierce abuse which became unbearable. Niu put aside delicacies which she only gave to Zhang Cheng to eat and she arranged for him to study with a private teacher. As Zhang Cheng grew up, he was full of filial piety toward his parents and fraternal love. He couldn’t bear to see his elder brother suffer and quietly tried to talk his mother into changing her ways, but she never listened.

One day, Zhang Ne was cutting firewood in the mountains. Before he had fulfilled his quota, a storm struck and he had to take shelter from the rain under a rock. By the time the rain stopped, it was dark. He was very hungry and his stomach was screaming. He hefted the firewood onto his back and carried it home. When Niu checked and found that he was short of the quota, she flew into a rage and refused to give him anything to eat. The hungry Zhang Ne went to his room and lay flat on the bed. When Zhang Cheng came home after school and saw his brother in this state, he asked, “Are you ill?” Zhang Ne said, “Just hungry.” “Why?” he asked further, and his brother told him what had happened that day. Zhang Cheng looked dismayed. He left the room only to return after a while with some sesame cakes for his brother which he had hidden in his jacket. Asked where he had gotten the cakes, he said, “I stole some flour and asked Auntie next door to make them. Just you eat them, but don’t talk.” Zhang Ne ate the cakes, but told his brother, “Don’t do this again. If it leaks out, you will be scolded. Besides, having one meal a day won’t starve me. I’ll just feel hungry, that’s all.” But Zhang Cheng said, “You have always been weak, how can you possibly cut that much firewood?”

The next day, after finishing his meal, Zhang Cheng stealthily made his way into the mountains to where his brother was cutting firewood. When his brother saw him, he asked, “What are you doing here?” “Helping my elder brother cut firewood,” he answered. Zhang Ne asked, “Who told you to come?” “I came by myself,” was the answer. Zhang Ne said, “You don’t know how to cut firewood. Even if you did, you shouldn’t have come.” And he urged his younger brother to hurry up and go home. Zhang Cheng turned a deaf ear. He helped his brother by using his hands and his feet to break the twigs, saying, “I’ve got to bring an axe tomorrow.” Zhang Ne came over to stop him. When he saw that his younger brother’s hands were scratched and his toes showing, he felt very sad. “If you don’t go back right away,” he threatened,”I’ll kill myself with this axe!” Only then did Zhang Cheng agree to go home. His elder brother walked half way with him before turning back.

Later, after Zhang Ne had carried his pack of firewood back to the house, he went to his brother’s school and said to the teacher, “My brother is still too young, so don’t let him leave the school. There are many tigers and wolves in the mountains.” The teacher said, “I didn’t know where Zhang Cheng went before lunch. I’ve already reprimanded him by giving him a beating.”

Back at home, Zhang Ne said to Zhang Cheng, “See? You won’t listen to me. Now you’ve been given a beating by the teacher.” Zhang Cheng smiled and said, “Nothing of the sort.”

The following day, Zhang Cheng again went to the mountains, with an axe hidden in his jacket. Surprised, Zhang Ne said,”I’ve told you so many times not to come here. Why are you doing it again?” His brother didn’t say a word but went right ahead cutting firewood, not resting for a minute even when sweat covered his face. When he had cut about enough to make a bundle, he left without saying goodbye. The teacher was going to give him another thrashing, but when he told the teacher the truth, he was praised for his virtue and was no longer forbidden to go out. Despite repeated urging by his elder brother, Zhang Cheng would not heed his words.

One day, the two brothers were cutting firewood in the mountains with a few other woodcutters. Suddenly, a tiger dashed out of the woods. Frightened, everybody lay face down, flat on the ground. The tiger picked up Zhang Cheng with its teeth and went off with its catch. But weighed down by its load, it could not run very fast, so that Zhang Ne soon caught up with it. He slashed at the tiger with his axe and wounded it at the part between its hind legs. It was so painful that the tiger ran for dear life and Zhang Ne soon lost sight of them. Seeing him crying, the other woodcutters tried to comfort him, but this only made him even more miserable. “My younger brother is unlike any other younger brother. Besides, he died for me, so what’s the point of my remaining alive?” He put the axe to his neck. Before the others could stop him, the axe had cut about an inch deep and blood was gushing out. Zhang lost consciousness. Everybody was in panic. They tore his clothes, bound up his wound with the cloth and together helped him home.

Zhang Cheng’s mother, Niu, wept and cursed Zhang Ne, “You murdered my son! Now you’re trying to clear yourself by bruising your neck!” Moaning, Zhang Ne said, “Mother, don’t worry. Since Younger Brother is dead, I have nothing to live for!” Zhang Ne was carried onto the bed. His wound hurt so much that he could not sleep. All day and night, he lay with his back to the wall, weeping. His father, fearing that he might die too, came often to feed him some food. Each time he did this, his wife Niu would rain down curses on him. So Zhang Ne refused to take any food and died three days later.

On his way to the underworld, Zhang Ne came upon a sorcerer from his village who often acted as a messenger for the underworld authorities. Zhang Ne confided to him his past miseries and asked if he knew where his younger brother was. The sorcerer said he hadn’t heard, but he turned and led Zhang Ne away.

They came to a large city and saw a clerk, dressed in black, emerging. The sorcerer stopped him and made inquiries on behalf of Zhang Ne, whereupon the clerk took from his shoulder bag the book in which he registered the souls of the dead. He went through the list of more than one hundred males and females but there was no one by the name of Zhang. The sorcerer wondered whether it might not be registered in some other book, but the man in black said, “I’m the only one in charge in these parts, how could someone else have mistaken this for one of his charges?” Zhang Ne would not believe it, so he insisted that they enter the city. Inside the city, ghosts of all sorts, old-timers and new-comers, were floating about. Some of them Zhang Ne was familiar with, but when he went up to inquire about his brother, no one knew his whereabouts.

All of a sudden, the whole lot of them began exclaiming, “The Bodhisattva’s here!” Zhang Ne raised his head and saw, up in the clouds, the huge image of a god, his whole body emitting rays of golden light that brightened the whole of the underworld. The sorcerer congratulated Zhang Ne, saying, “Big brother, you are fortunate! The Bodhisattva visits the underworld only once in several dozen years to redeem souls. You’re lucky to be here just at the right time.” He pulled Zhang Ne down onto his knees. All the ghosts did the same. They put their palms together and chanted, “Oh, you who are infinitely benevolent and merciful, save us from our miseries!” The earth shook with their resounding voices. The Bodhisattva, lifting her willow twig, sprinkled sweet dew drops all around, dew drops as fine as mist. Soon, the mist dispersed, the golden light faded, and the Bodhisattva disappeared. Zhang Ne felt some dew drops on his neck and the axe wound pained him no more. The sorcerer led him home. When the door of Zhang Ne’s village home came in sight, the sorcerer said goodbye and left.

Abruptly, Zhang Ne came to after being dead for two days. He told about his experience in Hell and claimed that Zhang Cheng was not dead. Niu thought he must be making it up and cursed him even more ferociously. Zhang Ne felt wronged but could not prove his assertion. When he felt the scar on his neck, he knew the wound had truly healed. With an effort, he got up and knelt before his father and said, “I will penetrate the clouds and dip into the seas to seek my brother. If I fail to find him, I shall never return as long as I live. Please, Father, regard me as still dead.” His elderly father took him to a solitary corner and wept, not daring to keep him. So Zhang Ne left home.

Often he would inquire about his younger brother at crossroads. When he had used up all his money, he begged along the way.

One year later, he arrived in Nanjing. Walking in the streets one day, clothed in rags, his back hunched, he came upon a dozen or so men galloping past on horseback. He was forced to step to the side to avoid them. Among the riders was a man who had the appearance of an official, some forty-odd years of age. He was guarded by husky men on tall steeds in front and behind. There was also a young man, riding a younger horse, who kept staring at Zhang Ne. Seeing the young man was from a noble family, Zhang dared not lift his head. The young man reined in his horse. Then he rolled off the saddle and cried out, “Why, if it isn’t my elder brother!” Zhang Ne raised his head and took a good look. It was Zhang Cheng alright. He took Zhang Cheng’s hands in his, and with mixed feelings of joy and sorrow, he cried his heart out. Shedding tears, too, Zhang Cheng asked, “How have you ended up like this, Elder Brother?” After he heard the story, he felt even sadder. All the servants dismounted to find out what the matter was and then reported to the official. The official ordered his men to give one of their horses to Zhang Ne. The two brothers rode side by side back to the official’s residence. Then Zhang Ne asked in detail all that had happened to his younger brother in the time that had passed.

It turns out that when the tiger went off with Zhang Cheng dangling from its mouth, at some point he left the boy by the roadside. Zhang Cheng lay there unconscious for a whole night. It so happened that the vice-governor of the province, also named Zhang, was passing through this place after leaving the capital. When he saw how refined the boy looked, he patted him gently. Slowly, the boy came to. When he told the official where he lived, which was quite a distance away, the official took him home. He applied medicine to his wounds, and, after a few days, they healed completely. Since the vice-governor had no son, he adopted Zhang Cheng. Just now, Zhang Cheng was out on a horse-riding spree with his father.

As Zhang Cheng related all this to his elder brother, the vice-governor came in. Zhang Ne thanked him over and over. Then, Zhang Cheng went in and brought out a silk suit for his brother to wear and gave a dinner for him. As they engaged in lively conversation, the vice-governor said, “Your family is in Henan. How many male adults are there in the family eligible for the army?” “None,” said Zhang Ne. “Father used to live in Shandong when he was young. He moved to Henan only later.” The vice-governor said, “My native home is also in Shandong. Which county does your township belong to?” To which Zhang Ne replied, “I remember Father once said it was under the jurisdiction of Dongchang County.” The astonished vice-govemor exclaimed, “We’re from the same hometown! Why did your family move to Henan?” Zhang Ne said, “When the Qing soldiers entered Shandong towards the end of the Ming Dynasty, they carried off my father’s first wife. My father was caught in the flames of war and lost everything he had. Before that, he had often gone to the west to trade and, traveling back and forth, he became quite familiar with the place, so he settled down there.” More surprised than ever, the vice-governor asked, “What’s your father’s name?” And when Zhang Ne told him, he fixed his eyes on him for quite a while, then lowered his head as if wondering, and went quickly into the next room.

After a while, the vice-governor’s mother came out. The two brothers knelt down and kowtowed to her. The lady asked Zhang Ne, “Are you Zhang Bingzhi’s grandson?” Zhang Ne said, “Yes, indeed.” At that, the lady burst into tears, saying to her son, “These are your younger brothers!” This baffled Zhang Ne and Zhang Cheng. The lady went on to explain to them, “Three years after I was married to your father, I was carried off to the north by the Manchus and was made the wife of the commander of a Manchu banner. Six months later, I gave birth to your elder brother here. After another six months, the commander died. Your elder brother got a post in the banner to take his father’s place and was gradually promoted to the rank of vice-governor. Now, he has been relieved of that post. I long for my hometown and the folks at home every minute of the day, so I gave up my status as a Manchu and reassumed my original status as a Han. Several times, I sent people to Shandong, but no matter where they went, they could not get any news of you. Who could have thought that your father had moved west to Henan!” And turning to the vice-governor, she said, “You made your brother your adopted son, how you’ve compromised your fortune!” And the vice-governor said, “when I asked Zhang Cheng about himself, he didn’t tell me he was from Shandong. He must have been too young to remember.” So, according to their age, they ranked like this: the vice-governor, who was forty-one, was the eldest brother; Zhang Cheng, sixteen, was the youngest; and Zhang Ne, twenty-two, the middle one. The vice-governor was delighted to suddenly possess two younger brothers. They slept in the same room and he found out from them all the details of how they became separated.

He began to make preparations for going back to Henan. His mother feared that Niu might not welcome them, to which the vice-governor said, “If she accepts us, we’ll live together; if not, we’ll live separately. Who in the world would not make his father’s home his?” Thus, he sold his residence, packed, and when the date set arrived, they started on their journey westward.

As soon as they arrived in their hometown in Henan, Zhang Ne and Zhang Cheng went ahead on horseback to report to their father. Shortly after Zhang Ne left home, step-mother Niu had passed away, leaving their father to lead a widower’s life, mourning his lost ones all day long. Now, the unexpected appearance of Zhang Ne so surprised him and filled him with joy that he felt dizzy. Then when he saw Zhang Cheng, he was in a state of bliss. Unable to say a word, he let his tears pour down his cheeks. A servant then announced the arrival of the vice-governor and his mother. The old man stopped crying and, not knowing whether to laugh or to cry, stood there like a log for quite a while, absolutely dumbfounded.

Before long, the vice-governor came in and paid his respects to his father, and he was followed by his mother. At the sight of the old man, she grabbed hold of him and the two wept together. By now, the room was packed with male and female servants and maids and servant boys, and the old man didn’t know what to do. Zhang Cheng noticed that his own mother was not present and asked his father where she was. Told that she had passed away he broke into tears and cried so hard that he fainted, and did not come to until quite a while later. The vice-governor then paid to build a house and invited a tutor to teach his two brothers. Soon, the stable was full of horses and the house rang with merry laughter. The family had actually become a rich and influential one in the area.