Journey to the West (vol. 1)

Chapter 11

After Touring the Underworld, Taizong Returns to Life.

By Presenting a Pumpkin Liu Quan Continues His Marriage

A hundred years flow by like water;

A lifetime's career is no more than a bubble,

The face that yesterday was the color of peach-blossom

Today is edged with snow.

When the white ants' line of battle collapses, all is illusion;

“Repent, repent,” is the cuckoo's urgent call.

He who does good in secret can always prolong his life;

Heaven looks after the one who asks no pity.

Taizong was in a daze as his soul went straight to the Tower of Five Phoenixes, in front of which he saw the horsemen of the Imperial Guard who invited him out hunting with them. Taizong was glad to go and they went off into the distance; but after they had been going for some time he found himself walking alone in a wasteland: the horsemen had all disappeared. Just as he was discovering to his alarm that he could not find his way a man appeared not far away, shouting.

“Great Tang Emperor, come here, come here.” On hearing this Taizong looked up and saw him:

A black silk turban,

A rhinoceros-horn belt.

The black silk turban has tabs blowing in the breeze;

The rhinoceros-horn belt has golden mountings.

In his hands an ivory tablet, glowing auspiciously;

His thin silk gown conceals his divine light.

He wears a pair of boots with whitened soles

As he climbs the clouds and grasps the mist,

Holding to his chest the Registers of Life and Death,

Noting down the quick and the dead.

His tangled hair blows about his ears;

His whiskers dance and fly beside his cheeks.

Once he used to be a Tang minister

But now he judges cases for the King of Hell.

When Taizong went up to him, he fell on his knees beside the path and said, “Your Majesty, please forgive your subject for his crime of failing to come far enough to meet you.”

“Who are you?” asked the Emperor, “and why have you come to meet me?”

“A fortnight ago your humble servant heard the Dragon King of the River Jing bringing a case against Your Majesty in the Senluo Palace because he was executed despite your promise to save him,” replied the other.

“The King of Qinguang of the First Palace sent devil messengers with an urgent summons to Your Majesty to be present when the case is heard between the Three Orders: the Human Order, the Underworld Order and the Water Order. When I heard this I came here to meet Your Majesty. I arrived late, so I beg for forgiveness.”

“What is your name and position?” asked Taizong.

“When your humble servant was alive I used to serve His Late Majesty. I was magistrate of Cizhou, and later made vice-president of the Ministry of Rites. My name is Cui Jue. I have now been given office in the underworld as the judge in charge of cases at Fengdu.” Taizong, greatly delighted to learn this, went up to him and supported him with his imperial hands as he said, “Sir, you have made a long and exhausting journey. Wei Zheng, our minister, gave us a letter for you; how lucky that we have met.” The judge thanked him and asked where the letter was. Taizong produced it from his sleeve and handed it over to Cui Jue, who received it with a bow. When he opened it he saw that it read as follows:

Your Excellency, Metropolitan Judge, and Venerable Elder Brother Cui,

Remembering our former friendship; I still see and hear you as if you were alive; but many years have now flown by since I last received your pure instruction. On feast days I set out some vegetarian dishes as a sacrifice to you, but I have been unable to divine whether they are enjoyed by you. As I have the good fortune not to have been abandoned by you and you have appeared to me in dreams, I now know that my great elder brother has risen high. But, alas, there is a great gap between the worlds of darkness and of light, and we are unable to meet each other as we are each at different ends of the universe.

As the Cultured Emperor Taizong has recently passed away of a sudden illness it seems likely that his case will be discussed by the Three Orders, so that he is bound to meet you, elder brother. I beseech you to remember the friendship of the days when you were alive and give His Majesty such assistance as will enable him to return to the sunlight. This would be a great favour, and I shall write again to thank you. I cannot go into all the details of the case here.

Your younger brother kowtows to you.

With affection,

Wei Zheng.

The judge was very pleased when he had read the letter. “I know about how the official Wei of the personnel department beheaded the dragon in a dream the other day,” he said, “and this news filled me with great admiration. He has always looked after my sons and grandsons, and now that I have a letter from him, Your Majesty need have no worries. Your humble servant can undertake to escort Your Majesty back to the light, where you will once more ascend the throne.” Taizong thanked him.

As they were talking a pair of servant boys in black appeared, carrying banners and a precious canopy. “An invitation from King Yama,” they shouted. Taizong and Judge Cui went along with them. A city wall appeared in front of them, and above its gates hung a large tablet on which was written DEVIL GATE OF THE WORLD OF DARKNESS in huge letters of gold. The two lictors waved their banners and led Taizong into the city and along its streets. Beside the road he saw his father and predecessor Li Yuan, as well as his dead brothers Jaincheng and Yuanji, who went up to him and said, “Shimin's here, Shimin's here,” using his personal name. They grabbed and hit him, demanding their lives back; and as Taizong could not avoid them they held him fast until Judge Cui ordered a blue-faced devil with terrible fangs to drive them away. Only then was Taizong able to escape from their clutches. After another mile or so he saw a green-tiled tower rising majestically before him.

A myriad coloured veils of haze drifting about it,

A thousand wisps of red mist dimly appearing.

The flying eaves had monsters at their ends,

The matching tiles of the five roofs were gleaming bright.

Rows of golden studs were driven into the doors,

A length of whitest jade was placed across each threshold.

When the windows faced the light they glowed like the dawn;

Red lightning flashed from the lattice and the blinds.

The tower soared into the azure sky

While porticos led to sumptuous courtyards.

Incense from braziers shaped like beasts perfumed the royal robes;

The light from lanterns of purple gauze was thrown on palace fans.

To the left a row of ferocious bull-headed demons;

To the right were terrible horse-faced devils.

Those who escorted the spirits of the dead had golden tablets;

Those who summoned souls wore white sackcloth.

This place was called the assembly of the underworld,

The Palace of Yama, King of Hell.

As Taizong gazed at it from the outside, jade ornaments could be heard tinkling as they swung from the belts of officials, and rare perfumes could be smelt. In front were two pairs of attendants holding lanterns, and behind them the ten generations of kings of the underworld came down the steps. The ten kings were the King of Qinguang, the King of Chujiang, King Songdi, King Wuguan, King Yama, King Impartial, King of Mount Tai, the Metropolitan King, the King of Biancheng, and the King of the Ever-turning Wheel. They came out of the Senluo Palace and bowed to Taizong in greeting. Taizong felt too humble to go forward.

“Your Majesty is a monarch in the world of light, but we are only kings in the world of darkness. It is therefore only right that we should do this, so why this excessive modesty?”

“We have offended against Your Majesties,” replied Taizong, “so how can we venture to talk in terms of light and darkness, or men and ghosts?” After much yielding Taizong went into the Senluo Palace, and when they had finished bowing to each other they sat down as hosts and guest.

A moment later the King of Qinguang clasped his hands together and said, “Why is it that the ghost dragon of the River Jing has brought a case against Your Majesty, saying that he was executed despite your promise to save him?”

“I had a dream that an old dragon came to ask me to save him,” replied Taizong, “and I did in fact promise that he would come to no harm; but as it turned out his crime was a capital one, for which he was due to be beheaded by the minister in the personnel department, Wei Zheng. We summoned Wei Zheng to come and play chess in the palace, and I never knew that he had beheaded the dragon in a dream. This happened because that officer can come and go miraculously, and also because the dragon king had committed a crime for which he deserved to die. We were in no way to blame for his death.”

When the Ten Kings heard his statement they bowed and replied, “Even before that dragon was born it was written in the registers of the Southern Pole Star that he was destined to die at the hands of a personnel minister, as we have long been aware. But because he has been arguing about the matter we had to send for Your Majesty. When the case has been argued between the three orders we shall send him to the Revolving Prayer-wheel for reincarnation. We hope that Your Majesty will forgive us for forcing you to attend.” Then they ordered the judge in charge of the Registers of Birth and Death to fetch them at once to see how long His Majesty was due to live. Judge Cui hurried to his office and took down the general register of the lengths of the reigns Heaven had allowed to the kings of all the countries of the earth. As he was looking through it he saw to his horror that Emperor Taizong of the Great Tang in the Southern Jambu Continent was due to die in year 13 of his reign. He hurriedly seized a large brush soaked in ink, changed 13 into 33, then he handed the register up. The Ten Kings started at the beginning and read it through until they saw that Taizong was due to reign for thirty-three years.

“How long has Your Majesty been on the throne?” asked the shocked kings of hell.

“It is now thirteen years since my accession,” Taizong replied.

“Then there is no need for Your Majesty to worry,” said King Yama. “You have twenty years of life ahead of you. Now that you have answered these charges satisfactorily, will you please return to the World of Light.” On hearing this Taizong bowed and thanked the Ten Kings, who then ordered judge Cui and marshal Zhu to return Taizong his soul. As he was leaving the Senluo Palace Taizong raised his hand in salutation and asked the Ten Kings about the prospects for all the members of his family in his palace.

“Good,” they replied, “except that Your Majesty's younger sister does not seem to be going to live much longer.” Taizong bowed once more to express his thanks.

“When we return to the daylight we shall have nothing with which to show our gratitude except for fruit and melons.”

“We have gourds, Eastern melons and Western melons, or water-melons, here, but no pumpkins, no Southern melons,” said the Ten Kings.

“When we return to the world of the living we shall send some,” replied Taizong, and with that they raised their clasped hands to each other, bowed, and parted.

The marshal, with a soul-guiding flag in his hand, led the way, and Judge Cui followed with Taizong as they left the office of darkness. Taizong looked up and saw that they were not going the same way as they had come.

“Have we taken the wrong road?” he asked the judge, who replied, “No. In the underworld you can only go; you can never come back. We are now taking Your Majesty out through the Revolving Prayer-wheel; thus you will be able to tour the underworld on your way back to life.” Taizong had no choice but to follow them as they led the way.

After a mile or two he saw a high mountain wrapped in dark clouds down to its foot, while a black mist blotted out the sky.

“What's that mountain over there, Mr. Cui?” he asked; and the judge replied, “That is the Dark Mountain of the underworld.”

“However shall we cross it?” Taizong asked in terror.

“Have no fears, Your Majesty; your subjects will lead the way,” answered the judge. Taizong followed them shivering and trembling, and when they had climbed the mountain he looked around him. He saw that it was

Jagged,

Precipitous,

High as the Sichuan ranges,

Lofty as Lushan.

It is not a famous peak of the world of light,

But a crag of the underworld.

Ogres hidden in the clumps of thorns,

Evil monsters lurk behind the cliffs.

Your ears hear no calls of animals or birds,

The eyes can only see fiends.

A dark wind howls,

As black fog spreads.

The dark wind that howls

Is the smoke breathed from the mouths of magic soldiers;

The spreading black fog

Is the vapour belched out by hidden trolls.

Wherever you look the prospect is appalling;

All you can see to left or right is unbridled evil.

To be sure, there are hills,

Peaks,

Ranges,

Caves,

And gullies.

But no grass grows on the hills,

There is no sky for the peaks to touch.

No travelers cross the ranges,

The caves hold no clouds,

No water runs in the gullies.

Before the cliffs there are only goblins,

Below the ranges are trolls.

Savage ghosts shelter in the caves,

Evil spirits hide in the gullies.

All around the mountain

Ox-headed and horse-faced demons howl and roar;

Half hidden from view,

Hungry ghosts and desperate spirits sob to each other.

The judge who claims men's lives

Cannot wait to deliver the letter;

The marshal who chases souls,

Shouts and roars as he hastens along with his documents.

The swift-footed ones

Swirl along like a tornado;

The catchers of souls

Stand as thick as clouds.

Thanks entirely to the protection of the judge, Taizong crossed the Dark Mountain.

As they continued on their way they went past very many courts, and from each of them piteous sounds assailed his ear, while the evil ghouls there struck terror into his heart.

“What place is this?” asked Taizong.

“It is the eighteen layers of hell that lie behind the Dark Mountain,” the judge replied.

“What are the eighteen layers?” asked Taizong.

“Listen and I will tell you,” the judge replied.

“The Hanging-by-the-Sinews Hell, the Hell of Injustice, and the Hell of the Pit of Fire.

Loneliness and desolation,

Misery and suffering.

All those here committed the thousand lower sins,

And were sent here for punishment after death.

The Fengdu Hell, the Tongue-extraction Hell, the Flaying Hell:

Howling and wailing,

Terrible anguish.

They offended against Heaven by not being loyal or filial;

They have Buddha-mouths but snake hearts, so fell down here.

The Grinding Hell, the Pounding Hell, the Hell of Drawing and Quartering.

Skin and flesh ripped and torn,

Lips rubbed away till the teeth show.

In the blindness of their hearts they did evil things;

For all their fine words they harmed others in secret.

The Ice Hell, the Skin-shedding Hell, the Disemboweling Hell.

Filthy faces and matted hair,

Frowning foreheads and sad eyes.

They all used false measures to cheat the foolish,

Thus piling up disasters for themselves.

The Oil-cauldron Hell, the Hell of Blackness, the Hell of the Mountain of Knives.

Shivering and trembling,

In terrible agony;

Because they used violence against the good

They cower and hunch their shoulders in their suffering.

The Hell of the Pool of Blood, the Avichi Hell, the Hell of the Steelyard Beam,

Where skin is pulled away from the bone,

Arms are broken and tendons cut.

Because they killed for gain,

Butchering living creatures,

They fell into these torments that will not end in a thousand years;

They will always lie here, never to escape.

Every one of them is tightly bound,

Knotted and roped.

Red-faced demons,

And black-faced demons,

Are sent with their long halberds and short swords.

Ox-headed fiends.

And horse-faced fiends,

With iron clubs and brazen hammers,

Beat them till their wincing faces flow with blood,

As they call on Heaven and Earth and get no answer.

Let no man alive have any illusions:

The devils carry out their orders and release nobody.

Good and evil will always be rewarded:

It is only a question of time.”

Before they had gone much further a group of devil soldiers holding banners knelt down beside the road and said, “The Commissioners of the Bridges welcome you.” The Judge shouted to them that they were to rise and led Taizong across a golden bridge. Taizong saw that there was a silver bridge beside it over which some loyal, filial, worthy, just, and upright people were passing, led by banners. There was a third bridge on the other side with an icy wind roaring across it and waves of blood boiling below amid unbroken howls and wails.

“What is that bridge called?” Taizong asked, and the Judge replied, “Your Majesty, that is called the Bridge of Punishment, and you must tell people about it when you return to the world of the living. Below the bridge there are

A narrow, precipitous path

Over a mighty, rushing river.

It is like a strip of cloth across the Yangtse,

Or a fiery pit rising up to Heaven.

The icy vapours freeze one to the bone;

Nauseating stenches assail the nostrils.

There is no boat to ferry you

Across the crashing waves.

All who appear are sinful ghosts

With bare feet and matted hair.

The bridge is many miles long

And only three fingers wide;

The drop is a hundred feet,

The waters are infinitely deeper.

Above there are no railings for support,

While trolls snatch their victims from below.

In cangues and bonds

They are driven along the dangerous path by the River of Punishment.

See the ferocity of the divine generals by the bridge;

Watch how the ghosts of the wicked suffer in the river.

On the branching trees

Hang silken clothes in blue, red, yellow and purple;

In front of the precipice

Squat lewd and shameless women who swore at their parents-in-law.

Copper snakes and iron dogs feast on them at will,

As they constantly fall in the river, never to escape.

There is a poem that goes:

As ghosts wail and spirits howl

The waves of blood tower high.

Countless ghouls with heads of bulls and horses

Guard the bridge with great ferocity.

The commissioners of the bridges had gone away while he was speaking. Taizong's heart was once more filled with horror, and he nodded his head and sighed silently in his distress, then followed the judge and the Marshal. Before long they crossed the evil River of Punishment and passed the terrors of the Bowl of Blood. Then they came to the City of the Unjustly Slain. Amid the hubbub, shouts of “Li Shimin's here, Li Shimin's here,” could be made out, to the terror of Taizong. He saw that his way was blocked by a crowd of maimed and headless spectres.

“Give us back our lives,” they were all shouting, “give us back our lives.” The panic-stricken Taizong tried to hide, yelling, “Help, Judge Cui, help, help.”

“Your Majesty,” the judge replied, “these are the ghosts of the kings and chieftains of the sixty-four groups of rebels and the seventy-two troops of bandits. They were all killed unjustly, and nobody has given them a home or looked after them. They cannot get themselves reborn as they have no money for the journey, so they are all uncared-for cold and hungry ghosts. If Your Majesty is able to give them some money I can save you.”

“I came here empty-handed,” Taizong replied, “so where could I possibly get any money?”

“Your Majesty,” the judge replied, “there is a man in the world of light who deposited a certain amount of money in the underworld. If Your Majesty is prepared to sign an I.O.U., I will endorse it, and we can borrow his store of money to distribute among these hungry ghosts; then we will be able to continue on our way,”

“Who is this man?” asked Taizong.

“He is a man of Kaifeng in Henan,” the judge replied, “and his name is Xiang Liang. He has thirteen hoards of gold and silver down here, and if Your Majesty borrows them, all you have to do is repay them when you return to the world of light.” Taizong was very pleased, and only too eager to borrow one. He signed an I.O.U. at once and gave it to the judge, then borrowed a store, which he gave to the marshal to hand out.

“You are to share out this gold and silver and let your Lord of the Great Tang past,” said the judge. “As it is too early in his life, I am under orders from the ten kings to return his soul and tell him to hold a Great Mass when he is back in the world of light to enable all of you to be reborn, so don't be making any more trouble.” When the ghosts heard what he had to say and were given the gold and silver they all withdrew, murmuring their obedient assent. The judge then told the marshal to wave his soul-leading flag, and Taizong was taken out of the City of the Unjustly Slain and floated along the highway to the daylight.

After they had been going for a long time they reached the Wheel of the Six Paths of Being. Some people were soaring in the clouds, wearing cloaks of rosy mist. Others were being given office with golden insignia to hang from their waists. Monks and nuns, clergy and lay people, beasts of the field and birds of the air, ghosts and devils-all were pouring under the wheel and each was going along his allotted path.

“What's all this about?” asked the Tang Emperor.

“Your Majesty is a man of deep understanding,” the judge replied. “You must be sure to remember all this and tell the living about it. It is called the Wheel of the Six Paths of Being. Those who have done good deeds rise on the Path of the Immortals; those who have been loyal are reborn on the Path of Honour; those who have done their duty to their parents lead their next life on the Path of Happiness; those who have been just return to life on the Path of Man; those who have accumulated merit are reborn on the Path of Wealth; and the evildoers fall down into the Path of Devils.” On hearing this the Tang Emperor nodded and said with a sigh:

“Excellent, truly excellent,

The virtuous come to no harm.

The good heart is always mindful,

The way of goodness always lies open.

“Do not allow evil thoughts to arise;

Thus you will avoid all trouble.

Say not that there is no retribution;

Whether you become a god or a ghost is all determined.

The judge took Taizong straight to the Gate of Rebirth on the Path of Honour, bowed to him and said, “Your Majesty, this is the way out, where I shall have to take my leave and go back. Marshal Zhu will escort you for the next stage of your journey.”

“I have made you come an awfully long way, sir,” said the Tang Emperor as he thanked him.

“When Your Majesty returns to the world of the living you absolutely must hold a Great Mass to enable those forlorn ghosts to be reborn,” replied the judge. “Don't on any account forget, as there can only be peace on Earth if there are no vengeance-seeking ghosts in the underworld. Every single wrong will have to be corrected. Teach all people to be good, and then you will be able to assure the continuity of your line and the eternal security of your empire.”

The Tang Emperor agreed to each of his proposals and took leave of him, then went through the gates with Marshal Zhu. Seeing a fine horse standing ready and saddled inside the gates, the marshal asked Taizong to mount it with the help of his assistants. The horse was as swift as an arrow, and it was soon at the banks of the River Wei, where a pair of golden carp could be seen sporting in the water. Taizong, captivated at the sight, pulled in his horse's reins and gazed at them.

“Your Majesty,” the marshal said, “please keep moving. We have to enter the city early.” But all the Tang Emperor wanted to do was to look. As he would not move on the marshal grabbed him by the feet and shouted, “Get moving. What are you waiting for?” as he pushed him off his horse and into the River Wei with a splash. Taizong was now free of the underworld and back in the world of the living.

The civil and military officials of the Tang court, Xu Maogong, Qin Shubao, Yuchi Jingde, Duan Zhixian, Ma Sanbao, Cheng Yaojin, Gao Shilian, Li Shiji, Fang Xuanling, Du Ruhui, Xiao Yu, Fu Yi, Zhang Daoyuan, Zhang Shiheng, Wang Gui and the others, as well as the empresses, imperial consorts and concubines, and pages were all in the White Tiger Hall. They were discussing whether to issue an edict of mourning to inform the world so that the heir could be put on the throne.

Wei Zheng was saying, “Gentlemen, stop this discussion. We must not do that. If the country is alarmed, anything might happen. If we wait for another day our master is bound to come back to life.” Xu Jingzong stepped forward from the lower ranks and protested, “Minister Wei is talking nonsense. As the old saying goes, 'split water can't be picked up and the dead can't come back to life.' What business have you to be spreading confusion with these groundless claims?”

“Mr. Xu,” Wei Zheng replied, “I can say truthfully that I have been given instruction in the magic arts since childhood and my predictions are extremely accurate. I can assure you that I have saved His Majesty from death.”

As they were arguing they heard loud shouts of “You're drowning me, you're drowning me,” coming from the coffin. The civil officials and the generals were struck with terror; the empresses and consorts shivered. Every one of them had

A face as yellow as a mulberry-leaf after autumn,

A waist as weak as a willow sapling before spring.

The heir went weak at the knees,

As he stood in full mourning, unable to hold up his staff;

The attendants' souls flew away:

How would it do for them to be wearing mourning hats and clothes?

The consorts and concubines collapsed,

The palace beauties had to lie down.

When the consorts and concubines collapsed,

It was like a gale blowing down withered lotuses.

When the palace beauties lay down

It was like a rainstorm beating young lotuses down.

All the ministers were terrified

And their limbs went numb;

They shivered and shook,

Struck dumb and stupid.

The White Tiger Hall was like a bridge collapsing,

And the confusion round the coffin

Was like a temple falling down.

All the palace women fled, as not one of them dared to approach the imperial coffin. Luckily the upright Xu Maogong, the trusty Wei Zheng, the brave Qin Shubao, and the ferocious Yuchi Jingde went forward to put their hands on the coffin and shouted, “What is it that worries Your Majesty and makes you speak to us? Tell us, and do not haunt us and scare the royal family.”

“His Majesty is not haunting us,” Wei Zheng said. “His Majesty has come back to life. Bring tools at once.” They opened the coffin and found Taizong sitting up inside and still shouting, “You're drowning me. Save me, someone.” Xu Maogong and the others helped him to his feet and said, “There is nothing to fear as you come round, Your Majesty. We are all here to protect you.” The Tang Emperor then opened his eyes and said, “We have been having an awful time: after escaping from the evil demons of the underworld, we were drowned.”

“Relax, Your Majesty, there is nothing to fear. How could you have drowned?” the ministers said. “We were riding along the banks of the River Wei and watching to fishes playing when that deceitful Marshal Zhu pushed us off the horse and made us fall into the river, where we all but drowned.”

“Your Majesty still has something of the ghost about you,” said Wei Zheng, and he ordered the Imperial Medical Academy to send medicinal potions to settle the spirit and calm the soul at once; he also sent for some thin gruel. After one or two doses of the medicine the Emperor returned to normal and regained full consciousness. The Tang Emperor had been dead for three days and nights before returning to rule the world of the living once more. There is a poem to prove it:

Since ancient times there have been changes of power;

Dynasties have always waxed and waned.

What deed of the kings of old could compare

With the Emperor of Tang returning to life?

As it was evening by then the ministers asked the Emperor to go to bed, and they all dispersed.

The next day they all took off their mourning garments and put colorful clothes back on. Wearing red robes and black hats, and with their golden seals of office hanging from purple ribbons at their waists, they stood outside the gates of the court awaiting the summons. As for Taizong, after taking the medicine to settle his spirit and calm his soul and drinking some thin gruel he was helped to his bedroom by his ministers. He slept soundly all night, building up his energies, and at dawn he rose. See how he was arrayed as he summoned up his authority:

On his head a hat that thrust into the sky;

On his body a dark yellow robe

Girt with a belt of Lantian jade;

On his feet a pair of Shoes of Success.

The dignity of his bearing

Surpasses all others at court.

His awesome majesty

Is today restored.

What a peaceful and wise Great Tang Emperor,

The king named Li who can die and rise again.

The Tang Emperor entered the throne hall, and when the two groups of civil and military officials had finished acclaiming him they divided into sections according to their ranks. When they heard the decree, “Let all those with business step forward from their sections and submit memorials, and let those with no business retire,” Xu Maogong, Wei Zheng, Wang Gui, Du Ruhui, Fang Xuanling, Yuan Tiangang, Li Chunfeng, Xu Jingzong and others stepped forward on the Eastern side; and on the Western side Yin Kaishan, Liu Hongji, Ma Sanbao, Duan Zhixian, Cheng Yaojin, Qin Shubao, Yuchi Jingde, Xue Rengui and others stepped forward also.

They advanced together, bowed low before the white jade steps, and asked in a memorial, “Why did it take Your Majesty so long to awake from your dream the other day?”

To this Taizong replied, “The other day we took Wei Zheng's letter and felt our soul leaving the palace. The horsemen of the Imperial Guard asked us to go hunting with them, and as we were going along the men and their horses all vanished. His Late Majesty and our dead brothers appeared and started to shout at us in a quarrelsome way. Things were getting very awkward when we saw a man in a black hat and gown who turned out to be the judge Cui Jue. When he had shouted at my dead brothers and driven them away we gave him Wei Zheng's letter. As he was reading it some servants in black holding banners led us in and took us to the Senluo Palace, where the Ten Kings of Hell were all sitting. They said that the dragon of the River Jing had falsely accused us of deliberately killing him after we had promised to save him, so we gave them a full account of what we told you about before. They said that the case had now been settled between the three orders, and ordered that the Registers of Birth and Death be brought at once so that they could see how long we were due to live. Judge Cui handed up the register, and they saw in it that we were due to reign for thirty-three years, which meant that we had another twenty years of life in front of us. They told Marshal Zhu and Judge Cui to escort us back. We took our leave of the Ten Kings and promised to send them some pumpkins and fruit as a mark of our thanks. After leaving the Senluo Palace we saw in the underworld how the disloyal, the unfilial, those who do not observe the rules of propriety, wasters of foodgrains, bullies, cheats, those who use false measures, adulterers, robbers, hypocrites, deceivers, debauchees, swindlers and the like undergo the agonies of being ground, burnt, pounded and sliced, and suffer the torments of being fried, boiled, hung in mid-air, and skinned. There were tens of thousands of them, far more than our eyes could take in. Then we went through the City of the Unjustly Slain where there were countless ghosts of the wrongly killed, and all of them, the chieftains of the sixty-four groups of rebels and the spirits of the seventy-two bands of rebels, blocking our way. Luckily Judge Cui acted as our guarantor and lent us one of the hoards of gold and silver of a Mr. Xiang of Henan, with which we were able to buy them off and continue on our way. Judge Cui told us that when we returned to the world of the living we had an inescapable obligation to hold a Great Mass to enable all those forlorn ghosts to be reborn, and with these instructions he took his leave. When I came out under the Wheel of the Six Paths of Being Marshal Zhu invited us to mount a horse. This horse seemed to fly to the banks of the River Wei, where I saw a pair of fish sporting in the water. Just as we were enjoying this sight the marshal grabbed our legs and tipped us into the water, and with that we returned to life.”

When the ministers had heard this they all congratulated him and they compiled a record of it; and all the prefectures and counties of the empire sent in memorials of felicitation.

Taizong issued a decree of amnesty for all the convicted criminals in the empire and ordered inquiries into the cases of all those held in jail on serious charges. The inspectors submitted to the throne the names of more than four hundred criminals who had been sentenced by the Ministry of Punishments to beheading or strangulation, and Taizong gave them a stay of execution, allowing them to go home to see their families and give their property to their relations; on the same day the following year they were to report to the authorities for their sentences to be carried out. The criminals thanked him for his mercy and withdrew. He also issued a notice about charity for orphans and released three thousand women of all ages from the palace to be married to members of the army. From then on all was well within and without the palace. There is a poem to prove it:

Vast is the mercy of the great Tang Emperor;

He surpasses Yao and Shun in making the people prosper.

Four hundred condemned men all left their prisons,

Three thousand mistreated women were released from the palace.

All the officials of the empire proclaim the monarch's long life;

The ministers at court congratulate the Great Dragon.

Heaven responds to the thoughts of the good heart,

Its blessing will protect his seventeen successors.

When he had released the women from the palace and let the condemned men out of prison he issued a notice that was posted throughout the empire. It read:

“Great are Heaven and Earth;

Sun and Moon shine clearly.

Although the universe is vast,

Earth and sky have no room for evil plots.

If you use your wits and skill to cheat people,

You will get retribution in this life;

If you are good at giving and ask for little,

You are sure to find a reward before your future life.

A thousand cunning plans

Cannot compare with living according to one's lot;

Ten thousand kinds of robbers

Are no match for those who live frugally and accept their fate.

If you are good and merciful in thought and deed,

What need is there to bother to read the scriptures?

If your mind is full of malice towards others,

To read the whole of the Buddha's canon would be a waste of time.”

From then on everyone in the country did good deeds. Another notice was issued calling for a worthy man to take pumpkins to the underworld, and at the same time Yuchi Jingde, the Duke of E, was sent to Kaifeng in Henan to visit Xiang Liang and pay him back a hoard of jewels and a hoard of gold and silver. Some days after the notice had been issued a worthy man called Liu Quan from Junzhou came forward to deliver the pumpkins. He came from a family worth ten thousand strings of cash. When his wife Li Cuilian had taken a gold pin from her hair to give as an offering to a monk at the gate, Liu Quan had cursed her for being a loose wife who would not stay in the women's quarters. Li Cuilian, bitterly resenting this, had hanged herself, leaving a little boy and girl who had been crying night and day ever since. Liu Quan, unable to bear it any longer, wanted only to end his own life and abandon his family and his children. For this reason he had volunteered to deliver the pumpkins in death and came to the Tang Emperor with the imperial notice in his hand. The Emperor ordered him to go to the Golden Pavilion, where he was to put a pair of pumpkins on his head and some gold in his sleeve and drink poison.

Liu Quan drank the poison and died. In an instant his soul appeared at the Devil Gate with the pumpkins on his head. The demon officer at the gate asked, “Who are you, and how did you come here?”

“I have come on the orders of Emperor Taizong of the Great Tang to present some pumpkins to the Ten Kings of Hell.” The officer was only too pleased to let him in, and he went straight to the Senluo Palace, and when he was given audience with the Kings of Hell he presented the pumpkins to them and said, “I have brought these pumpkins a great distance in obedience to the decree of the Tang Emperor, who wishes to thank Your Majesties for their great mercy to him.”

“How splendid of the Tang Emperor to be as good as his word,” exclaimed the ten delighted kings as they accepted the pumpkins. Then they asked him what he was called and where he was from.

“I am a commoner of the city of Junzhou,” he replied, “and my name is Liu Quan. As my wife Miss Li hanged herself and left a boy and a girl with nobody to look after them I wanted to abandon my family and children by giving my life for my country, so I brought this offering of pumpkins on behalf of my sovereign, who wanted to thank Your Majesties for your great mercy.” On hearing this the Ten Kings ordered a search for Liu Quan's wife, Miss Li. The devil messengers soon brought her to the Senluo Palace, outside which Liu Quan was reunited with her. They thanked the Ten Kings for their kindness and told them about the harsh words that had been spoken. On consulting the Registers of Birth and Death, the kings found that they were fated to become Immortals, so they ordered demon officers to take them back at once. The demon officers, however, asked in a report, “As Li Cuilian has been dead for some time her body has perished, so what is her soul to be attached to?”

“Li Yuying, the sister of the Tang Emperor, is due to die a sudden death today,” said the Kings of Hell, “so we can borrow her body to put Li Cuilian's soul back into.” On receiving this order the demon officers took Liu Quan and his wife out of the underworld to be brought back to life. If you don't know how they returned to life, listen to the explanation in the next installment.