Now, our story turns to Chang’an, in the great land of Shaanxi, where emperors had made their capital through the ages. From the Zhou, Qin and Han dynasties onward, the three districts had bloomed like brocade, and eight rivers had flowed around the city: truly a land of famous sights. At this time Emperor Taizong of the Great Tang had taken the throne and named his reign Zhenguan1. He had been emperor for thirteen years, and it was a jisi year. All under Heaven was at peace; tribute came from the eight directions, and all within the four seas acknowledged him as their sovereign.

One day Taizong took his seat on the throne and assembled the civil and military officials. When they had paid their respects, Chancellor2 Wei Zheng stepped out of the ranks and addressed him: “Now that all under Heaven is at peace and the eight directions are tranquil, we should follow the ancient practice, open the examination halls, seek worthy scholars and appoint men of talent to help govern and guide the people.” Taizong said, “Our worthy minister’s proposal is sound.” He ordered a proclamation seeking worthy men to be issued throughout the empire. In every prefecture, district and county, whether from military or civilian households, any scholar well read in the classics, clear and fluent in composition, and proficient in the three examination sessions3 was to come to Chang’an and sit the examinations.

When the proclamation reached Haizhou Prefecture, a man named Chen E, styled Guangrui, saw it and went home at once. He told his mother, Madam Zhang, “The court has issued a yellow proclamation announcing the metropolitan examination to select worthy men. Your son wishes to go and try. If I can win even a modest post, I shall honour my parents and make our name known, gain rank for my wife and privileges for my children, and bring glory to our door. That is your son’s ambition. I have come expressly to tell you, Mother, before I leave.” Madam Zhang said, “My son is a scholar. ‘Study in youth, put it into practice in manhood’ — this is just what you should do. Go and sit the examination, but take care on the road. Once you have a post, come home as soon as you can.”

Guangrui told his household servant to pack his luggage, bowed farewell to his mother and hurried on his way. When he reached Chang’an, the examinations were just opening, and he entered the hall. He passed and was selected. At the palace examination he answered three questions on government, and the Tang Emperor personally named him top graduate4 with his own imperial brush. For three days he rode a horse in procession through the streets.

As chance would have it, his procession passed the gate of Chancellor Yin Kaishan. The Chancellor had an unmarried daughter named Yin Wenjiao, also called Mantangjiao. A high balcony hung with coloured decorations had been prepared, and she was tossing an embroidered ball to choose a husband5. Just then Chen Guangrui rode beneath it. Seeing what a fine-looking man he was, and knowing him to be the new top graduate, the young lady was delighted. She threw down the ball, and it struck his black gauze cap squarely. All at once reed organs and flutes sounded in gentle music, and a dozen or more maids and concubines came down from the balcony, caught hold of his horse’s bridle and welcomed the top graduate into the Chancellor’s residence to be married. The Chancellor and his wife came out into the hall at once and called for the master of ceremonies to conduct the rites, giving their daughter to Guangrui. The couple bowed to Heaven and Earth, bowed to one another, then bowed to his father-in-law and mother-in-law. The Chancellor ordered a feast, and they drank merrily all night. The two joined their fair hands and went together into the bridal chamber.

The next day, at the third watch-call of the fifth night watch, Taizong took his seat in the Hall of Golden Chimes, and the civil and military ministers hurried to the morning audience. Taizong asked, “What office should We give the new top graduate, Chen Guangrui?” Chancellor Wei Zheng replied, “Your servant has examined the prefectures and districts under our rule. There is a vacancy at Jiangzhou. I beg Your Majesty to grant him that post.” Taizong appointed him Prefect of Jiangzhou6 and ordered him to pack and leave at once, without missing the prescribed date. Guangrui thanked the Emperor for his favour, left court and returned to the Chancellor’s residence to consult his wife. They took leave of her father and mother, and husband and wife set out for his post in Jiangzhou. Leaving Chang’an, they began their journey.

It was late spring: mild winds blew the willows green, and fine rain dotted the blossoms red. Guangrui made a detour home, where he and his wife bowed together to his mother, Madam Zhang. “Congratulations, my son,” she said. “And you have brought home a bride as well!” Guangrui said, “Through the blessing of your care, Mother, your unworthy son has been named top graduate. By imperial favour I rode through the streets, and as I passed Chancellor Yin’s gate, an embroidered ball was thrown and struck me. The Chancellor graciously took me as his son-in-law then and there. The court has appointed me Prefect of Jiangzhou, and I have come to fetch you, Mother, so that we may go to my post together.” Madam Zhang was overjoyed and made ready for the journey.

After several days on the road they reached Liu Xiao’er’s Wanhua Inn and took lodgings. Madam Zhang suddenly fell ill. “I don’t feel well,” she told Guangrui. “Let us stay here while I recover for a day or two before we go on.” Guangrui obeyed. Early the next morning he saw a man at the inn’s door offering a golden carp for sale, and bought it for a string of copper coins. He was about to have it cooked for his mother when he saw the carp blinking its eyes. Startled, he said, “I have heard that a fish or snake that blinks cannot be any ordinary creature.” He asked the fisherman, “Where did you catch this fish?” The fisherman said, “In the Hong River, fifteen li from the prefectural seat.” Guangrui took the fish to the Hong River and released it alive, then returned to the inn and told his mother what he had done. Madam Zhang said, “Releasing a living creature7 is a good deed. It makes me very happy.” Guangrui said, “We have stayed here three days now, and the imperial deadline is urgent. Your son means to leave tomorrow. Are you feeling any better, Mother?” Madam Zhang said, “I am still unwell. The road is hot at this season, and I fear the journey will make me worse. Rent a room here for me to stay in for the time being, and leave me some money for my expenses. You and your wife go on to your post first. When autumn brings cooler weather, come back and fetch me.” Guangrui consulted his wife, rented a room and left his mother money. Then husband and wife bowed farewell and went on.

The road was hard. They travelled by day and lodged by night, and before they knew it they had reached the Hong River ferry. Two boatmen, Liu Hong and Li Biao, poled their boat to the bank to meet them. It was Guangrui’s fate from a former life to suffer this disaster and run into these enemies. He told his servant to carry the luggage aboard. As husband and wife stepped into the boat together, Liu Hong opened his eyes wide at the sight of Miss Yin. Her face was like a full moon, her eyes like autumn waters, her little mouth like a cherry, her slender waist like a green willow: a beauty that would make fish sink and geese fall, put the moon to shame and make flowers hide. A wolf’s heart stirred in him at once. He plotted with Li Biao and poled the boat to a deserted place. They waited until the stillness of the third night watch, killed the household servant first, then beat Guangrui to death, and pushed both bodies into the water. Seeing her husband murdered, the young lady made to throw herself into the river too. Liu Hong caught her in his arms. “Submit to me and that will be the end of it,” he said. “Refuse, and one stroke of my blade will cut you in two.” She could think of no way out and had to agree for the time being, yielding to Liu Hong. The villain took the boat to the south bank and left it in Li Biao’s charge. He put on Guangrui’s robes and cap, took his appointment papers, and went with the young lady to assume office in Jiangzhou.

Meanwhile, the body of the servant Liu Hong had killed drifted away with the current. Only Chen Guangrui’s body sank to the riverbed and lay there without moving. A patrolling yaksha8 at the mouth of the Hong River saw it and flew like a star to report to the Dragon Palace. The Dragon King was just holding audience. “At the mouth of the Hong River,” the yaksha reported, “someone has beaten a scholar to death and thrown his body to the bottom. We do not know who did it.” The Dragon King ordered the body brought before him. Looking closely, he said, “This is the benefactor who saved me! How did he come to be murdered? As the saying goes, ‘Repay kindness with kindness.’ Today I must save his life to repay the favour he did me.” He wrote an official dispatch and sent the yaksha straight to the City God and earth god of Hongzhou to fetch the scholar’s soul, so that he might restore him to life. The City God and earth god summoned a little ghost and had Chen Guangrui’s soul handed over to the yaksha. The yaksha brought it to the Crystal Palace and reported to the Dragon King.

The Dragon King asked, “Scholar, what are your surname and given name? Where are you from? Why did you come here and get beaten to death?” Guangrui bowed and said, “This humble scholar is Chen E, styled Guangrui, of Hongnong County in Haizhou Prefecture. Unworthy though I am, I was named top graduate in the latest examinations and graciously appointed Prefect of Jiangzhou. My wife and I were on our way to my post. We reached the river and boarded a boat, never suspecting that the boatman Liu Hong coveted my wife. He beat me to death and threw my body away. I beg the Great King to save me!” Hearing this, the Dragon King said, “So that is what happened. Sir, the golden carp you released was me. You are the benefactor who saved my life. Now that you are in trouble, how could I fail to save yours?” He had Guangrui’s body laid to one side and placed an appearance-preserving pearl in its mouth to keep it from decaying, so that he could later return to life and take revenge. Then he said, “For now, let your true soul serve as a commandant9 in my water palace.” Guangrui bowed his head to the ground in thanks, and the Dragon King held a banquet in his honour. Let us leave them there.

Our story turns to Miss Yin. She hated the villain Liu so bitterly that she longed to eat his flesh and sleep on his skin. But she was pregnant and did not yet know whether her child was a boy or a girl. With no other way out, she forced herself to yield to him for the time being. In what seemed the blink of an eye, they arrived at Jiangzhou. Clerks, gatekeepers and constables all came to welcome them, and the subordinate officials held a banquet in the court hall to make his acquaintance. Liu Hong said, “This humble scholar must rely entirely on you gentlemen’s vigorous support in his post here.” The subordinate officials replied, “Your Honour is the top graduate, a man of exceptional talent. You will surely care for the people as your children, keep lawsuits few and punishments just. All of us in your jurisdiction will look to you. There is no need for such modesty.” The official banquet ended, and everyone dispersed.

Time passed swiftly. One day Liu Hong went away on official business. In the residence, the young lady thought of her mother-in-law and husband and sighed in the flower pavilion. Suddenly she felt exhausted, her belly began to hurt, and she fainted to the ground. Without knowing it, she gave birth to a son. A voice spoke in her ear: “Mantangjiao, heed my words. I am the Star Lord of the Southern Pole10. By the command of the Bodhisattva Guanyin, I have come expressly to bring you this son. In days to come his name will be great and far-renowned. He is no ordinary child. When the villain Liu returns, he will surely harm him. Guard him with all your care. Your husband has already been rescued by the Dragon King. In time husband and wife will meet again, mother and son will be reunited, and the day will come to redress your wrongs and take revenge. Remember my words. Wake up! Wake up!” Having spoken, he left.

The young lady awoke remembering every word. She held her son tight but could think of no way to save him. Suddenly Liu Hong returned. At the sight of the child he meant to drown him at once. “It is late today,” she said. “Wait until tomorrow to throw him into the river.” Happily, early the next morning urgent official business called Liu Hong away again. The young lady thought, “If this child is here when the villain returns, his life is over. Better to set him adrift in the river now and leave him to live or die. Perhaps Heaven will take pity, and someone will rescue and raise him, so that we may meet again one day.” But she feared she would have no way to recognize him. She bit her finger until it bled and wrote a letter in blood, setting down the parents’ names and the full history of what had happened. Then she bit off the little toe of his left foot as a mark by which to know him. She took an undershirt from next to her skin, wrapped him in it and, when the chance came, carried him out of the official residence. Happily the residence was not far from the river. At the bank she wept bitterly. She was just about to cast him away when she saw a plank drift up beside the bank. She bowed and prayed to Heaven, laid the child on the plank and tied him to it with a sash. Fastening the blood-written letter to his chest, she pushed him into the river and let him go where he would. In tears she returned to the residence; let us leave her there.

Meanwhile, the child drifted downstream on the plank until he came to rest at the foot of Jinshan Monastery. Its elder, a monk named Faming, had cultivated truth, awakened to the Way and attained the wondrous secret of the birthless state11. He was sitting in meditation when he suddenly heard a baby crying. His heart stirred, and he hurried to the river to look. There beside the bank lay an infant on a plank. The elder hastened to rescue him. When he saw the blood-written letter on his chest, he learned where the child had come from. He gave him the childhood name Jiangliu12 and entrusted him to someone’s care, keeping the letter safely hidden.

Time flew like an arrow; sun and moon passed like a shuttle at the loom. Before they knew it, Jiangliu was eighteen. The elder had him shave his head and enter religious life, gave him the religious name Xuanzang13, laid his hand on his crown and bestowed the precepts. Xuanzang set his heart firmly on cultivating the Way.

One late-spring day, the monks were discussing the scriptures and practising meditation beneath the shade of the pines, talking over their mysteries. Xuanzang happened to confound a monk who drank wine and ate meat. Furious, the monk cursed him: “You sinful beast! You don’t even know your own name or who your parents are. What nonsense are you up to here?” Stung by these words, Xuanzang went into the monastery and knelt before his Master, tears streaming from both eyes. “A person is born between Heaven and Earth,” he said, “receiving yin and yang and drawing on the five elements, all through a father’s begetting and a mother’s care. How can anyone live in this world without parents?” Again and again he begged to know their names. The elder said, “If you truly wish to find your parents, come with me to my quarters.” Xuanzang followed him there. From above a high beam the elder took down a little box, opened it and drew out a blood-written letter and an undershirt, which he handed to Xuanzang. Xuanzang unfolded the letter and read it. Only then did he learn his parents’ names and the full story of the wrong done to them.

When Xuanzang had finished reading, he fell to the floor weeping. “If I cannot avenge my parents,” he said, “how can I call myself a man? For eighteen years I have not known the parents who gave me life. Only today do I learn I have a mother. Had Master not rescued me from the water and had me raised, how could I be here now? Let your disciple go and find his mother. Afterwards I shall carry an incense basin on my head and rebuild the monastery’s halls to repay Master’s deep kindness.” His Master said, “If you wish to find your mother, take this letter and undershirt with you. Go as a monk seeking alms, straight to the private residence behind the Jiangzhou offices. There you will be able to meet her.”

Following his Master’s instructions, Xuanzang went as an alms-seeking monk straight to Jiangzhou. As it happened, Liu Hong was away on business. Heaven itself was bringing mother and son together, and Xuanzang went directly to the gate of the private residence to beg. Now Miss Yin had dreamed that night of a waning moon becoming full again. She thought, “I have no news of my mother-in-law. My husband was murdered by this villain. My son was set adrift in the river — if someone took him in, he must be eighteen by now. Perhaps Heaven will bring us together today. Who can say?” As she pondered, she heard someone reciting scriptures outside the private gate and calling again and again for alms. She took the chance to come out and ask, “Where have you come from?” Xuanzang replied, “This poor monk is a disciple of Elder Faming of Jinshan Monastery.” “Since you are a disciple of the elder of Jinshan Monastery…” she said, and called him into the residence and gave him a vegetarian meal. Watching his manner and listening to him speak, she found him very like her husband.

The young lady sent her attendant away and asked, “Young monk, did you enter religious life as a child, or in middle age? What are your surname and given name? Do you have parents?” Xuanzang replied, “I did not enter as a child, nor did I enter in middle age. To tell my story, the wrong is as vast as Heaven and the hatred as deep as the sea. My father was murdered, and my mother was taken by the villain. My Master, Elder Faming, told me to look for her in the Jiangzhou residence.” The young lady asked, “What is your mother’s surname?” Xuanzang said, “Her surname is Yin, and her name is Wenjiao. My father is Chen Guangrui. My childhood name is Jiangliu, and my religious name is Xuanzang.” The young lady said, “I am Wenjiao. But what proof have you?” Hearing that she was his mother, Xuanzang dropped to both knees and wept bitterly. “If Mother does not believe me, I have the letter in blood and the undershirt to prove it.” Wenjiao took them and looked: they were indeed the true ones. Mother and son embraced and wept. Then she cried, “My son, go quickly!” Xuanzang said, “For eighteen years I have not known my own parents. Only today have I seen you, Mother. How can your son bear to leave?” The young lady said, “My son, hurry away at once. If the villain Liu returns, he will surely kill you. Tomorrow I shall pretend to be ill and say that years ago I vowed to give a hundred pairs of shoes to the monks. I shall come to your monastery to fulfil the vow. Then I shall have something to tell you.” Xuanzang obeyed and bowed farewell.

After seeing her son, the young lady’s heart held both sorrow and joy. One day she pretended to be ill, refused food and tea, and lay in bed. Liu Hong returned to the residence and asked what was wrong. “When I was young,” she said, “I made a vow to give a hundred pairs of shoes to the monks. Five days ago I dreamed of a monk with a sharp blade in his hand, demanding the shoes, and since then I have felt unwell.” Liu Hong said, “Such a little thing! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?” He went into the court hall and ordered Deputy Wang of the Left and Deputy Li of the Right14 to have every household in Jiangzhou supply one pair of monks’ shoes within five days. The people all delivered what had been demanded. The young lady told Liu Hong, “Now that the shoes are ready, what monasteries are there nearby where I can fulfil my vow?” Liu Hong said, “There are Jinshan Monastery and Jiaoshan Monastery here in Jiangzhou. Go to whichever you please.” The young lady said, “I have long heard that Jinshan is a fine monastery. I shall go there.” Liu Hong called his two deputies, Wang and Li, to prepare a boat. The young lady took her trusted attendants aboard with her, and the boatman poled away towards Jinshan Monastery.

Meanwhile, Xuanzang returned to the monastery and told Elder Faming everything that had happened. The elder was delighted. The next day a maid came ahead to announce that her mistress was coming to fulfil a vow. All the monks went out to welcome her. The young lady entered the monastery, paid homage to the Bodhisattva and made generous offerings of food and gifts to the monks. She had her maid place the monks’ shoes and summer socks on trays and bring them to the Dharma hall. There she once more offered incense with a devout heart and bowed in worship, then had Elder Faming distribute the gifts among the monks. When Xuanzang saw that the monks had dispersed and no one else remained in the hall, he came forward and knelt. The young lady had him take off his shoes and socks, and there on his left foot a little toe was indeed missing. Once again they embraced and wept, then bowed in thanks to the elder for raising him. Faming said, “Now that mother and son have met again, the villain may learn of it. Return home at once to avoid disaster.” The young lady said, “My son, I shall give you a fragrant bracelet. Go straight to the country northwest of Hongzhou, a journey of some fifteen hundred li. There is a Wanhua Inn, where we left your grandmother, Madam Zhang, the mother who bore your father. I shall also write you a letter. Take it straight to the Tang Emperor’s imperial city, to Chancellor Yin Kaishan’s house on the left of the golden hall. The people there are the parents who gave your mother life. Give my letter to your grandfather and ask him to petition the Tang Emperor, lead troops here and capture and kill this villain to avenge your father. Only then can you rescue your old mother. I dare not stay long now, for I fear the villain will be angry if I return late.” She left the monastery, boarded the boat and went away.

Xuanzang went back into the monastery weeping, told his Master and took leave at once, heading straight for Hongzhou. At Wanhua Inn he asked the innkeeper, Liu Xiao’er, “Years ago a gentleman named Chen, of Jiangzhou, left his mother in your inn. Is she well now?” Liu Xiao’er said, “She did stay here at first. Later she lost her sight, and for three or four years she paid me no rent. Now she lives in a ruined tile kiln by the south gate and goes into the streets every day to beg for a living. That gentleman left a long time ago, and to this day there has been no word of him. I don’t know why.” Xuanzang at once asked his way to the ruined kiln by the south gate and found his grandmother. “Your voice sounds just like my son Chen Guangrui’s,” she said. Xuanzang said, “I am not Chen Guangrui. I am his son. Miss Wenjiao is my mother.” His grandmother asked, “Why haven’t your father and mother come?” Xuanzang said, “My father was beaten to death by a robber, and my mother was taken by the robber as his wife.” His grandmother asked, “How did you know to come and find me?” Xuanzang said, “My mother sent me to find you, Grandmother. I have her letter here, and a fragrant bracelet.” The old woman took the letter and bracelet and burst out weeping. “My son came here seeking success and office,” she said. “I thought he had forgotten his duty and all I had done for him. How was I to know he had been murdered? But thankfully Heaven has taken pity and not cut off my son’s line. Today I still have a grandson who has come to find me.” Xuanzang asked, “Grandmother, how did you lose the sight of both eyes?” She said, “I thought of your father and waited for him all day long, but he never came. I cried until both my eyes went blind.”

Xuanzang knelt and prayed to Heaven. “Xuanzang is eighteen now, and still unable to avenge his parents. Today I have come at my mother’s command to find my grandmother. If Heaven takes pity and sees your disciple’s sincerity, let my grandmother’s eyes see again.” When he had finished praying, he licked her eyes with the tip of his tongue. In a moment both eyes opened under his tongue, their sight restored as before. Looking at the young monk, his grandmother said, “You are indeed my grandson. You look exactly like my son Guangrui.” She was filled with joy and grief at once. Xuanzang led her out of the kiln and back to Liu Xiao’er’s inn. He paid to rent a room for her to live in and left her money for her expenses. “I shall be back in little more than a month,” he said.

He took leave of his grandmother and went straight to the capital. Finding Chancellor Yin’s residence on the eastern street of the imperial city, he told the doorkeeper, “This young monk is a relative, come to see His Excellency.” The doorkeeper reported to the Chancellor, who said, “I have no relatives among the monks.” His wife said, “Last night I dreamed that our daughter Mantangjiao came home. Could it be that our son-in-law has sent a letter?” The Chancellor had the young monk invited into the hall. At the sight of the Chancellor and his wife, the young monk fell to the floor in a weeping bow, took a letter from his breast and handed it to the Chancellor. The Chancellor opened it, read it from beginning to end, and burst out crying. His wife asked, “Husband, what has happened?” The Chancellor said, “This monk is our grandson. Our son-in-law Chen Guangrui was murdered by a villain, and Mantangjiao was forcibly taken as his wife.” His wife too wept without stopping. The Chancellor said, “Do not grieve, my wife. At tomorrow’s audience I shall report to His Majesty and lead the troops myself. I will avenge our son-in-law!”

The next day the Chancellor went to court and addressed the Tang Emperor. “Your servant’s son-in-law, the top graduate Chen Guangrui, was taking his household to his post at Jiangzhou when the boatman Liu Hong beat him to death and took my daughter as his wife. He has impersonated my son-in-law and held office for years. This is an extraordinary outrage. I beg Your Majesty to send troops at once to wipe out these villains.” The Tang Emperor flew into a rage at the report. He dispatched sixty thousand soldiers of the Imperial Guard15 and ordered Chancellor Yin to lead them. The Chancellor accepted the command, left court and went at once to muster the soldiers on the drill ground, then marched straight for Jiangzhou. They travelled by day and rested by night, swift as falling stars and flying birds, and before they knew it they had arrived. Chancellor Yin’s army made camp on the north bank. That very night he sent a gold command tablet summoning the Assistant Prefect and Judicial Officer16 of Jiangzhou. He told them what had happened, ordered them to bring troops to assist, and crossed the river with them. Before dawn they surrounded Liu Hong’s residence. Liu Hong was still dreaming when a cannon boomed, gongs and drums rang out together, and the soldiers stormed his private quarters. Before he could do anything, he was captured. The Chancellor ordered Liu Hong and all his accomplices bound and taken to the execution ground, then had the troops camp outside the city.

The Chancellor went straight into the main hall of the residence, took his seat and asked his daughter to come out. She was about to do so, but shame at facing her father made her try to hang herself instead. Hearing of it, Xuanzang rushed to save her, knelt before her and said, “Your son and your father have brought troops here to avenge my father. Today the villain has been captured. Why should you want to die now, Mother? If you die, how can your son live?” The Chancellor too came into her quarters to plead with her. The young lady said, “I have heard it said, ‘A woman must remain faithful to one man until death17.’ My husband was cruelly murdered by a villain. How could I have the face to yield to his murderer? Only because I carried my dead husband’s child did I endure the shame and cling to life. Now, thankfully, my son has grown up, and I have seen my aged father lead troops to avenge my husband. But as your daughter, how can I face you? Only by dying can I repay my husband.” The Chancellor said, “My child did not change her allegiance with a change of fortune. You were forced into it. How can this be a cause for shame?” Father and child embraced and wept, and Xuanzang too sobbed without ceasing. Wiping his tears, the Chancellor said, “Do not grieve, either of you. I have captured the villains who wronged you. Let me go and deal with them.” He rose and went to the execution ground. Just then the Assistant Prefect of Jiangzhou had also sent patrolmen to capture the river robber Li Biao and bring him in. Delighted, the Chancellor had the jailers bring Liu Hong and Li Biao forward. Each received a hundred heavy blows with a great cudgel. Their confessions were taken, admitting the wrongful murder of Chen Guangrui years before. First Li Biao was nailed to a wooden donkey18 and wheeled to the marketplace, where he was sliced a thousand times and his severed head displayed to the public. Liu Hong was taken to the Hong River ferry, to the spot where he had beaten Chen Guangrui to death. The Chancellor, his daughter and Xuanzang all went in person to the riverbank. Offering sacrifice towards the empty sky, they cut out Liu Hong’s heart and liver while he was still alive and offered them to Guangrui, then burned a written sacrificial prayer.

The three wept bitterly towards the river, and their cries had already disturbed the water palace. A patrolling yaksha presented the sacrificial prayer to the Dragon King. When he had read it, the Dragon King sent the Softshell Turtle Marshal to invite Guangrui. “Congratulations, sir! Congratulations!” he said. “Your wife, your son and your father-in-law are all at the riverbank offering sacrifice to you. I shall send you back to life now. Besides that, I give you a wish-fulfilling pearl, two pearls that roll round a bowl, ten lengths of merfolk silk19, and a jade belt set with bright pearls. Today you can be reunited as husband and wife, mother and son.” Guangrui bowed in thanks again and again. The Dragon King ordered the yaksha to take Guangrui’s body out to the river mouth and restore his soul to it. The yaksha accepted the command and went.

Meanwhile, after weeping and offering sacrifice to her husband, Miss Yin again tried to throw herself into the river and die. Xuanzang desperately caught hold of her. In the confusion they suddenly saw a dead body floating towards them on the water, coming close to the bank. The young lady hurried forward to look and recognized her husband’s body. She wailed more bitterly than ever, and everyone came to see. Then Guangrui stretched out his fists and feet, and his body slowly began to move. All at once he pushed himself up and sat there. Everyone was astonished and terrified. Guangrui opened his eyes and saw Miss Yin, his father-in-law Chancellor Yin, and a young monk all weeping beside him. “Why are you here?” he asked. The young lady said, “After you were beaten to death by the villain, your wife gave birth to this son. Happily the elder of Jinshan Monastery raised him. He found me and we met again, and I sent him to find his grandfather. When Father learned the truth, he reported it to the court and brought troops here to capture the villain. Just now we cut out his heart and liver while he was alive and offered sacrifice towards the empty sky to my husband. How have you come back to life?” Guangrui said, “It all began when you and I were at Wanhua Inn years ago and bought that golden carp to set it free. Who could have known that the carp was the Dragon King of this place? Later, when the villain pushed me into the water, I owed my rescue entirely to him. Just now he restored me to life and gave me treasures, which are all here on my person. Still less did I expect that you had borne this son, or that my father-in-law would avenge me. Truly, bitterness has ended and sweetness has come. There could be no greater joy!”

When the officials heard, they all came to offer congratulations. The Chancellor ordered a feast to thank the subordinate officials, and that same day the army began its return journey. On reaching Wanhua Inn, the Chancellor ordered camp to be made. Guangrui went with Xuanzang to Liu’s inn to find the old woman. That night she had dreamed of a withered tree blooming, and magpies had called again and again behind the house. “Could it be that my grandson is coming?” she thought. The words were scarcely out when Guangrui and his son arrived together at the inn’s door. The young monk pointed. “Isn’t that my grandmother?” At the sight of his aged mother, Guangrui hurried to bow before her. Mother and son embraced and wept bitterly, and he told her the whole story. They settled the bill with Xiao’er, set out and returned to the capital. At the Chancellor’s residence, Guangrui, the young lady, his mother and Xuanzang all went to see the Chancellor’s wife. Her joy knew no bounds, and she ordered the household servants to lay out a grand feast in celebration. “Today’s feast,” the Chancellor said, “may be called the Reunion Banquet.” Truly, the whole family rejoiced.

At the next morning’s audience, the Tang Emperor took his seat in the hall. Chancellor Yin stepped out of the ranks, reported the whole story in detail, and recommended Guangrui as a man whose talents could be put to great use. The Tang Emperor approved the recommendation and promoted Chen E to Court Academician20, to attend court and help govern. Xuanzang was resolved to devote himself to meditation and was sent to practise at Hongfu Monastery. Later, Miss Yin did after all take her own life, calmly and deliberately. Xuanzang himself went to Jinshan Monastery to repay Elder Faming’s kindness.

What happened after this? To learn what happened next, read the next chapter.