Now, Ji Chang, Lord of the West, saw that the Son of Heaven had not even read Jiang Huanchu’s memorial, but for no reason at all had ordered Huanchu dragged out through the Meridian Gate and his body hacked to mincemeat. He was badly shaken, and he knew that the Son of Heaven was utterly without the Way. The three of them prostrated themselves, declared themselves his subjects and said, “‘The sovereign is the head of his ministers; the ministers are the arms and legs of their sovereign.’ Your Majesty does not read your servants’ memorials, but puts a great minister to death out of hand. That is what is called cruelty to one’s ministers. How can the officials, civil and military, submit to it? The way of sovereign and minister is at an end! We beg Your Majesty to hear us.” The Second Chancellor Bi Gan unrolled the memorial of Ji Chang and the others, and King Zhou had no choice but to read it:

“Memorial of your servants E Chongyu, Ji Chang, Chong Houhu and others, concerning the setting right of the state and its laws, the dismissal of flatterers and the removal of the treacherous, the washing clean of deep-sunk wrongs, the upholding of the state so that it may not decline, the restoring of the Three Bonds, and the rooting out of fox-like wiles within the palace. Your servants have heard that when the sage kings governed the realm, they toiled at the true work of government and did not busy themselves with terraces and pavilions, dykes and pools. They kept the worthy close and the wicked at a distance; they did not go galloping off to roam and hunt; they did not drown themselves in wine or abandon themselves to women. They only cultivated with reverence the mandate of Heaven, and so the six stores and the three affairs4 were all well ordered. That is why Yao and Shun, without so much as stepping down from their halls, let their robes hang and folded their hands, and the realm was at peace and all the people prospered at their work. Since Your Majesty succeeded to the great line, nothing has been heard of good government. Day after day you are idle and dissolute; you trust slanderers and keep the worthy at a distance; you are drowned in wine and women. Queen Jiang was worthy and courteous and never failed in virtue, yet she met with a cruel death by torture; Daji defiles the palace, yet she is favoured with the highest rank. You wrongfully beheaded the Grand Astrologer5, and so lost the court’s watcher of the heavens; you lightly had a great minister made into mincemeat, casting away the arms and legs of the state; you built the burning pillar to stop the mouths of loyal remonstrance; you listened to slander and killed your sons without love. Your servants wish Your Majesty to banish Fei Zhong and You Hun and keep close to none but gentlemen, and to behead Daji and set the palace in order. Then perhaps Heaven’s heart may be won back and the realm kept at peace. If not, your servants do not know where it will end. Not shrinking from the axe, your servants risk death to speak out. We earnestly beg Your Majesty to accept your servants’ plain remonstrance and have it carried out at once. The realm will count itself most fortunate, and so will all the people! Your servants await your command, trembling beyond measure. Respectfully submitted for Your Majesty’s hearing.”

When King Zhou had read it, he flew into a rage. He tore the memorial to shreds, pounded the desk and roared, “Cut off the heads of these traitors, hang them up for all to see and report back to Us!” The guards fell to all at once, bound the three great ministers and took them out through the Meridian Gate. King Zhou ordered Lu Xiong to supervise the execution, and the execution warrant was sent out in haste. Then, from the ranks on the right, the Counsellors of Remonstrance Fei Zhong and You Hun stepped out, prostrated themselves and said, “Your servants have a short memorial, though it presumes upon Your Majesty’s ears.” The king said, “What have you to report, ministers?” — “Your servants would put it to Your Majesty: the four ministers are guilty. They have given offence to Your Majesty, and their crime is beyond pardon. But Jiang Huanchu bears the evil of plotting to murder his king, and E Chongyu the offence of berating his lord; Ji Chang insults his sovereign with a glib tongue, while Chong Houhu merely followed the others in their slander. In your servants’ fair judgement, Chong Houhu has always been loyal and upright at heart and has given his strength to serve the state. In building the Star-Plucking Tower he laid his liver bare and poured out his gall; in raising the Shouxian Palace he wore himself out morning and night. He has spent all his strength in the public service and is without the slightest fault. Chong Houhu only echoed the others; it was not truly in his heart. If black is not told from white and jade and stone are burned together, then those who have served well will be treated the same as those who have not, and men’s hearts may not submit. We beg Your Majesty to spare Chong Houhu the merest thread of life, so that he may afterwards atone for today’s crime with his services.” King Zhou saw that the two ministers, Fei and You, were pleading for Chong Houhu’s pardon — and Fei and You were King Zhou’s favourites, whose every word he heeded and every plan he followed; nothing they said ever failed to sink in. The king said, “By what you two ministers say, Chong Houhu has served the altars of the state well in the past, and We ought not to forget his former labours.” He told the chamberlain to send out his command: “Chong Houhu is pardoned by special grace.” The two thanked him for his favour and went back to their places. The command went out: “Chong Houhu alone is pardoned.” At the east end of the hall this angered Huang Feihu, Prince Wucheng. Tablet in hand, he stepped out of the ranks, and the Second Chancellor Bi Gan, together with Weizi, Jizi, Weizi Qi, Weizi Yan, Bo Yi and Shu Qi — seven men — stepped out with him and prostrated themselves. Bi Gan said, “Your servant would put it to Your Majesty: great ministers are the Son of Heaven’s arms and legs. Jiang Huanchu holds Eastern Lu in awe and has won merit in battle many times. As for the charge that he plotted to murder his king, there is not a shred of proof — how can he be given the extreme penalty? And Ji Chang is loyal with an undivided heart, devoted to the state and the people: truly a blessed minister of the realm. His Way accords with Heaven and Earth, his virtue matches yin and yang. By benevolence he binds the lords to him; his righteousness reaches the civil and the military alike; by the rites he governs his domain; by wisdom he wins over rebels; by good faith he reaches soldiers and people. His laws are clear and strict, his government stern and orderly. His ministers are worthy and their lord upright; sons are filial and fathers loving, elder brothers kind and younger brothers respectful; lord and ministers are of one heart. He does not run wild with spear and shield, nor does he wage slaughter. Travellers give way to one another on the road, doors are not barred at night, and nothing dropped on the road is picked up. All four quarters look up to him and call him the Sage of the West. E Chongyu bears the heavy charge of a whole region and labours day and night for the royal house, so that his region knows no alarms. All of them are ministers who have served the altars of the state well. We beg Your Majesty to take pity on them all and pardon them together. Your ministers will be grateful beyond measure!” The king said, “Jiang Huanchu plotted treason; E Chongyu and Ji Chang stir men up with glib tongues and slander their sovereign with wild talk. All are guilty beyond pardon. How dare you ministers vouch for them so recklessly?” Huang Feihu said, “Jiang Huanchu and E Chongyu are both great ministers of weighty name who have never put a foot wrong. Ji Chang is a gentleman of good conscience, well skilled in casting the Former Heaven numbers. All of them are men fit to be the pillars and beams of the state. If now, all at once, they die without guilt, how will the hearts of ministers and people throughout the realm submit? What is more, these three lords each command several hundred thousand men in armour, with picked troops and fierce generals — no one could say they lack for men. If their ministers and people learn that their lords died for no crime, how could they bear to see their lords meet such an undeserved end? Should they once give rein to their designs, I fear spears and swords will throw the land into turmoil, and the common folk of the four quarters will be left hanging upside down. Besides, Grand Preceptor Wen is far away campaigning at the North Sea. If disaster now takes seed at home, how can the dynasty be safe? We beg Your Majesty to take pity on them and pardon them. That would be the greatest good fortune for the state!” When King Zhou heard this, and saw the seven princes remonstrating with all their might, he said, “Ji Chang, too, We have long heard to be loyal and good. But he should not have echoed the others, and by rights he deserves heavy punishment. For now, in view of what you ministers have said, We pardon him. But should he make trouble one day, back in his own state, you ministers shall not escape the blame. Jiang Huanchu and E Chongyu plotted treason and are not to be pardoned: let the law take its course at once! Ministers, trouble Us with no more memorials.” The command went out: “Ji Chang is pardoned.” The Son of Heaven ordered the chamberlain, “Hurry the execution: put Jiang Huanchu and E Chongyu to death according to the law of the land.” Then, from the ranks on the left, there stepped out —

the Senior Counsellors Jiao Ge, Yang Ren and others, six great ministers in all. They made their obeisance, declared themselves his subjects and said, “Your servants have a memorial that can bring peace to the realm.” King Zhou said, “And what memorial have you ministers now?” Yang Ren said, “The four ministers were accused, and Ji Chang owes his royal pardon to the seven princes, who spoke up for the state and for a worthy man. Jiang Huanchu and E Chongyu, too, are foremost among your ministers. Huanchu bears a heavy charge and has won great merit; he has never failed in virtue, and there is no proof that he plotted treason — how can he be condemned on a whim? Chongyu is blunt by nature and unbending; he remonstrated plainly with Your Majesty, and there was nothing false or mistaken in what he said. Your servant has heard that when the sovereign is enlightened, his ministers are upright. Those who remonstrate plainly with their sovereign’s faults are loyal ministers; those who curry favour with fawning words are sycophants. Your servants see with our own eyes how hard-pressed the state is, and we cannot help troubling Your Majesty with many words. We beg Your Majesty to take pity on these two ministers, who are without guilt, pardon them and send them back to their states to keep their lands at peace. Then sovereign and ministers will rejoice together under a sky like Yao’s, and all the people will sing in the sunlight of your transforming rule; ministers and people will remember Your Majesty’s broad magnanimity, how you took counsel as readily as water flows, and how from first to last you never failed the true hearts of subjects who serve the state and the people. Your servants will be grateful beyond measure!” The king said in a rage, “Rebel ministers who make treason, a wicked faction with glib tongues! Huanchu plotted to murder his king: to make mincemeat of his corpse is not enough to pay for his crime. Chongyu slandered his king: to cut off his head and hang it up is just what he deserves. You ministers press your remonstrance on Us, banding together to deceive your sovereign and making a mockery of the law. If anyone else tries to stop Us, he shall share the guilt of the two traitors!” And at once he sent out the command: “Carry out the sentence without delay!” Seeing the anger on the Son of Heaven’s face, Yang Ren and the others dared do nothing more. It was fated, too, that the two ministers’ lives should end. The command went out. E Chongyu was beheaded and his head hung up; Jiang Huanchu had great nails driven through his hands and feet and was hacked to pieces with a flurry of blades — which is what is called making mincemeat of the corpse. Lu Xiong, who had supervised the execution, reported back, and King Zhou returned to his palace. Ji Chang bowed and thanked the seven princes, and said through his tears, “Jiang Huanchu has died a cruel death though he was innocent, and E Chongyu has lost his life for his loyal remonstrance. From now on there will be no peace in the east or the south!” Everyone was stricken, and their tears fell. “Let us gather up the bodies of the two lords for now,” they said, “and bury them in shallow earth. When things have settled, we can make other arrangements.” There is a poem to prove it. It says:

We will say no more of the two lords’ household guards, who fled home through the night to carry the news to the lords’ sons. Our story turns to King Zhou. The next day he held court in the Xianqing Hall, and the Second Chancellor Bi Gan petitioned him to have the bodies of the two ministers gathered up and to let Ji Chang go home to his state. The Son of Heaven granted it, and Bi Gan received the decree and left the court. Fei Zhong, standing by, objected: “Ji Chang looks loyal and sincere on the outside, but inside he harbours treachery, and he leads the ministers astray with his glib tongue. He says yes to your face and no in his heart; he is no good man in the end. If Ji Chang is let go home to his state, I fear he will turn round and conspire with Jiang Wenhuan of Eastern Lu and E Shun of Nandu, and they will raise troops and throw the realm into turmoil. The soldiers will suffer the toil of bearing arms and the generals the hardship of wearing armour; the common people will be thrown into panic and the capital into uproar. It is truly what they call letting the dragon loose into the sea and the tiger back to its mountain. You are sure to regret it.” The king said, “The decree of pardon has gone out, and all the ministers know of it. How can We take back what has gone out from Us?” Fei Zhong said, “Your servant has a plan by which Ji Chang can be got rid of.” “What is your plan?” asked the king. Fei Zhong replied, “Now that Ji Chang is pardoned, he is bound to make his farewell bows at the palace gate before he goes home, and the officials will want to give him a farewell feast. Your servant will go and sound him out. If Ji Chang truly has the state at heart, Your Majesty may pardon him; if there is any deceit in him, cut off his head at once and be rid of future trouble.” “You are right, minister,” said the king.

Meanwhile Bi Gan left the court and went straight to the guesthouse to see Lord Ji. The attendants announced him, and Ji Chang came out of the gate to welcome him. When they had exchanged courtesies and sat down, Bi Gan said, “Today this unworthy one saw His Majesty in a side hall and petitioned the king to have the bodies of the two lords gathered up and to release you, my lord, to go home to your state.” Ji Chang bowed and thanked him: “Your Highness, such great kindness! When shall Ji Chang ever repay you7 for giving him back his life?” Bi Gan stepped closer, took his hand and said in a low voice, “There is no law or order left in the land. Now great ministers are killed for no reason — none of it bodes well. Worthy lord, when you make your farewell at the palace gate tomorrow, set off early and in haste. If you delay, I fear the flatterers in their jealous spite will stir up some new trouble. This is my most earnest advice — my most earnest advice!” Ji Chang half rose and thanked him: “Chancellor, your words are truly gold and stone. How could I ever forget such kindness?” The next morning he went early to the Meridian Gate, bowed toward the palace to take his leave and give thanks for the king’s grace, and then, with his household guards, went straight out through the west gate to the Long Pavilion, ten li out of the city. The officials, out of respect for him — Huang Feihu, Prince Wucheng, Weizi, Jizi, Bi Gan and others — had all been waiting there a long while. Ji Chang dismounted. Huang Feihu and Weizi greeted him warmly: “Today, worthy lord, you go home to your state. We unworthy ones have brought a cup of plain wine, first to see you off in honour, my lord, and also because we have a word to trouble you with.” “I should be glad to hear it,” said Ji Chang. Weizi said, “Though the Son of Heaven has wronged you, worthy lord, we beg you to remember the goodness of the late king. Do not fail in a subject’s loyalty or rashly set your heart on anything else. Then we unworthy ones will count ourselves most fortunate, and so will all the people!” Ji Chang knocked his head on the ground and thanked them: “I am grateful to the Son of Heaven for the grace of his pardon, and to you gentlemen for the kindness of a second life. Though I live till my teeth are gone, I can never repay the Son of Heaven’s goodness. How would I dare think of anything else?” The officials raised their cups and plied him with wine. Lord Ji had a great capacity — he could drink a hundred cups. It was just as the saying goes: ‘When a true friend comes, there is no end to talk.’ They felt closer and closer to one another, and for a while they could not bear to part. In the midst of their merry drinking, Fei Zhong and You Hun came riding up. They had brought their own wine and dishes, and they too had come to see Lord Ji off. The moment the officials saw Fei and You arrive, they were more than a little displeased, and one by one they slipped away. Ji Chang thanked the two: “My lords! What merit have I, that you should come all this way to see me off?” Fei Zhong said, “We heard you were going home in honour, worthy lord, and your humble servants came specially to bid you farewell. Business kept us late — we beg your pardon.” Ji Chang was a humane and virtuous gentleman who dealt with others honestly; there was no falseness in him. When he saw how attentive the two were, he was pleased. But the officials were afraid of these two and had all gone off first, so the three of them were left drinking alone. When the wine had gone round several times, Fei and You said, “Bring the big cups!” The two filled a cup to the brim and offered it to Lord Ji. Lord Ji took it, half rose and thanked them: “I owe you a great kindness — when shall I ever repay you?” And he drained it at a draught. Lord Ji had a great capacity, and before he knew it he had drunk several cups in a row. Fei Zhong said, “May I ask you, worthy lord: I have often heard that you can cast the Former Heaven numbers. Do they really come true without fail?” Ji Chang answered, “The workings of yin and yang have their fixed reckoning — how could they be wrong? Yet if a man can act against it and is skilful in seeking good and shunning ill, he can escape it too.” Fei Zhong asked again, “The Son of Heaven now on the throne does everything in confusion and disorder. Might one learn beforehand how it will all end?” By now the Lord of the West was half drunk, and he forgot what these two had come for. The moment he heard them ask about the Son of Heaven’s fortunes, he knitted his brows and heaved a sigh. “The dynasty’s allotted span is darkening,” he said. “It will end with this one reign, and it cannot come to a good end. What the Son of Heaven is doing now only hastens its ruin. How can a subject bear to speak of it!” When he had finished sighing, Lord Ji was overcome with sorrow before he knew it. Fei Zhong asked again, “In what year will the reckoning fall due?” Lord Ji said, “No more than four times seven years: on a jiazi day in the wuwu year8, that is all.” Fei and You both heaved long sighs and plied the Lord of the West with wine again. After a while the two asked again, “We two unworthy ones would like a reckoning from you too, worthy lord, to see how our own lives will turn out.” Lord Ji was a worthy man and a true gentleman who knew nothing of deceit. At once he worked out a reckoning on his fingers inside his sleeve, then pondered it for a long while. “This is a very strange reckoning,” he said, “very strange indeed!” Fei and You laughed and asked, “How so? What is so strange about our reckoning?” Ji Chang said, “A man’s life and death have their fixed reckoning. Some die of palsy, consumption, dropsy or a choked gullet, or any of a hundred other ailments; others by the Five Punishments, by water or fire, by the noose or a fall — untimely deaths, and nothing more. Not like you two counsellors: you will die in the most peculiar way — very odd, very queer indeed.” Fei and You laughed and asked, “How, then, in the end? Where shall we die?” Ji Chang said, “Some day — I cannot tell why — you will be drenched in snow water and die frozen inside the ice.” (Later, when Jiang Ziya froze Mount Qi, he captured Lu Xiong and seized these two men, and they were offered up at the Investiture Terrace9. But that comes later; we will say no more of it here.) When the two had heard him out, they smiled and said, “‘There is an hour to be born and a place to die’ — let it be as it will.” The three went on drinking merrily. Then Fei and You seized their chance and drew him on: “And have you ever, worthy lord, cast a reckoning to see how things will end for yourself?” “Yes, I have cast it before,” said Ji Chang. “And what of your own fortunes, worthy lord, good and ill?” asked Fei Zhong. Ji Chang said, “This unworthy one may still manage a good end, in my own bed.” Fei and You offered hollow congratulations: “Of course, worthy lord — you will have both blessings and long life.” The Lord of the West modestly thanked them, and the three drank several more cups. Then Fei and You said, “We unworthy ones have business at court and dare not stay longer. Take good care of yourself on the road, worthy lord!” And they parted. On horseback Fei and You cursed: “The old beast! His own death is staring him in the face, and he says he will die a good death in his bed — while we are to freeze to death in cold ice! He was cursing us, plain as day. The insolence of it!” Talking like this, they reached the Meridian Gate, dismounted and went in to see the Son of Heaven in a side hall. The king asked, “Did Ji Chang say anything?” The two ministers replied, “Ji Chang is full of resentment. He talked wildly and insulted his sovereign: he is guilty of great disrespect.” King Zhou flew into a rage. “The churl! We pardoned you and sent you home, and instead of being grateful you turn round and insult Us — infuriating! What did he say to insult Us?” The two replied, “He cast a reckoning and said the dynasty would end with this one reign and would last no more than four times seven years. He also said that Your Majesty would not come to a good end.” King Zhou cursed in fury: “Didn’t you ask the old churl how he would die?” Fei Zhong said, “We two did ask him, and he said he would die a good death in his own bed. The fact is, Ji Chang is all glib tongue and wild talk, to dazzle men’s eyes and ears. His very life and death are in Your Majesty’s hands, and he doesn’t even know it, yet he goes on saying he will come to a good end. If that isn’t fooling himself, what is? And when we two had him cast a reckoning for us, he said we would freeze to death inside the ice. Never mind that we enjoy the shelter of Your Majesty’s good fortune — even a commoner has no reason to freeze to death inside the ice. It is all nonsense and empty lies, deceiving the world and misleading the people; nothing could be worse. We beg Your Majesty to act at once!” The king said, “Send out Our command: Chao Tian is to ride after him and bring him back. Cut off his head at once and hang it up in the capital as a warning against talk of demons!” Chao Tian received the command and gave chase. But no more of that.

Meanwhile Ji Chang had mounted his horse, aware that he had said too much in his cups. Hastily he ordered his household guards, “Let us get away from here quickly — I fear something may happen.” They all urged their horses on and went winding along the road. In the saddle Lord Ji thought to himself, “By my reckoning I am due for seven years of calamity — how is it I am going home safe and sound? I must have let something slip back there and started trouble. It is bound to stir something up.” While he was still wavering, a rider came after him as if flying. When he drew near, it was Chao Tian. Chao Tian cried out, “Lord Ji! By command of the Son of Heaven, you are to come back!” Lord Ji answered, “General Chao, I know already.” Then Lord Ji said to his household guards, “The calamity has come, and I cannot escape it. Go back quickly. In seven years I shall surely come home safe. Tell Bo Yikao to obey his mother above and live in harmony with his brothers below, and not to change the ways of Xiqi. There is nothing more to say. Go now!” The men went back to Xiqi weeping, and Ji Chang returned to Zhaoge with Chao Tian. There is a poem that says:

Now, as Ji Chang and Chao Tian made for the Meridian Gate, a rider galloped off with the news to Huang Feihu. Feihu was greatly alarmed and thought hard: “Why has he come back after setting out? Can those two treacherous villains, Fei and You, have framed Ji Chang?” He ordered Zhou Ji, “Quick, ask all the senior princes to come to the Meridian Gate at once!” Zhou Ji went to fetch them. Huang Feihu mounted at once and hurried to the Meridian Gate. By then Ji Chang was already at the Meridian Gate, awaiting the king’s command. Feihu hurriedly asked, “Worthy lord, why have you come back after setting out?” “His Majesty has called me back,” said Ji Chang. “I don’t know what for.” Meanwhile Chao Tian went in to the king and reported. King Zhou, in a towering rage, cried, “Summon Ji Chang at once!” Ji Chang came to the vermilion steps, prostrated himself and said, “By Your Majesty’s gracious favour your servant was released to go home to his state. Now I am called back again — I do not know what Your Majesty intends.” The king cursed him roundly: “You old churl! We released you to go home, and instead of thinking how to repay your sovereign’s grace you insult the Son of Heaven. What have you to say?” Ji Chang said, “Foolish as your servant is, I know that above there is Heaven, below there is Earth, and between them there is my sovereign; I know that I owe my body to my parents and my schooling to my teachers. ‘Heaven, Earth, sovereign, parents, teacher10’: these five words your servant never forgets for a moment. How would I dare insult Your Majesty and court ten thousand deaths?” The king said angrily, “Still you stand here with your clever words and stubborn arguments! You cast some sort of Former Heaven numbers and insulted Our person — your crime is beyond pardon!” Ji Chang said, “The Former Heaven numbers come from Shennong and Fuxi, who worked out the Eight Trigrams to fix the good and ill fortune of human affairs. They are not something your servant made up. Your servant only spoke as the numbers showed; how would I dare pass reckless judgement on right and wrong?” The king said, “Try casting a reckoning for Us, then. Let’s see how the realm will go.” Ji Chang said, “When I cast Your Majesty’s numbers before, they were unlucky, and so I told the two counsellors Fei Zhong and You Hun. I said only that they were unlucky, and nothing whatever about right and wrong. How would your servant dare pass reckless judgement?” King Zhou stood up and shouted, “You say We shall not come to a good end, and you boast that you will die of old age in your own bed — if that is not insulting your sovereign, what is? This is just the kind of talk of demons that misleads the people, and sooner or later it is bound to make trouble. We will show you first that your Former Heaven numbers are wrong: you shall not come to a good end!” He sent out the command: “Take Ji Chang out through the Meridian Gate, cut off his head and hang it up, to uphold the law of the land!” The attendants were just about to step forward when someone outside the hall cried out, “Your Majesty! Ji Chang must not be beheaded! Your servants have a remonstrance.” King Zhou looked round quickly and saw Huang Feihu, Weizi and the rest, seven great ministers, come into the hall and prostrate themselves. “Your Majesty granted Ji Chang a royal pardon to go home,” they said, “and ministers and people look up to your virtue as to a mountain. Besides, Ji Chang’s Former Heaven numbers were worked out by Fuxi, the sage of old; they are no invention of Ji Chang’s. If they are wrong, he was still only reasoning from the numbers; if they are right after all, then Ji Chang is a gentleman who speaks the plain truth, not some crafty little man. Your Majesty might well pardon his small fault.” The king said, “He gives free rein to his sorcery and slanders his sovereign past all bearing — how can he be pardoned as though he had done no wrong?” Bi Gan said, “Your servants are not doing this for Ji Chang’s sake but truly for the state’s. For Your Majesty to behead Ji Chang now is a small matter; the safety of the altars of the state is a great one. Ji Chang has always had a good name: the lords look up to him, and soldiers and people revere him. Besides, his Former Heaven numbers are reasoned straight from principle; they are no wild invention. If Your Majesty does not believe it, command Ji Chang to cast the fortune, good or ill, of the days at hand. If he is right, Ji Chang may be pardoned; if he is wrong, convict him then of inventing talk of demons.” Seeing his great ministers remonstrate with all their might, King Zhou had no choice but to agree, and he commanded Ji Chang to cast the fortune of the days at hand. Ji Chang took out his gold coins, gave them a shake, and was greatly alarmed. “Your Majesty, tomorrow there will be a fire at the Ancestral Temple! Have the spirit tablets of the royal ancestors carried out at once, or I fear the very root of the state will be destroyed!” The king said, “Your reckoning says tomorrow — at what hour?” “At the hour of noon,” said Ji Chang. The king said, “In that case, put Ji Chang in prison for now, and we shall wait for tomorrow to prove it.” The officials went out through the Meridian Gate, and Lord Ji thanked the seven princes. Huang Feihu said, “Worthy lord, tomorrow your life hangs in the balance. You must think it over carefully!” Ji Chang said, “Let us see what Heaven’s reckoning brings.” And the officials went their ways. But no more of that.

Our story turns to King Zhou, who said to Fei Zhong, “Ji Chang says there will be a fire at the Ancestral Temple tomorrow. If it happens as he says, what then?” You Hun said, “Send out a command: tomorrow the palace officers who keep watch over the Ancestral Temple are to guard it closely, and no incense is to be burned at all. Then where could a fire come from?” “Excellent advice,” said the king. The Son of Heaven went back to his palace, and Fei and You left the court too. Let us leave them there.

Now, the next day Huang Feihu, Prince Wucheng, had arranged for the seven princes to gather at his residence to wait for the fire at noon, and he ordered his yin-yang officer11 to report the hours. The yin-yang officer reported, “My lords, it is noon exactly.” The officials saw no fire at the Ancestral Temple, and they were growing anxious when a thunderclap burst in mid-air and shook the mountains and rivers. Then the yin-yang officer came in to report: “My lords, the Ancestral Temple is on fire!” Bi Gan sighed. “Disaster strikes the Ancestral Temple — the realm of Cheng Tang cannot last long now!” They all went out of the prince’s residence together to look at the fire. What a fire! This is what they saw:

Now, King Zhou was in the Longde Hall, in council with his officials, civil and military, when a chamberlain came in to report: “Just as he said, at noon the Ancestral Temple caught fire!” The Son of Heaven was frightened out of his wits — his soul flew beyond the heavens and his spirit scattered to the ninth sky — and the two treacherous ministers felt their livers and galls burst. — Ji Chang was truly a sage! — King Zhou said, “Ji Chang’s reckoning has indeed come true today. Counsellors, what is to be done with him?” Fei and You replied, “Ji Chang’s reckoning may have come true by chance — it happened to fall at the right time — but how can he be pardoned and sent home so suddenly? If Your Majesty fears the great ministers will try to stop you, then just pardon Ji Chang, but you must… thus and thus. Then the realm will be safe, and there will be nothing to fear from overmighty ministers. That will be a blessing for all the people within the four seas.” “Excellent advice, ministers,” said the king. Before he had finished speaking, Weizi, Bi Gan, Huang Feihu and the others came in and paid their respects. Bi Gan said, “Today the Ancestral Temple has burned, and Ji Chang’s reckoning has come true after all. We hope Your Majesty will pardon him the crime of speaking too plainly.” The king said, “Since Ji Chang’s reckoning has come true, We pardon him the death sentence, but not his return home. He is to stay at Youli for the time being. When the affairs of the state are settled and at peace, then he may go home.” Bi Gan and the others gave thanks and went out, and they all came to the Meridian Gate. Bi Gan said to Ji Chang, “We pleaded with the Son of Heaven especially for you, worthy lord. He has pardoned your death sentence but not your return home: you are to stay at Youli for a month or so. Be patient for now, worthy lord. When the Son of Heaven has a change of heart, you will go home in honour to your own land.” Ji Chang knocked his head on the ground and thanked him: “Today the Son of Heaven confines me at Youli — and what part of that is not his boundless grace? How would I dare disobey?” Feihu added, “It is only for a month or so, worthy lord. When the chance comes, we unworthy ones will seize it and do all we can to set things right for you. We will never let you be held there long.” Ji Chang thanked them all, then bowed toward the palace at the Meridian Gate to give thanks for the king’s grace, and set off at once for Youli with the officer escorting him. The soldiers, townsfolk and elders of Youli came leading sheep and carrying wine, and knelt to welcome him, crowding the road. The elders said, “Now that a sage has deigned to look upon Youli, all things shine with new light.” Cheers rang out on every side and drums and music shook the sky as they welcomed him into the city. The escorting officer sighed. “A sage’s heart is like the sun and moon, shining on all four quarters alike. Seeing today how the common people welcome Lord Ji, anyone can tell the fault is not his.” Ji Chang went into his residence, and the escorting officer went back to the capital to report. But no more of that. Now, from the moment Ji Chang arrived at Youli, his teaching spread far and wide, and soldiers and townsfolk prospered at their work. Living quietly with nothing to do, he took Fuxi’s Eight Trigrams and worked them through again and again until he had turned them into sixty-four hexagrams14, divided into three hundred and eighty-four lines. He kept to his station and lived in peace, with no resentment at all against his sovereign. A later writer praised him in a poem. It says:

Now, King Zhou imprisoned his great ministers without the least scruple. One day a report reached the headquarters of the commander-in-chief. Huang Feihu read it and saw that Jiang Wenhuan, Lord of the East, had rebelled and was leading four hundred thousand men to take Youhun Pass, and that E Shun, Lord of the South, had rebelled too and was leading two hundred thousand men to take Sanshan Pass. Four hundred of the lords of the realm had already risen in revolt. Huang Feihu sighed. “Two great lords have taken up arms and the realm is in turmoil. When will the people ever know peace?” At once he sent out arrows of command15, ordering his generals to hold the passes fast. But no more of that.

Our story turns to the Immortal Taiyi16 of the Golden Light Cave on Mount Qianyuan. After fifteen hundred years the immortals had been caught up in the calamity of slaughter; it had built up over the years and months, and the world must go through one great upheaval before it could be settled again. For one thing, Jiang Ziya was due to slay generals and invest the gods; the realm of Cheng Tang was due to be destroyed and the house of Zhou to rise. And so the Palace of Jade Emptiness had stopped its teaching of the Way. The Immortal Taiyi was sitting at leisure in his cave when he heard that the White Crane Boy of the Palace of Jade Emptiness on Mount Kunlun had come to the mountain with a jade tablet. The Immortal Taiyi received the jade tablet and bowed toward the Palace of Jade Emptiness. The White Crane Boy said, “Jiang Ziya is soon to come down the mountain. You are asked, Uncle17, to send Lingzhuzi18 down the mountain.” “I know it already,” said the Immortal Taiyi. The White Crane Boy went back. But no more of that. And so the Immortal Taiyi sent this illustrious personage down the mountain. To learn what happened next, read the next chapter.