The Guardians of the Gate

One thousand two hundred years ago, near the bustling booming city of Chang'an flowed the Jing River. The people living on the Jing River all made their living catching fish.

A day came when they could not catch any fish. What were they to do? Everyone thought and thought, looking for a solution to that problem. Finally, they decided sent a delegation each day to the Western Gate in Chang'an, where they sought the stall of a fortune-teller, Yuan Tian Gang. Presenting their problem to him, they asked him to tell them which day and which place would have the most fish. After consulting Yuan, they all went together to catch fish. As a result, the people staying on the Jing River caught many fish and prawns every day, and they lived a happy life.

One day, the God of the Jing River noticed that there were less and less fish and prawns in the river each day, and he was extremely worried. He went everywhere inquiring, and he discovered that it was the fortune teller Yuan Tian Gang who was helping the villagers. Upon learning this, he prepared to go and destroy Yuan's fortune telling stall.

That day, the God of the River disguised himself, dressing all in white and posing as a student. Waving a white jade fan in his hand, he entered Chang'an.

In a short while, he reached Yuan Tian Gang's fortune-telling stall. Rudely he said, "Hey Boss! Let me ask you, when is it going to rain around these parts? How much will it rain? How long will it keep falling? If you don't predict accurately, I'm gonna trample your fortune-telling stall. If you can predict accurately, I'll give you 500 pieces of silver."

The fortune teller stroked his beard, closed his eyes, thought for a moment, and said, "Tomorrow afternoon, it will definitely rain in Chang'an. Moreover, it will rain twice, and the water's depth will reach 300 ml."

When the River God heard this, he could not contain his laughter, thinking to himself, "I am the River God who controls the rainfall, but I myself don't know whether it will rain tomorrow! How would this guy know? Good! Tomorrow, I will definitely destroy his fortune telling stall!"

The River God happily went back to the Jing River Palace. There he received the Jade Emperor's imperial edict, clearly stating: Tomorrow afternoon 300 ml of rain will drop on Chang'an.

Upon reading this, the River God leapt with fright. The more he thougth, the less he was convinced. He decided he could purposely extend how long or increase how much it rained the next day.

After the rain stopped, the River God gleefully ran to Chang'an. Giving a naughty kick to Yuan Tian Gang's fortune-telling stand, he giggled and said, "The amount and the length of time you said it would rain were not accurate. Your stall is in real trouble now!"

Yuan Tian Gang, taking a deep breath to calm himself down, said, "Don't get so excited. I know you are the God of the Jing River. You are the one who had added the amount and lengthened the time of the rainfall, causing it to flood and drowning the inhabitants of the area. The Jade Emperor is very angry. Tomorrow night he will send the emperor’s minister, Wei Zheng, who, in order to punish your disrespect, will cut off your head."

When the River God heard this, he was very alarmed. He sat down and begged Yuan Tian Gang, saying, "What should I do? I beg you to point me in the right way on this matter!"

Yuan Tian Gang replied, "You just need to go ask the emperor to help you."

The River God, knowing that all the fortune-teller had said was true, hastily rushed to Tang Tai Zong's palace. As if entrusting him with a revelation he had received in a vision, he told him everything that had passed. He ended by entreating him, "Tomorrow night, whatever happens, please keep Wei Zheng by your side. Don't let him take even one step away from you. Then, I won't lose my head.

Tang Tai Zong, taking great pity on the River God, replied, "Wei Zheng is an official under my command, and he is also a friend with whom I am on the best of terms. I can definitely take care of your request. You don't need to worry any more about it."

The next day when Tang Tai Zong got up, he remembered the request the River God had brought to him, and so he quietly sought out Wei Zheng.

Wei Zheng was in the habit of speaking forthrightly, so that if the emperor was wrong, he would even confront him. The people all praised Wei Zheng, calling him the most upright officer on earth.

"I don't think His Majesty has ever sought me so early. What is going on?" he asked as soon as he'd saluted Tang Tai Zong.

"Um..." Tang Tai Zong stalled awkwardly, afraid that if he shared the events of the River God's dream, Wei Zheng would not believe him. He sought a suitable excuse, finally saying, "I called for you so we could discuss national affairs."

After discussing the nation's business, Wei Zheng prepared to leave. Tang Tai Zong continued to search for a reason to keep him. "Look! The most famous and costly peonies in the garden have bloomed. Why don't you accompany me to the garden to admire the flowers?"

After spending the day roaming through the imperial garden, Tang Tai Zong invited Wei Zheng to stay and have dinner with him. When the meal was finished, Wei Zheng prepared to take his leave. Feeling the dreaded time drawing upon him, Tang Tai Zong laughed and excitedly exclaimed, "I'd really like to have a game of chess today! Why don't you stay and join me for a game?"

It was not uncommon for Wei Zheng to join the Emperor for a game of chess from time to time. But after having spent the day in a garden stroll, he was genuinely tired. They played for a while, until Wei Zheng grew so tired that he dazedly took his chess pieces in hand, half asleep as he played.

Tang Tai Zong thought to himself, "If Wei Zheng takes a little nap here, all the better. That way, he won't set foot out of my door at all."

After a short while, Wei Zheng suddenly jumped up and said, "Now that is scary!"

Tang Tai Zong asked, "What's so scary?"

Wei Zheng answered, "I had a dream. I dreamt that the Emperor of Heaven sent people to look for me and bring me to the Heavenly Court. They gave me a double-edged sword, and instructed me to carry out the Emperor's orders to kill a dragon. I then saw before me a dragon covered in golden scales, tightly bound atop a thick bronze pillar. I obeyed the Emperor's command, raised the sword high and cut off the dragon's head. The beast's head was larger than a bull's head, and it was a frightening sight."

Hearing this tale, Tang Tai Zong's face drained of color. He was filled with fear. He had never imagined that the God of the Jing River would have so much difficulty escaping his destiny.

He felt sorry for the River God.

From this time on, Tang Tai Zong heard miserable wailing every night in the imperial palace.  He constantly dreamt of a headless River God, raising a bloody dragon head, seeking him out, and angrily reproaching him for his failure to guard what had been entrusted to him.

Tang Tai Zong had always been strong and healthy. Eventually, though, as a result of his recurring nightmares and sleep constantly interrupted by the appearance of the River God, Tang Tai Zong fell ill.

"If the emperor is disturbed each night by demons, what can we do?"  His officials, anxious and heavy of heart, sought a solution.  "The soldiers of Tang's army are all brave fighters, with a steady hand in battle against any foe, however powerful.  If each night two soldiers are appointed to guard the palace gates, perhaps the demons won't dare come and disturb."

What they did not think of was that even with the soldiers standing at the gate, Tang Tai Zong would still continue as before with his nightmares.  Only when Qin Shu Bao and Yu Chi Gong guarded the palace gate at night was the mournful cry not heard, nor the spirit of the River God seen.  Only then would Tang Tai Zong sleep peacefully, and in sleeping, begin a gradual recovery.  But it was impossible to expect these two mighty warriors to guard the palace gate every night. 

Tang Tai Zong finally came up with a plan.  "Go throughout the country and find the best artist," he decreed.  "Bring him to me.  He can craft images of these two warriors on my city gate, depicting them with most warlike expressions on their faces.  That should be enough to frighten the demon away."

The master artist came and carefully observed Qin Shu Bao and Yu Chi Gong's appearance.  He began to work on the images, their bearing, colors and hue, that would appear at the gate.  He worked nonstop, and after 3 days and 3 nights, he finished the job.

On the morning of the fourth day, Tang Tai Zong and his officials came to the gate.  On seeing the images, they expressed their amazement at the likeness to the two men.  It was as if the two warriors stood there in the flesh.

On the image of Qin Shu Bao was placed armour with the appearance of a tiger.  In its two hands, it grasped a long key, and across its midsection it wore a bow and arrows.

The figure of Yu Chi Gong wore lion-like armour, and in its hands it did not carry a spear or iron weapon.  His face was not like Qin Shu Bao's, fair and of a delicate sort of beauty.  Instead, his face was red and black, with eyes glaring wide as copper coins.  The fierceness of these godlike images caused real fear in the spirit of the headless River God.  He did not dare return to disturb Tang Tai Zong's sleep again.

Some time later, the story of Tang Tai Zong's images at the Chang'an palace -- how they had chased the demons away --became well known, and many  people began to imitate him.  Over time, it became customary for a pair of warriors' images to stand at every gate, protecting the peace of the house and those within.

Translation © 2007 Shelly Bryant

next >

< previous