It is said that an official named Liu Zhiqing lived in a place called Zhen Ze during the Kai Yuan reign of Tang. He had been a Councillor of the Imperial Censor, but as he had attempted unsuccessfully to impeach Prime Minister Li Linfu he had been forced into retirement to his home district. His wife had warned him against leveling such accusations, so she held bitter feelings and they often quarreled over this. The gentleman was an upright individual but in these affairs he refused to recognize his own fault. Consequently his wife became sad at heart, and her anguish changed into an illness of the body. A physician was repeatedly summoned to heal her, and try though he did on several visits the ailment proved to be chronic.

One night when the lady was sitting on her bed sipping a few mouths of congee she called her maid to clear away the bowl and utensils. And seeing that the silver lantern's flame was dim, the maid spoke up: "Madam, look how beautifully the spent wick is glowing! A sign of good luck, indeed!"

"What good is it bringing me?" answered the lady. "Still," she continued, "if you give me a bigger flame the brightness before these dying eyes just might make me feel more at ease."

The maid then went forth and with two fingers applied the tool to the burnt wick. Soon the lamp was brilliant and the carbon sliver, red hot, fell down upon the table. Just then from behind the lantern blew a gust of cold wind which swirled the glowing ember round and round, as if it were a pearl of fire.

"Madam," the maid laughingly exclaimed, "look! The wick has come to life..." But before she had finished they were already staring at the blazing dervish, swirling and revolving back and forth, to and fro, dancing and becoming as large as a bowl. And as they watched, the glowing mass hopped down onto the floor, rumbling and sputtering like a Roman candle, now hissing, now exploding, scattering fiery stars all over the floor. Then all at once it disappeared. All that could be seen was the form of an old hag, grown to three feet in height. The apparition then advanced toward the lady, greeted her with numerous blessings and proclaimed: "Your old kinswoman knows that something ails thee! I've got a medicine of the gods for m'lady to swallow down."

Now, our Lady Liu had at first been frightened, but having heard the apparition speak up she recognized it as the manifestation of some holy spirit, and she was in fact delighted. It was as if, provided the sickness was not incurable, the Buddha himself had taken the form of some individual who was fated for the part, so as to help her. Then she took the offered medicine and her illness was immediately cured. However, the old hag proceeded to pester Lady Liu, desiring to come around regularly as if she were some blood relative. Riding in a four-seat palanquin, preceded by much ceremonious cacophony and followed by a jostling crowd she frequently arrived at the Liu home amidst the sound of confusion. Try as she might to drive her away, there was no getting rid of her and Lady Liu didn't dare insult her. And if anyone defied her wishes, she would merely beckon with her hand and that person would be stricken down. Then, by some unknown technique, she would extract the accursed person's heart and liver and would hold high the organs dripping with blood, causing the crowd to cry out in bitter, grieving lamentations, begging her to stop. At that point she would take the grisly organs and fling them back into the seemingly dead victim's mouth as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and the stricken individual would then awaken.

Because of these fearful occurrences, Censor Liu and his entire household were sorely vexed, and he took it upon himself to have somebody follow this demon and find her domicile. Now for one thing, she had been seen swirling down into the shallows of Oriole Throat Lake. Of what strange sort of water does dear reader think that lake was filled? How could it be that she made her home in those shallows? Certainly she was a phantom siren! Censor Liu called repeatedly for Daoist priests to write charms and recite spells, in mysterious combinations of profound, secret and abstruse characters, He was still unable to exile her, and things went from bad to worse. The gentleman then went to an old monk at Southgrove Temple, who entreated the Venerable Spirit for Rectifying Religious Truths to come forth and set a vast cosmic snare for the ghost, to prevent any possibility of escape. The siren was then enticed and snatched up, and promptly revealed its original form, that of a three-foot-tall, common Macaco monkey, rather old in years and ghastly in appearance. Now, the Venerable Spirit was none other than the Dragon Tree Bodhisattva of ancient fame. Censor Liu had supported this venerable deity with sacrifices during normal times and, due to his resolute faith, this Bodhisattva came forth today to render aid in extirpating the siren and her great mischief. A poem says:

Now this common monkey which was trapped was human in appearance and by nature very clever. But he climbed up on windowsills and tables, pushed aside plates and overturned bowls, pulled at people's sleeves and tugged at their garments, picked his fleas and masturbated in public; his airs were grossly unrefined to say the least. And furthermore he was old and thus unable to change his strange ways. Now there is also a breed of ape, known in Chinese as Yuan, which grows to large size and which is both exceptionally rubust and nimble. And among these are a type which know the the use of their hand, of which they have four: one at the end of each limb, giving them a pair of fully developed hands on each side of their body. So they could extend or withdraw their limbs simultaneously, even while reaching up with yet another free hand and pulling themselves out of danger. And each of them was expert at climbing gorges and leaping up trees, and if anyone tried to shoot them with an arrow they would reach out in all four directions and snatch up the shafts in flight, entirely unafraid of the attacker. And these apes also came to know, in time, of Dao and to thoroughly grasp the principles of Yin and Yang, to chant Daoist charms and perform expert magic, and to achieve broad knowledge of the spirits. In fact, we can never exhaust our description of them. And how do we know? We can find out from this poem:

Now it is said that in the time of Zhou Jing Wang during the Spring and Autumn period, when the kingdoms of Wu and Yue were joined in battle, Fu Cha, King of Wu layed seige to Gou Jian, King of Yue upon Mt Kuaiji. But thanks to the efforts of Yue's emissary Wen Zhong, who went forth to plead for mercy, Fu Cha permitted his rival to live. However, Gou Jian and his lady were stripped of robe and crown and thrown into a dungeon; later, they bred horses for Wu for three years. Only then were they permitted to return home. Now the King of Yue felt compelled to avenge this shame. Thinking of the 3,000 superior swords of Wu, he realized how difficult it would be to prevail. So he had his minister Fan Li present a strategy, and an army of 6,000 noblemen was selected, to be drilled from dawn to dusk. And then there was the maiden, Chu Nyu, sojourning at Nanshan and said to be expert at swordsmanship. For her part she received an edict from Gou Jian, appointing her "Teacher of the Realm". Our maiden tidied up and started down from her mountain home, but before she had gone half of the way she met a white-haired old man who called himself Yuan Gong.

"I hear tell," he stated boldy, "that thou art an expert swordswoman. Well, I, Old Yuan, knoweth a thing or two and would like to challenge thee to a little test of arms!"

"I," the maiden answered shyly but confidently, "am but a low and uncouth girl and don't dare deceive you. I'm really not much of a fighter but out of respect for your years I can only accept your challenge."

These words so politely said, Yuan Gong peeked into the trees, selected a stem of dried bamboo, danced about some and plucked it right out. Then he threw it up and let it fall to earth. Receiving the power of the very wind itself it snapped in two with a loud "crack". Chu Nyu grabbed the top half, Yuan Gong the bottom and the test of combat was on. The old man stabbed the maiden outright but our Chu Nyu neither panicked nor rushed angrily into defeat. Continuing to grasp her half of the stem, she whirled about and delivered a stinging blow right into Yuan Gong, who leapt high into the treetops, changed into a white ape and fled.

Now, our Chu Nyu was not originally a mortal being. In truth she was a transmigration of Xuan Nyu, the Mystery Girl, Dowager Queen of ninth, highest Heaven, who had assisted the Yellow Emperor in times of old. Because Fu Cha, King of Wu, did not follow the correct path, the Jade Emperor of Ninth Heaven, had dispatched her to earth to aid Yue in the annihilation of Wu. And as for his part, Yuan Gong was in fact a highly dexterous white ape who had lived for many years in the Kingdom of Chu, cultivating himself in perfect accordance with Dao, the correct path. But when King Gong went out for the royal hunt at Mt Jing, Yuan Gong snatched up all eighteen of the royal arrows. The King thereupon ordered the country's most famous archer, Yang Youji, who could shoot a branch off of a willow at a hundred paces, to come forth and shoot Yuan Gong. Now, the white ape knew that Yang Youji was a fine archer and that he could never hope to deal with him, so he up and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The King then had his three armies, large and small, come out to surround the summit. But search and search as they might there was not a trace to be found. They then set fire to the entire mountain's trees and shrubs, burning them completely. And to this day it is said by folks that the King of Chu burned a forest in anger" over a runaway monkey.

The white ape had in fact escaped to White Cloud Cave on Mt Dream-of-the-Clouds, where he applied himself to a life of consummate Dao. Having heard that the Mystery Girl Xuan Nyu had descended to earth, he deliberately changed himself into an old man and went forth to test her fighting skills. After the combat the maiden, who was as we have said the mortal manifestation of this Mystery Girl sent by the Jade Emperor, went to see Gou Jian and to drill the 6,000 man army of Yue to perfection. And in so doing she answered to no man, neither Fan Li nor the King of Yue himself! And then, her work complete, she drifted up and away and was gone. And there is poem that sums it all up:

It is said that at the time when the maiden descended Nanshan and came to the Kingdom of Yue, crowds presenting gifthorses and pulling carts laden with treasure came to welcome this royal officer; there is no need to belabor the pomp and oppulence of this occasion. And then one day she left without saying farewell; now, of course she was alone. Half in cloud and half in mist, walking along an old path, she could hear someone in the forrest calling out for the venerable Goddess Xuan Nyu, crying out: ""Master! My Venerable Teacher!" But when the maiden brushed aside the clouds and swept her all-seeing, all-knowing eyes across the scene she saw that the sound came from Yuan Gong, who was kneeling reverently. In his hands he was offering up a stone dish, upon which were arrayed four varieties of everlasting fruit.

"Esteemed Teacher," he cried out, "Pity the honesty and utmost sincerity of your disciple, who longs to be taken in and taught benevolence, really he does!"

Now these four varieties of eternal fruit are hazlenut, acorn, yew and walnut. For although the Southeast has oranges, grapefruits and strawberries and the Northwest has crabapples, pears and jujubes, and although these are all fine fruit they must be eaten fresh, in season. But there are four sorts of fruit which are stored in shells like nuts, so that the wind cannot dry them, nor can the rain soak them and they have long been among the vittels stored by mountain dwellers. And in painting there has long been the depiction of a white ape presenting fruit; it comes from this very story!

At this time the prostrated Yuan Gong put down his plate and knocked his forehead repeatedly on the ground.

"Teacher," he cried out, "you must certainly receive disciples here!" And the maiden, whom he had recognized as a transformation of Xuan Nyu, thought for a moment.

"I didn't give this old man enough credit," she mused, "why he's bolder and more clever than I thought! No harm in taking one of each of his fruit for myself, and I can present the remainder to the King of Yue's servants for their enjoyment."

Then Yuan Gong, down upon his knees, straightened his back and prayed while the maiden recived the fruit and picked out in return, from in her sleeve, two large magic pellets, each of which were as large as an eye; she bestowed these upon Yuan Gong who received them respectfully with both hands. And seeing that they entirely resembled cast iron, what with dull appearance, Yuan Gong while silent harbored many doubts.

"If these were a couple of wheat dumplings," he thought, "they could at very most only delay hunger, and even if they were silver, well, what with their weighing no more than a couple of ounces, they would be of no great value. And even if they were only lead pellets, I, Old Yuan, would never take up marbles; what good are they?"

At this point, as he hesitated, the Mystery Girl had already figured out his dilemma and breathed down onto the pellets, incanting "live!". Then a strange brilliance flashed up and in an instant they jumped and danced left and right, like two golden snakes entwined and encircling, only bobbing their heads and throats. Then from their mouths burst forth all the myriad secrets of the universe, in cold brilliance, and the bitingly frigid blast of wind seemed unendurable. And stabbing his eardrums there came at once a sound like that of a thousand swords and myriad blades, so frightening that Yuan Gong closed his eyes tightly.

"Good Master," he exclaimed, "your disciple now knows that you posess the might of Heaven itself!"

For now, what had originally been two lumpen pellets were molded, certainly by an immortal being, into two complimentary swords incorporating the male and female principles, both flexible and capable of limitless transformations. By ordinary light they first appeared to be only lumps of lead, but then upon leaping up and dancing around they could become capable of running freely right past a million soldiers and striking with brutal insolence, going like arrows and coming like the wind itself. We can safely say that these pellets, once launched in flight by some immortal, would strike their target 100% of the time! This time the Mystery Girl used only a a small part of her magic power and managed to terrify Yuan Gong, but although the demonstration was fierce it left him unscathed, aside from a few singed hairs on his head and brow. Still, he knew that if at some time he were to be insincere to even the slightest degree, he would be immediately beheaded: even if he were to have ten thousand heads she would take them all! Chu Nyu now suddenly swept her sleeves, extinguishing the brightness and secreting the two leaden pellets back into hiding. Yuan Gong finally dared to open his eyes, the cold sweat of terror pouring forth from his entire body, and for a moment he was speechless. He then bowed wholeheartedly and followed the Mystery Girl's earthly form directly to the vault of Nanshan, where he spent an entire day picking flowers and scrificial fruit as offerings to his new master. Now, the maiden pitied him in his careful labors, and she took it upon herself to transmit her knowlege of swordsmanship to him in its entirety. Yuan Gong copied the the two swords, male and female-natured, which could be stored up a sleeve and moreover which could transform themselves, and with with which he was, to say the least, delighted.

Now at this time, the King of Yue was leading his army of 6,000, marching directly on Wu. Punishing Fu Cha, he himself came to control all of the territory east of the river dividing them, and the thought arose of using Chu Nyu on his attaking front. So again he dispatched runners to Nanshan to search for her. But this time there was no trace, so at once he commanded that a temple be built in honor of the maiden atop Nanshan. This was accomplished, and all throughout the procession of the four seasons worshippers sacrificed continually. And does the dear reader have any idea why Xuan Nyu could not be found? It was precisely because the King of Yue had been successful in battle, and because the Mystery Girl of Nanshan had ascended to report this successful rectification of evil on earth to the Jade Emperor. At any rate, how can mere mortals like ourselves hope to fathom the marvelous efficacy of godly immortals in their ability to reveal or conceal themselves as they wish?

Now it is said that the Mystery Girl took Yuan Gong up to Ninth Heaven with her, and that they were received by the Jade Emperor. Seeing that he loved Dao, the Jade Emperor invested Yuan Gong as Lord of White Cloud Cave and ordered him to take official charge of the Mysterious and Marvelous Secret Books of Highest Heaven. And why, dear reader, are these known as "Secret Books"? Well, whatever books may have been posessed by mankind, whether they be of the three teachings, Confucianism, Daoism or Buddhism, or the Nine Schools of antiquity, or whatever, wherever, are all stored in Heaven. But the books of this highest Ninth Heaven have reached neither the eyes nor the ears of humanity, nor can they be reckonewd in their numbers; hence they are called Mysterious and Marvelous Secret Books, and they are collected and kept in a jade box which is in turn inside of a golden vault. Every year, on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the day of the Dragon Boat Festival, the Royal Attendant in Charge of Cultural Affairs comes to take an inventory of them; he is the leading official of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. Now although Yuan Gong had been given official charge of the books, there were decrees of official prohibition that had been promulgated by the government of Heaven, and ordinary mortals like himself did not dare open the books without proper authorization. But suddenly one day, that of the morally upright Golden Mother of Western Heaven's birthday celebration, also called the Pantaohui, or Fairy's Banquet, the Jade Emperor called out his officials, generals and councillors for attendance at Yaochi, the Jade Fairy Pond, that Queen's domicile far off in the Kunlun Mountains of the West. And how do we know? There is a passage from an ancient book of poetry that serves as evidence:

Although it has been said that Yuan Gong cultivated himself in accordance with Dao, he had not yet climbed the Buddha's path to spiritual progress. And because he was only a mortal staff member of the Palace of Heaven he could not follow the others to Yaochi. Now, he had always been fond of fruit. Having heard that the fairy fruit of the Queen Mother's birthday feast were ten feet wide, that they came from precious flower that bloomed but once every 3,000 years and that eating of them would bring eternal life in accordance with Heaven, how could his mouth not water? Consequently he was feeling glum and bored so he plucked the two pellets from up his sleeve, breathed onto them and incanted "live!". They then changed into the male and female swords as before, leaping and dancing about and putting on a little show for him. Then he swept his arm and caught the sunlight on his sleeve, and they returned to their hiding place in his garment. By now he was really bored and sullen, but he suddenly realized that, in his own quarters, he was taking care of many secret books. He had not yet had an opportunity to browse through them but, he now thought, "there's no time like the present for stealing a peek, is there?".

And as he spoke to himself he ran his eyes over to them, seeing only the Golden Vault and Jade Box that contained sections of the Three Great Teachings and of the Nine Schools of Antiquity, each in its own class arranged by order of their Chinese characters. And as Yuan Gong peeked clandestinely through the index of Confucianist terms he became impatient.

"This stuff is about degree holders," he mumbled; "I needn't bother myself with it." Then running his finger down the list of Buddhist terms he was yet again disappointed.

"This is about sickly-faced monks in saffron", he hissed contemptfully. But seeing the concordance of Daoist characters he jumped for joy.

"Ah," he exclaimed, "this is about me, Old Yuan, and my very own profession!"

Now, in the midst of the collection sat a small jade box, and layed out along its edges were innumerable sealing stamps. When, as in former years, the Royal Attendant of Cultural Affairs comes to this box to perform the inspection ceremony, he checks the seals and adds a new one.

"What with all the seals on this jade box," Yuan Gong whispered, "there must be someting really profound somewhere in here!"

But when he tried to tear open the seals and open the box with his hands he found that it was entirely solid, as if cast of iron. Yuan Gong thought it strange, for if this box were indeed iron it would have rusted shut over the long years, but it was fashioned from beautifully ground jade, its lines so square as to ensure a perfetly tight fit. Yuan Gong thought: "If I could have a word or two with the craftsman, whoever he was, that crafted this box, I'd tell him to polish off a bit where the top slides in, to make it a bit easier to open!" But to get on with the story Yuan Gong tore away with all his might at the lid once more but it seemed as if firmly nailed as well as sealed with molten gold, totally unmovable no matter what.

Now, dear reader, it is common sense that your usual ape would quickly become frustrated and begin beating and kicking such a box, and even butting it with his head. Yuan Gong, however, had already cultivated himself in accordance with Dao for many years and had managed to suppress this fiery nature, but oh, how he wanted to make haste! Thrusting his hands down in a frenzy, he grasped the box and held it up with both hands as if presenting it. Then, throwing himself down on all fours he exclaimed: "My Teacher, Mystery Girl of Ninth Heaven, if thou blesseth thy disciple so that his sorcery might be enhanced he promiseth to serve thee always and never do evil!" He then proceeded to kowtow three times and, clamboring to his feet and once more prying the lid, he found that it came off easily in his hands. And in the box was a parcel wrapped in fine cloth with a flame pattern embroidered upon it. When he unwrapped it for a look he found a tiny book, three inches in length and thickness, on the face of which he saw three characters proclaiming this the "Ru Yi Ce", or, Concordance of Blessings and Charms. Opening it carefully, he found the One Hundred and Eight Charms for Transformation of Forms, with the Thirty-Six Greater Transformations listed in accordance with the princples of divination by the hot dry winds of highest Heaven, and the Seventy-Two Lesser Transformations listed in accordance with divination by the cold, damp spirits of deepest Earth. And there was a marvelous formula for altering the course of the heavens and moving the Pole Star, miraculously useful in battling against ghosts and in harnessing spirits.

Great happiness settled in Yuan Gong's heart. "This book alone," he blurted out, "should be quite enough for me, Old Yuan! All my life I've followed teachers but now I've got it all for myself! You know, every since I left home I've wanted to boil some rice, and now I realize that a lantern is a source of fire as well as light!"

Now, immeasurably pleased with himself, Yuan Gong rolled up this "Concordance of the Will of Heaven" in his hands, let out a long whistle and flew down into the cloudy heights of earth, finally arriving at his home in White Cloud Cave on Mt Dream-of-the-Clouds. And there were apes of all sorts and sizes on hand, his children and grandchildren, their numbers surging like waves, dancing happily and rushing forth to pay their respects. Yuan Gong spoke to them: "Today I received this book and I shall become the leader of its teaching. When I become a god, each and every one of you will be blessed and delighted. Now you can all get to work at chipping away the two cliffsides around our cave's entrance. Attack these walls and make them smooth, and believe me, I have a good use for all this!"

The herd of apes heard and complied as one; all rushed to take up the hammering, chipping, grinding and polishing until in the wink of an eye the two rock cliffs were wiped out, their features annihilated and their surfaces made over just like mirrors. Yuan Gong then took out his brush and ink, placed them on his stone table, moistened the inkstone and dipped his brush until it was soaked.

Then, on the western wall he wrote the Thirty-Six Greater Transformations by the hot, dry winds of highest Heaven, and on the eastern wall the Seventy-Two Lesser Transformations by the cold and damp spirits of deepest Earth. And then he ordered the multitude of beasts to take up hammers and chisels and to carve along the characters he had written, etching them deep in the faces of the cliffs.

"Folks say," he laughingly exclaimed, "that in Heaven things are open to all, so then why do they have this private book? Well, you up there can be the Venerated Emperor of Thirty-Three Heavens if you wish, and be as selfish as you like, but for my part I'll be glad to contribute to mankind's perfection. So, my children and disciples, I want you to go and study these skills with the utmost of concentration!"

And the animal throng answered with cries and moans of "How strict you are! How can we ever read this, let alone master it? We rely upon you, old Uncle, to explain it to us!"

Yuan Gong was unyielding. "If a slave girl," he answered, "brokers a marriage for her friend, she merely cheats herself out of a husband! I, Old Yuan, can only recite from memory, and I'm not very smooth even at that. So let's slow down and reconsider, and call things off for a couple of weeks or for as long as that old man, the Jade Emperor, has nothing to say. Then when he has forgiven me for my apelike mischief he'll come right here to this cave and explain each of these items in person."

And then, as he stood in silence, the multitude of apes hear a great boom and roar from above.

"It is thundering," one exclaimed, "and we are afraid it's one of Heaven's transformations!"

"That's not the sound of the Thunder God!" answered Yuan Gong, confidently; "It's only the signal drum at Heaven's gate. It sounds whenever the matter of a determination of guilt and punishment arises and an inquest is conducted in the torture chamber. It's just like the beating of the Crying Drums at criminal proceedings, which are in the Confucianist books of this world. All of you, remain on guard here in this cave while I go up to report for roll-call in Heaven, to try to overhear what's going on."

And so he went dancing and hopping right out of the cave, gradually turned his eyes toward Heaven's Gate and was gone. Only this time, he was responsible for those teachings of his...

For Yuan Gong had committed an unpardonable abomination in violating one of Heaven's regulations; indeed, so heavily had he transgressed that the Master of Heaven passed yet another law. It's really like this: