Tower of Myriad Mirrors: A Supplement to Journey to the West (Michigan Classics in Chinese Studies) (9 page)

A maid answered from outside the window, “I'll send her in.” Shortly, P'ing-hsiang pushed the door and entered the room. Hsiang Yü helped Monkey up, and they sat together. Another maid rushed in and asked, “Would Your Ladyship come to Heaven's Song Cottage to wash?”

Monkey was about to move when he had another thought and said to himself, “If I'm too hasty, I'll lose Beautiful Lady's grace.” He gently pushed open the two panels of a green silk window and picked a pomegranate flower and leaf. He fondled it in his hand, then dropped it to the mosaic pavement.

Monkey turned and left, and not long afterward came to Heaven's Song Cottage. There he saw a silver lacquer box and a box of fragrant powder on a long, exquisitely carved desk. Beside the boxes sat a jade-green crystal cup holding a peach powder puff. To the left of the silver lacquer box was a basin painted with purple flowers, in which there was a hairband. A delicate vase contained dark eyebrow paint. On the right side lay a large comb for oiling the hair and three small ones. On the left lay a set of green jade combs: five medium green jade oil combs, and five small ones. Below them were four large striped rhinoceros horn combs and four small red-stone combs. Above right was placed a delicate ice-jade bottle holding hundred-fragrance cologne. There was also a hundred-nippled cloud-striped jar nearly two-thirds full of alcohol for moistening the fingernails. A stone basin shaped like a square jade seal was placed above left. The basin contained clear water over several curious stones, and across the stones lay a little bamboo bristle brush. Below on the right lay four large and ten small dark and soft brushes and six human-hair brushes. Beside these last brushes lay a half-water and half-oil comb, and two combs with blunt teeth. A pair of gold tweezers, jade-inlaid scissors, a face-cleaning blade, a glass of pure rose-dew, a goblet of green rice-powder for washing hands, and a glass of jade-green fragrant oil were arranged beside an ancient bronze mirror.

When Monkey saw the mirror he quickly took a look to compare himself with the real Beautiful Lady, and saw that the face in the mirror was prettier. Several maids hovered around Monkey: some fixed his hair, some changed his clothes.

When the morning toilet was completed, Hsiang Yü bounded into the lodge and shouted, “Beautiful Lady! Let's go to the Jade Gate!”

Monkey was delighted. Hsiang Yü called for the sedan chair. Monkey said, “You're such a bore, Your Majesty! It's only a short walk in the shade of pines and cedars. It would be so vulgar to take a sedan chair.”

Hsiang Yü bellowed, “Forget the sedan chair!”

The two of them went out hand-in-hand and before long arrived at the gate. There were no seals to be seen on it and Monkey pushed it halfway open. He thought, “If I don't go now, when will I?” And he lunged through.

Hsiang Yü was dumbfounded. He sputtered helplessly and grasped at Monkey's skirt, but caught only the air and toppled forward with a thud. Monkey paid him no mind, and went on by himself.

After plunging headlong through the gate, Monkey rolled on and on for several miles. In his ears he heard the cries of the King of Ch'u and the wailing of the maids. After rolling a few more miles, he could no longer hear them, but he still hadn't come to the World of the Future. Monkey grew anxious and shouted, “Oh no! No! All along I've been fooling other people, but now it's me who's been tricked into this bottomless well by Hsiang Yü!”

Suddenly he heard a voice beside him say, “Great Sage, don't worry. You've already come better than half way. It's only a little farther to the World of the Future.”

Monkey said, “Big brother, where are you?”

The voice said, “I'm right next door to you, Great Sage.”

Monkey said, “Then why don't you open the door and let me come in for tea?”

The voice said, “This is No-man's World. There's no tea to drink.”

Monkey said, “If it's No-man's, who's that talking about No-man?”

The voice said, “Great Sage, you're so intelligent—why so dense now? I'm disembodied; in fact, I've never even been joined with a body.”

When Monkey saw that no door would be opened, he grew so angry that he put all his strength into rolling, and rolled all the way down to the World of the Future. He had just stood up and taken a few steps when he encountered the Six Thieves he had first met years ago.
⁶
He snorted and said, “Bah! Time is out of joint—I'm seeing ghosts in broad daylight.”

The Six Thieves yelled, “Don't run away, pretty lady. Wait ‘til we strip off your clothes and take your jewels to pay for your safe conduct.”

1
Fan Tseng was an old and wise strategist who helped Hsiang Yü establish hegemony.

2
Sung I was one of the generals who led the rebellion against the Ch'in. He was killed by Hsiang Yü.

3
Chang Han was a great general of Ch'in whose defeat by Hsiang Yü signaled the collapse of the dynasty.

4
I.e., Liu Pang, founder of the Han dynasty.

5
King Tzu-ying was the second and last successor of the First Emperor of Ch'in. He abandoned the imperial title and reverted to the title of king.

6
In chapter 14 of
Journey to the West
Monkey dispatched the Six Thieves, who were threatening to rob his master. The thieves are allegorical representations of delusion resulting from attachment to the six forms of consciousness recognized by Buddhism: sight, hearing, smell, taste, feeling, and thought.

In the World of the Future, Monkey Exterminates the Six Thieves; As Yama,
¹
for Half a Day Monkey Judges Good and Evil.

As Monkey, in the person of Beautiful Lady Yü, plunged helter-skelter through the Jade Gate, he was concentrating on reaching the World of the Future and hadn't returned to his own form. When he heard the threats of the Six Thieves, he realized this and quickly stroked his face to effect the transformation. “Take a good look at my cudgel, you thieves!” he growled.

The courage of the Six Thieves was immediately shattered. They knelt by the side of the road and wailed to Monkey for pity, “Great Sage, Bodhisattva of Mercy, we shouldn't have molested your Master that time under the ivy-covered tree and brought down your noble wrath. We six brothers all lay dead at once. When our spirits went into the World of the Ancients, because of our reputations as thieves, we couldn't stay there. We could only come here and rob in broad daylight to make a living. We haven't done anything even half bad. We kowtow to you, and hope that you'll spare us.”

Monkey said, “I could spare you, but you wouldn't have spared me.” And he brought down his cudgel and pounded the thieves into meat cakes. Then he walked away, intent on finding the hidden path.

All at once a pair of boys wearing black grabbed Monkey and said, “You've come just in time, my lord Great Sage. Our King Yama took ill and died. The Jade Emperor is busy with some kind of construction work and didn't have time to send anyone—he doesn't care that the Underworld has no master. If my lord Great Sage could take charge for us for only half a day, we would be most grateful.”

Monkey thought it out. “If I waste half a day I won't be able to see the First Emperor of Ch'in until tomorrow morning. If the Master
should be killed by some monster what would I do? What could I do? I'd better send them away.”

And he said, “I can do many other things, but I certainly can't be a King Yama. Although I'm a very straightforward person, I can be quick-tempered at times and hurt people. If there were a charge brought to the court of the Underworld and the plaintiff turned out to be right, I might suddenly become angry and take out my cudgel and beat the defendant to pieces. In a case that wasn't clear-cut, it would be all right if there were a firm witness. But if a witness knelt forward and said, ‘The plaintiff isn't quite right, and the defendant is so pitiful,’ then what would I do?”

The boys wearing black said, “You're mistaken, Great Sage. The question of life and death would be in your hands. What's there to be afraid of?” Disregarding Monkey's protests, they dragged him through the Gate of Ghosts, and called out, “Let all palaces empty to welcome the true King Yama we have found!”

Monkey had no choice but to ascend the main hall. An attendant bailiff presented Monkey with the jade seal and asked him to take charge. At the foot of the stairs stood red-haired devils, green-toothed devils, and a motley group of masterless, homeless devils, numbering in all eighty million four thousand and six hundred. In the front of the hall stood seven-foot-tall bailiffs, tattooed bailiffs, chief-circuit bailiffs, fate-arbiter bailiffs, sun bailiffs, moon bailiffs, lotus bailiffs, water bailiffs, iron-faced bailiffs, white-faced bailiffs, life-suspending bailiffs, sudden-death bailiffs, treachery-penetrating bailiffs, bailiffs who help people onto the correct way, and women bailiffs, in all five million sixteen people. They presented a ledger that listed their names and saluted with, “A thousand years!” Denizens of the nine other Halls of Hell also came to pay their respects.

Monkey sent all of them from the hall. Then Bailiff Ts'ao, responsible for the Life and Death Register, knelt at the foot of the stairs and sent up the register. Monkey took it and leafed through the pages, thinking, “The other day I killed a lot of boys and girls. I wonder if they're listed here?” He turned a page and thought, “If it says that Sun Wu-k'ung beat to death several thousand boys and girls, should I cover it up or must I send a summons?”

He hadn't yet decided when it occurred to him, “Oh, that's right—when I came here before, I just crossed out the names of everyone named Sun,
²
and all those little monkeys still depend on my influence to
keep them free from the judgment of merit and demerit. Anyway, what little devil would dare report what I do? And what little bailiff would dare write it down?”

He flipped over the pages and threw the book down the stairs. Bailiff Ts'ao held it as before and stood beside the left pillar.

Monkey shouted, “Bailiff Ts'ao! Bring me a novel to help me pass the time!”

The bailiff said, “Your Honor, we're extremely busy here. You haven't time to read a novel.” He presented a calendar with a yellow binding and said, “Your Honor, your predecessor always followed a calendar.”

Monkey opened the calendar and looked it over. Right at the beginning there was the twelfth month and the first month came at the very end. Each month began with the thirtieth or twenty-ninth and ended with the first. Monkey was startled and said, “How strange! In the World of the Future the calendar runs backwards. I can't figure it out!”

He was about to summon the calendar-maker and ask him about it when a bailiff entered the hall and said, “Your Honor, tonight at court we must interrogate the Sung prime minister Ch'in Kuei.”
³

Monkey thought, “This Ch'in Kuei must have been an evil man. If he sees me looking like a compassionate monk, why should he be afraid?” He told the bailiffs “Bring the judicial robes,” and he put on the nine-tasseled mortarboard, the robe embroidered with scaly dragons and a pair of iron emotion-repelling shoes. A tin ink-well containing vermilion ink and a copper brush-stand against which leaned two bright red brushes were placed on the table. On the left were arranged a bamboo tube holding slips on which were written the names of minor Underworld clerks, a tube containing slips with the names of all circuit bailiffs, one with the names of bailiffs presiding over courts, and three enumerating the nameless attending devils.

Monkey summoned five kinds of devil-bailiffs. First came the green-robed bailiff leading five hundred green-faced, green-skinned, green-toothed, green-fingered, green-haired devils known as “crack Ch'in-hacking devils.” Then came the yellow-turbaned bailiff leading five hundred gold-faced, gold-armored, gold-armed, gold-headed, gold-eyed, gold-toothed “fierce Ch'in-extinguishing devils.” The red-bearded bailiff
led five hundred crimson-faced, crimson-bodied, crimson-clothed, crimson-boned, crimson-biled, crimson-hearted “crack Ch'in-shaming devils.” The white-bellied bailiff led five hundred white-livered, white-lunged, white-eyed, white-bowelled, white-bodied, white-mouthed “small Ch'in-killing devils.” And finally came the dark-faced bailiff leading five hundred black-clothed, black-skirted, black-boned, black-headed, black-footed (in fact only their hearts weren't black) devils called “good Ch'in-flogging devils.” The devil brigades corresponded to the five colors, and, in accord with the five phases,
⁴
they stood in the five directions. They stood in five orderly groups before the Court of Fearful Ambition.

Monkey also called for patrolling messengers, who wore snow-white turbans and had protruding bones and sinews and black faces with coppery eyes, to guard the area beyond the screen on the east side of the hall. Another squad of patrolling messengers wearing blood-spotted turbans and having protruding bones and sinews, powder-colored faces and trunks like elephants guarded the area beyond the western screen. Monkey placed a certain Bailiff Hsü in charge of these messengers.

Then he summoned a unit of six hundred grassy-haired, tattoo-faced, insect-throated, windy-eyed, iron-handed, copper-headed marshals and put Bailiff Ts'ui in charge of them. One hundred dragon-colored devils, wearing fish clothes and having the heads and mouths of tigers and the horns and hooves of cattle, carried letters and official documents. Some male shamans wearing onion-flower hats received guests and saw them off. Two hundred devils with weedy hair rolled up the screens and swept the grounds. Also at hand there were seven hundred musicians, each with nine dragon-feet and the head of a phoenix.

Monkey ordered, “Little devils, raise the iron-wind flagpole.” The bailiffs passed on his command and everyone outside the screens assented in one voice. The iron pole was raised to the thundering cadence of three hundred and thirty-three drumbeats. Two great white banners flashed and showed eight characters clearly written in pure gold: “Revenge Evil, Purify Hatred, Honor the Upright, Exterminate Deviants.”

Monkey watched as the flagpole was raised and had a notice issued saying:

From Sun, presiding in the main hall: The way of Heaven is vast; the law is beyond all emotion. A bailiff who adjudicates good and evil must be beyond
selfishness. Whoever transgresses the law draws himself into its inexorable net. Proclaimed in this third month.

After the notice was displayed, those outside the screens shouted in unison and beat the drum another round. Monkey issued a summons tablet that read: “Ch'in Kuei.”

A bailiff knelt, received the tablet, and flew past the screen. When he hung it on the eastern pillar, there was a great commotion beyond the screen and another thundering drum round was sounded. Monkey shouted, “Roll up the screens!” Several devils rushed in and rolled up the fighting-tiger screens. All the bailiffs stood facing each other from either side of the hall in flying-goose formation and glared like eagles. From outside there came another round of drumbeats. A conch-shell was blown and cloud chimes struck. A white paper banner was brought in to the chaotic clatter of stones, and on it was written: “The Sung thief, Ch'in Kuei.” The devil-attendants at the first gate shouted, “Bring in the Sung thief, Ch'in Kuei!”

Assent came in unison from outside the screen and the drum again thundered. The conch was again blown and the cloud chimes struck. In the hall a green-toothed bailiff began to sound the Deviant-eliminating Bell. There were drum rolls from the outer gate, drum rolls from the inner gate, and drum rolls from beyond the screen. Smoke billowed and the stars of the Dipper were scattered.

The devils at the outer gate shouted, “Ch'in Kuei enters!” The five classes of devil bailiffs within the screen and all the devil attendants beyond the screen roared in one voice; the noise was thunderous. When the drumming ceased, Monkey gave the command, “Loosen Ch'in Kuei's bonds! Let me question him carefully.”

A thousand jobless devils of heroic spirit quickly released the ropes, dragged Ch'in Kuei down from the stone slab to which he was tied, and kicked him a few times. Ch'in Kuei crouched on the ground, not daring to make a sound.

Monkey called out, “Welcome, Prime Minister Ch'in.”

1
Yama is the King of Hell in Buddhist legend.

2
In chapter 3 of
Journey to the West
, Monkey crossed his own name and those of all simians from the Underworld register, thereby giving them immortality.

3
Ch'in Kuei (1090-1155) was prime minister to the first emperor of the Southern Sung dynasty, Kao-tsung. In pursuing a policy of appeasement with the Jurchen Chin dynasty (1115-1234) which had seized northern China, Ch'in Kuei deemed it necessary to eliminate the capable general Yüeh Fei. This act fatally undermined that faction which, inspired by Yüeh Fei's victories, hoped to retake the north, and paved the way for successful peace negotiations.

4
The five phases of Chinese cosmology are wood, fire, metal, water, and earth, and the directions to which they correspond are east, south, west, north, and the center.