The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 25 – Part 5

Early the following morning, the messengers of the Five Elements Banners and the Tianying Order's various ranks set out from Mount Wudang in all directions, bearing the Order Leader's decree: all cult members of Incense Master rank and above were to assemble at Butterfly Valley in Huaibei before the Mid-Autumn Festival in the eighth month, to pay respects to the new Order Leader and discuss affairs of great import. Their deputies were to remain in their respective posts and oversee local matters.

As the Mid-Autumn Festival was still some weeks off, Zhang Wuji, seeing that Yu Daiyan and Yin Liting had not yet fully recovered, feared their injuries might relapse and undo all that the treatment had achieved. He therefore lingered on Mount Wudang to tend the two, and in his spare hours sought Zhang Sanfeng’s instruction in the martial principles of Taiji Fist and Taiji Swordplay. Wei Yixiao, Peng Yingyu, Cannot Tell and the rest ranged far and wide, seeking news of Zhao Min and her companions.

Yang Xiao had been commanded by the Order Leader to remain on Mount Wudang, but owing to the matter of Ji Xiaofu he felt deep shame before Yin Liting. He kept to his chambers, reading behind closed doors and rarely venturing forth. More than two months passed in this way. One afternoon, Zhang Wuji came to Yang Xiao’s room to discuss the great affairs that must be laid before the cult at the Butterfly Valley assembly. Burdened while young and inexperienced, he carried a constant dread of proving unequal to the task and spoiling matters of consequence. Yang Xiao was steeped in the Order’s affairs, and for that reason Zhang Wuji had kept him close at hand for counsel at every turn.

They had been speaking for some while when Zhang Wuji took up at random a book from Yang Xiao’s desk. On the cover was inscribed the title Record of the Ming Order’s Transmission to the Central Land,¹ and beneath it a line in small characters reading: Respectfully composed by your disciple Yang Xiao, the Bright Left Messenger. Zhang Wuji said, “Bright Left Messenger Yang, you are gifted alike in letters and in arms. You are truly a pillar of our Order.” Yang Xiao replied, “I thank the Order Leader for his kind words.”

Zhang Wuji opened the book and found the text written in meticulous small regular script, each matter supported by ample citation. The book set forth plainly that the Ming Order had its origins in Persia, where it was known as the Manichaean cult.² In the first year of the Yanzai era under Empress Wu of the Tang, a Persian named Fuduodan arrived at court bearing the cult’s Three Treatises,³ and the Chinese first began to study its scriptures. On the twenty-ninth day of the sixth month in the third year of the Dali era, the Manichaean temples known as Great Cloud Temples of Bright Radiance were established in Chang’an and Luoyang.⁴ Thereafter, in the great cities of Taiyuan, Jingzhou, Yangzhou, Hongzhou and Yuezhou, such temples were built in turn. But in the third year of the Huichang era, the court ordered the slaughter of Manichaean adherents. From that time forth the Ming Order became a forbidden secret cult, persecuted by the authorities of every succeeding dynasty. In its struggle for survival the Order’s affairs grew of necessity clandestine, and at length the character for mo in Mani’s name (摩) was altered by others to mo meaning demon (魔), so that the world came to call it the Demonic Cult.

Zhang Wuji, reading thus far, could not help a long sigh. “Bright Left Messenger Yang,” he said, “the tenets of our Order are to root out evil and pursue good. They differ little in substance from those of Buddhism and Daoism. Why, from the Tang dynasty onwards, has every dynasty visited such cruel slaughter upon us?”

Yang Xiao replied, “Though Buddhism speaks of universal salvation, its monks shave their heads and withdraw from the world, each pursuing pure cultivation and taking no part in worldly affairs. Daoism is the same. Our Order, by contrast, gathers the village folk together. Whoever among them faces danger or hardship, all the cult members unite their strength to offer aid. When do the authorities not oppress the honest folk? Where in the realm does it not happen? Wherever men suffer injustice at the hands of the authorities, our Order is bound to resist. In the end, there was no choice but to take up arms.”

Zhang Wuji nodded. “Only when the court and its officers cease to oppress the common folk, and when the local bullies and tyrants dare no longer ride roughshod over the law, only then can our Order truly flourish.”

Yang Xiao slapped the table and rose to his feet, crying, “The Order Leader’s words have struck to the very heart of our tenet.”

Zhang Wuji said, “Bright Left Messenger Yang, do you believe such a day will truly come?”

Yang Xiao mused, “Let us hope it does. In the Song dynasty, when our Order’s Leader Fang La raised the standard of revolt, his purpose was no more than to force the authorities to cease oppressing the common folk.” He turned the pages of the book and pointed to the passage recording how Fang La, the Ming Order’s leader, had risen in rebellion in eastern Zhejiang and shaken the world. Zhang Wuji read with quiet fervour, then closed the book and said, “A true man ought indeed to act so. Though Leader Fang died a martyr, he accomplished a deed of thundering consequence.” Their hearts beat as one, and both felt their blood boil as though seethed.

Yang Xiao continued, “Our Order has been under strict prohibition in every generation, yet it has never been overthrown. In the fourth year of the Shaoxing era of the Southern Song, there was an official named Wang Juzheng,⁵ who presented a memorial to the emperor on the affairs of our Order. The Order Leader may care to read it.” He turned to a passage in the book where Wang Juzheng’s memorial had been transcribed in full.

Zhang Wuji read the memorial, which ran as follows:

In the prefectures and counties of the Two Zhe circuits, there exists a custom of ‘eating vegetables and serving demons.’ Before Fang La, the prohibitions were still lenient, and the demon-serving custom had not yet reached its full ferocity. Since Fang La, the prohibitions have grown ever stricter, yet the demon-worshippers have proved impossible to suppress… . Your servant has learned that among the demon-servers, each village and township has one or two cunning fellows whom they call demon heads. These record the names of all the village households and bind them together in oath as a demon’s party. All who serve the demon abstain from meat, and whenever one household has cause for concern, all of the party exert themselves to provide relief. Abstaining from meat keeps expenditure low, and low expenditure makes sufficiency easy. Those of the party are dear to one another, and being dear, they succour one another, so affairs are readily accomplished… .

Zhang Wuji, reading thus far, said, “That Wang Juzheng, though he harboured enmity towards our Order, nonetheless recognised that its followers were frugal and plain-dealing, loving one another and offering mutual aid.” He continued with the memorial:

… Your servant holds that this carries the intent of the ancient kings in guiding their people to love and befriend and aid one another. To relish plainness and teach thrift, this has the unadorned simplicity of antiquity. Yet the present-day governors of the people, unable to pursue such governance themselves, see the demon heads seize upon it to blind and beguile their followers, so that all return virtue to their demon. Then they attach to it doctrines of crookedness that harm the teaching. The common folk, being ignorant, say: ‘If we follow the demon’s words and walk the demon’s path, our food is easily sufficient and our affairs are easily accomplished.’ They therefore hold the demon heads’ doctrines worthy of belief, and vie to flock to them. This is why, the more stringent the prohibitions grow, the more impossible it becomes to suppress them.

Reading to this point, Zhang Wuji turned to Yang Xiao and said, “Bright Left Messenger Yang, ‘the more stringent the prohibitions grow, the more impossible it becomes to suppress them’, those words are plain proof that our Order has the hearts of the people. May I borrow this book, so that I may know more of the deeds and teachings of our Order’s past sages and worthies?”

Yang Xiao said, “I had intended to offer it for the Order Leader’s instruction.”

(Note: The account of the Ming Order’s history given above is based on historical fact. See Wu Han’s essay ‘Manichaeism and the Great Ming Empire’ for further detail.)

Zhang Wuji put the book away and said, “Third Uncle Yu and Sixth Uncle Yin are greatly recovered. We shall set out for Butterfly Valley tomorrow. There is another matter I wish to discuss with you, Bright Left Messenger Yang. It concerns Buhui.”

Yang Xiao, supposing Zhang Wuji was about to propose marriage, was greatly pleased. “Buhui’s life was a gift from the Order Leader. This father and daughter have been grateful beyond measure, and it is no new thing. Whatever the Order Leader commands, I shall obey with joy.”

Zhang Wuji then recounted, point by point, how Yang Buhui had confided her feelings to him on that day. Yang Xiao, on hearing this, was struck dumb with astonishment. He stood speechless for a long while before saying, “My humble daughter has been favoured by Yin the Sixth Xia. It is indeed an honour to the Yang household. Yet the two are far apart in years, and differ in generation besides. This … this …” He repeated this twice, and could go no further.

Zhang Wuji said, “Sixth Uncle Yin is only forty, in the very prime of his strength. When Buhui calls him uncle, there is no true bond of blood between them. It is merely the courtesy of the shimen.⁶ If their hearts are agreed and their tempers match, and this match were to be fulfilled, then the enmity of the former generation would be dissolved entirely. That would be a great and splendid thing.”

Yang Xiao was by nature open and generous, and owing to the matter of Ji Xiaofu, every time he met Yin Liting he was weighed upon by a sense of shame. He reflected that if Buhui had set her heart on Yin Liting, then a marriage between them would atone for his own past fault, and from that day forth the Ming Order and the Wudang Order would harbour no lingering resentment between them. He bowed deeply and said, “The Order Leader has seen fit to bring this about. It shows his care and concern, and I offer my thanks in advance.”

That evening Zhang Wuji spread the happy news, and the assembled heroes flocked to offer congratulations to Yin Liting. Yang Buhui, overcome with shyness, hid in her room and would not come out.

Zhang Sanfeng and Yu Daiyan, on learning of the matter, were at first much surprised, but soon joined in Yin Liting’s joy. When it came to the question of the wedding day, Yin Liting said, “Let us wait until Eldest Shixiong and the rest return to the mountain, and all of us brothers are reunited. Then will be time enough to hold the celebration.”

The following day Zhang Wuji, accompanied by Yang Xiao, Yin Tianzheng, Yin Yewang, the Iron-Crowned Daoist, Zhou Dian, Xiaozhao and others, took their leave of Zhang Sanfeng and his disciples and set out for Huaibei. Yang Buhui remained on Mount Wudang to tend Yin Liting. Though the strictures between men and women were rigorous in those days, the folk of the wulin paid little heed to such niceties.

The Ming Order’s party travelled by day and lodged by night, heading east. All along the way they saw fields lying fallow and the people gaunt with hunger. The Huai and the coastal regions had once been wealthy and fertile, but now the starving dead lay thick across the roads, and the affliction of the common folk had reached its utmost extreme. The heroes sighed to see the people suffer so. Yet they knew also that the Mongols’ cruelty was such that their occupation of the Central Land could not long endure, and the time was ripe for the heroes of the realm to rise and cast them out.

That day they reached Jiepai Ji, not far from Butterfly Valley. They were still on the road when suddenly the clamour of battle rose ahead. Two armies were engaged. The party spurred their mounts forward and, passing through a belt of forest, saw more than a thousand Mongol soldiers drawn up on left and right, assaulting a mountain stockade. From the stockade flew a great banner bearing a red flame, which was the standard of the Ming Order. The number of defenders within was small, and they seemed hard-pressed, yet they fought on staunchly and refused to yield. The Mongol soldiers loosed arrows like rain and bellowed, “Demonic Cult rebels, surrender at once!”

Zhou Dian said, “Order Leader, shall we join in?”

Zhang Wuji said, “Good. Let us first kill the officers in command.”

Yang Xiao, Yin Tianzheng, Yin Yewang, the Iron-Crowned Daoist and Zhou Dian received the order and charged into the enemy ranks. Their jian moved in sweeping arcs, and first two Yuan captains were unhorsed. Then Yin Yewang cut down the thousand-man commander who led the army. The Yuan soldiers, leaderless, fell at once into disorder.

Those within the stockade, seeing aid arrive, raised a great shout of joy. The stockade gates swung open and a tall man in black, wielding a long spear, burst out at the head of the charge. The Yuan soldiers fell back before him, none daring to meet his onset. Wherever the spear flashed, a Yuan soldier was pierced and toppled from his saddle. The Yuan ranks broke in clamour and fled on all sides.

Yang Xiao and the rest watched this great figure, magnificent as a god of war, and could not help but cry their admiration, “What a hero and a general!” By now Zhang Wuji had plainly recognised the man’s face. It was Chang Yuchun, the elder brother he had so often thought of. Yet the battle was still fierce, and he did not approach.

The Ming Order’s forces attacked from front and rear, and the Yuan army suffered five or six hundred dead and wounded. The remainder dared not stand and broke in rout, fleeing in all directions.

Chang Yuchun planted his spear and laughed aloud, calling out, “Which band of brothers has come to my aid? I am deeply grateful.”

Zhang Wuji called back, “Big Brother Chang, you have no idea how I have longed for you!” He leapt forward and clasped Chang Yuchun’s hand tightly.

Chang Yuchun bowed and said, “Order Leader and brother both, I am at once your elder brother and your subordinate. I am so rejoiced I know not what to say.” The two, long parted and now met again, wept as they embraced.

It transpired that Chang Yuchun’s force fell under the Great Wood Banner of the Five Elements Banners. Zhang Wuji’s succession to the post of Order Leader had already been made known to him by the Banner Chief Wen Cangsong. For many days Chang Yuchun had led his cult brothers in eager vigil, awaiting Zhang Wuji’s arrival, when unexpectedly the Yuan army had come to attack. Seeing himself outnumbered, Chang Yuchun had intended to feign weakness and lure the Yuan forces into the stockade before annihilating them in a single stroke. But Zhang Wuji and the others had arrived so suddenly that he had seized the chance to sally forth. Though his rank within the Ming Order was not high, he now paid his respects in turn to Yang Xiao, Yin Tianzheng and the rest. The heroes, knowing him to be the Order Leader’s sworn brother, dared not assume the manner of superiors, but greeted him with every courtesy and took his hand in friendship.

Footnotes

1. 明教流传中土记 – Míngjiào Liúchuán Zhōngtǔ Jì. A historical account of the Ming Order’s transmission to China, composed by Yang Xiao. ↩

2. 摩尼教 – Móní Jiào. Manichaeism, the dualistic religion founded by the prophet Mani in third-century Persia. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 三宗经 – Sān Zōng Jīng. The Three Treatises, a foundational Manichaean scripture. ↩

4. 大云光明寺 – Dàyún Guāngmíng Sì. Great Cloud Temples of Bright Radiance, the Manichaean temples built across Tang-dynasty China. ↩

5. 王居正 – Wáng Jūzhèng. A Southern Song official who submitted a memorial on the Manichaean cult. ↩

6. 师门 – shīmén. The house of one’s shifu: the master, the fellow disciples, and the rules and obligations binding them. ↩