The Heavenly Sword & the Dragon Sabre – Chapter 40 – Part 8

Zhang Wuji held the letter and stared into space for a long while. At length he folded the paper, tucked it inside his robe, and drew from the silver chest the Holy Fire Tablets,¹ which he laid upon the central table. In a loud voice he addressed the assembly, “In years past our Order suffered misfortune, and the twelve Holy Fire Tablets were lost. Fortunately the Persian Holy Order kept them safe in trust. Now this great work is accomplished, and the wishes of the former Order Leader are fulfilled. The Ming Order, from its Leader to its newest disciple, shall forever be grateful for the Holy Order's virtue and righteousness.” From inside his robe he drew the six tablets he had earlier seized from the Mysterious Wind Messenger and her companions, and laid them beside those already upon the table. Then he bent his knees and knelt before the twelve Holy Fire Tablets.

The heroes of the Ming Order knelt in turn. Zhao Min was not of the Ming Order, but since everyone else was on their knees, she could not stand alone and so knelt with the rest. The Persian envoys, from the Great Sage, Wisdom and Victorious Guardian Kings down, likewise bowed before the Holy Fire Tablets.

When the ceremony was done, Zhang Wuji turned to thank the Persian envoys. His words were many and earnest, and the envoys could not follow them all. Zhao Min spoke clearly, “The Holy Order’s loyalty is great, and its gifts weighty. Our thanks to the envoys for travelling so far. Grateful we are, grateful we are!” The whole assembly laughed aloud, well pleased. Drums beat and music played as they laid out a banquet to feast the envoys of the Holy Order.

Zhang Wuji brought out the sheepskin of the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth² and wrapped it carefully in brocade. He requested that the envoys of the Holy Order carry it back to Persia as a return gift to the Holy Order Leader. This manual had belonged to the Holy Order from the first. In years past it had found its way to the Central Land, and it was for its recovery that the Sacred Maiden of the Holy Order, Daiqisi, and her daughter Xiaozhao had come to the Central Land. Zhang Wuji had himself mastered the manual, and could now choose disciples within the Order to transmit it, so that the art would continue to be taught in the Central Land. His return of the sheepskin to the Holy Order bore the same meaning as the Holy Order’s return of the Holy Fire Tablets: it allowed Xiaozhao to claim a great merit. Zhao Min then took out the golden box she had once had split by Zhang Wuji’s jian and later mended, and placed inside it the pearl flower that had once been tucked beside Xiaozhao’s hair. She asked the Great Sage Guardian King to deliver it to Xiaozhao.

Zhang Wuji’s thoughts turned to Xiaozhao, and his heart grew heavy. After the banquet the Wisdom Guardian King drew out a small bundle and slipped it quietly into Zhang Wuji’s hands. “This is a private gift from our Order Leader to Order Leader Zhang,” he said softly.

Zhang Wuji accepted it and returned to the inner chamber. Opening the bundle, he found two sets of undergarments and a pair of shoes. The stitching was Xiaozhao’s own handiwork. He slipped on the shoes, and they fitted perfectly. Tears welled and fell. Though much time had passed, she still remembered the measure of his feet. How deep her longing must have been.

Zhang Wuji invited the three Guardian Kings to the inner chamber and instructed them in the essential points of the Great Shift of Heaven and Earth and the Holy Fire Tablet Skill,³ as far as he himself had mastered them. The three Guardian Kings were overjoyed. They prostrated themselves upon the ground and gave thanks, declaring that their journey to the Central Land had been repaid a hundredfold by receiving these divine arts, more precious than any reward.

Two days passed before Zhang Wuji had finished transmitting the arts. He wrote a letter in reply to Xiaozhao, and the Ming Order of the Central Land formed ranks to send off the Persian envoys with due honour. Zhang Wuji, Zhao Min, Yang Xiao, Fan Yao, Zhu Yuanzhang and the rest each presented lavish parting gifts.

The assembly returned to the Holy Fire Great Hall of the Ming Order in Yingtian Prefecture. The Order’s chief officers stood before the hall. Zhang Wuji opened a brocade parcel and drew out Yang Dingtian’s handwritten injunction upon the Holy Fire Tablets, which he had allowed each of them to read when he first led them into the secret passage beneath Bright Peak. The circumstances had been desperate, and they had not had time to study it closely. Now, reading it again, they recognised the brushstrokes of the former Order Leader and saw the ten or more vermilion seals bearing Yang Dingtian’s name. Their hearts were moved, and they bowed to the ground. Zhang Wuji held the injunction in both hands and read it aloud:

“From generation to generation the Order Leaders have transmitted the Holy Fire Tablets’ Three Great Commands and Five Minor Commands. As the years have passed, many among the faithful have ceased to observe these commands, so that the Order’s discipline has fallen into decay. I, by reason of my own thin virtue, have been unable to correct this, and am deeply ashamed before the Lord of Light and the generations of Order Leaders who placed their trust in me. When the Holy Fire Tablets are one day recovered, these Three Great Commands and Five Minor Commands shall be promulgated throughout the Order, and the restoration of our Central Land’s Ming Order shall depend upon them. I therefore set forth below the Eight Commands, great and small, handed down by our ancestors. Let those who henceforth lead the Ming Order bear in mind the Lord of Light’s great mercy towards the world, the difficulty with which our forebears founded this Order, and devote themselves to recovering the Holy Fire Tablets, that they may rouse and strive, so that our Order may shine brightly in the world.”

He continued by reading the Three Great Commands and Five Minor Commands inscribed upon the Holy Fire Tablets, as recorded in the former Order Leader’s injunction:

The Three Great Commands of the Holy Fire Tablets:

First Command: No member of the Order shall serve as an official or rule as a king. From the Order Leader to the newest disciple, all shall hold the salvation of the world as their purpose and seek no private gain. Therefore none shall sit the imperial examinations, none shall accept appointment by the court, none shall serve as general or chancellor, none shall hold any office great or small, and none shall make himself a king or seize territory and style himself emperor. When resisting the rulers of a foreign house, one may for the time being take the title of ‘prince’ or ‘general’ for the sake of rallying support. But once the great work is accomplished, from the Order Leader to the humblest disciple, all must withdraw to the status of commoners, dwelling in the fields and wilderness, vigilant and diligent, devoting themselves to the salvation of the people, the succour of the world, and the rooting out of evil. None shall accept the court’s honours, titles or enfeoffments, nor the court’s grants of land or gold and silver. Only those who dwell among the common folk may resist the officials on the people’s behalf and slay officials to protect the people. Once a man becomes an official or a king, he has put the common folk beyond his concern.

Second Command: No member of the Order shall oppress or harm the people. The purpose of this Order is the salvation and protection of the people. Whatever benefits the common folk is the highest and most urgent duty of the Order. What the Order requires may be taken by force from the government, from official granaries and treasuries, from the rich and the great houses. We may accept the donations of the common people, and we may levy grain from them. But the people must eat their fill before the faithful may lift their chopsticks. In times of famine, where there is food, the people shall be fed first, and the faithful shall eat afterwards. If the food is not enough, the faithful shall not eat. When a member of the Order quarrels or fights with common folk, he who wounds a common folk shall suffer punishment one degree heavier. If fault lies on both sides, the member of the Order shall be punished first.

Third Command: No member of the Order shall fight among themselves. All the faithful of this Order, whether Order Leader, Left and Right Bright Messengers, Guardian Kings, Banner Commanders, or Gate Messengers, down to the newest disciple, shall not divide into factions and fight one another. If opinions differ, debate and argument are permitted. Coarse language and insults extending even to one’s ancestors do not break this command. But he who raises his hand to strike breaks the command. He who wounds or kills a fellow member commits a grievous sin. Where disputes arise, they shall be referred to a superior for judgement of right and wrong, and thereafter all must obey the ruling and end the quarrel, preserving harmony forever.

The Five Minor Commands of the Holy Fire Tablets:

First Command: All members of the Order shall keep faith and honour. Their word shall be as a mountain, and they shall not break a promise. They shall keep faith even with those outside the Order.

Second Command: All members of the Order are brothers and sisters, as close as flesh and blood. They shall value affection and loyalty, and remain true to one another through life and death.

Third Command: Respect one’s elders and superiors. Be filial to father and mother. Be loving towards brothers. Care for friends.

Fourth Command: Respect women, and do not treat them with levity or make advances. If a man lies with a maiden or a widow, he must take her as his wife. Otherwise he must treat her with propriety. A friend’s wife must not be trifled with. A friend’s daughter must not be spoken to with impropriety.

Fifth Command: Regard the Ming Order as one’s life. When a superior gives a command, one must obey it with all one’s strength. He who betrays the Order or passes intelligence to the enemy shall be put to death without mercy. Towards those outside the Order, one shall be courteous and amiable, willing to take the lower place, and must not lightly give offence or make enemies for the Order. The prohibition on eating meat is hereby abolished.

Zhang Wuji finished reading and took up the Holy Fire Tablets sent by the Persian envoys. “These are the Holy Fire Tablets which the Persian Holy Order restored to our Order some days ago. The Three Great Commands and Five Minor Commands carved upon them match word for word the text recorded in the former Order Leader’s injunction. Before our Order lost the Holy Fire Tablets, the Eight Commands, great and small, had already been transcribed in full. The former Order Leader merely copied down what had been handed down from previous generations.” He paused, then said in a clear voice, “Brothers, the return of the Holy Fire Tablets to our Order is a joy beyond measure. The commands recorded upon the Holy Fire Tablets are the great teachings handed down by our ancestors from generation to generation. Ought we to observe them with the utmost reverence?”

The Ming Order’s assembly cried with one voice, “Of course we ought to observe them with the utmost reverence.”

Peng Yingyu said, “Order Leader, with your permission: when the former Order Leaders carved these Three Great Commands and Five Minor Commands upon the Holy Fire Tablets, the common people were oppressed and harried by the officials until they could endure no more. The Order stood up for the people, and naturally could not itself become an official or a government. But today the Tatars occupy our land, and the sacred soil of China lies under a foreign house. The foremost purpose of our Order is none other than the driving out of the barbarian horde and the rescue of the countless people from beneath the Tatars’ iron hooves. That the Order Leader should become a king, and the brothers should become officials, is not for the oppression of the people, but for their salvation and protection. Therefore your subordinates beg the Order Leader to take the title of king for the people’s sake.” Yang Xiao, Fan Yao, Wei Yixiao and the rest echoed his words.

Footnotes

1. 圣火令 – Shènghuǒ Lìng. The Holy Fire Tablets, twelve golden tablets of the Ming Order that symbolise the Order Leader’s authority. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

2. 乾坤大挪移 – Qiánkūn Dà Nuóyí. The Great Shift of Heaven and Earth, the supreme secret art of the Ming Order. See Wuxia Wiki. ↩

3. 圣火令神功 – Shènghuǒ Lìng Shéngōng. The Holy Fire Tablet Skill, martial arts derived from the inscriptions upon the Holy Fire Tablets. ↩