legend 1 - Filial Piety
legend 2 - The Cowherd and the Weaving Princess
legend 3 - Cao Zhi, a Prince who composed a poem within the time
required to walk seven steps
legend 4 -  Hua Mu-lan, a girl who disguised as a boy to fight for her country
legend 5 -  Superwoman Zhong Wu-yan
legend 6 -  A tale of a white snake
legend 7 -  Tang Bo-hu, a famous scholar

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Legend 1 - Filial Piety

Thousands of years ago in China, there lived a farmer, his wife and
their son. The farmer and his son worked in the fields, and his wife
looked after the house. Every day, the farmer's wife cooked a nice
supper for the family when they finished a hard day's work. They lived
happily together.

Time passed and one cold winter came. Snow was falling heavily.
Everyone had to stay at home by the fire place. Unfortunately, the
farmer fell ill and his condition was getting worse and worse. A doctor
was called to see him. Having examined the farmer, he shook his head
and spoke to the farmer's wife in a low and sad voice. "Your husband is
very ill. He will only recover if he can have a bowl of carp soup. The
carp soup will make him feel better, but it is so cold now and no one
can fish in this weather. All the rivers have turned into ice. I am very
sorry, madam." The doctor then left the house. The farmer's wife was
so sad that she sobbed bitterly.

The farmer's son heard what the doctor had said to his mother. Quietly,
he sneaked out of the house, brought with him a fishing basket. He
walked and walked towards the River. Snow and wind were hitting hard
at him and he still kept on walking until he reached the river. Naturally,
the river was covered with thick ice. It was as hard as rock. He slowly
and carefully walked on the icy river and laid down. He was hoping that
the heat generated from his body might melt the cold ice. Hours passed
and he fell asleep. Without knowing how long he had been laying down
on the icy river, suddenly he was awakened by the flowing movement of
the river. At once he realised that the ice had melted underneath his
body. Without hesitation, he quickly turned and dived into the river and.
deep into the river, he caught a carp.

He went home happily and knocked at the door.
"Open the door, mother, quick, quick," cried the farmer's son.
His mother opened the door and was shocked to see his son soaking
wet. "Where have you been and what on earth have you done to
yourself. You are soaking wet. Come in quickly or else you will catch a
cold."
"Mother, mother, I have caught a carp for father. Look", said the
farmer's son.
"How can you get the carp in this freezing cold weather?", asked his
mother with astonishment.
The farmer's son told his mother what he had done, and how he had
melted the ice. After the farmer's wife heard of the story, she
embraced her son and wept.
"You are really our good son", said his mother.
"You 'd better go and change to some dry clothes. I will make you a hot
bowl of congee, while I cook the carp soup for your father," said his
mother.

A couple of days later, the farmer fully recovered and the family were
very happy again.


=========================================================

Legend 2 - The Cowherd and the Weaving Princess

Once upon a time, there was a pretty princess living in the Heaven
Kingdom.  She was the youngest of the seven daughters of the King of
Heaven.  This princess weaved so well that she was called the Weaving
Princess.

One day, the Weaving Princess felt so bored staying in Heaven that she
was thinking of descending down to earth for a visit.  She discussed the
plan with her other six elder sisters, and they all insisted that she had to
ask for permission from the King.

The princess together with all her sisters went to the King and asked
for his permission. However, the King refused saying that she was too
precious to him and he did not want any harm done to her.  The
Weaving Princess retired to her chamber and felt very sad.  All her
sisters were heart broken when they saw her youngest sister so
unhappy.  All of a sudden, the eldest sister had an idea, and suggested
that the Weaving Princess just sneak out for a short trip to the Earth;
she could return before daybreak.  The Weaving Princess immediately
jumped to her joy. All the sisters helped the Weaving Princess dress up
for this exciting journey.  Scented flowers were put on her silken hair,
and colorful ribbons were tied to her tiny waist.  

The Weaving Princess descended to the Earth and landed on a very
scenic plain.  The sky was blue, the trees were green and all the wild
flowers were colorful. She saw happy farmers working hard on the
fields. The Weaving Princess started to stroll along the road, and in the
distance, she heard a rhythmic tune coming from a distance behind
her.  She was attracted to the tune, so she turned back and walked to
that direction.  Not far under a true, there sat a young man wearing a
straw hat, playing a flute.  Besides him there was a cow grazing the
grass.

The Weaving Princess walked towards the young man, and said, "Who
are you? You played the flute very well". "Everybody called me the
Cowherd, because I look after the cows for the villagers while they
were working on the fields” replied the young man.  "Who are you? I
have not seen you before in the village, and you look very beautiful",
asked the Cowherd, showing a bit of his shyness.  The Weaving
Princess told the Cowherd that she lived very far away and she was on
a sightseeing tour.  Both the Cowherd and the Weaving Princess fell in
love at first sight.

The Cowherd told the Weaving Princess that his parents died when he
was young.  All they had left him was a small cottage. They enjoyed
each other's company so much that they suddenly realized that it was
getting dark.  The Weaving Princess just remembered that she had to
return to Heaven.  The Cowherd was extremely sad to see the Princess
leave, and the Weaving Princess found it very hard to break his heart.  
The Cowherd suddenly came out from his shyness and proposed to the
Weaving Princess.  The Weaving Princess happily accepted.

The couple got married soon afterwards.  The Weaving Princess helped
the household expenses by weaving beautiful silk, the Cowherd carried
on with his work in looking after the cows, and they lived happily.

One day, when the couple was taking their lunch in the cottage, they
heard a roaring sound at the front yard. They went out and saw a
Heaven Guard had just arrived.  "Your Highness, by the imperial order
of His Majesty the King of Heaven, you are summoned to return to the
Heaven Kingdom," ordered the Guard.

Both the Cowherd and the Weaving Princess knelt down to receive the
royal decree.  After hearing what the Guard had said, the Weaving
Princess told the Guard that she would not return to Heaven, as she
was married to the Cowherd and was very happy.  The Guard advised
her that no one from Heaven would be allowed to marry any one from
the Earth.  The Weaving Princess begged the Guard to return to the
King and asked for his mercy.  The Guard sympathised with the
Princess and left.

The Weaving Princess thought that was the end of it.  But when the
Guard returned to Heaven and reported to the King what had happened
to the Weaving Princess, the King was furious. He said how a Princess
from Heaven could marry a poor man from Earth. "Go and fetch the
Weaving Princess again," ordered the King. By this time, all the sisters
of the Weaving Princess heard what had happened, and they all came
to beg the King to allow the Weaving Princess to stay with her husband,
whom she loved dearly.  The King rejected the request, and said, “the
Heaven Rule cannot be broken."

The Guard then returned to Earth the second time to deliver the King's
imperial order to the Weaving Princess.  After the Weaving Princess
heard what the King had said, she cried bitterly. The Cowherd was
devastated and completely heart broken.  The Guard took the Weaving
Princess away from the Cowherd and brought her back to Heaven to
see the King of Heaven.  

When the Weaving Princess returned to Heaven, the King of Heaven
sympathised with his daughter, but he could not break the imperial rule.  
He thought of a solution.  He said from now on the 7th day of the 7th
month of each year, sparrows joining Heaven and Earth, so that the
Weaving Princess could meet the Cowherd once a year, would form a
bridge.  

Thereafter, people pay tribute to the Weaving Princess on the 7th day
of the 7th month of the Lunar Year.

=========================================================
LEGEND 3 - Cao Zhi, a Prince who composed a poem within the
time to walk seven steps

During the period of the Three Kingdoms in China, the King of WEI, one
of the three Kingdoms, was called Cao Cao. He had several sons, two
of whom stood out as very talented in different ways. The elder son
was called Cao Pei who was very skillful in military art, but rather
aggressive and ambitious whilst his younger brother, Cao Zhi was a
very kindhearted person; he was a great scholar and had the
reputation of composing poems at lightning speeds. Traditionally, the
heir to the throne should be the eldest son, but Cao Cao and some of
his ministers agreed that Cao Zhi would make a great King if he were to
ascend to the throne.

The end of Cao Cao's had come and he died without leaving a royal
decree announcing the heir to the throne. Cao Pei automically became
the next King of the Wei Kingdom.  After he had become King, he was
afraid that his brother, who had the respect and support of many senior
courtiers, would overthrow him. He decided to eliminate Cao Zhi who
was at that time a governor in a town within Wei. Cao Zhi decided not
to return to the capital to attend his father's funeral because he knows
that his brother had been regarding him as a pain in the neck and would
detain him. Furthermore, he pretended to indulge in drinking with his
officials all the time and neglect the governance of the town so as to
give his brother the impression that he had lost all ambitions
of becoming King. Despite all this, Cao Pei still regarded his brother
as a potential threat to his power and sent an army to arrest Cao Zhi,
on the ground that he did not practise filial piety and failed to attend
the late King's funeral.

When Cao Zhi arrived at the Palace, Cao Pei assembled all the
ministers, and in front of them, he ordered Cao Zhi to be executed. At
this point in time, their mother arrived at the assembly hall and begged
Cao Pei to have mercy on his brother. Cao Pei claimed that his brother
should be punished for not attending the royal funeral, as he, being a
prince, should set an example to the rest of the Kingdom. However,
since Cao Zhi was his brother and in view of his mother's plea, he said
that he deals with his brother mercifully. He said, “I will give you back
your life if you can compose a poem within the time you walk seven
steps."  All the courtiers present were shocked as they all considered
this condition to be too harsh and could not be complied with by Cao
Zhi. It was a virtual execution.

Cao Zhi thought he would take a chance, or else he would be
executed.  He agreed to the terms. Cao Pei immediately ordered his
brother to start walking and smilingly counted the steps. Cao Zhi
started composing a poem and within the time, he walked seven steps
he did finish the poem, which read as follows:
煮 豆 燃 豆 箕,
豆 在 釜 中 泣﹕
本 是 同 根 生,
相 煎 何 太 急。
Beans were cooked in a pot,
by burning beanstalks.
Inside the pot the beans cried out,
”We’ve grown from the same root and spout,
what’s all this ravaging about?”

When Cao Pei heard of the poem, he was so touched by its contents
that he could not help weeping. He felt so ashamed of himself.
However, as he had to consolidate his power and strengthen his
position, he could not let his brother continue to stay in the capital
where he still had much influence and support. As he had to honour
what he had promised, he ordered Cao Zhi to be released and sent to
his township where he continued to be the governor. Needless to say,
Cao Pei had his spies keeping his brother under close surveillance all
the time until his death.

================================================
Legend 4 - HUA Mu-lan, the girl disguised as a boy to fight for
her country

In China, there was once a retired general by the name of HUA. As he
was already 70 years old, he suffered from asthma and could not move
fast as he used to do when he was in the army. He lived with his wife,
two daughters and a very young son.  They lived happily in a village,
outside the capital of China.

His second daughter was called HUA Mu-lan.  When Mu-lan was three
years old, she used to sit at one corner of the courtyard and watch her
father practice martial art with great interest every day.  General HUA
realized that, as her daughter was very enthusiastic in martial art and
started teaching her the martial art skill as a hobby.  In those days, girls
were taught only to weave and embroider, and no way should they be
given the opportunity to learn how to fight. As time went by, she had
grown to a young strong woman and she was so skillful with the martial
art that she was able to fight against half a dozen men at the same
time.  

The Mongolian in the north had been sending their troops across the
border for a number of years to rob the local people of their animals
and harvest. The soldiers had been involved in numerous skirmishes
with the Mongolians but as the country were not particularly strong at
that time; the Chinese soldiers could not drive the Mongolians back to
where they came from.

As the Mongolians had been successful in their advances in a series of
their offences, the Emperor became worried and decided to wage a
war against the Mongolians, Being an ex-service man; Mu-lan’s father
also received the Emperor’s conscription, ordering him to resume his
military role.  

Mu-lan's mother was extremely worried as she just could not see how
her husband, who was not enjoying the best of his health, could join the
army again and fight in a battle. Unfortunately, they had no choice
button obey the Emperor’s order.

One evening, Mu-Lan's uncle, his wife and their son, HUA Ming,
knocked on the door, asking whether they might stay with them for a
little while. They came from a village in the North, which had just been
looted by the Mongolians and their house had been burnt down. Many
others had also killed and made homeless.  HUA Ming had already
enlisted himself in the army and would travel to the front line in a few
days time.

Like her mother, Mu-lan was also worried about her father’s
health and his fitness to fight in a battle. Mu-lan proposed to her
parents that she would enlist as a soldier as well and to fight on
behalf of his father.  Naturally, her proposal was turned down
because she was a girl.  Mu-Lan was extremely disappointed and
retired to her room.

The next day, Mu-Lan's cousin, HUA Min requested Mu-lan's father
to meet his best friend who also intended to join the army to fight
against the Mongolians. HUA Ming’s friend would like Mu-lan’s
father to test his skills so that he might know whether he could
become a soldier.  Mu-Lan's father, who liked people who were
patriotic and sacrifice themselves for the country, happily accepted
the invitation.

The same afternoon, HUA Ming then introduced a young man to Mu-
lan's father. They started a practice fight with Mu-lan’s father using his
spear and the young man was using a spear.  The fight became very
intense and despite his excellent martial art skills, Mu-Lan's father just
could not get the upper hand. After a long exchange of blows, Mu-lan's
father was somewhat exhausted and lost some of his speed. When he
was trying to jump away from the young man, his belt was cut by the
young man’s sword; losing his balance, he felt on the ground.   All the
family members were surprised with the young man’s fighting skills and
agility and immediately rushed to the assistance of Mu-lan’s father.

The young man immediately knelt down in front of Mu-lan's father, and
took off his cap.  "I am sorry, father, please pardon me if I have
offended you", said the young man who was in fact Mu-lan.  Mu-lan had
dressed herself like a man and tried to show her father that if she could
disguise as a man, she could be enlisted to be a soldier to defend her
country.  She further tried to persuade her father that defending the
country should not only be the responsibility of men; it could be the duty
of women too.

Seeing that Mu-lan's skill was supreme and none of the family members
recognized her as a girl, both her parents agreed, if she would let HUA
Ming to go along with her.

Therefore, Mu-land was on her way to the frontier with her cousin, HUA
Ming, making sure that she would not expose her identity accidentally.  
It was a long and rough journey to the frontier.  When they arrived, their
initial tasks were to guard the warehouse, which stored food for the
army.  Mu-lan mixed very well with all her fellow soldiers, some being
gentle but others rough and uncultivated. She had kept her gender
identity extremely well.

One day, the Commander of the Army ordered all the soldiers together
in order to assess the ability of all the soldiers, so that he would deploy
them to different duties.  To everyone surprise, Mu-lan won most of the
fighting exercises and scored extremely high marks.  His cousin HUA
Ming was very happy for her.

In view of Mu-lan’s high standard of fighting skills, she was ordered to
join the battalion in the north-west frontier, which was under the
command of General Li. Mu-lan requested HUA Ming to go with her.  
General Li was a fine soldier and a leader and he treated everyone with
sincerity. When Mu-lan reported to him, he immediately charmed her.

Mu-lan had been stationed in the north-west frontier for ten years.
Although General Li had won several battles, his army still had not
completely driven the enemies away.  By that time, the Commander
who had received reports from General Li that Mu-lan was a brave and
intelligent soldier who could command the respect of her colleagues had
already promoted Mu-lan to Deputy General.  

One night, Mu-lan received a report from the scouts that the enemies
who had been lying low for some time, were swimming across the river
towards their side.  She immediately reported this to General Li, and
together they immediately deployed their solider to ambush the
Mongolians who were led by their Chief. As soon as the Mongolians
landed, Mu-lan led her soldiers to attack them. Very soon, General Li’s
soldiers surrounded the Mongolians and many of them surrendered. At
that time, Mu-lan saw the Chief of the Mongolians escape to the west;
she immediately chased after him on her horse, and charged right past
him. Realizing that somebody was trying to attack him by his side, the
Mongolian Chief threw a dagger at Mu-lan. Although Mu-lan had ducked
her head, she was still hit byte dagger at the arm. At the same time,
she threw a spear right into the Chief's chest. He fell from the horse
and was killed instantly.  All his soldiers surrendered to General Li.  

When she returned to her camp with the help of her soldiers, a
physician was called in to treat her wound. When she was asked to
take off her clothes, she refused vehemently. General Li was anxious
that she should receive medical treatment immediately and ordered her
to tear off the sleeve so that the physician could treat her wound.  No
one was suspicious that Mu-lan was a girl.

The good news of General Li’s victory was broken to the Commander,
and he said he would ask the Emperor to reward Mu-lan with one
thousand teals of gold and a promotion.  Mu-lan turned down the
handsome reward courteously and instead she requested the
Commander to discharge her from the army so that she could return
home to see her parents.  Her wish was granted.

Before Mu-lan left General Li and her fellow soldiers who had fought
with her for over 10 years, she invited General Li to visit her on his
journey back to the capital. General Li agreed.

The village where the HUA's family lived was greatly honored by Mu-lan’
s victory. Everything had returned to normal and the HUA family was
once again able to enjoy peaceful life. However, Mu-land missed
General LI very much and was praying night and day that he could visit
her soon.

It took General Li several months to hand over his official affairs before
he could return to the Capital. He made a detour on his way to visit Mu-
lan as he had promised. Mu-lan's brother opened the door and invited
General Li to the sitting room.  Mu-land's parents heard so much about
General Li from Mu-lan, that they themselves made General Li very
welcomed.  "Tell Mu-lan that General Li has come to visit her", Mu-lan's
father told his son.  General Li sat there and waited, still without
realizing that Mu-land was a girl.  Mu-lan quickly put on a bit of makeup
and put on a very feminine outfit, and went to the sitting room to meet
General Li.  "Glad that you have come to visit me, General Li," said Mu-
lan.   "I have come to see Mu-lan. May I ask who are you", asked
General Li. Mu-lan's father joined in and said "Mu-lan in fact is my
daughter. She had disguised herself as a boy so that she could defend
her country on my behalf, as I was too old to be a solider. She has
displayed filial piety towards us and showed patriotism towards her
country." explained Mu-lan's father.  General Li admired Mu-lan's
courage, and virtues and he fell in love with her immediately.

Mu-land then married General Li and lived happily ever after.

====================================================
Legend 5 - Superwoman Zhong Wu-yan

During the period of Warring States, the King of the State of Qi always
indulged himself in leisure, wine and women. One day he went hunting,
taking with him a bow and arrows. He saw a wild goose flying past and
immediately shot it with his arrow. He was no doubt a good expert
shooter and shot down the goose. All his courtiers and guards
applauded and praised him profusely. They then went to look for the
goose but when they saw the dead goose, they did not see the King’s
arrow, which bore the King’s emblem. However, a woman walked
slowly towards the royal party and as she came near to the King, he
saw her holding the arrow. The woman understood that standing in front
of her was the King; therefore, she knelt in front of the King, just slightly
lifting part of her face. The King was utterly displeased and when he
was just about to question her as to why she had removed the arrow
from the goose, the beauty of the woman stunned him, though he could
only see a small part of her face. He thought this woman must be a
fairy who had descended from Heaven. The King was so enchanted by
this woman and immediately wanted her to be one of his concubines.

When asked by the King that her name be, she replied with her
sweet voice, “I am called Zhong Wu-yan.” “I would like to take you
back to the Palace so that you can be my concubine. You will be
able to enjoy unlimited wealth and lead a most luxurious life.” said
the King. Zhong Wu-yan said she would not agree unless she was
made Queen. Charmed by her heavenly beauty, the King acceded
to her demand without hesitation.

After thanking the King for his love and grace, Zhong Wu-yan rose and
looked up at the King. The King was flabbergasted by what he saw, as
the person standing in front of him was the ugliest woman he had ever
seen. There was a large dark birthmark on the other side of her face,
which the King had not seen when he proposed to her. Therefore, he
thought of a way to get rid of Zhong Wu-yan and told her that his
guards would escort her back to her place. He would then choose an
auspicious date for the royal wedding. Zhong Wu-yan then happily bade
farewell to the King.

Six months had gone past and Zhong Wu-yan had heard nothing from
the King. She decided to make the journey to the Palace herself to see
the King. She took with her two baskets of her belongings, which she
carried with a long pole across her shoulders. When she arrived at the
palace, she asked to see the King. The imperial guards naturally would
not allow a peasant woman to have an audience with the King.
Regarding herself as the future queen of the land, ZhongWu-yan used
the pole that she had brought with her to beat the imperial guards.
Although she was outnumbered, she gave the guards, who were
supposed to be skillful and fierce fighters, so many blows that some of
them were injured and some fled back to the palace. They made a
report to the King who was enjoying himself in the imperial palace with
his most favorite concubine, Xia Ying-chun, and some of his courtiers.
Xia Ying-chun, knowing fully the rule of the game within palace politics,
often used her beauty to charm the King so that she could monopolize
the King’s time.

It took the King some time before he could remember the name of
Zhong Wu-yan. By this time, it was too late for the King to refuse to
see Zhong Wu-yan as she had already fought her way into the
palace.

When Zhong Wu-yan was the King, she knelt down and reminded
him that he had promised to marry her and crown her as the Queen.
The King was minded to deny what he had promised but was advised
by his courtiers that he, as King, had to keep his words.  Such advice of
course angered Xia Ying-chun who immediately thought of a way to
block the marriage. She noted that Zhong Wu-yan was very skillful in
martial art and therefore believed that she might not have a good
education. She therefore suggested to the King that Zhong Wu-yan
should compete with her in Chinese calligraphy; if she defeated Zhong
Wu-yan, she should leave the palace immediately and would never
return. The King was delighted with the suggestion as he welcomed
whatever suggestion would nullify his promise. The King accepted Xia
Ying-chun’s suggestion and asked Zhong Wu-yan whether she would
agree. When Zhong Wu-yan agreed to the proposed competition, Xia
Ying-chun’s joy knew no bounds as she considered herself as the most
intellectual concubine. The rule for the competition was that they had to
complete the script before an incense stick had burned out.

While Xia Ying-chun was concentrating hard on her calligraphy,
Zhong Wu-yan had fallen asleep as she was tired after her long
journey to the palace and a fight with the imperial guards. When the
incense stick had burned half of its way, Zhong Wu-yan woke up,
picked up a broomstick from her basket, and brushed it swiftly on the
sheet of paper used for the competition. Before the incense stick had
burned out, Zhong Wu-yan had already finished her piece of calligraphy
and won the competition.

Xia Yin-chun was unwilling to concede defeat. She again suggested to
the King another way of blocking the marriage. She asked her maid to
spread out a large piece of cotton wool, and said that both Zhong Wu-
yan and she would roll over it; the one without catching any cotton wool
would be the winner. Zhong Wu-yan again agreed and started first. Her
body was so light that when she rolled over the cotton, she was just like
a feather and of course, she did not catch any cotton wool on her
clothes.  It was then Xia Yin-chun’s turn. Although she was confident
that she could do it just as well, her clothes were all covered with cotton
wool after she had rolled herself over the cotton

As the competition was held in front of the ministers, the King had no
choice but to declare that Zhong Wu-yan was the winner. She ordered
that Zhong Wu-yan be crowned Queen.

Although Zhong Wu-yan had been crowned Queen, the King had not
visited her in her chamber as he as before spent virtually every night
with Xia Ying-chun. There was nothing that Zhong Wu-yan could do to
win the King’s heart.

One day, a messenger from Mongolia came and challenged the King
that if there was no one who could play a qin, which was a musical
instrument, then the King should cede a piece of land from the State of
Qi to Mongolia. Playing the qin was of course no problem, but the qin
that the Mongolian representative had brought was made of lotus root
and did not produce any sound when played. The King and his ministers
knew that the Mongolians were finding an excuse to invade Qi which
was comparatively weak and could not fend off any attack from
Mongolia. As Xia Ying-chun was the most intellectual of all the
concubines and could play the qin beautifully; she was summoned to
play the qin given by the Mongolians. To everybody’s disappointment,
she could not play even one tune from the qin. A minister then advised
the King to invite Zhong Wu-yan to try it out. Zhong Wu-yan came out
from her chamber and played a lovely melody with the lotus root qin.  
The messenger from Mongolia knew that his mission had failed and had
to return to Mongolia empty handed.

The King was very happy, but after adjourning the court, he went toXia
Ying-chun’s chamber, ignoring Zhong Wu-yan. Zhong Wu-yan was very
sad and told the ministers that the King would be good to her when
there was a crisis, but would spend all his time with Xia Ying-chun when
every thing was peaceful. By now, Zhong Wu-yan, with her exceptional
ability, had already gained the respect from all the ministers.

Although the Mongolians could not find a good excuse to force the State
of Qi to cede land, they nevertheless sent troops across the
borders to kill Qi citizens and loot their belongings. One day, the King
received an urgent report that the Mongolians had successfully
broken through the defense line at the northern border and were
approaching the capital. Everyone in the court assembly was frightened
and could not think of a way to stop the enemy. The King was so
frightened that his body trembled.  Knowing that Zhong Wu-yan had
supernatural powers, the premier stepped up and said to the King that
he and the other ministers were confident that the Queen would be able
to stop the advance of the Mongolians. The King then summoned Zhong
Wu-yan to put on her armour and to rescue the country. Zhong Wu-yan
agreed to lead the Qi army and to defend her country, on the condition
that if she won the battle, the King would welcome her at the gate to
the capital. The King agreed.

Zhong Wu-yan marched to the frontier with her army which she had little
time to train. She used her super power to drive the Mongolians to a
valley where the Qi soldiers had already set up an ambush. Zhong Wu-
yan flew herself into the Mongolian army and killed many of them. She
found the Mongolian Chief and captured him.

Zhong Wu-yan brought the Mongolian Chief with her back to the Qi
capital .One night during her journey back to the capital, she dreamt
that a fairy god mother had erased the black birth mark from her face.
As this was only a dream, she did not pay much attention to it and
continued her journey back to the capital.  

The report that Zhong Wu-yan had won the battle had reached the  
King. When Zhong Wu-yan arrived at the gate, the King was already  
there waiting to welcome her. However, beside him stood Xia Ying-
chun. Zhong Wu-yan knew that the King would not change his ways and
would continue to favour Xia Ying-chun because of her beauty. Although
she felt aggrieved, she nonetheless dismounted from her horse, knelt to
the King and handed over the Mongolian Chief to the King. The
Mongolian Chief surrendered and promised to pay tribute to the State
of Qi every year.  When the King saw Zhong Wu-yan, he could not take
his eyes off her face as his Queen appeared to be the most beautiful
woman he had ever seen. Not knowing this herself, one of Zhong Wu-
yan’s ladies in waiting told her that her birth markhad disappeared and
that she was stunningly beautiful. Zhong Wu-yan did not believe this but
when she looked at a mirror presented to her by a maid, she was in a
state of ecstasy and realized that the dream that she had on her
journey back to the capital was true.

When the King was just about to take the hand of Zhong Wu-yan tohis
private chamber, Zhong Wu-yan stepped back.  She told the King that
she would only return with him to the palace if Xia Ying-chun, who had
all along made the King indulge in leisure, was to be sent toan isolated
chamber all her life. The King agreed and so ordered.

Zhong Wu-yan later took over the command of the Qi army and
transformed it into one of the strongest amongst the warring states.
She also made the King attend to his court affairs diligently.

====================================================
Legend 6 - A tale of a white snake

Once upon a time, there lived two 1000-year old snakes. One was
white and she was called Bai Su Zhen. The other was green, and she
was called Siu Qing. Siu Qing had been Bai Su Zhen’s maid since they
started practicing witchcraft, which enabled them to live a very long life
indeed. The longer they lived, the more powerful their witchcraft had
become. Their witchcraft had reached such a supreme level that they
could transform themselves into whatever form they liked.

One day, they thought it would be fun to turn themselves into human
beings. They shed their scales and fangs and grew themselves two
arms and legs. Upon complete transformation, both of them became
very pretty young women. They decided to go out to have some fun.
Off they went, and strolled along the village nearest to their cave. While
they were trying to enjoy their new experience and were indeed
surprised by the large number of young men looking at them, Bai Su
Zhen saw a very handsome man and immediately fell in love with him.
Noticing Bai Su Zhen’s anxiety to make acquaintance with the young
man, Siu Qing summonsed her witchcraft power and started making it
rain. Bai Su Zhen then invited the young man to their house to take
shelter. The house obviously was just built by them a moment ago with
their witchcraft. The young man introduced himself as Xu Xian and was
naturally overjoyed by the invitation from such a beautiful woman. He
also immediately fell in love with Bai Su Zhen. Siu Qing could discern
the loving feeling that Bai Su Zhen and Xu Xian had with each another,
and she decided to be their matchmaker. She then proposed to Xu Xian
on behalf of her friend. Xu Xian regarded this encounter as godsend
and agreed to marry Bai Su Zhen. They got married the next day.

Xu Xian was a hardworking and honest man. He started a small
business and the three of them lived happily afterwards.

Good days never lasted long. One day, Xu Xian went out to meet his
business associate in order to close a deal. On the way, a monk who
told him that according to his appearance, he (the monk) could tell that
evil spirits had troubled Xu Xian stopped him. He said that although he
had never met his wife before, he could tell by his grey forehead and
his lackluster eyes that he had been cohabitating with evil spirits. He
warned that if Xu Xian did not get rid of the evil spirits soon, he would
die of energy deprivation. Xu Xianof course did not believe in the monk
and told him he was a liar. However, knowing the deep danger that Xu
Xian had let him into, the monk persisted and offered Xu Xian three
charms: one was to be placed under his hat, the second one on the
door of the house, and the third one was to be burnt in front of his wife.
He guaranteed Xu Xian that if he followed his instructions and use the
three charms as directed, his wife, who was the source of the evil
sprits, would lose temporarily her witchcraft power and return to her
original form. Xu Xian went home, unsure of what the monk had said.
He hesitantly told Bai Su Zhen what the monk had said. Bai Su Zhen
held her temper and calmly asked her husband to try out the three
charms so that she could prove that she was not an evil spirit, as she
knew that her witchcraft was so supreme that she could overcome the
spell from the charms.  Xu Xian was very relieved to see that what the
monk had told him was unfounded.

A few months later, Bai Su Zhen became pregnant. She and Xu Xian
were of course very delighted, as they would soon become parents.
However, one day, a monk from the Golden Mount Temple called on Xu
Xian, and told him that he could see from afar that his house was
completely enclosed by evil spirits. According to his observation, his
wife was a snake. Needless to say, Xu Xian did not believe in what the
monk had told him.  The monk advised Xu Xian that he could try to get
his wife to drink some herbal wine on the Dragon boat Festival, and he
would then know immediately whether his wife was a human being or
not.

It was the Dragon Boat Festival and happened to be the hottest day of
the year. Both Bai Su Zhen and Siu Qing knew that the fierce heat from
the midday sun would reduce their witchcraft power and they could not   
sustain their human being form in the daytime. Bai Su Zhen asked Siu
Qing to hide herself until sunset so that even if she returned to her
original form, nobody would realize that she was Marx Xian’s maid. Bai
Su Zhen believed that the level of her witchcraft was higher than that of
Siu Qing and she could withstand the exceptional heat longer. As the
sun was so fierce and the heat became unbearable, Xu Xian returned
home from work early. He brought home some herbal wine and offered
it to his wife.  Not realizing that it was an herbal wine, Bai Su Zhen
drank it to quencher thirst. A little while later, Xu Xian noticed that his
wife was not feeling well, and asked her to take some rest.  Bai Su
Zhen then retired to the bedroom. Hoping that some cold water would
make her wife feel comfortable, Xu Xian brought a bowl of cold water
to the bedroom. When Xu Xian entered the bedroom, he saw a big
white snake on the bed. He was so horrified that he immediately
passed out. Dusk came and the temperature started to fall. Siu Qing
was able to transform herself to a human being again and immediately
made her way back to Xu Xian’s house. She found Xu Xian lying on the
floor unconscious. She also found Bai Su Zhen who had just
transformed herself again to a human being.


They then administered some Chinese herbs to Xu Xian who then
gradually came round. Bai Su Zhen and Siu Qing told Xu Xian that they
also saw a big white snake in the house but they had driven it away.
Bai Su Zhen then asked Xu Xian whether he would still love her if she
were an evil spirit as had been alleged by the monk. Xu told her that his
love for her was eternal; no one could take away his love for her. After
Xu Xian had declared his eternal love for her, Bai Su Zhen then told Xu
Xian the truth and admitted that both she and Siu Qing were in fact
snakes with the ability to stay in the form of human beings. She assured
Xu Xian that they meant no harm to him, and indeed loved him as much
as he loved her. Xu Xian reassured Bai Su Zhen that he would love her
forever as he found her to be a tender and caring wife.

Days went by and Bai Su Zhen and Xu Xian continued to live happily
together, waiting for the arrival of their child. One day while Xu Xian
was on the way to the market, he met the monk from the Golden Mount
Temple again. The monk tried to persuade Xu Xian that he is in great
danger and he should come and stay in the Golden Mount Temple so
that he could protect him against evil spirits. Xu Xian refused. Out of
anxiety to help Xu Xian, the monk tied up Xu Xian and took him to the
Golden Mount Temple. As Xu Xian failed to return home that evening,
Bai Su Zhen and Siu Qing found out that Xu Xian had been taken away
by force to the Golden Mount Temple. They immediately went to the
Temple and requested to see the monk. They begged the monk to have
mercy on them and release Xu Xian so that they could be reunited. The
monk refused and angrily said that not only would he not return Xu Xian
to them, but also he would not tolerate both Bai Su Zhen and Siu Qing
to live in the form of human beings, as they were in fact evil spirits. He
declared that he would only return Xu Xian to them if they could flood
the Golden Mount Temple. The monk realized that this was an
impossible task for anyone to achieve.

The pair was furious and wanted to teach the monk a lesson. They
immediately used their witchcraft power to raise the water level of the
Yangtze River above the Golden Mount Temple, which was situated at
the top of the hill, hoping to force the monk to release Xu Xian.

At that critical moment, Bai Su Zhen started her labour and was about
to give birth. She had on alternative but to retreat to the forest with Siu
Qing. Bai Su Zhen gave birth to a baby boy. She knew that the monk
would not forgive her for what she had done – by raising the water level
to the top of the hill in order to rescue Xu Xian, Bai Su Zhen had flooded
a large area near the Temple and killed many innocent people. She then
asked Siu Qing to take her son away so that the monk would not harm
him in any way. In the meantime, the monk was able to break Bai Su
Zhen’s witchcraft power and make the flood subside. He then captured
Bai Su Zhen in the forest and imprisoned her in a pagoda with a spell.
Bai Su Zhen lost all of her witchcraft power and returned to be an
ordinary snake.

Xu Xian was later reunited with his son, but he was heartbroken to have
lost his beloved wife.

====================================================
Legend 7 - Tang Bo-hu, a famous scholar

Once there were four very famous scholars in Su Zhou in China. One of
them was called Tang Bo-hu.  One day while he was travelling in
another province, he saw a very pretty young woman dressed in purple  
walking with several girls behind a sedan chair. From the look of it, the
sedan chair, which was carried by four men, belonged to a very rich  
family. He immediately realised that it was love at first sight and he  
followed the party to find out where they were to.

The party reached a temple where the sedan chair was lowered to the
ground. An elegantly dressed woman stepped out from the sedan chair
and walked into the temple with the girls.  Tang Bo-hu walked up to the
four men and asked them whom the girl dressed in purple was. One of
them said, "Oh, she is Qiu Xiang, our Ladyship's maid. Our Lady is the
wife of the Prime Minister and despite Qiu Xiang's arrogance; she is the
apple of our Ladyship's eye. As she is the most beautiful of all the
maids, she is known as the Queen of the maids!”

In order to be able to get close to Qiu Ziang, Tang Bu-hu went to the
Prime Minister's residence the following day, to seek employment. He
hid his identity by putting on dresses of a lowly person. He was first
employed as a servant to accompany the Prime Minister's two sons to
study.

While Tang Bo-hu was working in the Prime Minister's residence, he
found various excuses to be near to Qiu Xiang. Without realising Tang
Bo-hu was one of the great scholars in Su Zhou,  Qiu Xiang found him
unpleasant because he always gazed at her and was too much of a
sweet talker to her.  

After Tang Bo-hu had worked with the Prime Minister for several
months, he was found to have excellent knowledge of classical Chinese.
His ability to write good poems was appreciated by the Prime Minister
who appointed him the tutor of his own sons.

Notwithstanding his promotion to a respectable job, Tang Bo-hu hasstill
failed to win the heart of Qiu Xiang, although he was very popular with
the other maids.  He then sought advice from his close friend, Zhu Zhi-
shan, who was also one of the four famous scholars in Su Zhou.  Zhu
Zhi-shan taught him a very clever way of getting Qiu Xiang to marry him.

A few days later, Tang Bo-hu indicated to the Prime Minister that he
would like to resign from the position of personal tutor of his two sons.
The Prime Minister naturally was reluctant to see leave and asked him
why he had decided to resign. Tang Bo-hu told the Prime Minister that
he had been offered a job by Zhu Zhi-shan who had also promised to
get him a wife. The Prime Minister was furious with Zhu Zhi-shan and
regarded his offer to Tang Bo-hu as an unfriendly act to him. As he
valued Tang Bo-hu's profound knowledge and was determined to retain
him in his employ, he offered to increase his salary and let him
choose one of his female available maids as his wife. Having heard the
Prime Minister's offer, Tang Bo-hu smiled from his heart and accepted
the offer.  

The next day, the Prime Minister summoned all his maids and had them
line up in the main hall in his residence and announced that whoever
was to be chosen by Tang Bo-hu would be his wife.

When Qiu Xiang has to know of the arrangement, she requested the
Prime Minister's wife to exempt her from the selection. As she was not
keen to be married to Tang Bo-hu, she thought of a reason and told the
Prime Minister's wife that she would like to serve her Ladyship
indefinitely. Her Ladyship appreciated her loyalty and granted her
request.  

When Tang Bo-hu had finished inspecting all the girls, he could not find
Qiu Xiang and was deeply disappointed. He complained to the Prime
Minister that he had not kept his promise as he had not been allowed to
choose his wife from ALL available maids.

The Prime Minister was very angry and ordered that the remaining maid
should participate in the selection.  The Prime Minister's wife could not
resist her husband's order and instructed Qiu Xiang to go to the main
hall at once.

Seeing that Qiu Xiang was approaching, Tang Bo-hu asked for the
permission of the Prime Minister to marry her. The Prime Minister
agreed.

On the wedding night, Tang Bo-hu told Qiu Xiang the truth that in fact
he was Tang Bo-hu, the famous scholar; he had lowered himself to
work in the Prime Minister's residence in order to win her love. Qiu
Xiang was extremely pleased that she had married a famous scholar,
and she did not mind to be his eighth wife.
ORIENTAL WOMEN TALK

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