Part 3

Her deeds were talked of far and near and the people began to say, “Surely a God has come down to lead us, and help us hold our mountain against the roaming tribes of banditti.” When she was but sixteen years old she was placed at the head of the mountain clan. The men and boys looked upon her as the French did upon Joan of Arc and gave her their fullest confidence and devotion. She knew their mountains, all the paths leading up and down, the places which needed to be guarded, the caves where she and her soldiers could hide and spring out upon an unsuspecting foe.

The men of the land had either been away fighting, or at home tilling laboriously their poor lands, so there was no one who knew the hills and valleys as did Chin Ting. In every attack she was successful until the neighbouring tribes were subdued and left the little kingdom in peace, for, they said, “We cannot fight against a god!”

When their enemies were thus overcome Chin Ting’s father and mother thought that the time had come when their daughter should marry. From the north and the south, the east and the west, came offers for her hand, but she would listen to none of them, for she said she had still to rescue her land from their great southern foe, the Chinese.

Her parents laid their commands upon her until at last she yielded so far as to say, “I will marry none but the man who can defeat me in my own mountains.” She wrote her vow on a tablet and had it set up in the main pass through which all must go to reach the heights.

Many were the battles fought by the heads of the other tribes, but she easily held her mountain.

One day the general of the northern Sung dynasty, Kao Chun Pao, on his way to report to the Emperor, crossed the pass and seeing the tablet read the inscription, and in disgust broke the slab into bits, saying, “Is it possible that in our great land there is a woman with so little self-respect as thus to proclaim her want of feminine delicacy? She must surely be some great overgrown ugly creature. I would stamp upon her even as I do upon the broken bits of this tablet,” as he ground them under his feet.

A man of the mountains, who had heard from his lookout post the bitter words, ran in hot haste to Chin Ting and told her all that the General had said and done. The proud maiden was furious at being thus scorned, and blowing her horn summoned the men of the mountains to hear the insult offered her and to revenge her wrong.

Meanwhile General Kao had decided to give battle and punish this woman.

While he was making inquiries as to who she was, her men came upon him with great fury. With amazement the famous general saw the young girl who led them. The engagement was long and severe, but resulted in the defeat of the Chinese leader, who was made a prisoner and carried to the home of Chin Ting to be beheaded.

Now, General Kao was a very handsome young man of distinguished bearing.

His admiration for his conqueror was so evident in his looks and words, that he not only disarmed her anger but won her heart. She decided to marry rather than to kill him. The wedding was hastily arranged, and the General with his bride set out at once for Peking, to take his report to the Emperor and to take command of a large force which was to move southward from the capital to recapture the city of Yang Chow, which was in the hands of southern rebels. According to the law of the land, any officer, under orders, who married during a campaign should be beheaded. When the Emperor heard the story of General Kao he ordered that he be degraded and at once executed, but later, as he heard more and more of the valour of the wife he had taken, he said, “If she will take the city of Yang Chow, her husband’s life shall be her reward.” She was given command of the army in place of Kao Chun Pao, who was allowed to accompany her as assistant.

She led the army to the south and attacked the city day after day with resistless energy and resourcefulness. After a long siege the stronghold fell into her hands. The Governor was taken prisoner and sent as voucher for the completeness of her conquest to the Emperor. On his arrival the papers granting pardon to her husband were sent to Chin Ting, and she was made Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial forces. For thirty years she led them in many victorious battles and recovered much territory which had been lost by the northern kingdom in previous years. A picture showing her attack on the gates of Yang Chow is a great favourite with the Chinese, and always on sale at the New Year when Chinese homes are freshly decorated.

A DAUGHTER OF THE ORIENT

Two thousand years ago, in the time of the Han dynasty, there lived in China a man by the name of Chun Yü I. He was a small official and, because of some offence by which he had angered his superior, he was sentenced to have his feet cut off.

Great was the sorrow in the home when the decision was made known. No fires were lighted in the kitchen, for no one could think of eating. With deep sighs and bitter tears Mr. Chun bewailed his fate. “Alas! alas!” said he; “how bitter is my lot! Had I a son he would suffer for me. To me have come five daughters. Ah! had the gods only been good and given me one son! What can girls do? Indeed I am accursed.”

Hour by hour he thus lamented. His wife and children mourned and fasted, but “Alas! what can we do?” was their hopeless cry.

The fateful day came when the father must go to the capital, there to receive his punishment.

In the early morning his little daughter “Glory,” only ten years old, came and knelt down before him, and with many tears besought him to allow her to accompany him. He refused, but she persisted with prostrations and knockings of her head on the brick floor.

“If you do not let me go I can but die. How can I live through these days and not know how you are? I must go. Indeed I either go or die.” All of these words were accompanied with so many knocks of the little head on the bricks at his feet that the father gave way and told her mother and the servants to get her and her nurse ready for the journey.

On the road she told the servants that, as early as possible, after reaching the city they must find a way for her to see the Emperor, for she was going to plead for her father.

Now, in those days the Emperor of China was not shut away from his people as he was later, and little Glory was taken by her father’s steward to the palace gate. Here she knocked her head to the soldiers on guard and asked to be allowed to see the Emperor.

The hearts of the rough men were touched by her distress and sweet, pleading little face and the request was sent in to the palace. Word came back that little Glory was to enter. With trembling hands and quivering lips, but shining eyes, she knelt before her Emperor. Many times did she make her prostrations, and at his command she told her story with much weeping.

She told him how good and kind her father was; that every one loved him; he had never made a mistake before, and indeed the thing for which he was to be punished had been much exaggerated. She finished with, “O Great Emperor, I entreat you to allow me to become one of your slaves and thus redeem my father’s mistake, and secure his pardon. I shall have long years to serve you, and my father is old. Alas! alas! the gods have given him no son to plead for him, and I am but a little girl! I entreat, I beg, oh, hear me, Great and Glorious Emperor, spare my father and let me be your slave forever.”

The Emperor’s heart was melted within him as he looked upon her distress and heard her voice so full of anguish; and, telling her to rise and stand near him, he said, “You are indeed a filial daughter. A country with such an one is blest like the possessor of a precious jewel. I pardon your father and restore his official position; and you may go home with him.”

The Emperor then called his ministers and commanded them to have it published abroad that from that day the punishment of cutting off the hands and feet of criminals was to be done away with forever. “This,” said he, “is an expression of my pleasure that such a daughter of the gods lives within the ‘four seas.’”

When little Glory was taken to the prison where her father was confined, she knelt before him and told him of her visit to the palace and the Emperor’s promise. Great was his surprise that his little daughter had saved him, and it was with difficulty they convinced him of the truth of her story.

When he could no longer doubt he said, “My life is sweet because the gods have given me such a daughter. What need have I of sons?”

THE WILD GOOSE AND THE SPARROW

The great Chinese sage, Confucius, had a son-in-law, Kung Yeh Chang, who understood better than any one before or since his day the habits of birds. So much time and study did he give to them that tradition says he understood all bird language and many stories are told of him in this connection. He built a beautiful pavilion in his garden, which was rich in flowers, trees, shrubs, and ponds, so that the birds loved to gather there; thus he was able to spend many delightful hours in their company listening to their wise and unwise talk.

Many of these conversations have been handed down the past two thousand years in the wonderful folklore of China, and from these one can see the influence they have had on the customs and traditions of the people.

Among the Chinese the wild goose has the reputation for having more virtues and wisdom than any other bird. This is brought out in the following story. One day, while Kung Yeh Chang was resting in his pavilion, a small house-sparrow lit in a tree near-by and commenced singing and chattering. A little later a wild goose dropped down by the pond for a drink. Hardly had he taken a sip when the little sparrow called out, “Who are you? Where are you going?” To this the goose did not reply and the sparrow became angry and asked again, “Who are you, that you should be so proud and lofty you cannot pay attention to my questions? Why do you consider me beneath your notice?” and still the goose did not answer. Then, indeed, was the little sparrow furious. In a loud, shrill voice, he said, “Every one listens to me! Again I ask, who are you with your lofty airs? Tell me or I will fly at you,” and he put his head up, and spread his wings, and tried to look very large and fierce.

By this time the goose had finished drinking, and looking up he said, “Don’t you know that in a big tree with many branches and large leaves the cicadas love to gather and make a noise? I could not hear you distinctly. You also know the saying of the Ancients, ‘If you stand on a mountain and talk to the people in the valley they cannot hear you,’” and the wild goose took another drink.

How the little sparrow chattered and sputtered, shook his wings, and at last said, “In what way are you, with your long neck and short tail, better than I? In what is your value greater. Tell me, and if you can prove it you shall be my teacher. What, for instance, do you know of the great world? Now, I can go into people’s houses, hide in the rafters under their windows, see their books and pictures, what they have to eat and what they do. I can hear all the family secrets, know all that goes on in the family and state. I know who are happy and who are sad. I know all the quarrels and all the gossip. All the other birds are glad to see me because I can tell them the latest news, and I know just how to tell it to produce the best effect. So you see that I know much that you, with your great stupid body, can never hope to know.”

“We consider,” said the wild goose, “that the highest law of virtue and good is to give others an equal chance with ourselves, or even to give them the first choice. Because of this we always fly either in the shape of the character ‘Man’ or the figure one. No one takes advantage of the other. We believe in the ‘Three Bonds,’ i.e., Prince and Minister, Husband and Wife, Father and Son. Also in the five virtues,—Benevolence, Righteousness, Propriety, Knowledge, and Truth. With us, if the male bird dies, the female flies alone; if the female dies the male flies alone; if both parents die their young fly alone for three years. We have our unchanging customs of going north in the spring and south in the winter. People come to depend on us, and make ready for either their spring work or the cold of winter. Thus, while we have not known the family or state skeletons and the gossip of the women and servants, we are a help to man.

“Now, you have no laws binding you. As a family, you sparrows are selfish; you gossip, chatter, steal, and drive away every one else, only thinking of your own good. Even among yourselves you quarrel. Because of these things you are treated with contempt and looked lightly upon by all. Indeed, so much so that you are a by-word. Now, we are respected and held up as models. Do you not hear parents and teachers tell their children and scholars to come and go quietly by themselves to and from school; to go straight ahead without looking to the right or left; not to gather in groups and chatter like house-sparrows? Do not the respectable people do the same on the street and in the house? Is there not a proverb that ‘There are many people without the wisdom and virtues of the wild goose’? You do, indeed, chatter about small affairs like foolish women and girls and thus are beneath my notice and I bid you good-day.”

All this time the poor little sparrow was trembling with rage, and so great was it that she could not fly away nor keep her hold on the branch of the tree, and so she fell to the ground, and thus she died.

Kung Yeh Chang exclaimed as he looked at her and then at the goose away in the distance, “Ai ya [sad, sad], most of mankind are like the sparrow, but the truly superior man will be like the wild goose and follow the rules of the Three Bonds and Five Virtues.”

A CHINESE HERO

Han Hsin

The youth of Western lands know very little of the great land of China, with its long history reaching far back into the dim past. How little is known of the fierce, stupendous struggles in the long ago, when China was not one country but was composed of many small kingdoms whose people were constantly fighting with each other for supremacy.

It was in those early days that were born China’s heroes who have been remembered ever since in song and story. To the Chinese but little stage setting is necessary for their national heroes. In their theatrical plays their imaginations fill in, with the help of mere suggestions, all that is needed to make their surroundings very real to them.

One of China’s greatest heroes was Han Hsin. He lived in the kingdom of Chin, very many centuries ago. When he was a small boy he showed remarkable wisdom, and, although he was very small of stature, his teachers predicted a great future for him.

One day, when Han was only six years old, he and another little boy were playing ball, when the ball came down into the deep hole of the millstones. They could not get it out at first and the other lad wanted to call for help. Little Han Hsin said, “No, I will think of a plan.” Finding a long stick, he began filling the hole with earth. As he poured the earth into the hole, he kept stirring the ball around, thereby keeping it on top of the earth until he could reach it with his hand.

Another time he saw a woman, in rage, jump into a large earthen water-barrel. He was not strong enough to draw her out, and no one was near, so he found a stone and beat with all his strength on the barrel until he made a hole in it near the bottom, and the water running out, the life of the woman was saved. Many such stories, and more wonderful ones, were told of him, and his fame spread all over the kingdom.

In those days every prince had a wise man, or a group of wise men, about him to give him advice regarding the affairs of his kingdom. Han Hsin was presented to his Prince by his teachers as worthy of holding such a position, but when the Prince and his officers saw how small he was, they laughed and said, “We do not want a child,” and would not accept his services.

Han Hsin then went and presented himself at the court of the Prince of Chin Chou. Now, this Prince, Chin Pa, was noted for his strength. It was said of him that, if he tried, he could breathe the roof off the house; also that he could lift himself up by the hair. When he was small he was fed on the milk of the tiger. Thus his strength was not the strength of man.

When Han Hsin was presented to this Prince by his teachers as a wise man and one who could help him make his country strong, he laughed and said, “What can such a boy do? If I hold out my head and tell him to cut it off he has not the strength to do it, even though I stand still and do not resist him. How can there be wisdom in such a small boy? How can such as he help me? He cannot fight for me or wait on me. Take away the child, I do not want him.”

The teachers urged the Prince to give the young man a trial and at last he said, “Here is my spear—let him hold it up straight for half a day. If he is strong enough for that, he may find something to do in my service.” Alas! Han Hsin could not even for half an hour hold up the great iron spear, and he was driven with laughter and derision from the court.

When the teachers remonstrated with the Prince he said, “I want no such weakling in my kingdom.”

“But you have made an enemy of him,” they urged, “and if you do not use him, you should kill him. Although you, our Prince, will not believe us, we know if you let him go he will, in the end, be used by some other kingdom to destroy yours.” At this Chin Pa laughed loud and long, but seeing the anxious and serious faces of the teachers he said, “I will take some soldiers and go after him, and if you wish I will kill him.”

Now when Han Hsin, in bitterness of heart, was driven from the court he took the road leading to the mountains, and was part way up when, chancing to look back, he saw the mounted band coming. They did not see him, but he knew that they were in search of him. He knew that he could not escape, so he stretched himself out on the side of the hill with his feet toward the top and his head toward the bottom of the hill, and pretended that he was asleep.

When Chin Pa came up and saw him there he smiled to himself and called to his men to remount, and away they went back to the castle, laughing and making merry over the thought that any one who would sleep in such a position, could rend the kingdom away from their great Prince.

When the teachers heard of the outcome of the pursuit of Han Hsin they were troubled and said, “It is craft and not stupidity—go back again, overtake him and kill him.” To please them and for the sport of it, the Prince started out again. By this time Han Hsin had crossed the mountains and was walking on the plain. Again he saw them coming, and looking about he discovered a very ill-smelling hole, and bending over it he exclaimed, as his pursuers came up, “Ah, how sweet, how fragrant!”

This time the Prince declared that Han Hsin was entirely foolish, and he would not kill a fool, for a man who did not know the difference between the sweetly fragrant and the offensive was not one a Prince need fear.

Thus Han Hsin was left to himself, and returned to his own country and village. His own Prince, Han Kao Lin, again refused him. At that time this Prince was at war with Chin Pa and was very hard pressed by the latter, and anxious to surround himself with wise men. He could not see, however, how there could be wisdom in such a small man as Han Hsin. But, at last, after much persuasion, he gave a reluctant permission for him to be made leader of the army which was about to set out to attack Chin Pa.

Old pictures show Han Hsin seated on a throne and worshipped by the military men and soldiers under him. They believed that he was to lead them to victory and save their country. It is said that he knew every soldier, and could tell at a glance how many there were in a company passing before him and who were absent from the ranks. He was one of the greatest military leaders, if not the greatest, in Chinese history.

One time, when engaged in war with the Kingdom of Chao, he drove the enemy to the bank of a river, but they got over in their own boats and destroyed them on the other side. Feeling secure in the thought that the army under Han Hsin could not cross that night, they made a camp and had a feast. But Han Hsin was not an ordinary man and he commanded every man to get a board of some kind and in the darkness to swim across quietly. This they did, and fell upon the merry camp and won a great victory.