Chapter 370: Kuafu Chases the Sun

In early April, at Gui County, Longxi Commandery — the settlement of Qin.

Seven hundred years ago, Feizi raised horses for King Xiao of Zhou between the Qian and Wei rivers. The horses multiplied so greatly that the King was overjoyed and decided to reward Feizi, permitting him to establish a settlement at a place called "Qin" and granting him land as a dependent vassal.

From that time on, there was one more clan-state in the world called "Qin."

This was also the First Emperor of Qin's first visit to the Qin settlement. Standing atop the small town and gazing out in all directions, he saw that it lay on a small terrace where two streams converged, bordered by a cliff gully to the west and backed by Mount Gui to the north. Apart from a few thousand mu of land along the streams, the surrounding area far and near was overrun by woods and thickets. Beyond that, there was only desolate, wretched stone, barely a place to set foot. The pitch-black mountain range stretched endlessly to the north, blocking the bitter winter winds.

Before coming here, the First Emperor had not known that the land his ancestors first dwelt on was so barren...

He turned his head and looked at the accompanying Chancellor Wang Wan. "Chancellor, what rank was a dependent vassal in the Zhou era?"

Wang Wan replied, "Reporting to Your Majesty, a dependent vassal ranked below a grandee, roughly equivalent to a senior serviceman in the Spring and Autumn period."

The First Emperor could not help but sigh with emotion. "The people of Chu are always boasting that their ancestors drove a crude cart in ragged clothes to open up the mountain forests. Were my own ancestors any different? Seven hundred years of time, thirty-six generations — from a dependent vassal's serviceman to the honored Son of Heaven, from a tiny settlement to the master of the Nine Provinces."

This was a leap from earth to heaven, a miracle created by the Qin people.

As the one who had ultimately fulfilled this mission, the First Emperor could not suppress a sense of pride in his heart. But then he immediately thought of the strange dream he had a few days earlier, when he was offering sacrifices to Feizi between the Qian and Wei rivers...

What hint was ancestor Feizi trying to give him through that dream?

"Your Majesty!"

The travel-worn Cavalry Commandant of the Palace Guard, Wang Li, ascended the town wall, cupped his hands, and said, "The Grand Shaman of the Western Shrine has been welcomed and has arrived!"

"He comes at the perfect time!"

After crossing Mount Long, the First Emperor had been pausing and traveling in stages at the traveling palaces of the counties and settlements along the way, precisely so that here at the Qin settlement — the very first foothold of the Qin people — he could have a shaman interpret his dream.

The Western Shrine was the greatest shrine in the Guanzhong region, even older than the Chenbao Shrine. Over five hundred years ago, when the Zhou court fled the calamity of the Quanrong and moved east to Luoyi, Qin Xianggong — then merely a "Grandee of the Western March" — dispatched troops to escort them. For this meritorious service, he was enfeoffed by King Ping of Zhou as a feudal lord, with the title "Count of Qin," and granted the lands west of Mount Qi.

Only then did Qin, which until that time had been merely a dependent vassal and grandee, formally establish a state and gain the right to exchange envoys and tribute with the feudal lords. Qin Xianggong was overjoyed and established the Western Shrine in the then Qin capital, Qianyi (Long County), where he used the Grand Sacrifice of three each of black-maned colts, yellow oxen, and rams to worship the ancestor of the Ying clan, the White Emperor Shaohao.

For all these reasons, the First Emperor held high expectations for the Grand Shaman of the Western Shrine, "Wu Ya." But to his disappointment, this shaman was advanced in years. Bumped and jolted the whole way in a cart driven by the impatient Wang Li, he was already utterly exhausted. When interpreting the dream for the First Emperor, he merely repeated the same old formulas from the Day Book over and over, offering no novel insights.

The First Emperor was quite displeased. He waved his sleeve to dismiss Wu Ya, thinking to himself, "Li Si's Petition Against the Expulsion of Guest Officials once said: If one insists that only what is produced in Qin may be used, then night-glowing jade disks will not adorn the court; rhinoceros-horn and ivory objects will not be kept as curios; the women of Zheng and Wei will not fill the rear palace; fine horses like jueti will not fill the outer stables; the gold and tin of Jiangnan will not be put to use; the cinnabar and azurite of Western Shu will not be made into pigments."

"This applies not only to goods and talents, but also to diviners and shamans. The shamans of Qin are wooden-tongued, dull, and stupid, knowing only how to flip through a few volumes of the Day Book, interpreting the meaning of my dream as no different from that of a common black-headed peasant! How absurd! Had I known this, I would have gone to the trouble of seeking far rather than near, and had someone bring the Yan and Qi occultists from Xianyang to inquire thoroughly — they might have satisfied me."

The Emperor had others interpret his dream, yet did not fully believe what the interpreters said; they absolutely had to say things that suited his own mind.

Just as he was thinking this, the palace guard reported that Heifu, who had been sent to Chencang to fetch someone, had also returned.

"Very well, let us see what the Grand Shaman of the Chenbao Shrine has to say."

The First Emperor did not hold much hope. He had already decided that if he was still not satisfied, these native shamans could spend the rest of their lives guarding those few shrines and need never come to Xianyang again...

However, the Shaman of the Chenbao Shrine, Wu Zhi, was the same as before — sallow complexion, speaking with a phlegmy rattle in his voice, which displeased the Emperor. But after listening to the Emperor recount his dream with half-hearted attention, Wu Zhi pondered for a moment, then abruptly prostrated himself. "Your Majesty's dream — this old man now knows its origin."

He bowed deeply. "Congratulations, Your Majesty! This is a tremendously auspicious omen! Comparable to Duke Mu's seven-day slumber of old!"

Duke Mu of Qin had once been unconscious for seven days, dreaming that he traveled to the dwelling place of the Heavenly Emperor, roamed the Heavenly Court, and heard the Broad Music performed — an event regarded by successive Qin rulers as an omen that High Heaven had chosen Qin to dominate. This interpretation, quite different from those of Wang Wan and Wu Ya, gave the First Emperor a bit more patience. He nodded and allowed him to continue.

"Grand Shaman, please elaborate."

"I beg Your Majesty's permission to begin with the twelve golden men in the dream." Wu Zhi began to speak with fervor and assurance.

"In the early twenty-sixth year, twelve giants appeared in Lintao. They were five zhang tall, wore Di tribal clothing, and their footprints were six chi long..."

"The assembled ministers, shamans, and occultists all believed this to be an auspicious sign that Your Majesty, responding to the Mandate of Heaven, would unify all within the seas and proclaim himself Emperor. On this point there is no doubt. Yet no one could clearly explain where those twelve giants came from or where they went. This old man was once equally baffled and without answer. But not long ago, while leafing through the prayer texts left by successive shamans of the Chenbao Shrine, I made an unexpected discovery!"

Since it concerned the truth of the twelve golden men, the First Emperor's interest grew.

"A hundred years ago, the shamans of the Chenbao Shrine once offered sacrifices to Kuafu. Therefore, this old man believes that these twelve giants are in truth the descendants of Kuafu!"

"Kuafu?" This was a new interpretation. A trace more interest stirred in the First Emperor, and he began to listen attentively.

"In the Great Wilderness, there is a mountain called Chengdu Zaitian. There is a man with two yellow snakes hanging from his ears and two yellow snakes in his hands. His name is Kuafu. Kuafu is also a giant."

"It is also said: Kuafu raced against the sun, wanting to go and see the place where the sun sets. Along the way, Kuafu grew thirsty and wanted water, so he ran to the Great River and the Wei River to drink. The waters of the Yellow River and the Wei River were not enough, so he went north to drink from the Great Marsh. Who could have known that he would die of thirst only halfway there? His head became Mount Long, his arms became the Qinling and Mount Jitou, his feet became the Xiao-Han passes, and even his peach-wood staff fell beside his feet and turned into a peach grove — this is the origin of the Peach Forest Fortress... And the eight-hundred-li Qin River Plain is merely Kuafu's broad back."

This was a new interpretation. The First Emperor nodded slightly, listening with keen interest.

"After Kuafu died, his descendants inherited Kuafu's will and continued migrating west, reaching the Kunlun and Tianshan mountains, attaching themselves to the realm of the Queen Mother of the West, and were called the Jusou clan..."

The stories of Kuafu chasing the sun and the Queen Mother of the West were widely circulated in the Central Plains, but Wu Zhi was the first to combine the two. The First Emperor's eyes lit up.

"The Grand Shaman means that the twelve giants are the Jusou clan, descendants of Kuafu, and that they were envoys sent by the realm of the Queen Mother of the West?"

"Precisely."

Following the Emperor's line of thought, Wu Zhi said, "This old man believes that, most likely, the news of Your Majesty's achievement in unifying all within the seas traveled along the Hexi Corridor, past the Shifting Sands, and reached the lands between Tianshan and Kunlun. When the Queen Mother of the West heard of it, she commanded the twelve giants, descendants of Kuafu, to come and pay homage to the Son of Heaven. However, the realm of the Queen Mother of the West is a land of immortals. When the twelve giants arrived in the mortal world, the eyes of ordinary men glimpsed them only for an instant, after which they became formless and shadowless."

"Only Your Majesty, who gathered the weapons of the six kingdoms, blunted their blades and arrowheads, and cast them into twelve golden men, allowed those twelve giants to attach themselves to the golden men. Now that Your Majesty has crossed Mount Long and desires to expand the borders westward, the giants entered your dream to pay their respects, most likely wishing to invite Your Majesty, like King Mu of Zhou, to visit the realm of the Queen Mother of the West..."

And then, Wu Zhi began to apply what he had just learned, recounting the story he had read in that book, the Biography of King Mu of Zhou.

"It is said that the realm of the Queen Mother of the West is at the ruins of Kunlun, or perhaps atop the Tianshan Mountains. On Tianshan there is the Jade Pool. In the past, King Mu of Zhou, indulging his desire for distant travel, ordered a chariot yoked with his eight fine steeds: Hualiu on the right shaft and Lü'er on the left, Chiji as the right trace-horse and Baiyi as the left. The charioteer Zaofu held the reins, and they galloped five thousand li to the realm of the Queen Mother of the West. There he was a guest of the Queen Mother of the West and drank with her beside the Jade Pool. The Queen Mother of the West sang a ballad for the King, and the King responded in kind, their verses filled with sorrow. He also followed the Queen Mother of the West, riding a dragon chariot, to the Yu Valley by the shore of the Western Sea to watch the place where the sun enters, traveling ten thousand li in a single day..."

"Later generations often say that King Mu of Zhou exhausted all pleasures in his lifetime yet still lived to be a hundred before he died. People at the time even thought he had grown wings and ascended as an immortal. It is said that this was because drinking the jade nectar and fine wine from the Queen Mother of the West's Jade Pool can extend one's life..."

As Wu Zhi wove together native legends with the Biography of King Mu of Zhou, the First Emperor sat up straight and proper, immersed in the legend of the Queen Mother of the West's realm. Even after Wu Zhi finished, he still felt a lingering desire for more.

Thinking carefully, King Mu of Zhou's inclinations were somewhat similar to his own — neither liked staying in one place their whole life, but rather wished to see the vastness of the world and the richness of the Nine Provinces.

The First Emperor could not help but sigh with emotion. "My achievements surpass the Three Sovereigns, my virtue exceeds the Five Emperors, yet I somewhat envy King Mu of Zhou, that mediocre ruler who merely preserved what he inherited."

Wu Zhi added, "That is precisely why the Queen Mother of the West sent the twelve giants to invite Your Majesty to journey west!"

The First Emperor said, "I once heard the Wushi Luo say that the west is vast and obscure, with a thousand li of shifting sands, and further blocked by the Qiang people, the Rong kings, and the Yuezhi. How could one go there easily?"

Wu Zhi said, "That is why in Your Majesty's dream, there was a white horse to carry you and a black dog to guide you, aiding Your Majesty's westward journey."

The First Emperor, however, frowned. "Wait — in the dream, it was clearly a white horse and a black dog leading me east."

Wu Zhi hastily amended, "When Your Majesty looks into a mirror, you will find that directions in the mirror are reversed from the waking world. It is the same in dreams. Besides, did that black dog not lead Your Majesty to find the twelve golden men?"

"So that is how it is." The First Emperor raised both hands before his chin and said, "Grand Shaman, please elaborate — what is the meaning of the white horse and the black dog?"

Wu Zhi, however, said, "Your humble servant is incapable. Time was short, and I have not yet obtained a detailed interpretation. This white horse and black dog may be the people who will aid Your Majesty's westward journey."

The white horse he could not think of for the moment, but as for the black dog... the First Emperor had an idea.

"Black dog, westward journey, western expansion?"

The First Emperor straightened up, his gaze passing beyond Wu Zhi and toward the entrance of the hall, where the Assistant Minister of the Privy Treasury, Heifu — sitting straight and proper, with an honest expression, yet somehow looking darker than anyone else no matter how you looked at him — was seated.

A knowing smile appeared on his face.

"We have heard it said that when Heifu was a village chief, he called himself the Great Qin's Heavenly Hound?"

PS: He galloped a thousand li and reached the land of the Jusou tribe. The Jusou tribe then offered the blood of a white swan for the king to drink, and prepared the milk of cows and horses to wash the king's feet, as well as those of his two chariot crews. Having drunk, he traveled on and lodged at the bend of the Kunlun Mountains, on the southern bank of the Red River. Another day, he ascended the Kunlun Mound to view the palace of the Yellow Emperor and erected a mound to instruct later generations. He then was a guest of the Queen Mother of the West, drinking at the Jasper Pool. The Queen Mother of the West sang a ballad for the king, and the king harmonized with her; its lyrics were mournful. Then he watched the setting of the sun, traveling ten thousand li in a single day. The king then sighed and said: "Alas! I, the one man, am not full in virtue but indulge in pleasure—will later generations recount my faults one by one!" Was King Mu almost a divine being? He could exhaust the pleasures of his own lifetime, yet still lived a hundred years before he passed away, and the world believed he ascended to immortality. — Liezi, King Mu of Zhou

(End of Chapter)