Jiabin

"Don't hit me! Don't hit me!"

Liu Acheng, whose topknot had been knocked askew, reacted first by steadying his hair, then hurriedly reaching into his robe for his name card. A flute fell out first; only on his second attempt did he find the card. "I'm not a member of the Way of the Celestial Masters! This master was only showing me the way! We haven't come to swindle anyone today!"

He immediately understood the boy who had knocked off his Futou: he knew these Daoists routinely liked to swindle people.

This was no joke. Both Buddhism and Daoism were growing like weeds in those days, without the slightest notion of disguising their behavior. If you wanted to join the Daoist faith, you had to pay-and your entire family became slave retainers into the bargain. If you were an outsider hoping to be entered in the Precious Register, you had to pay even more. If you wanted to read Buddhist scriptures, even a glance cost money, with the prices openly posted. If you wanted an eminent monk to copy out a set to ensure your household's peace and prosperity, that would cost three dou and three sheng of gold granules. No gold? Then build me a temple.

"Quite right, quite right. We haven't come to swindle anyone today." Master Xu was clearly panicking too, so much so that he blurted out the wrong thing.

"So you know perfectly well that you usually come here to swindle us?" The boy had initially paused at the name card Liu Acheng offered, but the other man's defense rekindled his fury. He seized the card and raised it to strike.

"Jiabin! Jiabin!" Master Xu truly panicked. He scrambled onto the low table to escape, shouting as he went and spilling fragrant tea all over it. "You resent our Daoist faith for demanding money, but what about the Buddhism you favor? Does it ask for none? Why insult us without cause?"

The boy grew even angrier at this. He pointed the name card at the man like a dagger. "At least Buddhism understands that form is emptiness, yet not the emptiness of annihilation. I've never seen Buddhists come knocking to demand money, while you Daoists devise every possible way to come swindle us. How have you the face to criticize Buddhism?"

Master Xu was left speechless. Perhaps he also realized he needed a way out, for he hurriedly looked toward Liu Acheng. He did, after all, remember that the young man had a ready tongue.

Liu Acheng naturally wanted no part of it. This boy was plainly the Xi Family's child whom Xie An had mentioned, the one about his own age... Put bluntly, Liu Acheng would be a mere study companion and attendant, while this boy was the young master. Since the young master hated Daoists so much, why insist on offending him?

Master Xu, on the other hand, had indeed given him a crossbow, but he had mocked their little group of Lius at the time, and this latest encounter had once again exposed his true colors. Their few brief dealings had already made it clear that he was no good man.

The trouble was, first, one should not offend petty men. Second, since they had come together, even if Liu Acheng was no Daoist himself, he still had to acknowledge the man's kindness and their acquaintance. If a single show of displeasure from this young master made him switch sides, what would become of his upright, honest image?

Was he certain the young master would think any better of him if he betrayed his companion now?

"Young sir." With no other choice, Liu Acheng braced himself, cupped his hands, and tried to mediate. "The Buddha is, at root, the Dao. If Buddhists don't come demanding money, might that be because there are too few of them in the south, and they lack the manpower? And if Daoists always seem to take the initiative in mercenary dealings, might that be because Daoism is so influential that every kind of witchcraft and miscellaneous superstition claims its mantle, thereby sullying the faith?"

The boy finally shifted his attention and turned to Liu Acheng. "What do you mean, 'the Buddha is, at root, the Dao'? What do you know of the distinction between Buddhism and Daoism? Buddhism teaches that form is emptiness, not the emptiness of annihilation. Where does Daoism have such a principle? Besides, aren't talismans precisely what the Way of the Celestial Masters is all about?"

"Young sir, I don't know what trouble talismans have caused, because I truly know nothing about them. But when I say 'the Buddha is, at root, the Dao,' I'm not speaking of the fundamental principles of Buddhism and Daoism. It's a common saying in the north, used by northern scholars and commoners to mock both faiths: both flatter those above and deceive those below, and their methods of swindling money are much the same." Liu Acheng hurriedly cobbled together a defense. "As for their principles, Buddhism does indeed teach that emptiness is form and form is emptiness, but neither the Tao Te Ching nor Free and Easy Wandering teaches people to swindle money. Those doing the swindling must simply be worldly men below who parade under the names of monks and Daoists... In our north, Buddhism flourishes, especially among the Jie people, who hold it in high esteem. Buddhists mingle with princes and high ministers, interfere in government, and even take part in coups. When they indulge in luxury and amass wealth, they're no different from other mortals. That's why people say 'the Buddha is, at root, the Dao.'"

The boy looked his contemporary, scarcely older than himself, up and down, finally intrigued. "You're from the north?"

"My name is Liu Cheng, of the Liu Clan of Pengcheng. While my grandfather was alive, we moved to Qiao Commandery, only to encounter the great upheaval in the north. My father and grandfather were both stranded there. Only with this recent internal turmoil in Later Zhao did I manage to escape south and drift to Jingkou. Fortunately, I met Master Xu there and obtained clothes to cover myself. Later, by carrying firewood to Xie Eastern Mountain's home in Black Robe Alley, I earned his recommendation to seek refuge with Xi Linhai, hoping for two meals a day to fill my belly." As he spoke, Liu Acheng finally took out the letter and offered it with both hands.

As he withdrew his hands, he discreetly waved behind his back. Master Xu, knowing he had caught the young master at the height of his anger, dared linger no longer. He seized the opportunity and fled past them like the wind, not even daring to retrieve his cloak.

Liu Acheng, however, bent down, picked up his Futou, and calmly put it on. Then he picked up the cloak and handed it to a slave retainer standing dumbfounded nearby, indicating that he should return it to Master Xu.

The slave retainer instinctively looked toward his master, but just then Liu Acheng addressed the boy again. "May I ask who you are? This is a letter Xie Eastern Mountain wrote to Xi Linhai."

The boy had already opened the letter. At this, he glared at the young man before him, then glanced at the bewildered slave retainer and sneered. "You're not to deliver it!"

Only after cowing the slave retainer did he look back at Liu Acheng. "I'm the eldest son of the Xi Linhai you keep mentioning. My name is Xi Chao, and my childhood name is Jiabin..."

"So it is Jiabin who stands before me." Liu Cheng cupped his hands again, as though he had only just learned the boy's identity.

Xi Chao ignored him and read the letter first. After skimming it, he looked rather strange, but folded it away and tucked it inside his collar. Then, with his hands behind his back, he asked, "You really did come from the north?"

"Yes." Liu Acheng answered openly.

"The Buddha is, at root, the Dao?" Xi Chao asked again.

"Yes."

"That isn't so strange." Xi Chao suddenly smiled. "The Buddha is the Buddha, the Dao can be spoken of as the Dao, but people are merely people. Does Buddhism truly have such a poor reputation in the north?"

Liu Acheng remained silent.

"Tell me, do you know what Xie Eastern Mountain wrote about you in this letter?" Xi Chao asked next.

"No," Liu Cheng replied helplessly. "As you can see, Jiabin, I arrived in Jingkou little better than a beggar. If not for those members of the Way of the Celestial Masters who came south from the north with us, I wouldn't even have had winter clothes. I was already overjoyed that Xie Eastern Mountain would recommend me. How could I quibble over what he wrote?"

"I asked whether you knew, and you've already announced that you won't quibble." Jiabin's lips curved upward. "Xie Eastern Mountain didn't actually pass secret judgment on you in his letter. He only said that you came from the north and, though you seem easygoing, still harbor ambitions of returning north. Is that true?"

"Yes." Liu Acheng could hardly deny it.

"Then tell me: alone, with your family scattered, and dependent on the Way of the Celestial Masters even for clothing, how could you realize those ambitions?" Xi Chao tilted his head as he asked. He seemed to be mocking him, yet also seemed genuinely serious.

"I never said I would necessarily succeed. I only said I had that ambition," Liu Acheng hastily explained.

"If you have the ambition, then in your heart you believe there is a path. Let's not discuss success or failure, difficulty or ease. Let's only discuss your path." The Xi Family's eldest son clearly had no intention of letting him off.

"Liu Xuande, the First Sovereign of Shu Han, once said, 'To accomplish great undertakings, one must take people as the foundation.'" Liu Acheng knew this was an interview. Even if his examiner was a boy, he dared not take it lightly, and offered some of his genuine understanding. "To launch a Northern Expedition, one needs an army. To form an army, money, grain, and official posts alone are not enough. More important are trustworthy men, so that the army can be relied upon..."

"And then?" Xi Chao neither agreed nor disagreed, merely pressing further.

"Once you have a reliable army, you need a foothold. And to establish that foothold, you can no longer rely only on trustworthy men. You must also bring in skilled clerks who understand documents and practical administration. Only then can the population, revenue, and army of that territory become a single whole, sustaining and strengthening one another without end."

"There's some sense in that." Xi Chao nodded, impatient for more. "Once you've grown stronger? What sort of people do you need then?"

"Once you've grown stronger, you still need people, but on two levels... First, recruit local men of standing to secure your foundations. Second, recruit extraordinary talents who transcend their age, so that your enterprise can soar like a heavenly steed across the skies," Liu Acheng answered without hesitation.

"No wonder Xie Eastern Mountain recommended you." Xi Chao finally smiled. "Very well, one more question. What do you consider an extraordinary talent who transcends his age?"

"Such a talent is someone whose ability can, for a time, overpower the tide of the age and shake the larger course of events. At the beginning of the Han, they were Liu, Xiang, Han, Zhang, and Xiao." Liu Acheng had relaxed by now. After all, they had entered the most straightforward realm of armchair history-or, rather, the appraisal of historical figures. Now he could simply talk them up. "At the end of the Han, there were Yuan and Cao contending over northern China; three generations of the Sun family employing Zhou Gongjin and Lu Boyan to turn back the raging tide; the First Sovereign Liu wandering the realm for decades, yet still accompanied by Guan and Zhang and aided in government by Zhuge; Chancellor Xun laying the foundations of Cao Wei while preserving his honor as a minister of the Han; and King Xuan of our own dynasty, watching like an eagle and a wolf, enduring through four reigns before finally gaining all beneath heaven."

"Fair enough." Xi Chao nodded. "And in our dynasty?"

"Since our dynasty crossed south, Lord Wang, Lord Tao, and Lord Xi mark the highest standard. In the north, Shi Le was unmistakably a hero," Liu Acheng answered at once.

"And now?" Xi Chao paused. Rather than disputing this list, he pressed further. "Who in the realm today qualifies as a talent who transcends his age?"

"You must be joking, Jiabin." Liu Acheng immediately spread his hands. "I'm only in my teens and have scarcely met any notable figures. How could I know the heroes of the realm today? Besides, heroes drive the times, and the times make heroes. Had Emperor Wu of Wei lived in an age of peace, he might merely have been a renowned minister of a well-governed realm. How could we speak of a talent transcending his age? Only when the realm is turned upside down and dragons and tigers clash can we discover who truly transcends the age..."

"I see." Jiabin nodded, showing no inclination to press further. "Without achievements forged amid the tides of the times, idle talk of heroes is indeed laughable."

But Liu Acheng did think of one man and volunteered an addition. "Still, judging by his deeds and accomplishments, General Huan comes closest to being such a talent at present."

Xi Chao paused in surprise, then immediately nodded. "That is certainly true."

Liu Acheng stood with his hands folded and said nothing.

Xi Chao studied him once more, then spoke seriously. "Since you've come to our household, you count as a retainer, do you not?"

"I suppose so." Liu Acheng did not deny it.

"Then you must do some work to earn your meals." Xi Chao nodded. "Come with me. As it happens, there's something I need you to do..."

With that, he turned and went straight out.

Liu Acheng had no idea what was happening and could only follow. Outside, he discovered that Master Xu had not escaped at all. Several riders, who had been ready for him, had pinned him firmly to the roadside and stuffed horse dung into his mouth. At the sight of his companion emerging, tears and snot streamed down his face as he whimpered.

What could Liu Acheng do? He could only point to himself to indicate that he would do his best to rescue him.

But at that moment, he still had no idea what was going on.

By rights, the Xi Family was the legendary fifth family among the four great families-the foremost household outside the four ruling clans clearly identified in The Aristocratic Politics of the Eastern Jin. By cultivating their position in Jingkou and exerting lasting influence over the Northern Command army, they had remained a presence throughout Great Jin's entire history after the crossing south. Moreover, Xi Chao's father had supposedly amassed vast wealth in Linhai. Surely they should not care about the little sums these Daoists swindled from them.

So far, all he had gathered was that the Xi Family's eldest son was entirely unlike his father and leaned more toward Buddhism... Could that be the reason?

No, this fellow doesn't seem like a true believer... It's more that he dislikes Daoism, so he declares himself a Buddhist. Buddhism happens to have brought sophisticated philosophical concepts such as form being emptiness and emptiness being form over from South Asia, which earned it some approval from him.

If that's the case, then the head of the Xi Family, Xi Linhai, must have run into trouble through his blind devotion to Daoism.

Thinking this, Liu Acheng followed the boy to the horses and hurriedly explained, "I'm a terrible rider. I can only ride mules."

"You're a northerner, and you can't ride a horse?" Xi Chao looked back in surprise, then waved a hand. "Never mind. We'll ride together."

Liu Acheng had no choice but to climb onto a tall horse behind him and grip his belt. Fortunately, despite his youth, the boy was an accomplished horseman. Though the ride was bumpy, they quickly reached the foot of a nearby mountain and entered a religious establishment.

Xi Chao dismounted in the courtyard, then pointed toward the buildings at the back. "My father is obsessed with the Way of the Celestial Masters. Almost every day, he meets its Daoists and asks them to draw talismans, which he then swallows raw... Yesterday, here at Master Shen's-Zhu Faqian's-retreat, he developed unbearable stomach pain. We hurriedly summoned Yu Fakai, a monk skilled in medicine. One bowl of medicine, and he actually passed every one of those talismans... He's still lying there unable to move! Yet even in this state, he refuses to listen to advice. He merely thinks it happened because he hasn't advanced far enough in his Daoist practice. If you can persuade my father to stop eating talismans raw, I'll not only release Master Xu, who's connected to you, but treat you as an honored guest."

"All I need to do is persuade Xi Linhai to stop eating talismans raw, so he won't upset his stomach again and endanger his life?" Liu Acheng asked seriously. "That will suffice?"

"Yes." Xi Chao was concise.

"That's easy." Liu Acheng was equally concise.

------I am the "Buddha is, at root, the Dao" dividing line------

Xi Yin pursued the Dao with great diligence, but often suffered abdominal ailments that no physician could cure. Hearing of Yu Fakai's reputation, he sent for him. Upon arriving, Yu took his pulse and said, "My lord, your affliction is precisely the result of excessive diligence in your practice." He prepared a dose of medicinal broth for him. After taking it, Xi Yin suffered a great evacuation, passing several pieces of paper the size of fists. When unfolded and examined, they proved to be the talismans he had previously swallowed.

-New Account of Tales of the World, chapter twenty, "Technical Understanding"

At the time, Emperor Taizu (Emperor Gao), believing himself destined for great things, once discussed the heroes of the realm with Xi Chao, weighing the talents who transcended their ages from Emperor Gao of Han down to Prince Xuan of Sima. They then turned to the crossing south, discussing Wang Dao, Tao Kan, Xi Jian, and Huan Wen. When Xi Chao pressed him further, Emperor Taizu smiled. "Do you wish to brew tea and discourse on heroes? Though you and I harbor great ambitions, we have yet achieved nothing. How can we speak of talents who transcend their age?" Xi Chao also smiled. "Without great ambitions, how can we speak of achievements?" Thereafter, their friendship deepened.

-New Book of Qi, Biographies, volume thirteen