Legend had it that during the Later Han, Huan Jing of Runan studied under Fei Changfang. Fei Changfang told him, "On the ninth day of the ninth month of a certain year, disaster will strike. Have your family sew pouches filled with dogwood and wear them on their arms. Climb a mountain, and you can escape the disaster." Huan Jing did as he was told and took his entire household up a mountain. Sure enough, they remained safe and sound. When they returned home three days later, they found that their chickens, dogs, cattle, and sheep had all died suddenly. Thereafter, climbing to high ground, feasting outdoors, and wearing dogwood on the ninth day of the ninth month became customs passed down through the generations. Amid the great upheaval at the end of the Han, northerners migrated south, bringing these customs to Jiangzuo.
Early on the morning of the Double Ninth Festival, Chen Caozhi washed and combed his hair, then changed into a brand-new moon-white ramie robe, a small lacquered gauze cap, and high-toothed wooden clogs. His sister-in-law, Ding Youwei, personally tucked a little sprig of dogwood into one side of his cap. A bright red dogwood berry still hung from the sprig, like a quivering tassel on his cap.
Zongzhi and Run'er both wore dogwood sprigs too. In high spirits, they wanted to go mountain climbing with Uncle Chou again. Run'er said, "Run'er and Elder Brother often go to Nine Luminaries Mountain with Uncle Chou. Run'er is really good at it now. I walk all the way up and down by myself. Isn't that right, Elder Brother?"
Zongzhi nodded. "Yes."
Ding Youwei smiled. "You two little things, must you follow your Uncle Chou wherever he goes? He has important business today, something that concerns the whole Qiantang Chen Clan. You mustn't go along."
Chen Caozhi said, "Zongzhi, when you're ten, Uncle Chou will certainly take you to the gathering on the heights. You won't be going to play, but to take part in debates on philosophical principles. Chen Zongzhi of Qiantang will be Qiantang's youngest little scholar of renown."
"What about me, Uncle Chou?" Run'er asked hastily, afraid he would forget her.
Chen Caozhi smiled. "If Zongzhi goes, of course Run'er will go too. Zongzhi will be a little scholar of renown, and Run'er will be a little lady. Ten years ago, your mother was Qiantang's foremost young gentlewoman. Ten years from now, Qiantang's foremost young gentlewoman will be Chen Run'er."
Hearing her young brother-in-law call her Qiantang's foremost young gentlewoman, Ding Youwei flushed faintly, a little bashful. Unexpectedly, Run'er said, "I won't compete with Mother. I'll just be Wu Commandery’s Premier Lady instead."
Ding Youwei could not help letting out a snort of laughter. Stroking her daughter's little face, she suppressed her laughter and said, "Then you'll have to compete with the daughter of the governor of Wu Commandery. Governor Lu Na's daughter, Lu Weiwei, is Wu Commandery’s Premier Lady. People say, 'Xie Daoyun sings of willow down; Lu Weiwei is bewitched by flowers'-"
At his sister-in-law's mention of Xie Daoyun, Chen Caozhi's eyebrows lifted slightly, something stirring in his thoughts. If there were three people from the Eastern Jin whom later generations would remember, Wang Xizhi and Xie An would naturally take the first two places. But who would be the third? Huan Wen, Gu Kaizhi, or Xie Daoyun? That was a difficult choice indeed-
Noticing Chen Caozhi's expression, Ding Youwei asked, "Have you heard of Xie Daoyun and Lu Weiwei too, Caozhi?"
Chen Caozhi said, "I haven't heard of Lu Weiwei, but I know a little about Xie Daoyun. She's Xie Yi's daughter and Xie An's niece."
"Mm." Ding Youwei nodded. "The Lu Clan is the foremost aristocratic clan native to Jiangdong. The Xie Clan comes from Chen Commandery, a great noble family that crossed the river from the north. Lu Weiwei and Xie Daoyun are the most outstanding young ladies among southerners and northerners, gifted in both talent and beauty. Those fond of such matters rank the two together in the highest class for looks and bearing-"
Run'er asked, "Are those two as beautiful as Mother?"
Embarrassed, Ding Youwei said, "Mother is old already. What's there to compare?"
Zongzhi said with great certainty, "Mother isn't old."
Chen Caozhi said, "In Zongzhi's and Run'er's eyes, their mother is the most beautiful woman in the world. No one can compare, isn't that right?"
Zongzhi and Run'er answered together, "Yes!"
Both delighted and embarrassed, Ding Youwei changed the subject. "Hurry and have your breakfast, Caozhi. The noodle soup has already been brought out, and you have such a long way to go."
Five li northwest of Qiantang County's town stood a mountain called Qiyun Mountain. Its name-"level with the clouds"-had considerable grandeur, but the mountain itself was not very high, only a little over a hundred zhang. Because there were no other peaks around it, only this solitary summit rising alone, it appeared strikingly abrupt and extraordinary, like a pillar holding up the heavens over Qiantang County. On Qiyun Mountain's northern side, sheer cliffs overlooked the great river. The normally gentle waters of the Qiantang River, squeezed between the two banks, surged and raced along, with mighty waves pounding the shore. Thus, Qiyun Mountain was an excellent place in Qiantang County to climb high and gaze into the distance.
Setting out from the Ding Clan's villa in the eastern outskirts, they had to skirt half the town of Qiantang before reaching the foot of Qiyun Mountain, a journey of roughly fifteen li. Chen Caozhi rode in the ox cart driven by Lai Fu, while Lai De and Ran Sheng walked. They set off before the morning sun had risen.
The autumn wind brought a refreshing coolness, and the sky was high, vast, and clear. Leaves had fallen from the mountain woods, making the mountains look leaner, yet lending them a different air of bracing austerity, revealing autumn's solemnity, distinct from spring and summer.
The morning sun shone from behind, stretching their shadows far ahead. Sitting cross-legged in the ox cart, Chen Caozhi watched the shadows before the cart gradually shorten and listened to the wheels rumbling along. This moment was so leisurely. There was no need to fret over gains and losses. This was what was called "having feelings without being burdened by them." Though that realm of the sages lay beyond his reach, it could still broaden one's heart and make one free and open-minded.
Two ox carts sped past Lai Fu, their wheels sweeping by beside him. Chen Caozhi saw someone poke his head out of the rear cart and glance toward his own. It was Ding Youwei's younger male cousin, Ding Chunqiu, the son of Ding Yi. Presumably, he too was going to the gathering at Qiyun Mountain.
In Chen Caozhi's memories, the humiliation he had suffered at the Ding Household two years earlier had been because of this Ding Chunqiu. Three years older than Chen Caozhi, Ding Chunqiu considered himself overflowing with talent and wanted to gush it over everyone wherever he went. Though he could not be called hateful, he was certainly tiresome.
Beyond this stretch of soft dirt road leading from the Ding Clan's villa lay the post road, surfaced with sandy soil. The Ding Clan's two ox carts had stopped at the junction, and another ox cart lay overturned beside the road. A young woman in splendid clothes and elaborate makeup stood timidly supported by a Young Maid. Her lovely face had lost its color, and her body trembled slightly. Clearly, she had been in a cart accident!
Chen Caozhi did not get down, but sat quietly and waited. He had never liked gawking at a spectacle. If the beautiful young woman needed help, Ding Chunqiu was there to step forward, and Ding Chunqiu would certainly be more than willing.
Accompanied by his elder brother Ding Xiashang, Ding Chunqiu intended to make his name at the Qiyun Mountain gathering. Receiving a rank this time was a certainty; the key was to secure a high one. Anything below the sixth rank would be rather pointless. When he had spotted Chen Caozhi's ox cart earlier, he had known that Chen Caozhi was also going to Qiyun Mountain and could not help laughing to himself. That ignorant boy wants to seek a rank at the gathering too? Is he going there to make a fool of himself?
The brothers Ding Xiashang and Ding Chunqiu had each been riding in a separate ox cart. When they reached the post road, they saw this cart overturned on the ground. Its driver was inspecting it and said the yoke had broken. The young woman standing prettily to one side was truly beautiful. At the sight of such beauty, both brothers became exceedingly chivalrous. They offered to lend her a cart and take her to the county town. When they asked her surname, she answered that it was Jiang.
Yet the young woman did not board the cart. Her lovely eyes roamed, and she pointed at Chen Caozhi's cart, saying in a sweet, delicate voice, "That cart seems steadier-"
Ding Chunqiu said, "That isn't one of our Ding Clan's carts. It belongs to the lowly Chen Clan. You're better off not riding in it."
The young woman said, "When the ox cart tipped over just now, my heart shook with fright. This Chen Clan cart is steady. I'll ride only in that one." With that, resting her hand on the Young Maid's shoulder, she walked gracefully over to Chen Caozhi's cart and was just about to speak-
Without showing his face, Chen Caozhi said, "Would the carts ahead please make way?"
The young woman hastily relayed Chen Caozhi's words in her sweet voice, asking the Ding brothers to make way. She was just about to turn back and speak again when the Chen Clan's ox cart started moving. Two servants strode along beside it, leaving the young woman and her Young Maid behind without a thought.
The finely dressed young woman lightly bit her red lip with her pearly teeth, looking vexed. But when she turned back, a smile already touched the corners of her mouth. She said to Ding Chunqiu, "These Cold-Gate Commoner Clans truly have no manners. How could they compare with the refinement of sons of great families? Might I trouble you to give me a ride, sir?"
Ding Chunqiu thoroughly maligned Chen Caozhi, then joined his elder brother in one cart, giving his own to the young woman and her maid. Believing he had stumbled upon a romantic encounter, Ding Chunqiu chanted:
"A maiden rides with me, her face like hibiscus in bloom. She seems to soar, she seems to glide, fine jade pendants at her side. That lovely Meng Jiang, truly beautiful and refined.
A maiden walks with me, her face like hibiscus flowers. She seems to soar, she seems to glide, her jade pendants chiming. That lovely Meng Jiang, her virtuous name cannot be forgotten."
Ding Chunqiu recited very loudly, hoping the young woman would hear him, then quietly asked his elder brother which Jiang family in their county had such a beautiful young woman.
Ding Xiashang laughed. "Don't tell me you want to marry her, Fifth Brother? There doesn't seem to be any family surnamed Jiang in this county. Perhaps she's come to stay with relatives; who knows? If she's from a lowly family, you can't marry her. Father would never agree."
Ding Chunqiu felt melancholy, but then noticed that the cart carrying the young woman was moving faster and faster. Wasn't she afraid of overturning? Why was she making the driver race along like that? How strange!
The Ding brothers urged their driver to follow closely. The oxen drawing the Ding Clan's two carts were strong, and soon they overtook Chen Caozhi's cart once again, heading straight for the county town.
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