Chapter Summaries

Chen Caozhi transcribed the Diamond Sutra for Zhi Daolin at Dong'an Temple, then received an imperial summons and traveled to Jiankang with Mao Anzhi. He reached the Western Secretariat and was about to meet the emperor, still unaware of why he had been called.

• Chen Caozhi wrote out the Diamond Sutra, impressing Zhi Daolin with the scripture and its teachings.
• Mao Anzhi arrived at Dong'an Temple with the emperor’s summons, ordering Chen Caozhi to appear at the palace the next day.
• Chen Caozhi finished the sutra and left for Jiankang with Mao Anzhi, while Zhi Daolin praised the value of his transmission.
• On the journey, Mao Anzhi admired Ran Sheng’s riding, military knowledge, and archery, and offered him a place as his guard; Ran Sheng chose to remain with Chen Caozhi.
• Chen Caozhi entered Taicheng with Mao Anzhi and met Wang Biaozhi, who escorted him toward the emperor and said Sima Yu was also in the palace.

Chen Caozhi was summoned to Taicheng, where Emperor Sima Pi asked him to refine an immortality pill because he was Ge Hong’s disciple. When Chen Caozhi refused and advised the emperor against pursuing occult arts, Lu Song claimed a ghost haunted the East Hall and persuaded Sima Pi to summon his disciples to exorcise it.

• Zhang Ping brought Wang Biaozhi and Chen Caozhi to Taiji Hall’s East Hall, where Sima Yu and Gao Song welcomed them.
• Sima Yi arrived with Lu Song, and Chen Caozhi recognized the Daoist as the man who had previously clashed with him.
• Emperor Sima Pi asked Chen Caozhi to refine the Three Immortals Pill, but Chen Caozhi said he had never studied elixir-making and urged the emperor to cultivate virtue instead.
• Sima Yi recommended Lu Song as an immortal master, and Lu Song claimed a palace maid’s ghost haunted the East Hall.
• Emperor Sima Pi begged Lu Song to exorcise the ghost, and Lu Song agreed to summon his four disciples from outside the palace.

Lu Song tried to win Emperor Sima Pi’s favor by staging supernatural feats, but Chen Caozhi recognized his tricks and quietly sabotaged his boiling-oil performance. The chapter ended with Lu Song’s hands badly scalded and the emperor struck by splashing oil as the court recoiled in alarm.

• Lu Song used a staged bloodstain on a paper figure to convince Emperor Sima Pi that he had banished a ghost, while Chen Caozhi recognized the trick.
• Sima Yi and Emperor Sima Pi asked Lu Song to demonstrate diving without suffocation and walking through fire without burning, so Lu Song prepared a boiling-oil feat.
• Chen Caozhi recognized Lu Song’s vinegar-and-oil method and switched the final celadon bowl while the attendants and spectators were distracted.
• Lu Song plunged his wax-coated hands into the cauldron and traced a Taiji Yin-Yang Fish Pattern, but the oil burned him and splashed onto Emperor Sima Pi’s face.
• Sima Yu and the other nobles backed away as a palace attendant ran to summon the imperial guards.

Chen Caozhi exposed Lu Song’s fraudulent ritual in Emperor Sima Pi’s presence, and Lu Song was expelled from the palace. Chen then warned Lady Lu against becoming Lu Song’s disciple, while Lu Qin’s visit to Mount Zhidu confirmed that Lu Song was injured and leaving for Xuzhou.

• Lu Song scalded Emperor Sima Pi with boiling oil, blamed the accident on divine punishment, and was driven from the palace under Huan Mi’s escort.
• Gao Song questioned Chen Caozhi about Lu Song’s failed ritual, and Chen admitted switching the celadon bowls while concealing how he had discovered the trick.
• Chen Caozhi asked Gao Song to keep the matter secret, then returned to the Gu Residence and told Banli to warn Lady Lu not to visit Lu Song at Mount Zhidu.
• Banli told Lady Lu that Lu Song had been disgraced, but Lu Qin angrily rejected the report and went to Mount Zhidu to investigate.
• Lu Qin found Lu Song’s hands bandaged and his disciples preparing to take him back to Xuzhou, then avoided his paternal uncle Lu Na’s residence for several days.

Chen Caozhi completed a copy of the Thirteen Chapters on the Principles of Weiqi, prepared letters and gifts for his family, and began painting a Buddhist mural at Waguansi with Gu Kaizhi. After Quan Li departed for Qiantang, Chen Caozhi received Lu Weiwei’s gifts for his family and Jiang Sixuan’s gift of land, leaving the Chen brothers to inspect their new property by the Qinhuai River.

• Chen Caozhi finished copying the Thirteen Chapters on the Principles of Weiqi, gave the copy to Fan Ning, and began painting the Eightfold Heavenly Dragon Image at Waguansi with Gu Kaizhi.
• Chen Shang reported that Mingsheng Lake in Qiantang had been granted to the Chen Clan and wrote to Chen Xian about recruiting skilled artisans and sending money to Jiankang.
• Chen Caozhi bought birthday gifts for Ding Youwei and Chen Run'er, then wrote letters home while Ran Sheng wrote his first letter to Jing Nu.
• Chen Caozhi and Chen Shang saw Quan Li off for Qiantang, and Chen Caozhi arranged for Lu Weiwei and Wei Rui to visit him at Waguansi.
• Jiang Kai delivered Jiang Sixuan’s gift of forty mu of land to Chen Caozhi, and the Chen brothers inspected the property on the south bank of the Qinhuai River.

Xie Wan tested the younger Xie generation on Huan Wen’s proposal to move the capital, and Xie Daoyun gave the clearest assessment of the court’s response. At Waguansi, Xie Daoyun and Liu Dan sought entry to the main hall where Chen Caozhi was painting, and Xie Daoyun challenged the monk’s refusal.

• Xie Wan advised that the court should appear to accept Huan Wen’s proposal while making the move conditional on recovering the He and Luo regions, and the officials drafted a decree to that effect.
• Xie Wan questioned Xie Shao, Xie Lang, Xie Yan, and Xie Daoyun about Huan Wen’s proposal, and Xie Daoyun argued that he lacked the means to move the capital and that the court should defer the matter by requiring the regions to be secured first.
• Xie Wan praised Xie Daoyun’s political judgment and told her to visit Waguansi to observe Chen Caozhi and Gu Kaizhi painting Buddhist murals.
• Lady Lu and Lu Weiwei arrived at Waguansi, and Ran Sheng helped them enter the main hall through a side door after the monk refused their request.
• Liu Dan and Xie Daoyun arrived and were also denied entry to the main hall, so Xie Daoyun asked Tanyi whether worshipping the Buddha could truly disturb the painters.

At Waguansi, Lu Weiwei and Lady Lu arrived while Chen Caozhi and Gu Kaizhi were painting Buddhist murals, where they unexpectedly encountered Xie Daoyun and her aunt Liu Dan. Xie Daoyun struggled with her feelings for Chen Caozhi but concealed them, and the chapter ended with the women examining Chen Caozhi’s paintings together.

• Lady Lu, Lu Weiwei, and their companions entered the Hall of the Great Hero and heard Chen Caozhi and Gu Kaizhi discussing their mural work.
• Xie Daoyun arrived with Liu Dan, saw Lu Weiwei with Chen Caozhi, and was overcome by distress before composing herself and entering the hall.
• Lu Weiwei greeted Xie Daoyun and Liu Dan, while Lady Lu anxiously welcomed them despite the secrecy surrounding Lu Weiwei’s meeting with Chen Caozhi.
• Chen Caozhi invited the visitors to advise him on his painting, and Xie Daoyun and Chen Caozhi carefully concealed their familiarity with each other.
• Chen Caozhi revealed his Śakra outline and the Eightfold Heavenly Dragon Image, and Liu Dan asked him about the figures as Xie Daoyun and Lu Weiwei viewed the painting together.

At Waguansi, Xie Daoyun saw Chen Caozhi but resolved to remain his friend as Zhu Yingtai, then visited Dong'an Temple to view his calligraphy. Meanwhile, Chen Caozhi gave Zhang Wenwan a dietary prescription to help her and Commissioner Lu conceive, while Gu Kaizhi discussed his upcoming marriage to Zhang Tongyun with her.

• Gu Kaizhi praised Chen Caozhi's mural and resumed painting behind a curtain as Xie Daoyun and Liu Dan left to visit other temple halls.
• Xie Daoyun vowed inwardly to remain Chen Caozhi's lifelong friend as Zhu Yingtai, and Liu Dan warned her that Chen Caozhi would likely marry Lu Weiwei.
• Xie Daoyun persuaded Liu Dan to visit Dong'an Temple, where she lingered beneath Wang Xianzhi's calligraphy and Chen Caozhi's verses.
• Chen Caozhi asked Zhang Wenwan about her marriage and health, then prescribed a daily dish of sheep kidneys and herbs for Commissioner Lu.
• Gu Kaizhi joined Chen Caozhi and Zhang Wenwan after the rain darkened the hall, and Zhang Wenwan spoke with him about his marriage to Zhang Tongyun.

At Waguansi, Chen Caozhi, Lu Weiwei, and Gu Kaizhi waited out a storm and discussed how to reconcile the Gu and Lu clans. After Gu Kaizhi agreed to paint a scene honoring their ancestors’ friendship, Lu Weiwei asked Chen Caozhi whether he had met a young lady of the Xie Clan before.

• Banli warned Lady Lu that a downpour was coming, and she chose to wait at the temple until the storm passed.
• Chen Caozhi and Lu Weiwei prayed before the Buddha, then went to watch the rain while Gu Kaizhi spoke with Lady Lu about Zhang Tongyun and the old feud between the Gu and Lu clans.
• As they watched the rain, Chen Caozhi proposed that Gu Kaizhi paint Jiangdong’s Three Talents and that he write an inscription recalling the Gu and Lu families’ past friendship.
• Lu Weiwei offered Gu Kaizhi portraits of her granduncles as references, and he eagerly returned to tell Lady Lu about the project.
• After the storm, Lu Weiwei asked Chen Caozhi whether he had met a young lady of the Xie Clan before, saying that the woman looked familiar.

Chen Caozhi avoided revealing Xie Daoyun’s secret to Lu Weiwei and asked Lu Weiwei to wait for him to marry her. Lu Weiwei happily agreed, and they returned to the main hall together.

• Chen Caozhi hesitated over whether to tell Lu Weiwei that Xie Daoyun had disguised herself as a man.
• Lu Weiwei asked Chen Caozhi why he was frowning.
• Chen Caozhi answered indirectly, saying that familiar people could seem like strangers and strangers could seem familiar.
• Chen Caozhi kissed Lu Weiwei’s hand and asked her to wait for him to marry her.
• Lu Weiwei agreed and followed Chen Caozhi back to the main hall, forgetting to ask about Xie Daoyun.

Lady Lu had Lu Na take Chen Caozhi’s medicinal lamb soup, while Lu Weiwei borrowed portraits of Lu Ji and Lu Yun. At New Pavilion, Chen Caozhi played go with Jiang Sixuan as Wang Xianzhi watched, and Princess Sima Daofu’s unhappy farewell journey to Jingzhou ended with her meeting the two handsome men on Chrysanthemum Terrace.

• Zhang Wenwan persuaded Lu Na to drink the medicinal soup, and Lu Weiwei arranged to borrow the portraits of her great-uncles, Lu Ji and Lu Yun.
• Chen Caozhi sent the portraits to Gu Kaizhi and went to New Pavilion to see off Xi Chao, Gao Song, Huan Ji, and Sima Daofu.
• Jiang Sixuan invited Chen Caozhi to play go at Hillside Pavilion, where Wang Xianzhi arrived and silently watched their game.
• Xi Chao explained to Sima Yu that Chen Caozhi stayed in Jiankang to finish painting Buddhist images at Waguansi.
• Sima Daofu wept before departing, then persuaded Sima Yu to accompany her up Chrysanthemum Terrace, where she saw Chen Caozhi and Wang Xianzhi and admired them.

Princess of Xin'an Sima Daofu announced that she would marry Chen Caozhi, while Emperor Sima Pi was poisoned by immortality medicine and became too ill to govern. Chen Caozhi later mourned his family at the Qingming sacrifices and resolved to learn horseback riding, though he remained uncertain when he could return home.

• Sima Yu received Huan Mi’s urgent report that Emperor Sima Pi had been poisoned by immortality medicine and returned to Taicheng, ordering Sima Daofu to depart for Jingzhou.
• After Jiang Sixuan left for Taicheng, Sima Daofu returned to Hillside Pavilion and told Chen Caozhi she would marry him, leaving him worried about her intentions.
• Wang Xianzhi reassured Chen Caozhi that Sima Daofu was only joking, and Chen Caozhi wondered whether she had mistaken him for someone else.
• Gu Minzhi reported that Sima Pi could not attend to affairs and that officials had asked Empress Dowager Chongde, Chu Suanzi, to rule as regent again.
• For Qingming, Chen Caozhi and Chen Shang led Xiao Chan, Ran Sheng, and the others to make distant sacrifices to the Qiantang Chen Clan’s ancestors.
• As he longed for his family, Chen Caozhi said he would learn to ride so he could visit them, while Ran Sheng and Chen Shang discussed the journey home.

Chen Caozhi declined Wang Xizhi’s Mount Tianque gathering so he could keep his promise to accompany Gu Kaizhi in welcoming Zhang Tongyun, and he sent Wang a poem instead. As the Shangsi Festival began, Lu Weiwei prepared to welcome Zhang Tongyun with her mother, while Xie Daoyun joined her relatives on the way to the gathering, believing Chen Caozhi would be there.

• Gu Kaizhi invited Chen Caozhi to welcome Zhang Tongyun, and Chen arranged for the Zhang household to inform Zhang Wenwan at the Lu Residence so Lu Weiwei could come too.
• Chen Caozhi, Gu Kaizhi, and Liu Shangzhi joked about marriage, while A Jiao told Xiao Chan that her mistress’s arrival in Jiankang might make her life harder.
• Wang Xizhi invited Chen Caozhi to a literary gathering on Mount Tianque, but Chen declined because he had promised to accompany Gu Kaizhi and sent Wang a letter and poem.
• Zhang Wenwan told Lu Weiwei to join her in welcoming Zhang Tongyun, then revealed that Gu Kaizhi would also be there, delighting Lu Weiwei.
• Xie Daoyun persuaded Xie Wan to take her to the Mount Tianque gathering, and her party passed the Gu Residence’s procession on the road.

Xie Daoyun spotted Ran Sheng and assumed Chen Zizhong was beside him in an ox cart. She remained unaware that the two family convoys had separated at the fork and that she was moving farther from Chen Caozhi.

• Xie Daoyun lifted the carriage curtain and spotted Ran Sheng.
• Xie Daoyun thought the person sitting beside Ran Sheng must be Chen Zizhong.
• The Gu Residence's convoy and the Xie Residence's convoy split at a fork beyond Qingxi Gate.
• Xie Daoyun continued farther from Chen Caozhi without realizing the convoys had separated.

Chen Caozhi and Liu Shangzhi welcomed Gu Kaizhi, Zhang Tongyun, and Zhang Xuan Zhi at White Goose Mountain, where the party celebrated the Shangsi Festival beside Qingxi. Lu Weiwei sent Chen Caozhi a sachet on a banana-leaf boat, while Zhang Tongyun’s jade pendant fell into the stream before Gu Kaizhi recovered it.

• Chen Caozhi and Liu Shangzhi met Gu Kaizhi and welcomed Zhang Tongyun and Zhang Xuan Zhi at White Goose Mountain, where Zhang Mo and Lady Lu also arrived.
• Zhang Mo proposed a spring outing beside Qingxi, and the group feasted and enjoyed the riverbank together.
• Gu Kaizhi invited Zhang Tongyun to watch him paint at Waguansi, and she agreed after Lu Weiwei offered to accompany her.
• Chen Caozhi played a willow leaf like a flute while Lu Weiwei and Zhang Tongyun washed their feet in the stream.
• Lu Weiwei sent Chen Caozhi her Sachet on a banana-leaf boat, and Gu Kaizhi guided it to him.
• Zhang Tongyun’s jade pendant slipped into the water, but Zhang Tongyun spotted it and Gu Kaizhi retrieved it.

At the Mount Tianque gathering, Xie Daoyun appeared as Zhu Yingtai and astonished Jiankang’s celebrated men with her poetry, debate, and calligraphy. She declared that she would enter official service as Zhu Yingtai and pursue her own path, leaving Liu Dan to seek Xie An’s counsel about her feelings for Chen Caozhi.

• Xie Daoyun composed a poem on pines at Mount Tianque and impressed Wang Xizhi and the other guests with her Luoyang-style Chant.
• Xie Daoyun expounded on Zhuangzi’s Free and Easy Wandering and displayed calligraphy that drew further praise.
• Xie Daoyun announced that she would defeat her cousin in Dialectical Debate and marry her, prompting Yuan Tong and Wen Lin to plot a debate against her.
• Xie Wan rebuked Xie Daoyun after the gathering, but Liu Dan brought her into the inner courtyard to hear her explanation.
• Xie Daoyun told Liu Dan that she wanted to enter official service as Zhu Yingtai and confessed her longing for Chen Caozhi.
• Liu Dan wrote to Xie An, telling him of Xie Daoyun’s resolve and affection for Chen Caozhi.

Chen Caozhi and Gu Kaizhi recruited Lu Weiwei and Zhang Tongyun to help finish Waguansi’s murals before Buddha’s Birthday, while Chen learned that Zhu Yingtai had won acclaim and was seeking Xie Daoyun’s hand. Chen later visited the Xie Residence with Wang Xizhi, where Xie Wan tried to conceal Zhu Yingtai’s identity as the story left Zhu preparing to meet them.

• Gu Kaizhi celebrated his new love for Zhang Tongyun through the night by reciting “Guan Ju,” while Chen Caozhi cared for the sleeping Xiao Chan.
• Zhang Tongyun and others watched Chen Caozhi’s and Gu Kaizhi’s mural work at Waguansi, and the two artists arranged for Zhang Tongyun and Lu Weiwei to help complete the paintings.
• Lady Lu told Chen Caozhi that Zhu Yingtai had impressed the guests at a literary gathering and was seeking Xie Daoyun’s hand, astonishing Chen Caozhi.
• Chen Caozhi visited Wang Xizhi and learned that Zhu Yingtai was staying at the Xie Residence, so Wang accompanied him there.
• Xie Wan sent for Zhu Yingtai while telling Chen Caozhi and Wang Xizhi that his nephew was frail and unsuited to public office.

Xie Daoyun met Chen Caozhi and told him she planned to enter Huan Wen’s Western Headquarters in disguise, and he agreed to help her. As Chen Caozhi and Gu Kaizhi began coloring their Buddhist murals, Duan Chu reported that Lu Weiwei and Zhang Tongyun had been accosted, and Chen sent Ran Sheng to clear their way.

• Xie Daoyun accepted Wang Xizhi’s health-preserving prescription but declined the Prince of Kuaiji’s recruitment, then later met Chen Caozhi alone on Vermilion Bird Bridge.
• Xie Daoyun told Chen Caozhi she had sent Huan Wen her Three Strategies for Restoration and intended to join his staff while concealing that she was a woman; Chen supported her.
• Chen Caozhi and Xie Daoyun affirmed their friendship, discussed his paintings and Lu Weiwei, and parted at Vermilion Bird Bridge.
• Chen Caozhi and Gu Kaizhi continued work on the Waguansi murals while Lu Weiwei and Zhang Tongyun helped paint and spent time with them.
• Duan Chu reported that wastrels had accosted Lu Weiwei and Zhang Tongyun and injured Banli, so Chen Caozhi sent Ran Sheng to clear the road for them.

Ran Sheng and Chen Caozhi punished Zhu Lingbao and his companions after they harassed Lu Weiwei and Zhang Tongyun, and Chen Caozhi later reunited with friends when Gu Yuezhi arrived in Jiankang. The chapter leaves Chen Caozhi and his companions discussing whether Zhu Yingtai can win Xie Daoyun’s hand in debate.

• Zhu Lingbao and four other libertines attacked Banli and harassed Lu Weiwei and Zhang Tongyun, so Ran Sheng beat them and Chen Caozhi ordered their further punishment.
• Zhu Fatai treated Banli and persuaded Chen Caozhi and Gu Kaizhi to leave the injured men in his care; Lu Weiwei and Zhang Tongyun returned home safely.
• Chen Caozhi worried that Lu Weiwei might face trouble from her family, but word came that she was well and had sent him her Jewel Magnolia Painting.
• Gu Yuezhi arrived in Jiankang with Xu Miao and Feng Lingbo, and he told Chen Caozhi that Huan Wen wanted him to join the Western Headquarters after Gu Kaizhi’s wedding.
• At a banquet, Gu Kaizhi recounted Chen Caozhi’s debates with Xie Daoyun and Fan Ning, and the friends discussed whether Zhu Yingtai and Xie Daoyun would make a suitable couple.

Yuan Tong and Zhuge Zeng joined forces to ask Chen Caozhi to debate Zhu Yingtai, offering him six hundred thousand Wuzhu coins if he won. They hoped to defeat Zhu Yingtai before Xie Daoyun could be betrothed to him.

• Yuan Tong and Zhuge Zeng sought an audience with Chen Caozhi and proposed that he debate Zhu Yingtai.
• Yuan Tong wanted Zhu Yingtai humbled because he feared she might marry Xie Daoyun and disgrace the men who had sought her hand.
• Yuan Tong and Zhuge Zeng offered Chen Caozhi six hundred thousand Wuzhu coins if he defeated Zhu Yingtai.
• The account recalled how Yuan Dan once helped Huan Wen win a fortune at gambling by concealing his identity from creditors.
• Yuan Dan’s son, Yuan Zeng, was also fond of gambling, which helped explain the pair’s wager.