The Investiture of the Gods, Part 1

Chapter 1

The King and the Goddess

In the beginning, Pangu split the world in two;

Then came yin and yang, then the stars in the sky

After the sky came the ground, then people;

Youchao taught them to build homes and stay safe

Suiren taught them to use fire to cook food,

Fuxi showed them the ways of yin and yang

Shennong gave them medicine;

Xuanyuan gave them culture and family

Under the five emperors people prospered;

Yu the Great stopped the floods

Xia gave them five hundred years of peace;

But King Jie came and turned day into night

Every day he drank wine and played with his concubines;

Until King Chen Tang came to cleanse the palace

The cruel king lived but fled to the south;

The clouds and rain passed and the nation prospered again

Thirty-one kings later, Yin Zhou takes the throne;

The Shang family breaks like a string

The palace is in chaos, wife and sons are killed;

While the foolish king listens only to his evil advisors

Daji fills the palace with dirt and chaos;

Her snake pit and burning pillar bring pain to the loyal

The Deer Terrace brings pain to the people;

Their anger covers the entire sky

Loyal ministers lose their hearts or die on the burning pillar;

Mothers see their babies die; farmers’ feet are cut off

The king trusts evil ministers and forgets to care for the country;

He fights for no reason and removes good ministers

The ways of religion are forgotten,

Now there is only black magic and trickery

The king’s friends are evil, he does not fear God;

He drinks all the time, he is like a wild animal

Ji Chang comes to the capital but is imprisoned in Youli;

His son escapes in a dust cloud and wait for the right time

Even God in heaven is angry and sends disasters

That cover everything like an endless ocean

Life is difficult in the nation, the people cry out;

Then Jiang Ziya appears, a god among men

He sits and fishes, not for fish but for a wise master;

The flying bear comes to him in a dream

Ji Chang brings Ziya back to Zhou in his carriage;

Ziya stays by his side and gives him two thirds of the nation

Ji Chang does not live to see the final victory;

His son takes the throne and works hard every day

Eight hundred marquises come together;

They make a plan to destroy the cruel and evil

At dawn the two armies come together in Muye;

But the king’s armies turn and attack Shang

The people kowtow in fear like wounded beasts;

Blood flows like a river and covers the pillars

The new king dons the robe of heaven;

Now the nation is at peace with King Tang on the throne

The war horses return to Mount Hua as the war ends;

The Zhou family begins eight hundred years of rule

The dead king is hung on a white flag;

The souls of the dead soldiers can finally rest

Master Jiang Ziya was born a wise man;

He put everything in the correct place

This is the great story of Shang and Zhou;

It is passed down to this day from parent to child

In the beginning, the King of Shang was a good man.

His name was Di Xin. His father was the twenty-seventh king of the Shang Dynasty. When the old king died after ruling for thirty years, Di Xin became the twenty-eighth king. He did not know that he would be the last.

Di Xin married a beautiful woman named Jiang, who was the daughter of a powerful grand duke. The king also had two concubines named Huang and Yang.

For seven years the country was peaceful. Heaven brought wind and rain at the right times, and the people were never hungry.

The trouble started one day when the prime minister, a man named Shang Rong, stepped forward in court. Shang Rong told the king, Your Majesty, tomorrow is the fifteenth day of the third month. It is the birthday of the goddess Nüwa. Do you know the story of how she saved our country?

The king smiled and said, Yes, but please tell us the story again.

Many years ago, Buzhou Mountain held up the sky. Two powerful gods were fighting. One of the gods was losing the fight, so he smashed his own head against Buzhou Mountain and destroyed it. The sky started to fall. There were fires and floods. Dangerous animals came to our kingdom and ate the people. When Goddess Nüwa heard about this, she immediately came to help us. First, she cut the legs off a giant tortoise and used the legs to hold up the sky again. Then she used colored stones to repair the sky. But she could not completely repair the sky. That is why even today, the sun and moon move from east to west, and the stars move from southeast to northwest.

That is a good story, said the king. What else did Nüwa do?

The ancients say that when the world was young, Nüwa was all alone. There were no animals and no people. So on the first day she created chickens. On the second day she created dogs. On the third day she created sheep. On the fourth day she created pigs. On the fifth day she created cows. On the sixth day she created horses. On the seventh day she started creating people from yellow clay. She made the people one at a time. But it took a long time and she got tired. She dipped a rope in yellow clay and swung it around. Bits of yellow clay fell everywhere, and each bit became a person.

And now?

Even now, Nüwa takes care of our people. She brings wind and rain at the right times, so the people are never hungry. You should worship her by going to her temple tomorrow on her birthday.

You are right, said the king. We will go.

The next day, the king left the palace through the south gate. It was a warm sunny day. He rode for several li to the temple in his royal carriage. Three thousand soldiers on horses rode with him, along all the ministers of the court. Leading the army was General Huang Feihu, the brother of Concubine Huang.

When the king arrived at the temple, he walked into the main hall. He burned incense, bowed low, and prayed to Nüwa. Then he took a little time to look around the temple. While walking around the temple, he saw a statue of Nüwa hidden behind a curtain. Just as he was looking at the statue, a strong wind came in through a nearby window. It blew the curtain aside, and the king saw Nüwa. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She was more beautiful than flowers in springtime, more beautiful than the moon in the sky.

The king’s body became hot with desire. He said to himself, We have a beautiful queen and we have concubines, but none are as beautiful as this goddess. We must have her! He told his attendants to bring him brush and ink. Without thinking he wrote a love poem to the goddess right on the wall of the temple. This is the poem:

There are phoenixes and dragons

But they are like dirt to us

You are like a beautiful fruit tree in the rain

You are like flowers in the mist

Please come alive, O beautiful goddess

Come to us, come down from your temple

We will bring you to my palace![7]

The Prime Minister saw the poem. His eyes grew big. He said to the king, Your Majesty, Nüwa has been a great friend to our people. You came to her temple to thank her. But now you have insulted her. Please, I beg you, wash this poem off the wall!

The king replied angrily, We see no problem here. We saw the goddess and thought she was beautiful. Be quiet. Don’t forget that We are the king. And he returned to the palace, to enjoy time with his queen and his concubines.

That evening, Goddess Nüwa returned to her temple after visiting with some friends. She saw the poem written in black ink on the wall of her temple. When she read the poem, she became very angry. She said, This king is evil. He writes dirty poems on the wall of my temple. He does not know how to show respect to the gods. I will make sure he is the last king of Shang!

She called for her phoenix and rode it to the capital city of Zhaoge. She was looking for the king. She looked down from the sky and saw the king. But when she saw him, she knew that it was the will of heaven that he would live for another twenty-eight years.

Still angry, she returned to her temple. She told her servants to bring her a magic gourd called the Demon Summoning Gourd. She placed the gourd on the ground. She opened it and pointed to it with her finger. A beam of bright white light came from the gourd and rose into the sky. All the demons in the area saw the light and came to her temple. Dark clouds appeared in the sky. A cold wind began to blow.

Nüwa waited for all the demons to arrive. Then she told all of them to go home except for three female demons: Thousand-Year-Old Fox, Nine Headed Pheasant, and Jade Lute. Nüwa said to them, Listen carefully to me. I have heard the singing of the phoenix in the west. It tells me that a new king has been born in the province of Qi. I want to destroy King Di Xin, but it is Heaven’s will that he will live for another twenty-eight years. So I will destroy him while he lives. I want you three to change into beautiful women. You must enter the palace, and do whatever is needed to stop the king from attending to affairs of state. In time this will end the Shang Dynasty and bring in the new one. Now go! The three demons turned into winds and blew away.

Back in the palace, the king thought could think of nothing but the beautiful goddess. He did not eat, drink or sleep. He found no pleasure with his queen or his concubines. He did not care about affairs of state. He did not know what to do. Finally, he called one of his ministers, an evil man named Fei Zhong. He knew that Fei Zhong would say anything and do anything to make him happy.

The king said to Fei Zhong, We cannot think of anything except the goddess Nüwa. We don’t care about our queen or our concubines or the affairs of state. What can we do?

Fei Zhong gave the king a big smile. He said, Your Majesty, you are the most powerful man in the world. You can have anything you want. If you want a beautiful woman, that is no problem. Just tell each of the four grand dukes to send you a hundred of the most beautiful girls in their region. Soon you will have four hundred girls to look at. I’m sure you will find one as beautiful as the goddess.

The king thought this was a wonderful idea.

Chapter 2

The Rebellion of Su Hu

The Prime Minister in his golden carriage speaks to the king;

In all the kingdom, who is as loyal and wise?

If he knew that the marquises were coming,

He would not have poured ink on sunflower paper

The king was pleased with the report;

He read it and then returned to the palace;

The evening came and then the morning;

The next day, ministers came and praised the foolish king

The kingdom of Shang was quite large. To help him rule the kingdom the king had four grand dukes. Each grand duke ruled about a quarter of the country. Each grand duke had about two hundred marquises, and each marquis ruled a small city or village.

The next morning, the king told his attendants to send letters to each of the four grand dukes. The letters told each of them to bring a hundred beautiful young women to the palace. But Prime Minister Shang Rong heard about this. He said to the king, Your Majesty, this is a bad idea. Please think about this. Right now, the people are happy in their work and they obey you. But if you do this, they will become unhappy. They will not want you as their king. If you spend your days listening to music, playing with your concubines, drinking wine and hunting, you will not be king for long. I have been a minister for your grandfather, your father, and now you. And I tell you, do not forget the affairs of state and seek only a life of pleasure!

The king sat quietly for a long time. Then he said, You are right. We will not do this. He left the hall and went to his chambers to play with his concubines for a while.

The months passed, but the king never forgot about the beautiful goddess Nüwa. The next summer, the four grand dukes and all eight hundred marquises came to Zhaoge. During this time, the evil minister Fei Zhong had become more powerful. He demanded bribes and gifts from each grand duke and marquis. Most of them gave him gifts, but Su Hu, the marquis of Jizhou, did not. Su Hu was a good man, and he disliked Fei Zhong.

Fei Zhong wanted revenge. He waited until the king was not busy. Then he said to the king, You were right to not ask the four grand dukes to send those beautiful young women last year. But I have heard that the marquis Su Hu has a daughter named Daji. It is said that she is as beautiful as the goddess Nüwa. Perhaps you should bring her to the palace.

The king liked this idea, and started to think about being with Daji. He ordered Su Hu to come to the palace to see him. Su Hu arrived a short time later. He kneeled in front of the king and waited for him to speak.

The king said, We have heard that your daughter is a fine young woman. We want her to serve us in the palace. If we do this, this will be good for you. You will become part of the royal family. You will also become rich and powerful. How do you feel about this?

Su Hu replied, Your Majesty, I think someone has given you bad information. Why would you want my daughter? You already have a lovely queen and many concubines. My daughter is not beautiful. In fact, she knows nothing and has an ugly face.

The king laughed loudly. He said, You are a fool, Su Hu. Your daughter would be treated like a queen. And you would become part of the royal family.

Forgetting to be careful when speaking to the king, Su Hu stood up and shouted, You are a terrible king. You care nothing for affairs of state. You spend all your time drinking and playing with women. Change your ways, or your dynasty will end soon!

The king shouted to his soldiers, Arrest this fool and throw him out of Zhaoge! The soldiers took Su Hu away. They took him to the north gate of the city and told him to go back to Jizhou and never return.

Su Hu returned to Jizhou. When he arrived, his ministers asked him what happened during his visit to Zhaoge. Su Hu told them, That idiot king wanted my daughter as a concubine. What should I do? If I refuse, he will send an army here. But if I agree, he will continue to ignore the affairs of state, and people will say that I helped him to go down that road.

One of the ministers replied, The ancients say that if a king is bad, his ministers may leave him. Our king only cares for women and pleasure. We should leave him and try to save our country.

Su Hu agreed. He called for a large brush and ink. Then he rode his horse back to Zhaoge. He walked up to the main gate. He held a large brush in one hand and ink pot in the other. He quickly wrote this poem on the wall:

You have no respect for your ministers

You have forgotten the five virtues

And so Su Hu, the marquis of Jizhou

Will no longer serve the king of Shang

A soldier at the gate saw this. He ran back to the palace, kneeled before the king, and told him about the poem on the wall. The king was furious. He called Fei Zhong and told him how angry he was. He said, It is time to destroy the city of Jizhou. Who should lead our army?

Fei Zhong thought about this for a few minutes. He said to the king, Jizhou is in the north. I suggest that the Grand Duke of the North should destroy the city. Fei Zhong knew that the Grand Duke of the North was a cruel man named Chong Houhu.

Prime Minister Shang Rong heard about this. He was worried about what the cruel general might do. So he went to the king and said, Your Majesty, Chong Houhu is the Grand Duke of the North, but the people do not like him. It may be difficult for him to do this job. Perhaps you should use the Grand Duke of the West, Ji Chang, instead. He is a good man, the people trust him.

The king listened to this. Then he said, We will send both of them. They will lead the army together.

The two grand dukes, Chong Houhu and Ji Chang, sat down to discuss their plan to attack Jizhou. They agreed that Chong Houhu would lead the army and would arrive first at the city of Jizhou, and Ji Chang would follow shortly afterwards.

Back at Jizhou, Su Hu met with his own generals. They knew that the city of Jizhou was in great danger. They prepared their army to fight against the king’s army.

A few days later, Su Hu heard that the king’s army had arrived at Jizhou. The king’s army had 50,000 soldiers with spears and swords. Who is leading this army? asked Su Hu.

Chong Houhu, the Grand Duke of the North, one of his ministers replied.

That man is evil and cruel, said Su Hu. But I will talk with him anyway. He led his soldiers out of the city. The army of Su Hu stood facing the army of the king. Su Hu was in front. He shouted, Let me talk with your general!

Chong Houhu came out to meet him. He rode on a big horse. He wore bright golden armor, a red robe and a jade belt. He held a long sword in his hand. Behind him were his son and two other generals.

Su Hu bowed to Chong Houhu. He said, How are you, Grand Duke. I’m sorry we have to meet like this. But you know that our king has become a bad ruler. He treats his ministers badly, and he cares nothing for affairs of state. He only wants women and wine. And now he wants my daughter as a concubine.

Chong Houhu replied angrily, None of that matters. You are a traitor. His Majesty the King has ordered me to kill you. You should kneel before me, but instead, you stand there with your armor and sword. He turned to his men and said, Who will kill this traitor for me?

One of Chong Houhu’s generals shouted, I will! He rode his horse forward and attacked Su Hu. But before he could get close, Su Hu’s son Su Quanzhong rode forward on his horse. The two fought, sword against sword, for twenty rounds. Finally, Su Quanzhong killed the general.

Su Hu gave the order for his army to attack. All the soldiers on both sides ran forward, holding their swords high. There was a huge battle. When it was over, the ground was covered with the blood of dead and dying soldiers. Chong Houhu’s army was defeated. They fled from the city.

Later that night, Su Hu’s army returned and attacked Chong Houhu’s army again. They attacked like hungry tigers. Su Hu saw Chong Houhu and shouted, Chong Houhu! Get down off your horse, I will bring you back as a prisoner to Jizhou! Chong Houhu saw that his army was losing and that he could not win against Su Hu. So he turned and fled like a dog, as fast as he could.

A few hours later Su Hu’s army attacked for a third time. Su Quanzhong saw Chong Houhu and shouted, I have been waiting for you. Drop your sword, get down off your horse, and prepare to die! Two of Chong Houhu’s generals rushed forward, and all three of them fought with Su Quanzhong. Su Quanzhong fought like a dragon in the sea. He struck the three generals with his sword, killing one and injuring another. Chong Houhu and his army ran away, defeated for the third time. Su Hu’s army returned to Jizhou.

The next morning, Su Hu met with his generals and ministers. He asked his son, Did you capture that dog Chong Houhu?

No, replied Su Quanzhong. Our soldiers fought like tigers. I myself killed one of their generals and injured another. But Chong Houhu and his army ran away. It was dark and I did not want to ride after them.

Su Hu was happy to hear that his army had won the battle. He said, Chong Houhu was lucky. Now rest, my son.

Chapter 3

Daji is Given to the King

The king ordered Chong to attack the ministers;

But he had little wisdom and could not make a good plan

The failed battle started in the morning;

By evening he had lost and had to flee the camp

From the beginning of time, lust has led to the fall of kingdoms;

Since ancient days, the evil done by ministers never ends

This is not about the king’s lust for Daji;

It is heaven’s will that Zhou will rule the kingdom

Chong Houhu and his army fled from Jizhou as fast as they could. Only one in ten of his soldiers survived, and many of those had terrible injuries.

Chong Houhu said to his generals, We had to fight against the army of Su Hu all alone. Where was the Grand Duke of the West and his army? His Majesty told him to help us, but he did not come. He is a traitor.

Just then, a soldier rushed in and told him that a huge army was approaching. Chong Houhu did not know if they were friends or enemies. He jumped up on his horse and rode out to see. He saw a general leading thousands of soldiers. The general’s face was as black as the bottom of a cooking pot. He had a red beard, golden eyes, and wore a long red robe. He rode a fire-eyed monster. In each of his hands he held a golden axe. On his back he carried a strange red gourd. Chong Houhu knew this man. It was his own brother, the Marquis of Caozhou, known to everyone as Black Tiger.

I heard that your army was defeated, Black Tiger said to Chong Houhu, so I got here as quickly as I could. It is good to see you again!

How many soldiers do you have? asked Chong Houhu.

I have three thousand Flying Tiger soldiers, and another twenty thousand are coming soon. The two armies joined together and marched towards Jizhou. They stopped just a few li from the city.

In Jizhou, someone told Su Hu that the Black Tiger had arrived. This is bad, said Su Hu. Black Tiger is a very good fighter. Also, he has studied magic. I have heard that he can cut off someone’s head as easily as taking a stone out of a bag.

His son Su Quanzhong replied, Father, do not talk like that. You are only making him stronger and yourself weaker. I am not afraid. I will go and fight Black Tiger myself! Before anyone could stop him, he jumped on his horse and ran out to meet Black Tiger.

Now Su Quanzhong did not know that his father and Black Tiger were good friends, and sworn brothers. When Black Tiger heard that Su Hu’s son was coming, he shouted, My young friend! Please go back and tell your father to come and see me.

Su Quanzhong shouted, Forget that! We are enemies. Leave this place right now, or you will die! He attacked Black Tiger with his sword. Black Tiger fought with his two golden axes. They fought for a long time but neither could win. Then Black Tiger turned and rode away quickly. Su Quanzhong rode after him.

As he rode, Black Tiger pulled the lid off his magic gourd. He said some magic words. Suddenly a cloud of black smoke came out of the gourd. A dozen huge eagles came down from the sky. They attacked Su Quanzhong and his horse. Su Quanzhong fought off the eagles with his sword, but the eagles attacked the horse. The horse fell to the ground. Su Quanzhong was thrown to the ground and was taken prisoner by Black Tiger’s soldiers.

Su Hu heard this bad news. He said to himself, My son did not listen to me, and now he is a prisoner. There are many soldiers out there. Soon Jizhou will lose the war. What have I done to cause this? Maybe it is because I have a daughter. If I had no daughter, the king would not want her as a concubine, and my city would not be attacked by the king’s army. I cannot let my family be captured by the king’s army. It is better that I kill everyone in my family before the king’s soldiers come here. He picked up his sword and rushed into the room where his family was.

Daji saw him. She smiled and said, Dear father, why are you here, and why are you holding that big sword?

Su Hu stopped. He could not kill his daughter.

Outside the city, Chong Houhu wanted to use all of the soldiers from both armies to attack Jizhou. But Black Tiger said, Please wait. We don’t need to attack the city. Let’s surround the city. They will have no food or water, and soon they will not be able to fight. Also, the Grand Duke of the West’s army will be coming soon.

The soldiers surrounded the city of Jizhou. Several weeks went by. No food or water could come into the city. The people were very hungry and weak. Finally, one of the generals, a man named Zheng Lun, came to see Su Hu. He said, Sir, please let me go and fight Black Tiger. I will try to take him prisoner and bring him back here. If I fail, they can cut off my head.

Zheng Lun picked up his two Demon Subduing Clubs, jumped up on his horse, and led 3,000 soldiers out of the city. His soldiers were all dressed in black, making his army look like a black cloud moving across the ground. He got close to the enemy and shouted, Come out and fight me, Black Tiger!

Black Tiger came out, surrounded by his Flying Tiger soldiers. Who is the man who wants to fight me? he shouted.

I am General Zheng Lun of Jizhou. You must be Black Tiger. You are holding a prisoner. He is the son of my marquis. Give him to me right now, or I will turn you into dust!

Black Tiger did not reply. He rode his horse forward, striking at Zheng Lun with his golden