The Sorceress' Revolt
Author: Toriumi Jinzō
Translator: Ainikki the Archivist
Ko Biji's Story
Part Five: Desires and Treasures
The next day dawned clear and cloudless, with Mount Hua rising into the sky along the horizon in sharp crisp lines. Sei Koko's shrine was packed with believers for the morning service. Many voices recited the Heart Sutra in a flowing chant. Sei Koko stood tall and prayed using enigmatic hand gestures. She was a small woman, but her presence was large beyond limits when she was in her shrine. No monks were allowed in, but Yang Chun himself showed up to pray. His wife had been in poor health and had not shown up recently, staying bedridden. The air was choked with smoke from incense burners.
After the service, Sei Koko sat opposite Yang Chun in a room next to a small library of sacred Daoist scriptures. All of the texts in the library had been collected by Yang Chun. The Daozong--a commonly known collection of about fifteen hundred Daoist texts--had been completed some years before Sei Koko settled at the shrine. Sei Koko didn't care much about these texts, but she kept them organized in the library for appearances' sake.
The offerings piled up on wooden boxes in the corner of the room interested Sei Koko far more than Yang Chun's library of scriptures. All the offerings from believers were collected by Sei Koko's attendant after each service and delivered to this room.
"We are pleased that the number of believers has increased during morning services of late," Yang Chun said, using the royal 'we.' "We are sure that they find it enlightening to gaze upon the face of a saint."
"It is a blessing to see them all," Sei Koko said. "The increase in believers is also due to your daily devotion to your own faith, Lord Yang Chun."
"You give us too much credit. Please accept this morning's offerings."
Sei Koko glanced casually at the offerings and gave Yang Chun a restrained nod. Yang Chun knew that Sei Koko sent the collected offerings somewhere else, though he wasn't certain where or for what purpose. He didn't pry. To a man of Yung Chun's wealth and properties, the offerings were trivial, and he let Sei Koko do whatever she pleased with them. Yang Chun believed in Sei Koko with all his heart. More offerings meant that Sei Koko's fame was spreading, which added shine to his reputation as a pious man.
"By the way, Lord Yang Chun," Sei Koko said. "If I may, I'd like to speak for a moment about your lady wife's illness."
"Sadly, she has not shown any sign of improvement," Yang Chun said, using a less formal tone. "I fear her faith is not strong enough."
"I do not believe the illness can be cured with stronger faith, an elixir, or anything of the sort."
Yang Chun's face changed color. "What? Is there truly nothing to be done?"
"No, there is a way to help her, I think."
Yang Chun looked at her pleadingly and said, "Please tell me. I'll do anything to help save my wife."
"She has already seen the bodhisattva of universal compassion. We must not let this rare encounter go to waste. If we build a temple here, erect a golden Daoist statue and pray to it, I am sure that miracles will occur. Your wife will be completely cured."
"I see. I believe that you are right."
"After the temple is built, I shall recite prayers to the bodhisattva every day. This would bring better fortune to the whole of your house. I would like to do this to repay at least some of your kindness."
"I am grateful. I am only too happy to cover all construction costs. I will also provide you the land on which to build this temple."
Yang Chun's reply was exactly what Sei Koko expected, but her expression showed no gladness at having her sudden request granted. Building a temple to the bodhisattva of universal compassion would take at least three months. Selecting a place to build a temple was also difficult; the place needed to be quiet, out-of-the-way, and on sacred ground.
"I have an idea for a place to build the temple," Yang Chun said. "The eastern side of Mount Hua is largely uninhabited, and people rarely go there. Please select a parcel of land from there."
"Thank you very much. We will be moving out of the west garden immediately. I would like to make a pilgrimage to the sacred mountain of Yongxing to offer prayers before construction begins. Ko Biji and Danshi will be staying behind, so please take good care of them."
"I will make the travel arrangements and place a reliable attendant in the guardhouse. Please leave it to me and don't worry about a thing."
***
Yang Chun's villa was located along the valley on the eastern side of Mount Hua. There were no houses nearby, and it was isolated on the edge of a cliff at the foot of the mountain. The front was forested and protected by a thick wall made of packed earth. There was a guardhouse at the gate in the wall.
A middle-aged woman hired by Yang Chun moved in to handle matters at the shrine in Sei Koko's absence. Although there were almost no visitors, she was tasked with watching over those who came and went. She also carried out odd jobs when called upon by the the main house and acted as a liaison with Yang Chun. Although the place where Sei Koko was moving to for prayer was relatively isolated, it was fortified well and benefited from the protection of a high cliff behind the house. Sei Koko's temporary residence was an old wooden building with two floors. Inside there were several large halls and over a dozen rooms, as well as a study, a medicine room with a kiln, and kitchen facilities, all connected by a single hallway.
***
Shortly after moving to her temporary residence to the east of Mount Hua and completing preparations for deciphering the Heavenly Book, Sei Koko got on the road to Hezhong (Shanxi Province). There were few travelers on the mountain road, even on such a clear day.
Sei Koko smiled as she walked, wrapped in memories. "Yang Chun is a weak-willed man, so I'll ask him to give me plenty of money. People of faith always have some weaknesses. I'll exploit them all."
Until now, Sei Koko had been moving the offerings off the premises with the help of an attendant. The attendant selected the offerings, loaded them onto a cart, and then carried them off to a secret location. This attendant was originally employed by a wealthy merchant in Sichuan, but he was found guilty of embezzlement of public funds and was taken in by Yang Chun's family. He was a believer himself, and young. He had knowledge of how to use paper money, which was currently in vogue, which was why Sei Koko had hired him on to start with.
The world's oldest paper money was called jiaozi, and it began to be used in the capital of Sichuan Province during the Song Dynasty (960 to 1279 CE). The weight of iron coins was inconvenient, so wealthy merchants formed a union and obtained official approval to create paper bills with the same value as the coins. Incidentally, the first paper money in the western world was made a long time after this.
And now, around fifty years after the initial creation of paper money, Sei Koko mainly collected coins, which were common and convenient for accumulating wealth. However, the coins were subject to strict government regulation and control, so there was a fear that they could be seized to alleviate the government's financial difficulties. As these fears spread, the value of iron coins declined. Sei Koko had her attendant exchange all her coins to silver and stored them in the basement of her home.
Sei Koko considered all this as she climbed the mountain path. She remembered the instructions she'd given to Ko Biji and Tanshi before she left. "Deciphering the Heavenly Book requires careful preparation. I thank you, Tanshi, for climbing the sacred mountain and obtaining it, but your work is far from over. I am going to climb Yongxing Mountain and pray for our success; I'll only be gone for a few days. While I am gone, purify your body and mind, cutting yourself off from all emotions and desires. Practice sitting meditation daily for as long as you can. And don't forget to strictly observe all sexual precepts while I'm away."
She'd given these instructions, but she didn't expect Tanshi to actually follow them.
I know that they're in a relationship, and there's no way I can protect them from the consequences of that. Now that I've obtained the Heavenly Book, Tanshi no longer matters, but...
The sun set in the west as Sei Koko thought about her situation. Long ago, while traveling, Sei Koko had heard that this mountain was connected to Empress Wu Zetian. She had always wanted to make this pilgrimage, and today her wish had come true. However, even when she got close to the top of the mountain, there was no sign of Empress Wu Zetian or anything to do with her. Sei Koko looked, but found nothing.
"I suppose the connection to the Empress was just a rumor," Sei Koko murmured to herself. She regretted that she hadn't stopped in the village at the foot of the mountain.
Sei Koko stopped for the night along a narrow forest path. She would be sleeping outdoors tonight, and she could always look for signs of Empress Wu Zetian again in the morning.
Sei Koko admired Wu Zetian and worshipped her as a deity at the Daoist altar in her shrine. She believed that the Heavenly Book had fallen into her hands solely because of her daily prayers to the Empress.
Restless, Sei Koko got back on the forest path and looked for a better place to camp. As she walked, a dark swirl of wind accosted her, pushing her back and down so that she fainted.
When Sei Koko regained consciousness, she heard music playing all around her. The sky was dark, but there were lights nearby, bright as daylight. She sat up, looking around with her eyes wide.
Sei Koko lay on the ground in a palace garden. Fireworks burned in all directions, shooting into the sky and exploding overhead. A pearl curtain hung in the center of a high platform: the perfect place for a nobleman or woman to sit and observe the fireworks. On either side of the curtain sat ladies-in-waiting dressed in purple robes and tiaras made of gauzy silk. The music continued to play, though Sei Koko didn't see any musicians.
As Sei Koko gaped in shock, one of the ladies-in-waiting stepped forward. "Please have some decorum. You are in the presence of Empress Wu Zetian," she said in a scathing tone.
Empress Wu Zetian was the first, last and only female ruler of China. She was Empress during the Great Tang Dynasty, and ruled over China during a renaissance of art, culture and trade. Born the daughter of a wealthy lumber merchant, she was chosen by the Emperor Taizong (c. 598-649 CE) at the age of fourteen as a concubine. After Taizong's death, she stayed at a temple, but was picked up by Emperor Gaozong (ruled c. 649-683 CE) and became a concubine again. The intelligent and beautiful Wu Zetian took over government affairs in place of the sickly Emperor Gaozong. Two years after Gaozong's retirement, she finally became the Empress herself--after serving as a concubine for seventeen years. Wu Zetian ruled for forty-five years, wielding immense power and influence, and passed away at the age of eighty-two.
In life, Empress Wu Zetian was an ardent believer in Buddhism and Daoism, but in private life she was also extremely promiscuous. She favored a renowned defrocked monk with extraordinary stamina1 and dragged men into her bedroom regardless of their status if they pleased her. Politically, she set up a private secret police and attempted to purge the political world of her enemies. When she was old and infirm, her opponents, including Zhang Jianzhi,2 drove out Wu Zetian in favor of her son. Empress Wu Zetian died hating her enemies, unable to avenge herself.
Sei Koko stared at the lady-in-waiting with an expression of disbelief. She couldn't possibly be before Empress Wu Zetian--the empress had died three hundred and eighteen years ago.
"How can something like this happen... where am I?" Sei Koko tried to keep her voice low, but the lady-in-waiting heard her.
"Your doubt is understandable, but the Empress is here," the lady-in-waiting said.
"She is here..."
The pearl curtain parted soundlessly, revealing Empress Wu Zetian upon a throne, wearing her hair in a topknot to denote her status. She was eighty-two years old, and much of the beauty of her youth had withered.
Sei Koko prostrated herself before the empress.
When the lady-in-waiting spoke again, her tone was more polite. "You have worshiped the empress for many days and nights. This is the result of your devotion. Please step forward."
Sei Koko crawled forward and prostrated herself again.
Then Wu Zetian spoke in a cultured and dignified voice. "Sei Koko. You and I have quite a history. I am afraid that your conjectures and theories are correct--my spirit has been lost in the underworld for all this time."
Sei Koko gasped. "I have always worshipped you as my goddess. You rose to the highest position of power that a woman can achieve. Why are you lost in the darkness of the underworld? What are you looking for?"
"I mastered the arts of a sorceress and enjoyed many blessings in life, but that life was cut tragically short. It is said that Peng Zu enjoyed youthful energy and vigor even when he was seven hundred and sixty-seven years old; I think I should like to emulate that. And the resentment I felt at being betrayed by Zhang Jianzhi and the others has not disappeared. The time has come for me to be reborn as a young woman once again."
"Reborn?" Sei Koko asked.
"I remarked upon my connection with you already. It is not a shallow connection. Your daughter's life will be cut short because of me."
"What? Ko Biji will die?"
"Do not grieve for her. She will be reincarnated. And when my soul is reborn through her, I will chase all my previous aspirations. I shall ally with the man that heaven has decreed for me and take over the world."
Sei Koko shook all over. What Wu Zetian was saying was completely unbelievable. "You are saying that Ko Biji will be reborn as you, and that you will take over the world?"
"Yes. I require a sorceress for this. I shall regain my former power and then some, and then I shall have my revenge on Zhang Jianzhi and all who aided him."
"To think that you would go so far..." Sei Koko was terrified by the depth of Wei Zetian's grudge against those who had wronged her.
"Sei Koko. You are a foundling from Ōmushū,3 correct?"
"Yes." Hearing the name of her home after such a long time caused Sei Koko a touch of embarrassment. She looked away. Sei Koko hated thinking of her past.
"There is no need to be self-conscious, Sei Koko. I know all about you."
Sei Koko was horrified. She thought that she had fled her past successfully, and had no desire to let it touch her here. "I see." She tried to say more, but Wu Zetian talked over her.
"For the sake of your future, you must reflect on your past. You were picked up by a traveling foreigner, and as a child, you were dragged to Khitan and Tangut, to India and to the western continent, where you endured a series of hardships... And at the age of eight, that foreigner made you his wife."
"Oh, how cruel... Please, say no more."
The stranger had adopted Sei Koko when she was very young. He was said to be the child of an Indian and a westerner. Regardless of who he truly was, he disguised himself as a traveling merchant and made a living as a trader across China and the rest of the world. He was knowledgeable in foreign languages and sold information about each country to their enemy nations. He had likely picked up Sei Koko in the first place in an effort to obscure his true identity. Sei Koko's linguistic ability was the result of this stranger's education.
"Your resentment, your hatred... the stranger who raised you died, and your lonely wandering continued."
"Please, stop." Sei Koko threw herself down in agony.
"Listen, Sei Koko. During your wanderings, you were attacked by foreigners and gave birth to a child with an unknown father. You hated the men, you hated the parents who abandoned you... no, you hated everyone. Every single person in the world."
Tears streamed down Sei Koko's cheeks. She hung her head to hide the shame she felt.
Still Wu Zetian did not cease her exploration of Sei Koko's past.
"I told you to listen. Now I ask: who was it that trampled upon your youth and ruined your life? Who was it that sent you into the realm of vengeful ghosts and unthinking beasts? Your hatred came from those people."
Sei Koko bowed all the way to the ground, weeping.
"Don't cry, Sei Koko." Wu Zetian sounded consoling and sad herself. "I will rescue you from this hell. You are fortunate to have gained so many followers, but does collecting their donations truly soothe your soul? For what purpose have you become a religious leader? Success in this area will not make up for the horrors of your past. No, you must dream bigger. Your ambitions must encompass the entirety of the earth."
"I should try to take the world for myself?" Sei Koko asked softly, raising her tear-stained face.
"That's right. I will take over the world like I did before, seize the greatest wealth and power, and get revenge for all the humiliation and hardships I've suffered up until now. That revenge shall be yours as well."
"How?"
"I will become the reincarnation of Ko Biji and protect you. Bet everything on your daughter's reincarnation."
A new light shone in Sei Koko's eyes. Her daughter would be the reincarnation of China's powerful empress, and she would be Wu Zetian's guardian. It seemed unreal.
"The world today is corrupt. There is no order, only chaos, and the people have fallen into evil. The only way to fight this evil is with more evil. This is the perfect opportunity for you to use evil to regain your good fortune."
Sei Koko put her hands together and stared at Wu Zetian. Whether it was evil or magic, if she could borrow the power of China's most powerful woman, she would have nothing to fear. She made up her mind and said, "Empress, I will follow your instructions." She bowed deeply once more.
"The time will surely come when you must. Until then, gather your allies, study the Heavenly Book, and work hard to understand Daoism. There is no need for haste. Await Ko Biji's reincarnation, and do not fear."
"Um... yes, I shall," Sei Koko said, stumbling over her words.
"Misfortunes in one's previous life can create obstacles for reincarnation. Do not permit your daughter to take any man to herself. If she dies with love for that man unfulfilled, you will suffer for it in the afterlife."
Sei Koko bowed with her forehead to the ground.
"Never doubt anything, Sei Koko. Do as you are commanded."
"Yes, I will follow your orders."
Sei Koko looked up and was startled.
The palace of Wu Zetian had disappeared, along with the empress herself. The music Sei Koko had heard went suddenly silent. The forest surrounded her, accompanied by the echo of a cold wind.
It was as if none of what Sei Koko had seen was real. "Was it a dream?" Sei Koko asked herself.
The eastern horizon was white with predawn light. Sei Koko stood up and staggered into the trees. She stopped still when she saw a moss-covered stone lying in a bamboo thicket nearby. In the morning sun, she saw that the stone was inscribed: Dedicated to Empress Wu Zetian of Tang.
"It was not a dream," Sei Koko murmured. "This is a message from the empress!" She knelt down and prayed before the stone for a long time.
Translator's Notes
1 This almost certainly refers to Xue Huaiyi (薛懷義). He was a Buddhist monk who was known for being the lover of Wu Zetian. It was said that when Huaiyi entered and exited the palace, he would ride on an imperial steed and have some 10 eunuchs attend to him. Whenever people saw him, they avoided him, because he was accustomed to batter those who came near him and toss them aside. He was particularly hateful toward Daoist monks, and whenever he encountered them, he would beat them severely, sometimes cutting their hair off. ↩
2 Zhang Jianzhi (張柬之) (625[1] – 706), formally Prince Wenzhen of Hanyang (漢陽文貞王), was an official of the Chinese Tang dynasty and Wu Zetian's Zhou dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reigns of Wu Zetian and her son, Emperor Zhongzong. He was a key figure in the coup that overthrew Wu Zetian and restored Emperor Zhongzong in 705, but was later exiled due to false accusations. He died in exile. ↩
3 Ōmushū (Chinese: 鸚鵡州): Ōmushū, meaning "Parrot Island," is a sandbar off the shore of the Yangtze River in Wuhan, Hubei Province. The island still exists, though the historical island was destroyed by erosion; the new island is in almost the same place and supplemented with extra sand to prevent it from eroding away. ↩
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