Ming Li and the Charmed Phoenix part 6

[marina_bonomi]

The land was rising now and becoming hilly, one evening, at long last, they made camp at the mountains’ feet.

Ming Li was worried that evening. Up to now his main thought had been to get to the Yellow Mountains, he didn’t have the time to think in earnest about a way of dealing with the Dragon King of Dongting Lake and his cousin, the Dragon King of the Yellow Mountains .
After having imagined, and discarded, a score of fanciful plans he decided to introduce himself as a scholar seeking employment.

He knew that the kings of the dragons, old and wise as they were, did not content themselves competing in magnificence, but loved to gather the best talent they could find at their courts, dragons or humans:scholars, calligraphers, painters, even actors, dancers and acrobats. Once he had gained access to the court he could possibly find a way to steal the magic pollen and keep his promise to Meihuang.

Another thing all dragons had in common, though: they made implacable foes and their enmity withstood the passing of generations.

Stealing from the Dragon King of Dongting Lake at his cousin’s court (and while he himself was a guest there) meant not only that the two dragons would be his lifelong enemies, but their whole clan would help them.

He could never go back to his village, otherwise he would draw the revenge of the dragon kings on everyone in it.
Such a prospect would have been enough to daunt even the ancient hero Hou Yi, Ming Li could only hope that, since he meant good, sweet Guan Yin, goddess of mercy, would grant him her protection.

They struck camp before dawn. The young man had feared the road would be too steep for Mist, but the mare walked with a sure, effortless step and at mid-morning they were already half way up; great pine trees shadowed the path or clang to the steep slopes as if they were dragons themselves, low clouds looked caught in low branches and crannied boulders, and fingers of thick fog groped under the trees.

No one knew for sure where the palace of the Dragon King was,from the few existing accounts it sounded almost as if it moved about at its lord’s whim, but Mist and Friend looked sure of their course, and Ming Li let them lead.

They stopped near a stream to eat, while he was unloading Mist, so that she too could rest a while, the bag, strangely heavy, slipped from Ming Li’s grasp and fell, opening and revealing its contents: ceremonial clothes fit for a ranking scholar going to court...
“ We must be near”, thought the young man and, after eating, he took advantage of the stream to clean himself up before changing into the new clothes.

He felt very strange dressed in silks and brocades. He had long dreamed about clothes like these and the day he would wear them for an audience with the Son of Heaven, but now he felt like he was living someone else’s life,a bit like the travelling actors he had seen sometimes at his village, who, for a few hours, were powerful magistrates, great generals and princes, just to go back afterwards to being vagrants without even a real family name.
He just wanted to be home, ploughing the fields with the old donkey.

Friend roused him from his thoughts, the raven had flown on his shoulder and was rubbing his head against Ming Li’s cheek, almost as though he wanted to confort him; the young man sighed and mounted again.


To be continued

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

In case anyone wonders about Hou Yi

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

from the few existing accounts it sounded almost as if it moved about at its lord’s whim --I love this notion.

, but now he felt like he was living someone else’s life,a bit like the travelling actors he had seen sometimes at his village, who, for a few hours, were powerful magistrates, great generals and princes, just to go back afterwards to being vagrants without even a real family name.

--poignant, that line!

I continue to love this.

[marina-bonomi.livejournal.com]

Thank you!
I've always found both interesting and sad the social condition of actors in old China, some of them might be great stars for the public, but they were outcasts all the same (they were one of the two kind of men who were barred from taking the state exams, for instance).

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

It makes me think of black jazz musicians in the 1930s and 1940s in the United States--could be appreciated as performers and yet still not allowed to drink from the same water fountains in some places :-(

what was it about acting that was considered so shameful?

[marina-bonomi.livejournal.com]

Not sure that it was acting per se, although during the Ching dinasty one emperor ordered all theatrical troupes to be one-gender only for fear of promiscuity or some such, but the stigma was already in place by then and had been for centuries.

IMO, and I'm not an expert on the history of Chinese theatre, mind you, it had more to do with being outside the accepted social boundaries in being people who moved around a lot and that often lacked a family/clan affiliation (the only other group barred from the exams were the descendants of prostitutes, and often the two groups were more or less one and the same)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

This explanation makes sense to me--thanks :-)

[marina-bonomi.livejournal.com]

My pleasure. :-)

BTW, the ban went up the third generation, not indefinitely.

[zeeth_kyrah]

I find myself wanting to tell Ming Li that ingratiation might be the best route -- but how does one cause a dragon king to give such gifts? Surely there are other adventurers or better scholars... or are there? Perhaps Ming Li's companions have further roles to play. Perhaps he'll find himself with even more friends?

We shall see! I eagerly await the next installment.

[marina-bonomi.livejournal.com]

Well, I can say that self-esteem isn't really Ming Li's strong suit, but he is more resourceful that he gives himself credit for. ;-)

Really glad to see you're with us still! :)