Wu Song, one of the 36 major characters in the classical Chinese novel Water Margin, was an accomplished kung fu man and the memory of his legendary exploit was known by everyone in Sunny Valley County.

It is said that he was once confronted by a tiger, a man-eating beast who turned Sunny View Mountain into its colony for at least 100 days.

But the big cat’s luck ran out when it had a fatal encounter with Wu Song. Despite suffering some injuries and shedding some blood, the kung-fu man managed to kill the beast with his bare hands.

The Sunny View Mountain became part of Sunny Valley County again. For what he did, Wu Song was hailed as a hero by the locals and was invited to head the county’s security force.

Yet what made Wu Song most happy was that he had reunited with his brother and met his sister-in-law Golden Lily. The couple quickly set up a room in their house and urged the security head to stay with them.

One day Wu Song received an assignment from the county magistrate. He was entrusted to escort a valuable caravan to another county and resolve any possible trade disputes.

Since Wu Song left, the family had to rely on his brother’s sesame pie business to get by, and Golden Lily’s living standards were significantly lower than what she previously enjoyed.

The woman didn’t like it and kept protesting at the front door when her husband returned home from hard peddling work.

Her dissatisfaction was quickly noticed by a man named West Gate Carnival, the richest man and the biggest bully in the town. As a consummated kung fu master, he felt his number one strongman position was under Wu Song’s challenge.

Now he spotted a golden opportunity to bring down Wu’s family, so he promptly created a chance meeting with Golden Lily.

COMMENTS FROM MINDS.COM

soxfan1957
West Gate Carnival?? Very strange name in any language.

All Things Chinese
His Chinese name is 西(west) 门 (gate)庆(carnival) 😅 and the woman’s name is 金(gold)莲(lily). Since her name was traditionally translated word by word, it’d better do the same with the man 😜

He sought help from a teahouse keeper, a professional match-breaker who had effectively stirred internal discord among the members of many families and successfully torn apart scores of households.

Upon receiving a handsome payment, the teahouse keeper wasted no time visiting Golded Lily secretly through the backdoor.

“I feel sorry for you,” the teahouse keeper began her brainwash education. “Your husband behaves like a dictator, deciding how the money should be spent without your consent. Your brother-in-law is even worse – what is his business here in your family anyway, is he the overlord in your household?”

Golden Lily sighed. “You know, we rely on his financial and security support. They are brothers after all and my husband believes every word he said.”

“Pay your wretched husband no mind,” the teahouse keeper sneered. “There are men richer and more powerful than his brother in the town and some of them are keen to help you.”

The young woman grinned sourly. “My husband is a coward. But if I accept other man’s help, I would be seen as a treacherous woman and I’m sure he will send me to his brother and his brother will kill me.”

“Then divorce him, be an independent woman!” the old woman encouraged.

The brainless young woman was attempted but then frowned. “How am I going to make living then?”

“Haven’t I mentioned there are richer and more powerful men out there who just can’t wait to offer you help?”

The secret meeting was thus arranged in the teahouse.

A deal was quickly made. The woman agreed to become the man’s concubine and the man promised the woman a life of luxury.

Since then, backed by West Gate Carnival, Golden Lily’s protest escalated into a violent clash with her husband, while the teahouse keeper acted as a journalist and commentator reporting the family dispute and portraying the woman as the victim of domestic violence.

The man was eventually murdered by Golden Lily and West Gate Carnival. People in the town attended the funeral – they knew who actually killed the man yet dared not to speak out.

Only a teenager fruit vendor, who was tiger beat hero Wu Song’s fan, went to face to face condemn the teahouse keeper, the mouthpiece of the murderous pair in the affair.

But the brave teenager was thrown out of the teahouse and his presence in that social outlet was banned. “You hear me. Stop twittering nuisance or I’ll break ya neck!” the teahouse keeper warned.

Wu Song’s official mission of forming close trade links with neighbouring counties was a great success. Although he heard the news about his brother’s death, he managed to wait until the banquet to celebrate the new business partnership finished then hurried his way home.

As soon as Wu Song arrived in the town, he established a private crime report system to uncover the truth related to his brother’s death.

It didn’t take long for him to identify the culprits.

Wu Song set up a trial before his brother’s memorial tablet and called the informers as the witness and invited neighbours as a jury panel.

The treacherous woman was sentenced to immediate death while the teahouse keeper was sent to the county authority.

COMMENTS FROM MINDS.COM

Eric
Today we call it vigilante justice that will put Wu Song in jail. 😮

All Things Chinese
Wu Song did go to jail which finally led him to Water Margin to become a rebel. Water Margin’s slogan is “Enforce Justice on Behalf of Heaven” 😉

Wu Song also asked the local court to investigate the man behind his brother’s murder.

But the county judge had received a large sum of bribes from West Gate Carnival and refused to investigate the rich and powerful businessman in the town.

COMMENTS FROM MINDS.COM

Eric
Corruption is everywhere. Tsk tsk

All Things Chinese
Corruption is part of human nature.

When we are physically corrupted, we grow old and die and rot away. When we are spiritually corrupted, we become more greedy, bitter and stupid, constantly harm others and by so doing harm ourselves when the karmic forces hit back.

Eric
That is true, and no one remains free from corruption. It lurks, often unknown, within ourselves.

All Things Chinese
There is a way to avoid being corrupted – to make yourself completely transparent. The first is to make your individual being transparent, then to make the beings and environment in your world transparent, finally to make your entire consciousness transparent. Nothing can corrupt something that can thoroughly get through as if non-existed nothingness.

However, I would advise everyone to stay away from a best-seller called Tibetan Book of Living and Dying written by a Tibetan lama. Despite the lama lived a disgraceful life and was found guilty of sexual abuse by an independent inquiry, his book is still a hit by now not only in the West but in China. But this book (like all typical Tibetan “Buddhism” books) will only help its readers consolidate their stained and twisted portion of the consciousness through a deliberate death/reincarnation arrangements.

Although such arrangements hardly work as they planned or have claimed, the effort itself would reinforce the opacity and rigidity of a certain solid portion of one’s consciousness and make the process of enlightenment harder.

Despite strong public support for Wu Song brothers, the judge accused the security chief of using excessive violence against Golden Lily, a woman who sought independence within a marriage and the freedom to embrace a new love affair.

“I think what Golden Lily did represents what democracies are about,” the judge concluded.

Realising until the corrupted judge was dismissed there would be no justice, Wu Song left the court and tracked down West Gate Carnival to Terrace of Lion where the man behind the violent protest and senseless killing was being entertained at a party by a group of prostitutes.

After a fierce battle between two kung fu men, Wu Song managed to throw the bully out of an upper-floor window.

“Enjoy your hellbound journey, man!” Wu Song cried out.

And West Gate Carnival fell to his death.

Painting by Pu Xiaohuai (卜孝怀)
Terrace of Lion (狮子楼) from Water Margin

You are welcome to share your thoughts here