The events of the story take place during the reign of
Ren Zong, the fourth emperor of the Song dynasty. On the
first day of the eighth lunar month,
Emperor Ren
Zong received his officials at court in the eastern capital,
Banliang. On this occasion,
Ren Zong told the assembled officials that he had had a dream
of a light shining over the gate of the Three Ministers.
Ren Zong asked who could interpret his dream. At this
request, a Buddhist holy master explained that a luminous pearl, which was not
yet in
Emperor’s treasury, was about to be
brought to him. Then the story turns to the
Prefecture of Nanyang. There was in this place the seven-year-old Wu Xiangbao, born to an aged couple who
had
long been childless. His father, Wu Luu, was
extremely rich, and he also owned a magic pearl which had power over the
weather. One day, his wife suggested that he bring the pearl to
Emperor Ren Zong, in the hope that one day the
Emperor would bestow a high rank on their
son. Wu
Luu saddled his horse, put on armour and set out on his journey. In the
meantime, in
Banliang, the Imperial Teacher was making secret plans with
his two sons,
Zhang Long and
Zhang Biao, to steal the pearl. On his way,
Wu Luu came upon the
two brothers, who lured him to their residence. They
poisoned Wu Lu and threw his body into a
well. Since Xiangbao and his mother never
heard again from Wu Luu, they became alarmed.
Wu Luu’s soul returned home, and when Xiangbao and his mother saw a vapour floating
in the air, they knew that Wu Lu was dead.
The seven-year-old son old Xiangbao decided to set out to find his father’s corpse
and to take revenge upon the
murders. Along the way, Xiangbao experienced
a series of dangerous adventures. He succeeded in killing a thirteen-headed
monster (
mangγus) who had abducted the daughter of
Emperor Ren Zong. Wu Xiangbao also made a journey into the realm of the
Dragon King, where he obtained a magic gourd.
While staying at an inn, Xiangbao was given
poisoned wine to drink and died. Because Xiangbao was an incarnation of the White
Tiger Star, a Daoist immortal
came down through the air onto the place where Xiangbao lay dead. He called back Xiangbao’s
soul, mixed the immortality pill with spring water and
poured this into his mouth. Xiangbao came
back to life. It is by means of the immortality pill given to him by the Daoist
immortal that Xiangbao will eventually revive
his dead father.
