Daoism Series 25: The Legend of the Governor of the Southern Branch [excerpt]

Daoism Series 25:
南柯太守传
The Legend of the Governor of the Southern Branch [excerpt]

by Li Gong Zuo 李公佐

The legend recounted and narrated below is reproduced from Wang Meng Ou’s Revisions and Explication on Tang people’s Fiction, and serves to exemplify a dream signifying the passage from one world to another. Furthermore, it carries a strong morale in direct relation to Daoism:

东平淳于棼，吴楚游侠之士。嗜酒使气，不守细行。累巨产，养豪客。曾以武艺补淮南军裨将，因使酒忤帅，斥逐落魄，纵诞饮酒为事。家住广陵郡东十里，所居宅南有大古槐一株，枝干修密，清阴数亩。淳于生日与群豪，大饮其下。

Chu Yu Fen from Dong Ping was a chivalrous wanderer who roamed in [the southern states of] Wu and Chu. He was fond of alcohol, easily swayed by emotions, and he did not observe the triviality [of social norms] in his behaviour. He had accumulated a large estate and supported a retinue of gallant people. Once due to his military skills, he filled the vacancy to the deputy general of the Huai Nan armies. But as his conduct was influenced by intoxication, he disobeyed the commander-in-chief. Consequently, he was reprimanded and expelled [from his position]. At a loss of his ambition, he increasingly indulged in drinking alcohol as his primary task. His family lived ten Chinese miles east of Guang Ling county. South of the mansion where he resided, there was a great and ancient locust tree, branches and trunk tall and dense, [providing] cooling shades for several Mu. Every day, Chun Yu drank heavily underneath [the tree] with crowds of gallant people.

贞元七年九月，因沉醉致疾。时二友人于座扶生归家，卧于堂东庑之下。二友谓生曰：“子其寝矣！余将秣马濯足，俟子小愈而去。”生解巾就枕，昏然忽忽，仿佛若梦。见二紫衣使者，跪拜生曰：“槐安国王遣小臣致命奉邀。”生不觉下榻整衣，随二使至门。见青油小车，驾以四牡，左右从者七八，扶生上车，出大户，指古槐穴而去。使者即驱入穴中。生意颇甚异之，不敢致问。

In the nineth [lunar] month of the seventh year of the Zhen Yuan era (794), He fell ill after being heavily intoxicated. At the time, two friends present assisted him and brought [Chun Yu] home. They laid him down at the corridor east of the main room. The two friends said to [Chun Yu]: ‘Master, you should take a rest! We will feed the horses and wash our feet. We will wait for the master to recover a little before we depart.’ [Chun Yu] untied his headband and rested his head on a pillow. He was muddle-headed and in a daze, as though he was having a dream, in which he saw two envoys clad in purple, who knelt down and prostrated to [Chun Yu] while saying: ‘The Ruler of the Huai An Kingdom has sent us, petty officials, to deliver his order of respectfully presenting this invitation.’ Unconsciously, [Chun Yu] reclined his daybed to adjust his clothes and followed the two envoys to arrive at the gate, where he saw an azure lacquered small carriage, which was drawn by four horses and attended by seven or eight attendants left and right. They propped [Chun Yu] onto the carriage, then [together, they] exited through the main entrance and travelled towards the hole in the locust tree. Promptly, the envoys drove [the carriage] to enter the hole. [Chun Yu] thought it to be rather bizarre, but did not dare to bring up his question.
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Post-Scriptum: This article will be published in full as part of a book, entitled ‘Arts of Daoism’ about meditation, stillness cultivation, abstention from grains [bi gu辟谷], sleeping gong [shui gong睡功], dreams, vegetarianism and diet in Daoism, formulae for fasting and meditation incense, including several chapters from the alchemical classic The Essentials of the Shortcut to the Great Achievement [da cheng jie yao 大成捷要]. It will be a mixture of anecdotal and oral transmissions from my teacher Li Shi Fu and translations of a number of chapters from ancient texts. It is set to be released before Christmas 2020, and a first draft is already finalized.