Original Text
Chen Xijiu was a native of Pizhou. His father, Chen Ziyan, was a renowned scholar in the county. A wealthy man named Zhou, admiring Chen Ziyan's reputation, betrothed his daughter to Chen Xijiu, thus uniting the two families. Chen Ziyan repeatedly failed the imperial examinations, and his family fortunes gradually declined, so he traveled to Shaanxi to study, with no news for many years. Zhou secretly harbored thoughts of breaking off the engagement. He married his younger daughter to Wang Xiaolian as a second wife, with Wang's betrothal gifts being exceptionally lavish, and his servants and carriages exceedingly grand. Consequently, he grew even more disdainful of Chen Xijiu's poverty and resolved to annul the marriage. He asked his daughter's opinion, but she resolutely refused to break the engagement. Enraged, Zhou had her dressed in coarse clothes and married off to Chen Xijiu. Chen Xijiu's household was so poor that they often had no fire for cooking, and Zhou offered no assistance whatsoever. One day, Zhou sent an old maidservant to deliver food to his daughter. The maidservant entered and said to Chen Xijiu's mother, "My master sent me to see if my young lady has starved to death yet." Zhou's daughter, fearing her mother-in-law's embarrassment, forced a smile and changed the subject. She then brought out the delivered food and set it before her mother-in-law. The maidservant stopped her, saying, "Do not do that! Since the young lady came to this house, has my household ever received even a cup of warm or cold water from yours? My master's goods, I reckon, you, old mother, have no face to eat." Chen's mother was furious, her face and voice changing. The maidservant persisted, uttering harsh words without cease. Amidst the quarrel, Chen Xijiu returned from outside. Hearing this, he flew into a rage, grabbed the maidservant by the hair, slapped her several times, and drove her out the door. The next day, Zhou came to take his daughter back, but she refused. On the third day, he came again, with an increased number of attendants, shouting and clamoring as if seeking a quarrel. Chen's mother repeatedly urged her daughter-in-law to return to her natal home. Zhou's daughter, tears streaming down her face, bowed to her mother-in-law and departed in the carriage. A few days later, Zhou's family sent someone again, forcing Chen Xijiu to write a letter of divorce. Chen's mother compelled her son to write it and hand it over. She earnestly hoped for her husband Chen Ziyan's return to devise other plans. Someone from Zhou's household, returning from Xi'an, brought news that Chen Ziyan had died. Overcome with grief and rage, Chen's mother fell ill and died.
Chen Xijiu, amidst grief and anxiety, still hoped his wife would return, but as time passed and hope grew faint, his sorrow turned to deeper indignation. He sold off his few acres of thin land to buy a coffin and bury his mother. After the burial, he begged his way along the road to Shaanxi, hoping to find his father's bones. Arriving in Xi'an, he inquired among the local residents, and some said that years ago a scholar had died in an inn and was buried east of the city wall, but now the grave mound could no longer be found. Chen Xijiu had no choice but to beg in the streets by day and lodge in a ruined temple by night, hoping to encounter someone who knew where his father's remains lay. One evening, passing through a desolate graveyard, several men blocked his path and demanded payment for a meal. Chen Xijiu said, "I am a stranger here, living by begging within and outside the city walls; where have I ever owed anyone for a meal?" These men grew angry, seized him, threw him to the ground, and stuffed a wad of burial rags used for dead infants into his mouth. Chen Xijiu, exhausted and choking, gradually neared death. Suddenly, the men cried out in alarm, "What official from the yamen is coming here?" They released him and vanished. Soon, a carriage and horses arrived, and a voice from within asked, "Who lies there?" Several attendants helped Chen Xijiu to the carriage. The man inside said, "This is my son. How dare those vile ghosts act so! Bind them all and let none escape." Chen Xijiu felt someone remove the rags from his mouth; he steadied himself, looked closely, and recognized his own father. He wept bitterly, saying, "Your son has endured a thousand hardships to find your bones. Are you still among the living?" His father replied, "I am not a living man; I am the Grand Administrator of Mount Taihang. I have come for your sake." Chen Xijiu wept even more sorrowfully, and his father comforted him repeatedly. Through his tears, Chen Xijiu recounted how his father-in-law had forced the divorce. His father said, "Do not worry; your wife is now with your mother. Your mother longs for you greatly; you may go and see her." So Chen Xijiu and his father rode together in the carriage, speeding away.
After a short while, they arrived at a government office. Alighting from the carriage, they passed through several gates, and there he saw his mother. Chen Xijiu was overcome with grief, but his father restrained him, and he sobbed as he obeyed. Seeing his wife beside his mother, he asked, "Is my wife here also already among the dead?" His mother replied, "No, your father brought her here. When you return home, she will be sent back with you." Chen Xijiu said, "I wish to stay here and serve my parents; I do not wish to return." His mother said, "You have endured great hardships to come here for your father's remains. If you do not return, what was the purpose of your original resolve? Moreover, Heaven has already recognized your filial piety and granted you ten thousand catties of gold. You and your wife have a long life of happiness ahead; how can you speak of not returning?" Chen Xijiu only hung his head and wept. His father urged him repeatedly to leave quickly, and Chen Xijiu wailed aloud. His father said angrily, "Will you not go?" Frightened, Chen Xijiu stifled his sobs and then asked where his father was buried. His father took his hand and said, "Go, and I will tell you. A hundred or so paces from that chaotic burial mound, there are two white elm trees, one large and one small; that is the place." He pulled him along swiftly, so that Chen Xijiu had no time to bid farewell to his mother. Outside the gate, a sturdy servant was holding a horse, waiting. After Chen Xijiu mounted, his father instructed him, "At the place where you lodge tonight, there is a small amount of travel money. Quickly pack your belongings and return home. Demand your wife from your father-in-law; if you do not get her, do not let the matter rest." Chen Xijiu agreed and departed. The horse ran with great speed, and by cockcrow, they reached Xi'an. The servant helped Chen Xijiu dismount, and just as he was about to ask the servant to convey his regards to his parents, both the servant and the horse vanished. Chen Xijiu found his original lodging place, leaned against the wall to doze, and waited for dawn. Where he sat, a stone the size of a fist jabbed him; in the morning, he saw it was a lump of silver. With this silver, he bought a coffin and hired a cart and horse. Arriving at the twin elm trees, he found his father's bones and transported them back to his hometown. After burying his father together with his mother, the silver was exhausted, and his home was left with four bare walls. Fortunately, the villagers, pitying him as a filial son, all offered him food. Chen Xijiu prepared to go to his father-in-law's house to demand his wife, but thinking he could not resort to force, he went with his elder cousin Chen Shijiu. At the father-in-law's gate, the doorman would not let them enter. Chen Shijiu, always a rogue, began to curse loudly with foul language. Zhou sent someone to persuade Chen Xijiu to return, saying he would immediately send his daughter back, and so Chen Xijiu returned.
At first, when Zhou's daughter returned to her maiden home, Zhou reviled his son-in-law and his mother-in-law to her face; the girl said nothing, only wept facing the wall. Chen Xijiu's mother died, but they did not let Zhou's daughter know. When the letter of divorce arrived, Zhou threw it to his daughter, saying, "The Chen family has divorced you!" The girl replied, "I am neither a shrew nor have I violated womanly virtue; why should I be divorced?" She wished to return and inquire into the matter, but the Zhou family confined her. Later, when Chen Xijiu went to Xi'an, Zhou spread a rumor that Chen Xijiu was dead, to sever his daughter's hope of returning to the Chen family. Once the news of Chen Xijiu's death spread, a certain Du Zhonghan came to propose marriage, and Zhou actually agreed. When the wedding day was set, Zhou's daughter learned of it, and she only wept, refusing to eat, covering her face with a quilt, her breath as faint as a thread of silk. Zhou was at his wit's end when suddenly he heard that Chen Xijiu had arrived and had spoken insolently; Zhou, expecting his daughter would surely die, had her carried back to Chen Xijiu's house, intending to wait for her death and then take revenge. When Chen Xijiu returned home, those who had brought his wife had already arrived; fearing he would refuse to accept her because of her grave illness, they dumped the sick woman at the door and fled. The neighbors also worried for Chen Xijiu, and they discussed sending the woman back to her maiden home. Chen Xijiu would not listen; he lifted his wife onto the bed, but by then she had no breath, and he was greatly alarmed. In his panic, Zhou's son arrived with several men bearing weapons, smashing all the doors and windows. Chen Xijiu hastily hid himself, but the Zhou party searched relentlessly. The neighbors, indignant at the injustice, rallied with Chen Shijiu and a dozen others to come to his aid; Zhou's sons were all wounded and fled with their heads in their hands. Zhou, even more enraged, brought the matter to the magistrate, who arrested Chen Xijiu, Chen Shijiu, and others. Before leaving, Chen Xijiu entrusted his wife's body to the care of an old neighbor woman. The old woman suddenly heard breathing from the bed; drawing near, she saw that Zhou's daughter's eyes could already move slightly, and after a while, she could turn over. The neighbors were overjoyed and quickly reported it to the magistrate. The magistrate was angered by Zhou's false accusation against Chen Xijiu; Zhou, frightened, spent much money to bribe the magistrate, and the matter was dropped.
When Xi Jiu returned, the husband and wife met with mixed feelings of sorrow and joy. Prior to this, Zhou's daughter lay gasping for breath, having sworn to herself that she would die. Suddenly, someone pulled her up and said, "I am from the Chen family. Follow me quickly, and husband and wife can meet; otherwise, it will be too late!" Unbeknownst to herself, Zhou's daughter found her body already out the door, and two people helped her into a sedan chair. In an instant, they arrived at a government office, where she saw her father-in-law and mother-in-law present. Zhou's daughter asked, "What place is this?" Her mother-in-law replied, "Do not ask; you will be sent back soon enough." Another day, she saw Chen Xi Jiu arrive, and she was overjoyed. Yet, after meeting briefly, they parted hastily, leaving Zhou's daughter feeling quite perplexed. Her father-in-law, for reasons unknown, often did not return for many days. Last night, he suddenly came back and said, "I was at Mount Wuyi and returned two days late, causing hardship for Xi Jiu. We must quickly send the daughter-in-law back." Thus, they sent Zhou's daughter back by carriage. Suddenly, she saw the gate of the Chen family, and it was as if she had awakened from a dream. Zhou's daughter and Xi Jiu recounted the past together, both feeling astonished and delighted. From then on, the couple was reunited, but they could barely sustain themselves day by day.
Chen Xijiu set up a school in the village to teach children, while also diligently studying on his own. He often muttered to himself, "My father said Heaven would bestow gold upon me, yet now my walls are bare—how can teaching a few students make me wealthy?" One day, as he was returning home from the school, he encountered two men on the road who asked him, "Are you Chen Xijiu?" Chen replied, "I am." The two men then produced iron chains and bound him, leaving Chen bewildered. Soon, the villagers gathered and demanded to know why Chen was being arrested, learning that he had been implicated in a band of thieves from the prefecture. The people, pitying his wrongful accusation, pooled some money to bribe the two yamen runners, so that Chen suffered no hardship on the road. When he arrived at the prefecture and appeared before the prefect, Chen recounted his family background. The prefect exclaimed in surprise, "This is the son of a renowned scholar, refined and gentle—how could he be a thief?" He ordered the chains removed and had the thieves brought in for severe interrogation, whereupon they confessed to having been bribed by a certain Zhou to falsely accuse Chen. Chen then explained the discord with his father-in-law, which further enraged the prefect, who immediately summoned Zhou for arrest. The prefect invited Chen into his official residence and spoke of the friendship between their families, for the prefect was the son of former Pi Prefecture official Han, and also a student of Chen's father, Chen Ziyan. Prefect Han presented Chen with a hundred taels of silver to aid his studies, and gave him two mules so that he could ride to the prefectural office from time to time for guidance in the eight-legged essay. Prefect Han also spread word of Chen's filial piety among the high officials of the prefecture, so that from the governor-general down, all made gifts to Chen. Riding his mule home, Chen and his wife were greatly comforted. One day, Zhou's mother came weeping, and upon seeing her daughter, she prostrated herself on the ground and would not rise. Startled, Zhou's daughter asked what had happened, and learned that Zhou had been thrown into prison. The daughter wept bitterly, reproaching herself, and wished to die. Chen, unable to do otherwise, went to the prefecture to plead for Zhou. The prefect ordered Zhou to redeem himself at his own expense, fining him a hundred piculs of rice, which was then bestowed upon the filial son Chen Xijiu. After Zhou was released, he took rice from his granary, mixed it with chaff, and had it carted to Chen's home. Chen said to his wife, "Your father measures the heart of a gentleman with the mind of a petty man. How could he know I would accept this rice? And to stoop so low as to mix it with chaff?" He laughed and refused to accept the grain.
Although Chen Xijiu's family still possessed some property, the courtyard walls were already broken and dilapidated. One night, a band of robbers entered the yard. The servant detected them and shouted loudly, but the thieves only stole two mules. Over half a year later, Chen Xijiu was reading by night when he heard a knocking at the door; he called out several times but no one answered. He told the servant to rise and look, and as soon as the door was opened, two mules leaped inside—they were the very ones that had been stolen. The mules ran straight to the trough, panting heavily. Holding up a lamp to examine them, they saw that each mule carried a leather sack on its back; opening them, they found them filled with pure silver. The whole family was greatly astonished, not knowing where it had come from. Later they heard that on that same night, robbers had plundered the house of a certain Zhou; just as they had bound the loot onto the mules' backs and left the door, night patrol soldiers gave chase, and the thieves hastily abandoned the goods and fled. The mules, recognizing their former home, carried the goods back. Zhou, having returned home from prison, still bore severe wounds from torture, and now, further enraged by the robbery, fell ill and died. Zhou's daughter dreamed one night that her father came, wearing shackles, and said to her: "For all the deeds I did in life, regret is too late. Now I am suffering punishment in the underworld, and only your father-in-law can help free me. Please beg your husband on my behalf to write a letter to your father-in-law." When Zhou's daughter awoke, she wept bitterly. Chen Xijiu asked her what was wrong, and she told him of the dream. Chen had long wished to travel to the Taihang Mountains, and set out that very day. Upon arrival, he prepared offerings and wine for prayer, then slept in the open by his parents' graves, hoping to see some sign, but throughout the night there was no strange occurrence, so he had to return home. After Zhou's death, his wife and son grew even poorer, relying entirely on the support of their younger son-in-law, Wang Xiaolian. Wang later passed the examinations and was appointed as a county magistrate, but was punished for corruption, and his entire family was relocated to Shenyang, leaving Zhou's mother and son with no one to depend on. Chen Xijiu then frequently looked after them.
The Chronicler of the Strange remarks: Among virtuous deeds, none is greater than filial piety, and its power to move the spirits of heaven and earth is but a natural principle. Those men of lofty virtue and profound understanding, even if destined to a life of poverty, would devote their entire lives to fulfilling filial duties—how could they ever concern themselves with whether their descendants might one day rise to prominence? Yet there are those who, in their vanity, betroth their beloved daughters to white-haired old men, boasting with smug satisfaction, "Such-and-such a high official is my son-in-law." Alas! The youthful beauty of the daughter remains unchanged, but the high-ranking son-in-law has already descended to the Yellow Springs; the tragic spectacle is too pitiful to behold. How much more so when a young wife must share the punishment of her criminal husband, enduring the same shackles and exile?
Commentary
This tale recounts how Chen Xijiu and his wife, through the husband's filial piety and the wife's chastity, received Heaven's blessing and lived in peace and prosperity. Filial piety is embodied here in Chen Xijiu's quest to retrieve his father's remains for burial. As the Classic of Filial Piety states: "In life, serve with love and respect; in death, serve with grief and sorrow." In traditional Chinese culture, transporting the bones of a parent who died abroad back to their homeland for burial was considered a son's filial duty. Chastity is shown through Chen Xijiu's wife, who, despite poverty and hardship, remained steadfast in her vows and defied her father's command to remarry. Chen Xijiu's eventual reunion with his wife and his rise from poverty to wealth stem from Pu Songling's wishes and imagination, while the wealthy Zhou's mercenary and harsh demeanor, though somewhat exaggerated, reflects on a certain level the worldly wisdom and social dynamics between a wealthy father-in-law and a poor son-in-law, exposing Zhou's philistine face in choosing a son-in-law and venting the frustrations of lower-class intellectuals in matters of marriage.
This story's plot revolves around the conflict between a father-in-law and his son-in-law, where the father-in-law, despising poverty and favoring wealth, exhausts his cunning schemes only to achieve the opposite of his intentions. But Minglun commented: "Zhou used every trick in his mind, and the author spared no effort in crafting the tale. Readers are by turns angered, enraged, startled, saddened, worried, and frightened; then suddenly delighted, comforted, pleased, and exhilarated." In terms of dialogue, this story is also remarkably vivid and lifelike. Particularly noteworthy is the passage where the old servant woman brings food to the daughter, which not only reveals her vulgar and mercenary demeanor but also exposes the arrogance and harshness of the wealthy Zhou family, earning consistent praise from critics.