Original Text
During the Ming dynasty, a general named Peng Hong came to the region of Shu to suppress bandits. He ventured deep into the mountains and came upon a great Buddhist monastery, which, it was said, had been without monks for over a hundred years. When he inquired of the locals, they told him, "There are demons in the temple; whoever enters will die." Fearing that bandits might be hiding within, Peng Hong ordered his soldiers to cut through the overgrown grass and enter. Upon reaching the front hall, a black vulture burst through the door and flew away; at the central hall, there was nothing unusual; as they pressed further, they saw a Buddhist pavilion, and though they searched all around, they found nothing, yet all who entered were afflicted with severe headaches. Peng Hong himself went in and suffered the same affliction. After a short while, a scorpion as large as a pipa slowly descended from the floor above, and all the soldiers fled in terror. Peng Hong then set fire to the monastery and burned it to the ground.
Commentary
Although this piece merely recounts an anecdote about scorpions in a large Chan monastery in Sichuan, it is written with remarkable structural elegance and vivid spirit. The author begins by describing the front hall, where "a black vulture snatched the door and flew away." Then he writes of the central hall, where "nothing unusual was found," and finally enters the Buddha pavilion, where "after looking around, nothing was seen, yet all who entered suffered unbearable headaches." The narrative proceeds in orderly fashion, full of twists and turns that make it engaging to read. Only at the end is it revealed that all these strange occurrences were caused by "a scorpion as large as a pipa, crawling down from the ceiling boards."
The scorpion was as large as a pipa; how old could it be? According to the opening hint, "There was a great meditation hall, said to have been without monks for a hundred years. Upon inquiring of the locals, they replied: 'In the temple there is a demon; whoever enters dies.'" Thus, it must have reached a century in age.