Romance of the West Chamber - Tây Sương Ký - Truyện Tranh - Vietnamese Comics

During the era of Chenyuan of the T'ang Dynasty, Chang Chun-jui, a scholar from Hsilo City, left his home town for the capital to sit for the imperial examination. On his way to the capital, he stopped at the prefecture of Hechung to visit the famous P'uchiu Buddhist Temple in P'utung, a place of historic interest.

After passing by the bell tower and through a winding corridor, they arrived at an arched entryway. There Fa Ts'ung prevented Scholar Chang from entering. He said, "Prime Minister Ts'ui of the former emperor's reign passed away recently. His wife, the Old Lady, escorted his coffin here in order to bury him in his native home. She is now living here, so outsides are not permitted to enter."

Scholar Chang continued to stare until Miss Ts'ui, accompanied by Hung Niang, went inside. Fa Ts'ung then invited him to go to the abbot's room for a cup of tea.

After making thanks to the Elder, Scholar Chang went out into the corridor and waited for Hung Niang.

After settling in the Western Chamber, Scholar Chang learned from a young monk that Ying-ying went to the garden to burn incense every night.

Ying-ying immediately answered with a poem in the same rhyme:" How solitary and quite lonely I feel in the boudoir I am kept in. And my springtime is passing in vain. He who recites the poem, should sympathize with the one who sighs with sorrow in her heart."

It was Sun Fei-hu, a rebel chieftain from Huang He Ch'iao, who had led five thousand rebels to the Temple and surrounded it. He threatened that he would burn the Temple and kill the men inside unless Ying-ying was offered to him as his wife.

The Elder climbed onto the wall, trembling, and shouted what Scholar Chang had instructed him to say. Sun Fei-hu replied, "It is so. I will grant you three days to send Ying-ying out to be the hostess of my fortified mountain village. Go, you old monk, and tell the Old Lady to accept me as her son-in-law. I am a good-tempered person."

He then took leave of the Old Lady and Scholar Chang and returned to P'ukuan in triumph.

The Old Lady asked Hung Niang to take her young mistress back to her room, and Scholar Chang was forced to stand up and say goodbye to Ying-ying.

Hung Niang peered through the window and saw him sleeping on the bed with his clothes on. He looked so wan and sallow. How miserable he was!

Astonished, Scholar Chang gave no reply. Ying-ying ordered Hung Niang to bring him to the Old Lady to be questioned. Hung Niang argued, "His good name will be spoiled if he is brought to the Old Lady. You must resolve this matter."Ying-ying said severely to Scholar Chang, "I should repay you because you saved my life. We, however, are of the relation of brother and sister. The Old Lady will be sure to come between us if you have any other intention."

Having made the decision, the Old Lady asked Hung Niang to call Ying-ying in and send for Scholar Chang. Ying-ying was frightened at first when she heard her love affair had been revealed, but she was overjoyed when Hung Niang told her the Old Lady had consented to her marriage to Scholar Chang. She blissfully followed Hung Niang to the front hall.

In the crowded street, they saw a group of hunters with red-tasselled spears marching two by two. Behind them was the dead tiger, looking like a big sack made of coloured cloth, so heavy that even four men were barely able to carry it. Last came a seven-foot, bright-eyed warrior riding on a big white horse. Hsi-men Ch'ing said to himself:" This man must have the strength to lift a thousand pounds!"

Hsi-men Ch'ing was so taken with P'an Chin-lien, he could think of nothing else that night. He thought to himself:" What a pretty woman! How shall I get her? That old woman Wang P'o who sells tea lives next door to her. I will talk to her tomorrow about this and see if she can help me. It will be worth it even if I have to pay her."

After five days, Ta-lang was still in bed and getting worse. He said to P'an Chin-lien: "I caught you two in the act, yet you went so far as to incite the man to kick me. It doesn't matter if I die, but my brother will not forgive you. If you save my life, I shall not tell him anything when he returns. Otherwise, when he comes back, you will have to answer to him!"

After Wang P'o left, P'an Chin-lien sat down next to Ta-lang's body and stayed there all night, weeping loudly.

After the soldier had reported to the magistrate, he went to look for Ta-lang. Wang P'o just happened to be sitting at the door. When she heard it was a letter from Wu Sung, she said at once:" Ta-lang is not in, the family has gone to visit a grave. Give the letter to me and I will give it to him when he returns." The soldier gave it to her and rode away.

P'an Chin-lien had been using all her wiles to keep Hsi-men Ch'ing interested in her and nine nights out of ten, he slept in her room. Now, realizing he was interested in Li P'ing-erh, she did all she could to win him back. She forced the slave girl Ch'un-mei to become his concubine, knowing Hsi-men Ch'ing had had his eye on the girl.

The King of Ch'in was very pleased with this idea and prepared a considerable amount of gold and jewelry for Chang's adventure. Chang returned to the king the prime minister's seal, pretending to resign from his position before leaving for Ch'u.

During the journey, he inquired about the state affairs. One day, he saw in an old temple some murals depicting Heaven and Earth and the gods and sages of ancient times.

When Ch'u Yuan received the King's order he looked up to heaven in despair and sighed, "Your Excellency, you must act wisely;the future of Ch'u state depends on you."

He walked for a few days and entered the state of Chao, where he appealed for asylum. But the Chao people did not take him in because he had betrayed the six-state alliance.

Believing that the patriotic poet would enjoy eternal life, they would row dragon boats out on the river to look for him. Ch'u Yuan became a symbol of patriotism for the Chinese people.

Two goblins seized Hsi Fang p'ing and began to saw him in half. Unable to stand the pain, Hsi promised the Yama that he would withdraw his complaint.

T'ao drank and played chess with Ma all day long. One day, he got drunk, stumbled over a flower bed, and fell to the ground. Suddenly, he changed into a mansized chrysanthemum with ten flowers, each as large as a fist. Huang came rushing out and pulled up the chrysanthemum, saying softly, "Why have you gotten so drunk?"Then she covered the chrysanthemum with clothing and told Ma not to look underneath. By daybreak, the chrysanthemum had disappeared and T'ao lay in its place. Ma now realized that the brother and the sister were chrysanthemum genii.

When they arrived home, the door-keeper mistakenly thought a distinguished guest had arrived and hastily went in to notify the magistrate. Magistrate Wang hurried out. Realizing that it was Hsiao-ts'ui's prank, he said angrily, "The censor has been waiting to find an excuse to frame me. Now I'm doomed."Hsiao-ts'ui only smiled and didn't say a word.

Chou Chin asked who the young man was. His name was Mei Chiu and he had just passed the prefectural examination and received the title of "Hsiu Ch'ai". Since Chou Chin was still at T'ung Sheng level (students who had not yet passed the prefectural examination, regardless of age, were called T'ung Sheng, or "child student, ") he didn't want to take the seat of honour. But the parents said:"Mr. Chou is the oldest one among us. So please take your seat, Mr. Chou. Don't be so modest."

The guild head got a bowl of water and poured it down Chou Chin's throat, and soon he belched and spit up the water. The others said, "He is waking up now, "and they helped him sit up.

Fan Chin borrowed some money and went to the city for the provincial examination without telling his father-in-law.

Butcher Hu grasped the silver tightly and then suddenly released his hand and pretended to be embarrassed to accept it. Fan Chin said, "I have my own silver. If need some, I can borrow it from you. You keep this silver now. Don't be modest and hesitate to accept it." Then Butcher Hu accepted the silver and said, "Since you are now Great Lord Chang's friend, surely you will always have as much silver as you need."During the era of Chenyuan of the T'ang Dynasty, Chang Chun-jui, a scholar from Hsilo City, left his home town for the capital to sit for the imperial examination. On his way to the capital, he stopped at the prefecture of Hechung to visit the famous P'uchiu Buddhist Temple in P'utung, a place of historic interest.