Ancient Chinese Folk Tales (7)

Author: Bai Wen (writer), Cai Renyan (illustrator)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2002-01-01
Features: The tyrant Bian Hu falls for the wife of the scholar Li Wenlong. He bribes Ma Shi to frame her. Unaware of the plot, Li Wenlong takes the incriminating evidence—a golden fan and a red gold bracelet—as proof of his wife's adultery with others. In a fit of rage, he divorces her. Fortunately, the Bodhisattva Jigong arrives, exposes the truth, and uses clever tactics to capture Bian Hu, restoring harmony to Li Wenlong and his wife.
When the Imperial Commissioner arrives in Qiantang, he brings an edict demanding the selection of 800 beautiful women within three days. The county magistrate trembles with fear, and the people live in panic and sorrow. Families weep and wail as loved ones are torn apart. Desperate to save their daughters, they rush to find matchmakers and even fight in the streets for suitable husbands. Some marry drummers, while others pair up with scholars, preferring a life of uncertainty over a certain death in the imperial palace. It seems like a farce, yet it is filled with tears of blood. To ask who is to blame for this, one can only curse the feudal emperor!