Chapter 1
Zhang the Divine Teacher Prays to Dispel a Plague Marshal Hong Releases Demons by Mistake
After Five Dynasties' turmoil and strife,
The clouds dispersed and revealed the sky,
Refreshing rain brought old trees new life,cheap tibia gold,
Culture and learning once again were high.
Ordinary folk in the lanes wore silk,
Music drifted from mansions and towers,
Under the heavens all was serene,
Men dozed off at noon midst gay birds and flowers.
This eight−lined poem was written during the reign of Emperor Shen Zong of the Song Dynasty by a scholar named Shao Yaofu, also known as Master Kang Jie. From the end of the Tang and all through the Five Dynasties, times had been troubled. One short−lived dynasty had ruled after another. How true was the verse:
Zhu, Li, Shi, Liu, Guo founded
Liang, Tang, Jin, Han and Zhou.
Fifteen emperors fifty years in a row,
Bringing hardship, tumult and woe.
In time, the way of Heaven took a new turn. At Jiamaying, Tai Zu, the Emperor of Military Virtue, was born.A red glow suffused the sky when this sage came into the world, and fragrance still filled the air the following morning. He was in fact the God of Thunder descended to earth. Brave and magnanimous, he was superior to any emperor who had ever lived.
With a staff as tall as himself he smote so hard that four hundred prefectures and districts acknowledged his sovereignty. He swept the land clean and pacified the Central Plains.Naming his empire the Great Song, he established his court at Bianliang. Tai Zu was the first of eighteen Song emperors and founder of a dynasty lasting four hundred years.
That is why Master Shao Yaofu said in his praise: The clouds dispersed and revealed the sky. For the people it was indeed like seeing the sun again.
At that time on Huashan, the West Sacred Mountain, lived a Taoist hermit named Chen Tuan. A virtuous man,tibia gold, he could foretell the future by the weather. One day as he was riding his donkey down the mountain towards the county town of Huayin he heard a traveler on the path say: “Emperor Chai Shi Zong has surrendered his throne to Marshal Zhao in the Eastern Capital.”
Chen clapped his hands to his brow and laughed so delightedly that he fell off his donkey. Asked the reason for his joy, he said: “The empire will be firmly settled from now on. For this is in accord with the will of Heaven above, the laws of Earth below, and the hearts of men between.” Marshal Zhao accepted the abdication in 960 and established his regime. He ruled for seventeen years, and there was peace throughout the land. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Tai Zong, who ruled for twenty−two years. After Tai Zong came Zhen Zong, who was succeeded by Ren Zong.
