Discovered the famous Daoist/Taoist priest Du Guangting (850-933) while reading Into the Mountains by @debraliubooks.
Apart from his contributions to the development of Daoism/Taoism in China, Du is said to have authored the short novel The Man with the Curly Beard (Qiuran Ke Zhuan, also translated as “The Legend of the Curly-Whiskered Guest”).
The novel is widely considered as the earliest in the wuxia genre – “a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China” according to Wikipedia.
The story begins with Hongfu, a beautiful courtesan in a government official’s mansion. When she sees Li Jing petitioning the official to address the grievances of the common people, she recognises the young man as a hero and falls in love with him. That night, she runs away from the official’s mansion, tracks down Li, and becomes his wife.
And here comes the man with the curly beard who stares at Hongfu as she combs her hair. When Li becomes upset, Hongfu recognises the bearded man as also a hero and the two of them adopt each other as sworn brother and sister. The bearded man and Li also become sworn brothers.
The three of them – known as the Three Heroes of the Wind and Dust – plan to overthrow the Sui Dynasty in order to fulfil the bearded man’s ambition to rule the land. However, upon meeting Li Shimin, who later becomes Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, the bearded man forsakes his ambition and takes leave. Hongfu and her husband Li dedicate themselves to helping the emperor establish a unified and prosperous kingdom.
Years later, the couple receive the news that a pirate has captured the Kingdom of Fuyu and established himself as its ruler. Knowing the bearded man has finally fulfilled his dream, they share a drink as a tribute to him.
Interestingly, I often imagine the three main characters in Xiran Jay Zhao’s science fiction/fantasy novels Iron Widow (2021) and Heavenly Tyrant (2024) are inspired by the story of the Three Heroes of the Wind and Dust. Zhao’s Li Shimin, as co-pilot of the Chrysalis “Vermillion Bird” in these two “mecha” books, certainly reads like a rough, raggedy bearded man. And his polyamorous relationships with Wu Zetian and Gao Yizhi are very similar to the harmonious coexistence of the bearded man, Hongfu and Li Jing.
Alas, I am completely wrong. On her official website, where the image below is shown, Zhao describes her character Li as being 195cm tall, with “short wild hair, deep-set eyes, cheekbones that could finish off the rest of his family, nerdy glasses”, and “looks like he could kill you, would indeed kill you, but would feel really bad about it”. Indeed, Zhao’s character Li looks nothing like the man with the curly beard!
(Day 10 #WarmWinterRead #WWR25 via @librarieschangelives)
Voices under the Sun 陽光下的聲音 