As soon as Zhao Wenhui heard this, he realized that Ji Gong had an extensive medical background and that he had explained the cause exactly. Excitedly he began to speak: “Saintly monk, you are really too kind. It was because my mother was so fond of the child that she became ill with anxiety. I have a boy aged six who is suffering from a retributive illness. He complains of a wrong having been done to someone else, but no one knows what it is. He is still in a delirium and has not awakened. When my mother became disturbed about the boy, her throat became congested. If, my teacher, you are to cure my mother completely, I must also ask the monk to cure my little child.”
Since the old lady had now awakened, the monk had her drink the medicine, and she recovered completely. Zhao Wenhui went to her and paid his respects. In addition, he kowtowed to the monk and asked him to cure his son.
Ji Gong said, “It is also not difficult to cure your son. It is, however, necessary that we obtain one thing. After that I can manage the cure very well.”
Zhao Wenhui asked what that necessary thing was. Ji Gong would not be hurried nor pressured into explaining that the thing needed to make the entire family of Zhao Wenhui well again was to bring Dong Shihong and his daughter together.
CHAPTER 3
The arts of Chan cure illness in the Zhao home; Buddha’s laws operate in secret to end sorrows
AFTER Ji Gong had restored the mother of Zhao Wenhui to health, there was still the six-year-old son to attend to. Ji Gong said, “I can cure him, but there is a supplementary element which is difficult to find. This is needed to introduce the other medicine. There must be a fifty-two-year-old man who must also have been born on the fifth day of the fifth month, and a nineteen-year-old girl born on the fifth day of the eighth month. The tears of these two people can be combined into a medicine. Then I can make the cure complete.”
Su Beishan and Li Huaiqun could see that the monk truly had a remarkable lineage. They asked the monk where he lived and what honorable names he was called. He answered each of their questions.
Zhao Wenhui went outside and sent people to search for a fifty-two-year-old man had been born on the fifth day of the fifth month.
At first they asked among those in the household itself and in the homes of relatives and friends nearby. They found no one. If the age was right, the birthday was wrong. If the month and day were right, the year was wrong. The crowd kept searching until they reached the gate. There they saw a man standing outside whose years seemed to be about half a hundred. One of the family, Zhao Liansheng, quickly went over to him and raising his clasped hands in greeting asked, “May I ask Brother’s name?”
He replied, “My surname is Dong, and my personal name is Shihong. My family came from Qiantang. I am waiting here for a man.”
The family member asked, “Is the elder brother fifty-two years old?” The answer was “You are not wrong.” Again the family member questioned him. “Were you born on the fifth day of the fifth month?” Again the answer was “You are not wrong.” The family member, quickly taking him by the hand, said, “Master Dong, you come with me. The head of our household has invited you to come in.”
Dong Shihong asked, “How does your honorable household head know me? Tell me and I will go with you.”
The family member then explained in detail the reason for the search and the need for the supplementary medicine. Dong Shihong then went in with him. There he saw Ji Gong, Zhao Wenhui, and the others. The family member introduced him to everyone.
Ji Gong said, “Now, quickly find the nineteen-year-old girl who was born on the fifth day of the eighth month.”
As soon as Dong Shihong heard the age and birthdate, which were the same as those of his daughter, his heart moved swiftly. Just then he saw one of the household people come in who said, “Auntie Gu found that the slave girl, Spring Maid, is nineteen and was born on the fifth day of the eighth month, and has called her.”
Then Dong Shihong saw a girl come in from outside. As soon as he saw that it was his own daughter, his heart was filled with anguish, and his tears began to fall. When the girl saw that it was her father, she also started crying.
The master of the household where she originally had been was named Gu. At that time he had only recently returned from the diplomatic corps. When Scholar Gu had been given a new post, Auntie Gu and Spring Maid had become part of the Zhao household. Father and daughter were each weeping bitterly as they saw the other’s face.
The monk laughed, “Ha! Ha!” and exclaimed, “Excellent! Excellent! Today I have made three for one, and how delightful the three are!” Putting out his hand, he received the medicinal tears. Holding them in his palm, he called for a household person to dissolve the medicine in water. Ji Gong then had them wash young Master Zhao with the mixture. In a little while, the boy’s facial expression became normal, his delirium was gone, and his illness was completely cured.
The monk told Zhao Wenhui the entire story of how Dong Shihong had lost the money and had been about to hang himself and how he, Ji Gong, had saved him and brought father and daughter together.
Zhao Wenhui rewarded Dong Shihong by giving him one hundred ounces of silver and allowing him take his daughter away with him. Afterward, Zhao Wenhui would buy another serving maid for his father’s sister.
When Li Huaiqun questioned the monk, he learned for the first time that Ji Gong was a senior monk of the Monastery of the Soul’s Retreat. Su Beishan went over and greeting the monk ceremoniously, inquiring, “May I ask as a great kindness that you cure my own mother’s illness?”
The monk stood up and replied, “I will go to your home now.”
Su Beishan said, “Very good!”
Zhao Wenhui could not very well detain Ji Gong. Bringing a hundred ounces of white silver, he offered it to the monk to buy some more clothes. The monk said, “If you wish to thank me, come closer,” and then he whispered something into Zhao Wenhui’s ear.
Zhao Wenhui said, “Teacher, please rest assured that on that day I will be there.” Then he asked Su Beishan whether he had asked anyone to treat the illness of his mother.
Su Beishan replied, “Actually I have invited a great many gentlemen, but all have turned out to be useless. Recently one who is truly a living saint of the medical profession, Tang Wanfang, treated her, but I have seen no improvement in her condition. I also asked Dr. Li to treat her, but he, too, was not effective. They all say that older people cannot be helped when the vitality and blood are deficient. I also with all my heart rely on the will of heaven. Today I was able to meet this saintly monk who was fated to help this old lady to recover from an illness that has been truly hard to bear.”
At Su Beishan’s home, which was known as the “Green Bamboo Studio,” they entered and went into the western courtyard. There they came to the door of a spacious house of five sections on the north side. When they were seated inside, they could see the old lady, Su Beishan’s mother, lying on a bed.
There were several old women and slave girls standing in attendance who found the monk’s torn and ragged clothing quite ridiculous. Their laughter was more than Ji Gong could tolerate. “You should stop laughing at this clothing of mine and listen to what I say. Those who laugh at the monk’s torn clothes have neither eyes nor face.” (Meaning they lack both perception and self-respect.)
The household people offered tea.
