HE WASHED HIS MOTHER'S BEDPAN

涤亲溺器 HE WASHED HIS MOTHER'S BEDPAN


宋。黄庭坚。号山谷。元祐中为太史。性至孝。身体贵显。奉母尽诚。每夕亲自为洗涤溺器。未曾有一刻不供人子之职。有诗为颂。诗曰：

Huáng Tíngjiān of the Sòng dynasty was also called Shāngŭ. During the Yuányòu reign period [1086-1093] he was a government compiler. His nature was filial, and although he was very prominent, he served his mother with deep sincerity. Every evening he himself washed out his mother's bedpan. A moment did not pass in which he did not display the responsibility of a son. A verse praises him saying:



贵显闻天下。平生孝事亲。不辞长涤溺。焉用婢生嗔。

He is prominent enough to be known throughout the world, but

All his life he is filial toward his mother;

He does not decline to wash out her urine;

How could he use maids and let himself be spoilt [by prominence]?

HE WEPT TILL THE BAMBOO SPROUTED

哭竹生笋 HE WEPT TILL THE BAMBOO SPROUTED
三国。孟宗。字恭武。少孤。母老病笃。多月思笋煮羹食。宗无计可得。乃往竹林中。抱竹而泣。孝感天地。须臾地裂。出笋数茎。持归。作羹奉母。食毕疾愈。有诗为颂。诗曰

Mèng Zōng of the Three Kingdoms period was also called Gōngwŭ. His father died when he was small, and his mother was very ill. One winter she longed to eat a soup made with boiled bamboo shoots. Zōng had no means to give her such a thing, and he went out to the bamboo grove where, seizing a bamboo stalk, he wept. His filial piety moved heaven and earth. In a moment, the earth cracked open and many stalks of bamboo shoots appeared. He gathered them and returned home to make soup for his mother. When she had eaten it, she recovered. Verses praise him, saying:



泪滴朔风寒。萧萧竹数竿。须臾冬笋出。天意报平安。

Tears drop; the north wind is cold

And moans through a stand of bamboo;

But winter bamboo shoots come forth!

The wish of Heaven is to bring harmony.

HE CARVED WOOD TO SERVE HIS PARENTS

刻木事亲 HE CARVED WOOD TO SERVE HIS PARENTS


汉。丁兰幼丧父母。未得奉养。而思念劬劳之恩。刻木为像。事之如生。其妻久而不敬。以针戏刺其指。则出血。木像见兰。又眼中垂泪。兰问得其情。将妻出弃之。有诗为颂。诗曰

The father and mother of Dīng Lán of the Hàn dynasty died when Lán was young and never received support and service from him. But he thought often of their "grievous toil."* He carved wooden statues and served them as though they were alive. His wife began after a time not to revere them. [One day] she took a needle and pricked their fingers in mockery. Blood flowed, and when the wooden statues saw Lán, tears fell from their eyes. Lán inquired about their condition; then he divorced his wife and cast her out.** There is a verse which says:



刻木为父母。形容如在时。寄言诸子侄。各要孝亲帏。

He carves wooden statues of his mother and father,

Giving them the appearance they had in life;

And this is to caution every son and nephew,

that each must be filial towards his parents.

*******
*-Cf. Tale 5, verse & note.
**-This is the one story which some modern editors most often rewrite, apparently in order to avoid the divorce. In a couple of retellings in my collection, the wife, seeing the statues react, is grief-stricken, reforms, and is forgiven rather than divorced by her husband. In one elaborately illustrated, heavy-paper edition designed for younger children, a neighbor's wife, come to borrow something, scoffs at Dīng Lán's wife at her devotions. Dīng Lán's wife, angered, refuses to lend her what she wants. The neighbor's wife returns home and sends her husband over, who sneers and beats the statues with his stick. Dīng Lán returns, sees the weeping statues, hears the tale, and stabs the neighbor to death. The magistrate, rather than punishing him, commends him as a fine example of filial piety.

HE HEARD THUNDER AND WEPT AT THE GRAVE

闻雷泣墓 HE HEARD THUNDER AND WEPT AT THE GRAVE


魏。王裒事母至孝。母存日。性畏雷。既卒。殡葬于山林。每遇风雨。闻阿香。响震之声。即奔墓所跪拜。泣告曰。裒在此。母亲勿惧。有诗为颂。诗曰

Wáng Póu of the state of Wèi [at the time of the Three Kingdoms] served his mother with filiality. When she was alive, she was afraid of thunder. After she died she was buried in a hilly wood. Whenever there was wind and rain and Póu would hear the loud sound of [thunder like the passing of the chariot of the thunder-goddess] Āxiāng, he would hurry to the grave and kneel and pray. He would weep, saying: "Póu is here; Mother must not be afraid." A poem praises him saying:



慈母怕闻雷。冰魂宿夜台。阿香时一震。到墓绕千回。

His loving mother feared hearing thunder;

[Now] her chill spirit dwells among the dead, and

When Āxiāng thunders over and over

He goes to the tomb to walk about it a thousand times.

THE FOUNTAIN BUBBLED AND THE CARPS LEAPT

涌泉跃鲤 THE FOUNTAIN BUBBLED AND THE CARPS LEAPT


汉。姜诗。事母至孝。妻庞氏。奉姑。尤谨。母性好饮江水。妻出汲而奉母。又嗜鱼脍。夫妇常作之。召邻。母。供食之。后舍侧忽有涌泉。味如江水。日跃双鲤。诗时取以供母。有诗为颂。诗曰

Jiāng Shī of the Hàn dynasty served his mother filially. His wife was named Páng, and she was even more respectful. The old mother liked to drink water from [a certain] river, and the wife would go to draw it and bring it back to the old lady. His mother also loved eating minced fillet of fish, and Shī and his wife often prepared it. They [even] invited the neighbors' mothers to join her when she ate. Suddenly a fountain sprang up beside the house with a taste like the water from the river, and each day two carp jumped from it, which Shī would take to give to his mother. A verse says of this:



舍侧甘泉出。朝朝双鲤鱼。子能恒孝母。妇亦孝其姑。

Beside the house a sweet fountain flows, and

Each morning a pair of fish appears;

The son can constantly be filial to his mother;

The daughter-in-law can be filial to her husband's mother.

***********

出此孝子处今为 德阳 孝泉镇

西竺 故乡 与其相距不远 自幼即闻 姜氏一门三孝之佳话 每归故里 常与亲同去 德孝城 游赏 见世间不孝事 每每感叹 纵显耀发达 然于亲不孝者 终不齿矣

HE FANNED THE PILLOW AND WARMED THE QUILT

扇枕温衾 HE FANNED THE PILLOW AND WARMED THE QUILT


汉。黄香。年九岁。失母。思慕惟切。乡人称其孝。香躬执勤苦。一意事父。夏天暑热。为扇凉其枕席。冬天寒冷。以身暖其被褥。太守刘护表而异之。有诗为颂。诗曰

When Huáng Xiāng of the Hàn dynasty was nine years old, he lost his mother. He [continued to] think of her so much and with such love that the neighbors praised his filial devotion. Xiāng did diligent and painful work, and his one thought was to serve his father. In summer, when the weather was hot, he cooled his [father's] pillow and mat with a fan. In winter, when the weather turned cold, he warmed his [father's] quilts and cushions with his body. The prefect Liú Hù publicly honored and recognized him [for his rare filiality]. A verse praises him thus:



冬月温衾暖。炎天扇枕凉。儿童知子职。千古一黄香。

In winter he warms the quilts, and

In hot weather he fans the pillow to make it cool;

The child knows a son's duty;

In a thousand ages there can be but one Huáng Xiāng.

HE PICKED MULBERRIES TO SERVE HIS MOTHER

拾桑供母 HE PICKED MULBERRIES TO SERVE HIS MOTHER


汉。蔡顺少孤。事母至孝。遭王莽乱。岁荒不给拾桑。以异器盛之。赤眉贼见而问之。顺曰。黑者奉母。赤者食。贼悯其孝。以白米三斗。牛蹄一只与之。有诗为颂。诗曰

Cài Shùn of the Hàn dynasty was left fatherless at a young age. He served his mother with utmost filial devotion. They had to endure the tumult of Wáng Măng, and the crops were bad and the land unproductive. He gathered mulberries, which he sorted into different containers until they were full. A [band of] Red-Eyebrow robbers [rebels against Wáng Măng] saw this and asked him about it. Shùn said: "The black, ripe ones I give to my mother. The red, unripe ones I eat myself." The robbers took compassion because of this filiality and gave him three catties of white rice and an ox leg. A verse says of him:



黑桑奉萱帏。饥啼泪满衣。赤眉知孝意。牛米赠君归。

With black mulberries he nourishes his mother;

Tears of hunger drench his clothing;

The Red-Eyebrows know his filial intent and

Present beef and rice for the filial son to bring home.

HE AMUSED HIS PARENTS WITH PLAY AND GLAD CLOTHES

戏彩娱亲 HE AMUSED HIS PARENTS WITH PLAY AND GLAD CLOTHES



周。老莱子至性孝。奉养二亲。备极甘脆。行年七十。言不称老。常着五彩斑斓之衣。为婴儿戏于亲侧。又常取水上堂。诈跌卧地。作婴儿啼以娱亲。有诗为颂。诗曰

Old man Lái of the Zhōu dynasty was noted for his filial nature. He respectfully cared for his two parents, preparing them sweet and crispy foods. He was over seventy, but he never mentioned the word "old." He wore five-colored patterned clothes and played like a child before his parents; often he carried water into the room and would slip and fall, and then he would cry like a baby to amuse his parents. A verse says of him:



戏舞学骄痴。春风动彩衣。双亲开口笑。喜气满庭帏。

He plays and dances and pretends delicate nonsense;

The spring wind blows his colorful clothes;

His two parents throw open their mouths in laughter,

And their joy fills the hall.

HE TASTED DUNG WITH AN ANXIOUS HEART

尝粪忧心 HE TASTED DUNG WITH AN ANXIOUS HEART


南齐。庾黔娄为孱陵令。到县未旬日。忽心惊流汗。及弃官归。时父疾始二日。医曰。欲知愈剧。但尝粪。苦则佳。黔娄尝之。甜。心甚忧之。至夕。稽颡北辰。求以身代父死。有诗为颂。诗曰

Yŭ Qiánlóu of the southern Qí dynasty was sent as a magistrate to Chánlíng [south of Gōng'ān in Húbĕi province]. He had been in the district less than ten days when suddenly his heart was alarmed and he perspired. Immediately he gave up his office and returned, [to find] his father had been sick for two days. The doctor said: "To know whether a sickness is improving or very serious, one must taste the [patient's] dung. If it is bitter, then there is hope." Qiánlóu tasted it, and it was sweet. His heart was very anxious. When night came, he kowtowed to the North Star [of longevity], beseeching it to let him die in his father's place. Verses praise him saying:



到县未旬日。桩庭遘疾深。愿将身代死。北望起忧心。

He was in his post less than ten days, when

His father suddenly met with serious illness;

He wants to substitute himself in death for his father;

Facing north, he is weighted down in worry.

HE ABANDONED A MANDARINATE TO SEEK HIS MOTHER

弃官寻母 HE ABANDONED A MANDARINATE TO SEEK HIS MOTHER


宋。朱寿昌七岁。生母刘氏。为嫡母所妒。复出嫁。母子不相见者五十年。神宗朝弃官入秦。与家人诀。谓不寻见母。誓不复还。后行次同州得之。时母年已七十有余。有诗为颂。诗曰

When Zhū Shòuchāng of the Sòng dynasty was seven years old, his mother, [a concubine] named Liú, because of the envy of the first wife, was married out again [to another family]. For fifty years the mother and son did not see each other. In the reign called Shén Zōng [1068-1085] he gave up his office and went to Qín [in Shaănxī], to find his mother, vowing not to return until he did so. He journeyed to Tóngzhōu [ in Shānxī] and reached her. At that time his mother was already seventy. A verse praises him thus:



七岁离生母。参商五十年。一朝相见后。喜气动皇天。

At seven he was separated from his mother,

And fifty years have passed;

One morning they meet again,

And the joy of it moves Heaven.

HE STRANGLED A TIGER TO SAVE HIS FATHER

搤虎救父 HE STRANGLED A TIGER TO SAVE HIS FATHER



晋。杨香年十四。常随父丰往田间获粟。父为虎曳去。时杨香手无寸铁。惟知有父而不知有身。踊跃向前。搤持虎颈。虎亦靡然而逝。父方得免于害。有诗为颂。诗曰

When Yáng Xiāng* of the Jìn dynasty was fourteen, he often followed his father Fēng into the fields to reap grain. His father [on one occasion] was dragged away by a tiger. Although at the time Yáng Xiāng had no weapon at hand, he thought only of his father and not of himself as he leapt quickly forward and grabbed tightly at the tiger's neck. The tiger left in defeat, and his father was able to escape injury. A verse praises him saying:



深山逢白额。努力搏腥风。父子俱无恙。脱身馋口中。

In the deep mountains a white forehead** reared, and

When it moved the wind was filled with the smell [of its dead prey];

The father and child have suffered no injury, [for he]

Has rescued his [father's] body from the greedy mouth.



*-Because the name Xiāng would today be a female one, some writers interpret Yáng Xiāng as female; others, as male. It is more likely that a son than a daughter would accompany a man to work in the fields, so I have considered the name male. Huáng Xiāng, the protagonist of tale 19, has the same Xiāng as a name, but is known from other sources to be male.



**-Some folktales maintain that a tiger who has eaten a hundred humans develops a white forehead.

HE BURIED HIS SON FOR HIS MOTHER

为母埋儿 HE BURIED HIS SON FOR HIS MOTHER



汉。郭巨家贫。有子三岁。母尝减食与之。巨谓妻曰。贫乏不能供母。子又分父母之食。盍埋此子。及掘坑三尺。得黄金一釜。上云官不得取。民不得夺。有诗为颂。诗曰

In the Hàn dynasty the family of Guō Jù was poor. He had a three-year-old son. His mother sometimes divided her food with the child. Jù said to his wife: "[Because we are] very poor, we cannot provide for Mother. Our son is sharing Mother's food. Why not bury this son?" He was digging the pit three feet deep when he struck a caldron of gold. On it [an inscription] read: "No official may take this nor may any other person seize it." A verse says of him:



郭巨思供亲。埋儿为母存。黄金天所赐。光彩照寒门。

Guō Jù wishes to serve his mother, and

Buries his son that his mother may survive;

Yellow gold is bestowed by heaven, and

Brilliant fortune brightens their poor threshold.

HE LAY ON ICE IN SEARCH OF CARP

卧冰求鲤 HE LAY ON ICE IN SEARCH OF CARP


晋。王祥母丧。继母朱氏。不慈。父前数谮之。由是失爱于父母欲食鲜鱼。时天寒地冻。祥解衣。卧冰求之。冰忽自解。双鲤跃出。持归供母。有诗为颂。诗曰

Wáng Xiáng of the Jìn dynasty lost his mother early. His stepmother, named Zhū, was unloving toward him and unceasingly spoke ill of him before his father. Because of this he lost the love of his father also. His stepmother often liked to eat fresh fish, but one winter the cold froze [the river] to ice. Xiáng loosened his clothes and lay on the ice to [melt it so he could] procure them. Suddenly the ice opened of itself and a pair of carp leapt out. He took them and returned to serve them to his stepmother. A verse speaks of this:



继母人间有。王祥天下无。至今河上水。留得卧冰模。

We have seen stepmothers before,

But never a Wáng Xiáng,

Until today upon the river, when

He left us a model by lying on the ice.

HE LET MOSQUITOES CONSUME HIS BLOOD

恣蚊饱血 HE LET MOSQUITOES CONSUME HIS BLOOD


晋。吴猛。年八岁。事亲至孝。家贫。榻无帷帐。每夏夜。蚊多潜肤。恣取膏。虽多不驱之。恐其去以而噬亲也。爱亲之心至矣。有诗为颂。诗曰

When Wú Mĕng of the Jìn dynasty was eight years old, he was very filial towards his parents. The family was poor, and the bed had no mosquito net. Every night in summer mosquitoes in droves nibbled at their skin and sucked their blood without restraint. Although there were many, Mĕng did not drive them away, lest in leaving him they bite his parents. So great was his love of his parents! A poem praises him:



夏夜无帷帐。蚊多不敢挥。恣取膏血饱。免使入亲帏。

On summer nights without a mosquito net,

When mosquitoes are many he dares not wave them off;

They gorge themselves on his flesh and blood,

And thus he avoids their bothering his parents.

SHE SUCKLED HER MOTHER-IN-LAW

乳姑不怠 SHE SUCKLED HER MOTHER-IN-LAW


唐。崔南山曾祖母长孙夫人。年高无齿。祖母唐夫人。每日栉洗升堂。乳其姑。奶不粒食。数年而康。一日病。长幼咸集。乃宣言曰。无以报新妇恩。愿子孙妇。如妇之孝敬足矣。有诗为颂。诗曰

Cuī Nánshān of the Táng dynasty had a great grandmother known as Madame Zhăngsūn. She was very old and no longer had teeth. Each day his grandmother, Madame Táng, combed the old lady's hair, washed her face, and brought her into the main hall, where she fed her mother-in-law with her own milk. Although the old lady ate not a crumb, nevertheless she passed many years in good health. One day she fell sick, and young and old gathered about her as she announced: "There is no way that I can repay my daughter-in-law's favors. I want all the sons and grandsons and their wives to be as filial and respectful as this daughter-in-law has been." She is praised in verse thus:



孝敬崔家妇。乳姑晨盥梳。此恩无以报。愿得子孙如。

The filial daughter-in-law of the Cuī family

Gives milk to her mother-in-law after combing her hair and washing her each morning;

This favor cannot be returned, but

It is wished that she receive the same treatment from her sons and grandsons.

HE CONCEALED ORANGES TO PRESENT TO HIS MOTHER

怀橘遗亲 HE CONCEALED ORANGES TO PRESENT TO HIS MOTHER


后汉陆绩。字公纪。年六岁。至九江见袁术。术出橘待之。绩怀橘二枚。及跪拜辞堕地。术曰。陆郎作宾客而怀橘乎。绩跪答曰。吾母性之所爱。欲归以遗母。术大奇之。有诗为颂。诗曰

In the later Hàn dynasty there lived a certain Lù Jī, also called Gōngjì. When he was six, he went to Jiùjiāng (=Nine Rivers) [in Jiāngxī province], where he met [General] Yuán Shù. Shù brought out some oranges and presented them to him [as a guest]. Jī concealed two oranges in his sleeves. But when he thanked [the general] upon leaving, they fell out on the ground. Shù said: "Master Lù, you are my guest, and yet you conceal oranges?" Jī knelt and answered: "My mother has a fondness for them, and I wanted to present them to her when I returned." Shù was greatly amazed. A poem praises him in these words:



孝悌皆天性。人间六岁儿。袖中怀橘实。遗母报深慈。

Filial duty is an inborn quality, thus

Among men a six-year-old child

Conceals oranges in his sleeve to

Present them to his mother and repay her deep benevolence.

HE HIRED OUT TO SUPPORT HIS MOTHER

行佣供母 HE HIRED OUT TO SUPPORT HIS MOTHER



后汉江革。少失父。独与母居。遭乱。负母逃难。数遇贼。或欲劫之去。革辄泣告有母在。贼不忍杀。转客下邳。贫穷裸跣。行佣以供母。母使身之物。莫不毕给。有诗为颂。诗曰

Jiāng Gé lived in the later Hàn dynasty. His father died when he was young, and he lived alone with his mother. The times were troubled and chaotic, so, carrying his mother on his back, he fled. Again and again they encountered bandits who wanted to force him to join them. But Gé burst into tears and told them that he bore his mother with him [whom he had to support]. The bandits could not bring themselves to kill him, and at length he reached Xià Péi [in Jiāngsū province]. Impoverished, naked, and barefoot, he hired himself out as a laborer to support his mother. His mother was able to have all she desired, and there was no end to what he gave her. A verse praises him thus:



负母逃危难。 穷途贼犯频。告知方获免。佣力以供亲。

He carries his mother out of danger;

When destitute brigands assault him many times,

He tells them his grief and is able to avoid them;

By his labors he supports his mother.

HE FED HIS PARENTS DEER'S MILK

鹿乳奉亲 HE FED HIS PARENTS DEER'S MILK



周。郯子。性至孝。父母年老。俱患双目。思食鹿乳。郯子乃衣鹿皮。往深山群鹿之中。取鹿乳供亲。猎者见而欲射之。郯子俱以情告。乃免。有诗为颂。诗曰

In the Zhōu dynasty lived a man named Tán whose nature was very filial. His parents were old, and both suffered from a malady of the eyes [for the cure of which] they desired to drink deer's milk. Tán therefore [disguised himself in] a deerskin and went to a herd of deer deep in the mountains to obtain deer's milk to give his parents. Some hunters saw him and were about to shoot him, when Tán revealed himself to them to avoid [being shot]. There is a poem which praises him, saying:



亲老思鹿乳。身穿褐毛衣。若不高声语。山中带箭归。

His elderly parents want deer's milk,

So he wears a coarse fur garment;

If he had not spoken out loud,

He would have borne back arrows.

HE SOLD HIMSELF TO BURY HIS FATHER

卖身葬父 HE SOLD HIMSELF TO BURY HIS FATHER



汉董永家贫。父死。卖身贷钱而葬。及去偿工。途遇一妇。求为永妻。俱至主家。主令织布三百匹。始得归。妇织一月而成。归至槐阴会所。遂辞永而去。有诗为颂。诗曰

In the Hàn dynasty the family of Dŏng Yŏng was very poor. When his father died, he promised himself as security to borrow money to bury him. Then he went to work [for the lender to pay back the debt]. On the way he met a woman, who asked to become Yŏng's wife, and she went with him to his master's house. The master ordered them to weave 300 bolts of silk, and then they could return [home]. His wife wove for a month and then was finished. They returned as far as the locust tree where they had met, when she bade Yŏng good-bye and vanished. There is a poem praising him, saying:



葬父贷孔兄。仙姬陌上逢。织布偿债主。孝感动苍穹。

To bury his father he has to borrow money;

A fairy concubine appears upon the road and

Weaves the silk to repay his debt;

Filial feeling moves the heavens.

HE SHOULDERED RICE TO NOURISH HIS PARENTS

负米养亲 HE SHOULDERED RICE TO NOURISH HIS PARENTS



周仲由。字子路。家贫。尝食黍薯之食。为亲负米百里之外。亲殁。南游于楚。从车百乘。积粟万钟。累褥而坐。列鼎而食。乃叹曰。虽欲食黍薯之食。为亲负百里之外。不可得也。有诗为颂。诗曰

Zhòng Yóu of the Zhōu dynasty was called Zĭlù (=Way of the Master). He was of a poor family, and they ate only brambles [Lit: chenopodium]. For his parents he often carried [sacks of] rice more than a hundred lĭ. After his parents died, he traveled south to the state of Chŭ, where he became an official and had a hundred chariots to follow him when he went out and a large store of grain. He sat upon many layers of cloth before rows of tripods [of food]. But he sighed and said: "I would rather be back eating brambles and carrying rice more than a hundred lĭ for my parents, but that is impossible." A verse says of him:



负米供甘旨。宁辞百里遥。身荣亲已没。犹念旧劬劳。

He carried rice to provide good food,

And willingly traveled a hundred lĭ away;

He has become prosperous, but his parents are already dead;

He still thinks on their "grievous toil."*



*-Cf. Book of Songs: "Pity my parents who bore me with grievous toil." (哀哀父母 生我劬劳 āi'āi fùmŭ shēng wŏ qúláo.)