Nie Yinniang

I n the Zhenyuan years, a girl named Nie Yinniang was born to Nie Feng, a great general of Weibo. When she was ten, a wandering nun came begging at the general's gate, saw the child, and wanted her. Give me this girl to raise and teach, she said. Feng flew into a rage and drove her off. As you like, the nun answered — lock her in an iron chest, and I will still steal her away. That night Yinniang was gone. The general turned the house over and found not a trace of her, and her parents could do nothing but weep. Nie Yinniang was the daughter of Nie Feng, a great general of Weibo, in the Zhenyuan era of the Tang. When she was ten, a nun begging food at Feng's house saw Yinniang and was taken with her. She said, 'I ask the officer to give me this girl to teach.' Feng was furious and rebuked her. The nun said, 'Though the officer keep her in an iron chest, I will still steal her away.' And at night, Yinniang was indeed gone. Feng was greatly alarmed and had men search, but there was no trace. Her parents thought of her constantly and could only weep, facing each other.

Five years later the nun brought her back. Her training is finished, she told the general — take her again — and then the nun simply was not there. The house wept and rejoiced at once. What did you learn, they asked. Only to read scriptures and chant spells, Yinniang said, nothing more. Feng did not believe her, and pressed. If I tell you the truth, she said, I am afraid you will not believe it. Tell it, he said. Tell me the truth. After five years, the nun brought Yinniang back. She told Feng, 'Her teaching is complete; take her back.' Then the nun suddenly vanished. The whole family both grieved and rejoiced. When they asked what she had learned, she said, 'At first only reading scriptures and chanting spells, nothing else.' Feng did not believe her and questioned her earnestly. Yinniang said, 'If I speak the truth, I fear you will not believe it. What then?' Feng said, 'Only speak the truth.'

So she told it. The nun carried me off — how many li I never knew — to a cave hollowed deep into the rock, silent, unpeopled, thick with gibbons, dim with pine and creeper. Two other girls were already there, ten years old like me, clever and lovely, and they ate nothing. They ran along the sheer cliff faces like monkeys going up a tree, and never once slipped. She said, 'When the nun first took me, I do not know how many li we walked. At length we came to a great cave in the rock, hollowed out for some dozens of paces, silent and without inhabitants, with gibbons in great number and pines and vines growing ever deeper. Two girls were already there, each also ten years old, both clever and beautiful, and eating nothing. They could run and fly along the sheer cliffs, nimble as monkeys climbing a tree, and never slipped or fell.'

“When you meet such a man, first cut away the thing he loves — then take his head.”

The nun gave me a single pill to swallow and a sword to keep always in my hand — two feet of blade, so keen it would cut a hair blown against its edge. I climbed after the two girls, and day by day my body grew light as wind. After a year I killed gibbons, a hundred strikes without a miss. Then tigers and leopards, and I brought back their heads. After three years I could fly, and was sent against hawks and falcons and never missed, and the blade of my sword was ground shorter by five inches. The birds never knew it was coming. The nun gave me one pill of medicine, and had me always hold a precious sword, about two feet long and sharp enough to sever a hair blown against it. I followed the two girls in climbing, and gradually felt my body light as the wind. After one year I stabbed gibbons, a hundred without a single miss. Then I stabbed tigers and leopards, always cutting off their heads and returning. After three years I could fly, and was sent to stab hawks and falcons, never missing; and the blade of the sword was gradually reduced by five inches. The flying birds met it without knowing it had come.

In the fourth year they left the two girls to guard the cave and took me down into a city — which city I never learned. The nun pointed out a man, counted off his crimes one by one, and gave me a dagger of goat's horn three inches across. Bring me his head, she said, and let him never feel it. Steady your nerve. It is as easy as taking a bird on the wing. I killed him in the open street in broad daylight, and no one saw me do it. I carried the head back in a bag, and she turned it to water with a drug. In the fourth year, she left the two girls to guard the cave and took me to a city — I do not know where. She pointed out a certain man and enumerated his offenses one by one, saying, "Bring me his head, and do not let him notice. Steady your nerve; it will be as easy as a bird in flight." She gave me a goat's-horn dagger, its blade three inches wide. So in broad daylight I stabbed the man in the market, and no one could see it. I put the head in a bag, returned to the master's dwelling, and with a drug dissolved it into water.

The next year she named a high official — guilty, she said, of killing many for no cause — and sent me by night into his chamber. I slipped through the gap of his door, no wall could stop me, and lay flat along the roof-beam until dark, then took his head and went. Why so late, the nun demanded. I saw him playing with a little child, I said, a lovely child, and could not bring myself to strike. After this, she said, when you meet such a man, first cut away the thing he loves. Then take his head. I bowed and begged her pardon. "In the fifth year she said again, 'A certain high official is guilty; he has killed a number of people for no cause. By night you may enter his chamber and take his head.' Again I carried the dagger into the room, passing through the crack of the door with nothing to bar me, and lay hidden on the beam. At nightfall I took his head and returned. The nun was very angry: 'Why so late as this!' I said, 'I saw him before me playing with a darling child, and could not bear to strike at once.' The nun rebuked me: 'Hereafter when you meet such a one, first cut off what he loves, and only then behead him.' I bowed in apology."

Then she said, I will open the back of your skull and hide the dagger inside, and it will do you no hurt; draw it out when you have need. Your art is finished, she told me. Go home. And she brought me back, and said we would not meet again for twenty years. That was the whole of it. Then the nun said, "I will open the back of your head and store the dagger there, and it will do you no harm; when you need it, simply draw it out." She said, "Your art is complete; you may go home." So she sent me back, saying that only after twenty years might we meet again.

Feng heard all this and was afraid of his own daughter. After that she would vanish at nightfall and return at dawn, and he no longer dared ask where; and loving her became harder than it had been. Then one day a young man who ground mirrors passed the gate. That one, said Yinniang, will do for my husband. She told her father, and he did not dare refuse. The husband could polish a mirror and nothing else. Feng kept the couple well in food and clothing and housed them apart. In a few years he died. Feng was greatly frightened to hear her speak so. Afterward she would disappear by night and come back by morning, and Feng no longer dared question her, and for that reason did not cherish her much. One day a young mirror-polisher came to the gate, and she said, 'This man can be my husband.' She told her father, who did not dare refuse, and so she was married to him. Her husband could only polish mirrors and had no other skill. Her father provided the couple very amply with food and clothing and lodged them in a separate house. After some years, her father died.

The governor of Weibo had caught wind of what she was, and bought her service with gold and silk, keeping her among his own officers. Some years more went by. Then, in the Yuanhe years, the governor quarreled with Liu Changyi, the military commissioner of Chenxu, and sent Yinniang to bring him the man's head. She took her leave and rode for Xu. The governor of Weibo had gradually learned of her uncanniness, and so with gold and silk enrolled her as an attendant officer at his side. Thus several more years passed. By the Yuanhe era, the governor of Weibo was at odds with Liu Changyi, military commissioner of Chenxu, and sent Yinniang to take his head. Yinniang thereupon took leave of the governor and set out for Xu.

But Liu could reckon a thing before it came, and he knew she was on the road. He called an officer and sent him at dawn to the north wall to wait for a man and a woman riding two donkeys, one white and one black. At the gate, he said, a magpie will chatter in front of the man; he will shoot at it with a pellet and miss; the woman will snatch the bow from him and drop the bird with a single shot. Bow to them and say — my lord wishes to meet you, and has sent me this far to welcome you with respect. The officer went, and it happened exactly so. But Liu could reckon by uncanny calculation and already knew of her coming. He summoned an officer and ordered him to go early the next day to the north of the city and await a man and a woman, each riding a donkey, one white and one black. 'At the gate, a magpie will chatter before the man; he will shoot it with a pellet-bow and miss, and his wife will seize the bow and kill the magpie with one pellet. Bow to them and say — My lord wishes to meet you, and so has come far to receive you with respect.' The officer received his instructions and met them as foretold.

Lord Liu, said Yinniang and her husband, is truly a man of divine sight — how else could he have read us so cleanly? Let us see him. Liu received them kindly. They bowed to the ground. We deserve ten thousand deaths for coming against Your Excellency. Not at all, said Liu. Each of us serves his own master; it is the most ordinary thing in the world. And how is Wei any different now from Xu? Stay here, and let there be no suspicion between us. Yinniang thanked him. Your Excellency has no one worthy at your side, she said. I would leave that other lord and come to you — for I bow to what you are. She had measured the governor of Weibo against Liu, and found him wanting. When Liu asked what she needed, she said only — two hundred cash a day, and that is enough. And he gave it. Yinniang and her husband said, 'His Excellency Liu is truly a divine man; otherwise, how could he have seen through us? We wish to see Lord Liu.' Liu received them graciously. The two bowed and said, 'We deserve ten thousand deaths for coming against Your Excellency.' Liu said, 'Not so. Each serves his own master — it is a common human matter. How is Wei now any different from Xu? I ask you to stay here, and let us not suspect one another.' Yinniang thanked him and said, 'Your Excellency has no one at your side; I wish to leave that lord and attend you, for I submit to your divine wisdom.' She knew that the governor of Weibo was no match for Liu. Liu asked what she required, and she said, 'Each day I need only two hundred cash, and that is enough.' So he granted her request.

Then the two donkeys were suddenly nowhere to be found. Liu sent men to search and they came back with nothing. Later, in a cloth sack, they found two donkeys cut from paper, one black, one white. Suddenly the two donkeys were nowhere to be seen. Liu sent men to look for them, but there was nothing to be found. Later, searching a cloth sack, they came upon two paper donkeys, one black and one white.

After a month or so she came to Liu. Weibo does not yet know I have stayed, she said; they will send another after me. Tonight let me cut a lock of my hair, bind it with red silk, and lay it by the governor's pillow, to tell him I am not coming back. Liu let her go. She returned at the fourth watch. It is delivered, she said. Tomorrow night they will send Jingjing'er to kill me and take Your Excellency's head. I will find a way to kill him first. Do not trouble yourself. Liu was a large-hearted, easy man, and showed no fear. After a month or so, she told Liu, 'They do not yet know that I have stayed; they will surely send someone after me. Tonight let me cut off a lock of my hair, tie it with red silk, and set it before the governor of Weibo''s pillow, to show that I will not return.' Liu allowed it. At the fourth watch she came back and said, 'My message is delivered. Tomorrow night they will surely send Jingjing''er to kill me and to take Your Excellency''s head. This time I will kill him by whatever means; I beg you not to worry.' Liu was open and magnanimous, and showed no fear.

That night the candles were left burning. Past midnight two pennants appeared, one red, one white, and drifted and struck at one another about the four corners of the bed. A long while passed. Then a man dropped out of the empty air, his head fallen from his body. Yinniang stepped out. Jingjing'er is dead, she said. She dragged him below the hall and turned him to water with her drug, until not a hair was left. That night the candles were kept bright. After midnight, there were indeed two pennants, one red and one white, fluttering as though striking each other at the four corners of the bed. After a long while, a man fell out of the air, his head and body in separate places. Yinniang came out and said, 'Jingjing''er is dead.' She dragged him out below the hall and dissolved him into water with the drug, so that not a hair remained.

Tomorrow night, she said, they will send Kongkong'er of the marvelous hands. No man can see how his art works; no ghost can follow his tracks. He can pass out of empty space into the dark, and move with no form and cast no shadow. My own skill cannot reach that country. Whether you live is now a matter of your own fortune. But hang Khotan jade at your throat and wrap yourself in the quilt, and I will turn myself into a gnat and lie in your belly, listening. There is nowhere else left to hide. Liu did as she told him. Yinniang said, 'Tomorrow night they will send the deft-handed Kongkong''er. Kongkong''er''s divine art is such that no man can glimpse its working and no ghost can trail his tracks. He can go from the void into the unseen, skilled at being formless and blotting out his shadow. My art cannot reach his realm; this now rests on Your Excellency''s own good fortune. Only put Khotan jade about your neck and wrap yourself in the quilt, and I will change into a gnat and slip into Your Excellency''s belly to listen and watch. There is nowhere else to hide.' Liu did as she said.

At the third watch, his eyes closed but sleep not yet come, Liu heard a hard ringing clang at his throat. Yinniang leapt out of his mouth. Your Excellency is safe, she said. This man is like a fine hawk — miss the stoop once, and he is gone in an instant, sick with the shame of the miss. It is not yet the end of one watch, and he is already a thousand li away. They looked at the jade; the dagger had scored it, a cut several tenths of an inch deep. From then on Liu honored her more richly than before. At the third watch, his eyes shut but not yet asleep, Liu heard a clang upon his neck, a very sharp sound. Yinniang leapt out of Liu's mouth and congratulated him, saying, 'Your Excellency is out of danger. This man is like a fine falcon — if one strike misses, he flits far away at once, ashamed of the miss. In not yet a full watch, he is already a thousand li off.' They looked at the jade, and indeed there was a mark where the dagger had struck, a scratch several fen deep. From this time Liu treated her ever more generously.

In the eighth year of Yuanhe, Liu went from Xu to the capital for an audience, and Yinniang would not follow. From here, she said, I will go into the mountains and rivers to seek out the true adepts of the Way; only let a small stipend go on to my husband. Liu agreed, and little by little no one knew where she had gone. When Liu died at his post as army commander, she came once more, whipping her donkey up to the capital, wept aloud before his coffin, and left. In the eighth year of Yuanhe, Liu went from Xu to court for an audience, and Yinniang did not wish to go with him. She said, 'From here I will seek out mountains and waters and visit the Perfected; I ask only that a token salary be given to my husband.' Liu agreed as she asked. Afterward, little by little, no one knew where she had gone. When Liu died at his post as army commander, Yinniang whipped her donkey and came once to the capital, wept bitterly before his coffin, and departed.

In the Kaicheng years, Liu's son Zong was made prefect of Lingzhou. On the plank-roads of Shu he met Yinniang, her face unchanged by all the years, riding a white donkey as before; she was glad to see him. A great disaster is on you, young lord, she said. You should not go on to this post. She brought out a single pill and made him swallow it. Next year, throw off your office at once and go home to Luoyang, and you will slip the calamity. My medicine will hold it off for one year only. Zong did not much believe her. He offered her bolts of silk; she took nothing, only drank herself drunk and rode away. A year later Zong had not resigned, and he died at Lingzhou, as she had said. After that no one ever saw Nie Yinniang again. In the Kaicheng era, Liu Changyi's son Zong was appointed prefect of Lingzhou. Reaching the plank-roads of Shu, he met Yinniang, her face as it had been, very glad to see him, still riding a white donkey as before. She said to Zong, 'Young lord, a great disaster is upon you; you should not go to this place.' She brought out a pill and had Zong swallow it, saying, 'Next year urgently cast off your office and return to Luoyang, and only then will you escape this calamity. My medicine''s power guards against but one year''s trouble.' Zong did not much believe her; he offered her silks, but Yinniang accepted nothing, and simply drank herself drunk and left. After a year, Zong had not given up his office, and indeed died at Lingzhou. From this time on, no one ever saw Yinniang again.

聶隱 The original Chinese · honored as an artifact

聶隱娘者,唐貞元中,魏博大將聶鋒之女也。年方十歲,有尼乞食於鋒舍,見隱娘悅之。

Opening lines, classical Chinese · 傳奇 · Tang chuanqi, via 太平廣記 Taiping Guangji