During my childhood, I went to the provincial examinations around the time of the Spring Festival. As per tradition, one day before the exams, merchants from all walks of life would gather at the governor’s office with colorful floats and music, in an event known as “Performing the Spring.” I joined my friends to watch the festivities.
That day, the streets were packed with people. Four officials in red robes sat facing each other in the hall. I was young and didn’t understand who these officials were, but I could hear the noisy chatter and the sound of drums and horns. Suddenly, a man appeared with disheveled hair, leading a group of children carrying a load on a pole. It seemed he had something to report, but amid the clamor, I couldn’t hear what he was saying. The people in the hall just laughed. A man in a blue robe then loudly ordered the man to perform a play. The man agreed and asked, “Which play should I perform?” The officials in the hall discussed briefly, and a lower-ranking official asked about the man’s specialties. He replied, “I can turn things upside down.” The official relayed this information to the higher-ranking officials. After a short while, they ordered the man to fetch a peach.
The performer agreed and, removing his clothes, covered the load on the pole. He pretended to be resentful and said, “The officials are so unreasonable! The ice has not yet melted; how can I find a peach? But if I don’t find one, I’m afraid I’ll anger those in power. What should I do?” His child said, “Father, you have already agreed; how can you refuse now?” The performer sighed for a long time and then said, “I have thought this through: where can one find peaches when there is still snow in early spring? Only in the Queen Mother’s garden, where they never wither throughout the four seasons. We must steal them from heaven to fulfill the request.” The child asked, “Ha! Can we climb the stairs to heaven?” The performer replied, “I have a method.” He then opened the box, took out a bundle of rope around several dozen feet long, arranged one end of it, and threw it into the air. The rope hung in mid-air as if something was holding it. In no time, the performer threw the rope higher and higher, and it disappeared into the clouds. When the rope in his hand was gone, he called out to his child, “Come here! I am old and weak, and my body is heavy and clumsy; I cannot go. You must go for me.” He handed the rope to his child and said, “You can climb with this.” The child took the rope with a hesitant expression, complaining, “Father, you are too careless! You want me to climb to the sky with this thin rope, thousands of feet high. If it breaks halfway, I will surely die!” The father coaxed and patted him, saying, “I have already given my word, and there’s no turning back. Please go for me. If you can steal a peach, I promise you a hundred gold coins and a beautiful bride.” The child then took the rope, wound it around himself, and climbed upward, hand over hand, foot by foot, like a spider climbing a silk thread. He disappeared into the clouds and was no longer visible. After a long time, a peach the size of a bowl fell from the sky. The performer rejoiced and presented it to the officials in the hall. They examined it for a while, unable to determine if it was real or fake.
Suddenly, the rope fell to the ground, and the performer panicked, exclaiming, “Disaster! Someone in the sky must have cut my rope! How will my child hold on?” After a moment, something fell to the ground. Upon closer inspection, it was the child’s head. The performer held it and wept, saying, “My child must have been caught stealing the peach! He is no more!” Then, one by one, the child’s limbs fell to the ground, leaving nothing intact. The performer was heartbroken. He picked up the pieces and placed them in the box, closing it. He said, “My only child traveled with me from the south to the north. Today, because of the order to fetch a peach, he met this tragic end! I will carry him away and bury him.” He then went up to the hall, knelt, and said, “My child died for the sake of the peach! If you have mercy on a poor man like me and help me bury him, I will repay you with gratitude.” The officials in the hall were astonished and gave him some gold coins. The performer accepted the gold and tied it around his waist. Then, he knocked on the box and called out, “My dear child, if you don’t come out now and thank them for their kindness, when will you?” Suddenly, a disheveled child’s head appeared from under the box lid, facing north and bowing deeply. It was the performer’s child! Because of their extraordinary skill, the story is remembered to this day. It was later said that the followers of the White Lotus Sect could perform this trick. Could this performer have been a descendant of theirs?
