Chi K'ang

Chi K'ang was a man of letters during the Chin Dynasty (265-420 A.D.) and one of the Seven Wise Men of the Bamboo Grove.

During that time, a wealthy man known as Wang Po-t'ung built a villa, but whoever lived there was certain to die. When Po-t'ung realized the disastrousness of the situation he closed the villa at once. In spite of this, Chi K'ang asked Po-t'ung if he could move into the villa.

While in the villa Chi K'ang played a zither into the wee hours of the night when suddenly eight ghosts appeared. He was horrified at first, but after chanting a few words of protection, he asked the ghosts in a slow manner, "Are you responsible for all the deaths of the former residents of this villa?"

The group of ghosts replied, "We are not killers of men. We were once officials at the time of Shun [a legendary ruler said to have ruled around 2200 B.C.] and are eight brothers, known as Ling Lun. Emperor Shun believed the lies of a base official and killed us and buried us here. Wang Po-t'ung built a wall upon the gravesite and we were caused to suffer unbearably. Each time we saw someone come, we tried to tell them about our suffering. But when the people took one look at us they were literally scared to death! It really was not of our doing. We hope that you, sir, can relay this information to Po-t'ung and have our skeletons moved to another place. Six months later Po-t'ung will certainly become the magistrate of this prefecture. In order to express our deep gratitude we will teach you the musical piece 'Kuang Ling.'"

Hearing this, Chi K'ang was overjoyed and let the ghosts teach him how to play the piece on the zither. Chi K'ang played deep into the night when Po-t'ung came for a visit. Upon hearing him playing so well, Po-t'ung asked how he had learned the piece. In turn Chi K'ang told him the truth.

The following morning, Po-t'ung called some people together to dig the ground only to find that there were actually skeletons below. The skeletons were thus moved to higher ground. Sure enough, Po-t'ung was appointed magistrate of the prefecture during the rule of the Emperor Wen of the Western Chin Dynasty; Chi K'ang held the position of an official of the state.

Besides this there are several other intriguing stories concerning the life of Chi K'ang. For example, he once heard that Sun Teng, living in a mountain in Chi Prefecture, was good at shouting at the top of his lungs, so he went to pay him a visit. Sun Teng did not utter a word until Chi K'ang was about to leave, at which time he said, "You may be talented, but you don't know how to protect yourself."

Once Chi K'ang went up into the mountains with the immortal Wang Lieh. Wang Lieh cracked open a stone and ate half of the substance inside. The other half which he saved for Chi K'ang suddenly turned hard as a rock. Again, when they entered a room made of stone Wang Lieh eyed a book and told Chi K'ang to fetch it with a cry of urgency. Mysteriously, the book vanished at once. Wang Lieh sighed, "You've missed the opportunity to become an immortal on two occasions; it's your fate."

During his younger years Chi K'ang was very poor and had to work as a blacksmith in order to survive. Once the son of an official by the name of Chung Hui paid a visit, but Chi K'ang didn't pay him any attention and went on with his work as usual. It was not until Chung Hui desired to leave that Chi K'ang asked, "What did you hear people say to bring you here? And what have you seen to make you leave?" Chung Hui answered, "I heard what I heard to make me come, and I've seen what I've seen so I'm ready to leave."

Chi K'ang offended Chung Hui by his words. Later, Chung Hui slandered Chi K'ang before Emperor Wen accusing him of plotting to create a rebellion, saying, "Chi K'ang is a sleeping dragon. Your Majesty, he's the only one you should beware of!" Accordingly Chi K'ang was beheaded in the east market of the city.

After Chi K'ang died, a man by the name of Hsu Ning from Tunghai was in his room when in the quiet of the night he heard the strange sound of an instrument. Hearing the sound he inquired of his teacher, a magistrate of Nanhai named Pao Ching, what it was. Pao Ching replied, "It's the sound of Chi K'ang playing the zither!"

Hsu Ning: "But he's already dead. How could he still be here?"

Pao Liang: "Although he lost his life in the market he actually attained immortality by suffering such a death."

Chi K'ang, one of the seven members of the Bamboo Grove, is an actual person in Chinese history. Later, he was deified by the people.

The story about Chi K'ang having learned his skills on the zither from ghosts is similar to a story in Huai nan tzu, a philosophical work by Liu An, which describes the famous musician Shih K'uang. According to Chinese tradition, humans are able to communicate with gods and ghosts through exquisite music.

This story attributes Chi K'ang's tragic death to misfortune. Chi K'ang's death is a historical fact, but people later changed his death into a means of becoming an immortal. When you come to think of it, it's a special logic often found in Chinese legends.