Explore the story of Zhu Er, a tale of supernatural events, family bonds, and an illness that changed everything.
Changzhou resident Li Hua had a lot of farmland in his family. He was already in his fifties and still didn’t have a son. He had a daughter named Xiao Hui, who was beautiful in appearance. He and his wife loved her dearly. However, when she was only fourteen, she suddenly fell seriously ill and passed away. The family became desolate, and life lost its joy. So, Li Hua married a younger wife. After more than a year, they had a son, whom they cherished dearly and named Zhu Er. Zhu Er gradually grew up and became strong and adorable. However, he had a special mental disability. At the age of five or six, he couldn’t distinguish between beans and wheat, and his speech was unclear and stuttered. Li Hua still loved him and didn’t mind his shortcomings.
At that time, there was a one-eyed monk who begged for alms in the marketplace. He could uncover people’s secret affairs, which astonished everyone. They believed he was a deity and even spread rumors that he could control people’s life and death. This monk would ask for money and goods from people, ranging from tens to hundreds or thousands, and no one dared to refuse him. The monk approached Li Hua and asked for a hundred coins. Li Hua felt troubled but offered ten coins. The monk refused. The amount gradually increased to thirty coins, and the monk sternly said, “It must be a hundred coins, not a single coin less!” Li Hua became angry and took back his money, then walked away. The monk got angry and said, “You may regret this, you may regret this!”
Not long after, Zhu Er suddenly experienced severe chest pain, clutching the bedding in agony, and his face turned pale. Li Hua was frightened and took eighty coins to beg the monk for help. The monk smiled and said, “It’s not easy to take out so much money, but what can this humble monk do?” Li Hua returned home, but his son had already passed away. He was deeply saddened and filed a complaint with the county official. The county official sent people to arrest the monk and interrogated him, but the monk cleverly defended himself without revealing the truth. The county officer tortured the monk, as if beating a drum. They searched him and found two wooden figurines, a small coffin, and five small flags. The county official was furious and showed the evidence to the monk, who finally became afraid and repeatedly kowtowed. The county official, however, didn’t listen and beat him to death with a stick. Li Hua thanked the county official and returned home.
At that time, the sky had already darkened, and Li Hua sat on the bed with his wife. Suddenly, they noticed a young child rushing into the room, saying, “Dad, why did you walk so fast? I chased you as hard as I could, but I couldn’t catch up.” Judging by the child’s appearance, he seemed to be around seven or eight years old. Li Hua was taken aback and was about to question him when he saw the child appearing and disappearing like smoke and mist, and in a blink of an eye, he was already sitting on the bed. Li Hua pushed him off, and the child made no sound when he fell to the floor. The child said, “Dad, why act this way?” In the blink of an eye, he was back on the bed. Li Hua was frightened and, along with his wife, ran away in fear. The child followed them, calling out for his father and mother, making baby sounds incessantly. Li Hua ran to his younger wife’s room, hastily closed the door, and when he looked back, the child was already standing next to him. Astonished, Li Hua asked the child what he wanted to do, and the child replied, “I’m from Suzhou, and my last name is Zhan. I lost my parents when I was six, and my older brother and sister-in-law rejected me, sending me to my maternal grandfather’s house. One day, while playing outside, I was misled by an evil monk and killed under a mulberry tree. He forced me to be a malevolent ghost, and my grievances were buried deep under the earth, unable to be resolved. Luckily, you avenged me, and I’m willing to be your son.” Li Hua said, “Humans and ghosts belong to two different worlds; how can we rely on each other?” The child said, “Just clear out a small room, set up a bed for me, and give me a cup of cold rice soup every day; that’s all I need.” Li Hua agreed. The child was pleased and began living alone in a small room. In the mornings, he would come and go in the courtyard, just like the other children in the house. When he heard Li Hua’s younger wife crying for her son, he asked, “How many days has Zhu Er been dead?” She replied that he had been dead for seven days. The child said, “The weather is cold, and the body won’t decay. You can open the coffin and take a look. If the body is undamaged, I can bring him back to life.” Li Hua was very happy and went with the child to the grave. They opened the coffin and found the body unchanged. Just as they were grieving, they turned around, and the child had disappeared. Li Hua was very surprised, so he carried the body back home. As soon as he placed the body on the bed, the eyes began to move. After a while, the boy asked for hot water, drank it, started sweating, and then got up.
Everyone was delighted that Zhu Er had died and come back to life, and he was now intelligent and agile, unlike before. However, at night, he would lie motionless, without a trace of breath. When they tried to turn his body, he remained completely still, just like he was dead. Everyone was shocked and thought he had died again. It was only as dawn approached that he seemed to awaken from a dream. When they approached him and asked, he said, “When I used to follow the evil monk, there were two of us children, one named Gezi. Yesterday, I couldn’t catch up with Dad because I was saying goodbye to Gezi behind. Now he’s in the underworld, serving as the adopted son of Jiang Yuanwai, and he’s quite comfortable there. He comes to play with me at night. Just now, he sent me back with a yellow horse with a white nose and a black mouth.” His mother asked, “Did you see Huixue in the underworld?” He said, “I don’t know, I’ll look for her next time.”
When Li Hua used to do business in Jinling, he owed money for goods to Yan Zifang. Later, Yan Zifang died, and no one knew about this debt. Li Hua was very frightened when he heard this. His mother asked again, “Have you seen your sister Hui?” He said, “I don’t know, I’ll look for her next time.”
A couple of days later, the child said to his mother, “Huixue is doing well in the underworld. She has married the young master of King Chujiang. Her head is adorned with pearls and jade, and when she steps outside, a hundred or so people shout and clear the way for her.” His mother asked, “Why doesn’t she come back home to visit?” The child replied, “After a person dies, they have no connection with their living relatives anymore. If someone were to recount the details of her life before death, it might jog her memory and move her. Yesterday, I asked Jiang Yuanwai to help me find a way to see my sister, and I met her. She asked me to sit on a coral bed. I talked to her about our parents’ concern, but at that time, she seemed unresponsive, like she was dozing off. So I said, ‘When you were alive, you loved to embroider twin flowers. Once, you pricked your finger with scissors, and your blood stained the silk, creating a red cloud-like pattern. Mother still hangs it on the wall by her bed, constantly missing you. Have you forgotten all about it?’ Only then did she feel saddened and said, ‘Let me tell my husband, and I will come home to visit Mother.'” His mother asked when she would come back home, but the child said he didn’t know.
One day, the child said to his mother, “Sister is about to arrive, and there are many servants accompanying her, so we should prepare more food and wine.” After a while, the child ran into the house and said, “Sister has arrived!” He moved a chair to the main hall and said, “Sister, please sit down and rest for a while, don’t be too sad.” Everyone else couldn’t see this scene. The child, along with the people, burned paper offerings and poured wine outside the door. He returned and said, “The attendants have been temporarily sent away. Sister asked, ‘The green brocade quilt we used in the past, which had a bean-sized burn mark from a candle, is it still here?'” His mother said, “Yes, it’s still here.” They immediately opened a chest and took it out. The child said, “Sister asked me to put the quilt in the chamber where she used to stay. She’s tired and wants to take a short nap. She’ll talk to Mother again tomorrow morning.”
The daughter of the Zhao family from the east, who was a good friend of Xiao Hui during their teenage years, had a dream one night. In her dream, she saw Xiao Hui wearing a headscarf and a purple shawl, visiting her with the same words, laughter, and appearance as usual. She said, “Now I am no longer human, and seeing my parents is as difficult as crossing vast oceans and mountains. I wish to borrow your body to speak with my family, so do not be alarmed.” As soon as the day broke, the daughter of the Zhao family was talking to her mother when she suddenly collapsed to the ground, unconscious. It took a while before she woke up and said to her mother, “Xiao Hui and Aunt have been separated for several years and have both grown old with white hair.” Her mother, startled, asked, “Is my daughter insane?” The daughter bid farewell to her mother and went outside. Her mother sensed something unusual and followed her.
The daughter of the Zhao family went straight to the Li family’s courtyard, where she embraced Li’s mother and cried mournfully. Li’s mother was astonished and did not understand what was happening. The daughter said, “I came back yesterday, feeling very tired and couldn’t speak. I have been unfilial, leaving my parents midway and causing them grief. It’s truly a sin.” It was only at this moment that Li’s mother suddenly realized what was happening and began to cry bitterly. After crying, she asked, “I heard that my daughter has become a noblewoman. I find comfort in that. How did you manage to come here?” The daughter replied, “My husband treats me very lovingly, and my in-laws also adore me. They do not find any fault in me.”
When Xiao Hui was alive, she liked to rest her chin on her hand, and the daughter of the Zhao family noticed that she often did the same while talking, imitating her exactly as she used to be. Soon, Zhu Er ran in and said, “The people here to fetch my sister have arrived.” The daughter stood up, cried, and knelt to bid farewell, saying, “I am leaving.” After that, the daughter of the Zhao family collapsed to the ground again and only woke up after an hour.
After several months, Li Hua’s condition worsened, and medical treatments proved ineffective. The child said, “I’m afraid he may pass away sooner or later, and there’s no way to save him! Two little spirits are sitting at the foot of the bed, one holding an iron rod, and the other holding a long hemp rope, about four or five feet long. The child pleads with them day and night, but they just won’t leave.” Li’s mother cried and prepared old clothes and bedding to offer to the spirits.
In the evening, the child walked in briskly and said, “Ladies, please step aside. My brother-in-law is coming to see father.” After a while, the child clapped his hands and laughed heartily. His mother asked him, and he said, “I’m laughing at those two little spirits. I heard my brother-in-law is coming, and they both hid under the bed, just like a pair of timid tortoises.” After a short while, the child looked up at the sky and greeted, inquiring about his sister’s well-being. He clapped his hands again and said, “Those two little spirit servants begged not to leave, but now they’ve finally left, which is a great relief!” He then went out the door but returned to say, “My brother-in-law has left, and the two little spirits were tethered to a horse’s bridle. Father’s illness should be improving. My brother-in-law said, ‘Go back and report to the King, and ask for a hundred years of life for our parents.'” The whole family was overjoyed.
During the night, Li Hua’s condition significantly improved, and after a few days, he made a full recovery.
Li Hua invited a teacher to educate his child. This child was very intelligent and, at the age of eighteen, passed the examination to become a scholar. At that time, he could still speak about matters related to the underworld. When he saw someone in the neighborhood fall ill, he could pinpoint the presence of spirits or ghosts. By burning certain things with fire, he often managed to cure the illnesses.
However, later on, Zhu Er fell seriously ill, with a bluish-purple complexion. He claimed that he was being punished by supernatural beings for revealing things he shouldn’t have spoken about, and from that point on, he never discussed matters related to the underworld again.
《珠儿》
常州民李化，富有田产。年五十馀，无子。一女名小惠，容质秀美，夫妻最怜爱之，十四岁，暴病夭殂。冷落庭帏，益少生趣，始纳婢。经年馀，生一子，视如拱璧，名之珠儿。儿渐长，魁梧可爱。然性绝痴，五六岁尚不辨菽麦，言语蹇涩。李亦好而不知其恶。会有眇僧，募缘于市，辄知人闺闼，于是相惊以神，且云，能生死祸福人。几十百千，执名以索，无敢违者。诣李募百缗，李难之，给十金，不受。渐至三十金，僧厉色曰：“必百缗，缺一文不可！”李亦怒，收金遽去。僧忿然而起，曰：“勿悔，勿悔！”无何，珠儿心暴痛，巴刮床席，色如土灰。李惧，将八十金诣僧乞救。僧笑曰：“多金大不易！然山僧何能为？”李归而儿已死。李恸甚，以状诉邑宰。宰拘僧讯鞫，亦辨给无情词。笞之，似击鞔革。令搜其身，得木人二、小棺一、小旗帜五。宰怒，以手叠诀举示之。僧乃惧，自投无数。宰不听，杖杀之。李叩谢而归。
时已曛暮，与妻坐床上。忽一小儿，p0386-01.jpg儴入室，曰：“阿翁行何疾？极力不能得追。”视其体貌，当得七八岁。李惊，方将诘问，则见其若隐若现，恍惚如烟雾，宛转间，已登榻坐。李推下之，堕地无声。曰：“阿翁何乃尔！”瞥然复登。李惧，与妻俱奔。儿呼阿父、阿母，呕哑不休。李入妾室，急阖其扉，还顾，儿已在膝下。李骇问何为，答曰：“我苏州人，姓詹氏。六岁失怙恃，不为兄嫂所容，逐居外祖家。偶戏门外，为妖僧迷杀桑树下；驱使如伥鬼，冤闭穷泉，不得脱化。幸赖阿翁昭雪，愿得为子。”李曰：“人鬼殊途，何能相依？”儿曰：“但除斗室，为儿设床褥，日浇一杯冷浆粥，馀都无事。”李从之。儿喜，遂独卧室中。晨来出入闺阁，如家生。闻妾哭子声，问：“珠儿死几日矣？”答以七日。曰：“天严寒，尸当不腐。试发冢启视，如未损坏，儿当得活。”李喜，与儿去，开穴验之，躯壳如故。方此忉怛，回视，失儿所在。异之，舁尸归。方置榻上，目已瞥动，少顷呼汤，汤已而汗，汗已遂起。
群喜珠儿复生，又加之慧黠便利，迥异曩昔。但夜间僵卧，毫无气息，共转侧之，冥然若死。众大愕，谓其复死。天将明，始若梦醒。群就问之，答云：“昔从妖僧时，有儿等二人，其一名哥子。昨追阿父不及，盖在后与哥子作别耳。今在冥间，为姜员外作义嗣，亦甚优游。夜分，固来邀儿戏。适以白鼻騧送儿归。”母因问：“在阴司见珠儿否？”曰：“珠儿已转生矣。渠与阿翁无父子缘，不过金陵严子方来讨百十千债负耳。”初，李贩于金陵，欠严货价未偿，而严翁死，此事人无知者。李闻之大骇。母问：“儿见惠姊否？”儿曰：“不知，再去当访之。”
又二三日，谓母曰：“惠姊在冥中大好，嫁得楚江王小郎子，珠翠满头髻，一出门，便十百作呵殿声。”母曰：“何不一归宁？”曰：“人既死，都与骨肉无关切。倘有人细述前生，方豁然动念耳。昨托姜员外，夤缘见姊，姊姊呼我坐珊瑚床上。与言父母悬念，渠都如眠睡。儿云：‘姊在时，喜绣并蒂花，翦刀刺手爪，血涴绫子上，姊就刺作赤水云。今母犹挂床头壁，顾念不去心。姊忘之乎？’姊始凄感，云：‘会须白郎君，归省阿母。’”母问其期，答言不知。
一日谓母：“姊行且至，仆从大繁，当多备浆酒。”少间，奔入室，曰：“姊来矣！”移榻中堂，曰：“姊姊且憩坐，少悲啼。”诸人悉无所见。儿率人焚纸酹饮于门外，反曰：“驺从暂令去矣。姊言：‘昔日所覆绿锦被，曾为烛花烧一点如豆大，尚在否？’”母曰：“在。”即启笥出之。儿曰：“姊命我陈旧闺中，乏疲，且小卧。翌日再与阿母言。”
东邻赵氏女，故与惠为绣阁交。是夜，忽梦惠幞头紫帔来相望，言笑如平生。且言：“我今异物，父母觌面，不啻河山。将借妹子与家人共话，勿须惊恐。”质明，方与母言，忽仆地闷绝。逾刻始醒，向母曰：“小惠与阿婶别几年矣，顿鬖鬖白发生！”母骇曰：“儿病狂耶？”女拜别即出。母知其异，从之。直达李所，抱母哀啼，母惊不知所谓。女曰：“儿昨归，颇委顿，未遑一言。儿不孝，中途弃高堂，劳父母哀念，罪何可赎！”母顿悟，乃哭。已而问曰：“闻儿今贵，甚慰母心。但汝栖身王家，何遂能来？”女曰：“郎君与儿极燕好，姑舅亦相抚爱，颇不谓妒丑。”惠生时，好以手支颐，女言次，辄作故态，神情宛似。未几，珠儿奔入曰：“接姊者至矣。”女乃起，拜别泣下，曰：“儿去矣。”言讫，复踣，移时乃苏。
后数月，李病剧，医药罔效。儿曰：“旦夕恐不救也！二鬼坐床头，一执铁杖子，一挽苎麻绳，长四五尺许，儿昼夜哀之不去。”母哭，乃备衣衾。既暮，儿趋入曰：“杂人妇，且避去，姊夫来视阿翁。”俄顷，鼓掌而笑。母问之。曰：“我笑二鬼，闻姊夫来，俱匿床下如龟鳖。”又少时，望空道寒暄，问姊起居。既而拍手曰：“二鬼奴哀之不去，至此大快！”乃出至门外，却回，曰：“姊夫去矣，二鬼被锁马鞅上，阿父当即无恙。姊夫言：归白大王，为父母乞百年寿也。”一家俱喜。至夜，病良已，数日寻瘥。
延师教儿读。儿甚惠，十八入邑庠，犹能言冥间事。见里中病者，辄指鬼祟所在，以火爇之，往往得瘳。后暴病，体肤青紫，自言鬼神责我绽露，由是不复言。