**3. Stories on Deities Delivering Willows**

Four Yuan *zaju* plays involve narratives of deities delivering willows. They are: Ma Zhiyuan's *Yueyang lou* (Wang 1990, 2.157–86), Gu Zijing's *Chengnan liu* (Wang 1990, 5.295– 314), Jia Zhongming's *Shengxian meng* (Wang 1990, 5.512–29), and Li Shouqing's *Du Liu Cui* (Wang 1990, 2.437–67). The plots of the first three are somewhat similar, all about Lü Dongbin delivering a willow spirit to immortality. In the Lü Dongbin story of the first three plays, the willow spirit first became a human and then became an immortal; in the fourth play, Buddhist Monk Moonlight delivered a willow branch, who was originally a sacred willow branch in Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara's vase and became first a human, then an enlightened being.

Xiaohuan Zhao sees the above-mentioned process of transformation, namely, the transition from incarnation/reincarnation to deity/buddha, as the fourth way for ghosts to

make their appearance onstage.<sup>4</sup> However, as we see it, this is a transformation from ghosts and spirits to deities and immortals. In Yuan *zaju*, the Lü Dongbin story on delivering a willow spirit emphasizes the willow tree's transformation from a spirit to an immortal, and the Buddhist Monk Moonlight's story emphasizes the willow tree's transformation from a willow branch to a woman and then to a willow branch in Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara's vase. This theme of deities delivering willows largely originated from the Chinese folk beliefs about willow trees. In these beliefs, the willow tree has multiple faces: sometimes it is a spirit, and sometimes it is a monster; sometimes it can expel evil spirits and even cure diseases. These diverse conceptions about the willow tree fostered the narrations of similar stories in Yuan *zaju* plays. In the following section, this paper interprets the narrations of the stories of willow spirits delivered by Lü Dongbin and Liu Cui and the willow branch that was delivered by Buddhist Monk Moonlight in Yuan *zaju*.

The Lü Dongbin stories in Yuan *zaju* focus on how willow spirits harmed people. For example, in *Yueyang lou*, the willow spirit and the white prune tree spirit appeared at Yueyang Tower to charm human beings every night. This idea came from Chinese folk beliefs. In the three plays mentioned above, willow spirits were all harmful creatures. They were all male, with female tree spirits as their mates. In *Yueyang lou*, the willow tree spirit's mate was a white prune tree spirit. In the other two plays, the willow tree spirits' mates were peach blossom spirits. Both willow tree spirits and the white prune tree spirit harmed people at night. In *Yueyang lou*, a waiter said to Lü Dongbin: "At night, two spirits will come out upstairs, charming and harming people. Customers dare not eat upstairs at night." 如今天色晚了,這樓上有兩個精怪,到晚便出來迷人,酒客晚間不敢在這樓上喫 酒 (Wang 1990, 5.299). The idea that spirits, especially willow spirits, come out to harm people at night, was not created by Yuan playwrights. Before the Yuan dynasty, this idea had been commonly accepted by the Han Chinese, and it can be traced back to the Tang and Song dynasties. In Tang dynasty (618–907) folk beliefs, willow spirits already existed. However, at this time, willow spirits mostly appeared as benign humans, and they did not harm others (Liu 2005, p. 106). In the Song dynasty, as systemic beliefs in tree spirits developed, the willow spirit became a notable part of folk beliefs. In the early Song dynasty story anthology, *Taiping guangji* 太平廣記 (Extensive Records of the Taiping Era), some willow spirits were learned scholars (Li 1961, 415.3383–84), but others were evil spirits who harmed people. One of the stories is about an evil willow spirit harming people in an old compound in Luoyang 洛陽 who was finally killed by an official:

There was a grand old house in Eastern Luoyang. Most of the people who had resided in it met sudden death, so the house had been long left empty and locked. ... (The owner) always wanted to sell the house. ... One night, Lu Qian 盧虔 and his officer attendant stayed in the house. Lu ordered his servants to stay out of the gate. The officer attendant was good at shooting, so he brought his bow and arrows, and stayed awake in the lobby. Later that night, someone knocked at the door. The attendant asked who it was. A voice said: "General Liu [lit: willow] has sent me to deliver a letter to Attendant Censor Lu." Later, he came again ... The attendant shot him in the chest. [He was] startled and fled to the east. At dawn, Lu ordered the attendant to trace him down. [The attendant] went eastwards and saw a hundred-foot-high willow tree, with an arrow through its trunk. That was General Liu. Lu chopped it down. Since then, no more residents in the house were harmed. After a year or so, the house was renovated. During the process, a gourd ladle was found under the roof. It was about a *zhang* 丈 [about 3.3 meters] long, and its handle was penetrated by an arrow. That was what the "general" was holding in hand. 東洛有故宅,其堂奧軒級甚宏特。然居者多 暴死,是以空而鍵之且久。 ... ... 常欲貿其宅而止焉。 ... ... 後一夕,虔與從 吏同寢其堂,命僕使盡止於門外。從吏勇悍善射,於是執弓矢,坐前軒下。夜將 深,聞有叩門者,從吏即問之。應聲曰:"柳將軍遣奉書於盧侍御。" ... ... 久 之又來, ... ... 從吏又射之,中其胸。厲驚,若有懼,遂東向而去。至明,虔 命窮其跡。至宅東隙地,見柳高百餘尺,有一矢貫其上,所謂柳將軍也。虔伐其

薪。自 此 其 宅 居 者 無 恙。後 歲 餘,因 重 構 堂 室,於 屋 瓦 下 得 一 瓢。長 約 丈 餘,有 矢 貫 其 柄,即 將 軍 所 執 之 瓢 也 (Li 1961, 415.3385–86)

In folk beliefs of the Tang and Song dynasties, most of the willow spirits were centuries old. This is a reflection of the notion that "old things grow into spirits" ( 物 老 成 精 *wu lao chengjing*). This idea and the folk belief that willow spirits were harmful to people largely influenced the authors of Yuan *zaju*, so the authors of the three aforementioned Lü Dongbin stories coincidentally portrayed willow spirits as ones with centuries of cultivation. For example, the willow spirit in *Yueyang lou* introduces himself as follows: "I am an old willow tree under Yueyang Tower. I have been here for more than a thousand years." 小 聖 乃 岳 陽 樓下一 株 老 柳 樹 是 也。我 在 此 千 百 餘 年 (Wang 1990, 2.162).

Because of their longevity, willow spirits are often referred to as *laoliu* 老 柳 (old willow) in Yuan *zaju*. For example, the plum spirit in *Chengnan liu* says: "I am a fairy peach, and that is the willow planted in the south of the city. In the past, when Master Lü Dongbin came here, he intended to deliver the old willow, so he planted me by the neighboring wall, and married me to the old willow. Thus, the old willow became a spirit." 妾 身 乃 天上仙 桃,此 乃 城 南 柳 樹。昔 日 呂 洞 賓 師 父 到 此,有 意 度 脫 這 老 柳,將 我 種 向 鄰 牆,與 老 柳 配 作 夫 婦,以 此 成 為 精 靈 (Wang 1990, 5.297–98). The word old in "old willow" refers to the old age of the willow spirit and therefore is not just a respectful or honorific term for the willow spirit. It is evident that when the Yuan playwrights created the narratives of Lü Dongbin's delivery of willow spirits, they, to a large extent, accepted the folk beliefs about the willow tree in Tang and Song folklore.

The religious connotation of the figure of Lü Dongbin is worth mentioning. A scholarly figure who is both historical and legendary, in folklore, Lü is generally associated with Daoist alchemy and immortality. Among the Eight Immortals (*baxian* 八 仙) in Daolist literature, he was the one who most often delivered enlightened people and beings to immortality. As a historical figure, Lü belonged to the orthodox of Daoism (Eskildsen 2016). Farzeen Baldrian-Hussein (1986) has clarified some basic aspects about him in early legends that were created in the Northern Song dynasty, which were mainly hued with the color of Daoism. Other studies have, from different perspectives, showed that stories about Lü were tapped by other beliefs, for example, Buddhism (Capitanio 2016). Artistic and literary representations of Lü are so abundant and complex (as partly shown in (Katz 1999)) that the figure can be viewed as a cultural symbol for the expression of various ideas, mostly associated with religion and folk beliefs alike. In our case, Lü's Daoist practice of delivering enlightened beings to immortality is comfortably combined with the image of willows as spirits in folklore.

Compared with the Lü Dongbin stories on the delivery of willow spirits, the narrative of Buddhist Monk Moonlight's delivering a willow tree was derived from the belief that willows can ward off evil and cure diseases. In *Du Liu Cui*, a willow branch in Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara's vase was relegated to the human world and then became Liu Cui (green willow). This plot contains the cultural message that the willow was a sacred object and can cure diseases. Specifically, both the willow branch and the vase were Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara's magic tools to help all beings. The willow branch could purify life and therefore was a sacred object capable of healing.

The concept of the sacred willow was not unique to the Yuan dynasty but had been prevalent in the shamanic beliefs of Han Chinese before the Yuan dynasty. In folk beliefs, the willow was regarded as a divine object. Because it was vigorous and grew near water, it was believed to be able to cure diseases and ward off evil spirits. The practice of using willow branches to ward off evil spirits was recorded in Jia Sixie's 賈 思 勰 (386–534) important work *Qimin yaoshu* 齊 民 要 術 (Essential Techniques for the Welfare of the People): "If you put a willow branch on your door on the first day of the first month, ghosts will not enter your home." 正 月 旦 取 楊柳枝 著 戶 上,百 鬼 不 入 家 (Jia 1998, 5.352).

The folk custom of wearing willow branches on the Double-Fifth Festival, derived from the idea that the willow tree can cure diseases, was extremely popular in southern and northern China before the Yuan dynasty. Without going into details, here are just two

examples. In *Jingchu suishi ji* 荊 楚 歲 時 記 (Chronological Record of the Chu Region) by Zong Lin 宗 懍 (501–565), it is recorded that in ancient times, in the Chu region, there was the custom of offering sacrifices to the willow on the 15th day of the first month: "Nowadays, it is a local custom to offer sacrifices to the door. The method is to stick willow branches on the left and right doors, and offer food and drink including wine, jerky, bean porridge, cakes, and meat sauce to the directions to which the branches point." 今 州 里 風 俗,望 日 祭 門 戶。其 法 先 以 楊 枝 插 於 左 右 門 上,隨 楊 枝 所 指,乃以 酒 脯飲食 及 豆 粥、糕糜 插 著 而 祭 之 (Zong 2018, pp. 18–19) Generally speaking, "ancient people used the words *yang* 楊 (poplar) and *liu* 柳 (willow) interchangeably" (Guan 2006, p. 9). Here, *yangzhi* 楊 枝 means willow branches. This was the practice of using willow branches to ward off evil spirits on the fifteenth day of the first month, and behind it was the idea that willow branches were sacred.

This concept was prevalent among not only commoners but also the ruling class. During the reign of Emperor Zhongzong (Li Xian 李 顯, 656–710) of Tang, he introduced the folk belief that willows could cure diseases and ward off evil spirits in the palace: "On the third day of the third month, he gave his ministers fine willow rings, saying that by wearing them they could be free from insect bites." 三 月 三 日 賜 侍 臣 細 柳 圈,言 帶 之 免 蠆 毒 (Duan 1981, 1.2) This idea was passed on to the Yuan dynasty and was accepted and inherited by the playwrights, resulting in the Yuan *zaju* plot about Liu Cui being delivered to immortality in *Du Liu Cui*.

The stories about the delivery of willows also clearly contain the Buddhist belief that Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara uses a willow branch to heal the sick and save people. In *Du Liu Cui*, Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara rescues sentient beings and uses a willow branch in a purifying vase to heal the sick and save people. Unfortunately, "the willow branch in the vase was occasionally polluted with dust and was therefore punished with reincarnation in the human world. It became a prostitute named Liu Cui who lived on Baojianying Street, Hangzhou". 淨 瓶 內 的 楊柳枝 葉 上,偶 汙 微 塵,罰 往 人 間 打 一 遭 輪 回,在 杭 州 抱 鑒 營 街,積 妓 牆 下,化 作 風 塵 匪 妓,名 為 柳 翠 (Wang 1990, 2.438). This narrative contains two ideas: first, that Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara heals and saves people, and second, that the willow branch inside Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara's purifying vase is a holy object with healing properties.

One only has to turn to the Buddhist classics to find that this narrative in the play originated from the Buddhist belief that Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara saves people. In the Buddhist sutra, *Qing Guanshiyin pusa xiaofu duhai tuoluoni zhou jing* 請 觀 世 音 菩 薩 消 伏 毒 害 陀 羅 尼 經, Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara is granted a willow with purified water to heal the sick and save people: "The person from Vaishali then granted a willow branch with purified water to Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara" 爾 時 毘 舍 離 人。即 具 楊 枝 淨 水。授 與 觀 世 音 (Qing Guanshiyin Pusa Xiaofu Duhai Tuoluoni Zhou Jing 2021, p. 34, c13–14). In the opening section of *Du Liu Cui*, the depiction of how Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara appeared and healed people was derived from the same idea about Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara in the above-mentioned sutra. The relevant narratives in the play are all based on this Buddhist concept. The image of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara has been modified in the Chinese cultural context: of interest to many, in China, Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara has appeared as a female deity since the ninth century (Idema 2008; Yü 2001); she is believed to have ability to heal the sick and protect the weak; she is also understood with concepts from other beliefs—for example, the Confucian idea of filial piety (Dudbridge 2004; Berezkin and Mair 2014). Similar to Lü Dongbin, Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara was and is also a cultural signifier, whose representations welcomed elements from various religious and folk beliefs.

The above-mentioned stories of Lü Dongbin in the plays are primarily Daoist, and the story of Buddhist Monk Moonlight has to do with Buddhism. The former originated from the belief that the willow can be a ghost and a spirit, added to by the Daoist idea that deities and immortals never die; the latter story originated from the belief that the willow tree could ward off evil spirits and cure diseases, and therefore it was a sacred object. These two types of ideas seem contradictory, but this kind of contradiction is precisely a characteristic of folk beliefs. This means that the folk beliefs about willows contained in the related Yuan *zaju* works were not univocal but diverse, and some of the ideas were even opposed to each other.
