Three Lives, Death Exists Not at the River of Oblivion

The First Lifetime - We Part Though We Love

Chapter 1: I'm going to the human world to seduce him

From a time unknown, people passing by the River of Oblivion (1) began to call me the Stone of Three Lifetimes (2). Thereafter, some people spurned me, some came hand-in-hand and carved on me their romances from lifetimes past, and there were even those who stood bawling in front of me.

The River of Oblivion is called the Wangchuan in Chinese mythology. It is similar to the Lethe in Greek mythology.

She is called the Sansheng Stone where Sansheng means 'three lifetimes'. 'Three lifetimes' in Buddhist context also means the past life, the present life, and the future life.

And yet, I was just a stone by the Wangchuan riverside. I neither had joy nor did I have sorrow.

I sat faithfully that way by the Wangchuan for one thousand years until I finally formed a soul one day.

All living things were to be subjected to trials of fate, but I continued to sit there harmlessly for over another century until...

My love trial came.

Reading my fortune was a white-bearded priest passing by the Wangchuan. He prophesied my coming trial to the knowing nodding of his head.

I thought he was just making up hogwash.

I was a spirit born from the Sansheng Stone; my soul was that of a stone and my heart was that of a stone. My heart had long been forged into coldness by the perennial darkness along the Wanchuan River.

There was no pain where there was no love. If my heart hadn't ever stirred, then where would this love trial be coming from?

Or so I thought.

But everything always had its surprises.

On a gloomy afternoon in the underworld, I returned to the eternally unchanging Wangchuan from my walk as usual. I looked up. In that coincidental moment, as if sunlight from the land of the living had broken through the thick layers of fog, the cluster amaryllises lining the Yellow Springs suddenly glistened radiantly.

A man gracefully came forth.

I suddenly recalled the words a human woman passing by me had once whispered many, many years ago: "What a scholarly gentleman, so polished, so refined." (3)

a saying that means a gentleman's cultivation of character is like the refinement of jade, taken from The Book of Songs, Odes of Wei.

After a thousand years, my stony heart made a rare subtle tremble.

He slowly approached, of course not to see me, but rather because behind me was the Naihe Bridge one must cross in order to enter the underworld. It wasn't easy to run into such a beautiful person, so I thought I should have a beautiful meeting with him.

I stepped forward and softly called out to him: "Sir." I thought to curtsy to him like the well-bred ladies did in human books. But the books only said 'curtsy'. They never described to me what specific postures and movements were entailed.

I pondered for a moment, then mimicked the ghosts bemoaning to Yanwang (ruler of the underworld) and dropped to my knees with a thud, banged my head on the ground in three kowtows, and said to him, "What is thy fair name, sir?"

she's asking for his 'fair name' as a man might ask a woman

The imps nearby sucked in two deep breaths of cold air. He stood there blankly with some surprise in his eyes. For the time being, he did not answer me.

Any endeavor must be approached with sincerity, for the Black and White Guards of Impermanence's favorite saying was: "Sincerity equals success." This was how they had always been able to lure the mortal souls to docilely follow them back.