Note 334 — CLXII. THE PIOUS SURGEON.
Herbert Allen Giles translation
When the soul of the Emperor T‘ai Tsung of the T‘ang dynasty was in the infernal regions, it promised to send Yen-lo (the Chinese Yama or Pluto) a melon; and when His Majesty recovered from the trance into which he had been plunged, he gave orders that his promise was to be fulfilled. Just then a man, named Liu Ch‘üan, observed a priest with a hairpin belonging to his wife, and misconstruing the manner in which possession of it had been obtained, abused his wife so severely that she committed suicide. Liu Ch‘üan himself then determined to follow her example, and convey the melon to Yen-lo; for which act he was subsequently deified. See the Hsi-yu-chi, Section XI. return to text