ase the Empress, had a universal
amnesty proclaimed throughout the Empire, under which all prisoners
were set free. On receipt of this edict, Pao Lao-yeh liberated Ts'ao
Ching-hsiu from the cangue, and allowed him to go free. As one risen
from the dead, he gave himself up to the practice of perfection,
became a hermit, and, through the instruction of the Perfect Ones,
became one of the Eight Immortals.

Pa Hsien Kuo Hai

The phrase _Pa Hsien kuo hai_, 'the Eight Immortals crossing the sea,'
refers to the legend of an expedition made by these deities. Their
object was to behold the wondrous things of the sea not to be found
in the celestial sphere.

The usual mode of celestial locomotion--by taking a seat on a
cloud--was discarded at the suggestion of Lue Yen who recommended that
they should show the infinite variety of their talents by placing
things on the surface of the sea and stepping on them.

Li T'ieh-kuai threw down his crutch, and scudded rapidly over the
waves. Chung-li Ch'uean used his feather-fan, Chang Kuo his paper
mule, Lue Tung-pin his sword, Han Hsiang Tzu his flower-basket, Ho
Hsien Ku her lotus-flower, Lan Ts'ai-ho his musical instrument, and
Ts'ao Kuo-chiu his tablet of admission to Court. The popular pictures
often represent most of these articles changed into various kinds
of sea-monsters. The musical instrument was noticed by the son of
the Dragon-king of the Eastern Sea. This avaricious prince conceived
the idea of stealing the instrument and imprisoning its owner. The
Immortals thereupon declared war, the details of which are described at
length by the Chinese writers, the outcome being that the Dragon-king
was utterly defeated. After this the Eight Immortals continued their
submarine exploits for an indefinite time, encountering numberless
adventures; but here the author travels far into the fertile region
of romance, beyond the frontiers of our present province.

CHAPTER XII

The Guardian of the Gate of Heaven

Li, the Pagoda-bearer

In Buddhist temples there is to be seen a richly attired figure of
a man holding in his hand a model of a pagoda. He is Li, the Prime
Minister of Heaven and father of No-cha.

He was a general under the tyrant Chou and commander of Ch'en-t'ang
Kuan at the time when the bloody war was being waged which resulted
in the extinction of the Yin dynasty.

No-cha is one of the most frequently mentioned heroes in Chinese
romance; he is represented in o