Meeting After a Thousand Miles
To tell the origin of "Meeting After a Thousand Miles," one must start with Qin Shi Huang driving mountains to fill the sea. That whip not only split countless mountains but also broke apart countless marriages. Egu and Balang were one such separated couple. Unable to find Balang, Egu refused to remarry, cut her hair, took her dowry chest, and went to Mount Emei to become a Taoist nun.
This article has been compiled from historical materials on 'Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network' (33519.com · Specialty Foods / Cuisine / Customs section). Prices, business hours, administrative divisions, and statistical data mentioned in the text may already be outdated. Before traveling, please refer to the latest announcements from merchants, scenic areas, and local competent authorities; the parts involving folk legends and folk customs are local historical and cultural anecdotes, provided for cultural reference.
Meeting After a Thousand Miles
To tell the origin of "Meeting After a Thousand Li," one must begin with Qin Shi Huang driving mountains to fill the sea. That one whip not only split apart millions of great mountains but also broke up countless mortal marriages. E Gu and Ba Lang were one couple that was torn apart. E Gu could not find Ba Lang and was unwilling to remarry, so she cut her hair, carried her dowry chest, and went up Mount Emei to become a Daoist nun.
Although E Gu became a Daoist nun, she still thought constantly of Ba Lang. Among the pilgrims from all directions, she finally learned that the other half of Mount Emei had been driven to the banks of the Li River and was called Zhangjiajie. E Gu was overjoyed and secretly slipped down the mountain, traveling a thousand li to find her husband. When thirsty, she drank clear spring water; when hungry, she begged a meal from household to household. After walking for three times nine months and nine days, she finally arrived below the Dragon-Phoenix Nunnery. E Gu inquired and learned that Zhangjiajie was just ahead.
Halfway up the slope, she encountered a local official in a sedan chair, surrounded by attendants. The moment the official laid eyes on E Gu's flower-like beauty, he was dazzled. His stare made E Gu blush all over, and she ducked her head and ran past the sedan. The official, enchanted, ordered his soldiers and sedan-bearers to chase her and bring her back to be his fortress wife. Sensing trouble, E Gu quickened her pace in a panic. As soon as she climbed to the "Two Boundaries" where Dragon-Phoenix Pass adjoins Wild Chicken Shop, she hurriedly hid the key to her dowry chest. Then she slipped onto a small forest path, hoping to shake off her pursuers. Just as she reached a small stream, she heard the clamor of the chasing soldiers. She hurriedly hid the dowry chest too, but before she had gone far, she was caught by the soldiers and sedan-bearers.
A soldier stepped forward to block her way and said: "Congratulations, congratulations! Chief Yang of Yang Family Stockade has taken a fancy to you and wants you to be his fortress wife! Hee hee! Get in the sedan?"
E Gu was startled. She glanced at the soldier and said: "Marriage is a great matter — how can it be done by waylaying and seizing someone on the road? My home is just ahead. Come with me to see my parents!" With that, she raised her head and strode past.
The soldier thought: this woman still observes propriety, so he went along with it and said, "Good, good, then we'll go find your father and ask for your hand!" The group walked to the Red Rock House by Xiangzi Stream, and indeed found a large house shaped like two hands pushing a cart. A pair of gray-haired old couple took Egū into the house. The soldier guessed: these must be the girl's parents. So he came straight to the point and told them that the chief of Yangjia Stockade wanted to take their daughter as his stockade mistress. Hearing this, the old man laughed heartily and nodded, saying, "Since the chief of Yangjia Stockade thinks highly of a girl from a poor family like mine, that is my daughter's good fortune. Please wait a moment, guests, and let us dress her up and make her presentable." With that, the two elders went inside and bolted the main door.
The soldier and the sedan-bearers waited outside for the time it takes to smoke a pipe, when the main door swung open. The white-bearded old man led out a bride veiled with a red embroidered kerchief and helped her into the sedan chair.
It turned out that Egū, seeing she could not escape, secretly prayed: "Earth God, Earth God, come quickly and help me!" The Earth God, seeing it was a Daoist nun seeking help, turned the Earth God's shrine into a large house shaped like two hands pushing a cart, and had the Earth God's wife disguise herself as Egū and get into the sedan chair with a kerchief over her head. Having escaped the predicament, Egū quickly bowed in gratitude to the Earth God. The Earth God said: "Go quickly and find your Balang! Ever since Qin Shi Huang split Mount Emei with a single whip, your Balang was conscripted to guard the frontier passes, and he even won merit and was promoted. But because he was displeased with the emperor's harsh taxes and extortion and spoke a few words of justice, he was sentenced to death. Balang fled back overnight and has been living in seclusion in Zhangjiajie, studying military texts day and night, determined to one day save the world and help the people. He is a man of benevolence and high ideals."
Egū thanked the Earth God and went to find her Balang. She climbed one peak after another, crossed one mountain stream after another, searching and calling. Balang, who was studying military texts in a rock house by the stream, heard the calls and followed the sound. "Balang... Balang..." That familiar voice—the closer she got, the dearer it sounded. At last he saw her: standing on a peak by the Golden Whip Stream, calling to him—wasn't that his beloved Ehù whom he had thought of day and night? Balang stretched out both hands and rushed eagerly toward her. The long-parted lovers were finally reunited in Zhangjiajie! The two embraced tightly. Egū told Balang that when she came, she had carried the dowry chest prepared for their wedding, but because she encountered bandits who tried to seize her for marriage, she had hidden the chest and the key. Thanks to the Earth God's rescue, they were able to reunite. Just as they were about to go together to thank their benefactor, suddenly a fierce wind arose and the mountains shook. The loose-haired Patriarch stood on a cloud and angrily rebuked: "Audacious Egū, you have abandoned your Daoist cultivation and eloped—what punishment do you deserve?"
Egū knew she had violated the Daoist rules and that the loose-haired Patriarch would not let her off lightly, so she sorrowfully threw herself toward Balang and said:
The key is kept at "Two Borders," the chest is kept at "Chest Rock,"
If only you find the golden key, the golden lock and silver lock will open together.
As soon as the words were spoken, the loose-haired Patriarch pointed his finger, and the husband and wife turned into a pair of rock figures. Later, people called this mountain "Meeting After a Thousand Li."