The Fu Family and the Carp
The Fu family of Zhangjiajie was originally surnamed Fu . Legend has it that during the Yongle era of the Ming dynasty, ancestor Fu Zongjie led troops with his wife through Dongting Lake toward western Hunan to suppress the "Wuling Man" rebels. One day, sudden fierce winds and waves nearly capsized their bamboo raft. An old boatman told Fu Zongjie, "Perhaps it's because you haven't sacrificed pigs and sheep to the Dongting water god?" Fu Zongjie replied with a poem.
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The Fu Family and the Carp
The Fu family of Zhangjiajie was originally surnamed Fu (pay).
According to legend, during the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, the Fu ancestor Fu Zongjie led troops with his wife through Dongting Lake toward western Hunan to suppress the "Wuling Man" barbarians. One day, they suddenly encountered strong winds and huge waves, and the bamboo raft was about to capsize. An old boatman said to Fu Zongjie, "I'm afraid it's because you haven't sacrificed pigs and sheep to the Dongting Water God?" Fu Zongjie replied with a poem:
Five generations of officials, each generation clean,
How could there be pigs and sheep to sacrifice to Dongting?
In all my life I've done no shameful deed,
Let wind blow and waves beat, let the waters swallow me."
Unexpectedly, having said this, the wind and waves grew even fiercer. At the critical moment, his wife quickly chimed in with a poem:
A pair of golden hairpins into the watery deep,
One for the pigs, and two for the sheep.
I urge you, sir, not to heed my husband's words,
Let gentle winds carry me across the Chu River.
Mrs. Fu dropped her golden hairpin, and the wind and waves indeed calmed, and the bamboo raft reached the shore safely. At that moment, a large carp was seen dead on the shore. The people cut open the fish and found a pair of golden hairpins in its belly. Fu Zongjie quickly ordered the carp to be released back into the lake, and burned incense and kowtowed, thanking the carp spirit for its protection and allowing them to escape. Later, a group of Fu soldiers stayed in the Tusi region to settle down. To commemorate the disaster on the Dongting bamboo raft, they added the 'bamboo' radical to the character 'Fu', and revered the carp as the deity worshipped by the Fu clan.