Explore Chapter 2 of 'Moment in Peking' with the original Chinese text, English translation, detailed Chinese vocabulary explanations, and audio of the Chinese original. Listen and improve your reading skills.
Soon, Mulan, Mochou, and Sister Shanhu began chatting with the driver. He was a friendly man and told them about the Boxers-their deeds and what they refrained from, how he conversed with them and what they discussed, as well as the war in Tianjin, Empress Dowager Cixi, Emperor Guangxu, the Crown Prince, and what conditions lay ahead on the road.
Entering the southern city from the northern part of Beijing, they saw the ruins and rubble of many burned houses. Heading west along the city wall, in that desolate, abandoned area, they spotted a crowd standing on an open plot. In the middle was a Boxers altar, covered with red cloth, with red candles on tin candlesticks. Several Chinese knelt before the altar, being interrogated on suspicion of being Christian converts.
The driver pointed out several Boxers girls and women to them. These individuals wore red jackets and red trousers, with bound feet peeking from beneath the red trouser legs. Their hair was braided into thick plaits coiled atop their heads. The male Boxers also wore red jackets, some with only a red panel covering the chest. The female members had wide belts around their waists, exuding a martial spirit. The driver told them these female Boxers were called "Red Lanterns" and "Black Lanterns." By day, they carried red fans with red-painted ribs; by night, they held red lanterns. "Red Lanterns" were young girls, while "Black Lanterns" were widows. Those with unbound feet had been recruited from among the boatwomen. Their leader, called the "Holy Mother," was originally a boatwoman on the Grain Transport Canal, but she had been invited into the governor's yamen in a yellow silk sedan chair. Some of these girls knew boxing, but most did not. They possessed magic powers and had to learn incantations. After brief practice, if they wished to ascend to heaven, they could fly up by waving their red fans. At the very least, they could climb walls, for the driver had seen them standing on rooftops.
Yes, he had seen it many times. They would first set up an altar, light candles, and chant incantations. Then, suddenly, their demeanor would change, and they would speak in a magical tongue. This was when a deity possessed them. Their eyes would glaze over, staring wide and round. They would then brandish broadswords, striking fiercely at their own bellies, yet their flesh remained unharmed.
The first three days of the journey were relatively easy and uneventful, apart from the intense heat and the severe jolting of the carriage. Everyone complained of leg pain. They set out early each day, covering ten li before breakfast, sometimes twenty li. They traveled most in the early morning and late afternoon, resting long at midday for both people and mules. Tiren and Feng Jiuye often got down and walked a li or so, as their legs grew numb and sore from being cramped. After the fourth day, their bodies seemed accustomed to the carriage's jolting.
Tiren was the most restless, switching carriages several times. Sometimes he wanted to sit with his mother, sometimes with the maidservant. His mother doted on him and allowed it without restraint. Yinping, three years older, always made him happy when they were together. He loved to chatter and tease Jin'er. When Jin'er could bear it no longer, she would go to Mrs. Yao's carriage to help care for the children.
On the fourth day, two days after leaving Zhuozhou, heading southeast on the main road to Baoding Prefecture, everything seemed to go awry. Rumors flew that the Eight-Nation Alliance had entered Beijing, and that scattered troops and Boxers were retreating south. Another rumor said that Governor-General General Yuhe had committed suicide, and the Gan Army was retreating southward.
There were occasional clashes between Boxers and soldiers, as the Boxers, armed only with swords and spears, suffered greatly. At the sound of gunfire, the Boxers would scatter. Neither the common people nor the government troops fully understood the nature of the Boxers. Among the soldiers, half said they should be exterminated, half disagreed. The Boxers won popular favor by burning churches and killing the despised foreigners. In the spring, the court had ordered their assimilation. Then, it commanded the troops to exterminate them. Now, it seemed the court was favoring them once more, even adopting their anti-foreign stance.
As more soldiers and Boxers dispersed southward, robbery increased. Refugees crowded the road-on foot, in carriages, on handcarts, on donkeys, on horses. Some farmers carried two baskets on a pole, with piglets in one and an infant in the other. The Yao family's carriages were far ahead of these stragglers, so the journey remained relatively safe. The women began to relax, and Tiren gradually settled down. Mr. Yao urged them to press forward with minimal rest, hoping to reach Dezhou before the chaotic troops caught up. He had torn up the passport issued by Prince Duan, as it was useless like waste paper. Moreover, it might cause trouble if encountered by Boxers or soldiers.
That afternoon, before sunset, they reached Renqiu, having rested only briefly at noon. After checking into the inn, Mr. Yao asked the innkeeper if there were government troops in the city. He was relieved to hear that Battalion Commander Xu of the Sixth Battalion of the Bordered Yellow Banner from Tianjin was stationed there to maintain order. The local Catholic church had been burned a month earlier, but after Battalion Commander Xu entered the city, he captured dozens of "Elder Brothers," beheaded them, and the rest fled to the countryside.
Another traveler with his family-two women and three children-arrived slightly later, bringing unsettling news. He had left Baoding Prefecture that morning, fleeing south to Renqiu because he heard Battalion Commander Xu could maintain peace there.
A wealthy official family was traveling to Baoding Prefecture. One of the women wore a gold bracelet. A group of scattered soldiers approached, saw the bracelet, and demanded it. When the woman hesitated, a soldier chopped off her arm, took the bracelet, and fled. Another unit of soldiers arrived, heard of the incident, and, seeing the bracelet in the hands of the former soldiers, chased them down and shot them dead. A few of the earlier soldiers escaped and hid in the sorghum fields by the road. When the soldiers who had robbed them passed by, they opened fire and killed them too.
The fellow travelers whispered about this event on the road. Mr. Yao listened silently. He told his family to eat dinner and go to bed immediately, forbidding the children and maidservants from leaving the room. They had only one room for twelve people, as the family refused to split up. The arrival of the other family made things worse. The room had only one kang, fifteen feet wide, so the maidservants had to sleep on the floor. Mr. Yao was not one to cling stubbornly to his rights in times of need. So he allowed the two women from the other family to sleep in their small inner room, while he, Feng Jiuye, Luo Dong, and the men from the other traveler's group slept in the outer room, which served as kitchen, parlor, and dining area.
For the moment, all was calm. A small oil lamp on the stove flickered beautifully and steadily. He took out his pipe and pondered. This was a rare peaceful night he had enjoyed in a long time. Later, recalling this evening, it seemed like a blissful paradise-his loved ones asleep in the other room, him smoking his pipe, with an oil lamp burning and swaying on the stove.
Nearing midnight, he thought he heard his wife cry out in her sleep, then rustling in the room. He picked up the oil lamp from the stove and looked through the doorway. Mrs. Yao, with the children beside her, had sat up and was gently patting Mulan's face and smoothing her hair.
"Did I? It gave me a fright. I dreamed Mulan was calling me from a distant valley. I shuddered and woke up. Luckily, it was just a dream." She looked at Mulan, then at the other children beside her.
On the morning of July 25th, Mr. Yao was awakened by noise in the room. He saw most people were already up and had washed their faces. The driver was at the door, saying it was cool after the rain. The sky was cloudy, looking overcast all day. It was only sixty li to Hejian Prefecture, an easy journey. Mules could easily cover a hundred li a day if not overloaded. For long distances pulling carriages, they could manage sixty li, at most seventy. One mule had stepped into a ditch, nearly kneeling and overturning the carriage, and seemed to have twisted a front leg. So today they would naturally travel slower.
After about fifteen li, the mule grew more agitated, stopping frequently, panting, its sides heaving. Mules have bodies like horses, heads like donkeys, strength like horses, and stubbornness like donkeys. The driver said the mule was ill. If they didn't slow down, it might die. He said, "Mules are like gentlemen. When sick, they lose their appetite and refuse to eat. This mule only sniffed the fodder this morning and nibbled a bit. How can it travel on an empty stomach? Isn't it just like a person?"
It took three hours to cover twenty li, reaching Xinzhong Post Station. Around one-thirty, they got down, hungry, for a meal. Xinzhong Post Station was an old relay station for official dispatches, where horses and men changed shifts. Urgent official documents from Hejian Prefecture to the capital, a hundred li away, could be delivered in twelve hours. Nearby was a stable with three or four horses tethered to trees.
After lunch, everyone rested under a cool pavilion. Mulan, Mochou, and Tiren wandered to the woods to look at the horses. Tiren got too close to one horse, which began kicking, frightening Mulan, who pulled Mochou away, running and crying. These relay horses were strong and powerful. Mr. Yao urgently called Tiren back.
Mr. Yao was quick-tempered. Mrs. Yao had already told him about last night's dream. In the dream, she remembered walking in a valley with a broad stream flowing through the middle and a forest on the other side. She was holding Mochou's hand. She felt she heard Mulan calling her. Suddenly she realized Mulan wasn't by her side, as if she hadn't seen her for days. At first, Mulan's voice seemed to come from the treetops. Turning into the gloomy forest, she found many paths blocked and was at a loss. Then she heard Mulan's call again, clear but weak, as if from across the stream. The voice said, "I'm here! I'm here!" The mother turned and saw the child's silhouette on the grass across the water, picking flowers. She saw no boat or bridge and wondered how the child had crossed. Leaving Mochou on the bank, she forged through the clear, rushing stream. Suddenly a surge rose, lifting her feet off the ground. She woke with a start, lying on the kang in the inn.
The lame mule was temporarily left at the station, to be retrieved by the driver later. Around three o'clock, they set off again, with the newly borrowed horse pulling the carriage carrying Shanhu and the sisters Mulan and Mochou. The horse kept charging ahead. The driver, unfamiliar with its habits, struggled to control it.
Nearing five o'clock, only twelve or thirteen li from Hejian City, they saw troops crossing the fields to their left in the distance. Mr. Yao said he wanted to sit in the front carriage, but the old road, worn down three or four feet below ground level, made passing impossible until they reached open flatland. Moreover, other refugees were within a hundred yards ahead and behind.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. The nearby fields were sorghum stands, forming green curtains ten feet high. They were in a low area and couldn't see where the soldiers were, only hearing voices drawing nearer. More shots followed. They couldn't turn back or know where to go, as soldiers seemed to approach from both front and rear. Reaching flat ground, they saw seven or eight fleeing soldiers cross the intersection, and troops in formation fifty yards to their left. All carriages halted. Mrs. Yao called to Shanhu to bring the sisters to her carriage.
Shanhu, with bound feet, found it difficult to get down from the carriage, but she complied. She stepped to the ground, reached out to Mochou, and carried her down. She brought Mochou to Mrs. Yao's carriage, intending to return for Mulan. This stop blocked traffic at the intersection, holding up refugees behind. The rear drivers cursed and shouted, creating chaos.
In the confusion, no one knew what had happened. The soldiers seemed eager only to flee, not intent on robbery. The Yao family, trapped between increasing traffic ahead and crowding behind, was truly stuck in the middle. Mules and horses scattered and ran. The tumult and dust were so thick you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Shanhu was hastily climbing into Mrs. Yao's carriage when several mounted soldiers galloped past her. Collecting herself, she realized Mulan was still alone in that carriage. She screamed, "Mulan!" Mulan's mother, without thinking, immediately tried to jump down. But in the blink of an eye, all carriages moved. All she could see was people, carriages, and horse hooves churning before her. Her own carriage surged forward. Once mules and horses broke into a run, shouting commands was as futile as yelling at a locomotive. There were a dozen carriages ahead. She desperately hoped one carried Mulan. Mr. Yao hardly knew Mulan was alone in the carriage. Since the soldiers hadn't stopped to rob, he thought the disaster had passed.
As several carriages raced forward, Mr. Yao focused on getting away from the soldiers as fast as possible, then checking for losses, assuming the whole family was heading in one direction. Mrs. Yao wished she could be in two places at once-to identify Mulan's carriage and driver ahead, and to slow down and check the rear carriages. But in reality, she was helpless. The road allowed only one-way traffic. She tried to jump down several times, but Shanhu held her back.
After seven or eight minutes of anxiety, the mules gradually slowed. Looking around, no soldiers were in sight. They were at least two li from the intersection. One carriage had fallen into a roadside ditch, the woman who fell nearly run over by following carriages. Another carriage approached. A passenger recognized someone and jumped down, but that carriage stopped in the middle of the road, blocking the Yao family's carriage. Feng Jiuye ran about inquiring. Mrs. Yao was nearly frantic. Shanhu and Qingxia cried continuously. Mrs. Yao pointed at the carriages still moving ahead, disappearing into the distance, shouting that Mulan's carriage might be among them. They must chase, not stay put.
Father, now aware of this terrible fact, had no time to ask why Mulan was alone. He seized a horse, untied it from a carriage, mounted, and galloped through the crowd, pursuing the refugees ahead. But it was a futile chase.
The maidservants got down to ask. Hearing the news, their faces turned pale, and they were speechless. Shanhu practically rolled out of the carriage. Why there were only three women and two children in that carriage in the past fifteen minutes, no one could explain. Mother held Mochou tightly, while Qingxia held the child. Mochou, initially too frightened to speak, now began to cry. Other refugees crowded past. Some stopped to look at the woman who had fallen. The woman seemed to be trying to free her mule-perhaps it had been shot in the leg-from the overturned carriage, no easy task. Others paused upon hearing about a teenage girl separated from her family. Some showed sympathy, others passed indifferently. Tiren said he had seen the relay horse on Mulan's carriage running with the soldiers to the right, but not clearly. If so, Mulan had left their road, probably following a group of soldiers. But what about the driver? He might drive to Hejian Prefecture, perhaps catching up or meeting on the road.
The driver was as clueless as those questioning him. His carriage had been swept to the right by the troops, then onto a right-hand road away from the soldiers. When he saw he was separated from the crowd, he got down to stop the horse. The horse was too strong. He couldn't hold the reins, and it ran forward.
One thing was certain: Mulan was still in the carriage. Also, the carriage wasn't heading to Hejian Prefecture, for the driver last saw it turn and disappear into the sorghum fields, going northward back. He believed the relay horse would find its way back to Xinzhong Post Station. Out of honest loyalty, he came to tell Mulan's parents.
Helpless, they waited a few hours until Mr. Yao returned on horseback. He had checked every carriage, circling and observing, even nearing Hejian Prefecture's city wall before giving up the search.
Mr. Yao thought the driver's idea plausible-the horse would seek its way back to Xinzhong Post Station. The sun was setting. Mr. Yao decided to take his carriage back to Xinzhong Post Station, with the driver to find his carriage and horse, and the father to search for his daughter. The others had to continue to Hejian Prefecture, as the city gates would soon close. The driver told them the name of the inn in Hejian Prefecture where they were to stay, and they would wait there for news.
Mulan's mother didn't sleep all night, weeping quietly. At dawn, she told Luo Dong and her brother to get up and go to the north gate to search for Mulan.
The next morning around nine o'clock, Mr. Yao returned. The horse and carriage had gone back, but there was no child. He had retraced his steps, searching around the intersection, finding nothing.
Shanhu consoled, "Mother, it is all the will of Heaven. Mortals cannot foresee the twists of fortune, whether good or ill. Don't grieve too much, lest it harm your health. This journey still has far to go. Our lives depend on you. If you stay healthy, our burdens lighten. We can't be certain Mulan is lost yet. We must keep searching everywhere. It's all my fault. I never should have left her alone in the carriage!"
Mrs. Yao forced back her sorrow and replied, "It's not your fault. It's my ill fate that brought this turmoil. I shouldn't have told you to bring them over. But who could have predicted such an accident? If Mulan has come to harm, if she's been abducted or sold..." She broke down weeping again.
Jin'er, who had been quietly leaning against the wall, suddenly burst into tears. She was fourteen, almost grown up with Mulan. She had taught Mulan all games, lullabies, and played with her since childhood. Mulan treated her like a real sister. Hearing "abducted," she thought of her own fate and her missing parents. She collapsed on the bed, crying endlessly. Seeing her cry, Tiren and Mochou cried too, filling the room with wails and chaos. Qingxia approached, pulled Jin'er up, and said, "Madam just stopped crying, and you start wailing, making the young master and Mochou cry. Stop it now."
Jin'er sat up, embarrassed, but rubbed her reddened eyes. Yinping, who never liked Jin'er, criticized her, "She's been sitting alone since this morning. Mochou didn't even comb her hair or wash her face. I had to help her dress later. They were so close, of course she's upset."
Jin'er sobbed, "I don't mean to cry either. I remembered Miss Mulan. When Madam mentioned abduction, I thought of myself. Oh, Mother! If you were alive, I wouldn't be bullied like this!"
Now the parents were gripped by imagined horrors-what might happen to a young, beautiful girl like Mulan if lost. This terror was worse than death. The uncertainty, the unshakable fear, the inability to guess her situation, and the slim hope of finding her in Hejian Prefecture or elsewhere paralyzed their minds.
Hejian Prefecture City had five thousand residents, located in the center of low-lying land, surrounded by a tributary of a great river flowing northeast to Tianjin. Thirty li east was Cangzhou, on the banks of the Grain Transport Canal. Forty li south was Dezhou, at the tip of this triangular area. It was almost equidistant north to Cangzhou and south to Hejian. Travel to Hejian Prefecture was by land, to Cangzhou by the Grain Transport Canal.
To search for Mulan, they posted missing person notices at inns, city gates, and roads leading to towns. They gave their inn address and offered a reward of two hundred taels of silver. The women stayed at the inn. Father, Feng Jiuye, the servant Luo Dong, and drivers, with the reward money, searched the city and surrounding countryside. Mulan's mother grew strong and resolute, silently wandering streets and alleys, even looking into rivers, searching day and night for her flesh and blood.
Mr. Yao rode horseback to search the countryside. Others went east to Shahe Bridge and west to Suning County.
The child might have fallen into the hands of child-trafficking bandits. This was eight or nine out of ten likely. Mulan would be worth a hundred taels, though no one dared say it. Feng Jiuye returned one day saying traffickers did business on the Grain Transport Canal with those boatwomen. Jin'er, herself once trafficked, said river trafficking was real and that the boatwoman had treated her well. In those years, the Grain Transport Canal was a vital route from Beijing to the south. The Green Gang dominated it with a well-organized system. After the Tianjin-Pukou Railway was built, the canal lost business, and the Green Gang merged with the Red Gang. On the Yangtze, they were called the Green Gang, later controlling thieves, opium dealers, and brothels in Shanghai's French Concession. They were known for abduction, kidnapping, and robbery, but also for generosity. Their leaders served as advisors to the municipal council, led flood and drought relief, and on their birthdays, high officials personally paid respects. This organization was a secret society for self-defense, mutual aid, and cooperation, ensuring livelihoods for lower-class unemployed, sharing fairly, being generous among themselves, and adhering to a code of honor. It originated from secret societies a thousand years ago. Heroes from popular fiction were their worshipped deities, along with loyal generals, chivalrous bandits who robbed the rich to aid the poor, and admired folk heroes.
The Boxers were also a secret organization, a branch of the White Lotus Sect. After the Ming fall, they aimed to overthrow the Qing. But historical circumstances turned them into a force supporting the Qing and exterminating foreigners, leading to international events.
Convinced Mulan was trafficked, after days of fruitless searching, the Yao family decided to look along the Grain Transport Canal. Feng Jiuye volunteered to go east to Cangzhou, a day's journey down the canal, stopping at towns and ferries for clues. The rest continued, agreeing to meet at Dezhou.
Only two things offered a glimmer of hope. On the third day, Mrs. Yao consulted a blind fortune-teller about the lost child. She gave Mulan's birth date and time by the heavenly stems and earthly branches. The fortune-teller said Mulan's Eight Characters indicated good fortune, with twin stars shining on her destiny. Thus, at age ten, she should face tribulation, but her good fate would turn misfortune to advantage. Moreover, her luck came early. Though not a high official's wife, she would never want for food or clothing. Asked if the child could be found, he said mysteriously, "A noble person will help." In short, because Mulan's Eight Characters were so favorable, he charged one silver dollar, but Mrs. Yao gave him two.
This lifted Mrs. Yao's spirits. She went to the City God Temple to burn incense. Strangely, throwing the divination blocks three times before the god, all results were auspicious.
That night, the mother dreamed the same dream as before. She clearly heard Mulan call, "I'm here, I'm here!" Then she saw her daughter picking flowers on the grass across a stream, with another girl she didn't recognize, never seen before. Mother called Mulan over. Mulan shouted from there, "Come to me! Our home is here. Where you are is wrong." Mother tried to find a ferry or bridge, but there was none. Then she seemed to walk safely on the water, drifting down, down, down the stream swiftly. She had forgotten her daughter. Passing towns, villages, pagodas on hilltops, as she neared a bridge, she saw an old man walking wearily on it. Looking closely, it was her husband. She also saw a young woman supporting him, and that woman was none other than Mulan. She called to them from the river, but they didn't seem to hear, walking on. Staring fixedly, she bumped into a bridge pillar, could no longer float, sank, and woke.