THE PEASANT EMPEROR

A week after the Chinese New Year in 1998, I interviewed the forty-eight-year-old Zeng Yinglong, a peasant who proclaimed himself emperor in 1985 and declared his hometown in Sichuan Province an independent kingdom. Zeng was charged with multiple counterrevolutionary crimes, including organizing and leading subversive activities against the local government and the government's one-child policy. Considering the fact that he was a truly uneducated and uninformed person, the court reduced his sentence from the death penalty to lifelong imprisonment. Zeng was then locked up inside a maximum security prison in the Daba Mountain in the northeastern part of Sichuan. Yet he was an optimist by nature, and abided by the prison rules. All the guards and fellow inmates liked him. They jokingly called him “Your Majesty.”

During the interview, I noticed that “The Heavenly Son,” as we Chinese used to refer to our real emperors, was getting bald on top, but his narrow eyes still shone with piercing arrogance. He was wearing a pair of old army shoes and a short blue jacket over his blue prison uniform. He rolled up his sleeves and talked nonstop for two hours, issuing one edict after another.

LIAO YIWU: Are you the well-known emperor that people talk about in this jail?

ZENG YINGLONG: You should address me as “Your Majesty.”

LIAO: OK. Your Majesty, when did you assume your role as an emperor?

ZENG: Your Majesty didn't want to be the emperor. It was his ten-thousand-strong subjects who crowned him. Let me tell you how it all got started: About ten years ago, a giant salamander climbed out of the river and hid inside a crack on a huge rock in the middle of the Wu River. The locals called the rock the “Guanyin Bodhisattva stone.” That mysterious salamander could talk like humans. Each night, many village folks could hear the lizard singing a ballad from inside the crack. The ballad went like this: “The fake dragon sinks, and the real dragon surfaces. On the south side of the river, peace and happiness reign.” Later on, the story of the singing lizard spread to hundreds of villages in the region. Even small children knew how to sing the ballad. A local feng shui master, whose name was Ma Xing, became really curious and wanted to trace its source. One night, he led a group of villagers to the bank of the Wu River and waited for the salamander to sing. The lizard did sing. Ma and other villagers jumped on a boat and followed the sound to the rock and saw the salamander. That lizard wasn't afraid of the crowd at all. Instead of gliding away, the salamander simply wagged its tail, as if waiting for people to come see him. Ma used a wooden stick to prod its mouth open. He pulled out a three-inch-long yellow silk ribbon. The ballad was written on the ribbon. With his face toward heaven, his eyes closed, Ma began chanting like a monk. Then, holding the yellow ribbon above his head, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times. After he stood up, he turned to his fellow villagers and said that he had just communicated with the spirit in heaven and had officially accepted some divine instructions from above.

Your Majesty didn't know anything about that legendary singing salamander. At that time, Your Majesty was on the run from the law. The government had implemented a very tough one-child policy. Local officials dished out very severe punishment to those planning to have a second child. They would go around the village with doctors and knock on doors, checking up on every household. If a woman was found to be pregnant with her second or third child, she would be sent to a clinic for an abortion and have to pay a heavy fine. Also, women of childbearing age had to be sterilized or have a loop installed in the womb. Your Majesty had two daughters, but very much wanted to have a son to carry on the family name. To escape punishment, Your Majesty joined other villagers and secretly moved with his pregnant wife to another province. Your Majesty ended up in the northwestern province of Xinjiang, where he worked on some odd jobs at a construction site. With gods' blessing, Your Majesty did have a son, who was named Yan-ze [meaning Continued Benevolence]. After the baby was born, Your Majesty took his wife and the newly born to Henan Province, where they settled in a city called Xinxiang.

You will probably ask me: How did this part of Your Majesty's life fit the story of the legendary singing salamander? Well, if you remember the ballad, it says “Zhen-sheng-long, or real dragon surfaces.” This sounds similar to my name “Zeng-ying-long.” Moreover, the ballad mentions that “South of the river, happiness and peace reign.” I was in Henan, which means “south of the river.” The city where I was staying was called Xinxiang, which means “newly established territories.”

A couple of days after his encounter with the salamander, Ma gathered together a group of my subjects. They walked hundreds of kilometers to Henan to meet with Your Majesty. The moment he saw Your Majesty, Ma took out a dragon robe and put it on Your Majesty. Then, Ma and his followers knelt down and chanted: “Ten thousand years to the Emperor.” Your Majesty couldn't turn his back on the will of his subjects. Neither could he disobey the will of heaven. Therefore, Your Majesty returned to his hometown as the people's emperor, established a new dynasty, and selected 1985 as Year One of his reign.

LIAO: What was the name of your dynasty?

ZENG: It was called Dayou.

LIAO: What does that mean?

ZENG: “Dayou” means “We share everything.” After Your Majesty was crowned, he promulgated the first imperial edict: “We farm the land together, share wealth, and can bear as many children as we wish.” The edict became wildly popular among my subjects.

LIAO: How large was Your Majesty's kingdom?

ZENG: Actually, Your Majesty only ruled three counties near the borders of Hunan, Guizhou, and Sichuan provinces.

LIAO: Allow me to be frank with you. According to the court document, you had reenacted an ancient story mentioned in the Records of the Grand Historian, written by the famous historian Sima Qian. Based on the tale in the Records of the Grand Historian, Chen Sheng, a peasant rebel in the Qin dynasty [221 bc–206 bc], attempted to rally public support against the emperor and justify his claim to the throne by inserting a yellow ribbon inside a fish. Then, the cook “accidentally” discovered the fish and the ribbon, which said “King Chen Sheng.” Everyone believed it was a message from the Heavenly God and they all joined Chen's uprising, which eventually led to the downfall of the Qin dynasty. Apparently, Ma Xing reenacted every detail. That needed a lot of elaborate planning. It is hard to believe that after two thousand years, the ancient trick still worked. Did the local villagers truly believe it was a manifestation from the Heavenly God?

ZENG: Shut up. That is awfully rude of you to talk to Your Majesty like that. Your Majesty knows that you are a journalist in disguise and have been sent from the hostile Kingdom of China. Your Majesty refutes all your slanderous remarks.

LIAO: I'm not a journalist. I'm merely an ordinary researcher and writer. If Your Majesty doesn't want to talk with me today, I don't think the opportunity will present itself again for you to tell people outside the jail about yourself, your subjects, and your kingdom. Based on my observations, you are a pretty smart guy, well versed in Chinese history, and harbor grand ambitions. You went a little too far with your ambitions, but it's understandable. You don't want to be a laughingstock for future generations, do you?

ZENG: Throughout history, it's common for a general or emperor to face defeat. What's there to laugh about? But can you promise to record faithfully what Your Majesty tells you?

LIAO: Yes, Your Majesty. I solemnly promise.

ZENG: Let's say the singing salamander part was taken from an ancient Chinese story. But the rest is true. Upon his return, Your Majesty immediately appointed Ma Xing as prime minister. According to Prime Minister Ma, the Dayou Kingdom, located in a remote mountainous region, was sparsely populated. My subjects were old-fashioned people, bound by thousands of years of ancestral tradition. The concept of big families with many male descendants was deeply rooted in the minds of my subjects. The family planning policy, promulgated by the Kingdom of China, triggered regionwide protests. Many married women had to run off to the mountain to hide in caves and live like barbarians. They would rather eat wild vegetables and drink stream water than go through forced abortion and sterilization. Prime Minister Ma recommended that Your Majesty should take advantage of that popular antigovernment sentiment. Ma urged all Your Majesty's staff to visit people at home and propagate the belief that giving birth to children is an inalienable right bestowed upon us by our ancestors. The more children we have, the better off we are. Raising children can be hard, but people in this kingdom are used to poverty and hard life. It won't make too much of a difference whether you raise one kid or seven or eight. Having one more kid means adding one more glimpse of hope to our kingdom. If anyone wants us to give up hope, we will fight with him to the very end.

After mobilizing the masses for over six months, Your Majesty had rallied enough support and laid a firm foundation for the Dayou Kingdom. Your Majesty issued a series of secret imperial edicts urging all of his subjects to exercise their right to big families. If any woman could give birth to more than ten children, Your Majesty would crown her with the title “The Royal Mother.”

During this time, a prestigious villager passed away. He had lived past one hundred. In my region, if a person can live to an advanced age, he is treated with great respect. When he dies, the funeral is a big deal. Many people will travel from afar to attend the funeral in the hope that some of the deceased's luck would rub off on them. As a large number of villagers were expected to attend this guy's funeral, we decided to use the occasion to officially proclaim the birth of the Dayou Kingdom. Prime Minister Ma, a feng shui master by trade, spent a lot of time and energy preparing for the funeral. For two days, Ma climbed hills and crossed rivers to scout out an auspicious site for the old man's grave. He finally located a spot pretty far away from the village. We had a wake with an open coffin for a whole week. Monks from a nearby temple were invited to chant sutras day and night. The abbot in the temple also helped select an auspicious date for burial.

Based on local traditions, on the day of burial, the coffin had to be lowered inside the grave before sunrise. In this way, the elder's spirit could be eternalized and rise with the sun. Under Ma's direction, the funeral procession, with the participation of several thousand mourners, started around midnight. A local brass band led the way. Since that old man was an ordinary peasant, his burial was not something for an emperor to attend. But Your Majesty had to humble himself and act like an ordinary villager. As the line of mourners proceeded up the narrow path wrapping around the mountain, the glittering lights of the fire torches carried by mourners mixed with the stars in the sky. From a distance, you couldn't tell the torches from the stars. At this juncture, Prime Minster Ma turned to me and knelt down. He said: Your Majesty, look at this grand spectacle. Heavenly God is on our side.

I agreed with him and beckoned him to move fast and catch up with the procession. The lead mourner, who was hired to howl and chant, had a truly resonating voice. He would howl a line, and people would respond with another. The echo of howling and chanting was so loud that the mountain seemed to be vibrating. “Go, go, do not tarry; Heaven's gate awaits the morn. You rest awhile and arise reborn. To beget a male child, and marry.”

LIAO: Interesting. The chanting about reincarnation even rhymed.

ZENG: The true reincarnation had not even manifested itself yet. Finally, we arrived at the burial site. When it was time to start the ceremony, Niu Daquan, who was my chief of staff, gathered ten of the royal guards from my kingdom. Together, they began to perform the sun dance ritual. As the beat of the drums quickened, many people couldn't resist and joined in the dancing. While the momentum was building up, Prime Minister Ma suddenly took off his shirt, and pulled the Dayou Kingdom dragon flag from a bag and waved it in his hand. He stomped his feet, and shook his head in ecstasy. He then took a handful of peas from his pocket, and scattered them into the sky, chanting, “Change, we need change.” People immediately crawled on the ground to pick up the peas, which were auspicious symbols of longer life. Suddenly, dark clouds rose from behind the hill, accompanied with loud thunder and lightning. Heavy rain poured down on us, as if Heavenly God had dispatched thousands of warlike soldiers to earth.

LIAO: You guys reenacted an episode from another ancient Chinese fable, “Scattering peas to summon troops.” In the fable, a general was cornered by enemy troops. He sought help from the Heavenly God, who instructed him to scatter thousands of peas into the air. After he did that, the sky turned dark. Amid a heavy thunderstorm, those peas suddenly turned into soldiers. According to court papers, you guys reenacted this fable to deceive those uneducated folks in your region. Your friend Ma Xing had checked the weather forecast beforehand and timed the burial ceremony to coincide with the arrival of the thunderstorm. Then, Ma began to scatter peas into the sky, as if the thunderstorm was the result of his magic. I have to commend you for the elaborate preparation.

ZENG: Don't interrupt, please. Please allow Your Majesty to continue. The crowd was stunned by the downpour and dashed for cover. Many knelt down in front of my prime minister, asking him to take back his magic power. Ma granted their plea. Half an hour later, the sky cleared up. After the mourners completed the burial and funeral ceremony, they followed Your Majesty down the mountain and joined the “Dayou Royal Army.” Soon, the story of Ma's magic power spread fast, and within two weeks, Your Majesty had recruited over ten thousand subjects.

LIAO: You are such a liar. Again, court papers say fewer than two thousand people had joined your troops.

ZENG: Your Majesty doesn't lie or joke with you. Following that amazing ceremony, Your Majesty led his troops and seized the county hospital. They stormed the building and kicked out the hospital administrator. Then, they went directly to the family planning department and dug out all the contraceptives. They piled them up outside the building and set them on fire. Your Majesty's heroic act could be comparable to the burning of opium in the nineteenth century by Lin Zexu, the famous Qing official who attempted to stop opium trafficking by the British colonialists. Thousands of people cheered us on. Your Majesty then converted the hospital building into his palace. With this accomplished, the prime minister, chief of staff, and other officials donned traditional official garb that they had made, gathered inside the royal palace, and bowed collectively to Your Majesty to show respect and offer their gratitude.

LIAO: I heard that Your Majesty possessed over forty concubines, and housed them in your various “royal chambers.”

ZENG: That was the doing of my prime minister and chief of staff. Initially, Your Majesty declined the offer, saying that the kingdom was still in its infancy and hard work lay ahead. How could he indulge in sexual pleasure while nothing had been accomplished for the kingdom? But members of the cabinet begged Your Majesty to reconsider. They argued: Throughout history, in every dynasty, the emperor owned concubines housed in various palaces. If traditions were not followed, rules would not be in order. If rules were not in order, Your Majesty would lose credibility. We appreciate your determination to serve your subjects first and not to indulge in sexual pleasures. However, you have to follow the royal tradition.

LIAO: Where did Your Majesty acquire those concubines?

ZENG: Every one of the nurses who used to work at the county hospital was selected and made my concubine. Several of my cabinet members recommended their daughters. However, Your Majesty was very busy handling the day-to-day court business. He seldom had time to shower love over the Queen, who had spent half of her life with Your Majesty, much less those concubines.

LIAO: Your Majesty's court seemed to be very corrupt. I can't believe court officials were willing to sacrifice their daughters so they could curry favor with you. I now understand why you chose the county hospital as your palace.

ZENG: Your Majesty attacked the hospital first because burning the evil contraceptives was an effective way to gain support from the villagers. But Your Majesty was a little too preoccupied with the hospital and neglected the threat posed by the county police. Later on, the Chinese army was summoned and they surrounded the royal palace. Your Majesty led his troops to fight back. But unfortunately Your Majesty was captured in the initial battle. My chief of staff, Niu Daquan, moved all the concubines to the back of the palace and ordered them to jump into a pond there. He told them to commit suicide and die as martyrs. The water in the pond was too shallow. Those women were pushed into the water, but they couldn't drown. So my chief of staff became desperate. He took out his sword and chopped the heads off of two concubines. He had really lost his mind. I guess the pain and sadness of losing the kingdom were too hard to swallow.

LIAO: I thought your chief of staff and your prime minister possessed the magic power to manipulate wind and rain. Why couldn't they scatter peas into the air and summon enough troops to fight the government troops?

ZENG: My prime minister straightened the dragon flag, and was planning to perform his magic when a bullet hit his stomach. He was a heroic guy. With a loud howl, he managed to stand up and move a few steps forward before plopping down to the ground.

LIAO: Your kingdom collapsed a little too fast, didn't you think?

ZENG: It was the will of heaven. Since my chief of staff killed two people, he was given the death penalty. Your Majesty and several cabinet members in the kingdom were charged with the crimes of overthrowing the Chinese government and were thrown into jail. But Your Majesty finds it hard to obey the Chinese law. Just think about it: Generations of Your Majesty's family were buried in his kingdom. If you trace Your Majesty's ancestral line, it goes all the way to the Song dynasty, over a thousand years ago. Don't you think Your Majesty should have the right to establish his kingdom there? His kingdom is poor because crops don't grow very well there. There was not enough manpower. If family planning were to succeed there, Your Majesty would be guilty in the eye of his ancestors for not doing the right thing. Moreover, Your Majesty wouldn't allow foreigners to go in there and carry out those brutal procedures on women in his kingdom.

LIAO: What do you mean by foreigners?

ZENG: Anyone living outside my kingdom is considered a foreigner.

LIAO: So, in your eyes, I'm also a foreigner.

ZENG: Correct. No matter how big or small the country is, they should treat one another as an equal. Each should send an ambassador and establish diplomatic relations. What do you think if officials from my country go to yours to implement a policy of “having as many babies as you want”? Would you accept it?

LIAO: Is this the reason for your repeated requests for appeal?

ZENG: Correct.

LIAO: Imagine if every Chinese were to follow Your Majesty's example, there would be millions of self-crowned emperors. You've been locked up in this jail for over ten years. How are the government and jail authorities treating you?

ZENG: Your Majesty is fairly knowledgeable about Chinese herbal medicine. The prison authority has assigned Your Majesty to take care of the prison clinic. In many ways, it's been a heavenly blessing. Your Majesty gets to read the newspapers every day, and has been informed of what's going on outside. The Dayou Kingdom was very backward and isolated. Your Majesty hopes to work hard while in jail and obtain a reduced sentence so he can go back to serve his subjects soon.

LIAO: Do you still want to be an emperor?

ZENG: Your Majesty has learned that poverty cannot sustain a kingdom. If he wants to eliminate poverty and become rich, he needs to learn about technology. In the past, Your Majesty diligently perused history books while neglecting the changes happening outside his home. Since he was put into jail, Your Majesty has widened the scope of reading. He has just been enrolled at a correspondence college.

LIAO: An emperor wants to go to college? That's quite refreshing. I heard that Your Majesty tried hard to get permission to attend this correspondence college. You wrote an “imperial edict” to prison officials. In your letter, you addressed the two prison officials in charge as “members of my royal cabinet.”

ZENG: It costs money to go to college. Your Majesty wrote that “edict” with the intent to commend the two prison officials for their good work. At the same time, he hoped to ask for financial help with tuition. Little did Your Majesty know that his well-intentioned letter was misunderstood. The officials came to his cell and scolded him harshly.

LIAO: Has the queen ever visited here?

ZENG: Your Majesty has already banished her from the royal family.

LIAO: So you two are divorced. Have your children changed their names?

ZENG: It's a long story. Your Majesty is in a sour mood now, and cannot continue.

LIAO: Here is my donation of fifty yuan [US$6.40]. I hope Your Majesty can get other sponsors to pay for your tuition. I wish you the best.