Jinting Han people

Chapter 12 Surname
Since becoming Chen Shou's apprentice, Liu Xian spent most of his time studying with Chen Shou in Mangshan.

Every day, when it was still dark outside, Liu Xian would hear the roosters crowing in the mansion and the streets outside the mansion would be opened. His mother Zhang Ximiao would pull him up in a daze, and he would quickly wash up, have breakfast, change his clothes, pick up his luggage, and set off on the ox cart.

The oxcart was, of course, driven by driver Zhu Fu. His driving skills were mediocre, and the road in the suburbs was bumpy and uneven. So, once Liu Xian got in, he was jolted around as soon as he left the city. His initial thoughts of a nap vanished with the turbulence. An hour later, Liu Xian, dazed and disoriented, finally arrived at the foot of Mang Mountain. He still had to walk along a thorny path to reach Chen Shou's thatched cottage.

At this time, the sky was mostly pale, and the outline of the rising sun was vague, like a pearl on the ice.

The long car journey, the bumpy ride, the waning sunrise, the gradually dwindling population, and the occasional tombstones in the mountains and forests—this is Liu Xian’s impression of his childhood enlightenment.

But Liu Xian had no aversion to this path. When he recalled this experience, he even felt a wonderful fate.

Normally, while a child's enlightenment is no small matter, it's not worth the fuss. Finding an old friend from the Shu Han Dynasty, who lived in a desolate mountain hut, wouldn't be much better than an ordinary village sage. It's just about teaching calligraphy and reading, so how much of a profound truth could a child possibly grasp? Yet, thanks to his mother's insistence, a man with no aspirations to be a teacher, despite risks Liu Xian couldn't yet comprehend, became the teacher who could answer his questions.

After being ridiculed that time, Liu Xian had accumulated more and more confusion: Who am I? Who are my ancestors? Who died before me? What drove my father mad? What made me be ridiculed? Why was I called the "Duke of Lost Country"?
These questions made him restless and forced him to take action.

At first, he listened silently among the adults. Whenever someone in the mansion was talking, he would quietly walk over and try to piece together some clues from the fragments of words, but unfortunately he got nothing.

Later, he heard from Xi An that every family usually has a book called "family tree" which records the inheritance of family history. So he searched for it frequently at home, but found nothing.

In the end, he had no choice but to sneak into his family's ancestral hall in the middle of the night and try to copy the names on the tablets as a clue to solving his mystery. Unfortunately, the family ancestral hall could only trace back to his grandfather Liu Chan. Among the names listed alongside or below Liu Chan, there was no "Zhang Fei" mentioned by Jia Mi, nor could he find his great-grandfather "Liu Bei".

The past was like a blank, a blank canvas, leaving Liu Xian standing still before a precipice of nothingness. Every possible solution seemed futile. But he understood that this absurd present, like the ghosts in his dreams, was the root cause of his fate. Liu Xian's desire for answers only grew stronger.

Through this apprenticeship, Liu Xian already had a premonition that he would get the answer.

This is indeed the case. On the first day of his formal enlightenment, Chen Shou solved an important puzzle for him.

To put it simply, children's enlightenment means learning to read and write. So Chen Shou got a sand table and wrote the four Chinese characters "Liu Xian" and "Bi Ji" on it. He showed them to Liu Xian and told him that these were his full name and nickname, and then explained the meaning of the two names to Liu Xian.

"Biji, your name is Xian. As the name suggests, it means you were born into a noble family, are extremely blessed, and are admired by everyone. Your parents gave you this name 'Xian' in the hope that you would be content and happy, and not feel sorry for yourself."

"Your nickname, Biji, was given to you by your mother. Bi means to go, and Ji represents illness. Biji Biji means your mother hopes that you will be free from illness and disaster, and live a smooth and peaceful life."

Liu Xian sat in front of the sand table, carefully examining the four characters before him. He closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then pointed at the character "Liu" and asked, "Teacher, you told me the meaning of the last three characters, but why didn't you tell me the first one?"

Chen Shou smiled slightly and said, "Liu is your surname, inherited from your ancestors. It allows you to distinguish between close and distant relatives. Legend has it that the earliest Liu descended from Liu Lei of Taotang during the Xia Dynasty two thousand years ago. He rode dragons for the Xia Emperor Kongjia, and so was given the surname Yulong. However, he was careless in riding the dragon, and later caused the death of a female dragon. Fearing punishment from Kongjia, Liu Lei fled to Lu County, Henan, and lived in seclusion, changing his surname to Liu. This is the origin of your Liu surname."

This was Liu Xian's first time hearing about the history of the Xia Dynasty, and also his first time hearing stories from two thousand years ago. He couldn't help but be fascinated. Liu Xian wondered, was what the teacher said true or false? Were there really dragons? How did his ancestors kill a female dragon? And how did the teacher know?

Chen Shou clearly saw his confusion and continued, "What I just said comes from either the Zuo Zhuan, the Qianfu Lun, or the Shiji. They are all well-documented. When you become more literate, I can lend them to you. But having said that, these records are so old that some distortions are inevitable. They are credible, but not completely trustworthy. As for you, you only need to remember the Three Ancestors and Five Clan Leaders of the Han Dynasty."

At this point, Chen Shou picked up a branch and wrote a long string of words on the sand table, reading them one by one to Liu Xian:

"Emperor Taizu Gao (Liu Bang), Emperor Shizu Guangwu (Liu Xiu), Emperor Liezu Zhaolie (Liu Bei), Emperor Taizong Xiaowen (Liu Heng), Emperor Shizong Xiaowu (Liu Che), Emperor Zhongzong Xiaoxuan (Liu Xun), Emperor Xianzong Xiaoming (Liu Zhuang), Emperor Suzong Xiaozhang (Liu Zhuang)."

"These eight individuals, with achievements surpassing those of the Three Sovereigns and virtues exceeding those of the Five Emperors, have established unprecedented achievements in this world. Even with the current fall of the Han Dynasty, their deeds are enough to glorify generations to come, and even the current emperor cannot help but take notice. This is why, as the heir of the Duke of Anle, you can inherit the dukedom even if you have lived a mediocre life."

Liu Xian's heart was already filled with turmoil. He stared at the words on the sand table, his eyes as if filled with lead, unable to move away. But Chen Shou continued to talk and explain:

"So you must remember that your surname is meaningless. It is only because it is inherited from your ancestors that their deeds bring meaning and glory to you."

Chen Shou paused, then pointed at Liu Bei and his entourage and said, "Especially your great-grandfather Liu Bei. He was indomitable, fighting across the nine provinces for decades before finally restoring his country in Xichuan. He was hailed as a hero by the world. As his direct descendant, you will be looked up to by the world. Accordingly, you should be mindful of your words and actions, and not bring discredit upon your ancestors."

This was Liu Xian's first real encounter with the deeds of his ancestors. Although Chen Shou didn't elaborate on the story that day, he undoubtedly opened a door, allowing him to glimpse the glorious path of the past from the blank cliff. This made Liu Xian ecstatic, and he couldn't help but ask before they parted in the evening:

"Where did you learn about these deeds of my ancestors, teacher?"

Chen Shou stroked his beard and smiled, "Of course it's from history books. When you know more words and sentences, I will naturally teach you."

But for some reason, after this day, the next history lecture seemed to be a long way off.

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(End of this chapter)