The Jade Side of Mount Tai

Many years ago, on the side of River Chaicao east of Mount Tai lived a young man named Liu Shuan. His father had passed away when he was a child, so he lived alone, cutting firewood for a living.

Often, he would look for wood to chop at the Gorge Dazhi. There, the mountain was deep, and the forest dense. There, there was plenty of wood to chop. In the gorge, an old mulberry tree towered over the other trees. It was extremely wide. This tree was peculiar: in spring, it blossomed particularly early; in autumn, its leaves fell very late. Every leaf was so green that it shone brightly. When he was too tired to chop wood, Liu Shuan loved to lean against the trunk of the old tree to rest.

One year, in spring, Liu Shuan was stretching out under the old mulberry tree when a flock of mountain ravens flew over him and landed on the tree. Crowing, they started to peck the mulberry’s leaves. Liu Shuan, with a sight, threw a rock at the flock to scare them away, but the rock hit one crow’s head. After an agonising caw, it fell into the deep water in the gorge. The rest of the flock flew away, crowing like a lament.

Liu Shuan, while getting the chopped wood ready, noticed a mulberry leaf flapping down and gently landing on his hand. He looked carefully and saw a silkworm on it. Liu Shuan thought it would have been a waste to throw it away, so he carefully placed it in between his clothes. Then, he collected the firewood and headed home.

When he took the leaf out again, he was surprised to notice that it did not wither nor turn yellow, but it was still soft and green. After a few days, the leaf was covered by silkworms, which Liu Shuan placed in a bamboo case. From that day on, when he was by the old mulberry tree, he would pull some leaves from the tree and tenderly take care of the silkworms on them.

They grew fast. Not even a month later, they had grown enough to cover a reed mat. Liu Shuan hoped all the silkworms would turn into cocoons soon so that he could sell them in exchange for new clothing.

One day, on his way home, Liu Shuan heard a flock of ravens crowing: they were flying above him to where his house was. Worried, he dropped the bundle of firewood he was carrying and ran home. When he got there, the front door was wide open, and the roof had been taken off by what seemed to be a strong wind. Only a bale of straw was left. He entered the wreck of his house and saw that not a single silkworm was left on the reed mat, only raven droppings were left instead. This hurt Liu Shuan, who fell to his knees and stared at the mat. After a while, he began to clean it, feeling grief-stricken. But, lifting the mat, he saw it. Alas, it was a big silkworm, hiding underneath the mat! He picked it up with a swift movement and it began to shake relentlessly like it was telling Liu Shuan what had happened. Liu Shuan, feeling cheered up, carefully placed the silkworm in a wicker basket, covering it with a mulberry leaf.

To Liu Shuan, it did not matter that only that single silkworm was left. So, every day, he brought more leaves from that big tree at the gorge. He looked after that silkworm with all his heart.

Not too long afterwards, the silkworm made a cocoon as white as snow and as big as a swan’s egg. When leaving the house, he would take it with him, placing it between his clothes. During the night, he would put it next to his pillow.

One night, Liu Shuan had just drifted off to sleep. Suddenly, he saw the cocoon flickering into the air, flying here and there, slowly turning into a white cloud. From the cloud, a candid maiden stepped out. Her clothes were as white as snow. With a soft smile on her lips, she stepped toward Liu Shuan and said:

“Liu Shuan! Why have you not spun this cocoon yet? Do not worry if it is the last one: from this single cocoon, you can make a great deal of silk and make many clothes.”

Liu Shuan tried to get up to approach her and reply, but, like a floating white cloud, she flew away. At that moment, he awoke puzzled and felt the pillow with his hand: the cocoon was still there. He could not sleep anymore, wondering whether the dream had been a good omen. I could try to do what she said. So, he got up and immersed the cocoon in a pot full of water. As soon as he put the pot on the fire, the cocoon grew bigger and bigger until, in the blink of an eye, it filled the pot completely.

Liu Shuan excitedly looked for a few pieces of wood to make a sewing machine and began to work. He took out the head of the thread, turned it and twined it. Soon, he had twined hundreds of balls of silk, but the cocoon in the pot did not give any sign of becoming smaller. He spun until dawn, but the cocoon was as big as when he had started. The following day, Liu Shuan did not go to the mountain to chop wood. Instead, he grabbed snow-white threads of silk and went to the city. There, he found a silk shop. The shopkeeper asked him how much money he wanted, but he replied, saying: “I do not want neither gold nor silver. Just make it into satin.” Liu Shuan went back with his new purchase, but he did not sell or keep it. He, instead, gave the satin to poor men without clothing.

From that day, he would spin the silkworm in the night and go to the city to exchange it for satin the next day. After a while, the shopkeeper thought that this was weird: how could a poor fellow who chops wood for a living like him have so much silk? So, he asked Liu Shuan, who claimed that the silk was spun by himself.

One day, the shopkeeper went to a group of well-dressed beggars from the River Chaicao to hear what Liu Shuan was hiding. Before the beggars, there was a large, rich mansion. He wondered if it was Liu Shuan’s house. They denied this. He kept asking every beggar he met on the hill up until dusk. Eventually, he saw an old, low, shabby hut. It must belong to Liu Shuan, he thought. The shopkeeper was baffled: that poor man possessed so much silk and got so much satin in return, but how could he still live in such a hovel? Where did he get all the silkworms from?

He quietly sneaked up to the window and stretched his neck to peek inside. There was Liu Shuan, busy spinning silk. The room was filled with a pile of snow-white silk threads. In the pot, there was only an enormous silkworm, which would not get smaller while Liu Shuan was spinning. As he saw the silkworm, the shopkeeper felt an itch in his heart. O my! He had this treasure since the beginning! If I can get my hands on that, I can become the world’s greatest silk seller! I’ll be rich forever!

With his whole heart, he wished to grasp this treasure. After a few hours, Liu Shuan got tired and stopped his work. He placed the silkworm by his pillow and fell asleep. The shopkeeper opened the window’s shutter and sneaked inside. He seized the silkworm and ran out. A few steps after the door, however, he ceased his run and thought: if I leave like this, sooner or later, he’ll know that it was me. I asked too many questions. I should silence his mouth. I should set this hovel on fire! He turned and saw the fireplace inside still alight. So, he grabbed a few pieces of firewood and placed them around the room. Soon, Liu Shuan’s house was on fire!

With his new treasure, the shopkeeper fled. However, running down the mountainside, all of a sudden, he could not move his legs anymore. He looked down: myriads of silkworms were spinning, creating a thick web entangling him. After a while, the shopkeeper was turned into a chrysalis. A flock of mountain birds came, and bite after bite, they ate the shopkeeper.

Locals saw that Liu Shuan’s house was on fire. They grabbed the satin clothes that Liu Shuan had made for them, ready to extinguish the fire. The roof was surrounded by thick clouds, on top of which the locals saw Liu Shuan and a white-dressed maiden spinning silk together. Many threads began to float towards the sky, gradually turning into a long ribbon. This jade-like white ribbon stretched around the mountain. From that day on, Mount Tai has a white-ribbon-like cloud that encircles it around halfway.

Later, people gave it a wonderful name: the Jade Side of Mount Tai.