Hakka Folktales (7)

[CHUNG Yoon-Ngan <chungyn@mozart.joinet.net.au>]

Hakka Folktales (7)

The Emperor with the Stinking Head

When Zhu Yuan-chang, who was the founder of the Ming Dynasty (1368AD to
1644AD) was young, he was very poor and herded sheep for people. He
suffered from seborrheic dermatitis on his head. Due to this inflammatory
skin disease his head smelled. He always boasted that he would become an
emperor when he grew up, so people nicknamed him the Stinking Emperor. 
   
People also said that he had an Emperor mouth because whatever he said
would come true. It was believed that when he crossed a river, the demons
in the bottom of the river supported him and so he could walk on the water
without sinking, like Jesus Christ. 

One day Zhu Yuan-chang's mother had a quarrel with her neighbour whose
surname was Wan (ten thousand). She threatened the Wan family by saying:
"In future, if my son were to become an emperor he will exterminate all
the Wans." Jade Emperor (Yu Huang Ta-Di) in heaven misunderstood these
words; he thought that if Zhu Yuan-chang would kill the people of the ten
thousand family names (Wan Xing), he would probably kill all human beings
on earth. In response, Jade Emperor ordered that Zhu Yuan-chang's destiny
as emperor should be taken away from him. 

The next time when Zhu Yuan-chang crossed a river, the demons did not
support him any more and so he could not water on the water.  Zhu
Yuan-chang asked the demons why they did not support him. The demons
answered that Jade Emperor feared that he, when became emperor, would kill
the people of the ten thousand family names.  Jade Emperor did not want
Zhu Yuan-chang to become emperor. The demons told him that there was an
alternative way for him to become emperor. They told him to go to sleep at
12 o'clock at midnight with some objects to cover up his mouth. So, when
he got up the next day, he still had an emperor's mouth and an emperor's
fate. 

Zhu Yuan-chang became an Emperor in the first month of 1368AD. 

CHUNG Yoon-Ngan. 

Source:
Studies In Hakka Folktales
by Wolfram Eberhard
Edited by Professor Lou Tsu-k'uang.