Chapter Eighty-Nine: Innate and Acquired

Ghost-Faced Zhang’s curse had the intended effect. Kaleidoscope gave a shiver and let out two wry laughs. “Third Brother, I was just about to explain.”

As he spoke, he pointed at the three iron pipes entwined together like vines, their surfaces inlaid with gold and silver. “Look here: these three pipes are set apart in three different directions, namely northwest, northeast, and due south. And the patterns inlaid on each one are different, each carrying a different meaning.”

He glanced at us a couple of times as he finished.

I stepped up to the patterned iron pipes and examined them carefully. The pipe facing northwest was covered with all kinds of gold and silver ornamentation, and at its center sat a rusty whirlpool-like motif, encased in a bluish-green patina of bronze-like corrosion. Much of it could no longer be made out clearly. The pipe facing northeast was similarly decorated, but the emblem at its center was different: it resembled the character for “one,” though age had already weathered it somewhat. The final pipe, facing due south, had the same scattered ornamentation as the others, but its inlaid pattern was distinct. I could just about tell what it was: a form like the oracle-bone character for “water,” three wave-like strokes layered together, vivid and lifelike.

“What is this? All I can make out is that the pipe facing the north direction has a character for water on it,” I said after taking a look, turning to Kaleidoscope.

Kaleidoscope smiled and looked at Ghost-Faced Zhang and the Black Cloak as if asking whether they understood the meaning.

“Since it has a character for water on it, could this represent some kind of element?” the Black Cloak said uncertainly.

Ghost-Faced Zhang nodded, then looked again at Kaleidoscope, whose face was now full of smugness and thoroughly infuriating. “Hurry up and explain. I don’t have the patience to wait around.”

Kaleidoscope grinned teasingly. “Third Brother, come now. I was just about to say it.”

He cleared his throat. “Since my nephew has already seen that the pipe facing south is inscribed with something like the oracle-bone character for ‘water,’ I won’t waste time. As you can see, the pattern on the northwest pipe is a spiral, or a whirlpool, and that stands for wind. The pattern on the northeast pipe is a horizontal line, like the character for ‘one,’ and that stands for earth. Put together, that gives us northwest as wind, northeast as earth, and due south as water. The rest, I needn’t spell out, right?”

At that, I let out an “ah” and slapped my thigh, finally understanding. So these three pipes represented the Eight Trigrams.

The Eight Trigrams, a philosophical concept in Chinese Daoism, are a system of symbolic figures made up of three lines. Their profound principles are used to explain natural and social phenomena.

According to historical records, the trigrams originated from the River Diagram and the Luo Writing. They were invented by Fuxi, first among the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. It was said that at Mount Gua Platform in Tianshui, Fuxi first drew the trigrams, a single stroke opening heaven and earth. In Chinese culture, they serve, like yin and yang and the five elements, as a tool for deducing the relationships among things across space and time. Each trigram represents a certain thing: Qian stands for heaven, Kun for earth, Xun for wind, Zhen for thunder, Kan for water, Li for fire, Gen for mountain, and Dui for lake.

But then doubt rose again in my mind. That didn’t seem right. According to the arrangement of the trigrams, Xun, the Wind Trigram, should be in the northeast, yet these pipes were pointing northwest. And the trigram representing earth should correctly be in the due south position, but this pipe was facing northeast. As for the final Kan trigram, the Water Trigram, its proper position should be due east, yet here it had been shifted to due south. I found this utterly baffling. Then a thought flashed through my head: Kaleidoscope must have translated it wrong.

With a cold laugh, I said, “That’s not right, is it? If these are arranged according to the Eight Trigrams, the directions don’t match. Take another careful look.”

I expected that would knock Kaleidoscope flat, but to my complete surprise, a trace of contempt appeared on his face. With a faintly mocking expression, he gave me a sidelong glance and snorted. “Nephew, you know the surface but not the reason beneath it. You’d do better to consider when this place was built before drawing conclusions. Your Uncle Kaleidoscope doesn’t make mistakes over something like this. You youngsters should study more.”

He had barely finished before realizing his slip, and quickly turned to look at Ghost-Faced Zhang, who was about my age. Ghost-Faced Zhang was already staring at him darkly. Kaleidoscope hurriedly laughed it off. “Third Brother, Third Brother, I misspoke, I misspoke.”

I was furious too. What did he mean, knowing the surface but not the reason beneath it? Wasn’t he just saying my question was meaningless? He was certainly confident enough, and even when told he was wrong he refused to admit it. I gave a displeased snort. “Don’t be so absolute. Could I really mistake the positions of the trigrams?”

Kaleidoscope waved a hand. “Nephew, you’re talking about the arrangement of the Earlier Heaven Trigrams. What’s set here in this burial passage is the Later Heaven Trigrams. Do you understand now?”

My mind went foggy all over again. After a moment’s hesitation, I stammered, “La... Later Heaven Trigrams?”

Kaleidoscope smiled and waved his hand, then began explaining the origins of the Later Heaven and Earlier Heaven arrangements.

The Earlier Heaven Trigrams, also known as the Fuxi Trigrams, are said to have been created by Fuxi some seven thousand years ago, observing things in the world and taking their images. The sequence of the Earlier Heaven Trigrams is: Qian first, Dui second, Li third, Zhen fourth, Xun fifth, Kan sixth, Gen seventh, and Kun eighth. Their directions are due north, northwest, due west, southwest, northeast, due east, southeast, and due south.

The Later Heaven Trigrams, also known as the King Wen Trigrams, are said to have been created by King Wen of Zhou, Ji Chang, some three thousand years ago, based on Fuxi’s Earlier Heaven Trigrams. In the Later Heaven arrangement, Li is placed due north, and the sequence becomes: Kan first, Kun second, Zhen third, Xun fourth, Qian fifth, Dui sixth, Gen seventh, and Li eighth. Their directions also differ: due south, northeast, due west, northwest, southeast, due east, southwest, and due north.

Kaleidoscope’s explanation left me utterly dazed. Earlier Heaven, Later Heaven—it was almost like listening to scripture from the heavens. What surprised me even more was that Ghost-Faced Zhang, who should have erupted at once as the self-proclaimed illiterate, actually held his temper and let Kaleidoscope speak to the very end without interrupting him. When Kaleidoscope finished, Zhang was silent for a moment before taking a drag on his cigarette. “Finished? Then it’s time to talk about what this thing is for.”

Kaleidoscope nodded. “Third Brother, when you had us stand by there just now, you were banging on these pipes at random, weren’t you?”

Ghost-Faced Zhang froze, then after a pause slowly nodded. “So what?”

Kaleidoscope let out a long sigh. “Third Brother, you heard that annoying sound from the clay flute echoing through the passage just now, didn’t you? If I’m not mistaken, that flute sound was caused by you accidentally setting off a mechanism.”

Before Kaleidoscope could press the matter further, Ghost-Faced Zhang’s face darkened and he shot him a glare. “What, are you blaming me?”

Seeing the situation turn bad, Kaleidoscope quickly backed off. “How could I? How could I? If not for Third Brother smashing those three stone statues, we might all still be trapped here.”

“So how is this pipe supposed to be used now?” Ghost-Faced Zhang asked, still smoking.

Everyone fixed their eyes on Kaleidoscope. He picked up the three masks, turned them over, and pointed to the lines of numbers and symbols resembling a telephone code. He gave a long sigh. “You all know the ancient five notes and twelve pitch pipes, don’t you? This is a recorded score, and those telephone-number-like digits are the notation rules by which ancient music was preserved in the form of a secret score.”

The five notes are Gong, Shang, Jue, Zhi, and Yu. The twelve pitch pipes are an ancient musical term, a method of tuning in old times. Using the method of dividing and subtracting thirds, one octave is split into twelve slightly different semitones. The twelve pipes, from low to high, are Huangzhong, Dalu, Taicu, Jiazhong, Guxi, Zhonglu, Ruibin, Linzhong, Yize, Nanlu, Wuyi, and Yingzhong. For example, among China’s ten great masterpieces, the guqin piece Broad River Sands is in the Wuyi mode, while the guqin piece Three Refrains of the Yang Pass is in the Ruibin mode. It is a means of expressing different musical moods and artistic intentions.