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Mori X
That girl your parents don't want you to become
Posts: 2532
Registered: Apr 2006 |
 Posted 06-23-08 11:16 PM IP   
Shortly after the fall of the Yuan Dynasty and the retreat of the Mongol hordes, it was apparent that Chinese rule would return to the once proud empire. While nobles scuffled amongst themselves for power (eventually resolving in the Ming Dynasty), the Mongols ravaged northern China upon their departure as they had on their encroachment; the monks barricaded themselves within the fortified walls of monastaries, and the villagers watched in mute terror as their men were slaughtered, homes burned, and women raped. Though the image of Shaolin monks as humble, righteous, and insconced in deep thought is not unfounded, what this pristine picture neglects is the hundreds of peasants required to produce enough food for a class of martial artists and deep thinkers, and it was here, in the shadow of a great Shaolin temple and from the embers of torched huts and tortured villages that Lee Fong, son of a Mongol warrior was born. The Fongs had grown rice beneath the temple for generations, and, it is said, the first Fong helped build the temple with his bare hands. Lee was raised fatherless by his mother Zhou and older sister Chin, and he was told by a village elder that a boy without a father would probably grow up to be a woman or at least a man with a malformed penis. The Fongs, who had once been well liked throughout the town, were regarded as freakish because Zhou had not bound Chin's feet, so that she could do farm work, and Lee was darker skinned and taller than the other boys. Each day, Lee was given a double portion of rice, Zhou was given a single portion, and Chin was given a half portion. Seeing his sister grow ever weaker, Lee took to syruppticiously refilling her bowl with his own rice, but Zhou discovered his trickery, and began forcing Chin to eat outside. Lee would often hear his mother beating Chin and cursing her for not being a son, and he would sometimes intervene. Because of this and because he was a filthy Mongol (at this time and place 'Mongol' was considered a foul mouthed insult) Zhou began to despise Lee as well, and she took to beating him alongside his sister. Lee and Chin grew ever closer, and would sneak out to go swimming in the river. Lee found he was quite talented, and would challenge local children to breath holding competitions and swim races, but the only one to ever defeat him was his beloved sister. When Lee was 14 and Chin 16, their relationship turned a corner. They had shared a sleeping mat on the floor their entire lives, and often swam naked, so the next logical step in their minds was romance. There's only so long you can keep such a scandalous secret in a one room farm house, and their mother caught them mid-coitus in the middle of the night. Zhou began hurling various household objects and screaming obscenities before grabbing the handle of a broken hoe and swinging wildly at them striking Chin so hard that she fell in to unconciousness; Lee tackled his mother in a blind rage and began striking her repeatedly, but it wasn't long before the commotion attracted the attention of the watchman who pried the flailing Lee off of his target and demanded order. A few moments later, violent chaos had subsided in to pensive silence, and Chin had awakened. The watchman demanded an explanation, and Zhou described what they had done. Though marriage to ones cousin was somewhat common, the union of brother and sister was utterly forbidden, and the watchman was scandalised. It was decided that the matter had to be brought before the village elder the next day, but, for the time being, they had to be seperated. Chin was to stay in the custody of her mother, and Lee was to be taken to the watchman's home for the night. The next day the two knelt in the town square before all of the villagers as the town elder rendered his verdict. Lee was a man and therefore needed to work on his father's farm, so he was to be given 30 lashes and returned home. Chin was a woman of marriageable age, and was to be bound to a stake in the town square for two days as punishment before being sent to another village to marry the Elder's grandson, and they were, of course, forbidden to speak to one another ever again. Lee watched helplessly as rope was wound around his beloved Chin's body, already bruised from an apparent beating earlier that morning, and the villagers passed by slapping her face, spitting at her, or hurling clots of mud. This image so distressed him that Lee barely felt the lashes falling rhythmically on his malnourished form, and the two stared tearfully in to one another's eyes silently praying that this wouldn't be their last meeting. After working in the rice field all day, Lee went to the river and felt the coolness of the water nurture his raw wounds. He dove down to the bottom and sat there meditating on his life with his sister so recent but so far in the distance like a builder contemplating a staircase to the moon. The thoughts were so painful and the water so peaceful that he forgot about breathing, and fell unconcious. A passing merchant saw the boy floating lifelessly in the water and rescued him, but though his life had been saved, the prolonged exposure to higher pressure and water in his ears had robbed Lee of his sense of hearing. For the two days Chin stood in the square, Lee watched her from shadows so as not to attract attention. One of the few villagers that could read and write had brushed 'Mongol Fucker' on her forehead, pieces of her hair fluttered idlely on the dirt beneath her from where they had been ripped or cut ouf of her scalp, her clothes had been torn to whithered immodest rags, and her hands were purple and wrists raw from their bonds. There was no name for the sorrow Lee felt; its depth was further than the deepest well and width more vast than the Mongol hordes, but the sorrow of seeing her tortured figure trussed and humiliated before him wasn't nearly as troubling as the knowledge that this may well be the last time he would ever see her. He watched with a despair unknown to the darkest dirges ever written. Once the two days had expired, Lee observed from a distance as they cut Chin free. She fell exhausted on to the worn dirt path, and began to speak. Lee blugeoned his temples, angry that his ears could no longer interpret her voice. She seemed to be begging for something, but the villagers had no mercy for her. They dragged Chin to her feet, presented her with a walking stick, a fresh set of clothes, and a small bundle which probably contained supplies for the journey, and sent the weary, defeated young woman on her way. His shattered reputation, ethnicity, and newfound disability made Lee the whipping boy for the entire village, and he often found himself being taunted. His mother was more cruel than ever, and even the river he'd loved so dearly was now implicated in his misery, for it had taken his ears from him. One day while sitting by the river's edge, a strange old man wandered from a nearby bamboo forest and sat by the obviously troubled boy. It didn't take the man long to learn he couldn't hear, but this seemed to inspire the man rather than discourage him. He got Lee's attention, and plucked a single praying mantis from the grass. He handed it to the troubled boy then pointed to the sides of the mantis' head before tapping each of Lee's useless ears. This was a moment of epiphany for Lee, and he placed the mantis on his shoulder. The old man stood to leave the boy in peace using a bamboo stick to ballance himself, but as he moved the stick, he saw Lee cower away from it. The man indicated that Lee should stand up, and he complied, rather confused. The old man then adopted a very strange stance, and indicated for Lee to mimic it; once this was done, the man performed a short maneauver, and Lee repeated it as best he could. This went on until the man was confident Lee could do the form correctly, and swung his staff very slowly at his new student who dropped the stance and cowered. The man gently shook his head and knelt in front of the mantis who had resettled in the grass. Lee knelt next to him as the old man picked up a small twig and jabbed at the mantis who calmly deflected it with its sinister looking front appendages. Lee understood and enthusiastically resumed his stance; the man lunged at him slowly with the staff, and the student repeated his form. Before very long, Zhou came to the river to find her son, and saw him, as she put it, "Screwing around with sticks and the mentally ill," This infuriated her and she insisted Lee return home. A short argument ensued between Zhou and the old man during which she was obviously very upset, but when it was over, Zhou walked away, and the old man gently indicated that Lee was to go with him in to the forest.
I think I'll leave it at that for now. I get carried away, but stories are awesome.
The belief that religion is a requirement of morality stinks of sociopathy...
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Aurora_Alighieri
Mr. Glows in the Dark
Posts: 2155
Registered: Apr 2006 |
Posted 06-24-08 03:54 AM IP
And this one is no exception! Fuck Yeah! I love story time!
~Dante~
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Mori X
That girl your parents don't want you to become
Posts: 2532
Registered: Apr 2006 |
Posted 06-24-08 11:37 AM IP
Thanks. Artists often pretend to have thick skin about rejection, but, really, those of us who habitually put our work out there for others to see want to be recognised and praised for what they've created. I don't think it's an ego thing...i think it's an exobitionist thing. Anyway, thanks for reading whatever nonsense i post, and giving me feedback; sometimes i need reassurance that at least someone actually wants to read what i spend hours crafting.
The belief that religion is a requirement of morality stinks of sociopathy...
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Eisenhorn
BACK ON TOPIC!!!!!
Posts: 4955
Registered: May 2006 |
Posted 06-24-08 12:16 PM IP
I hear that.
If a wood chuck could chuck wood.............would anyone care?
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The Oak Hollow :: Art & Entertainment :: The Dice Hall. :: The tale of the mantis.... |
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