The Ancient Cypress

by Nick Yee

Yung-Luo and Chang-Shan were born the same autumn to different families. Yung-Luo was born in a modest farmer's family. His parents died to yellow fever when he was 15. Yung-Luo took over his parents' rice patties and led a humble existence. The villagers did not think much of Yung-Luo. They felt he was a bit simple-minded because he was always smiling aimlessly. If he had a reason to be happy, he never told them what it was.

Chang-Shan was born to a merchant's family. He was told since he was an infant that true happiness could only be found in understanding the ancient texts. Chang-Shan was tutored in the poetry of the Tang dynasty, the philosophies of Lao-Tse and Confucius, the historical texts of the previous dynasties and everything in between. The villagers looked up to him, but a cloud of solemnity always shrouded Chang-Shan. If he had any reason to be unhappy, he never told then what it was.

Chang-Shan's father had a small library of dusty scrolls that he had concealed behind his bookshelf. It was when Chang-Shan turned 22, after his father had passed away, that he found the scrolls accidentally. The scrolls spoke of an Ancient Cypress that would grant eternal happiness to anyone who drank the tea made from its leaves; however, the scrolls contained only fragments of the poem that revealed its location. Undeterred, Chang-Shan set off on a journey to find the Ancient Cypress.

On the day he leaves the village, he notices a young cypress sapling in Yung-Luo's garden. The thought of the grandeur of the Ancient Cypress brings a condescending smile to his face; it gives him the motivation to begin his journey. In the following years as he traverses the land, Chang-Shan unravels the fragmented poem word by word. He searches through dusty tomes in forgotten libraries and deserted monasteries, and there he finds other descriptions of the Ancient Cypress. Some say the tea from the Ancient Cypress gives true meaning to one's life, that it completes a person's sense of self. Others say that it burns with an inner strength and courage as pure as light, and that the fire it bestows shines bright in the darkest of nights. One faded scroll says that even the highest mountains and deepest trenches can be crossed with a single drop of this tea.

After forty-eight years of sudden hopes, false leads, and inevitable disillusionment, Chang-Shan is ready to abandon his fruitless wandering when he stumbles upon the Ice Cavern. This is the Ice Cavern mentioned in the scrolls - found in the unlikeliest of places in the middle of a summer night. Chang-Shan enters the Ice Cavern and is staggered by the majestic beauty of the Ancient Cypress - its leaves of lush jade reflecting endlessly on the flawless ice walls. But the Ancient Cypress touches the skies, and not even ten men standing on top of each other can reach the lowest branches. Chang-Shan has finally found the Ancient Cypress, but he is forced to leave the Ice Cavern empty-handed.

In those same forty-eight years, Yung-Luo tended his garden. He watered the young cypress when it didn't rain. He sat under its shade to cool off from the sun. He marveled its resilience and accepted its fragility. He cherished the cypress because in the endless cycle of planting and harvests, the sturdy tree remained with him year after year. And together, they grew old.

But the villagers continued to hold Yung-Luo in disdain. To them, his happiness was too simple to be true happiness; it was too unrefined and earthy to be the fire of legends. And so, they waited year after year for Chang-Shan's return because they knew he would find the Ancient Cypress. They knew he would bring them eternal happiness.

But Chang-Shan, he never returned to the village.