Thousand-Year Phoenix

There was a rumor in Kingdom of Wu that the legendary Thousand-Year Phoenix had been spotted by farmers in the far reaches of the White-Cloud Mountains. This legendary creature was said to possess a beauty so unearthly that anyone who set eyes upon it would be blissfully happy for the rest of their lives. The peasants in the Kingdom speculated about this creature incessantly. Painters and musicians dreamt only of this mystical creature in their art, and soon even the King of Wu became fascinated by this creature.

The King of Wu decreed a large reward for the capture of this fabled bird. Finding this bird now seemed to guarantee both happiness and prosperity, and suddenly, even carpenters, scholars and other inexperienced explorers began to scour the White-Cloud Mountains for the Thousand-Year Phoenix.

Jian was a farm-boy of sixteen summers, and after days and days of listening to the talk of the villagers, he too decided to venture into the White-Cloud Mountains. The sheer cliffs of White-Cloud Mountains are unforgiving and offer no shelter from the harsh winds or the chilling moonlight. Even more experienced explorers have suffered brutal injuries in their attempts to scale the mountain.

Jian realized the futility of his hopes after trying to scale one of the gentler faces of the mountain, and as night fell, he took shelter under a withered tree whose identity could no longer be deciphered. It was the song of a lark that woke him as the light of dawn coursed down the cliffs. Jian took no notice of this lark as it trailed behind his feeble attempts to scale the mountain. And that night, Jian could not find even a withered tree to sleep under.

The lark woke him again the next morning, and Jian finally gently acknowledged the bird with these words: “Fly away lark. Your feathers are not gilded with fire. Your song is not infused with wonder. Fly away lark, for you are not what I seek.” But the lark did not take heed, and continued to follow Jian.

After seven days of traversing this inhospitable terrain, Jian knelt down exhausted and leaned against a boulder to rest. He had finally given up his hopes of finding the Thousand-Year Phoenix, but before he began to descend the mountain, he turned to the lark and said: “I do not live in an elegant manor, but the tiles on my roof will keep out the rain. I do not have peaches or nectarines, but my grains will never leave you hungry. There is no reason for you to follow me home, but I would like to go to sleep every night knowing that I will wake to your song every morning.”

And so the lark followed Jian home. Other villagers never gave up hope, and spent the rest of their lives searching for the Thousand-Year Phoenix. Ten years later, the King of Wu died without seeing this fabled creature. Jian, by this time, had saved enough money to buy his own land and start a nectarine orchard. And on this night, Jian tells the lark: “Ten years ago, I went to the White-Cloud Mountains in search of a happiness that doesn’t exist, and I came home with a happiness that has set me free.”