How the River-God’s Wedding Was Broken Off

Long ago, in the age of the seven warring kingdoms, a man named Si-Men Bau was made governor of a district on the Yellow River. The people there worshipped the river-god with great awe.

The local sorcerers and witches told everyone, “Each year the river-god wants a bride chosen from among the people. If he does not get one, wind and rain will come at the wrong times, the harvest will fail, and the river will flood.”

Whenever a girl from a rich family came of age, the sorcerers would announce that she had been chosen. Her parents, desperate to save her, would pay them a lot of money to pick someone else. In the end the sorcerers would agree, make the rich families share the cost of buying a poor girl to be thrown into the river, and keep whatever money was left over for themselves. Any family that would not pay saw its daughter chosen as the river-god’s bride and forced to accept the sorcerers’ wedding gifts. The people of the district suffered bitterly under this custom.

When Si-Men took office and heard about it, he called the sorcerers in. “Be sure to tell me when the day of the river-god’s wedding comes,” he said. “I want to attend myself and honor the god. That will please him, and he will bless my people.” The sorcerers went away praising how devout he was.

When the day came, they sent word. Si-Men put on his ceremonial robes, climbed into his chariot, and drove to the river in a grand procession. The village elders were there, and all the sorcerers and witches, and crowds of men, women, and children from near and far who had come to watch. The sorcerers had seated the bride on a couch and decked her in wedding jewels. Drums boomed and cheerful music played. They were just about to push the couch into the water, and the girl’s parents were weeping their goodbyes, when Si-Men held up his hand.

“Not so fast!” he said. “I have come in person to see the bride off, so everything must be done properly. First someone must go to the river-god’s palace and tell him he may come and fetch his bride himself.” He looked at one of the witches. “You go.”

She hesitated, but he ordered his guards to seize her and throw her into the river.

About an hour passed. “That woman did not know her job,” said Si-Men, “or she would be back by now.” He turned to one of the sorcerers. “You go, and do it better.” The sorcerer went white with fear, but Si-Men had him seized and thrown in too.

Another half hour went by. Si-Men pretended to grow worried. “Both of them have bungled their errand and kept the bride waiting for nothing.” He looked at a third sorcerer. “Go and find them.”

But this sorcerer threw himself on the ground and begged for mercy. All the rest of the sorcerers and witches knelt in a row and pleaded with him too, and they swore they would stop seeking brides for the river-god. Then Si-Men stopped, sent the girl home to her family, and the cruel custom came to an end for good.

Where this story comes from

This legend is one of the historic tales in Richard Wilhelm’s The Chinese Fairy Book, translated into English by Frederick H. Martens (New York: Frederick A. Stokes, 1921). Wilhelm’s brief note identifies Si-Men Bau as a historical person and dates him to roughly five centuries before Christ. The tale is a literary account of his intervention, not independent evidence for every event it describes.

The governor never argues with the sorcerers about whether the river-god is real. He simply takes their own rules seriously, and the people who profited from the custom are the ones asked to carry the message. The fate of the witch and the sorcerer is told here plainly but without detail.

Read the original: The Chinese Fairy Book (Project Gutenberg)

Best for older readers with an adult — a girl faces human sacrifice, and the governor has two adults thrown into the river to their deaths.

Reading the story closely

The extortion depends on unequal vulnerability. Wealthy families can buy their daughters’ safety by transferring the danger to a poorer girl. Si-Men’s request for a messenger exposes the ritual specialists’ refusal to accept the risk they impose on others.

Map who pays, who profits and who faces death before and after the governor arrives. The bride is saved and the custom ends, but the governor also uses lethal force. Readers can recognize the value of stopping sacrifice while questioning his method. Propose a way to protect the girl and investigate the extortion without sending anyone into the river.

Questions to ask

• How did the sorcerers make money from the river-god’s “wedding”?
• What does Si-Men say he wants to do on the wedding day, and what does he really plan?
• Why do the sorcerers finally beg for mercy?

Related stories

• Sam-Chung and the Water Demon — a river demon who demands children each year
• How Three Heroes Came by Their Deaths Because of Two Peaches — another Wilhelm historic legend of a clever plan
• The Spirits of the Yellow River — more tales of the river’s gods