BIRTH OF LIU BEI

Stories and Folktales in Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Birth of Liu Bei

Dead from a Needle

Empty City Ruse

Learn Martial Art at Zhong Shan

Peach Garden Oath

The Three Visits

Three Brothers vs
Lu Bu

Xiahou Dun Loses an Eye

Zhang Fei Stops Cao Cao at Changban Bridge

Zhao Yun Rescues Liu Shan

It is said that when a noble man come to earth, there is often something unusual that happens. There is one about Liu Bei too, though it may not be believable, it is pretty interesting to hear. Anyway, Liu Bei's parents were very poor. And unlucky for them, there was a famine that lasted several years. So they had no choice but to leave their homeland and seek living some other place. However, they didn't know any people nor any place outside their hometown and they didn't know where to go. One day, they were walking on the road and heard a kid singing a song :
"If you want a place to live, then walk north quickly, when you see a cart on tree, when you meet a ox on roof, when you shoe weight 7 "jin" nine, that is where you will stay".
(jin is a measurement, like lb here.)

Now it really confused them, the song seemed to tell them where to go, so they wanted to ask. However, when they looked again, the kid disappeared, making them more surprised. When they thought about the song, they could not understand it. How can a ox be on the roof? How can a cart get on the tree? And what did he mean by shoe is seven jin nine? They thought they heard it wrong and did not pay much attention to it. Instead, they just keep on going.

They walked for a long time, and reached a village in the province of "Zhu". They were so tired they can't move one step now. That day, it was pouring and the wife was about to give birth to a child. Suddenly, they saw a ox run up on a hill, and there was a cave which people lived in underneath it. Then they also saw the tree next to the cave with a old weaving cart hang on one of its branches. Now they understood, that was what the kid meant, by cart on the tree, ox on the roof. The husband then looked at his shoes. Its had mud, water, and soil on it. When he took it in his hand, it definitely weight at least seven jin nine. Now the couple knew they have met a god which tell them to stay here. Just then, the owner of the cave came out and asked them why were they here. The owner took pity on them and said they can live in the cottage by the cave. The couple thanked him and went inside the cottage.

That night, the owner of the cave looked at the cottage, and it seemed like it is on fire, a bunch of red light. He quickly walked toward it and saw the cottage was just as good as usual with no sight of fire. Then he smelled a strange scent from the cottage and heard the crying of a child. So he knew a child was born. He also heard people talk about when a noble man was born, it was just like that, so he gave them rice and noodles and took care of them.

The couple were really grateful toward the owner. But they didn't want to just take someone else's food. When their son, which they named Liu Bei, was after a month old, his mother took him with her down to the farm to pick out some leftover crops. It was August then and the sun was just came out. How can a newborn baby with soft skin take the sunburn? His mother was so worried and then, she saw a tall tree with really heavy shade, so she just put Liu Bei in the shade and she herself went into the farmland.

In the eyes of poor, one leftover crop is like a piece of gold, so she spent the entire day in the field picking up crops until she realized her child is still under the tree. "My god, the shade changed direction, and my son is going to be burned to death." Shu hurried back quickly and saw the most strange thing. Even though the sun changed from eastern to the western portion of the sky, the shade stayed at the same place and the Liu Bei felt asleep under it. She picked her son up quickly and the shade then changed to the other side.

This Mulberry Tree is really unusual and because it is tall and a building, it is called "Lou Sang" (lou meant building, sang is mulberry) And the village changed its name to "Da Shu Lou Sang" (Tall building mulberry tree) until today.


Translated by Lucy (Empress Zhang)
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