This story is widely spread in Chinese folklore, telling people to cherish what they currently have and not to be too greedy.
A long time ago, Yu Huang Da DI (the Jade Emperor, 玉皇大帝) sent Ao Guang （敖广 ）to govern the East Sea.
The East Sea was only half its current size, and the vast ocean to the west belonged to the Dong Jing..
Ao Guang wanted to expand his territory, but there were boundary markers of Yu Huang Da Di in the North Sea to the north and the South Sea to the south.
The only boundary between the East Sea and the Dong Jing was not marked by a monument from Yu Huang Da Di.
Ao Guang plotted with the Seven-Whisker Long (Dragon) King to annex the Dong Jing.
Ao Guang sent precious treasures to King Miaozhuang and even gave his sixth daughter to the king as a concubine.
(Remarks: King Miaozhuang is the father of Guan Yin （观音 ）, the Goddess of Mercy in Buddhist legend.)
King Miaozhuang became obsessed with the Long (dragon) princess and neglected his duties, leading to the decline of the Dong Jing.
Ao Guang petitioned the Heavenly Court, requesting Yu Huang Da Di to destroy the Dong Jing.
Yu Huang Da Di agreed but was stopped by Lu Dong Bin （吕洞宾）.
Lu Dong Bin said it would wrong the good people in the Dong Jing （东京）.
Lu Dong Bin descended to Earth to check if there were any good people in the Eastern Capital.
Lu Dong Bin opened an “Unweighed Oil Shop,” where people could take as much oil as they wanted for just three copper coins.
Ge Hong bought a full bottle of oil with three copper coins and her mother asked her to return the excess.
Ge Hong returned the oil, and Lu Dong Bin gave her a gourd ladle, telling her to watch for blood on the stone lions.
The Seven-Whisker Long King killed a pig and poured its blood on the stone lions.
Ge Hong saw the bloody stone lions, which flew away, causing the city gate to collapse and the ground to sink.
Ge Hong and her mother escaped using the boat transformed from the gourd ladle.
The boat drifted to an ancient camphor tree where Lu Dong Bin was, and Ge Hong rescued him onto the boat.
Lu Dong Bin told Ge Hong to put household items on the ground, and amid the surrounding sea, only those places remained safe.
The gourd boat turned into Zhoushan Island, and where Ge Hong and her mother rested became Daishan Island.
After the waves subsided, the descendants of Ao Guang occupied various bays and holes in the Zhoushan Sea area.
King Miaozhuang lost the Dong Jing and was given Chongming Island to govern by Yu Huang Da Di, with the promise to return to the Dong Jing as king after two thousand years.
Thus, the following ballad spread: “Rise Chongming, reclaim the land of the Dong Jing, after another two thousand years!”
Last Updated on 2 months