Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.34

v2.c10.34

*Qing Suo Gao Yi* by Liu Fu (11ᵗʰ century) was another typical collection of novels in the tradition of Tang Legends. It included records of miscellaneous events, weird events and legendary novels, of which the latter two are dominant. It clearly reflected the influence of Buddhism. There were *Record of Kind Cloud* reflecting a fantastic dreamland, *Record of Foreign Fish* which tells the story of the daughter of a dragon who payed a debt of gratitude with jewels, *Record of Becoming Ape*, *Record of Killing a Chicken*, and *Record of Killing a Cat* which narrated the story of paying the price for killing, *Cheng Shuo*, etc. *Record of a Benevolent Deer* described how when Emperor Chuyuan hunted in Yunmeng Lake and chased after a flock of deer, the Deer King ran to Emperor Chuyuan and argued with him, willing to supply one deer to Emperor Chu every day. The Emperor was moved and issued a ban on killing deer. The deer felt much indebted and gave the Emperor Chu support in war. Here, the author adopts the historic background of Wu State and Chu State contending for hegemony, and located the story of the “Deer King” in *Six Paramitas Sutra*.