He thought of the words of Confucius: "Don't become a fool while trying to be a great scholar."
"It is far worse," he reflected bitterly, "to be a fool while striving to be a good Emperor."
One morning, Tai Shan loomed up before them like an island floating in the sky. They quickened their pace and by evening they had reached its base.
At dawn the next morning, Ming Huang, attended only by Kao Li-shih and Li Po, set out on the Great Pan Road that leads to the top of the mountain. They wore the simple costumes of humble pilgrims. The people they encountered along the way were unaware that they were so close to the Emperor of China. All formality had been cast aside. In the road, at the steepest places, there were massive steps up which travelers for endless centuries had climbed, stamping stones steadily into dust. Among them had been explorers from far off Byzantium, Persia, Arabia, India and Japan, striving to understand the inner soul of China. Certainly an Empire so endowed with culture and wisdom, so abundantly supplied with the richness of life was worthy of profound study.
On the mountain-top, Ming Huang and his companion rested. Before them stretched a breath-taking panorama of mist and clouds and mountains. They spent hours in the temples. Later a kindly priest furnished them with tea.
Abstaining from all food, they passed the night near the Temple of the Green Halo Goddess, known also as
the Jade Girl, Princess of the Colored Clouds That
