High Level Magic

As written on page 83 of the rule book, The Celestial Empire has been written with Chinese fantasy and wǔxiá fiction in mind, neither of which feature exaggerated magical feats, at least not by the hands of mere mortals.

As a result, a GM who would like to run a campaign featuring powerful spell casters might be disappointed with the overall level of the spells presented in The Celestial Empire. This post will give some ideas to game masters who want “high level” magic.

The GM should procure the Chaosium monograph Basic Magic; this supplement contains a chapter called Divine Magic (p22), which describes a magic tradition much more powerful than The Celestial Empire's Battle Magic.

To remain in phase with The Celestial Empire's approach to magic, the Divine Magic from Basic Magic should only be available for campaigns set in China's mythical past, when Immortals would dabble in human affairs, or for really high-power campaigns in Imperial China centred on Chinese mythology rather than Chinese history or literature.

Here are a few ideas of who may cast which spells in a high power Celestial Empire campaign, targeted towards very powerful characters such as Tibetan reincarnate lamas, Daoist Celestial Immortals, or vampire-creating demonic sorcerers.

PC or NPC >> Suggested Spells from Basic Magic
Lama of Avalokiteshvara >> Spells provided by the ‘Sun God’ (p31)
Lama of Bhaisajyaguru >> Spells provided by the ‘Earth Goddess’ (p30)
Lama of Mañjushrī >> Spells provided by the ‘Moon Goddess’ (p31)
Lama of Samantabhadra >> Spells provided by the ‘Ruling Deity’ (p31)
Lama of compassionate Tārā >> Spells provided by the ‘Agricultural Goddess’ (p30)
Lama of wrathful Tārā >> Spells provided by the ‘Night Goddess’ (p31)
Daoist Celestial Immortal >> Spells provided by the ‘Storm God’ (p31)
Demonic Sorcerer >> Spells provided by the ‘Underworld God’ (p31)

the Shānhǎi Jīng (山海經)

This ancient (at least 2,200 years old) Chinese bestiary has been mentioned in yesterday's post as the epitome of the Chinese fear of the Mountains and the Seas. Literally translated, its title does indeed mean the Classic of the Mountains and Seas.

The book does not follow any plot. It simply describes various real and mythological locales along with their many fabled inhabitants, mostly monsters or people with strange customs. In this respect, it is very much similar to European mediaeval bestiaries. The Shānhǎi Jīng hasn't had much influence on Chinese fantasy or wǔxiá fiction; this is why I haven't used the creatures described in the Shānhǎi Jīng for The Celestial Empire. Some of them will appear in this blog over time, though.

A longer description of the book, containing some excerpts, may be found here.

The Shānhǎi Jīng is available in English in two editions:

• Birrell, Anne. 2000. The Classic of Mountains and Seas, Penguin
• Strassberg, Richard. 2002. A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways Through Mountains and Seas, University of California Press

Mountains and Seas

The Chinese have always hated the mountains and the seas. Chinese civilisation originated in the basin of the Yellow River (Huánghé 黃河), more exactly in the squarish area between the Yellow River and the river Wèi (渭河), which is located more than 1,000km from the nearest sea.



This squarish area is a natural plateau of fertile (if highly erodible) soil. Even if this plateau is high above sea level, there aren't any real mountains there. It is like a gigantic piece of upheaved plains.

Another early centre of Chinese civilisation was the upper basin of the river Huái (淮河), again a very flat area, and again far from any coastal area.



Over time, Chinese civilisation spread eastwards to Shāndōng (山東), and southwards to Sìchuān (四川) and to the river Yángzi (揚子江), as explained on page 19 of the rule book. However, the Hàn kept clear of the mountains and of the seas during this expansion phase. This explains why the vast majority of China's ethnic minorities are mountain dwellers.

Whereas Europe is dotted with old ports by the sea, and old cities situated on protective peaks, China's ancient cities are all plains cities, far from the sea. Shànghǎi, for instance, has really been created by the British and the French in the 19th century.

As befits a people who dislikes the mountains and the seas, the most famous Chinese bestiary is called the Shānhǎi Jīng (山海經), literally the Classic of the Mountains and Seas, because the mountains and the seas were expected to house a variety of monsters.

Chinese Jews

1. Origins and first traces

Jewish settlers from Persia are documented in China as early as the 7th or 8th century AD. Relatively isolated communities developed through the Táng and Sòng dynasties, most notably in Kāifēng 開封.
As with Buddhism, Islam, and Nestorianism, yet again a "Western" religion had travelled to China on the Silk Road.

The earliest hard evidence for the presence of Jews in China is from the 8th century:

• A business letter written in the Judaeo-Persian language by a Chinese Jew requesting the help of a fellow Jew to sell a lot of mediocre quality sheep. At the time, Jews resided in special enclaves that were set aside by the Chinese for foreigners in what was called the Western Regions (Xīyù 西域, roughly corresponding to Turkestan, Dzungaria, Sogdiana, and the Tarim Basin on the map on page 28 of The Celestial Empire)
• A page of Jewish prayers for the Day of Atonement (from Gānsù)

In the 9th century, an Arab writer mentions the Radanites, Jewish merchants travelling between Western Europe and China.

In the 10th century, another Arab writer mentions in his chronicles the killing in Canton in 878 of 120,000 Western merchants, among others Jewish, by the Huáng 黃 rebels.

In 1286, Marco Polo notices the prominence of Jewish traders in Dàdū 大都 [present-day Běijīng].

The Portuguese soldier of fortune Galeote Pereira, incarcerated in China from 1549 to 1561, notices that the Chinese legal system provides for "Moors, Gentiles and Jews" to be tried on equal terms with the Chinese.

2. Evolution

A living community

The 1489 Kāifēng stone monument states that the congregation began to build the first Kāifēng synagogue in 1163. It is also reported that in 1163 Ustad Lièwéi 列爲 was given charge of the religion (Ustad means teacher in Persian). The synagogue was completed by a study hall, a ritual bath, a communal kitchen, a kosher butchering facility, and a sukkah. Further steles were added in 1512 and in 1663.

The Kāifēng Jews produced a great number of written materials and books, up until the 18th century.

The Kāifēng Jews had several rabbi lineages

The Kāifēng Jews' creed was similar to any other Jewish community in the world

The Kāifēng Jews practised polygamy and Levirate marriage (the practice whereby a man must marry his sister-in-law if his older brother, her husband, dies without fathering children).

The Kāifēng Jews did not proselytise, but any Chinese woman who married a Jew had to convert to Judaism

Children received both a Chinese and a Jewish name

The community was known by their Hàn Chinese neighbours as adherents of Tiāojīnjiào (挑筋教), meaning, loosely, the religion which removes the sinew (a reference to Jewish dietary laws)

The Golden Age of Chinese Judaism

Under the Yuán, Jewish holidays were publicly recognised, along Muslim ones.

The Jews had the privilege of carrying a Chinese surname (which was usually forbidden for foreigners). This privilege had been granted in 1420 after a Jew had successfully thwarted a plot against the Míng. It is debated whather these seven Chinese surnames have or don't have a relationship with Jewish surnames. The seven surnames are: Ài (艾), Shí (石), Gāo (高), Jīn (金), Lǐ (李), Zhāng (張), and Zhào (趙).

Outcome: Assimilation

Usually, whenever an individual succeeded in the imperial examinations, he would be appointed in a province different from his own province. A Jew having passed the imperial examination would hence find himself completely isolated from his community. The result of this isolation would be assimilation, if not for him, at least for his children. It is known that many Jews passed the imperial examinations.

The use of a Chinese surname, the obligation under the Qīng to wear the pigtail as a sign of submission to the ruling Manchus, the adoption of the Chinese custom of foot binding on young girls-- all these customs led to assimilation into the Hàn (or sometimes Huí) community.

In 1500, the Míng enforced a ban on free travel within and without the Celestial Empire. This cut off the Chinese Jews from Jews in Central Asia.

The end of trade along the Silk Road impoverished Chinese Jews to the point that the very same Kāifēng community who had fiercely refused to sell their original Hebrew Bible to the Jesuits in 1723, sold it to Canadian Christian missionaries in 1850-51. It was also observed by a Chinese Protestant who was sent from Shànghǎi to visit Kāifēng Jewry in 1850 that they did not keep Sabbath, nor the commandment of circumcision.

The many rebellions that shook China during the 19th century also led many Jews into assimilation. The Tàipíng rebellion of 1850-64 was particularly decisive.

The role of Confucianism

One of the forces of assimilation was Confucianism. Jews had adopted some Confucianist customs such as burning incense, which they did in their synagogues.

The process of studying for the imperial examinations was time-consuming and costly; this secular education had an adverse effect on Jewish studies.

The 1489 Kāifēng stele explains that the fundamentals of Judaism and of Confucianism are the same.

Water Margin (Shuǐhǔ Zhuàn 水滸傳)

The Water Margin is a picaresque novel written under the Míng 明 but based on material from the Yuán 元. It tells the many adventures of the famous Shāndōng 山東-based “108 outlaws” of the Sòng 宋. The outline of the story and some of the characters have vague historical bases, but most of the stories-within-the-story present in the narrative of the novel are based on early popular tales.

The Water Margin is a much beloved novel, as are its characters, in all the Chinese sphere of influence in East Asia. It is also one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. The novel is remarkable for its many protagonists and for the way in which its early chapters appear as independent narrations centred on one given character, which slowly get intertwined as the main story unfolds. It is highly recommended that any GM of The Celestial Empire read the book to get a taste for the way the Chinese envision adventurous characters. Players are also advised to read the book to capture archetypes for Chinese heroes.

In the Chinese sphere of influence, the Water Margin has been rendered as film, TV series, comic books, children's books, video games, operas, radio shows... This is testimony to its immense popularity. Just as any Western kid recognises Robin Hood or Zorro, any East Asian kid recognises Shǐ Jìn 史進, Lǐ Kuí 李逵 or Wǔ Sōng 武松.

As mentioned above, the novel begins with what may appear as independent stories in their own right; however, all these stories end up with the protagonist being framed by a greedy official or an unscrupulous merchant and having to seek refuge in the shadow world of the Rivers and Lakes (Jiānghú 江湖, see page 9 of The Celestial Empire). Once the main characters have become outlaws, the main character of the Water Margin, Sòng Jiāng 宋江, a lowly magistrate's clerk, makes his appearance in Chapter 18. The interesting thing with Sòng Jiāng is that he is not strong (he's not a martial artist), he is not particularly bright (he's but a petty official), he is not heroic (he has fled because he has killed a woman); however he embodies yìqi 義氣 (see page 9 of The Celestial Empire) so well by his many actions that he attracts all the other outlaws until they form a sworn brotherhood of 108. This is the apex of the Shāndōng heroes. After several unsuccessful military assault against their stronghold, the Emperor must eventually grant them amnesty. The second part of the novel starts with the bandits now a fully-fledged military unit of the imperial army. Unfortunately, all their old foes conspire to have the Emperor send them quell revolts or fight nomad invaders, until only a handful of the original 108 outlaws are left alive.

The best English language version is probably Sidney Shapiro's Outlaws of the Marsh. For those who read French, I strongly recommend the superior French translation Au bord de l'eau by Jacques Dars.