魏征大唐宰相 · 16
Leaf 16 of the pilgrimage · 人曹官 Director of Human Affairs
Wei Zheng 魏征
In Journey to the West 西遊記 (c. 1592) · a heaven-sent power who ends the fight · nicknamed 人曹官 “Director of Human Affairs”
The minister who beheads a dragon king without leaving his chair, in the middle of a game of chess, while the emperor is losing on purpose.
The great deeds 大事記
- ch. 10
The Dragon Slain in a Dream
夢中斬龍He is summoned to play a board, falls asleep over it, and a dragon's head falls from the sky onto the steps outside.
- ch. 10
The Chess Game and the Axe
失棋The emperor keeps him at the board in order to stop the execution; the record says Wei Zheng won the game and the dragon lost his head anyway.
- ch. 10
Facing a Dead Man's Accusation
對質He is summoned downstairs to answer a dead man's accusation and does it in the manner of a man who has paperwork.
結局 The ending
He keeps his post at court, his reputation for remonstrating, and one impossible incident to his name. The novel uses him to make a point it never restates: the machinery of heaven and the machinery of the Tang court are the same office.
The book itself: why the monkey was pinned, which translation — The 500 years · The translations · The 81 trials