I haven't posted for the series: Kids in Ancient China in a long time. It's about time! There are 10 stories altogether and this is story #8. After I finish all 10 stories, I might write a few more (I enjoy writing these- it's great fun to get into Chinese history).
Xuanzong
Part 1
A few months ago my grandmother died. This was one of the big moments that changed my life for the good. I’m twenty-one years old and last year and this year have been the best years of my life. My dad came back last year and my uncle started ruling as emperor. Our whole family is different now than it was a year or two ago.
Before I continue, I should tell you about my life before this. I was born in 685 AD and my name is Li Longji. A year before I was born my uncle was going to become the emperor. Some people think that it would be great to be an emperor and rule over all of China. One of those people was my grandmother. She tried to rule through my uncle, but my uncle didn’t want to do what she said. So, a year later he was sent far away and was exiled (which is when someone has to leave their country). Actually, I don’t even think he was around when I was born!
After he left, my dad was made the emperor, but it didn’t last long. For the first 5 years of my life my dad was the emperor. My grandmother wanted to keep a watchful eye on my dad so she made a rule that none of us could leave the palace. The palace is a great place to live, but when you’re not allowed to leave, it becomes like a big jail. As a kid, I remember spending a lot of time in the gardens so that I could at least feel that I was outside. I loved it when my dad told me stories of “the outside.” My dad was a great story teller and his bedtime stories always made me laugh and smile.
I remember one story he told me in particular. It was about him and his brother, my uncle. He didn’t talk a lot about my uncle because it was so hard. Growing up, my dad and uncle were close and my dad really missed my uncle when he had to move away.
“Your uncle and I went for a walk in the hills close by. We knew there were a few apple trees and we had a contest to see who could fill up their basket full of apples first. We were supposed to meet back at the bottom of the hill by the fig tree. There was only one fig tree there and it was huge- it was our favorite tree to climb.
“It was hard finding apples because they were often high up in the tree, which meant that I either had to use a stick to hit the branches to get the apples down or I had to climb the tree to pick them. I decided to use a stick because it would be faster. I soon realized that my apples weren’t going to be the most pretty apples or the most delicious because when they fell from the tree, they got bruised up.
“Finally, my basket was full so I raced down the hill to the fig tree. My brother, your uncle, wasn’t there. I waited. Then I ate an apple while I waited to see how it tasted like (and because I was hungry!). I ate another apple. It seemed to be a long time so I started to wonder what happened. Was he done picking apples? Did he somehow fall off the tree if he climbed up to get them? Did something else happen to him?
“I started walking back to town and saw that the door was open in one of our friend’s home. I thought I’d stop to ask if they had seen my brother. I knocked on the door and then went in. Sure enough! Right there, was my own brother! He was at his friend’s house!”
“ ‘ What are you doing? We were having a race to see who could pick apples the fastest? Have you forgotten? I was getting worried about you! I ate 3 apples already- just waiting around for you!’ I said.
“ ‘Oh, I did pick apples. I picked 3 apples. Then I remembered that my friends here were going to make something sweet with the apples. So I decided to stop by and give them my 3 apples instead. They, in turn, gave me some of their sweet apple whatever this is.’ “ he said.
“I couldn’t believe it! I knew that my brother, your uncle, loves sweets, but this was too much! We were having a contest! We went home with only one basket full of apples- mine! However, I will have to say that the apple whatever it was, was really good! Our friend’s mom put cinnamon with the apples, which changed the flavor of the apples.”
