Shao Kang: The Returning King (Part 4)

 This is the next part in the story of Shao Kang: 

    “Do you need a break, your Majesty?” the servant asked. They had been on the road a good two hours. Thankfully, they had good weather for their journey.

“I think I’m ok for now. How about we do a bit more and then take a break. We can have a small snack,” the Queen said.

They were thankful for all the food they brought with them. It wasn’t much, but by eating only a little at a time, it was enough to last until they made it to the Queen’s family’s home. When they got close enough, the Queen sat down to rest while the servant went on ahead. The Queen was desperately in need of rest. 

Following the queen’s directions, the servant found the Queen’s family’s home and knocked on the door. 

“Hello, I am the Queen’s servant. The Queen is coming and is almost here. She is tired from the journey. Can you give me some food to bring her?” the servant asked.

“She’s here? I am her mom. How far off is she? She hasn’t been here in a long time. Give me a moment and I’ll get some food and go with you,” the lady said. It was the Queen’s mom.

The two ladies quickly went back to where the Queen was sitting. She was overjoyed to see her mom again and soon they were happily chatting away and catching up. The mother was also happy to hear that she would soon be a grandmother.

“What are we doing here, chatting? We need to get you back home and tell your father about all of this. Oh, he’ll be so happy to see you again…and to think that we’re going to be grandparents soon! How far along do you think you are?” her mom asked.

“My guess is another five months,” the Queen answered.

“Great, that means I’ll have enough time to make the little one a baby blanket and some clothes,” the Queen’s mother suggested. “We should get back to the house. I’ll carry your bags.”

“Your Majesty, I can carry the bags,” the servant said, grabbing the bags and walking with them back to their house.

The Queen’s father was so happy to see her. He soon started adding an extra part to their home so there would be room for both the Queen, the servant, and the coming baby. Until then, they slept on hay and blankets in the big room. It was crowded, but it worked and they were thankful for a safe place to stay.

The Queen was right: five months later the baby was born: a baby boy. They named him Shao Kang (pronounced “Shaow Kong”). The Queen’s mom was able to make a few blankets for the baby and the servant also made a blanket for him. The Queen was thankful to be back home again and to enjoy her mom’s good cooking. 

The Queen’s dad finished adding on to the house before the baby was born. One day he said, “Now that your little one is a boy, we’ve got to train to be the next King.”

“ ‘The next King?’ I’m not the Queen anymore; someone else took over the country. How can he be the next King?” the Queen asked.

“His dad was the King, right? In my eyes, this little one is the next King. As such, we’ll have to train him as best as we can to be the best king this country has ever had. He’ll be better than the kings before him and rule the people well. He’ll be humble, a good leader, generous, and someone who’ll fight for his people,” the Queen’s father said.

“Thank you,” the Queen said, overwhelmed and thankful.

“And you, my dear, you are still the Queen. In my eyes and around here, you are the Queen of this country, the mother Queen,” the Queen’s father said and gave her a hug. 

A few months after the baby was born the Queen talked with her servant about plans for the future.

“I wanted to thank you for all your help these past few months: in leaving the palace and going to my parents’ home, your help around the house and yard, and helping with Shao Kang. You have been such a big help. I wanted to let you know that if you wished to go back to your home town and your own family, feel free to go. You don’t have to be my servant anymore,” the Queen said.

“I want to stay, your Majesty,” the servant answered. I love working in the garden; it reminds me of growing up and helping around the yard. I’ve always loved gardening and have missed it these last few years working in the palace.”

“If you’re sure of it. I’m sure my parents would love another set of hands to work in the vegetable garden and orchards. There’s always lots to get done around here,” the Queen smiled.

An Old Fortress (reconstructed)

 I went with the kids on an organized outing with other people to a place about an hour drive away to a city with an old fortress. It reminded me a lot of Xi'an with the city walls. The city we went to had fortress walls that have been rebuilt recently. The original ones were built in the 1300-1400s (?) but largely destroyed recently because of recent wars. The outing was specifically in the evening to get the sunset and to see it all lit up at night. There was a big festival going on at the time. I'm not sure if it's regularly all lit up at night but they had special dance and cultural performances for the festival. There were lots of people; it doesn't look like it in the pictures because I waited until it was relatively not crowded to take the pictures (or between the crowds).

Hiking and the views (and cicada shells)

 We went hiking a few days ago. The trail was a bit tough in some places so they had ropes you could hold onto while you climbed up or down...the views were really good. It was so refreshing to be out in nature again. The kids had fun finding cicada shells along the way and we saw a few big praying mantises. 

Rice growing in a field close by

Cicada Shell

Ladybug Caterpillars and the riverside

 We went to a small park along the river close by. There's a long biking/walking trail that we went on. There were so many ladybug caterpillars and cocoons and some spiky caterpillars. 

Usually they make cocoons on leaves but we found some on a post!

This was a place for taking pictures by the river.

Language Learning and Food

 We are trying to learn the language here now that we've moved. I can almost read (slowly- but hope to improve!); they have a different alphabet than English. The kids also hope to learn the language and can say "Thank you," "Hello," and a few other phrases. It's frustrating not knowing the language! Yesterday we went out to eat and had a hard time ordering the food. I have food allergies so we were also trying to ask which things don't have meat. When I was pregnant with my 2nd kid years ago I had a hard time with meat (I would throw up) and had the same problem when I was pregnant with our 3rd child. After he was born, I tried to eat meat again but still felt yucky after eating meat. So I just gave up eating meat. However, it means that going out to eat as a family is often very difficult, no matter where we are. I've resolved to just bring my own food (normally a sandwich since it's fast) because most often I end up watching the kids and my husband eat food that I can't eat. Well, I could eat it, but I feel super yucky afterward. I also don't do eggs either- they really make me want to throw up. Yesterday, we ordered fried rice...but it came with lots of eggs (we didn't know it would) so I couldn't eat it either. It's just much easier for me to eat at home most of the time; which I don't mind. However, if we ever go to someone's house, I should try to learn how to explain that I have food problems in the local language so I won't offend them. Below is some of the food we got at the restaurant yesterday.  

Potstickers

Shao Kang: The Returning King (Part 3)

Here's the next part of the story of Shao Kang. 

“Do you need anything else?” the Queen’s servant asked.

“No, I’m ok. Is there any news of when the King’s coming back?” she asked.

“No, not that I know of. Are you sure you don’t need anything?” the servant asked. This servant had been working for the Queen for several years now. Although the Queen had many servants helping take care of her, this was her favorite servant. 

“Maybe a cup of tea,” the queen said.

“Of course, your Majesty,” the servant smiled.

It was already a few weeks after the king left and there was talk in the palace of the coming army. It was getting closer and closer. The Queen was trying to find out what she should do. If she stayed in the palace, she could get captured or killed by the incoming army.

Three days later news came: the King had died. He went out to meet one of the armies and died in the fight. Now the Queen had to decide what to do. 

“What will you do?” the servant asked.

“I have to leave, but I don’t know how. How close do you think the armies are?” the queen asked.

“They are close. Someone told me that they are almost at the city walls,” the servant answered.

“If they are at the city walls, then I’ve gotta leave. It’s not just my life I have to think of but my little one as well,” the Queen said.

“I might have a way. There are some dogs that keep digging holes under the walls. There might be a way through those holes,” the servant said.

“How do you know all of this?” the Queen asked.

“Last week I picked flowers in the garden for your room and that’s when I noticed the holes close to the walls. One in particular looked really deep, like it might go all the way under the wall,” the servant said.

“Well, do you think that hole is big enough for someone like me to go through?” the Queen asked.

“I don’t know but we can try,” the servant suggested.

“We have to. I don’t think we can get out any other way. By tonight or tomorrow they’ll be watching the city walls. We can’t chance it. We need to get packing; we’ll leave tomorrow morning after breakfast. Don’t tell anyone of this,” the queen said.

“Of course, your Majesty,” the servant said.

“We can start packing a few things now. Take my jewels and put them in a small bag. We can’t take much with us,” the Queen said.

“Where will you go?” the servant asked.

“To my parent’s house. I think it’ll take us three days to walk there. I’ve never walked there before because we’ve always had horses and horse carts take us. We’ll need to take food and water,” the Queen said.

“I’ll get started it on it right away,” the servant said.

“Remember, don’t tell anyone about it. When you get the food, just say it’s for the Queen and they shouldn’t ask any questions. We’ll need to eat breakfast a little earlier than normal. Actually, we should leave before it gets light in the morning. We’ll have to take food with us for breakfast,” the Queen said.

“Of course, your Majesty. I’ll go and tell the kitchen and then come back to help you pack,” the servant said.

“Don’t forget you need to pack a few things for yourself too,” the Queen said.

“Me? You want me to go with you, your Majesty?” the servant asked.

“Of course, that is if you are willing to go with me,” the Queen answered.

“Yes, I would love to,” the servant said. “I would rather serve you than be stuck here when that army comes in.”

The following morning the servant snuck in the kitchen and got some food for the Queen. She said the Queen had woken up a bit earlier than normal and wanted something small to eat before breakfast. No one asked any questions. They snuck out through the palace and to the garden, the wall where the dogs had dug the big hole. 

“Are you sure it’s big enough?” the Queen whispered.

“If it’s not, I can go get something to help dig and make it bigger,” the servant suggested.

Thankfully, they didn’t need to. The servant went first to make sure it was big enough. Once she went through, the Queen passed the bags through and then the Queen went through. They were well out of the city before most people woke up and before the incoming army got to the palace.

World War II at a Museum

 We were able to go to a museum a few days ago (me and the kids) and they had both a World War 1 part and a World War 11 part. They mentioned that birds were used in World War I if they suspected there was chemical warfare. If the bird died from the air around them, they knew the air was poisonous and the soldiers should wear protective gear. They also had a homemade flag on display that a Prisoner of War during World War I had made by hand out of an old sugar bag. They stained it to get the colors of the flag and would drape it over caskets of other POWs that died during the war...then they'd have to hide the flag so it wouldn't be taken away. 

An Unexpected Trip To Seattle

 There was a mix-up in our flights to Asia and we had 2-3 extra days in Seattle, so we went exploring a little. I was surprised at how many trees there were. The downtown part had lots of tall buildings, but not lots of people walking on the streets...probably because we were there in the mornings when most people were at work. We went to Pike Place Market, the Space Needle (my youngest really wanted to go there!), and walked around. One of the more interesting places of note that we went to was the "gum wall." In the 1990s a small theater opened and they had a rule that you couldn't chew gum inside. People who were chewing gum just stuck it on the walls outside the theater doors. The theater tried cleaning the gum off, but then more gum was put on the walls. Eventually, they gave up. Now it's a small tourist attraction in Pike Place Market. 

World War II History in Oregon

 In World War II two bombs were dropped by the Japanese close to where we live. Their goal was to start a forest fire in the forest close by, but their plan backfired because it had rained not long before they dropped the bombs. The trees and ground were all wet so the bombs didn't start any fires. There's a trail today where you can hike out to see where the bombs were dropped and we had wanted to go on this trail for the last 2 plus years but didn't get around to it...until yesterday. We went with some friends and drove about an hour on forest roads to get to the start of the trail. We were surprised to see redwoods out there; there aren't many redwood trees in Oregon. Redwoods are massive, really old trees that have "red" looking wood. Here are some pictures:

You can see how big the Redwood is compared to the trees around it.

This particular redwood was really big!

There was a fire up here a few years ago but the trees are starting to grow back (that's why this trunk is black- blackened from the fire).

On a side note, the man who flew the plane and dropped the bombs (Mr. Fujita) flew the plane from the top of a submarine. The plane was disassembled, put together on the top of the submarine, flown, and then disassembled again on the submarine to go inside the submarine so the submarine could submerge under water. Years after World War II had ended, Mr. Fujita came back to the area and gave his samurai sword to the city of Brookings as a goodwill (and reconciliation) gesture. The sword is permanently on display in the library in Brookings, with a write up and a model of the submarine ship. 

Shao Kang: The Returning King (Part 2)

Part 2: Leaving

This is the second part of the biography of Shao Kang. Enjoy! I'll post part 3 in a few weeks. We are leaving to move back to Asia in less than 3 weeks. We'll be going to the beach, swimming in the rivers here (we swam yesterday and today), and spending time with friends and family before we head out. I'll try to post some pictures once more before we move and later after we move.

“Tomorrow let’s go on another hunting party,” the King said to his friends. They were having a big feast and were talking about plans for the following day. The King invited his closest friends to stay at the palace for a long visit, a visit that was a month long already. Every day they were off somewhere and coming back to have a big feast.

“Sure, but this is my last one. I’ve gotta go back home soon,” one of his friends said.

“Yes, me too. It’s been a good month already and I need to get back to my family,” another one of his friends said.

“Ok. Well, we’ll make it a really good hunting party tomorrow, and then we’ll have a big feast,” the king said.

The following day they all left for a big hunt. The King loved hunting and spent more time hunting and feasting than taking care of the country. Many of the people didn’t like how he was leading the country and some had even talked about getting rid of him as king. Actually, he was one of a long line of kings who didn’t do their job well in taking care of the country. The first few kings of the Xia (pronounced “Sheea”) Dynasty were amazing, but over time the kings got lazy and spent most of the country’s money on themselves. This king, King Xiang (pronounced “Shee-aang”), was the same. 

The next day the group went on their hunting trip. They ate a really big, late breakfast, and then headed out for the forest. After a few hours they came back, boasting about how good they did that day.

“Let’s go again tomorrow. Imagine how big of a feast we can have with all that we hunted today!” the King said.

“No, I really need to get home,” one of the king’s friends said. One by one the other friends said something similar.

“Ok, ok, I get it. Just stay tonight because it’s late and leave in the early morning, after a big breakfast,” the king suggested.

Everyone agreed and the following day they all headed out. After a week the King asked for another group of his friends to come and stay. It was like this every year whenever the weather was nice. However, people in the country were getting more unhappy about how the country was being run. This made it easy for several of the smaller leaders to gather up their armies to rise against the king. 

Of course King Xiang knew all this was going on but he didn’t think anything would come of it. Instead, he kept on inviting his friends to come for months at a time to feast and go hunting. However, three of the leaders and their armies were getting closer to the capital. The King finally decided it was time to leave.

“I have to go. They are getting too close to the capital and I don’t have much of an army to fight them with anymore,” the King told the Queen.

“What will you do? How long will you go? How about our little one? Will he be born here or will we have to run away somewhere?” the queen asked. She was a few months pregnant with their first child. Most people didn’t know she was pregnant yet; they wanted to wait a few weeks before making it known. 

“I don’t think I have to go for a long time. It should just be a few weeks. I’m going to go with the army I have and see what is going on. We need to see who is coming against me and what kind of armies they have. I want you to stay here for now. I think it’ll be safer for you here,” the King said.

“If that’s what you think is best, then I’ll stay. Just come back soon,” the Queen said. The King left the following day. 

Shao Kang: The Returning King (Introduction)

 Last year I did a series of kids growing up in ancient China. It was something I had written before and decided to post on this blog, part by part. I've decided to do another series, this time a biography about Shao Kang. I've written a few biographies of Chinese people over the years and have really enjoyed researching and writing about them. Shao Kang was one of China's ancient kings. Here's a short description:

Shao Kang (pronounced “Shaow Kang”) was one of the legendary rulers of the Xia Dynasty (2070-1600 BC). His dad was killed just before he was born by Han Zhuo, the man who took over the country. Shao Kang’s mom escaped and made it to her parent’s home, where Shao Kang was born soon afterward. The boy grew up on the farm with his mom and grandparents. They taught and trained him as best as they could. When he was sixteen years old, Han Zhuo heard that he was alive and sent his two sons to find and get rid of him. Shao Kang left his family’s farm and lived in a tribe up North where he got married, started a family, and slowly gathered together an army. He soon fought Han Zhuo’s army and took back the country. Shao Kang proved to be a good ruler, one of the best rulers of the Xia Dynasty.

I'll post the first part soon. The whole book is available as a PDF here (on lulu.com) or here (on my Patreon account). (Note, the book has two names...I started out with Shao Kang: The King Who Came Back and then changed it to Shao Kang: The Returning King).

The Redwoods (and forest and river)

 We went up two rivers the last few days. Actually, there are 3 rivers close to where we live at the moment and numerous beaches so the last few weeks we've been swimming and exploring all 3 rivers. We have a few favorite swimming spots. We also went to the redwoods yesterday (a 30-40 minute drive away). We are so thankful and incredibly blessed to live in a place with so much beautiful nature close by. We will miss it when we move (sometime in the near future; we were supposed to move last month but are waiting on some paperwork..."Hurry up and wait" is what we hear often about it). 

"Fairy Cups" mushrooms. I had never seen them before; they are tiny!

More mushrooms 

The redwoods are so huge and tall.

The kids have loved swimming so much this summer and the rivers are very clean here.

The Beach and a Raft

 We've been going to the beach and river (s) a lot this last week so the kids can swim and hang out with their friends. The other day Jeremiah and his friends made a raft out of drift wood. It's at a place where the river meets the ocean so there's lots of driftwood. It floated and could hold 3-4 kids. It was very impressive and something he had wanted to do for a long time. (The green kayak in the picture was one our friends brought along and decided to put next to the raft for the time being). There were also lots of pelicans and seagulls (and a few turkey vultures). I've loved seeing so many different kinds of birds here. We also saw some small sandpiper birds by the river.

The County Fair

 It's the end of July already! We've been enjoying the summer: swimming at the river (mostly the kids- I often take a book to read or do some watercolor or chat with other moms if we go with other families...the water's too cold for me to swim!), spending time with friends and family, etc... Last week we entered some of our arts and crafts, baked goods, and flowers from the yard into the local county fair. It's the second year we've done this and we've enjoyed it so much! The people who organize the fair are so encouraging and say how great it is to see kids and young people doing arts and crafts and baking. Many kids nowadays spend so much time on video games and tv that they don't want to learn handicrafts. Anyway, the kids have loved entering items in the fair and getting prizes for them. This year the kids and I won first, second, and third place ribbons for our items, cash prizes, and gift cards. This picture is of some of the things we baked for it; the kids each baked a batch of cookies to enter. The picture below is of a rock collection my daughter put together. Earlier in the year she found some petrified wood and some other interesting rocks. 

Trip up to Washington state and back

 We had to do a last minute trip up to Washington state and back last weekend so we drove up the Oregon coast to get there. It was a trip I had wanted to do anyway because it's such a beautiful drive with lots of places to pull over for views. We also got to visit the Lewis and Clarke national park, where they re-created the winter fort they stayed in all those years ago in northwestern Oregon. We also got to visit a few lighthouses we hadn't seen before in Oregon.