Jinwenxuan's engraving of "Strange Stories" written in the ninth year of Emperor Renguang of Ningwu states:
Fusang painter Qianxi lives in Tai'an and likes to paint carps. There is a lotus pond in front of the courtyard, where koi carp swim and play in the stream.
At that time, there was chaos in Zhengwude, vassal towns were separatist, wars were frequent, and monsters and monsters were acting against the Tao. The war is approaching in Tai'an, and all the neighbors in the street are fleeing. The koi fish in Duxi River are not leaving behind.
It was night, and there was a fire in the courtyard. Someone entered the fire to protect the stream, saying that he was a carp-like monster who wanted to take the life of the stream, but he was in love and couldn't bear to do it. At dawn the next day, the fire gradually subsided and no one was seen.
The stream began to feel like a dream, and I ran to the pond, only to see that the water in the pond was dry, the lotus leaves were all withered, and the carp in the pond was nowhere to be found.
From the beginning to the end, I didn't recognize the features, I just remembered the layers of lotus flowers on my lapel, their color was charming, like blood and tears.
Later, when a layman from Qingyan heard about it, he sighed and said: If the evil spirits are moved, they will fly into ashes. Like a moth that casts its ears into fire, it is not foolishness, but fate.
[Adapted from the song "Koi Chao".
Intention: