The Story of Han Xin's Short Life and Its Feng Shui Cause

### The Story of Han Xin's Short Life and Its Feng Shui Cause

There is a legend that Han Xin’s father was a macaque. (Note: In many places, wolves are referred to as "macaques," and adults often use "the macaque is coming" to scare children into not crying.)

Han Xin’s maternal grandparents were wealthy landowners. His grandfather was a local squire who loved playing chess and was exceptionally skilled, never having lost a game. The family kept a macaque that was very clever. It would assist the squire by fetching his pipe and lighting it while he played chess, and it even tidied up the chessboard after the game.

One day, the squire was feeling restless and wanted to play a game of chess. He sent a servant to fetch his chess partner, but the partner was not at home, and the squire was left with his pieces set up but no opponent. The macaque, seeing the squire’s frustration, pointed to the squire and then to itself, suggesting that it could play. Amused, the squire agreed, thinking it would be fun. He asked the macaque, “What if you lose?” The macaque made a motion across its neck, indicating it would accept death. Surprised, the squire asked, “And if you win?” The macaque gestured towards the upstairs room where the squire’s daughter lived. Laughing, the squire said, “You want to marry my daughter?” The macaque nodded. The squire, still amused, agreed to play three games, with the condition that the macaque needed to win two out of three.

The squire played the first game carelessly and lost. Surprised, he took the second game seriously but lost again. Now, feeling nervous, the squire concentrated fully on the third game but still lost. Stunned and exhausted, he retired to his room to rest.

Not long after, the squire’s wife reported that the macaque had been seen going to their daughter’s room. Remembering the chess games, the squire became furious, grabbed his sword, and went after the macaque. Finding it descending from the room, he yelled, “You beast, what are you doing up there?” The macaque gestured to indicate the chess match. Enraged, the squire shouted, “You think you can marry my daughter?” and decapitated the macaque with his sword.

Unbeknownst to the squire, his daughter had indeed become pregnant. She wept for three days and nights, feeling she had no face to stay at home. As women at that time were taught to follow their husbands, she couldn’t remarry. She asked her father to send her far away to a village where she gave birth to a boy, naming him Han Xin, after her family name.

Han Xin was a bright child and excelled in his studies, but his classmates often taunted him for being fatherless, calling him a bastard. Fed up, he left school and worked as a shepherd for a wealthy family.

One day, he noticed a stranger from the south wandering around a hill suspiciously and approached him. The stranger, seeing Han Xin, asked for his help. “Can you hold this vine here? I will recite a spell on the other side of the hill to open it, and you need to insert this vine to keep it open.” Han Xin, curious and clever, asked, “Why do you need to open the hill?” The stranger hesitated but eventually confessed it was a feng shui site where burying ancestors could produce a great general. Han Xin agreed, and the stranger taught him the spell.

The stranger went behind the hill to recite the spell, and the hill indeed opened. But Han Xin did not insert the vine, causing the hill to close again. When the stranger returned, Han Xin lied, saying the hill never opened. The stranger didn’t believe him, so Han Xin suggested he be taught the spell and he would try himself. The stranger, thinking Han Xin was just a child, taught him the spell. Han Xin pretended to cast the spell, but the hill didn’t open. Convinced the spell was faulty, the stranger left.

That night, Han Xin asked his mother about his father’s death and bones. His mother only said he drowned and there were no bones. Persistently, Han Xin demanded the truth. His mother, distressed by his threats of suicide, finally revealed the truth about his father being the macaque and how he died. 

Han Xin took the bones and, with his mother, went to the hill. He asked his mother to hold the vine while he recited the spell. The hill opened, and Han Xin tricked his mother into entering with the bones, then let the hill close on her, completing the burial.

Han Xin rose to become a grand marshal, commanding an army of a million. However, he was executed at Weiyang Palace shortly after being crowned King of Qi, fulfilling the fate foretold by his evil act of causing his mother’s death, shortening his lifespan.