The Mysterious “Kegu”

The one who sold “kegu” was Master Shen living in the south house of our courtyard.

He set his stall under the Bell and Drum Tower， backed by the big， upturned bell on the ground.

The upside-down bell was from the Ming Dynasty and was made of iron. It was said that at that time， Beijing was less crowded and less noisy， so this iron bell， even if it could not make a very loud sound， could be heard clearly by all the people in the city.

However， later on， the population in Beijing increased rapidly， and the city expanded a lot， so the sound from the iron bell seemed faint. This iron bell was replaced by a bronze bell. Perhaps in order to save time， the replaced bell was put upturned on the ground.

To see exactly what the difference between the sound of copper and iron bells is， Xiaoshanzi and I have done an experiment by sneaking into the bell tower and knocking on the copper bell. The sound of the bronze bell was indeed very loud and crisp， almost deafening to our ears， which were still buzzing after we climbed down from the bell tower. After that， when our ears went clear， we knocked on the upturned broken bell on the ground， but it didn’t make any sound.

We used to play near the bell and try to climb on top of it， but it was impossible without the help of a ladder or the shoulders of the grown-ups. The bell was as high as a house， with bird droppings falling on it throughout the years.

However， the strange thing was that the replaced bell was not put under the Bell Tower but under the Drum Tower， which puzzled me a lot. There was a long distance between the Bell Tower and the Drum Tower.

“It’s so strange！ Such a heavy and big thing！ Why not put it directly under the Bell Tower， but instead move it with great effort to the bottom of the wall of the Drum Tower？” I asked Master Shen when I was helping him sell his goods.

Master Shen leaned his body on the bell and said， “Buddy， you can really ask questions！ I’m just a ‘kegu’ maker， alright？ All I can tell you about is a toad jumping into a well — pok tong！” ‘Pok tong’ is the homophone of ‘bu dong，’ which means ‘I don’t know.’

I went to ask Mr. Tan， who also shook his head. So why the big bell was placed under the Drum Tower became an “unsolved” case.

“Kegu” was a kind of bird that Xiaoshanzi and I and the four brothers of Dashuizi had never seen， although， in the spring， we could always hear its loud chirping， sounding like ‘kegu kegu，’ echoing through the sky. We used to crane our necks and stare at the acacia， poplar， or elm trees inside and outside the courtyard， but we never saw it， even when our necks were sore， and we saw stars.

Mr. Tan said the birds chirping ‘cuckoo cuckoo’ in the spring were the cuckoos. And the cuckoo birds can be divided into single-tone cuckoos and four-tone cuckoos. We always called the four-tone cuckoos “guang gun hao ku，” for their sounds sounded so. “Guang gun hao ku” means “bachelors lead bitter lives” in Chinese.

So， was the “kegu” possibly a single-tone cuckoo？ After all， “kegu” and “cuckoo” sounded so similar.

I did not ask Master Shen， assuming it would be futile to ask him， who would still give me that same answer： a toad jumping into a well — pok tong！

A large slab of stone was in front of Master Shen’s house， which was used to pound the clay.

Adhesive clay was needed for Master Shen to make “kegu.” It is a kind of sticky， hard and brown clay buried in the loess， just like coal buried in stone.

In old Beijing， craftsmen only passed their skills on to family members. Perhaps because he had no children， Master Shen was not conservative and allowed me to observe while making the clay figures. I watched and helped him do some of the work I could do from time to time.

Under the guidance of Master Shen， I sifted the clay from the loess with a sieve and put it into a basin to soak in water.

After several days of soaking， the clay was soft. Then， it was my favorite task： sticking my feet into the basin and stomping the clay back and forth. The clay was sticky and slippery under my feet， and it burrowed around them like a fish， tickling them; sometimes， I was tickled and couldn’t help but laugh.

Over and over， dozens of times， I stomped on the mud. Feeling that the clay had lost its “texture，” I took it out of the basin as a ball， lifted it up， and smashed it against the big stone.

Master Shen saw it， and he hurriedly rushed over to me.

“Boy， stop it， stop it！ I’ll do it. I don’t need you to sprain your back.” With that， he took over the clay.

“The blacksmith is afraid of swinging the hammer， while the clay sculptor is afraid of pounding the clay.” Master Shen said， “Pounding clay is a grueling and dangerous task.”

Indeed， it was said that he sprained his back when pounding the clay， and now his back would hurt so much on rainy days that he couldn’t walk. Then there was no other way but to let Auntie Shen set up the stall. But Auntie Shen couldn’t do the math， so I went to help. Every time I assisted Auntie Shen in selling， she would buy me a treat — either the baked cake from Old Master Lv or the meat noodles from Er Hun Store， but every time I excused myself.

Master Shen lifted and slammed the clay on the stone bar， then kneaded the clay together， and repeated the lifting and slamming. After pounding the clay countless times， the clay would be “mature，” that is， it was well-worked.

The well-worked clay is very obedient as if it had been tamed. I squeezed it in my hand; it didn’t stick to my hand or fall apart. You could knead it into a ball or stretch it into a thread for as long and thin as you wished without breaking it.

With this， “kegu” could be made.

I bet that Master Shen had never seen the mysterious “kegu” either.

But this did not prevent him from making “kegu” one after another.

Each “kegu” was as big as a fist， with a long， thin body， looking more or less like a turtledove and a bit like a parrot.

Although Master Shen’s fingers were thick and hard like carrots， full of cracks and chapped， they were very dexterous when making “kegu.” He put the clay in the palm of his left hand and casually clenched it a few times; the body of “kegu” was then formed. While clutching the clay with his left hand， he rubbed the clay on his thighs with his right hand and came out with a round ball， which was the head of the “kegu.” He then rolled the clay a few times to make a long thin thread， which he put on the “kegu” body and wrapped around it to form the wings and feathers. He then took a bamboo knife and made a few cuts and scratches on the head of the “kegu” to bring out the nose and eyes. And then he used a brush to paint the figure with various colors. The “kegu” figure would come to life.

Watching Master Shen， I also followed the same steps， pinching， kneading， and rubbing， but I couldn’t form the shape of a “kegu” no matter how hard I tried. Whenever I crushed the shapeless clay into a ball， Master Shen would smile and say： “Don’t worry， one day you will become a clay sculptor， one that is a lot better than me！”

Under the Drum and Bell Tower

Jin Shaofan

21st Century Publishing Group

April 2023

30.00 （CNY）

Jin Shaofan

Jin Shaofan is a writer at the Beijing Laoshe Literature College and a scholar specializing in the study of Laoshe. His works have won the first Cao Wenxuan Children’s Literature Award， the first prize in the Zhouzhuang Cup National Children’s Literature Short Story Competition， and so on.