Mrs.Bai Jie
It was said that about 1,000 years ago，there were six kingdoms around Erhai Lake：Mengshe Zhao（Zhao means Kingdom here），Langqiong Zhao，Shilang Zhao，Tengdan Zhao，Yuexi Zhao，and Mengsong Zhao，which were the famous six kingdoms in history.These six kingdoms，to put it further，were still the descendants of the same ancestor.Among them，Mengshe Zhao was the strongest one，which was also called Nanzhao（“nan”means the south in Chinese）because it was located in the south to the other five kingdoms.
The king of Nanzhao was Piluoge，who was sinister，diabolical and ambitious.With his strong power，he had kept trying to annex the other five kingdoms.
One day，he called up his civil servants and military commanders and plotted to annex the other five kingdoms.The officials wanted to show their abilities in front of him and offered different suggestions.Some advocated annexation by force，some advocated persuasion and submission，and some approved the fair means before resorting to force.But none of these suggestions followed the king's wishes.The king of Nanzhao had already come up with a plan.He said to them，“Your ideas are not bad，but sending troops to fight and sending envoys to lobby will waste our people and money.I have one tactic to annex the five kingdoms without moving our legs or our mouths or losing a single soldier.”
After writing down the big word“fire”in his palm，he told his officials his plan.All of them praised highly for his masterful plan.
The king was incredibly proud！On the same day，he issued an order saying that on the 24th of June，a grand ceremony of six kingdoms to worship ancestors would be held in Mengshechuan.He ordered his men to call in many artisans and let them start to build a pine tower，which should be completed within a time limit.
Who dared to defy the king's orders？The artisans worked day and night to build the tower.The Pine Tower was completed a few days before the ceremony.The king of Nanzhao was delighted and immediately sent five envoys to invite other five kings to attend the ceremony.
After receiving the invitation，the five kings all set out to Nanzhao Kingdom.Among the five kingdoms，Tengdan and Nanzhao were far away from each other.Piluoteng，the king of Tengdan kingdom，was loyal，honest，brave and strong.His wife，the Charity Lady，was beautiful and intelligent.This couple always showed consideration to each other and respected each other as guests.
Before leaving，Piluoteng discussed the event with his wife.
The Charity Lady dissuaded his husband's departure：
“In my view，the king of Nanzhao had the intention to annex the five kingdoms.It's maybe a plot for inviting you to attend the ancestor worshipping ceremony.As the saying goes，‘Habour no ill intention against others，but never relax vigilance against evil-doers.’Piluoge is very sinister，so I think you'd better not go there.”
Piluoteng said：
“What you said is quite reasonable，but I'm the king of a country.Our ancestors have said，‘The important things for a country are sacrifices and fightings.’How can I avoid attending such a grand ceremony for ancestors？Please stop persuading me.”
The Charity Lady said，“My king，You'd better not go.Piluoge can do anything evil，in case...”
Piluoteng interrupted her，“Although Piluoge is treacherous，all the other five kings will attend this gathering.I'm sure he dares not to do any bad things.I've made up my mind.Madam，don't mention it anymore，please.”
Knowing that her husband was determined to go，the Charity Lady took out an iron bracelet，and put it on his wrist and sent him off.
On the 24th of June，the five kings all gathered on the upper floor of the Pine Tower.Then Piluoge appeared.He presided over the ancestor worshipping ceremony.In the end，he also hosted a banquet to serve the other five kings in Pine Tower.Until late at night，all five kings were drunk.Piluoge went downstairs alone，pretended to burn paper money，and lit a fire around the tower.As soon as the pine caught fire，it started to burn.In a short time，the whole building collapsed.The five kings and their entourage were all buried in the flames.
After the five kings were burned to death，the insidious Piluoge shed crocodile tears.He sent five envoys to each kingdom，saying that the accident was caused by burning the paper money.Unfortunately，the five kings were burned to death and each kingdom was asked to collect the dead bodies.
The Charity Lady heard of her husband's death and was devastated.She immediately called the tribe together，picked out dozens of warriors，and rode fast with a torch to Mengshechuan overnight.
When the Charity Lady arrived at the Pine Tower，she only found that the tower had already become a piece of coke.The dead ones were buried in the ash heap and the smoke was suffocating.She rushed to dig in the coke pile with both hands without noticing the embers.She dug up a pile of charcoal fire and dug out bones one after another.Her fingers were broken and bloodied very soon，but she endured the pain and kept digging.The people around her were deeply-moved and helped her dig out victims'bones from the ashes.
At this time，the relatives of other kings also arrived.They did not know what to do，because all of the dead were burned to death beyond recognition.Which bones were their relative's？No one could recognize it.Only the Charity Lady found the bones of her husband with the iron bracelet.
Good deeds spread far and wide.The story of the Charity Lady identifying his husband with the bracelet soon spread among the people，which also reached to Piluoge.He had heard people say that the Charity Lady was both talented and beautiful，and now he admired her even more.Since seeing is believing，he wanted to see this lady himself.He immediately called for horses to be prepared，and on the pretext of visiting the families of the deceased，he rushed to the Pine Tower with his entourage and crowding around.
The relatives of each king were collecting the corpses and people were crying everywhere.The king of Nanzhao showed his concerns to the other wives of the dead kings hypocritically，and then came to comfort the Charity Lady.When he had a closer look，alas，the Charity Lady was a beautiful woman indeed as expected.He thought to himself，everyone said camellia was gorgeous，but the Charity Lady was ten times prettier than camellia.Everyone said Guanyin was beautiful，but the Charity Lady was ten times as beautiful as Guanyin.An evil idea occurred to him.He was determined to usurp the Charity Lady as his concubine.
Then he said to the Charity Lady：
“Madam，since ancient times，it has been told that trees can no longer live when they are withered，and a dead man cannot be brought back to life.It's no use being sad when things are as they are today.You are so young，and should prepare for the future.Well，let bygones be bygones.I am here to invite you to my palace for a few days so as to share your worries.”
As the old saying goes：When the enemies come face to face，their eyes blaze with hatred.When the Charity Lady saw Piluoge，who had killed her husband，and heard him say these indecent words with bad intentions，she was furious.She wanted to bite him to death to relieve her hatred.However，she was now in the enemy's country，with swords and spears in front of her，and she was unarmed.If she acted recklessly，wouldn't she die in vain？Why not make a counterplot and deal with him for the time being，and then manage to get revenge later？With this thought，she said to Piluoge：
“Thank you for your kindness！Now that my husband is dead，my country is ruined and my family is lost，I'm extremely grieved and disheartened.How can I have the mood to think about the future？I will return to Tengdan after I finish dealing with the affairs here.Alas，now that my king died，what's the meaning of my living alone？I have no way out.”
The king of Nanzhao said：
“Why do you say this？The camellias in Cangshan Mountain are all blossoming for you.The moon above Erhai Lake is getting wax for you.There are 99,000 households in Nanzhao Kingdom.As long as you promise to be my wife，all of them are your subjects.You are not alone，Madam.Don't overthink.”
The Charity Lady felt hateful and angry at Peluoge's words，but she had to pin down her anger.She then made a few casual remarks：
“I appreciate what you said，but my husband just died and even was not buried.If we discuss our marriage now，it is contrary to our ancestors'teachings and etiquettes，and is not good for your reputation.It is not too late to discuss the marriage matter after carrying my husband's body to Tengdan and finishing the burial and mourning.Please think twice.”
The king of Nanzhao thought it was reasonable，and for the sake of some decent as well，he agreed and said：
“That's all right.I hope you will deal with your things as quick as possible so as not to make me worry about you.”
The Charity Lady returned to Tengdan.After the funeral，she immediately called the ministers to discuss the plans for defeating the enemy.People actively made preparations for making foods and clothing，training soldiers，reinforcing the city，and patrolling day and night to prevent the enemy from invading.
After the Charity Lady returned to her country，the king of Nanzhao sat and slept uneasily all day long，just like his soul had been snatched away.He counted the days and waited anxiously for the Charity Lady to come back.More than twenty days passed，and she didn't come back.So the king sent an envoy to Tengdan to urge the marriage and inquire about the actual situation.
But the Charity Lady refused to see the envoy.The envoy returned to Nanzhao and reported it to Piluoge truthfully.In great anger，the king immediately led his military forces to Tengdan and soon arrived at the gate of Tengdan.The gate was closed and soldiers shot arrows from time to time.
The king of Nanzhao ordered the siege and personally supervised the battle.The Charity Lady met the challenge bravely.Under the command of the Charity Lady，all the soldiers had high morale.The common people also volunteered to help defend the city.The army and the people united together to repulse the enemy's attacks one after another.The war had lasted for more than a month.At last，because the enemy cut off the water supply，the city ran out of grain and was finally breached by Nanzhao.The king of Nanzhao annexed Tengdan，and the Charity Lady was unfortunately captured.
The king of Nanzhao was so delighted to see the Charity Lady that his burning anger suddenly disappeared.He arranged a big banquet for three days to celebrate the victory and reward the soldiers.At the same time，he told his staff to prepare candles because he would take this opportunity to marry the Charity Lady.When the Charity Lady saw Piluoge，the hatred of him for old and new wrongs welled up in her heart.She was determined to die for her country and would never let the enemy tarnish her innocence.But she must，before she died，do everything she could to expose Piluoge's plot and the crimes of murdering the other five kings，so that all Bai people could know Piluoge was a big bastard.Since her mind was set，she pretended to be helpless and said to Piluoge：
“Alas，it seems an act of the Heaven；we can not defy the will of the Heaven！I have to comply with providence.”
The king of Nanzhao said：
“That's right！You should have married a long time ago.”
The Charity Lady said：
“If you meet my three requests，I will marry you.Otherwise，I would rather die.”And the king of Nanzhao asked eagerly：
“What are they，madam？”
“My first request is to set up a memorial platform for my husband.Because he died mysteriously，his soul is still alive.A memorial platform must be set up nearby Erhai Lake to hold a memorial ceremony to release the soul from purgatory.Only in this way can we make everything in the future go the way we hope and live together for an entire lifetime after we get married.”
“I promise you.What is the second one？”
“My second request is that the king yourself will take part in the memorial ceremony with a mourning apparel on that day.”
“It's up to you.Tell me the third one.”
“My third request is that you should accompany me to swim in Erhai Lake.When my husband was alive，he often accompanied me to swim in Erhai Lake.Now he is dead，and soon I will be your wife.I want to swim in Erhai Lake again before marrying you.Firstly，it shows my nostalgia for my husband.Secondly，it will let the sea breeze blow away my sadness and let the sea water wash away my frustration.It will be good for us to live happily in the future.”Hearing it，the king felt a burst of joy.He nodded his head and said：
“I promise you.Let's do it one by one.”
So the things were prepared quickly.A few days later，an altar was set up nearby Erhai Lake.
On the 8th of August，people from far and near came to Erhai Lake.A huge crowd of people gathered there like attending a fair.The king of Nanzhao led his civil and military officials，dressed in mourning clothes and holding a mournful battle to the altar.At this time，the Charity Lady was already on the altar.Seeing the Charity Lady dressed in white paper clothes，the king felt very puzzled and asked：
“Madam，people's mourning clothes are either made of plain silk or white cloth.Why did you make mourning clothes out of the white paper？”
The Charity Lady replied：
“Your Majesty，after today's memorial ceremony，I will marry you in the evening.This mourning suit will be burnt.If I use silk as a mourning suit，wouldn't it be too wasteful of money and silk？”
The king was utterly convinced and kept nodding his head.He praised the Charity Lady：
“People all say that you are intelligent and virtuous，and you are worthy of the great reputation.”
The memorial ceremony began.Seeing many people coming，the Charity Lady made an oblique accusation to denounce the king's evil intentions and his mastermind's crime of setting fire to the Pine Tower to kill the five kings.At this moment，on and off the stage，people cried out loudly.The king of Nanzhao could not sit quietly anymore，knowing that the Charity Lady was obviously scolding him.Still，he did not dare to attack her，so he had to urge the memorial ceremony to end quickly.
After the memorial ceremony，the king wanted to fulfill the third request，so he accompanied the Charity Lady to take a colorful boat in Erhai Lake.When the boat reached the heart of the lake，the wind blew violently.The Charity Lady took advantage of Piluoge's inattention and threw herself into the lake.When Piluoge saw her jump into the lake，he hurriedly grabbed her，but only a handful of paper was caught.The Charity Lady was engulfed by the sea.
Seeing this，people on the beach all sympathized with and admired the Charity Lady，who did not fear violence，was loyal to love and died for her country.All of them came to salvage her body.They had searched for three days in a row，but they found nothing.
Although the Charity Lady's body was not found，her beautiful，intelligent，brave and noble image would always live in the hearts of the Bai people.People have great respect for the integrity and moral character of the Charity Lady.They compare her to a pine covered with snow on the top of Cangshan Mountain.Therefore，people call her Mrs.Bai Jie（Bai is the homophone to pine in Chinese，and Jie means purity in Chinese）.
In memory of the Charity Lady and the victims of the Pine Tower，the Bai people designated the 25th of June in the lunar calendar as the Torch Festival，which has been celebrated ever since.
The Torch Festival is a grand festival of the Bai people even now.On this day，all villages in the Bai people's areas will set up a big torch with pine，and erect it high in the center of the village；while the small torches of all households will be erected on their doorsteps or ridges.The torch symbolizes people's memory of the victims and their resistance to the reactionary rulers.
On the evening of the Torch Festival，young people in some places also hold horse races.They hold torches high in their hands and run back and forth along the roads around the villages，indicating the ancient Bai people ran to the Pine Tower to put out the fire to resist the king's plot to annex the five kingdoms.
Before the festival，the Bai women always collect the garden balsam and crush its petals，then wrap it around ten nails.In this way，they dye their nails red to commemorate the Charity Lady who looked for her husband's body in the ashes，fingers dripping with blood.
At the same time，every year on the 8th of August in the lunar calendar，the Bai people in villages along Erhai Lake always plunge into the sea with colored boats and hold a sea tour representing the removal of corpses，which shows their memory and respect to the Charity Lady.
This is the origin of the Torch Festival of the Bai people.