Chapter Text
The story of Sun Dao and Prince Shun Zu is regarded as the strongest documentation of a Portman's bond with their master. Unfortunately, the original text has been lost to history, but fragments and rewritten texts tell the story below:
Approximately 300 AD during the Western Jin Dynasty in China, Portmans were so prevalent and had become so accepted, that even a common person could assume that the majority of the nobles of the dynasty were not who they presented themselves as.
While a larger conflict (now known as the War of 8 Princes) was taking place, elsewhere in China, the Emperor was Qin Shi Xiao, a powerful warlord and terrifying force against anyone he declared enemy. Prince Shau Zu, was one of these unfortunate enemies.
A rivalry had bloomed between the two families, and the Prince and his Portman Sun Dao were invited to dine in the palace of Emperor Qin Shi Xiao under the guise of negotiation for peace. However, it was soon made clear that the Prince and his Portman could not leave of their own will, but rather that the emperor had invited them to his home to hold Shau Zu captive to force negotiations in his favour.
It is a great dishonour to harm a Portman once you know their role (please refer to this diary's introduction for a more in depth understanding), and so Sun Dao constructed an elaborate ruse to persuade the Emperor that Prince Shau Zu was his Portman. Therefore, The Emperor unwittingly kept the real prince, Shau Zu, as a “special guest” within the palace, one who was not permitted to leave.
As the 'real' prince, Sun Dao was subjected to eight days of deadly “games” in the palace grounds. Sources vary on the exact details, but the most commonly reported are crossing a tightrope over boiling oil , lying on beds of coals , and dodging arrows in the garden . After enduring this torture for 8 days finally the prince’s army arrived to retrieve them.
Once they’d escaped from the palace of Emperor Qin Shi Xiao, the prince reportedly asked Sun Dao, “How do I reward such loyalty.” To which Sun replied, “Allow me to do it all over again.”
Notes from Lottie:
It shows that there’s strength in loyalty. There’s power in the duty of a portman - 🎃
Later scrawl:
I want to amend my previous regard to this story, while it does demonstrate as I've said above, it romanticises the trauma portman's face in their roles. I internalised it and embodied this story to a degree that I could no longer separate myself from my role, until I was forced to. - 🎃