There was a peculiar trick worth noting: one would take a bottomless wooden barrel, place a vessel inside it, and then lay two straw mats upon the ground. When the vessel was retrieved from within the barrel, there would be a full measure of white rice—a sheng—which was then emptied onto the mats. The vessel would be placed back inside, and upon extraction, another sheng of rice would appear. This process was repeated ceaselessly until the straw mats were heaped high with white rice.

When the vessel was used to return the accumulated rice to the wooden barrel, every last grain was transferred, yet the interior of the barrel remained utterly empty.

Li Jiantian of Lijin County was meandering through the ceramic market in Yanzhen, intent on purchasing a colossal jar. He haggled fiercely with a merchant, but the deal fell through and he left empty-handed.

That night, the merchant went to inspect the newly fired storage jars in his kiln. He pulled back the canvas cover and gasped: sixty jars had vanished without a trace. He was instantly alarmed, suspecting Li Jiantian of foul play. He hurried to Li’s residence to demand the return of his goods, but Li feigned ignorance.

The merchant pleaded again and again, until finally, Li conceded, “I extracted them for you. Not a single jar was damaged. They are all gathered beneath the Kuixing Tower.”

The merchant hastened to the Kuixing Tower to search, and indeed, there they were: the sixty storage jars, perfectly preserved.

Kuixing Tower stood on the southern hillside of Yanzhen, more than three li distant from the kiln works. The merchant hired laborers, and it took them three full days to transport all the massive jars back.