Bizarre Beijing: The Maiden in White

According to traditional Chinese belief, the seventh month of the lunar calendar is Ghost Month 鬼月 guǐ yuè, a time when the gates of heaven and hell open, allowing ghosts and spirits to visit the mortal world. This year, Ghost Month will take place from Jul 29 to Aug 26. 

For a little background, check out our article about the ten no-nos you should observe during this holiday, then indulge in a spooky story courtesy of our friends at Bizarre Beijing (WeChat ID: BizarreBeijing), which they'll be sharing once a week until the gates of heaven and hell shut back up – aka today, Aug 26.

​The Maiden in White

One summer, a young man came to Guanghua Temple, located atop Culai Mountain in Yizhou County, Shandong, to rent a room. It was his intention to pour all his energy into the study of Confucianism.

On one fairly cool day, he left his room to stroll about the veranda of the temple and to admire all the many paintings and ink scrolls hanging there. While he was doing so, he noticed a young lady in white approaching. As she got closer, he saw that she must have been around 15 or 16, and she was absolutely exquisite.

The scholar was totally smitten and, rather boldly for the circumstances, asked her from where she came.

"My home is just down the mountain," she replied.

The scholar was familiar with the area and wasn't aware of a girl such as this living nearby, however, he didn't suspect her of lying. Instead, he fell in love with her: love at first sight.

They started a conversation to know each other better.

Very shortly, they became husband and wife.

The day they were wed, the bride turned to her husband and said, "We belong to each other now, and we shall be together 'when our heads are white in our old age.' This evening, though, I must return to my family home, but just for tonight! Starting tomorrow, though, we shall never be separated again!"

"May I at least go with you?" he asked.

"No," she said. She insisted she must return home alone.

Well, the young scholar, now the young groom, was disappointed, of course, but his bride remained unyielding. The arrangements would just have to be this way. So, before his bride left to go back down the mountain, the groom gave her the white jade ring he normally wore.

"Let the ring be a reminder to you whenever you see it," he said. "Let it remind you to return to me as soon as possible!"

They walked to the gates of the temple.

"May I at least accompany you to the door of your family home?" he asked.

"No. My family members will probably be waiting for me outside. It would be a bit awkward with you there, with our marriage and such. Please stay here and wait for me to return to you."

He said goodbye to her and watched her walk down the hill. She never turned back. Before she had gone 100 paces, though, she suddenly vanished into thin air!

The groom was beside himself with fear and shock. He ran to the spot where his bride had disappeared. It was a fairly flat field that was on the slope of this mountain. He started scouring amidst the tall grasses, way into the darkness of night, without stopping.

And then it became just too dark, so he headed back to his room at the temple. Just as he started to turn back, he spotted a clump of brilliant white lilies in the vicinity of where his wife had disappeared. For some reason, he bent down and plucked them up by the roots and took the flowers back to his room.

Would they somehow hold the key to her astonishing disappearance?

Once in his room, he took the lilies – there must have been 100 – and started to separate them. Out from amongst several stems fell the white jade ring.

He then realized the awful truth – he had been married to and in the intimate presence of a ghost. How he regretted what he had allowed to happen, but there was nothing he could do about it now. It was too late.

Not long after, he came down with an illness. Within ten days, he was dead.

READ: The Last Bus to Fragrant Hills

Images: Steinar Engeland (via Unsplash), Joel Overbeck (via Unsplash), Irina Iriser (via Unsplash)