New Biography of Lin Daiyu

Author: Lin Chen
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: The Lady Grandmother of the Duke of Rong, Shi, had two sons and one daughter. The eldest son, Jia She, inherited the hereditary title of the Duke of Rong. The second son, Jia Zheng, rose through the imperial examinations and was granted the rank of sixth-grade chief clerk by the Emperor. The daughter, Jia Min, married Lin Ruhai, a prominent scholar from Suzhou. Lin Ruhai passed the imperial examinations, ranked third in the palace examination, was appointed as the salt inspector of Yangzhou, and his wife accompanied him to the post. The aristocratic family held high-ranking official positions, and everything went smoothly. The only thing that displeased them was that after more than five years of marriage, they had no children. The people of Yangzhou said that matters of childbirth were under the jurisdiction of the Queen Mother of Children, and relatives and neighbors persuaded Lady Jia to visit the Queen Mother’s Temple to burn incense and pray for a healthy son. Although Lin Ruhai did not believe in it, he did not object to his wife’s wishes and allowed her to do as she pleased. On the 18th day of the fourth month, the temple fair was held. Lady Jia instructed the servants two days in advance to prepare incense, paper, flowers, and offerings. On the evening of the 17th, Lady Jia fasted and purified herself before entering the purification chamber. On the morning of the 18th, an eight-person sedan chair carried Lady Jia out of the mansion gate. Eight well-dressed boys led the way, followed by four bearers carrying the offerings. One load was a whole roll of incense, another was a whole roll of paper, another was flower candles, and the last was sacrificial fruits. On both sides of the sedan chair, one maidservant stood, and four colorful maids surrounded the front and back. Eight imposing family guards, armed with waist knives and riding high-quality horses, stood in two rows, guarding the sedan chair tightly as it headed to the Queen Mother’s Temple by the (Suoye Lake). The abbot of the temple, Master Daochen, had received the silver for the offering from the salt inspector’s office two days earlier. That morning, he sent a Taoist acolyte to discreetly follow Lady Jia and learn of her coming. He then led a group of nuns to wait outside the mountain gate early. Before the sedan chair even landed, he descended the steps to greet her. Lady Jia stepped out of the sedan chair, and Master Daochen invited her to rest in a quiet room for a moment before offering incense. Lady Jia, sincere in her desire for a child, politely declined. She first went to the incineration pool, where she personally threw a roll of paper and a coil of incense into the fire. Then she instructed the two maids to lead the boys to continue burning. The flames blazed brightly, and the smoke curled around. The pilgrims offering incense and the temple visitors gathered to watch the grand scene of the salt inspector’s temple visit. Lady Jia, holding the whole coil of ten-thousand-year-life incense lit in the incineration pool, was led by Master Daochen to the hall of the Queen Mother of Children. She kneltly on the prayer mat in front of the hall, held the incense in her hands, bowed three times, then walked to the incense table, inserted the bundle of incense into the incense burner, and lit the two pairs of four golden red candles, each weighing eight taels, on the candle stand. She clasped her hands, bowed her head in reverence, then stood respectfully, gazing up at the statue with a sincere heart in silent prayer. This "Queen Mother’s Temple" is a colloquial name; its proper name is the "Temple of the Heavenly Empress." The main hall enshrines the Nine Heavens Immortal Woman, and behind it are the Hall of the Three Pure Ones, the Hall of Lao Jun, the Temple of Guan Di, the Tower of Lü Zong, the Shrine of Qiu Zong, the Stele Pavilion, the Pagoda of the Ancestors, the Hall of Dharma, the Hall of Scriptures, the Guest Hall, the Hall of Fasting, and the Scripture Library.