Life and Death Bridge

Author: Li Bihua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: "The ghosts are coming, the ghosts are coming." The crowd's shouts were deafening, all hoping for a target. The children waited in awe, forgetting to close their mouths, exhaling puffs of white vapor with their giggles. Their spirits were completely fixed. Suddenly, a black ghost leaped out from the left, and a white ghost from the right, flapping and amidst the chanting of scriptures. Behind the black and white ghosts stood lamas wearing animal masks, their duty to "exorcise the ghosts," also known as "jumping steps." Ghosts were inauspicious, and they had to be chased, beaten, and driven out to ensure a year of peace. The Yellow Hat sect's musical instruments played, with the clashing of gongs and drums leading the lama holding a bowl and reciting incantations. His face was a stern yellow, clad in yellow brocade, in charge of the entire event. The people nearby, far and near, watched the spectacle with full attention until the black and white ghosts danced enough. Then they removed their ghost costumes, replaced them with two gray-faced figures, and beheaded them with knives, only then concluding the "ghost exorcism" day. The next day was called the "temple rotation" day. This was the grand event of the Yonghe Temple fair from the 29th of the first lunar month to the 1st of the second lunar month.
Dandan had never seen the "ghost exorcism" before. Her eyes widened as if ink had suddenly been dropped on them, and she couldn’t bear to blink. As the black and white ghosts circled to the other side of the temple, Dandan darted out of the crowd like a mouse. Her uncle, unaware, turned around only to glimpse the end of Dandan’s long braid flashing by. Dandan thought she could cut through the crowd and intercept the ghosts, but when she stepped through the heavy doors and past the halls, the cacophony seemed to gradually fade, and the noise died down. At ten years old, Dandan knew she had taken the wrong path, but she wasn’t scared—just momentarily lost. She wanted to turn back and find her way, but when she looked up, she saw the seated Maitreya Buddha, smiling warmly as if welcoming distant visitors. Beside him stood the Four Heavenly Kings: one holding a whip, one carrying an umbrella, one playing with a snake, and one a lute, all very majestic. Dandan remembered that she had come to the Yonghe Temple for her older brother, and her heart tightened. She also thought of their performance that day—where they performed "walking on swords." A thick wooden pole was erected vertically on the ground, with long ropes attached to both sides, and a table tied to the top. She remembered the soft ladder, the horizontal beams, the bright, upward-pointing blades, and her older brother, barefoot, stepping onto the blades. He climbed the pole, reached the top, and then onto the table—only to fall, exploding in a burst of fire and blood on the ground.