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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Ten: A Few Strange Incidents from Northeast China (Part Two)
Jumping Deity is also a characteristic of Northeast China, originating from Shamanism. It means inviting a deity to possess you and then show you things, while jumping and singing. Many who perform this jumping Deity act are deceptive, often mixing in some juggling and vulgar elements, making it quite lowbrow. At that time, sitting solemnly to help people with their problems was considered boring; it had to be lively and engaging. Thus, Great-Grandmother also had to jump and sing while performing the Deity act.
After finishing a two-person performance, villagers came up to ask for help. One villager said that his uncle was having some issues and needed assistance, offering a pound of Millet as payment if it worked out. They went to his house, where the Big Guy was lying on the bed! He was face down on the kang, completely naked except for his upper garment, but still felt heavy as if something was pressing down on his back, making it hard for him to breathe. His face was flushed red, as if he were carrying dozens of kilograms of weight. When asked what was wrong, he said it had started a day ago, and he didn’t know what was happening; no illness could be identified. He sought their help to take a look. Great-Grandmother and her husband began their performance, beating the hand drum while singing. The general lyrics were about entering the house to ask what’s wrong and seeking help from the celestial being. The celestial being would come forward to inquire about the troubles. It was all rather rambling but had to rhyme and match the drumbeats with actions. Two Deities (Great-Grandmother's husband) would ask a question while Deity (Great-Grandmother) would respond in turn, like a theatrical performance.
Two Deities asked: “Old Hu San is beating the drum and asking why Liu's family is ill?” Deity sang: “Out of the heavenly gate, into the three barriers, Old Hu San comes forward to see; upon entering meets with Huang Erniang, who shouts for help quickly; big or small shouldn’t be so; set up heavenly barriers and ambushes; countless stones come crashing down; thanks to my quick escape, I nearly met my end; don’t turn over now; my grievances! My resentments! Liu's family shouldn’t be so; quickly dismantle the heavenly barrier and restore my Erniang’s freedom!” While singing, she moved like a flower girl in opera. After finishing the song, the family and Two Deities asked the young man lying on the kang what he had done. He replied: “I didn’t do anything! I just pushed down the old courtyard wall at home because I planned to build a pigpen. Ever since I came back, it’s been like this.”
Great-Grandmother urged them to go take a look! The family rushed to check around the courtyard and found that one corner of the wall had indeed been knocked down. They hurriedly began picking up debris. While they were clearing away pieces of broken wall and dirt, they uncovered a large chunk of wall that revealed something hiding inside that looked like a squirrel. Upon seeing the light, it froze for a moment before darting out immediately. It turned out this little creature might have been basking in the sun or eating something under the wall when Big Guy knocked it down; it got trapped underneath when the wall collapsed. It was lucky because if debris had fallen earlier, it would have been crushed. Within half a day, that Big Guy was back to his lively self again. That "little squirrel" was actually a yellow weasel (Huang Pizi), which had caused him to lie there as if experiencing what it felt like to be pressed down. The yellow weasel is quite a formidable character known as Huang Xian (Yellow Immortal). It was Huang Xian who made Liu Big Guy lie on the bed; my Great-Grandmother is from the fox family and communicated with Huang to clarify what happened before ultimately saving Huang Xian.
The practice of inviting deities is very common in Northeast China and in mountainous areas of southern regions; I don't know much about it myself. Looking at my Mother-in-law's family, I still prefer to be an ordinary person.
Strange Incidents from Northeast China (Part Three)!
The Kuanping Bridge in Changchun City has been around for two or three decades now—it's almost as old as I am. The Kuanping Bridge is part of Changchun's municipal planning from the 1980s. At that time, my family lived not far from here; Kuanping Bridge is one of several well-known haunted places in Changchun, alongside Xi'an Bridge, Dongda Bridge, and Xinzhuhua Garden—Kuanping Bridge has gained considerable notoriety.
Underneath Kuanping Bridge are two railway tracks running longitudinally for trains while multiple lanes run horizontally above for cars. Initially, this area was just wild grassland with grass over a meter high that had been uninhabited for many years because it was low-lying land prone to flooding during rains—people avoided living here since there were higher grounds above. In the 1980s, people built small shacks and makeshift homes on higher ground without proper housing permits—this area wasn’t lacking residents at all. The municipal planning involved laying railway tracks here first by burning off the brush—a massive fire raged uncontrollably with loud crackling sounds from burning grass and sticks. Afterward, municipal workers cleaned up the site where numerous yellow weasels were found dead from smoke inhalation—piles upon piles of them filled half a truckload before construction began on laying tracks and building bridge piers.
The bridge was completed and opened for traffic with an inauguration ceremony led by the district chief of Chaoyang District when I was six or seven years old—a long-time resident of Changchun now. Since its opening, accidents have frequently occurred here—most incidents happened on the railway tracks while nothing much happened on the upper car lanes. There were many cases of people lying on tracks or jumping off bridges resulting in numerous fatalities that became notorious throughout Changchun City at that time—seemingly every six months or so an incident would occur. I personally witnessed two such incidents. Once there was a girl living nearby who became pregnant but her boyfriend abandoned her; societal attitudes back then were vastly different from today’s norms—feeling hopeless she threw herself in front of an oncoming train and was thrown several meters away; even her bra ended up flying off.
Another incident involved someone lying on the tracks where one side had limbs and head while the other side had just their torso remaining. I remember being so frightened I had nightmares for an entire week because many residents lived along both sides of the tracks—many people unfortunately found themselves too close during train crossings resulting in tragic encounters with trains. Sometimes horse-drawn carts or livestock were struck by trains; other times agricultural vehicles met similar fates while crossing tracks.
The bridge at Kuanping is never short of Joss Paper, with bricks of all sizes weighing down stacks of Joss Paper, along with offerings of a few fish and some steamed buns. There have been constant incidents here, and over time, local residents began to gossip about it. I’ll share a few stories. One nearby resident said that one night around ten o'clock, they saw five or six people dressed like Migrant Workers sitting around on the Railway Tracks, with a fire burning in the middle. Those people were gathered around to keep warm. A Train came by, and those people showed no intention of moving. As the train passed, those people and the fire vanished without a trace. Another person reported seeing someone leading an animal along the edge of the Railway Tracks. When the train approached, people on the other side shouted for him to leave, but there was no response. After the train passed, both the person and the animal disappeared.
One story from a Railway Watchman is particularly striking. He said that one night around eleven o'clock, while inspecting the railway around the Bridge, he saw a Mother and Daughter walking along one side of the Railway Tracks. Those unfamiliar with the area might not know that when a Train passes, it creates a strong gust of wind capable of sweeping a person off their feet and potentially under the wheels. The green light was already on, and he could hear the Train's whistle. The Railway Watchman ran over while shouting for them to leave. As the Train approached, they remained on the Railway Tracks. The Railway Watchman realized it was too late as he watched the Train pass by and knew there was no hope left. He walked closer but couldn’t see any sign of the Mother and Daughter's bodies. While he was looking around, he glanced back at the Railway Tracks and saw something strange. With the Train Car's bottom forming one parallel line and the Railway Tracks another, in between these two lines stood four legs upright on the ground, aligned parallel to him. It wasn’t very clear as the wheels passed by, but it was evident that those were four legs—two thick and two thin—belonging to those two people. Terrified, he ran away.
Such incidents are common, which is why Kuanping Bridge has gained notoriety. Many Young Men have formed "exploration teams" coming here out of curiosity. Some brought cameras but returned empty-handed; however, one group actually captured something: a photo taken inside one of the dark archways of the Bridge showed an Old Man who looked like a scavenger, with bloodshot eyes gnawing on a cabbage, his teeth blackened. This photo even made it into that month's Changchun Evening News.
As Kuanping Bridge's fame grew, some Feng Shui experts offered suggestions for improvement. They said changes could be made, but since it was part of municipal planning, no one could enforce them. Due to the severity of these issues, barbed wire was added to the railings on the second level of the Bridge to prevent anyone from climbing over and jumping off; concrete walls were also built high on both sides to ensure no one could access the edge of the Railway Tracks anymore. Now next to Kuanping Bridge stands a well-known Foreign Language Training Center called Daqiao Foreign Language, which is quite famous in Northeast China. Today, they have widened the surface of the Bridge for light rail transit; however, there have been no incidents of people lying on the tracks for many years now. Besides long-time residents of Changchun, newcomers are largely unaware of Kuanping Bridge's stories.
Northeast Strange Tales (Part Four)!
In Jilin Province, some of the best Hospitals include Zhongri Lianyi Hospital, Jilin Provincial Hospital, 3212 Military Region Hospital, and Bethune Medical University Affiliated Hospital. Among them, Bethune Medical University Affiliated Hospital was established earliest; its construction began during the founding period of China. The name itself commemorates Norman Bethune, an internationalist fighter against fascism, indicating its long history.
This story circulates within society about this Hospital; its authenticity is hard to judge but sounds quite chilling. Inside Bethune Medical University Affiliated Hospital is a specimen room—a warehouse filled with rows of large iron shelves covered in labels. These contain various pathological human organs preserved in large glass jars filled with Formaldehyde. Bottles of all sizes are crammed full with valuable pathological specimens collected since the founding of Bethune Medical University Affiliated Hospital: lungs filled with cancer cells, larynxes from diphtheria cases, intestines—various human eyes, ears, hands, feet—and so forth. Due to negligence by department heads from 1980 to 1984 regarding Formaldehyde concentration levels during storage, specimens collected during those years began to change color and swell due to decomposition. To cover up this mistake, mercury and magnesium were artificially added by department heads resulting in chemical reactions that caused various organs and limbs to swell significantly. The large jars were overflowing; one particularly troublesome Baby's jar had its head almost bursting out like a giant-headed monster baby. Because these jars were placed together and their contents swelled up causing collisions among them, they made continuous clattering sounds that I found terrifying; eventually word got out about this situation leading hospital authorities to remove management from that department first before incinerating this batch of spoiled specimens. From then on this place ceased operations concerning medical specimens; it was locked up and sealed off. However, even after these decayed specimens were disposed of, sounds still occasionally echoed from that room as if jars continued colliding against each other.
The decayed remains have been dealt with; yet their sounds lingered in that room—when I heard this story I felt chills run down my spine!
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