A few days after the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, the fifteenth of the seventh month arrived. This day is known as the Zhongyuan Festival in Taoism and the Ullambana Festival in Buddhism. The three Yuan festivals – Shangyuan, Zhongyuan, and Xiayuan – were all grand and lively celebrations. In Chang’an, only during these three festivals was the night curfew temporarily lifted, allowing people to walk the streets at night. However, while the Shangyuan Festival had three days of curfew exemption, Zhongyuan and Xiayuan only had one day each.
On the night of Zhongyuan, all city gates remained open. This night was known as the “Ghost Gate,” the last day when the gates of the underworld were wide open. The living were meant to send off the spirits of their deceased loved ones on this day. If the gates were closed, it was feared that ghosts lingering in the human world might not be able to return.
Two days prior, the hundreds of temples throughout Chang’an had already been bustling with worshippers. On the fifteenth, the entrances of major temples were particularly crowded and noisy. The large incense burners in front of the halls were packed full of incense sticks, with latecomers unable to find space to insert theirs. Smoke billowed skyward, creating a hazy atmosphere all around. The sound of chanting sutras within the temples had not ceased for several days.
From royal nobles to common folk, anyone who could afford it would come to the temples to make offerings on this day. Well-off families would send servants carrying large lotus-shaped basins filled with fresh flowers, various fruits and sweets, and vegetarian dishes as offerings to the temple. Commoners used smaller basins containing noodles and fruits. These basins of all sizes filled the temples, serving as offerings for the night.
Even Wu Zhen would dutifully visit a temple on this day, having a large basin of offerings carried for her. She would light a lamp for her departed mother and ask the head monk to recite sutras and perform a ceremony for her.
This year, Mei Zhuyu accompanied her to the temple. Upon arrival, Wu Zhen suddenly remembered something and said, “You’re a Taoist. Is it appropriate for you to come to a Buddhist place? If you’re uncomfortable, you can go back first.” On this day, Taoist temples would also hold ceremonies and rituals. It seemed somewhat improper for a Taoist priest to attend a Buddhist service with her.
Mei Zhuyu, who had been observing the neatly arranged offering basins nearby, shook his head and replied, “It’s fine.” He had accompanied her before and held no prejudice against other faiths.
While waiting for the monks to arrive, Wu Zhen leaned close to Mei Zhuyu’s ear and whispered, “Later, let’s go find a Taoist temple and have a ceremony performed there as well.”
Mei Zhuyu: “…”
Wu Zhen patted his shoulder and said with a raised eyebrow and a smile, “We should give you some face too.”
Mei Zhuyu thought she was joking again, but after offering the Ullambana basin at the Buddhist temple, she dragged him off to find a Taoist temple.
There were fewer Taoist temples than Buddhist ones in Chang’an, but still quite a number. After wandering around, Wu Zhen spotted a Taoist temple hidden behind a small alley. Two peculiarly shaped pine trees at its entrance resembled two cranes standing with their heads held high. She pointed at the temple and said, “Let’s choose this one.”
Though unremarkable from the outside, the interior of this temple was a hidden gem – a sanctuary amidst the bustling world. Stepping inside, one immediately felt a sense of tranquility and otherworldliness, despite being in the heart of the city. Wu Zhen, finding it pleasing to the eye, generously requested a ceremony to be performed. Perhaps due to her lavish offering, the temple master himself came to preside over the ceremony.
The temple master was in his fifties, appearing honest and kind-hearted. His eyes were clear and bright, and he wore a simple, clean Taoist robe that easily evoked a sense of goodwill. The young disciples in the temple showed him great respect and reverence. After observing the ceremony, Wu Zhen felt that this man was indeed a Taoist priest with considerable spiritual attainment.
After the ceremony, Wu Zhen and Mei Zhuyu rested under a tree on the temple grounds. Wu Zhen mentioned the temple master, teasing Mei Zhuyu, “You’re both Taoists, do you know that temple master? I think he has some real cultivation, though not as much as you. He seems to have made pilgrimages to famous mountains and undergone proper training.”
Before Mei Zhuyu could answer, they saw the temple master walking towards them with a smile. He stopped in front of them and suddenly bowed to Mei Zhuyu as a junior, addressing him as “Little Uncle-Master.”
Wu Zhen: “…”
Mei Zhuyu calmly nodded to him, and they exchanged a few polite words. As Mei Zhuyu led Wu Zhen out of the temple, she finally processed what had happened: “You know that temple master?”
Mei Zhuyu answered honestly, “He’s a disciple that my senior brother at the temple took in years ago. He only trained at our sect for two years before leaving the mountain. I hadn’t met him before, but before I came down to Chang’an, my senior brother told me about him and may have sent him a letter.” His ability to recognize Mei Zhuyu might have been due to their cultivation methods originating from the same source.
Wu Zhen shook her head and laughed, “We randomly chose a Taoist temple, and there’s such a connection. It seems the temple master personally officiating wasn’t because of my generous offering, but out of respect for you, Little Uncle-Master.” She playfully bowed to her husband.
Given the hierarchy, even though Mei Zhuyu had joined the sect later and was younger, many older Taoist priests who were much older than him had to address him as Little Uncle-Master. Mei Zhuyu felt somewhat helpless as Wu Zhen teased him all the way home, leading her by the hand.
Both had loved ones to honor, so in the evening, they set up large basins in front of their door to burn paper money for their deceased relatives. Yellow paper folded into the shape of ingots was strung together and thrown into the fire to burn. While the basin burned the yellow paper, a spinning lantern was set up at the doorway. When the wind blew, the lantern would spin, making a creaking sound.
Legend had it that each turn of the lantern was a deceased relative reaching out to turn it, telling their family they had returned. As people who could see ghosts and spirits, both Mei Zhuyu and Wu Zhen knew this wasn’t true, as they had never seen the ghosts of their relatives. Nevertheless, they still set up the spinning lantern.
The flames in the basin illuminated the surroundings brightly. Burnt paper ashes were carried by the wind, lifted by the flames, and flew high into the sky. The spinning lantern whirled rapidly, its sound indeed seeming as if someone was touching it.
Mei Zhuyu and Wu Zhen stood at the doorway, watching the last embers in the basin fade away, just like the last rays of sunset disappearing on the horizon.
The night of the fifteenth of the seventh month had arrived.
At the moment when sunlight completely retreated, Wu Zhen let out a soft sigh. She raised her eyes, looking towards the distant sky through the overlapping eaves. To ordinary people, the sky that had not yet completely darkened would still appear bright, but in Wu Zhen’s eyes, it was already shrouded in a vast darkness.
On this day, ghosts and spirits were particularly unrestrained. All manner of beings that usually hid themselves took advantage of the Ghost Gate’s lingering influence to cause mischief. Even if they didn’t intend harm, they would come out to get some fresh air.
Every year on this day, Wu Zhen would be busy all night long. The barrier between the ordinary world and the realm of spirits and demons became very thin on this day, and problems could easily arise if one wasn’t careful. As the Cat Lord, she had to take responsibility for monitoring a hundred ghosts and various demons in Chang’an, ensuring that non-human entities didn’t cause major incidents on this day.
After stretching her arms, Wu Zhen grabbed her husband and smiled at him, “Come on, I’ll take you out for some fun tonight.”
Hearing her mention fun, Mei Zhuyu was puzzled, “Didn’t you say tonight would be very chaotic?”
Wu Zhen calmly replied, “Busy as it may be, it doesn’t prevent us from having fun. We can work and play at the same time, without neglecting either.”
Mei Zhuyu had never heard such twisted logic before, but coming from Wu Zhen, he tried to believe it. Regardless of whether they were going out to play or work, he was prepared to help her tonight. He couldn’t bear to see his wife labor alone.
As night fell, lights were lit everywhere. With no curfew tonight, lanterns were hung on every street, and many people carried lamps as they left their homes to walk the streets. Paper ashes from burning offerings could be seen at every doorstep, and some households were still burning paper money. White lanterns hung outside indicated households that had experienced a recent death.
At the entrance of each ward, a tall lantern tower was erected, with paper money burning beside it for lonely ghosts and wandering spirits. As Wu Zhen passed by, she glanced at the burning basin. Immediately, several small ghosts who had been trying to salvage from the fire basin scurried behind the lantern tower in fright. Seeing that Wu Zhen had no intention of causing trouble, they returned to the fire basin and continued their salvaging.
Unlike the Lantern Festival, the Ghost Festival didn’t have bustling night markets, but there were still quite a few stalls selling goods on that night. The most common stalls sold two types of items. One type sold ghost masks. Since the Ghost Gate was still open and ghosts were wandering in the human world, it was said that people roaming outside at this time might be approached by ghosts. So, people wore these ghost masks to avoid being recognized by ghosts or being mistaken for ghosts themselves, thus ensuring mutual peace.
The other type of stall sold lanterns. Unlike the handheld lanterns people carried, these were mostly shaped like lotus flowers and were river lanterns. Almost everyone bought one or two of these to release into rivers or lakes, letting them float downstream.
As the saying goes, “Lanterns reach the sky on the Lantern Festival, and touch the earth on the Ghost Festival.” The lanterns on the Ghost Festival were meant to light the way for returning spirits. The dark waters were believed to connect to the netherworld, so placing lanterns in the river was a way to guide the spirits. Without these lights, the water path would be dark and cold, causing the spirits much suffering on their journey. Moreover, these lanterns carried the thoughts of the living, letting the spirits know that their loved ones in the mortal world still remembered them.
Wu Zhen bought two ghost masks from a roadside stall. She put on a green, fanged ghost mask herself and placed a white ghost mask on Mei Zhuyu’s face. The white mask looked somewhat comical, with an ambiguous expression between a smile and a frown. Wu Zhen found it amusing and laughed, her voice muffled behind her mask.
As they reached the East Market gate, Wu Zhen spotted a woman in a long, sky-blue dress standing beneath the lantern tower. Unlike most people wearing ghost masks, she only wore a veiled hat with a gauze veil reaching down to her waist. In the bright lamplight, her figure appeared slender and hazy, almost translucent.
Wu Zhen approached silently from behind, intending to startle her, but the woman facing away from her coldly said, “You’re late.”
Wu Zhen still insisted on letting out a loud “Boo!” The woman glanced at her coolly through the veil. Even though Wu Zhen couldn’t see, she knew those eyes must be saying, “Is there something wrong with your brain?”
Unfazed, Wu Zhen laughed heartily and put an arm around the woman’s shoulders. “Little Snake, what’s the plan this year? I’ll patrol outside while you watch over the demon market?”
Liu Taizhen replied coldly, “What else? Didn’t you already decide to take Taoist Mei to see that thing? If I don’t stay here to watch, are you going to?”
Wu Zhen shook her vigorously, “Alright, alright. Next year we’ll switch. I’ll even let you play outside for the next three Ghost Festivals, and I’ll watch over the demon market. How’s that?”
Liu Taizhen: “Fine, hurry up and take him. It’s about to begin.”
Wu Zhen made a gesture and darted towards Mei Zhuyu, who had been waiting to the side. She took his hand and quickly ran around the corner. Behind Liu Taizhen, above the East Market, another night market illuminated by lanterns faintly appeared – the demon market that ordinary people could never see.