Zhu Yanyi smiled. "Around the Ghost Festival, every family starts honoring their ancestors. Especially on this day, almost everyone burns paper money at night and goes to bed early. Do you know why?"
"I don't know," Rosa said curiously. Although she was a foreigner, she was very interested in Chinese festivals.
"Because the Ghost Festival is not for the living, but for the spirits in our tradition. These spirits haven't been reborn yet. So from the 15th to the 21st of the seventh lunar month, they can visit the human world at night. They walk around, see their relatives, and take a stroll. The living prepare paper money to burn for them and offer vegetarian meals. This way, the spirits eat and drink well, then happily return to the underworld to wait for rebirth," Zhu Yanyi explained with a smile.
"It sounds quite beautiful." Hearing this, it was clear Rosa was quite bold. "Your Chinese legends are so nice."
Zhu Yanyi twitched the corner of her eye. Is the point that it sounds nice?
She forced a smile. "Well, not exactly. These spirits come to the human world for a vacation. So some might be mischievous. If they touch a living person, that person might get sick. That’s the legend of the separation between the living and the dead here.
So during the Ghost Festival, everyone wears gold or silver items, like gold jewelry or silver earrings. They also carry peach branches to ward off evil. I put a piece of peach branch in this pouch. It has no special meaning, just to fit the occasion."
"It’s nice. This pouch is very pretty. Did you make it, Little Doctor?" Rosa looked at Zhu Yanyi with admiration.
Zhu Yanyi nodded. "I liked embroidery when I was little. Since it uses needles, I learned a bit. But I’m not very good. It’s just rough handmade work. Most Chinese girls can do this."
"Little Doctor, you are amazing. You can heal people and make pouches. So talented. The leaves on it look so real." For convenience, Zhu Yanyi embroidered leaves on the pouches for patients. Some looked like pine needles, others like bamboo leaves. Simple and quick.
"You flatter me, Jam. My work is rough. The traditional shops outside sell better ones." Zhu Yanyi wouldn’t say her embroidery was master-level, to avoid causing Rosa more curiosity.
Rosa turned to Oswaldo. "Darling, when you are well, let’s buy a lot of Chinese embroidery to give as gifts."
"Okay." Oswaldo nodded with a smile, then said to Zhu Yanyi, "Little Doctor, thank you again."
Zhu Yanyi shook her head with a smile. "I need to visit other wards. According to our tradition, we should sleep early these days. You should too."
"Okay, thank you, Little Doctor." Rosa remembered.
Zhu Yanyi visited other wards and gave a pouch to Hua Guangzong. Seeing only a bamboo leaf embroidered on it, Hua Guangzong laughed. "I didn’t expect Little Doctor to have such a skill."
Zhu Yanyi smiled lightly. "I played with it a lot when I was little, so I know a little. I’m showing my rough work this time."
Hua Guangzong bowed his fist in thanks. "Regardless, I must thank Little Doctor."
People from other countries might not believe in the Ghost Festival. But as a Chinese person, even as a sect leader, Hua Guangzong believed in spirits. Besides, this was a hospital, one of the places where spirits appeared most often. So he was happy to have the pouch.
Zhu Yanyi waved her hand. "It’s just for the festival atmosphere." Her face remained gentle as always. "Alright, I won’t disturb the Sect Leader today. I’m leaving."
"Little Doctor, safe travels." Hua Guangzong watched her leave with a smile.
Zhu Yanyi checked the time. She went to see Zhu Xinfu briefly, then returned home with Yan Aohan. Tonight, Zhu Shunyao would guard Zhu Xinfu. Tomorrow day, Taishu Yuanxiang would come. Night, Yan Aohan. The day after, Zhu Shunyao again. The three rotated, so there was no worry of mistakes.
Back home, although the Zhu ancestors weren’t here, Zhu Yanyi bought some paper money as usual. She drew a circle at the entrance of the courtyard and burned the paper money.
As Yan Aohan said, sincerity makes it effective. Just because Zhu Yanyi wasn’t in Sicheng Town didn’t mean her ancestors couldn’t receive the money. It was like living people sending packages during holidays. As long as she explained it, the money would reach the right spirits.
Zhu Yanyi didn’t think too much about it. Recently, Xie Xinlian and Zhu Shunyao had no time. Everyone was busy. So she took a moment to burn some.
After burning the paper money, Zhu Yanyi burned some sutras. These were copied by her when she had free time.
In Sicheng Town and surrounding rural areas, chanting Buddha was becoming popular. Families hired groups of elderly women to come home. They beat wooden fish and bells while chanting various sutras, especially the Heart Sutra and the Diamond Sutra. They didn’t stick to one sutra. They would chant a few volumes of one, then switch. Each woman had a cotton handkerchief with a yellow paper on it. The paper had Buddha images, swastika borders, and lotus platforms. Before chanting, they marked a dot with cinnabar. During chanting, they placed a string of prayer beads on the paper. It was said the sutras were absorbed into this yellow paper. This paper was no longer called yellow paper, but had a noble name: Buddha Diploma. After chanting, it had specific names.
For example, four women of different surnames chanting was called Four-Surname Buddha. Ten women of different surnames was Ten-Protection Buddha. Twelve women of different zodiac signs was Twelve-Zodiac Buddha. Ten women whose ages summed to slightly over five hundred was Five-Hundred-Year Buddha. And so on. Various types. Ten were bundled together, sealed with a strip, and wrapped in old newspapers. A peach branch was included to prevent spirits from stealing the Buddha energy. When used, they opened the newspaper, removed the seal and peach branch, and burned it. The rich burned more, the poor burned less. It became a custom in Sicheng Town.
However, this wasn’t popular in the capital yet. Zhu Yanyi also had no time to send people home to chant. So she simply copied the sutras.