Original Text
Scholar Du Jiuwan's wife fell ill. It happened to be the Double Ninth Festival, and Du Jiuwan was invited by friends to climb the mountains and drink chrysanthemum wine. Rising at dawn, he washed and dressed, told his wife where he was going, donned his hat, and prepared to leave. Suddenly, he noticed his wife was delirious, muttering incessantly as if speaking with someone. Puzzled, Du Jiuwan approached the bed to ask what she was doing, but she addressed him as "son." The family suspected something was amiss. At that time, Du Jiuwan's mother's coffin had not yet been interred, so they feared it was her spirit possessing the wife. Du Jiuwan prayed, "Could it be my mother?" The wife scolded, "Beast! How can you not recognize your father!" Du Jiuwan said, "If it is my father, why have you returned to haunt your daughter-in-law?" The wife called Du Jiuwan by his childhood name and said, "I came specifically for your wife; why do you blame me instead? Your wife was destined to die immediately, and four men came to summon her soul, led by one named Zhang Huaiyu. I begged them earnestly and obtained permission. I promised them a small gift, and you must now deliver it." Du Jiuwan complied, burning paper money outside the door. The wife then said, "Those four have left. They were unwilling to refuse my request, but in three days, a feast must be prepared to thank them. Your mother is old and frail, unable to manage the cooking. At that time, your wife must go in her stead." Du Jiuwan said, "The ways of the living and the dead are different; how can she cook for my mother? I beg your forgiveness, Father." The wife replied, "Do not fear; she will go and return shortly. This is for her own sake, and she should not shirk the trouble." With that, she fell into a coma.
It was a long while before his wife regained consciousness. Du Jiuwan asked her what she had just been saying, but she remembered nothing at all, only remarking, "Just now I saw four men come to seize me. Fortunately, my father-in-law pleaded with them not to take me and even bribed them with money, so they left. I noticed there were still two ingots of silver left in his purse and thought to steal one to use for our daily expenses. But my father-in-law discovered it and rebuked me, saying, 'What do you think you are doing? Is this something you are allowed to use?' So I withdrew my hand and dared not touch it." Du Jiuwan, believing his wife's illness to be grave, was half convinced and half doubtful of these words.
After three days had passed, while they were chatting and laughing, his wife suddenly stared blankly for a long time, then said to Du Jiuwan, "Your wife is too greedy; a few days ago, upon seeing my silver, she conceived improper thoughts. Yet it is mainly due to poverty, so I do not blame her. I intend to take your wife with me to prepare meals for me; you need not worry." No sooner had she finished speaking than she abruptly died. After about half a day, his wife revived and told Du Jiuwan, "Just now my father-in-law summoned me and said, 'You need not do the work yourself; I have my own cooks to handle the preparations. You only need to sit quietly and direct them. In the underworld, we prefer abundance; all dishes must be heaped high over the rims of the bowls and plates—remember this well.' I assented. Upon arriving at the kitchen, I saw two women cutting vegetables, both wearing sky-blue sleeveless jackets trimmed with green borders, and they both addressed me as 'Sister-in-law.' Whenever they placed the dishes into bowls and plates, they always asked me to inspect them. The four souls who had previously summoned me were all seated at the banquet. After the food was served, the wine vessels were already set in their places, and my father-in-law then sent me back." Du Jiuwan was greatly astonished and often recounted this to his friends.
Commentary
This story presents the daily trivialities of dealing with ghosts within a household, narrated in a leisurely manner yet full of flavor, in accordance with common human sentiments. The reason it achieves this lies in its extensive use of customs familiar to ordinary people, blending seamlessly with real life. For instance, ghosts convey messages through the living, death occurs because spirits in the underworld summon one away, the way to send money to ghosts is by burning paper currency, the underworld also observes social niceties, and offerings must be abundant and sumptuous. The characters' dialogues are also colloquial and vulgar, such as when the old father scolds the scholar as a "beast," or when Du's wife recalls being rebuked for stealing from her father-in-law, all vividly portrayed as if spoken directly from the mouth.
The entire narrative is threaded through with scenes of feasting and bribery in the underworld, reflecting from another angle the base corruption yet deeply entrenched aspect of Chinese culture.