love ghost

 

love ghost

 

Lacuo led the caravan along with Agudengba, Azhuo and Chu Sanxing along the Tea Horse Road and unknowingly arrived at an ancient bridge by the Jinsha River.

Lacuo pointed to the ancient bridge and said: This is the famous Golden Dragon Bridge on the Tea Horse Road, where many lovers jumped into the rolling Jinsha River. When they were dying for love, they would wear graceful attire, sing a love song "You Bei" in front of the snow-capped mountains, and then throw themselves into the river to die for their love.

Agudengba, Azhuo, and Chu Sanxing all looked very confused about this.

In Lijiang over the long years, countless young Naxi lovers dressed up gracefully and sang a "song of love" and "Wandering Sadness" in front of the snowy mountains, and died for their love.

Lacuo said:

Since the Qing Dynasty implemented the policy of "reforming the land and returning it to the locals", China's feudal ethics have been continuously strengthened in Lijiang, causing all kinds of pain in life, making young people who once had youthful happiness and freedom easily develop emotions such as depression, sadness, and loneliness. Once the depression and sadness in the heart are combined with spiritual beliefs, it can easily trigger the idea of abandoning the mortal world and yearning for the world after death.

Lacuo said:

In the Jinlong Bridge area of the Jinsha River, there is a ceremony to save the souls of those who died in love. During the ceremony, a wooden sign of "Harariken" was hung, and the wooden signs were painted with images of ghosts who died in love and other images.

The Naxi people have a deep tradition of nature worship and belief. In the field of their belief, a mysterious paradise for lovers has emerged, which is the so-called "Jade Dragon Third Country". Also known as the paradise of love in the mountains.

The paradise of love has been vividly described in Dongba religion and folk customs, and has been passed down from generation to generation. It has eventually become an afterlife that is extremely attractive to those who sacrifice their lives for love. This belief in the spiritual world in the mountains is one of the important reasons why it is easy to commit suicide and abandon the world in high mountains and dense forests.

Lacuo led the caravan, Agudengba, Azhuo, and Chu Sanxing along the ancient Tea Horse Road and entered the dense forest mountain road.

Lacuo said as he walked:

Legend has it that there was a herding woman named "Bancao Sipeimi". There was a spruce tree where she milked yaks, and she often slept under the tree. One day, she heard the plaintive singing and calling of the love wanderers, and she suddenly had the idea of leaving this world and following them. She untied the leather rope from the milk pail and tied it to a spruce tree. Just when she was about to tie a rope ring to hang herself, the wandering spirits came over to help her tie the rope ring, and she hanged herself.

Lacuo also told a love story about two girls and two married young women who committed suicide on Baishi Mountain:

These four women are all famous local beauties. Two married women had marriages arranged by their parents. One of them had an extremely ugly husband, and the other suffered from epilepsy. These two girls have already been promised to people they don't like by their families.

These women met in despair and committed suicide together. Before their deaths, they visited the ancient city market together and bought candies for their girlfriends in the village.

The four women also said to their best friends: Sisters, we are still gathering here today, but who knows where we will be tomorrow?

Later, these women hanged themselves on Baishi Mountain near the village. The four of them all had their hair loose and put on their best new clothes. The two married women were wearing girls' clothes before they got married.

At that time, there was a common saying among women who committed suicide alone, saying that women's lives are miserable and it is difficult to live with men. It is better for us to become a family after death.

Although the rules of the love god Youzu Azhu in "The Third Kingdom of Jade Dragon" stipulate that heterosexual couples are not allowed to enter this paradise, but let's find a "Youguo" (a place where love is sacrificed in the mountains) where all women are. , where you don’t have to be angry with men. Lacuo explained: "Youguo" is the place where love was sacrificed in the mountains.

Lacuo sighed:

There is freedom of belief in the world. Whether you believe in God or Buddhism is your own freedom of choice. Whether you believe in ghosts or souls is also up to you. Here, many young lives are falling like meteors. Sacrifice for love is a sad song for Naxi people, especially Naxi women, that lasts forever and ever.

On the ancient road in the mountains and dense forests, Lacuo used his deep and desolate singing voice, which could hold the breath of the clouds, to sing the unparalleled sorrow of the ancient Naxi kingdom. In a tragic mood of sadness and anger, he sang another touching song of love and sorrow, "Unswerving Loyalty" with sincere and sad feelings:

 

Camellia embroidered on silk,

The flowers are red and the leaves are green,

Pitou tailors brother's clothes,

Taitailed girl's clothes.

 

Camellias bloom on the trees,

The frost withers the flowers,

Camellia flowers bloom on the clothes,

Always red.

 

White snow falls on the brocade,

Falling on the cypress trees,

The cypress leaves turn into fish,

Snow turns into water.

 

Love is beckoning,

All wandering souls have feelings,

The fate is in Youguo,

Fish come to meet each other.

 

Wearing a piece of silk together,

Died on a ridge,

Wearing a piece of satin together,

The soul is broken in the Jinsha River.