wordTHE NEW YEARS SACRIFICENew Years Eve of the old calendar seems after all more like the real New Years Eve; for, to say nothing of the villages and towns, even in the air there is a feeling that New Year is ing. From the pale, lowering evening clouds issue frequent flashes of lightning, followed by a rumbling sound of firecrackers celebrating the departure of the Hearth God; while, nearer by, the firecrackers explode even more violently, and before the deafening report dies away the air is filled with a faint smell of powder. It was on such a night that I returned to Luchen, my native place. Although I call it my native place, I had had no home there for some time, so I had to put up temporarily with a certain Mr. Lu, the fourth son of his family. He is a member of our clan, and belongs to the generation before mine, so I ought to call him Fourth Uncle. An old student of the imperial college who went in for Neo-Confucianism, I found him very little changed in any way, simply slightly older, but without any moustache as yet. When we met, after exchanging a few polite remarks he said I was fatter, and after saying that immediately started a violent attack on the revolutionaries. I knew this was not meant personally, because the object of the attack was still Kang Yu-wei. Nevertheless, conversation proved difficult, so that in a short time I found myself alone in the study.The next day I got up very late, and after lunch went out to see some relatives and friends. The day after I did the same. None of them was greatly changed, simply slightly older; but every family was busy preparing for the sacrifice. This is the great end-of-year ceremony in Luchen, when people reverently wele the God of Fortune and solicit good fortune for the ing year. They kill chickens and geese and buy pork, scouring and scrubbing until all the womens arms turn red in the water. Some of them still wear twisted silver bracelets. After the meat is cooked some chopsticks are thrust into it at random, and this is called the offering. It is set out at dawn when incense and candles are lit, and they reverently invite the God of Fortune to e and partake of the offering. Only men can be worshippers, and after the sacrifice they naturally continue to let off firecrackers as before. This happens every year, in every family, provided they can afford to buy the offering and firecrackers; and this year they naturally followed the old custom.The day grew overcast. In the afternoon it actually started to snow, the biggest snow-flakes as large as plum blossom petals fluttered about the sky; and this, bined with the smoke and air of activity, made Luchen appear in a ferment. When I returned to my uncles study the roof of the house was already white with snow. The room also appeared brighter, the great red rubbing hanging on the wall showing up very clearly the character for Longevity written by the Taoist saint Chen Tuan. One of a pair of scrolls had fallen down and was lying loosely rolled up on the long table, but the other was still hanging there, bearing the words: By understanding reason we achieve tranquillity of mind. Idly, I went to turn over the books on the table beneath the window, but all I could find was a pile of what looked like an inplete set of Kang Hsis Dictionary, a volume of Chiang Yungs Notes to Chu Hsis Philosophical Writings and a volume of mentaries on the Four Books. At all events, I made up my mind to leave the next day.Besides, the very thought of my meeting with Hsiang Lins Wife the day before made me unfortable. It happened in the afternoon. I had been visiting a friend in the eastern part of the town. As I came out I met her by the river, and seeing the way she fastened her eyes on me I knew very well she meant to speak to me. Of all the people I had seen this time at Luchen none had changed as much as she: her hair, which had been streaked with white five years before, was now pletely white, quite unlike someone in her forties. Her face was fearfully thin and dark in its sallowness, and had moreover lost its former expression of sadness, looking as if carved out of wood. Only an occasional flicker of her eyes showed she was still a living creature. In one hand she carried a wicker basket, in which was a broken bowl, empty; in the other she held a bamboo pole longer than herself, split at the bottom: it was clear she had bee a beggar.I stood still, waiting for her to e and ask for money.You have e back? she asked me first.Yes.That is very good. You are a scholar, and have travelled too and seen a lot. I just want to ask you something. Her lustreless eyes suddenly gleamed.I never guessed she would talk to me like this. I stood there taken by surprise.It is this. She drew two paces nearer, and whispered very confidentially: After a person dies, does he turn into a ghost or not?As she fixed her eyes on me I was seized with foreboding. A shiver ran down my spine and I fel