access to the Internet, no restrictions.”
Zoul, accepting with a reluctant nod.
“Why the Internet?”
Knowing that he would get no answer. No answer coming.
“There are many restrictions, Senior Investigator. Laws. Permits to obtain. Personal use of the Internet with no restrictions is, is as rare as a woman without an opinion.”
Piao, his eyes bright with fierceness. Zoul nodding.
“But it can be arranged.”
Buttoning the collar of his coat, the Comrade Chief Officer. Piao envying him having someone to sew his buttons for him. Moving with Zoul toward the Red Flag. A sleepy-eyed chauffeur throwing his cigarette onto the cobbles. The door opening, and with it a smell of antique leather and fat septuagenarian arses.
“Comrade Chief Officer, did Di express any concerns to you, or to any other comrade officer?”
“No.”
“Did he produce any reports that would throw any light on the horrors that we have just witnessed?”
“No.”
The door closing.
“But there is a file, Senior Investigator. Tomorrow you shall have that file.”
And through the small gap at the top of the side window.
“This file, it did not come from me. It is a door. Nothing more, Piao. A door. You understand?”
Slowly pulling away, the Hong-qi , its window gliding fully closed.
“Yes, I understand,” said the Senior Investigator, walking back to the river.
Chapter 8
Heaven lends us a soul. Earth will lend us a grave …
Obey the customs, the rites. Not to do so can bring ill fortune. Can wreak disaster upon the family of the deceased.
If you are old, respect cannot be shown to a younger person whom life no longer possesses. Especially a bachelor. A guan guan , a ‘bare branch’. His body should not be brought into the house, but left in the funeral parlour. No prayers should be said for him, not even by his parents. If it is a baby that should die, your baby … no funeral rites can be performed. No prayers whispered. Your little one will be buried in complete silence.
There is much to do in the house of one whom life no longer possesses. All statues and deities covered with red paper, so as not to be exposed to the body or the coffin. Mirrors removed from sight. One who sees the coffin in the reflection of a mirror will surely have a death occur in their own family. Shortly they will be removing the mirrors in their own house.
A white cloth will be hung in the doorway of the home. If the deceased is male, a gong placed on the left-hand side of the entrance. If the deceased is female, a gong placed on the right-hand side of the entrance. Do not dress the deceased in the colour red, as this will surely cause them to become a ghost. Clothes should be white, brown, black, or blue. Their faces to be covered with a fine yellow cloth. Their body with a light blue cloth. Their hair comb, broken in two. One half placed within the coffin. The other half retained by a family member.
During the wake do not wear jewellery.
Do not wear red, the colour of happiness.
Do not cut your hair for 49 days. During mourning, wail and cry. It is a sign of respect, of loyalty. The wails, the cries, to be louder the larger the fortune that has been left.
Do not be late to the mourning, or you will have to crawl to the coffin on your knees.
Burn the joss paper, the prayer-money, throughout the wake or your deceased loved one will not have sufficient income in the afterlife.
Provide for the monk who, with his chanted Taoist scripts, through the long night will smooth the path of the deceased soul into heaven. Provide for the musicians; music played on flute, gong, trumpet, smoothing the passage to the afterlife. The souls of the dead face many obstacles, trials, torments, torture. They must pay for the sins that they have perpetrated in life. Death, no easy journey.
A crescendo of wailing, the coffin lid nailed in place. Separation of the dead from the living. All faces turned away. To see a coffin sealed, very unlucky. Yellow, white, the
Zoul, accepting with a reluctant nod.
“Why the Internet?”
Knowing that he would get no answer. No answer coming.
“There are many restrictions, Senior Investigator. Laws. Permits to obtain. Personal use of the Internet with no restrictions is, is as rare as a woman without an opinion.”
Piao, his eyes bright with fierceness. Zoul nodding.
“But it can be arranged.”
Buttoning the collar of his coat, the Comrade Chief Officer. Piao envying him having someone to sew his buttons for him. Moving with Zoul toward the Red Flag. A sleepy-eyed chauffeur throwing his cigarette onto the cobbles. The door opening, and with it a smell of antique leather and fat septuagenarian arses.
“Comrade Chief Officer, did Di express any concerns to you, or to any other comrade officer?”
“No.”
“Did he produce any reports that would throw any light on the horrors that we have just witnessed?”
“No.”
The door closing.
“But there is a file, Senior Investigator. Tomorrow you shall have that file.”
And through the small gap at the top of the side window.
“This file, it did not come from me. It is a door. Nothing more, Piao. A door. You understand?”
Slowly pulling away, the Hong-qi , its window gliding fully closed.
“Yes, I understand,” said the Senior Investigator, walking back to the river.
Chapter 8
Heaven lends us a soul. Earth will lend us a grave …
Obey the customs, the rites. Not to do so can bring ill fortune. Can wreak disaster upon the family of the deceased.
If you are old, respect cannot be shown to a younger person whom life no longer possesses. Especially a bachelor. A guan guan , a ‘bare branch’. His body should not be brought into the house, but left in the funeral parlour. No prayers should be said for him, not even by his parents. If it is a baby that should die, your baby … no funeral rites can be performed. No prayers whispered. Your little one will be buried in complete silence.
There is much to do in the house of one whom life no longer possesses. All statues and deities covered with red paper, so as not to be exposed to the body or the coffin. Mirrors removed from sight. One who sees the coffin in the reflection of a mirror will surely have a death occur in their own family. Shortly they will be removing the mirrors in their own house.
A white cloth will be hung in the doorway of the home. If the deceased is male, a gong placed on the left-hand side of the entrance. If the deceased is female, a gong placed on the right-hand side of the entrance. Do not dress the deceased in the colour red, as this will surely cause them to become a ghost. Clothes should be white, brown, black, or blue. Their faces to be covered with a fine yellow cloth. Their body with a light blue cloth. Their hair comb, broken in two. One half placed within the coffin. The other half retained by a family member.
During the wake do not wear jewellery.
Do not wear red, the colour of happiness.
Do not cut your hair for 49 days. During mourning, wail and cry. It is a sign of respect, of loyalty. The wails, the cries, to be louder the larger the fortune that has been left.
Do not be late to the mourning, or you will have to crawl to the coffin on your knees.
Burn the joss paper, the prayer-money, throughout the wake or your deceased loved one will not have sufficient income in the afterlife.
Provide for the monk who, with his chanted Taoist scripts, through the long night will smooth the path of the deceased soul into heaven. Provide for the musicians; music played on flute, gong, trumpet, smoothing the passage to the afterlife. The souls of the dead face many obstacles, trials, torments, torture. They must pay for the sins that they have perpetrated in life. Death, no easy journey.
A crescendo of wailing, the coffin lid nailed in place. Separation of the dead from the living. All faces turned away. To see a coffin sealed, very unlucky. Yellow, white, the
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