Is exhuming corpses in Xiangxi a rumor or is it true?

The theory of driving away corpses in western Hunan is also known as moving spirits, walking shadows and walking corpses. It belongs to Maoshan Shuzhuyou Branch and originated from Yuanling, Luxi, Chenxi and Xupu counties in western Hunan. Since most of these areas are mountainous and difficult for vehicles to pass through, there is an industry of exhuming corpses. Generally, warlocks will rush the corpses back to their hometown for burial before they are decomposed.

The corpse is usually covered with a wide black shroud, a tall felt hat on its head, and a few pieces of yellow paper with spells written on it hanging down on its forehead. In front of these corpses wrapped in black shrouds, there is a corpse driver holding a gong. The corpse exorcist led the group of corpses forward while beating the small gong in his hand, usually shouting: "Dust to dust, soil to dust, life is so hard. Zombies, follow me, zombies, Go back to your hometown and go to the underworld soon."

The exorcist does not light a lantern, but shakes a soul-catching bell in his hand to warn night walkers to avoid them, and to notify those who have dogs to lock them up. If there are more than two corpses, the corpse remover will string the corpses one by one with straw ropes, one at a distance of seven or eight feet. Another theory is that the reason why corpse exorcists can exorcise corpses is because they use an herb from the Miao family and apply it on the mouth and nose of the corpse in the bardo body. Then the corpse can continue to walk at night like a normal person, but not Able to speak and think, and obediently obey the command of the corpse chaser.

The folk industry in Xiangxi has been exorcising corpses since ancient times. Those who want to learn this industry must meet two conditions: first, courage, and second, good health. Moreover, one must become a disciple. The corpse exorcist never recruits apprentices randomly. The apprentice's parents will first create a written certificate, and then the corpse-killer must conduct an interview. Generally speaking, applicants need to be over 16 years old and over 1.7 meters tall. There is also a very special condition: they need to be ugly in appearance. The corpse driver first asks the candidate to look at the sun in the sky, then spin, and then suddenly stops, asking you to immediately distinguish between east, west, north and south. If you can't tell the difference, you will not be hired. Because you don't distinguish between east, west, north and south, it means that you can't tell the direction when driving corpses at night, and you can't chase them away. Then, the corpse driver will ask you to find things and carry a load. Because the corpse is not a living person after all, it cannot climb up a steep slope. The corpse movers had to carry and carry them up the high slope one by one. Finally, there is an interview. This is where the corpse exorcist puts a tung tree leaf on a grave in the mountains and asks you to retrieve it alone in the dark. Only in this way can you show that you have the courage to be a corpse exterminator. If you successfully pass these three levels, you will have the opportunity to become an apprentice of a corpse-killing craftsman.

Moreover, the corpse exorcist must learn thirty-six kinds of skills before he can exorcise corpses. The first type of Kung Fu is the "Standing Kung Fu" of the dead body, which means that the dead body must first be able to stand up. The second skill is "walking skill", which means the corpse can stop and walk freely, and the third skill is "turning skill", which means the corpse can turn while walking. In addition, there are also "Downhill Kung Fu", "Bridge Crossing Kung Fu", "Dumb Dog Kung Fu", etc. The "dumb dog skill" can make the dogs along the way stop barking when they see the corpse. The dead body is afraid of dogs barking. If a dog barks, the dead body will be frightened. Especially when a dog bites, the dead body has no ability to resist. The dead body will be bitten to pieces. The last kind of skill is the "resurrection skill". The better the soul-resurrection skill, the more souls of the dead corpse will be recovered, and it will be particularly easy to pick up the corpse.

The corpse-catcher is usually at home, just like ordinary farmers, "working at sunrise and resting at sunset." Only when they receive the task of expelling corpses, they dress up and go to exorcise the corpses. Although they are engaged in the business of exorcising corpses, they are taboo about the term exorcism. Therefore, when experts ask them to drive away corpses, they all say: "Master, please go for a walk" or "take a walk." If the corpse exorcist agrees, he will take out a special piece of yellow paper and ask you to write the deceased's name, date of birth, date of death, gender, etc. on the yellow paper, and then draw a talisman and stick it on it. On this yellow paper, finally hide this yellow paper with yourself. The dress of the corpse exorcist is also very special: no matter what the weather, he wears a pair of straw sandals, a green cloth gown, a black belt around his waist, a green cloth hat on his head, and a bag of charms hidden in his waistband. The first thing the master teaches his disciples is to draw a talisman. This very strange talisman is something that looks like words and paintings drawn with a red pen on yellow paper. If an unexpected situation occurs on the way, he will hang this strange talisman towards the west. on trees or doors, and sometimes burned with ashes and swallowed with water.

There is also a saying in Xiangxi about “three drives and three no drives”. Those who were beheaded (their heads had to be sewn together), those who were hanged, and those who stood in a cage to die could be expelled. The reason is that they were all forced to die, and they were unconvinced. They missed their hometown and their relatives. They could use magic to lure their souls away, use spells to suppress them in their corpses, and then use magic to drive them to climb mountains and ridges, and even Get on the boat and cross the water to return home.

Those who died of illness, those who voluntarily died by hanging in a river, and those whose limbs were damaged by thunder and fire cannot be driven away. Among them, those who died of illness have already lived to the end of their lives, and their souls have been lured to King Yama by the ghosts of impermanence. Naturally, magic cannot call their souls back from the gate of hell; while the souls of those who drowned themselves in rivers and hanged their necks are "being taken away by the ghosts of impermanence". "Replacement" is gone.

(In other words, they were caught as a substitute) And they may be handing over. If a new soul is recruited, the old soul cannot be replaced, won't it affect the reincarnation of the old soul? In the underworld punishment, King Yama is actually very disgusted with people who do not cherish their own lives and deliberately commit suicide. Even if he did not do evil in life, he is generally unwilling to agree to let them reincarnate immediately, but has to wait for people who have the same suicide experience. Allow him to reincarnate. This may be a long process, so some ghosts who commit suicide will use some despicable means to make some people lose their minds and commit suicide! This is the ghost I introduced earlier to find a substitute.

In addition, those who died due to lightning were all serious sinners, and those who were burned to death by fire often had incomplete skin and flesh, which could not be eliminated either.

In fact, this is understandable. According to Tantric theory, there are two types of people who do not have a bardo (the transitional period of death). One is a great good person, whose soul immediately goes to heaven and is included in the immortal class. The second is a great evil person, whose soul falls straight into the immortal class. Entering the eighteenth level of hell, you will suffer all kinds of suffering and there will be no way out. Most of the people who die suddenly are the retribution of evil in the past life, so the magician can't do anything.