Ghost Bride

In China, marriage is considered to be one of the three most important aspects in one's entire life. Traditionally, a whole wedding consists of 6 different steps in advance and then the wedding ceremony. Some would point out that the Chinese marriage customs are changing and developing all the time but we disagree. It has as much impact on families as it did during the times of the kings   The atmosphere created during the wedding is invariant - being ceremonious, enthusiastic, jubilant and auspicious.

In feudal society marriage depended on ones parents' orders and a match-maker's selection. I have been doing this for years. My father as did his father before him taught him, has bestowed upon me the skills of the trade well enough. It is my duty make sure everything goes well and in the order which pleases both parties. It is a well excepted profession in this part of the continent and suffice to say, it pays for itself too.

The proposal

The important parties in proposal and betrothal negotiations were the parents of the prospective bride and groom, rather than the bride and groom themselves. “Marriage was for continuing the ancestral line and creating alliances between families –;a duty far too important to be left in the rash hands of the young," my grandfather used to say.

It was early afternoon when I reached the bride’s residence. Later than I thought but they understood as I had made quite a long journey to get there. The house portrayed their financial status. They were not people of great wealth but I take no sides in the duties of  marriages. Having a daughter that is not married off, is a huge embarrassment in Chinese culture. I was given the task of finding the suitable partner for her ; someone with equal social strata as well as financial background ; and find a suitable partner for her I will. I did not have to point out that their background and social upbringing were not of the usual standard and that I had to put extra effort in finding them a good son-in-law because they already understood.

Our exchanges went well. The girl and the parents seemed anxious to meet her new husband-to-be. I showed them pictures that portrayed moments in their lives and places he has been to with his family etc. The parents wanted the marriage arranged as soon as possible. A few telephone calls later I was asked by the groom’s party if I could escort the bride to the village in order to meet the groom tomorrow. The bride’s parents were thrilled at this invitation but the girl however eager to meet her soul mate hesitated. I reassured her that I will safely deliver her to the groom after making arrangements for their meeting the next day. I would arrange her logging at the village inn until the next day and the parents insisted that they take gifts with her. Within a few hours the bride was all set. She had packed a moderate dress for the occasion; one that had been passed down to her and a few others to last for two days.

En route

Several hours passed and I managed to learn a lot about the girl. She was excited to finally be moving on with her life. She would talk of the exciting things they would do together and how she would serve her new family with respect and a sense of duty. She was 27. An age that was considered to be too old for marriage. She was grateful for what I was doing for her because we both knew very well how hard it is for a woman of her age to marry. She eased into conversation as though she considered me to be her guardian and savior.

I didn’t consider myself to be all that. Yes I did help families unite but just not in the way she thought she would be united in with her new family.

When I finally announced that we have reached the village that will be her future residence, she was beside herself with joy. The excitement and the thrill of being where she has always hoped to be was glistening in her eyes. It was late in the night but she insisted that I drive her around to see his residence before we go to the village inn.. “I want to see where he sleeps” She said lightheartedly. It was rather late but I too did not want to postpone this. I drove around to the quieter parts of the village near the woods. The density of the houses towards this area thinned as I parked in front of a very old mansion.  The mansion loomed over us with an eerie glow to it. The three storied mansion had only the porch light on and with its light we could see the garden surrounding it. We could barely see the family cemetery next to it.

I looked up towards the sky to see the giant white orb looming over us. “It’s called the hunter’s moon”  I said out aloud breaking the silence between us.

“Huh?” her voice cracked as we both realized that the thrill and excitement of being next to her future husband’s residence had vanished from her voice. “my grandfather used to tell us stories of the rich harvest that was expected by the villagers during this type of moon . Have you ever seen a moon so big and bright? I asked her.

           

The night was calm. No wind, no slight breeze even, not the sound of the leaves rustling in the wind, nor the sound of any living creature around us.

She was looking at the porch light and wondered out loud “which room do you think is his? Maybe that one” She said, pointing out to a window towards the far corner of the mansion. “ But this doesn’t look like the house in the pictures” she said squinting at the shadows cast by the headstones in the family cemetery. I could tell she was trying hard to recall images from the photographs I had showed her previously.

 “Well. You did want to see where he sleeps.” I replied as I slid my hand holding the knife over her right jugular vein. Killing people and selling their bodies is less work than stealing them from graves. It wasn’t what my father who taught me this fact. But it got the job done either way.

I looked towards the heavens once again. I’ve always wondered why it was called the hunter’s moon. Perhaps this is why.


The facts behind the story 

A single man will always cause trouble. Even after he’s dead.

A man who dies unmarried will be restless, he’ll move around haunting, making all sorts of problems for his family. The lonely man’s spirit will torment his family with demands and neediness. There underlies the belief in parts of China where old superstitions die hard, that a man must go to the grave with a wife.

Even though high-speed trains and big coal money are changing the cities, an hour or two south of the capital Taiyuan lie villages trapped in another time. Traditional cave homes have been replaced by earthen villages that wind and sand blended back into the yellow hillsides. Many of these villages are losing women from their graves, bodies disappearing in the dark of night.

A tradition outlawed decades ago has made a big comeback: ghost marriages. It’s not the same as it once was, when two families would meet and agree to marry off their dead children for the afterlife. Rather, grave robbing has become big business, with female corpses in these parts selling for between a few hundred dollars to upwards of $7,000, depending on age at death and time elapsed.

The practice of ghost marriage, which may date as far back as 17th century B.C., is rare in modern China. Mao Zedong tried to eliminate the custom after he assumed power in 1949. But some rural families in northern China still try to find spouses for their deceased children out of fear that the ghosts will otherwise come back to haunt them.

A female corpse may fetch as much as $21,000 on the black market. Sometimes families head straight to the hospital and seal the deal for a female body themselves. They then find a matchmaker who would choose an auspicious day for the marriage, which involves giving paper dowries that are later burned in front of the graves and holding sumptuous feasts.

In 2009, police arrested five men for exhuming the grave of a teenage girl who had committed suicide. A father who lost his son in a car crash agreed to pay more than $4,000 for the corpse bride. Two years earlier, a man was arrested after killing and then selling six women, claiming that "killing people and selling their bodies is less work than stealing them from graves.”