Chen Ajiu’s Three-Lifetime Ordeal

In late Qing Zhili, the young Chen Ajiu is born into poverty, and misfortune dogs his steps. The fiery red birthmark on his wrist is like a shackle of flame, a sign of an ominous mark from a past life. Guided by his uncle in the old man's final moments, he secretly practices the “Hibernating Dragon Insect Talisman” during the Ghost Festival. On New Year's Eve, in a snowbound temple, he burns the talisman and unleashes the backlash of karmic forces from three lifetimes! In an instant, he experiences the terror of a sorrowful monkey throttled by a whip, the despair of a lame ox with cracked bones pulling a plow, and the grief of a loyal dog beaten to death, its bloodied cries ringing out. The tears and blood of three lives spent in the animal realm pour over him like molten lava, scorching his soul and eating into his bones!

On the brink of death, Chen Ajiu awakens to the truth: the suffering of the monkey, ox, and dog was no calamity sent by heaven. It was the karmic debt he had created through ignorance in his past lives! He stops blaming fate and takes his crippled body as his boat, good intentions as his oars. He carries water and chops wood, honoring the elderly and caring for his parents to repay his “debt of affection”; he burns grass and makes offerings to the ox, cherishing all living things to repay his “debt of life”; he breaks up grain to feed dogs, discerning right from wrong to repay his “debt of gratitude.” When locusts ravage the land, he drives them away with sulfur and lime, earning hidden merit by saving lives. As his past karma gradually fades, the “mark of life fire” on his wrist grows faint as a lotus shadow.

At last, he trudges through the snow to an ancient temple and brings out the temple-protecting jade, chipped in his past life and healed in this one. He lays bare his heart: “I do not seek to escape my debts. I wish to guide the ignorant monkey, the stubborn ox, and the resentful dog within my heart!” Hearing his great vow, “Sweeping the ground is sweeping the heart; chanting sutras awakens the spirit,” the old monk gives him the name Mingxin. Beneath the blue lantern and ancient Buddha, the soft swish of a bamboo broom sweeps away the dust of three lifetimes. At last, a lotus pattern glows on his wrist, and a golden lotus mirage blooms on the stone steps. Free of debt, his heart is light; karma is clear at last.