The Secret Records of Yin and Yang I

During the Jiajing era of the Ming dynasty, Cheng Wenyuan, a Director in the Ministry of Rites who knew the rites and rituals inside out, dressed his late father-in-law in his burial clothes. Soon afterward, his whole family began suffering from strange dreams. In them, his father-in-law always looked uneasy, as if he held a grudge.

Cheng Wenyuan investigated the details of the funeral but found nothing. Later, he learned from the ancient text Secret Record of Yin and Yang that the problem was connected to how the burial clothes had been put on. He also discovered that a “ceremonial tomb” in the cluster of ancient tombs northwest of the capital could resolve the matter. At midnight on the fifteenth of each month, anyone who came with a sincere heart could meet a guide.

On the night of the fifteenth, Cheng Wenyuan went to the ceremonial tomb and met its guardian. The guardian led him inside, into a place like a hidden city. It dealt specifically with problems caused in the living world by the dressing of the dead, and had many departments handling different matters, as well as spirits from every dynasty who had remained there because of burial-clothing mishaps.

Cheng Wenyuan studied at the ceremonial tomb for many days, handling related cases and passing the basic tests. The guardian then took him to the treasury and explained that there were three key principles for dressing the dead, concerning timing, who should do it, and how. Cheng Wenyuan had made at least two mistakes when dressing his father-in-law. But the three principles involved core secrets of the underworld, so the guardian said he would need further study and practice. For that day, the guardian could reveal only part of them.