The Candle Keeper: Strange Stories from Zheng County

Candlekeeper is the nickname for the members of Guanwei Pavilion. As for the origin of this "Guanwei Pavilion"? It's a long story. According to legend, our origins can be traced back to the Warring States Period. At that time, it was a common practice for various vassal states to cultivate scholars. Qi State had the "Jixia Academy" and Zhao State had the "Pingyuan Junmenke". Our group was the first "wanderers" responsible for collecting anecdotes for the princes and kings and exploring the secrets of the people. "Six Tao" said: "The eight wanderers are mainly responsible for waiting for traitors to change, opening up favors, observing the enemy's intentions, and thinking they are spies." This is the group of people we are talking about. Candlelight has two meanings. One refers to the light of truth—the glimmer of reason that remains amidst the darkness of superstition and rumors. The second refers to the record itself - every file is a candle, burning itself and lighting the way for those who come after. The candlekeeper's creed is simple but harsh: only record, not interfere; only seek the truth, not spread falsehoods; only doubt, not assert. Behind this creed are lessons of blood and tears. In the early Ming Dynasty, a candle keeper tried to publicly expose a "miracle scam" in a certain place. As a result, he was falsely accused by the local squire of making monstrous lies and was beaten to death. Since then, Guanwei Pavilion has established an iron rule: the truth only exists in files and will not appear in the world. Candle keepers must be invisible bystanders of history, their pens are knives, they only reveal the facts and do not harm the living. The Five Volumes of Strange Stories from Zheng County are such a set of files.