Synopsis of the story of "The Crossing of the Dead" takes place during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Northern Song Dynasty. "History of the Song Dynasty - River Canal Chronicles" records: "The Yellow River flows northward and overflows every year. The people living near the river have no peace and no account of the drowned." Frequent floods have created a demand for corpse fishing, and the business of corpse fishing in the Yellow River has become more and more prosperous. People who fish for corpses in the Yellow River are generally divided into upper and lower streams. The upper-class people are often entrusted by others to find the corpses of their relatives and friends and earn a living by earning rewards. This stream has formed an industry, and has set many rules and taboos, such as "three no-fishing", black dog hair and hemp rope must be used to fish out corpses, etc. Because they can finally put the client's relatives and friends to rest in peace, they are also highly valued by the people and are respectfully called "yin-yang crossover people" by the people. Despicable people have no taboos. They search for corpses floating in the Yellow River just to plunder their valuables, just like tomb robbers. Most of these corpse collectors threw the corpses into the water again after searching them without any respect. Their behavior was despised by the people and they were called "Yellow River water ghosts". The protagonist of the story, Shen Du, is a slightly different "Yellow River water ghost". Although he made a living by collecting corpses, he habitually brought every corpse he fished ashore for burial. He was a philistine but a kind-hearted person. Shen Du's life was completely changed because he picked up a female body on the river bank.
