The Haunted Monastery

VIII

They made the now familiar journey to the landing over the temple-nave. The novice took the passage opposite the one that led to the store-room. It was a long, straight corridor, lit by only one broken lantern.

While walking behind the novice, Judge Dee suddenly had the uncomfortable feeling that someone was watching him from behind. He halted in his steps and looked over his shoulder. He saw something dark flit past the entrance at the far end of the passage. It could have been a man in a grey robe. As he walked on, he asked the novice: "Do the monks often use this passage too?"

"Oh no, sir! I only took it because it saves us from going outside in the rain. All people who have business in the west tower go up there by the spiral staircase, near the portal in front of the refectory."

When they had arrived in the small square hall in the west side of the building, the judge stood still in order to orientate himself.

"Where does that lead to?" he asked, pointing at a narrow door on his right.

"It gives access to the Gallery of Horrors, sir, in the left wing of the central court, behind the temple. But we novices are not allowed to go in there."

"I would have thought that viewing that gallery would be a good deterrent to committing sins!" Judge Dee remarked. He knew that every larger Taoist monastery had a gallery where the punishments meted out to sinners in the Ten Taoist Hells were painted in lurid detail on the wall, or plastically represented by statues moulded in clay or sculpted in wood.

As they ascended a few steps on their left, the novice warned: "You'll have to be careful sir! The balustrade of the landing in front of the Master's room is being repaired. Please keep close to me!"

When he was standing on the platform in front of a high, red-lacquered door, Judge Dee saw that part of the balustrade was indeed missing. He looked down into the dark shaft of the staircase. It seemed very deep.

"These are the stairs I mentioned just now. They lead down to the west wing," the novice explained. "They come out in front of the refectory, three floors down."

Judge Dee gave him his large red visiting card. The novice knocked on the door.

A booming voice told them to come in.

In the brilliant light of four high silver candelabra a tall man sat reading at a huge desk, piled with books and papers. The novice bowed deeply and placed the visiting card on the table. Master Sun glanced at it, then quickly got up and came forward to meet the judge.

"So you are the magistrate of our district!" he said in a deep, sonorous voice. "Welcome to the Monastery of the Morning Clouds, Dee!"

Judge Dee bowed, his arms respectfully folded in his wide sleeves. "This person had never dared to hope, sir," he said, "that a mishap on the road would provide the long looked-for opportunity of paying my respects to such an eminent person."

"Let's dispense with all empty formality, Dee!" Sun said jovially. "Sit down here in front of my desk while I put these papers in order." As he resumed his seat in the armchair behind his desk, he said to the novice who had poured out two cups of tea: "Thank you, my boy, you may go now. I'll look after the guest myself."

While sipping the fragrant jasmine tea the judge looked at his host as he was quickly sorting out the papers before him. He was as tall as the judge, but more heavily built. His thick neck was half buried in his broad, bulging shoulders. Judge Dee knew the Master must be nearly sixty, but his rosy, round face didn't show a single wrinkle. A short, grey ringbeard grew round his chin, his silvery grey hair was combed back straight from the broad forehead and plastered to his large, round head. Having assumed the status of Taoist recluse, the Master wore no cap. He wore his moustache trimmed short, but he had thick, tufted eyebrows. Everything about him indicated that this was a remarkable personality.

Judge Dee read some of the scrolls inscribed with Taoist texts that covered the walls. Then Sun pushed the sorted-out papers away. Fixing the judge with his piercing eyes he asked: "You referred to a mishap on the road. Nothing serious, I hope?"

"Oh no, sir! I stayed for two weeks in the capital, and early this morning left there to go back to Han-yuan, in a tilt cart. We had hoped to be home before the evening meal. But shortly after we had crossed the district frontier, the weather got worse, and when we were up in the mountains here, the axle broke. Therefore I had to ask for shelter in this monastery. We'll leave tomorrow morning. I am told these storms don't last long."

"Bad luck for you, good luck for me!" Sun said with a smile. "I always enjoy talking with capable young officials. You should have come here earlier, Dee! This monastery is within your jurisdiction."

"I have been very remiss, sir!" the judge said hastily. "The fact is that there was some trouble in Han-yuan, and…"

"I heard all about it!" Sun interrupted him. "You did good work there, Dee. Prevented a major disturbance of the peace, in fact."

The judge acknowledged the compliment with a bow. He said:

"I shall certainly come back here soon, in order to be further instructed by Your Excellency." Since this learned and experienced high official was apparently in a friendly mood, he thought he ought to try to settle at least one aspect of the problem of the mutilated naked woman. After a momentary hesitation he resumed: "Might I take the liberty of consulting Your Excellency about a curious experience I had here just now?"

"By all means! What happened, and where?"

Judge Dee Visits an Exalted Person

"As a matter of fact," Judge Dee said, somewhat embarrassed, "I don't know what happened exactly. When I went up to the quarters assigned to me, I saw for a brief moment a scene that must have happened more than a hundred years ago, when the soldiers slaughtered the rebels here. Are such things possible?"

Sun leaned back in his armchair. He said gravely: "I wouldn't call it impossible, Dee. Doesn't it often happen that upon entering an empty room you definitely know that someone had been there a few moments before? You can't explain that, it's just a feeling. It means that the person who was there before you left something of himself behind. Yet he did nothing special there, perhaps he just looked at a book or wrote a letter. Now suppose that the same man died a violent death in that room. It is only to be expected that the terrible emotion of that moment impregnated the atmosphere of that room, and so deeply, too, that it lingers on for years. If a hyper-sensitive person, or a person who has become hypersensitive because he is very tired, happens to enter there, he may well perceive that imprint. Don't you think that some such reasoning might explain what you saw, Dee?"

The judge nodded slowly. Evidently Sun had given much thought to such abstruse matters. The explanation did not convince him, but it was a possibility he would have to keep in mind. He said politely: "You are probably right, sir. I am indeed rather tired, and on top of that I caught a cold in the rain outside. In that condition…"

"A cold? I haven't had a cold for thirty years!" Sun cut him short. "But I live according to a strict discipline, you know, nurturing my vital essence."

"Do you believe in the Taoist theory about reaching immortality in this life, sir?" Judge Dee asked, somewhat disappointed.

"Of course not!" Sun replied disdainfully. "Every man is immortal, but only in so far that he lives on in his offspring. Heaven has limited human life to a few score years, and all attempts at prolonging it beyond that limit by artificial means are futile. What we should strive after is to pass our limited life with a healthy mind and body. And that can be achieved by living in a more natural manner than we are wont to, especially by improving our diet. Be careful with your diet, Dee!"

"I am a follower of Confucius," the judge said, "but I fully admit that Taoism also contains deep wisdom."

"Taoism continues where Confucius left off," Master Sun remarked. "Confucianism explains how man should behave as a member of an ordered society. Taoism explains man's relations to the Universe — of which that social order is but one aspect."

Judge Dee was not exactly in the mood for an involved philosophical discussion. But he felt he should not take his leave before having tried to verify two points. After a suitable pause he asked: "Could it be that undesirable elements from outside are roaming about here, sir? Just now, when the novice was taking me here, I had the feeling that we were being followed. While passing the corridor that links the nave with this tower, to be precise."

Master Sun gave him a searching look. He thought for a while, then he asked suddenly:

"Are you fond of fish?"

"Yes, I am," the judge replied nonplussed.

"There you are! Fish clogs the system, my dear fellow. It makes the blood-circulation sluggish, and that affects the nerves. That's what makes you see and hear things that aren't there! Rhubarb is what you need, I think. It purifies the blood. I'll look it up. I have rather a fine collection of medical books. Remind me tomorrow morning. I'll draw up a detailed dieting schedule for you."

"Thank you, sir. I hate to trouble you, but I would be most grateful for your elucidation on another point that has often puzzled me. I have heard people say that some Taoists, under the pretext of religious motives, practise orgies in secret, and force young women to take part in those. Is there any truth in these allegations?"

"Utter nonsense, of course!" Master Sun exclaimed. "Heavens, Dee, how could we Taoists indulge in orgies, on our strict diet? Orgies, forsooth!" He rose and added: "Now we had better go downstairs. The banquet is about to start and the abbot'll be waiting for us. I must warn you that he's not a very profound scholar, but he means well, and he manages this monastery quite efficiently."

"That must be an onerous task," Judge Dee said as he rose also. "The monastery is like a small city! I would like to explore it a bit, but I was told that there doesn't exist a floor plan, and that anyway the part beyond the temple is closed to visitors."

"All that hocus-pocus! Only meant to impress the credulous crowd! I have told the abbot Heaven knows how many times that the monastery is required to have a floor plan; Article 28 of the Regulations of Officially-recognised Places of Worship. Look here, Dee, I can orientate you in a trice." Walking over to the side wall he pointed to a scroll hanging there and went on: "This is a diagram I drew myself. It is really quite simple. The people who built this place two hundred years ago wanted the ground plan to represent the universe, and at the same time Man, as a miniature replica of it. The outline of the whole complex is an oval, which represents the Original Beginning. It faces south, and is built on four levels against the mountain slope. All along the east side is a deep ravine. On the west is the forest.

"Now then! We start from the front court, a triangle, with around it the kitchens, stables, and the rooms of the lay brothers and novices. Then we have the temple court, flanked by two squares, which stand for two large, three-storied buildings. The west wing has the refectory on the ground floor, the library on the second, and the quarters of the prior, the almoner and the registrar on the third. The east wing has on the ground floor the large assembly hall where they are now staging the mystery plays, and the offices. The second and third floor are for lodging visitors from outside. You and your family have been accommodated there, I suppose?"

"Yes," the judge replied, "we are on the north-east corner of the third floor. Two large, comfortable rooms."

"Good. We go on. Behind the temple court is the temple itself — there are some fine antique statues, well worth seeing. Behind the temple is the central court, with a tower on each corner. You are here in the south-west tower, which was assigned to me. On the left of the court is the Gallery of Horrors — a concession to popular beliefs, Dee! On the right are the quarters of the ordained monks, and at the back, over the gate, the private residence of the abbot. Lastly we have a circular section, the Sanctum. To sum up, we have a triangle, two squares, one square, and a circle, in that order. Each of those shapes has a mystical meaning, but we'll skip that. The main thing is that now you know how to orientate yourself. There are, of course, hundreds of passages, corridors and staircases that connect all the buildings, but if you keep this diagram in mind, you can't go far wrong!"

Master Sun's Diagram of the Monastery

"Thank you, sir!" Judge Dee said gratefully. "What buildings are there in the Sanctum?"

"Only a small pagoda which contains the urn with the ashes of the Founding Saint."

"Does anyone live in that part of the monastery?"

"Of course not! I visited the place myself. There is only that pagoda and the surrounding wall. But as it is considered the holiest part, I did not draw it in my diagram, so as not to offend our good abbot. I replaced it by the halved circle you see there on top, the Taoist symbol of the working of the universe. It represents the interaction of the two Primordial Forces, the eternal rhythm of nature, which we call Tao. You may call those two forces Light and Dark, Positive and Negative, Man and Woman, Sun and Moon — take your choice! The circle shows how, when Positive reaches its lowest ebb, it merges with Negative, and how when Negative attains its zenith it naturally changes into Positive at its lowest point. The supreme doctrine of Tao, Dee, expressed in one simple symbol!"

"What is the meaning of the dot inside each half?" Judge Dee asked, interested despite himself.

"It means that Positive harbours the germ of Negative, and vice-versa. That applies to all natural phenomena, including man and woman. You know that every man has in his nature a feminine element, and every woman a masculine strain."

"That's quite true!" the judge said pensively. Then he added: "I seem to remember that somewhere I saw that circle also divided horizontally. Does that have a special significance?"

"Not that I know of. The dividing line ought to be vertical, as I drew it here. Well, let's not keep the abbot waiting. My old friend is rather a stickler for formality!" As they went outside Sun added quickly: "Mind your step now, the balustrade is broken here. The lay brothers were supposed to repair it, but they maintain that the preparations for the festival kept them too busy. They are a pack of lazybones, anyway! Here, I'll hold your arm, I don't suffer from any fear of heights!"