The Ghost Brides of Shandong

When the Gao Gao clan lost its favourite son

In a coal disaster in the mines of Shandong,

He could not be buried in the family plot

For he died unmarried, with his lifeline cut.

 

So they wept and they wailed for a cold ghost bride

And they searched in the village and the countryside

For a girl to carry his descendant line,

But the girls were rare, and there wasn’t much time.

 

The corpses of long dead buried are ‘dry’,

Taken from the grave beneath a star filled sky,

But the clan insisted on a corpse that was ‘wet’,

A girl too recent to be dried out yet.

 

A farmer had bought himself a girl he could sell

For a true life marriage, but the girl wasn’t well,

He could get more money for a ghost, they said,

So he strangled the girl, and he sold her, dead.

 

The Gao Gao’s bought her and dressed her in red

And they laid her beside the son that was dead,

They carried out the ‘minghun’ ceremony

That would bind them together for eternity.

 

Then they both were buried in the family plot,

And the brother gave them both a son he had got

Who carried on the line distinct for the dead.

So the dead son’s spirit wouldn’t rise, it’s said.

 

In the Northern Provinces where coal holds sway

In Shaanxi, Shandong, and even Hebei,

When the miners die from a coalface fall

There are ghost brides buried who will marry them all.

 

David Lewis Paget

Reviews

[Tate Morgan]

somehow this reminds me of the Mormon practice of praying for the dead people they don't even know. It's kind of creepy. I don't know anything about Chinese religion and don't pretend to. But it does seem like a human trait to worry more about the dead than the living. I wonder why that is? As I always say I don't need help in heaven, my friends need help on earth so I'll use what I have here to make their lives a little more bearable and make mine more enjoyable.

[David Scott]

You show the traditions of ancient "civilization" with a dignified, yet cold tone. I love the poem and the story line was timed perfectly! Great work.

[Marie]

Is this a real tradition? It sound fascinating.