The people waited for many years.
Not long after the start of the 'Great Cultural Revolution', the long empty shrines were finally given new objects for veneration, and took on a new form.
Now, on both sides of the shrine, pieces of red paper were pasted up, inscribed with blessings. The one on the left read:
"May the almighty leader enjoy boundless longevity" .
The one on the right: "May vice-commander-in-chief Lin enjoy good health."
In the middle of the shrine, a plaster-cast image of Chairman Mao was installed. The village authorities lost no time sending people to the commune headquarters for training in the new form of prayer ceremony, so that the new prayers could be brought to Ji village.
This new ceremony started with all the adults in a family dividing themselves evenly on either side of the shrine. Everyone had to be holding, and waving, a copy of Chairman Mao's little red book. Then, the first part of the ceremony could begin: singing.
"Chairman Mao, beloved and revered,
Oh Chairman Mao, beloved and revered,
You are the bright red sun inside our hearts"
And so on, and so on.
Next up—readings from the little red book. Most people in Ji village couldn't read, but the young people's memories were sharp, so they would lead their families in reciting the sections they'd memorised, for example:
"Revolution is not a dinner party."
The old people couldn't speak Chinese, so all they could do was flail their tongues about stiffly in an attempt to follow along:
"Revo … shun … is nat … dinner!"
Or: "Revo … is … partee …"
The third step of the ceremony was to recite couplets. In this too, the young people took the lead:
"We respectfully wish the almighty leader Chairman Mao boundless longevity!"
The response, completed by the vigorous waving of little red books, was: "Boundless longevity! Boundless longevity!"
Then: "We respectfully wish vice-chairman Lin good health!"
The response to this part was: "Eternal health! Eternal health!"
At the end of the ceremony, the little red books were returned to their place in the shrine, and the clack of chopstick against bowl merged with the slurping of thin soup.
It was at this time that work team leader Kelsang Wangdu fell ill. First, his face muscles got all twisted up, then his hands and feet started spasming and he fell on the floor, his body curling into a tight ball. His eyes rolled up in their sockets, and his teeth clattered noisily against each other.
These were all classic symptoms of demonic possession—this much, the villagers knew from experience. The barefoot doctor[1] clinic gave him two white pills to swallow, but they didn't stop his twitching. Then the clinic gave him a yellow pill, but that didn't work either. Since the new ways were of no use, there was nothing for it but to try the old way. This had also been the case with the overgrown pastures—in the absence of modern tools, the villagers had to rely on their wizard's ability to communicate with the wind and the spirits to safely burn the weeds away.
Actually, in this particular case, the old way was quite progressive. Kelsang Wangdu was helped into a sitting position. They needed a holy book to put on his head—Chairman Mao's little red book did the job. Then, they burned some cypress branches—the key was the smoke—to which they also added some myrrh, saffron, and restorative snuff. They tore a page out of the holy book, burned it, and sprinkled the ashes in some liquor, which they poured into Kelsang Wangdu's mouth. He sneezed violently a few times, but then his body gradually began to relax, and the twitching stopped.
All this was only a temporary measure—something to tide him over until they could get him to the commune hospital. That was where he could get injections and other medicine. It was already dark out by the time a horse was fetched to take him to hospital. Cold moonlight poured down from the sky. Clear and shallow like the water of a mountain stream, it lay on the earth.
Kelsang Wangdu was too exhausted from his spasms to sit unsupported on the horse's back. He fell to the ground like a sack of air.
Sprawled on his back in the moonlight, he groaned pitifully.
"Ai yaaa, I'm going to die, I'm going to die!"
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