Karmic Justice
We caught a glimpse of the cosmic world of Cao Xueqin yesterday in a way that is quite fascinating.
Jia Yucun decided to make a big show of demonstrating Xue Pan’s cosmic innocence. He and his clerk conspired to have Xue Pan declared dead due to a mysterious illness, allowing Xue Pan to go into hiding. And then, to cover things up, Jia Yucun agreed to convene a fake “spirit writing” (扶鸞) session in order to show that Feng Yuan’s ghost (魂魄) confirmed that cosmic justice had indeed been served.
I don’t think Cao Xueqin could really get any more cynical than this.
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