Life of Bāo - Chapter 18
June 21,2023
In Chapter 17, a haiku is revealed. Research is required to find the second ‘text stone.’ The journey continues, and by the end of Chapter 18, two lives end, another mystery is revealed, and Bāo learns more about May 12, 2008. Master Zhao is driven by the words of his teacher, Lou Song Jian’ Guo, “The mystery will be revealed to you and then to China.”
Chapter 18
June 21, 2023
Deng Yan was nervous but immediately calmed herself. Stop. I performed well on practice exams. She surveyed the room and watched as participants found their assigned desks. The desks were placed in alphabetical order. Her name was printed in large black letters above a 3-D barcode on the exam’s top page. She sat down. The moderator, a woman with a perfect posture, stood on a platform at the front of the room and lifted her hands in greeting, “Welcome students to this year’s Gaokao. You are one of ten million students across China taking the exam this year.” A sudden noise from the back of the room caused commotion. Two proctors ran to the back of the room. A student had fainted. They will need to take the exam again next year. Too bad. The moderator at the front of the room ignored the commotion and continued. “If you need to leave your desk for any reason, raise your hand, and a proctor will handle your request. You may begin.”
Yan split the seal on the exam book and turned to the first question. “The more important thing: people are always busy doing things that they think are important, but it seems there is something more important in the world. Write an essay on your opinion of the topic.” Yan wrote for the next 3 1/2 hours.
***
Master Zhao woke Bāo up at 6 am for a walk into the city. They left for the day immediately after having breakfast, feeding the homeless men, and cleaning up. Bāo walked beside Master Zhao. Oddly, people honored the man he took for granted. Some clasped their hands in front of them in a prayer position and bowed to Master Zhao, who politely bowed back in return. Bāo’s legs were getting tired from the long walk. His legs were already sore from the rigorous exercise performed in the training hall yesterday. He saw the library in the distance, and he was relieved. The university library would hopefully hold the answers to Master Zhao’s questions.
Bāo stepped into a hole in the street, stumbled forward, and landed on his side. He gathered himself, brushed the dirt off his pants, and straightened his shirt.
Master Zhao, noticing a pendent, pointed to it and asked, “What is that?”
Bāo sheepishly replied, “It's a pendant I found at the museum.”
Master Zhao said angrily, “Found?” He held out his hand.
Bāo removed the pendant and placed it in Master Zhao’s hand. “I'm sorry. It's just that I –“
Master Zhao interrupted him, shouting, “It's just that I - nothing! It does not belong to you! If you learn nothing else, you must learn that stealing must stop. Do you understand student Bāo?”
Bāo’s chest ached with shame. He respected Master Zhao and valued his approval. He replied, “Yes, Master Zhao.”
“Where was this taken from?”
Bāo confessed, “The archive room at the museum, where I was sleeping.”
“How was it identified?”
Bāo was quick to remember. “The exhibit card identified it as the ‘Moon pendant’ from the Wei dynasty. It’s yellow quartz.”
“We must return it. First, you will wait at the library while I run an errand. Do not leave the library. I will meet you on the second floor, in the magazine area, in two hours. Understood?”
“Yes, Master Zhao.” Bāo wanted to visit Yan at the tea house, but that seemed impossible now. A library would have old newspapers on file somewhere. There should be accounts of the 2008 earthquake. The librarian at the information desk took him to the records room and gestured for him to sit in front of something that seemed to be a very old computer.
She said, “We still use this for newspapers. It’s a Microfiche reader. You said May 13, 2008?”
“Yes”
“Okay, I’ll get the film and show you how to operate this. The China Daily would be a good place to start.”
Bāo watched as she opened a file and removed a round tin. This is different from the school library. However, no internet must have sucked. She threaded the film so a dial could slide the film back and forth. She turned the dial and instructed, “This is how you move through the paper.” Images moved across the monitor with such speed that they were blurred. Please slow down.
“Let’s start at the front page.”
“Of course. Turn clockwise slowly. That’s it. I’ll be at the information desk if you need more assistance.”
“Thank you.” Look at that ad for a Google Android phone. He slowly turned the dial. He stared at the headline. “THE DAY THE EARTH MOVED.” He scanned the article. Rescuers are racing against time to reach survivors a day after the strongest quake that hit China in more than three decades jolted the southwestern province of Sichuan. A pain-stricken nation has been mobilized. Premier Wen Jiabao, who flew to Sichuan Monday evening, urged "calm, confidence and courage" in the face of the catastrophe.
He turned the dial and read. The Red Cross Society of the Republic of China blanketed the area surrounding the epicenter, located 50 miles north-northwest of Chengdu. A photo showed a man surrounded by people in yellow reflective vests. The caption read: “Fu Chang, a supervisor for the Sichuan province, speaks to local volunteers.” The article continued, “Thousands of people have died, and scientists have determined this to have been an 8.0 earthquake. Aftershocks of lesser magnitude will continue for another month. While you search, remember that you don't have to be a hero. Do not go into buildings that have partially collapsed. All of you have been assigned partners. Please keep each other in sight at all times. The job here is simple. Locate and treat survivors.”
Another account of the recovery effort included photos. An interview with a volunteer read, “The scene was surreal. Parts of the highway were intact, but other sections were split into large sheets of concrete that folded in on each other like an accordion. The landscape was void of standing trees. We searched all abandoned cars. We spray-painted a red circle with the number of fatalities found.”
Bāo now understood the magnitude of the suffering. How is it that I survived and so many perished?
Bāo sat back in his chair as he continued to scan articles. He leaned toward the microfiche reader when he noticed a title, Miracle Found Amongst the Rubble. The words of a volunteer described the scene. “I remember the stillness of the air, complete silence. Not even the sound of a bird chirping. Then I heard it—a cry. A baby’s cry. My partner shouted, “It’s a baby in a car seat. It’s in a tree limb. I carefully unbuckled the baby, wearing a blue onesie monogrammed with the name dragons on the front and Bāo embroidered in a script of white thread. The name Bāo means precious treasure.”
Bāo reread the article several times. I can’t believe it. That’s me. But where were my parents?
***
Master Zhao rang the bell at the door of the Chengdu Children's Welfare Institute. A young woman opened the door, bowed, and ushered him into the reception room. “How may I help you?”
“My name is Zhao Sun Feng. May I speak with the Director? I have assumed responsibility for one of your prior residents, Loong Bāo.”
“I am sorry to inform you, but our Director is deceased. It was sudden and a surprise to us”.
Master Zhao replied, “My condolences. Did this occur recently?”
“Yesterday. He had a visitor in the morning, and we found him slumped over his desk in the afternoon. A preliminary cause provided by the medical examiner was a heart attack.”
“My condolences for your loss. My concern is for Bāo. I wanted to find information about his past to help him become a productive adult.”
“How is young Bao? I do miss him,” she said, knowing other staff members were relieved he was gone. “He was a troubled but intelligent young man. Bāo ran away quite a few times but always returned.” Then she quickly added, “Until the last time he ran away.”
“Any information shared about Bāo will be held in strict confidence.”
She looked conflicted but said, “I can let you look at his file, but it must remain in our permanent records.” She asked Master Zhao to follow her into the office. “Please have a seat.”
Master Zhao reviewed the file; Bāo’s stay began in May 2009. His parents were thought to be victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. His only clue to identification was his name embroidered on his clothing. He had been cared for at the Chengdu Children's Hospital for one year, was given the last name Loong, and was transferred to the Welfare Institute. Many reports in his file described his poor behavior, truancy, suspicions of theft, trespassing, and curfew violations.
Exiting the office, Master Zhao thanked the woman and said, “He is challenging, but I have discovered a good heart, intelligence, and a willingness to learn.”
***
Master Zhao found Bāo in a comfortable leather chair, reading a graphic novel for teens. Master Zhao said, “I must go to the basement to review professional periodicals on Longmen Grotto in Luoyang. Stay here, and I will return shortly.” Once in the basement, he easily found academic archaeology articles on Longmen Grotto, which holds thousands of carved statues of Shakyamuni Buddha and his disciples.
The caption beneath a picture of a Buddha statue included the words ‘text stone.’ Exhilarated by reading the words ‘text stone,’ he recalled the Heiku line “Behind Text Stone makes two” and read quickly, “This Buddha statue was discovered at Longmen Grotto, sealed in a circular room. Behind this Buddha is an undisturbed ‘text stone,’ believed to be from the Wei dynasty.” The journal article was published in 1979. Master Zhao looked before and after the photo, expecting to see a picture of the mentioned ‘text stone.’ He went back and carefully read the article again, and there was no mention of the ‘text stone’ other than what was referred to in the caption. He saw one curious comment about the life-size Buddha statue. “On his right wrist, there appears to be a discoloration from the rest of the statue. It is a light green-grey patina with a dark circular center.” He read further to another surprising entry. “The Buddha’s left-hand gestures to the worn area on the right wrist.” He questioned the author. Why would he write this? It must be of archaeological significance, or why write it? Master Zhao’s mind quickly associated what he had witnessed as a trained archeologist with what he read. Moist air, combined with minerals, causes corrosion of dissimilar metals. The presence of water can accelerate oxidation. Past studies returned to him like a rogue wave on calm water. Adrenaline coursed through his veins. I must find this statue. A second gold cylinder must be behind the statue and under the reported text stone. As a trained archeologist, I cannot let this mystery remain unsolved.
Master Zhao removed the pendant from his pocket. We must return this to the museum today. His curiosity caused him to search for more information about the circular, nearly translucent yellow pendant. He held it up to the light. When he tilted the pendant in the light, smoke-like light tan and gray markings floated like clouds across the sky. He discovered a reference to the pendant in a 1974 Chinese National Archaeology journal. The ‘Moon pendant’ was discovered at Longmen Grotto and dates back to the Northern Wei dynasty. Curators refer to the object as the ‘Yellow Moon pendant.’ It is made from rare yellow smoky quartz. An associate archaeologist proposed that it may not be a pendant but could have had another function lost to history. The article concluded and provided a location. The Moon pendant is now the property of the Jinsha Site Museum in Chengdu.
Master Zhao stood in front of a sleeping Bāo. The graphic novel Bāo now lay open at his feet. Bāo’s head was on the back of the chair, eyes closed, and his chest gently moved with each breath. Master Zhao did not see a troubled boy but a confused young man like he once was. “Wake up. We’re going to the museum.”
Disoriented, Bāo woke and questioned, “Why the museum?”
“We must”, he corrected himself. “You must return the property that belongs to them.”
***
They stopped to have lunch from a street vendor. It was a 30-minute walk to the museum. Master Zhao wished to visit his friend Ping Lu, who could help him discreetly return the pendant. They arrived, stopped at the information desk, and got directions to the custodial office.
They walked to the custodial office, where an adjacent room was cordoned off with police tape. Two police vehicles parked outside were visible through the window. Master Zhao looked and saw blood and a white-chalked outline of a body on the carpet floor. Bāo stared at the blood. Master Zhao thought This could not be a coincidence.
Master Zhao knocked on the open door. A man responded loudly, “I'm busy,” but after seeing the monk and a teenage boy, he offered, “Please come in.” The supervisor was surprised to see a teenage boy standing beside the monk. “How can I help you?”
Master Zhao replied, "We were touring the museum and wished to visit my friend, Ping Lu.”
The portly man stood, walked around his desk, and said, “I'm sorry, but Lu was found dead last night in the custodial department lounge. Because of the defensive wounds, the police suspect foul play. That's all I can say now, but because you are acquainted with Lu, the people’s police may wish to speak with you. What is your name?”
“My name is Zhao Sun Feng.”
The man handed Master Zhao paper and pen.
“I do not have a phone, but I can be reached at this address. Thank you.”
Master Zhao did not hesitate to leave quickly. He was shocked and puzzled to become aware of two deaths in one day. Bāo and Master Zhao walked in silence most of the way back to Master Zhao’s residence. In his mind, Master Zhao concluded, both deaths must be connected, and the only link I see is Bāo. As they walked, Master Zhao, with concern, inquired, “Student Bāo, I fear there is something you are not telling me. We need to have a serious conversation. You must tell me everything.”