Mazu worship lasted the entire day. The morning was for the official rites; the afternoon and evening were for folk observances and private family ceremonies.
The official ceremony was held at Nansha Tianhou Temple, said to be the largest Tianhou Temple in all of Southeast Asia. The southernmost point Qianlong reached during his southern tour was Zhejiang; he had never visited Guangdong. Yet he had renamed the Tianhou Temple Yuanjun Ancient Temple. Yuanjun could mean a virtuous monarch, or it could be an honorific for a female immortal in Taoism. When the Admiral brought his wife and daughters to attend the ceremony, Nick did not accompany them. Like a court painter, he recorded the grand spectacle of the rites.
At this time, the provincial graduate came to see Nick. Mr. Liaozhai, who excelled at writing of ghosts and demons, had, like the provincial graduate, sat for the imperial examinations many times without success. To make a living, he had also worked as a private-school teacher, and it was during that period that he began writing his fox-spirit and ghost stories.
Perhaps the provincial graduate wanted to follow the same path. Publishing a book was the lifelong dream of many scholars besides passing the imperial examinations. Even the licentiates who wrote scripts for theater troupes hoped that one day their stories might be included in a collection.
As everyone knew, China's rural population was scattered across countless villages. Most villages were too small for the government to possibly send an official to manage them. Yet as small communities, every village needed someone in charge. When necessary, a yamen runner would be sent to administer it. Thus, the people voluntarily elected a local gentry member to manage the village, pooling money to pay him. So long as he governed well, he could