X-Files :Pig Liver As A Lure

X-Files : Pig Liver As A Lure 

This incident happened in Chaozhou, China to one of SK's granduncles. Back in the pre-war days, it was fashionable for the older folks to smoke long bamboo pipes. 

One day, this grand old man was smoking his long pipe as he walked along a pathway near a pond. He was gazing at the ground, deep in thought as he walked. Then all of a sudden he saw a whole pig liver right in front of him. He couldn't believe his eyes and was surprised that a whole piece of pig liver was lying on the ground in the middle of nowhere and there was no one around and that the pathway was hardly used by the village folks. To the olden Chinese, the liver was a highly prized part of a pig and was believed to be very nutritious.

He was a wise old man and ever cautious. He asked himself now, why would a clean and fresh piece of liver be lying around in such a deserted place. He thought long and hard and was reluctant to pick it up with his hand. Then an idea came to his mind and he decided to acid test the liver by burning it with the bowl (the part of a smoking pipe where the tobacco is inserted and lighted) of his pipe which was very hot. Upon contact and being burnt the supposedly pig liver leapt into the pond all by itself.

Can you imagine what would have happened to him had this grand old man been greedy and foolish enough to bend over and grab the liver without thinking? Most likely he would have been pulled into the pond together with the liver. The village folks believed that the water ghost in the pond used this trick by manifesting itself as a piece of liver to lure unsuspecting villagers to be sucked into the pond to be drowned.

It is believed that if a water ghost wanted to drown someone he would write the "pat-chee" ( the year, month, day and time of birth ) of the intended victim on the surface of the water, irrespective of whether it is a river, pond or lake. Hence, if the victim were to fall into the water, the "pat-chee"  is like a spider's web trapping him and he would never be able to break free and get out of the water alive. But some people believed that by disturbing the surface of the water, the "pat-chee" would be erased and that would prevent the intended victim from being trapped and drowned. It is believed that by throwing a stone into the water it could help to disturb or erase the "pat-chee". Hence, without the "pat chee" the water ghost would not be very successful in his venture.

Well, it is up to you to believe it or not !