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墨書 Inktalez
"Spider Bites," also known as Shingles, is caused by an infection of the Varicella-Zoster Virus. When the human body is infected with the Varicella-Zoster Virus, the virus can invade the nerve roots. When the body's immunity decreases, the virus replicates, leading to a rash known as Shingles, which typically follows the distribution of nerves.
Once Shingles appears, it manifests as localized clusters of blisters accompanied by pain and discomfort. The primary treatment involves administering antiviral medications orally. It is most effective to take antiviral drugs within 72 hours of the rash appearing, as this can effectively prevent the onset of postherpetic neuralgia.
Currently, commonly used oral medications include Valacyclovir or Famciclovir, which are generally taken for 7 to 10 days. It is also essential to rest and avoid overexertion to prevent exacerbating nerve damage.
This knowledge can easily be found online today, but when Uncle Liu was young, there were no computers—electricity hadn't even reached rural areas. Moreover, during that time, rural communities were generally poor; unless someone was seriously ill, they wouldn't be hospitalized or undergo surgery (in our area, "going under the knife" refers to surgery).
In childhood memories, if someone in a family was hospitalized or had surgery, it surely meant they had a serious illness. This is in stark contrast to now when economic conditions have improved, and new rural cooperative medical care has made seeking medical attention much easier.
In the rural areas of my childhood, sanitary conditions were poor. While serious illnesses were rarely discussed, minor ailments were common—especially sores in the mouth and skin diseases. "Spider Bites" were relatively frequent.
Back then, I didn't know whether there were antiviral medications like Valacyclovir or Famciclovir available, but I did know of a traditional ritual that felt quite ceremonial: typically, a fire would be lit at the "Water Drain Eye" (the area next to the main entrance where water drains out of the yard) of the sick person's home (symbolizing that the "dirty things" swept away would be burned away by fire and washed away by water). Several women would take dried millet ears (which we called "shuao," with light yellow grains similar to millet; when ground into flour, it is very sticky and somewhat sweet—often used for making rice cakes and sweet pastries, and is a primary ingredient for making "Deng Zhan" during Lantern Festival) and sweep lightly over the sore while chanting: "Spider King, Spider King, you want to climb the wall but you climb onto a person? Male spider, female spider, fall into the fire and scatter..." This would be repeated several times.
At that time, being young and forgetful, I couldn't recall all the details; it seemed that this method could cure Spider Bites.
While writing this chapter, I called some older individuals for verification. They added some details: those participating in sweeping away Spider Bites had specific surname requirements—for example, those with the surname Liu could not participate (as Liu sounds like "stay," and their involvement would mean they couldn't sweep clean; however, those with the surname Jing were particularly suitable as it implied they could sweep thoroughly).
A similar ritual was known as "Sweeping the Pit." In Hu Ruoyun's hometown, "pit" referred to low-lying areas in villages where rainwater accumulated.
Farmers hoped for favorable weather conditions for their crops; however, such conditions were often just a beautiful wish. It was common to experience months without rain or continuous rainy days lasting over half a month that delayed farming activities.
During middle school one year, wheat had fallen but hadn't been harvested yet when it rained for fourteen consecutive days. Many wheat plants sprouted due to excessive moisture, causing significant losses. That year when the Grain Management Office assessed grain tax quality control, an additional indicator for germination rate was added.
Getting back on track to discuss "Sweeping the Pit": In ancient China, irrigation infrastructure was severely lagging behind; relying on nature was a common reality in rural areas. Coupled with cultural backwardness, folk rituals like Rain Prayer became quite popular.
In our hometown county circulated stories about Twelve Widows performing "Sweeping the Pit" Rain Prayer. Legend has it that during one summer-autumn period in the Ming Dynasty, there had been no rain for over a month in our county area; crops were wilting in drought while village pits dried up completely.
At that time there were no machine wells in fields; crops relied entirely on natural rainfall. To preserve seedlings, families with male laborers would fetch water from village wells to irrigate their fields day by day. Families without male laborers could only wait anxiously for timely rain from heaven.
One day in Xiao Li Village in eastern County X, families with male laborers were busy fetching water and irrigating their seedlings while twelve widows in the village felt restless at home. They gathered by a large pit in the village to express their frustrations about not having men to fetch water for their crops which could only wait for death. Moved by their plight, some began to cry.
After crying for a while, an elderly widow suggested they clean up the filthy pit: “Since heaven isn’t sending rain, perhaps it’s because this pit is too dirty? Let’s sweep it clean.”
People back then tended to be quite superstitious; thus they returned home to fetch shovels and brooms and cleaned out all the weeds and garbage from the pit in hopes of impressing heaven enough to bring forth a full pit of water.
While Sweeping the Pit, they chattered about their own nonsensical rhyme: “Today everyone comes to Sweeping the Pit, sweeping here, sweeping there, within three days the pit will be full. If it doesn’t rain for three days, even the Twelve Widows will have to marry. Marry here, marry there, within three days it will rain.”
As luck would have it, just after they finished cleaning the pit, the North Wind suddenly blew in, bringing with it patches of cloud that gathered increasingly above the pit. Seeing this, the widows hurriedly knelt down and silently prayed. Perhaps their sincerity moved the heavens, for suddenly a Pry Thunder echoed in the sky, and soon a Torrential Rain began to pour down. Within less than an hour, the pit was filled to the brim.
From then on, the tale of the Twelve Widows Sweeping the Pit and Rain Prayer spread far and wide.
When I was young, whenever there was a drought, villages would gather the Twelve Widows to sweep the big pit for Rain Prayer; it was said to be quite effective back then.
Later on, with the introduction of Machine Wells in rural areas, they could ensure a steady supply of water regardless of conditions, and these rituals faded away.
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