Writing with your own blood

~IN PROGRESS~

OVERVIEW

The origins of blood writing can be traced back to Chinese Buddhist monks. Contrary to popular believe, monks did not write in pure blood. Instead they used their blood to mix with the ink, which in turn gave the ink a brownish tint to it. Writing in blood usually involved some form of self mutilation.Forms of self mutilation that were traditionally practiced in China inluded cutting their fingers and self-immolation by fire (Baker).

PIETY AND MERIT

It was believed that by copying Buddhist scriptures on behalf of relatives, they might reap a better rebirth. In the Tang Dynasty, Wan Jingru received official recognition for his filial devotion to his parents by cutting off two of his fingers and copying texts using his blood (Kieschnick). The monk Hanshan Deqing also used blood writing for merit toward his deceased parents to thank them for raising him.

"In the Spring of my thirty-second year, I returned from Yanmen. At this time I recalled the benevolence of my [deceased] parents and the care they had given me. I also thought of all of the obstacles that stood between me and the [Buddha] Law. On reading the vow of the great master Huisi of Nanyue, I vowed to make a copy of the Scripture of the Expanse of Buddhas of the Flower Adornment (i.e. the Avatamsaka) by mixing my own blood with gold. Above, this would tie me to the karma of prajna, and below it would repay my parents for their benevo­lence"(Kieschnick).

This type of bloodwriting was not restricted to any specific groups such as the monks. Anyone could participate if they had the means. Merit could be used for relatives or for themselves. The wealthy could hire artists and scholars to write and paint scripture on their behalf (Baker).

Because Merit was such a prominent aspect of the culture there were also several stages of "self mutilation". In order from the lowest level to the highest; striking a bell for the world of the afterlife, sealed confinement (for three years), vows of silence (often facing a wall), writing in blood, burning various parts of the body, burning off fingers and self-immolation by fire. While sealed confinement may not be viewed in modern terms as self mutilation, it was during ancient times because of the amount of psychological trauma it could cause. Writing it blood was a good way to gain merit for anyone because it was a high enough level of self mutilation to show a great amount of piety without the use of fire (Baskind).

WARRIORS’ COURAGE

In AD 1002, a magistrate called Fei Ji defended his city from attack for over a month. He cut his finger and wrote a letter to the Song court using his blood, requesting aid ("imperialchina.org").

Another more modern example of blood-letter writing comes from a teacher named Xu Teli, who wrote a blood letter to protest Japan’s 21 demands on China in 1915 (Wang).

EXAMPLES OF BUDDHIST BLOOD WRITING

One of the most famous pieces of blood writing is by an unnamed man. According to the colophon of the book, the man was 83 and pricked his finger to draw blood to mix with the ink. Amazingly, the book even contains the date in which he copied the text, though we don't know if it was the start or completion date. The date reads as February, 27 906. It is now held by the British Library (Baker).

Monks were not the only ones to use blood writing and not all the wealthy hired scribes on their behalf. Royalty also took part in the practice. Chen Shuling copied Buddhist texts in 579. When Emperor Suzong of Tang became ill his wife copied scripture on his behalf in the hope that the merit from her actions would help him recover.

In Search of Lin Zhou's Soul 尋找林昭的靈魂

Lin Zhou was the pen name of a young woman who wrote about 500 pages (140,000 words)in blood from a prison during the cultural revolution. Even at a young age she was part of an underground magazine along with her mother criticizing the government. She eventually went to Peking University where she was a talented writer and used her skills to write many essays about the corrupt government officials. She was arrested in 1960 but refused to admit her 'mistake'. She continued to write while in prison. When she was denied access to pens and paper she began to write using a hair pin with blood as the ink and her shirts as paper. She later was able to acquire ink from the guards and rewrote her message in ink. She was secretly executed and her family sent a bill to pay for the bullet that killed her. Out of all the students who protested, she was the only one who was killed due to her refusal to recant (Zhong).

Lin Zhou's letters were given to her sister by one of her guards after the cultural revolution. Many of her papers and poems remain in government hands with a time stamp of 50 years, though a few are available. One example includes these words which were written in blood;

"As I silently rub the drops of blood on the wall, I can only find the right words when I think of that merciful and just God who is so far away, and yet so close . . . As a Christian, my life belongs to my God. In order to persist on my path, the path of a servant of God, this young person has paid a heavy physical and psychological price"(Zhong).

“The document was ostensibly a letter to the People's Daily, the party's official newspaper. Lin condemned the Anti-Rightist Campaign and accused the party of taking advantage of the idealism of her generation. She wrote of the abuse she suffered in prison, of guards who handcuffed her in painful positions and force-fed her through her nostrils. She described how she wrote in blood after they took away her pen, and how the prison saved her writing to use against her. Occasionally the letter deteriorated into an incoherent rant, but every page was brimming with emotion and defiance” (Pan 2008).

HU Jie created a documentary on Lin Zhao after hearing her story. Though a long trek he located her former classmates and professors to talk about her. In his directors statement before the film he says, "This story made me decide quit my job and go far and wide in search of Lin Zhao's soul" (Searching for Lin Zhao's Soul).

Sources Cited

Baker, Abby. "Blood writing in Buddhist scrolls." British Library, Untold Lives: Sharing stories from the past. N.p., 02 January 2012. Web. 1 Feb 2012. <http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/untoldlives/2012/01/blood-writing-in-buddhist-scrolls.html>.

Baskind, James. "Mortification Practices in the Obaku School." Kyoto, 2007. Web.

BL, S.5451. 2012. Photograph. British Library, Untold Lives: Sharing stories from the pastWeb. 1 Feb 2012. <http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/untoldlives/2012/01/blood-writing-in-buddhist-scrolls.html>.

Hu, Jie. "In Search of Lin Zhou's Soul." Posted June 10, 2008. 2004. Web, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwkDeisygcM.

Kieschnick, John. The Eminent Monk: Buddhist Ideals in Medieval Chinese Hagiography. United States: Kuroda Institute, 1997.

Pan, Philip P. "A Past Written In Blood." Washington Post: Breaking News, World, US, DC News & Analysis. 03 July 2008. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/02/AR2008070203677.html?nav=hcmodule>.

"Searching for Lin Zhao's Soul." YouTube, 2011. Web. February 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQIGjzj1-vc>

"Tanguts vs Song Dynasty." imperialchina.org. N.p., 2011. Web. 2 Feb 2012. <http://www.imperialchina.org/Xi-Xia.html>.

Wang, Zheng. Women in the Chinese enlightenment: oral and textual histories. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1999. eBook. <http://books.google.com/books?id=unObToGSvUwC&printsec=frontcover

Zhong, Jin. "In Search of the Soul of Lin Zhao." China Rights Forum. 3 November 2004. Web.

PART 1: https://docs.google.com/present/embed?id=dc4f2tj3_2cprh46fk

PART 2: https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dc4f2tj3_34ds98bd7q