A Tomb Awakens: The Strange Case of Li E’s Return

In the second month of the fourth year of the Jian’an era (199 CE) during Emperor Xian’s reign, an extraordinary event shook the quiet county of Chong in Wuling Commandery. Li E, a sixty-year-old woman from a wealthy family, had fallen ill and died. Following customary burial practices, her family interred her outside the city walls. For fourteen days, she lay undisturbed in her tomb – until her neighbor Cai Zhong, lured by rumors of buried treasure, made a fateful decision to rob her grave.

As Cai Zhong’s axe struck the coffin lid, the unimaginable occurred. From within the sealed coffin came Li E’s voice: “Cai Zhong, protect my head!” The terrified grave robber fled in panic, only to be apprehended by county officials. Under Han dynasty law, tomb robbery carried the death penalty by public execution. Meanwhile, Li E’s son, hearing of his mother’s miraculous revival, rushed to the tomb to bring her home.

Between Two Worlds: Li E’s Journey to the Underworld

When summoned by the Wuling governor to explain her resurrection, Li E recounted an astonishing tale. She described being mistakenly summoned by Siming, the deity responsible for human lifespans in Chinese mythology. After realizing their error, the underworld officials released her. At the western gate of the underworld, she encountered her cousin Liu Bowen, who became instrumental in her return.

Their emotional reunion revealed the logistical challenges of resurrection. Li E expressed her concerns: “I don’t know the way back and cannot travel alone. Also, my body has been buried – how will I emerge?” Liu Bowen intervened with underworld bureaucrats, securing both a companion for her journey (a man named Li Hei) and arranging for Cai Zhong to excavate her tomb – explaining the grave robber’s strange compulsion.

Divine Justice: The Legal and Supernatural Implications

The governor faced a profound dilemma regarding Cai Zhong’s punishment. While tomb desecration normally warranted execution, the supernatural circumstances complicated matters. As Li E’s testimony was corroborated by the discovery of Li Hei (another recently resurrected individual), the governor concluded that Cai Zhong had acted under divine compulsion. In a remarkable legal decision, the governor petitioned the emperor for clemency, arguing that Cai Zhong “though he opened the tomb, was compelled by spirits.” The imperial court approved this unprecedented appeal to supernatural influence in judicial matters.

Messages from Beyond: The Liu Family Reunion

The story’s most poignant moment came when Li E delivered Liu Bowen’s letter to his son Liu Tuo. Recognizing the paper as coming from his father’s burial artifacts, Liu Tuo sought the help of Fei Changfang, a famous Han dynasty mystic, to interpret the message. The letter arranged a supernatural family reunion at the southern ditch of Wuling city on the eighth day of the eighth month.

At the appointed time, the Liu family gathered and experienced a bittersweet encounter with their deceased ancestor. Though invisible, Liu Bowen’s voice comforted his descendants, lamenting the separation between living and dead: “Life and death are different roads – I cannot often receive news of you all.” His parting gift – a medicinal pill made from Fangxiang’s brain (Fangxiang being a plague-expelling deity) – proved miraculously effective when a devastating epidemic struck Wuling the following spring. While plague ravaged the region, the Liu household remained untouched, their doors protected by the supernatural ointment.

Historical Context: Resurrection Beliefs in Han China

This account, preserved in both Gan Bao’s 4th century “In Search of the Supernatural” (搜神记) and Fan Ye’s 5th century “Book of the Later Han,” reflects important aspects of Han dynasty cosmology. The detailed bureaucracy of the afterlife mirrors the imperial administration, while the emphasis on proper burial rites underscores Confucian values of filial piety. The story also reveals early Chinese conceptions of the soul, where consciousness could persist after clinical death under certain circumstances.

Medical historian Li Jianmin notes that during epidemics, reports of “resurrected” individuals were not uncommon in Han records, often attributed to either diagnostic errors or supernatural intervention. The inclusion of such accounts in official histories suggests they were considered legitimate phenomena worthy of documentation rather than mere folklore.

Literary Significance and Cultural Legacy

The tale’s sophisticated narrative structure – employing flashbacks, multiple witnesses, and cross-verification – anticipates techniques of modern supernatural fiction. Its blending of legal drama, family reunion, and plague narrative creates a multifaceted story that resonated across Chinese literary history.

The Fangxiang brain remedy became part of traditional Chinese medicine’s apotropaic arsenal against epidemics. Later Daoist texts reference this account when discussing protective rituals during outbreaks. Even today, some traditional communities maintain customs of marking doorways during epidemics, a practice some scholars trace to this Han dynasty precedent.

Modern Perspectives on Ancient Miracles

Contemporary readers might interpret Li E’s revival through various lenses: as a case of premature burial (a documented phenomenon before modern medicine), a neurological anomaly, or purely as cultural metaphor. The story’s enduring power lies in its exploration of universal human concerns – the fragility of life, the pain of separation, and the hope for protection against invisible threats.

The account’s inclusion in both historical and supernatural compendiums reminds us that our ancestors often drew fewer distinctions between “fact” and “meaning” than modern readers do. For Han dynasty Chinese, whether every detail happened exactly as recorded mattered less than the story’s truth about human nature and cosmic order.

As the Wuling governor marveled: “Truly, the affairs of this world are beyond our understanding.” Thirteen centuries later, Li E’s miraculous return continues to challenge, fascinate, and inspire.