In a China racing toward the future one reluctant young shaman fights to honour the ancient spirits that refuse to let him go

Original by Yuqing Huang ‘夜班老師:在現代中 國的社會夾縫中做巫師’ published in Chinese by 單讀 (DanDu) and on Frontline Fellowship’s website on December 24, 2022.

Ah Lei seems to be used to telling his story. He grew up in an impoverished family in Fusui, Guangxi Province. His mother left shortly after giving birth to him. He started to fetch water and do other chores before he reached the height of a carrying pole. This wasn’t unusual – the other children in the village also started to help around the house when they were very young. What was strange were Ah Lei’s dreams: gods or ghosts came to talk to him. During the day, he would hold a piece of firewood and strum an invisible string on it while murmuring to himself. No one knew where he got this from. His classmates thought he was mentally ill and didn’t want to play with him. But Ah Lei’s grandmother knew how to deal with strange situations like this: ask the gods.

Guangxi is China's largest Zhuang Autonomous Region, home to the Zhuang people – China's biggest ethnic minority – whose ancient animist traditions, folk rituals, and shamanistic practices have survived centuries of cultural pressure and political upheaval.

Thought he was mentally ill...Ah Lei recalls his classmates calling him 脑子有问题 – literally "something wrong with the brain" – a derogatory phrase that exposes both the stigma surrounding mental health and the community's inability to recognize what was actually a spiritual calling.

Ordinary people cannot just talk with the gods: they need a spirit medium. His family found a medium for Ah Lei and she performed a ritual. Ah Lei stopped acting like before, and the family breathed a sigh of relief: they thought it was over.