(Minghui.org) Since ancient times, Chinese people have conducted rituals at important holidays to show their reverence to the divine and to pray for the blessings of health and safety and for help in warding off evil.

For instance, people usually set off firecrackers at the Lantern Festival to drive away evil, and wear sachets at the Dragon Boat Festival to pay respect to the five deities of pestilence. 

The five deities of pestilence were believed to be responsible for spreading plagues. There is a saying that “plagues have eyes,” meaning plagues usually target specific people or select regions. There are numerous documents detailing where plagues went and possible reasons as to why things happened a certain way. Below are examples that further explain how “plagues have eyes,” which may give us insights into how to remain safe in the pandemic we are facing today.

Two Parts of Same Province, Different Outcomes

Yi Jian Zhi by Hong Mai of the Song Dynasty recorded the story of Wang Shiwu, a servant who worked in Wuyuan County (in today’s Jiangxi Province). One day, Wang suddenly fell into a coma. Eight days later, he regained consciousness and told of his experience. 

While in a coma, he found himself working in the land. Over 10 people came from the west dressed in Taoist clothing and carrying cases, boxes, and fans. They asked Wang to help carry some cases and walk with them. After arriving at Wuhou Temple (where ancient sage Zhuge Liang is worshiped) in the county, these people planned to spread a plague. But the deity residing in that temple stopped them and drove them away. They then went to Yue Temple (where the ancient hero Yue Fei was worshiped) and were driven away too. 

These people then traveled north to Xiuning County and Huizhou (both in Anhui Province), where no deities allowed them to spread a plague. They kept moving north and arrived at Xuanzhou, where they were greeted by local deities who gave them permission to spread a plague. Starting from the Meng family in the northern part of the city, each of those people who traveled with Wang took out their tools from the cases and began to strike people. Whoever got hit died instantly. 

The plague-spreading people also caused a plague in western Zhejiang Province (including Hangzhou) where lots of people died. In contrast, eastern Zhejiang Province (such as Ningbo) was preserved. This is because people there valued virtue and were respectful of the divine. As a result, deities protected them and prohibited the plague gods from hitting them with diseases. 

Not Allowed to Hit the Innocent with Plagues

Similar to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the plague gods’ role is to warn people to be good and to punish those who insist on doing bad. The plague gods are not allowed to make the mistake of taking out good people. 

Collection of Reincarnation Tales (Lun Hui Ji) was a book that documented stories in the early 1900s. In Jiangyin County of Jiangsu Province, there was a town called Shengang where a large temple had been built to commemorate renowned ancient scholar Jizha. Part of the temple was converted into a school and Zhang Jiugao, a respected scholar and philanthropist, was the principal. 

One year, Zhang’s grandson Baoyu died of a plague in January (lunar calendar) and Zhang’s first son Yingzhen (father of Baoyu) was also infected and died in July. Thinking that he had been doing good his whole life, Zhang became confused and began to doubt the principle of “good is rewarded with good and evil meets with evil,” which he had always believed. 

Two days after Yingzhen's death, his younger brother, Zhang’s second son, Yingjie went grocery shopping in the morning. On the street, however, he saw his deceased brother and nephew walking towards him. Yingjie was only able to greet them before he suddenly fainted and collapsed on the street. People rushed over to help him. Yingjie regained consciousness and began to talk – in the voice of his brother Yingzhen. 

It turned out that both Yingzhen and his son were plague gods in their previous lives. Due to an error they made, two people were infected by mistake and died. As punishment, both Yingzhen and his son reincarnated in the human world – which was a much worse place compared to where they came from. After both of them died of plague, they cleared the debt they owed to those two people who were mistakenly taken out by plague. Yingzhen and his son then returned to where they belonged. 

The concept of descending from the divine to the human world due to wrongdoings was well documented in ancient Chinese texts. In Journey to the West, for example, all three disciples of Monk Tang descended from heavenly abodes due to various misdeeds. By assisting Monk Tang to seek the Buddha scripture and thus helping people become good, they were able to return after completing their mission. 

Modern Pandemic 

Similar to the ancient pandemics, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic did not seem to infect people randomly either. For example, Italy, one of the hardest hit countries in early 2020, is far away from China; the same thing happened to the United States. Taiwan, on the other hand, experienced very few infection cases despite its proximity to mainland China. 

After the initial outbreak of the virus in late 2019, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has used various means to cover it up, censor information, and mislead the public, resulting in the quick spread of the disease globally. Because of this, many people call it the CCP Virus. 

A few years back, hardly anyone would have believed we would be forced to stay at home, shutter businesses, and struggle to make a living during the height of the pandemic. But this could be a reminder for us to reflect on how much harm the CCP has brought to the world. 

Inside China, the CCP seized power in 1949 by promising land to peasants, wealth to workers, and democracy to the West. Several years after taking power, all of these promises became lies when the CCP nationalized lands and private assets and launched its Great Leap Forward, a campaign that killed about 45 million people. 

As the CCP continued to wipe out traditional culture and values during the Cultural Revolution, the U.S. held out an olive branch seeking friendship. In retrospect, however, this was a mistake. “We may have created a Frankenstein (mistaking the monster for its creator),” said former President Richard Nixon to his former speechwriter, expressing regret.

But it was too late. Other than Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump, no U.S. presidents have taken concrete measures to counter the expanding aggressiveness of the CCP. By continuing the appeasement policy towards the totalitarian regime, America and the free world as a whole have gradually sunk into the swamp of communism and socialism. 

A closer examination of the path of the spread of the CCP virus shows that the disease tended to spread where the CCP’s influence is strongest. Italy, for example, was the first and only G7 country that has worked with the CCP on its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to advance its dominance globally. Similarly, Iran is a strategic partner of the CCP. The United States, on the other hand, is probably the biggest factor that helped the CCP to quickly grow into a major global power that dominates the world to the point that, both the United Nations and the WHO have essentially become the CCP’s platform to broadcast its communist ideology. 

If plagues have eyes, those that commit bad deeds will face consequences. In light of the current pandemic, it appears that those who have close ties or affinity with the CCP are often hit the hardest. 

We may still have a chance. By severing ties with the CCP and supporting those who are suppressed by the regime, such as Falun Gong (also known as Falun Dafa) practitioners who follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, we may be blessed with health and safety. 

In Wuhan, where the coronavirus initially broke out, there are people who became virus-free after reciting “Falun Dafa is good and Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good.”