Hangzhou fell to the Taiping rebels in 1861 he lost some eighteen of his relatives, including his mother.

It explained how her life had ended, virtuously, and it enabled her family to include her in their application for state honors along with the other relatives who died in 1861

In this vein, Zhang describes an encounter with the spirit of his beloved oldest sister, Xingzhu.

their spirit tablets are enshrined at the provincial shrine to honor the Loyal and Righteous.Wood and words provide ritual prosthetic,