You're listening to an AirWave Media Podcast.

Hello, and welcome to the history of China.

Episode 258, Strange Tales 8, Beyond the Vale.

Of course, there are strange things in this world of ours, for which there is not yet

a theory.

As for those who insist all principles of existence have been discovered, and that

all phenomena have been recorded, come now, they are simply being ridiculous.

Dian, Investigator of the Strange, 1724-1805.

The Secrets of Hanlin Academy.

The center outside door leading to Hanlin Academy's main hall has been closed for so long

that it sealed shut with a crust of bird feces, rust, and a tunnel debris.

It will remain so in the future, no matter what, because if it is opened, it is said that

tragedy will fall upon the school's senior scholar.

Only once since I have been involved with Hanlin has this prohibition been tested.

During a 1773 inspection, Prince Jijun refused to use a lesser door, and demanded that the

large center door be unsealed.

Soon thereafter, both Director Liu Wenzheng and his assistant died.

Then, there is the Sandy embankment built in front of the academy to protect its scholars

and manuscripts from floodwaters.

Whoever built it, planted strange, smooth balls of hardened earth into the dirt, as if

they are occult artifacts of some kind, or maybe the balls formed themselves over time

through a mysterious alchemical process, perhaps one related to thwarted floodwaters or

...