Ying was born into the Fa clan, and was the only daughter of the general officer Butang and Lang. When she was three years old, still a babe, her entire clan had been executed by allied Vikings (they served as spies,) under the pretense of betrayal. Though she was supposed to have been killed then, the commanding Jarl of the siege took pity upon her and spared her life.
She was sent to the monastery, where infant males were trained to become page boys and bodyguards to the Vikings. Ying was able to disguise her sex and remain a pupil thanks to her master, Weifung. Weifung allowed her to remain in the monastery due to the fact that Ying showed much promise to become a strong fighter, and also because her father had been trained by him many years ago.
During her days in the monastery, she got along best with Weifung’s twin children, Saki (boy,) and Sayo (girl,) especially Saki, who took lessons with her. At age 14, as is by custom, she set off to live with her new masters
in the house of Grwnal. At first, she was accompanied by Saki, who had also set off to his master’s house, but they separated ways. To this day, Ying carries the monastery’s emblem around her neck (a medallion on a beaded necklace,) and a tattoo of her family’s crest on the right side of her back (right shoulder blade.)
Religion and beliefs
According to her spiritual beliefs, Ying practices ancestral veneration. Upon death, a person’s soul is split into three parts: the po (yin) resides with the body in the grave, the hun (yang) resides in an ancestral tablet, and the third goes to judgment beyond death (which would conclude if the soul was worthy of reincarnation.) The po and the hun are not immortal, and thus need to be “nourished” with offerings and incense. Eventually both the po and hun go to the “underworld,” although the hun goes to “heaven” first (unlike in western usages of the term, underworld has no negative connotation and is the spirit world where all souls reside. Heaven would be the equivalent of the Greek Olympus, where the deities live.)
Because of long term friendship with the Fa clan, Master Weifung himself had created a shrine to place the tablets of the deceased during the raid of her clan. Eventually Ying had the hun of her parents moved to smaller slabs of stone so that she could continue her filial duty of venerating their souls. Presently, she has three tablets; her parents’ and Master Zen of the Fist of Zuoken Temple in wherevertheyare.
Ying’s customary offerings include: 3 fresh fruits, cooked fowl, a bowl of airag (fermented mare’s milk,) and incense.
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