A principal told me that he celebrated the Japanese Obon Festival. He became the principal from the vice principal since the previous principal passed away last month. He can’t bear the sadness and didn’t expect things will end like this. The Japanese Obon Festival is heavily influenced from the Ghost Festival of Buddhism, and the Chinese Taoist Zhongyuan (中元) Festival. Every year when I return to Beijing for the new school year, I see people are burning joss paper in the dark; then I realize it is the Ghost Festival. These activities for the visiting spirits of the ancestors make me suddenly feel the loneliness of the night and coldness of the autumn. Maybe this is a good illustration of “spring flowers, autumn moon - when will they end?” I who shared spring’s glory share in autumn life’s decay. How many more autumns am I likely to see?