Recently, an unsettling phenomenon has emerged across multiple regions in mainland China. Videos show flocks of birds circling relentlessly above major hospitals in Jilin, Shenyang, Chifeng, and other cities. The dense, dark masses of crows resemble ominous clouds overhead, their harsh cawing sending chills down the spines of witnesses.
This abnormal natural spectacle not only revives painful memories of the peak of the 2020 Wuhan epidemic but also intensifies feelings of fear and unease amid the current backdrop of frequent population disappearances and rampant rumors about “organ matching.”
On-site report: A lingering black shadow
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life — it was truly bizarre,” one eyewitness wrote on social media, recounting his frightening encounter near the hospital. As he passed through the area, he noticed an unusually dense flock of birds, unlike anything he had seen before. Suddenly, a massive swarm of black birds descended from the sky, heading straight for the hospital’s inpatient building.
These crows weren’t mere passersby; they seemed to have a clear purpose. They gathered above the inpatient ward, circling, diving, and rising again — a ritual that continued for nearly twenty minutes. Footage captured by witnesses showed the birds scattering and regrouping like ink dots against the gloomy sky, as if waiting for something or performing some silent, mysterious ritual. The suffocating sense of oppression seemed to freeze the air itself, making one dare not breathe too loudly.
In truth, this scene is not unprecedented in China. Many immediately recalled Wuhan in early 2020, when the virus raged most fiercely, and similar images of crows swirling above local hospitals began to circulate. At the time, those scenes seemed like a visible manifestation of death closing in, thickening the air with palpable dread.
The pandemic has never fully receded in China. In recent months, it appears to have intensified once again, while reports and rumors surrounding organ harvesting have grown increasingly widespread and alarming. Against this backdrop, the return of vast flocks of crows over hospital buildings has only deepened public unease, casting a grim and symbolic shadow over an already fraught moment.
The current scene is unfolding within an even more sinister social atmosphere. In recent months, reports of teenagers and ordinary citizens vanishing without explanation have surfaced repeatedly online, fueling persistent allegations of illegal organ harvesting. Despite official silence, this grim reality — of organs trafficked and lives abruptly ended — has left parents and loved ones feeling heartbroken and helpless.
In the public subconscious, crows are scavengers endowed with an uncanny sensitivity to decay and the scent of death. When vast flocks linger persistently over hospitals — institutions meant for healing — terrifying associations inevitably arise. Have these hospitals borne too many unjust deaths and wronged spirits? Have these creatures sensed a bloodlust invisible to the human eye?
Such associations horrifyingly link this phenomenon with societal rumors of numerous missing persons who are never found, prompting uneasy doubts about whether this is some kind of “revelation” or “warning” sent by Heaven to humanity.
Decoding history and folklore
Confronted with such an unsettling spectacle, one cannot help but ask: What did the appearance of crows signify in traditional Chinese culture and ancient systems of divination?
In much of Chinese folklore, crows and ravens were commonly regarded as harbingers of death. An old saying captures this belief succinctly: “When a crow flies overhead, misfortune soon follows.” Where crows gathered in great numbers, it was often believed to foretell mass death, outbreaks of plague, or military disasters. Ancient people viewed crows as intermediaries between the realms of the living and the dead — creatures uniquely attuned to the “aura of death” surrounding those nearing the end of life.
For this reason, crows circling above hospitals — modern spaces where life and death constantly intersect — would traditionally have been interpreted as an ominous sign. Such scenes were believed to indicate a place saturated with resentment, unresolved suffering, and restless spirits, foreshadowing calamity rather than occurring by mere coincidence.
In Dong Zhongshu’s Spring and Autumn Annals Fanlu from the Han Dynasty, the concept of Heaven–Man Resonance held that anomalies in nature reflected moral decay within human politics and society. If crows — birds strongly associated with yin — abnormally gather in large numbers over densely populated areas, this could be interpreted as a warning from Heaven. Such a sign was thought to signal injustice, unresolved grievances, or impending catastrophe, urging people to reflect, correct their course, and be vigilant.
When the skies above hospital wards are dominated by circling crows, the scene is no longer perceived as a simple natural occurrence but as a reflection of humanity’s deepest fears. Against a backdrop of unresolved disappearances and deepening public insecurity, these dark flocks represent an inescapable nightmare in people’s minds.
Translated by Eva and edited by Tatiana Denning
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