Phantom Facts

Where do ghosts come from? Do the deceased always become ghosts? What do ghosts look like?

From the Chinese character for "ghost" (gui, __, which actually encompasses a variety of spirits, demons, and zombies as well as ghosts) you might think that ghosts have large heads, bulging eyes, and hair sticking up straight. Yet over time most ghosts have been very "anthropomorphic." Not only do they appear the same as they did when living, but their habits and propensities remain the same as before death. Ghosts have natures as diverse as people, ranging from good to evil and everything in between.

Like a living being

The appearance of a ghost depends not only on the before-death individual, but on the nature of the demise. For instance, the ghosts of the hanged have long tongues dangling out, while specters of drowning victims have bloated stomachs. Ghosts of those who died violently have disheveled clothes and hair, and their faces are covered with blood. In history, under the painter's brush ghosts have almost always been rendered in one of two ways: as skeletons, or as transformed human forms.

There are also some oddly shaped phantoms. Thus especially tall ghosts are called "bamboo poles," while portly ones are known as "cloth-bag ghosts." Some ghosts are very small, perhaps only a head, or even just a pair of eyes rolling around on a tabletop.

The ancient dictionary Shuowen Jiezi explains "ghost" as "what people return to." The Li Ji (Book of Rites) declares, "All things born must die, and all dead things return to the earth; this is what is called 'ghost.'" The concept of a "ghost" derives from a belief that the soul does not disappear after death.

As early as 20,000 years ago, the Shanding cave people already had funerary objects buried with the deceased for use after death. The Shang dynasty was a period of deep belief in ghosts, and Shang people believed that deceased ancestors could (as ghosts) bring fortune or misfortune to descendants. In the Pu Ci (Divination Explanations), it is recorded that the Shang emperor often inquired through divination if a toothache or stomachache were not caused by some ancestor coming down to haunt him.

Chinese believe that people have souls (hun) and sources of animation (po); in folk beliefs, influenced by popular Taoism, this evolved into a belief in three souls and seven sources of animation. After death, the seven po disappear as the corporeal body decays. As for the three souls, meanwhile, one reports to the nether world, one goes to the grave, and one comes to rest in the family memorial tablet (where descendants make offerings to it).

A chance of a ghost

So-called ghosts are just these souls (hun). Those worshipped and provided for by their descendants become benevolent ghosts. Aggrieved ghosts or those with no one to look after them will be unable to find peace, and will haunt the mundane world.

According to Buddhist belief, people do not necessarily become ghosts after death. After death, depending upon a person's merit in life, they will travel one of six paths. The most fortunate and transcendent will go to heaven; those less so will become humans with normal lives, or, on a third path, asura demons. Others will become beasts, hungry ghosts, or (worst of all), travel the road to hell. Thus Buddhists believe it is very disrespectful to treat a deceased soul as a ghost immediately after death, for it is not necessarily the case that the person will have become a ghost.

Ghosts do not necessarily come to bad ends. Phantoms of high status enjoy rich foods and fine attire, and are surrounded by servants. Like Cheng Huang (a high official in the spirit world), they may be widely worshipped and respected by the common people. Low-status ghosts, on the other hand, with their untamed hair and twisted faces, are just like beggars. And these unfortunates will suffer in the after-life commensurate with their bad habits in life: Those who often hit others on the head, for example, will suffer frequent headaches. Those sent to hell will be tortured-boiled in oil, sliced-depending upon their sins in life.

Man, ghost, deity-all related

For Chinese, there have never been clear-cut divisions between humans, ghosts, and deities. Not only can people be deified, ghosts who accumulate enough merit can also achieve divine rank. Wang Yeh, one of the most widely worshipped deities in Taiwan, was at first a ghost.

Like men and beasts, ghosts too only have a certain life span, after which they return to the wheel of reincarnation. Becoming a ghost does not mean forever.

However, in Chinese popular belief, Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism are all mixed together. On the one hand, then, people can believe in reincarnation, yet simultaneously accept that they must worship their ancestors and meet their needs as if their ancestral ghosts will always be around the living. That is a clear contradiction, yet it should remind one never to forget one's roots, or, as the proverb says, "while drinking water, always think back to the source."

Photo:

(left) Zhong Kui, a deity specializing in the capture of errant ghosts, sent a delegation of little ghosts to the wedding of his younger sister, still living in the mundane world. (photo courtesy of the National Palace Museum)

(rght) "It looks like fun/The falling leaves plunge down the mountain/The dance is over and there is not a sound/The autumn clouds gather one on top of the other." Chinese painting master Pu Hsin Yu's painting "Intriguing Ghosts" is a pleasant novelty. (photo courtesy of the National Palace Museum)