Ghosts in Chinese culture - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

There are many references to ghosts in Chinese culture. Even Confucius

Confucius

Confucius , literally "Master Kong", was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher of the Spring and Autumn Period....

said, "Respect ghosts and gods, but keep away from them."

The ghosts take many forms depending on the way in which the person died, and are often harmful.
Many of the Chinese ghost beliefs have been accepted by neighboring cultures, notably Japan and south-east Asia.
Ghost beliefs are closely associated with the traditional Chinese religion based on ancestor worship, many of which were incorporated in Taoism

Taoism

Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...

. Later beliefs were influenced by Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

, and in turn influenced and created uniquely Chinese Buddhist beliefs.

Many Chinese people today consider that it is possible to contact the spirits of their ancestors through a medium, and that the ancestor can help their descendants if properly respected and rewarded.
The annual ghost festival

Ghost Festival

The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries...

is celebrated by Chinese around the world. On this day ghost

Ghost

In traditional belief and fiction, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a deceased person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living. Descriptions of the apparition of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to...

s and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm

Underworld

The Underworld is a region which is thought to be under the surface of the earth in some religions and in mythologies. It could be a place where the souls of the recently departed go, and in some traditions it is identified with Hell or the realm of death...

.
Ghosts are described in classical Chinese texts, and continue to be depicted in modern literature and movies.

Terminology

Yan Wang

Yama (Buddhism and Chinese mythology)

Yama the name of the Buddhist dharmapala and judge of the dead, who presides over the Buddhist Narakas , "Hells" or "Purgatories". Although ultimately based on the god Yama of the Hindu Vedas, the Buddhist Yama has developed different myths and different functions from the Hindu deity...

, also called Yanluo is the god of death and the sovereign of the underworld. He is also the judge of the underworld, and decides whether the dead will have good or miserable future lives.
Although ultimately based on the god Yama

Yama

Yama , also known as Yamarāja in India and Nepal, Shinje in Tibet, Yanluowang or simply Yan in China, Yeomla Daewang in South Korea and Enma Dai-Ō in Japan, is the lord of death, in Hinduism and then adopted into Buddhism and then further into Chinese mythology and Japanese mythology. First...

of the Hindu Vedas

Vedas

The Vedas are a large body of texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the oldest layer of Sanskrit literature and the oldest scriptures of Hinduism....

, the Buddhist Yan Wang has developed different myths and different functions from the Hindu

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

deity.
Yan Wang is normally depicted wearing a Chinese judge's cap in Chinese and Japanese art. He sometimes appears on Chinese Hell Bank Notes

Hell Bank Notes

Hell bank notes are a form of joss paper printed to resemble legal tender bank notes. This faux money has been in use since at least the late 19th century and possibly much earlier. Early 20th century examples took the resemblance of minor commercial currency of the type issued by businesses across...

.

Guǐ (鬼) is the general Chinese term for ghost, used in combination with other symbols to give related meanings such as gweilo
Gweilo
Gweilo or Gwailo is a common Cantonese slang term for foreigners, and has a long history of racially deprecatory use. If there is some racially deprecatory meaning or it is expressive of hate, it is shown by the addition of the adjective, sei or as a prefix: seigwailo...

(鬼佬), literally "ghost man", used to refer to white people, and mogwai (魔鬼) meaning "devil". Derived symbols such as 魇 (chui) meaning "nightmare" also carry related meanings.
There are many types of Guǐ:

Diào Sǐ Guǐ (吊死鬼): The ghost of someone who has been hanged, either in execution or suicide

Gū Hún Yě Guǐ (孤魂野鬼）also called Yóu Hún Yě Guǐ (游魂野鬼):

The ghost who has died far from their home town or family, especially when the families do not know or do not care. Thus the body and spirit of the dead person cannot be taken back home or to the place where its belongs by his or her families, so the ghost may start to loiter around the place where they died waiting for a kind person help them go home. Nowadays, this phrase usually refers to the person who is alone, unsupported or high and dry.
The wandering ghost of the dead, including vengeful spirits who take their revenge, hungry ghosts and playful spirits who may cause trouble during the Hungry Ghost Festival.

Guǐ Pó (鬼婆): A ghost who takes the form of a kind and friendly old woman. They may be the spirits of servants who used to work for rich families, and who have returned to help around the house.

Nǚ Guǐ (女鬼): The ghost of a woman who has committed suicide due to some injustice such as being wronged or sexually abused. She returns to take her revenge.

Yuān Guǐ (冤鬼): The ghost of someone who has died a wrongful death. They roam the world of the living, depressed and restless, seeking to have their grievances redressed.

Shuǐ Guǐ (水鬼): The spirit of someone who drowned and continues living in the water. They attack unsuspecting victims by dragging them underwater and drowning them to take possession of the victim's body.

Wú Tóu Guǐ (无头鬼): A headless ghost who roams about aimlessly.

È Guǐ (饿鬼): A hungry ghost
Hungry ghost
Hungry ghost is a Western translation of Chinese , a concept in Chinese Buddhism and Chinese traditional religion representing beings who are driven by intense emotional needs in an animalistic way....

which usually appears during the Hungry Ghost Festival. The spirit of a person who has committed sins of greed while he/she was alive and condemned to suffer in hunger after death. Variants of this concept are common to Buddhist and Hindu beliefs.

Zhong Kui

Zhong Kui is a figure of Chinese mythology. Traditionally regarded as a vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings, and reputedly able to command 80,000 demons, his image is often painted on household gates as a guardian spirit, as well as in places of business where high-value goods are...

is the vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings. Portraits of him were hung in Chinese houses at the end of the Chinese lunar year to scare away evil spirits and demons. He is depicted as fierce man with a black face and a comic beard brandishing a magic sword. Zhong Kui is said to be himself the ghost of a man who failed to pass the civil service examinations and committed suicide. He then became a ghost hunter. There is a story that the Emperor Xuanzong of Tang

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang , also commonly known as Emperor Ming of Tang , personal name Li Longji , known as Wu Longji from 690 to 705, was the seventh emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, reigning from 712 to 756. His reign of 43 years was the longest during the Tang Dynasty...

once dreamed that a small ghost stole the purse of imperial consort. A larger ghost - Zhong Kui - captured the smaller one and returned the purse.

History

There has been extensive interaction between traditional Chinese beliefs and the more recent Confucianism

Confucianism

Confucianism is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius . Confucianism originated as an "ethical-sociopolitical teaching" during the Spring and Autumn Period, but later developed metaphysical and cosmological elements in the Han...

, Taoism

Taoism

Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...

, and Buddhism

Buddhism

.

Ancestor worship is the original basic Chinese religion. The core belief is that there is a continued existence after death.
It is thought that the soul of a deceased person is made up of yin and yang components called hun and po

Hun and po

Hun and po are types of souls in Chinese philosophy and religion. Within this ancient soul dualism tradition, every living human has both a hun spiritual, ethereal, and yang soul that leaves the body after death and a po corporeal, substantive, and yin soul that remains with the corpse...

(魂 and 魄). The yin component, po, is associated with the grave, and the yang component, hun, is associated with ancestral tablets . At death the components split into three different souls; the po stays with the body to the grave, another goes to judgment, and the hun resides in an ancestral tablet. The po and hun are not immortal and need to be nourished by offerings made by descendants. 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.

King Xuan of Zhou

King Xuan of Zhou

King Xuan of Zhou was the eleventh sovereign of the Chinese Zhou Dynasty. Estimated dates of his reign are 827-782 BC or 827/25-782 BC.He worked to restore royal authority after the Gong He interregnum. He fought the 'Western Barbarians' and another group on the Huai River to the southeast. In...

(827-783 BC) according to Chinese legend

Chinese mythology

Chinese mythology is a collection of cultural history, folktales, and religions that have been passed down in oral or written tradition. These include creation myths and legends and myths concerning the founding of Chinese culture and the Chinese state...

executed his minister, Tu Po, on false charges even after being warned that Tu Po's ghost would seek revenge. Three years later, according to historical chronicles, Tu Po's ghost shot and killed Hsuan with a bow and arrow

Bow (weapon)

The bow and arrow is a projectile weapon system that predates recorded history and is common to most cultures.-Description:A bow is a flexible arc that shoots aerodynamic projectiles by means of elastic energy. Essentially, the bow is a form of spring powered by a string or cord...

before an assembly of feudal lords. The Chinese philosopher, Mo Tzu

Mozi

Mozi |Lat.]] as Micius, ca. 470 BC – ca. 391 BC), original name Mo Di , was a Chinese philosopher during the Hundred Schools of Thought period . Born in Tengzhou, Shandong Province, China, he founded the school of Mohism, and argued strongly against Confucianism and Daoism...

(470-391 BC), is quoted as having commented:

"If from antiquity to the present, and since the beginning of man, there are men who have seen the bodies of ghosts and spirits and heard their voices, how can we say that they do not exist? If none have heard them and none have seen them, then how can we say they do? But those who deny the existence of the spirits say: "Many in the world have heard and seen something of ghosts and spirits. Since they vary in testimony, who are to be accepted as really having heard and seen them?" Mo Tzu said: As we are to rely on what many have jointly seen and what many have jointly heard, the case of Tu Po is to be accepted."

Religious Taoism finally came together during the Han Dynasty

Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...

(206 BCE–220 CE) around the time Buddhism was introduced to China, and it rose to predominance during the Tang Dynasty

Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

(618–907 CE), which initially tolerated its coexistence. Reverence for nature and ancestor spirits is common in popular Taoism. Banned during the Cultural Revolution (along with all other religions), Taoism is undergoing a major revival today, and it is the spirituality followed by about 30% (400 million) of the total Chinese population

Buddhism was introduced into China in the 1st century CE, and rapidly became popular with its belief in a continuous cycle of rebirth and more complex ghost beliefs, although the older beliefs lingered. The entry of Buddhism

Buddhism

into China was marked by interaction and syncretism

Syncretism

Syncretism is the combining of different beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term means "combining", but see below for the origin of the word...

with Taoism in particular. Originally seen as a kind of "foreign Taoism", Buddhism's scriptures were translated into Chinese using the Taoist vocabulary.

Elements of pre-Han dynasty

Han Dynasty

mythologies such as those in Shan Hai Jing

Shan Hai Jing

Shan Hai Jing is a Chinese classic text, and a compilation of early geography and myth. Versions of the text have existed since the 4th century BC, and by the early Han Dynasty it had reached its final form. It is largely a fabled geographical and cultural account of pre-Qin China as well as a...

were adapted into these belief systems as they developed (in the case of Taoism), or were assimilated into Chinese culture (in the case of Buddhism). On the other hand, elements from the teachings and beliefs of these systems became incorporated into Chinese mythology. For example, the Taoist

Taoism

Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...

belief of a spiritual paradise

Heaven

Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...

became incorporated into mythology, as the place where immortals and deities dwell.

The state of ancestor veneration in modern day China is reported to be declining in areas that were more heavily affected by the hostility towards religion under the Communist Regime. However, in rural areas of China, as well as Taiwan, ancestor worship and its practices can still be commonly found.

Mediums

The use of mediums to communicate with spirits is an important practice in traditional Chinese culture, and is closely linked to ancestor worship. The medium (mun mai poh, 問覡|問米) or "ask rice woman" helps to ask the ancestor what they require on the other side, and these needs can be provided through the burning of paper effigies. In return, the spirit can be of great help in matters such as winning the lottery or being admitted to low-cost government housing.
The person visiting the medium will take a cup of rice from their kitchen to identify the family.
Through these communications the dead help the living while the living help the dead.
The name involves a pun, since with a change in intonation "ask rice" becomes "spirit medium".

Ghost festival

The Ghost Festival is a traditional Chinese festival celebrated by Chinese in many countries. The fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day and the seventh month in general is regarded as the 'Ghost Month , in which ghost

Ghost

s and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm

Underworld

. Distinct from both the Qingming Festival

Qingming Festival

The Qingming Festival , Pure Brightness Festival or Clear Bright Festival, Ancestors Day or Tomb Sweeping Day is a traditional Chinese festival on the 104th day after the winter solstice , usually occurring around April 5 of the Gregorian calendar...

(in Spring) and Chung Yeung Festival (in Autumn) in which living descendants pay homage to their deceased ancestors, on Ghost Day, the deceased are believed to visit the living. The festival has a long history. A Japanese pilgrim gave a detailed account of the Ghost festival in the Tang

Tang Dynasty

capital of Ch'ang-an in the year 840. In those day the festival was usually called by its Buddhist name of yu lan p'en.

The Buddhists associate the Chung Yuan festival with the legend of Moginlin saving his mother from the underworld. In this story, the hero learns that his mother is starving in the underworld. He travels there, overcoming many difficulties, and offers her food. However, the food bursts into flames before she can eat. In despair, he asks Sakyamuni for advice. The Buddha tells him to find ten monks who will fast and pray together with him on the 15th day of the seventh moon. Moginlin follows this advice and finally manages to release his mother from her torments.

On the fifteenth day the realms of Heaven and Hell and the realm of the living are open and both Taoists and Buddhists would perform rituals to transmute and absolve the sufferings of the deceased. Intrinsic to the Ghost Month is ancestor worship, where traditionally the filial piety of descendants extends to their ancestors even after their deaths. Activities during the month would include preparing ritualistic food offerings, burning incense

Incense

Incense is composed of aromatic biotic materials, which release fragrant smoke when burned. The term "incense" refers to the substance itself, rather than to the odor that it produces. It is used in religious ceremonies, ritual purification, aromatherapy, meditation, for creating a mood, and for...

, and burning joss paper

Joss paper

Joss paper , also known as ghost money, are sheets of paper and/or paper-crafts made into burnt offerings which are common in traditional Chinese religious practices including the veneration of the deceased on holidays and special occasions...

, a papier-mache

Papier-mâché

Papier-mâché , alternatively, paper-mache, is a composite material consisting of paper pieces or pulp, sometimes reinforced with textiles, bound with an adhesive, such as glue, starch, or wallpaper paste....

form of material items such as clothes, gold and other fine goods for the visiting spirits of the ancestors. Elaborate meals would be served with empty seats for each of the deceased in the family treating the deceased as if they are still living. Ancestor worship is what distinguishes Qingming Festival from Ghost Festival because the latter includes paying respects to all deceased, including the same and younger generations, while the former only includes older generations. Other festivities may include, buying and releasing miniature paper boats and lantern

Lantern

A lantern is a portable lighting device or mounted light fixture used to illuminate broad areas. Lanterns may also be used for signaling, as 'torches', or as general light sources outdoors . Low light level varieties are used for decoration. The term "lantern" is also used more generically to...

s on water, which signifies giving directions to the lost ghosts and spirits of the ancestors and other deities.

The modern festival of Chung Yuan Putu or "Mid-origin Passage to Universal Salvation" owes its origins to both the Buddhist Ullambana

Ullambana Sutra

The Ullambana Sutra is a Mahayana sutra which consists in a brief discourse given by the Gautama Buddha principally to the monk Maudgalyāyana on the practice of filial piety....

(Deliverance) Festival and the Taoist Chinese Ghost Festival, both of which honor the spirits of the departed, and which have now been combined. Historically, families offer sacrifices of the newly harvested grain to departed ancestors on this day. In some parts of China, believers make small roadside fires where they burn paper money and other offerings to appease the restless spirits that have temporarily been released from the underworld.

During the ghost festival, people try to avoid outdoor activities, getting married or moving to a new house-especially at night.
It is thought that if a ghost finds someone in the street and follows them home, they and their family will have bad luck for the next year. People should also avoid bodies of water on Ghost day, since they may be caught and drowned by a Shuǐ Guǐ (水鬼), a ghost who had died through drowning and wants to return to life.
The Ghost Festival shares some similarities with the predominantly Mexican

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

observance of El Día de los Muertos
Day of the Dead
Day of the Dead is a Mexican holiday celebrated throughout Mexico and around the world in many cultures. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where it attains the quality...

. Due to theme of ghosts and spirits, the festival is sometimes also known as the "Chinese Halloween".

Hungry ghosts

Hungry Ghosts are a Buddhist concept that differs from ghosts in Chinese tradition. Traditional belief is that people become ghosts when they die.
It was originally thought that ghosts did not have eternal life, but would slowly weaken and eventually die a second time.
Hungry ghosts in traditional thought would only be an issue in exceptional cases such a whole family was killed or when a family no longer appreciated their ancestors. With the rise of popularity in Buddhism the idea that souls would live in space until reincarnation became popular.
In the Taoist tradition it is believed hungry ghosts can arise from people whose deaths have been violent or unhappy. Both Buddhism and Taoism share the idea that hungry ghosts can emerge from neglect or desertion of ancestors.

According to the Hua-yen Sutra evil deeds will cause a soul to be born in different realms. There are six possible realms of existence for souls.
The highest degree of evil deed will cause a soul to be born into a realm as a denizen of hell, the lower degree of that would cause a soul to be born as an animal, and the lowest degree would cause a soul to be born as a hungry ghost.
Evil deeds that lead to becoming a hungry ghost would be killing, stealing and sexual misconduct. Desire, greed, anger and ignorance all have factors in causing a soul to be reborn as a hungry ghost because they are motives for people to perform evil deeds. The least serious of these will cause one to be have the destiny of becoming a hungry ghost.

Miscellany

When someone dies, it is important to perform the correct rites to ensure that the departed ancestor does not become a wandering ghost. Since the corpse, or at least the bones, continues to have powers that could affect the fate of living relatives, an expert in feng-shui is needed to determine an auspicious time, place, and orientation of the burial.

In Chinese tradition, a ghost marriage (also known as a Minghun or spirit marriage) is a marriage in which one or both parties are deceased.
A ghost marriage was usually set up by the family of the deceased and performed for a number of reasons, including the marriage of a couple previously engaged before one member’s death, to integrate an unmarried daughter into a patrilineage, to ensure the family line is continued, or to maintain that no younger brother is married before an elder brother.

Classical literature

Fengshen Bang is one of the major vernacular Chinese epic fantasy

Fantasy

Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...

novels written in the Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...

. The story is set in the era of the declining Shang Dynasty

Shang Dynasty

The Shang Dynasty or Yin Dynasty was, according to traditional sources, the second Chinese dynasty, after the Xia. They ruled in the northeastern regions of the area known as "China proper" in the Yellow River valley...

and rise of the Zhou Dynasty

Zhou Dynasty

The Zhou Dynasty was a Chinese dynasty that followed the Shang Dynasty and preceded the Qin Dynasty. Although the Zhou Dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history, the actual political and military control of China by the Ji family lasted only until 771 BC, a period known as...

. It intertwines numerous elements of Chinese mythology

Chinese mythology

, including gods and goddesses, immortals and spirits.
The novel is prominent in modern Chinese culture and has been adapted into numerous television series and video games, even in Japanese popular culture

Japanese popular culture

Japanese popular culture not only reflects the attitudes and concerns of the present but also provides a link to the past. Japanese cinema, cuisine, television programs, manga, and music all developed from older artistic and literary traditions, and many of their themes and styles of presentation...

.

Journey to the West
Journey to the West
Journey to the West is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It was written by Wu Cheng'en in the 16th century. In English-speaking countries, the tale is also often known simply as Monkey. This was one title used for a popular, abridged translation by Arthur Waley...

is one of the Four Great Classical Novels

Four Great Classical Novels

The Four Great Classical Novels, or the Four Major Classical Novels of Chinese literature, are the four novels commonly regarded by scholars to be the greatest and most influential of pre-modern Chinese fiction. Dating from the Ming and Qing dynasties, they are well known to most Chinese readers...

of Chinese literature

Chinese literature

Chinese literature extends thousands of years, from the earliest recorded dynastic court archives to the mature fictional novels that arose during the Ming Dynasty to entertain the masses of literate Chinese...

. Originally published anonymously in the 1590s during the Ming Dynasty

Ming Dynasty

, its authorship has been ascribed to the scholar Wu Cheng'en

Wu Cheng'en

Wu Cheng'en , courtesy name Ruzhong , pen name "Sheyang Hermit," was a Chinese novelist and poet of the Ming Dynasty, best known for being the attributed author of one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, Journey to the West.-Biography:Wu was born in Lianshui, in Jiangsu...

since the 20th century.
It tells the story of the monk Xuánzàng and his quest to bring back Buddhist scriptures from Vulture Peak in India.
Although some of the obstacle Xuánzàng encounters are political and involve ordinary human beings, they more frequently consist of run-ins with various goblins and ogres, many of in whom turn out to be the earthly manifestations of heavenly beings (whose sins will be negated by eating the flesh of Xuánzàng) or animal-spirits with enough Taoist spiritual merit to assume semi-human forms.

Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio
Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio
Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio or Liaozhai Zhiyi is a collection of nearly five hundred mostly supernatural tales written by Pu Songling in Classical Chinese during the early Qing Dynasty.Pu borrows from a folk tradition of oral storytelling to put to paper a series of captivating,...

) is a collection of nearly five hundred mostly supernatural tales written by Pu Songling

Pu Songling

Pu Songling was a Qing Dynasty Chinese writer, best known as the author of Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio.-Biography:Pu was born into a poor landlord-merchant family from Zichuan...

in Classical Chinese

Classical Chinese

Classical Chinese or Literary Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of ancient Chinese, making it different from any modern spoken form of Chinese...

during the early Qing Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....

.
The compilation was first circulated in manuscript form before it was published posthumously. Sources differ in their account of the year of publication. One source claims the "Strange Tales" were published by Pu's grandson in 1740. However, the earliest existing print version today dates to 1766.
Pu is believed to have completed the majority of the tales sometime in 1679, though he could have added entries as late as 1707.

Movies

The theme of ghosts is popular in Chinese cinema, including films made in Hong Kong, Singapore and the mainland. They may be based on traditional themes.
A Chinese Ghost Story
A Chinese Ghost Story
A Chinese Ghost Story is a 1987 Hong Kong romantic comedy horror film starring Leslie Cheung, Joey Wong, and Wu Ma, directed by Ching Siu-tung, and produced by Tsui Hark...

is a 1987 Hong Kong

Hong Kong films of 1987

A list of films produced in Hong Kong in 1987:.-1987:-External links:* * Hong Kong films of 1987 at...

romantic comedy - horror film starring Leslie Cheung

Leslie Cheung

Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing , nicknamed elder brother , was a film actor and musician from Hong Kong. Cheung was considered as "one of the founding fathers of Cantopop", and "combining a hugely successful film and music career".In 2000, Cheung was named Asian Biggest Superstar by China Central...

, Joey Wong

Joey Wong

Joey Wong is a Hong Kong based Taiwanese-born actress.-Biography:Wong was born on January 31, 1967 and raised in Taipei and also received a secondary school education there. She was enrolled in the drama course of Kuo Kwan Arts School...

, and Wu Ma

Wu Ma

Wu Ma is a Chinese actor, director, producer and writer. Wu Ma made his screen debut in 1963, and with over 180 appearances to his name , Wu Ma is one of the most familiar faces in the history of Hong Kong Cinema...

, directed by Ching Siu-tung

Ching Siu-tung

Ching Siu-tung , also known as Tony Ching, is a Hong Kong action choreographer, actor, film director and producer, who has directed over 20 films, including the critically acclaimed supernatural fantasy A Chinese Ghost Story .-Career:...

, and produced by Tsui Hark

Tsui Hark

Tsui Hark , born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong New Wave film director and producer. He is viewed as a major figure in the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema .-Early life:...

. The story is loosely based on a short story in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio. It was a huge success in Hong Kong, South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

and Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

and sparked a trend of folklore ghost films in the HK film industry

Cinema of Hong Kong

The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China, and the cinema of Taiwan...

. The movie won many awards.
Ten years later, A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation

A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation

A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation is a 1997 Hong Kong animated film. It was the first Chinese animated feature film from Hong Kong...

was based on the same story. The first Chinese animated

Chinese animation

Chinese animation or Manhua Anime, in narrow sense, refers to animations that are made in China. In broad sense, it may refers to animations that are made in any Chinese speaking countries such as People's Republic of China , Republic of China , Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, etc.- History :The...

feature film

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

from Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, it was produced by Tsui Hark

Tsui Hark

Tsui Hark , born Tsui Man-kong, is a Hong Kong New Wave film director and producer. He is viewed as a major figure in the Golden Age of Hong Kong cinema .-Early life:...

and his production company, Film Workshop

Film Workshop

Film Workshop Co. Ltd. , is a Hong Kong production company and film distributor. It was founded in April 1984 by producer/director Tsui Hark and his wife, Nansun Shi...

.

Chinese ghost movies may have more modern themes.
The Ghost Inside
The Ghost Inside
This article is about the Chinese film. For the American Hardcore band, see The Ghost Inside .The Ghost Inside is a 2005 Chinese horror film directed by Herman Yau, and starring Mainland actors, Liu Ye and Gong Beibi and Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu.The film was produced by the China Film Group...

is a 2005

Chinese films of the 2000s

This is a list of films produced in mainland China ordered by year of release in the 2000s. For an alphabetical listing of Chinese films see :Category:Chinese films-2000:-2001:-2002:-2003:-2004:-2005:-2006:-2007:...

Chinese

Cinema of China

The Chinese-language cinema has three distinct historical threads: Cinema of Hong Kong, Cinema of China, and Cinema of Taiwan. Since 1949 the cinema of mainland China has operated under restrictions imposed by the Communist Party of China's State Administration of Radio, Film, and Television and...

horror film

Horror film

Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...

directed by Herman Yau

Herman Yau

Herman Yau Lai-To , born 1961 in Hong Kong is a film director, actor, cinematographer, scriptwriter and film producer.-Background:A Chiuchow by origin, Yau studied film at The Department of Communications, Hong Kong Baptist College from 1981 to 1984 where he spent much of his early days hanging out...

, and starring Mainland

Mainland China

Mainland China, the Chinese mainland or simply the mainland, is a geopolitical term that refers to the area under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China . According to the Taipei-based Mainland Affairs Council, the term excludes the PRC Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and...

actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

s, Liu Ye and Gong Beibi

Gong Beibi

Gong Beibi is a Chinese film actress. Beginning her career as a child actress, she later graduated from the prestigious Central Academy of Drama where she gained fame and popularity among young audiences in China after starring in several popular TV series and feature films in both China and Hong...

and Taiwanese actress Barbie Hsu

Barbie Hsu

Barbie Hsu also known as Dà S |Mars]] with Vic Chou of F4. She has also acted in movies, her first being the Chinese movie The Ghost Inside. She also had a singing career prior to her acting career. She was in a duo group called "S.O.S." with her sister Dee Hsu. Their last album was called...

. The film was produced by the China Film Group

China Film Group

China Film Group Corporation , abbreviated as CFGC, is the largest and most influential state-run film enterprise in China.-History:The predecessor China Film Corporation was established in 1949...

and at the time of its filming was the most expensive horror film ever made in mainland China.
It tells the story of a young mother fleeing an abusive husband who moves into an apartment haunted by the previous occupants, a mother who had thrown her daughter out of the window before jumping to her death herself.

The Eye
The Eye (2002 film)
The Eye, also known as Seeing Ghosts, is a 2002 horror film directed by the Pang brothers. The film spawned two sequels by the Pang brothers, The Eye 2 and The Eye 10...

is a 2002 Hong Kong-Singaporean

Cinema of Singapore

Despite having a flourishing Chinese and Malay film industry in the 1950s and 1960s, Singapore's film industry declined after independence in 1965. There were a few films that featured Singaporean actors and were set in Singapore, including Saint Jack and They Call Her Cleopatra Wong...

-Thai

Cinema of Thailand

The cinema of Thailand dates back to the early days of filmmaking, when King Chulalongkorn's 1897 visit to Bern, Switzerland was recorded by Francois-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought to Bangkok, where it was exhibited...

horror film

Horror film

directed by the Pang brothers. The film spawned two sequels by the Pang brothers, The Eye 2
The Eye 2
The Eye 2 is a 2004 Hong Kong horror film directed by the Pang brothers. It is the sequel to The Eye , though the two storylines are not related in any way except for seeing ghosts.-Plot:...

and The Eye 10
The Eye 10
The Eye 10, also known as The Eye Infinity, is a 2005 horror film directed by the Pang brothers, starring Wilson Chen, Kate Yeung, Isabella Leong, Bongkoj Khongmalai, Ray MacDonald and Kris Gu. The number "10" in the title is not an indicator of chronology in The Eye film series...

.
The film is based on the story of a young woman who receives an eye transplant, which gives her supernatural powers.
There are two remakes of this film, Naina
Naina
Naina is a Hindi horror film released in India in 2005. It stars Urmila Matondkar. It is an uncredited remake of the Hong Kong film The Eye, meaning the original writers received no compensation as opposed to that provided by the American remake The Eye.Its release caused controversy in India...

, made in 2005 in India and The Eye
The Eye (2008 film)
The Eye is a 2008 supernatural horror film starring Jessica Alba. It is a remake of the Pang Brothers' 2002 film of the same name.-Plot:Sydney Wells is a successful classical violinist who has been blind since the age of five. Fifteen years later, Sydney undergoes a cornea transplant, which causes...

, a 2008 Hollywood production starring Jessica Alba

Jessica Alba

Jessica Marie Alba is an American television and film actress. She began her television and movie appearances at age 13 in Camp Nowhere and The Secret World of Alex Mack . Alba rose to prominence as the lead actress in the television series Dark Angel...

and produced by Peter Chan

Peter Chan

Peter Chan Ho-sun , is a film director and producer.-Life and career:Chan was born in Bangkok to Chinese parents. He spent his teens in and studied in Hong Kong and United States, and he attended film school at UCLA. He returned to Hong Kong in 1983 for a summer internship in the film industry....

and Paula Wagner.

The Maid
The Maid
The Maid is a 2005 Singaporean horror film telling of a maid recently arriving from the Philippines. She has to acclimate herself to the customs of the Chinese Ghost Month, during which she struggles with supernatural forces...

is a 2005

2005 in film

- Highest-grossing films :Please note that following the tradition of the English-language film industry, these are the top-grossing films that were first released in the United States in 2005...

Singaporean

Cinema of Singapore

horror film

Horror film

telling of a maid

Maid

A maidservant or in current usage housemaid or maid is a female employed in domestic service.-Description:Once part of an elaborate hierarchy in great houses, today a single maid may be the only domestic worker that upper and even middle-income households can afford, as was historically the case...

recently arriving from the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

. She has to acclimate herself to the customs of the Chinese

Culture of China

Chinese culture is one of the world's oldest and most complex. The area in which the culture is dominant covers a large geographical region in eastern Asia with customs and traditions varying greatly between towns, cities and provinces...

Ghost Month

Ghost Festival

The Ghost Festival, also known as the Hungry Ghost Festival, is a traditional Chinese festival and holiday celebrated by Chinese in many countries...

, during which she struggles with supernatural forces. The maid is employed by a Teochew

Teochew people

The Chaozhou people are Han people, native to the Chaoshan region of eastern Guangdong province of China who speak the Teochew dialect. Today, most Teochew people live outside China in Southeast Asia especially in Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia. They can also be found almost anywhere in the...

opera

Chinese opera

Chinese opera is a popular form of drama and musical theatre in China with roots going back as far as the third century CE...

family, a family with many secrets, who give her a place to stay in their dilapidated shophouse

Shophouse

A shophouse is a vernacular architectural building type that is commonly seen in areas such as urban Southeast Asia. This hybrid building form characterises the historical centres of most towns and cities in the region.- Design and features :...

. The film broke the box office

Box office

A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....

record in Singapore for the horror genre, won the European Fantastic Film Festival Federation (EFFFF) Asian Film Award at the 10th Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival

Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival

The Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival , or PiFan, is an international film festival held annually in July in Bucheon, South Korea...

(PiFan).

Terminology

History

Mediums

Ghost festival

Hungry ghosts

Miscellany

Classical literature

Movies

See also