The Troublesome Ghosts: Part 1

Most of the pingmin [common people] who lived in China in the late Qing and the Republic (from 1850 to 1949) knew that many deities and ghosts had the power to affect their daily lives. Temples and shrines to these supernatural beings dotted the countryside andwere an ever-present sight in all the villages, towns, and cities throughoutChina.Their imageswere frequently encountered, whether as statues in an incense-filled shrine or in printed representations pasted on the gates of homes to ensure protection, and allmajor festivals of the Chinese calendar contained references to the gods or the ghosts that populated both heaven and earth.1 Almost all premodern societies organized their belief and value systems around their perceptions of the world of spirits, gods, ghosts, and demons. These were powerful forces that had abilities far beyond those possessed by mere human beings. When large phenomena such as unexpected storms or thunder were encountered, or when smaller maladies such as a severe headache or sudden vomiting occurred, troublesome events that did not seem to have a clear or immediate cause, it was widely assumed that the influence of the superhuman forces was in play. Because these forces were all-pervasive and not always predictable in their actions, they elicited both awe and fear amonghumanbeings. The big issues for China’s pingminwere how to approach these powers, how to demonstrate one’s respect for them, and how best to avoid their displeasure. Over the centuries in China, a large body of literature emerged to describe these powerful forces.