Creatures of Chinese Folklore and Their Foreign Doppelgängers
As you may already know, we have entered the seventh month of the lunar calendar, which is of the month of the ghost according to traditional Chinese belief. This time around, instead of going into the origin of this myth, we found a few household names in Chinese mythology and have compared them with their Western counterparts, in order to give you a better understanding of the main characters in Ghost Month and the roles they play.
黑白无常 Heibai Wuchang—The Grim Reaper
Apparently, you can’t expect living souls to give up their lives that easily, especially when you run an institution called Hell. This means the role of guide of the deceased from our world to the afterlife can be commonly found in all kinds of mythology. Sometimes they dress in a cloak and yield their ruthless scythes to collect souls. Sometimes they welcome vigilant spirits in the name of the Valkyries. And sometimes they just row their boats silently across the Styx amid the fog. In China, however, the diligent guiders of souls work in a pair and are officially hired by God. People refer to them as 黑白无常 heibai wuchang because of their apparel: One wears a black gown and the other a white gown. The word 无常 wuchang indicates the uncertainty of fate.
But not everyone knows that these two tour guides of Hell were once human, and that they were close friends in life before they became colleagues in death. They died keeping a promise to each other, which impressed the Lord of Hell, who then granted them their current position.
精卫 Jingwei—Sisyphus
Where Sisyphus pushed that giant boulder into Hades’ realm to no avail, 精卫 Jingwei, the daughter of Emperor Yan who was transformed into a bird after she drowned in the ocean, tirelessly dropped stones into the roaring waves, hoping to fill the ocean up until it became as the flat ground.
Compared to Sisyphus, the story of Jingwei is not about punishment enforced by others, but is instead more about the unyielding spirit people of the prehistoric age showed when facing the challenges and disasters brought by nature.
狐狸精 Hulijing—Succubi
A succubus may boast the wings of a bat, but its Chinese counterpart usually prefers a fluffier form. In Chinese folklore, the long-lived and magic-wielding foxes can disguise themselves as beautiful, flirting ladies. Unlike succubi, which only come at night, the powerful fox spirits can show themselves even under broad daylight. And some people believe that the longer these creatures live, the more branches their tails will split into—the one with nine tails all stretched out is the most powerful one of its kind. At first, the nine-tailed fox was regarded as a sign of power and a fruitful family, however, during the Song and Yuan dynasties, its image has gradually been stigmatized as the trademark of debauchery and dangerous women.
钟馗 Zhongkui—Van Helsing
Van Helsing is a fictional character who first appeared in the timeless 19th century fantasy and horror novel “Dracula,” and who now has become the classic example of a demon slayer. In China, a man named 钟馗 Zhongkui shares a similar vocation as Van Helsing, and you may still be able to see people who live in the countryside or who believe in Taoism putting up his portrait to expel evil spirits.
As you may have already figured out, Zhongkui used to be human as well. He was a talented lad, but was not born with a blessed appearance. And for this reason, he was unable to pass the final round of the imperial exam and so committed suicide. When the emperor learned of this tragedy, he decided to bury Zhongkui in the apparel of an official to express his condolences. Years later, one of the emperor’s descendants fell ill and could not find an effective treatment. One night, he dreamed of a large man dressed in an official red gown hunting a fiend, and after learning this powerful exorcist’s story in his dream, upon waking up he discovered that he had magically been cured. With the support of the emperor, Zhongkui’s story and portrait spread widely across the country.
刑天 Xingtian—Headless Horseman
The headless warrior is another common character in world folkore, and we happen to find two beheaded fighters wandering in the fields of China as well as in the American tale, Legend of Sleep Hollow. But the latter can actually be traced back to the Irish character of myth, Dullahan, who maintains his head in his arm and rides around on a creepy gothic wagon. His Chinese cousin, 刑天 Xingtian, lost his head during his fight with the legendary Emperor Huang, and the emperor even created a mountain to seal his head in. However, this valiant warrior refused to surrender. He turned his nipples into eyes and his belly button into a mouth. In this way, he was able to continue his battle.
Read: It's Ghost Month AND Friday the 13th, Time to Get Scared Sh***less
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