Why Ghosts Exist
In Chinese folk belief, ghosts (鬼, guǐ) are souls that have not completed the journey through the underworld to reincarnation. They remain in the mortal world — visible to some, invisible to most, and almost always unhappy.
Ghosts exist because something went wrong: an improper burial, an unresolved injustice, a violent death, or a failure of the living to provide offerings. Each cause produces a different type of ghost with different behaviors and different dangers.
The Types
Hungry Ghosts (饿鬼, èguǐ) — Souls condemned to perpetual hunger because of greed in their previous life. They have enormous stomachs and tiny mouths — they can never eat enough to satisfy their hunger. The Hungry Ghost Festival (中元节) in the seventh lunar month is dedicated to feeding these spirits.
Vengeful Ghosts (厉鬼, lìguǐ) — The most dangerous type. These are souls who died unjustly — murdered, wrongly executed, or driven to suicide — and who seek revenge on the living. A vengeful ghost will not rest until the injustice is addressed, either through the punishment of the guilty or through ritual intervention.
Water Ghosts (水鬼, shuǐguǐ) — Souls of people who drowned. Water ghosts are trapped at the site of their drowning and can only be freed by finding a replacement — dragging another person into the water to drown. This belief explains why some Chinese communities are wary of swimming in rivers or lakes where drownings have occurred.
Child Ghosts (婴灵, yīnglíng) — Spirits of children who died before birth or in infancy. They are not malicious but are deeply sad — they cry at night and seek the warmth of living families. Temples offer rituals to comfort child ghosts and guide them to reincarnation.
Jiangshi (僵尸) — Reanimated corpses that hop rather than walk (because rigor mortis has stiffened their joints). Jiangshi are not ghosts in the strict sense — they are bodies animated by residual qi rather than souls that have refused to leave. They are the Chinese equivalent of zombies.
How to Deal with Ghosts
Chinese folk tradition offers multiple methods for dealing with ghosts:
Daoist exorcism — A Daoist priest uses talismans (符, fú), rituals, and spiritual authority to compel ghosts to leave or to guide them to the underworld.
Buddhist chanting — Monks chant sutras that generate merit, which can be transferred to ghosts to ease their suffering and facilitate their passage to reincarnation.
Offerings — Burning joss paper (paper money, paper houses, paper cars) provides ghosts with resources in the afterlife, reducing their motivation to disturb the living.
Avoidance — Do not whistle at night (it attracts ghosts). Do not hang laundry outside at night (ghosts wear the clothes). Do not tap someone on the shoulder from behind (it extinguishes one of the three protective flames that guard the living).
The Cultural Function
Ghosts serve a cultural function: they enforce social norms. The belief that improper burial creates ghosts motivates proper funeral rites. The belief that injustice creates vengeful ghosts motivates justice. The belief that neglected ancestors become hungry ghosts motivates filial piety. Ghosts are, in this sense, the enforcement mechanism of Chinese moral culture.