A Chinese Demonography of the Third Century B.C.DONALD HARPERStanford University

THE ancient Chinese conception of the spirit world did not

tend towards making a categorical division of the spirits into

the good and the evil or the gods and the devils. The general senti­

ment was, however, that the ghosts of the dead (kuei 鬼）and the

sundry spirits (shen 神）who inhabited the terrestrial realm were a

hazard to humankind. Identifying these spirits, determining whether

they were beneficial or harmful, and whether they were to be pro-

This article was written during my tenure as a Mellon Fellow in the Department o f Asian Languages，Stanford University, for whose support I am grateful.Abbrevialionsi

HS Han shu pu-chu 澳 害 補 注 （photographic reproduction of the 1900woodblock ed., I-wen Press, Taipei).

HY Harvard-Yenching Index to the Taoist Canon, Too tsang tzu mu yin-te

道藏子目引得（Peking, 1936). References are to the number of a text in the Canon as given on pp. 1—37.

SC Shih chi 史 記 （photographic reproduction o f the Palace ed., I-wen Press,Taipei).

SSCCS Shih-san ching chu shu 十三經注疏 （photographic reproduction of the1816 woodblock ed., I-wen Press, Taipei).

SW Shm wen chieh tzu chu 説文解字注，commentary by Tuan Yu-ts*ai 段玉裁

(photographic reproduction o f 1872 woodblock cd., Kuang-wcn shu-chil,Taipei).

YMCM Yiin-mmg Skm-ku~ti CkHn mu 雲夢睡虎地泰墓 (Peking: Wcn-wu Press,1981).

pitiated or exorcised, were fundamental elements of demonology

in early Chinese religion.1

Demonology continued to gain prominence in the occult arts of

the Warring States period. Along with the general proliferation of

occult literature in this period, demonographies were compiled to

aid in identifying the shades and to teach the techniques of magical

control. A number of these works were included in the category of

magical and divinatory literature in the first century B.C. catalogue

of the royal Han library. The characteristics of the ancient demono­

graphic genre are clear from some of the titles of these lost books

as recorded in the Han shu 漢害 bibliographic treatise: Portentous and Propitious Mutant Prodigies (Chen Iisiang pien kuai 梢祥變怪)，twenty-one

scrolls;2 Declarations o f Odium for Mutant Prodigies {Pien kuai kao chin 變怪誥咎)，thirteen scrolls;3 Seizing the Unpropitious and Subjugating Spectral Entities (Chih pu-hsiang ho kuei wu 執不祥劾鬼物)，eight scrolls.4

1 I apply the term demonology to this knowledge of the spirit world that adjoined the human, and 1 make reference to demons, sprites, spectres, and related terms as a way of designating the denizens of the spirit world. The nature of these spirits ran along a spectrum from totally noxious to potentially beneficial, a perception which was reflected in the various magical methods adopted in dealing with them. There were also ceicstial deities such as God on High (Shang ti 上帝）and God o f Heaven (T ‘icn ti 天帝）who watched over the spirit and human worlds. Their judgements were not always pleasing to human society, but they were nonetheless attentive to mortals below and granted bene­faction when warranted. Man could appeal to them for protection from demonic machinations. For a survey of the conception of the spirit world from Shang to Han as evidenced in ancient literature and archeological artifacts, see the two articles by Hayashi Minao 林已奈夫： chuki ni yurai suru kishin” 殷中期{ [ 由 來 鬼 神 ，Td/id gakuhO

束方学士 41 (1970); 1-70; and “ Kandai kishin no sekai” 漢士鬼神◦ 世界，T6hd gakuhd

46 (1974): 223-306.2 HS 30.75a.3 HS 30.75b.4 HS 30.75b. A ll three titles cited and several additional titles are listed in the “ Tsa

chan” 雜 占 （Assorted divination) section of the “ Shu shu liieh” 數術略 （Summary of computations and arts) in the Han shu bibliographic treatise. A few remarks on terms used in the book titles are in order. Pien kuai 變怪 （“ mutant prodigies” ）appears elsewhere in Han portent literature to denote the ominous manifestations o f the spirit world. HS

76.13b, for example, quotes one o f Chang Ch‘ang，s 張敞 memorials in which Chang lists calamitous phenomena which manifested themselves during the reign of Thearch Hsiian 宜 帝 (r. 73-49 B.C.), including “ ominous portents and mutant prodigies.” That such mutant prodigies were the transformations effected by spectres in the world is clear from a passage in Pao piu Izu 抱申卜子{SPPY ed.)，“ Lun hsien” 論仙，2.6b, In a discourse on the reality of spirits and ghosts and the efficacy of magic in dealing with them, the text notes that “ ghosts and spirits frequently act among men to create shining prodigies {kuang kuai 光怪一apparitions of this sort are said to duster around tumuli in Six Dynasties sources) and mutant marvels {pien i 變異〉♦” In the Pao p%u tzu, kuang modifies

Documentation of early demon lore is found in the received litera­

ture of the pre-Han and Han periods, but until recently there were

no extant fragments of ancient demonographies such as those listed

in the bibliographic treatise which might elucidate the form and

content of the genre.6

A demonographic text has now been recovered from a third

century B.C. tomb at Shui-hu-ti 睡虎地，Hupei. It forms one section

of a bamboo slip manuscript which contains a variety of material

on astrological, divinatory, and magical arts. The demonographic

scction is entitled “Chieh” 詰. Although it is brief compared to the

many-scrolled books listed in the Han shu bibliographic treatise,

“Chieh，，provides us with our first example of the demonography

in Warring States and Chein-Han occult literature. The text

consists of a brief prologue followed by approximately seventy

separate entries, each one related to a type of demonic harassment

and its remedy. I am currently preparing a transcription and

kuai and pien modifies i. Hence my “ mutam prodigies” for pirn kuai, although “ mutants and prodigies’，is also a possibility.

The title of the second book refers explicitly to cxorcistic methods, for it concerns the ^declarations of odium” (kao chiu 詰咎) to be used against mutant prodigies. An in­cantation entitled the “ Declaration o f Odium” written by Ts*ao Chih 曹 植 (192-232) is preserved in / wen lei chii 藝文類聚（Pelting: Chung-hua shu-chii, 1965), 100.1725. Ts*ao’s preface states that in writing it he has “ borrowed the command of the God of Heaven to beseech blessings by means of a declaration of odium,” and the text of the incantation seeks divine assistance to quell calamities which have befallen the land. The device of requesting assistance from certain spirits in order to exorcise others is well attested in the incantation literature, the classic example o f which is the malediction chanted in the No 備 expulsion (a lengthy discussion of this malediction is in D. Bodde， Festivals in Classical China [Princcton: Princeton University Press, 1975], pp. 85-111). A number of such exorcistic incantations also occur in the Ma-wang-tui 馬王堆 tomb three (burial dated 168 B.C.) medical rccipe manual, Wu-sfdh-erh ping fang 五十二病方

(Recipes for fifty-two ailments), for which sec my Ph.D. dissertation, “ The Wu Shih Erh

Ping Fang'. Translation and Prolegomena” (University of California, Berkeley, 1982; University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor), pp. 75-83. In the Han shu bibliographic treatise the term kao cfdxi most likely means a “ declaration to helpful spirits to bring their wrathful vengeance upon demonic miscreants.” In the third book tide, the word ho 劾

means literally “ subjugate by means of cxorcistic instruments” and appears frequently in its original meaning in early sourccs (see n. 53 below).

5 J. J. M . de Groot, The Religious System of China，6 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1892-1910), vol. 5, gives a good survey of Chinese demonology with many citations from pre-Han and Han sources. Much early demonological material is also brought together in Kiang Chao- yuan, Le Voyage dans la Chine ancienne (Shanghai: Commission mixte des oeuvres franco- chinoises, 1937), Fan Jen trans. Bodde, Festivals, pp. 85-111, provides a summary review of some of the early literary sources.

translation of the entire text. In the present article I will focus

primarily on the meaning of the title “Chieh” and on the

contents of the prologue. My purpose is to place the Shui-hu-ti

demonography in the context of ancient Chinese demon lore, to

show its relationship to fragments of Six Dynasties demonographic

literature, and to establish the characteristics of the ancient demono­

graphic genre.

Before focusing on the Shui-hu-ti demonography, however, I

will offer some brief observations on the physical appearance and

contents of the entire manuscript. It is in fact one of two bamboo

manuscripts on occult subjects recovered from the Shui-hu-ti tomb.

Together they restore to us a literature which has long been lost

and are thus invaluable for the study of Warring States occult

belief and practice.

THE SHUI-HU-TI OCCULT MANUSCRIPTS

The manuscripts were recovered from Tomb Eleven at Shui-hu-ti,

excavated between December 1975 and January 1976. The burial

has been dated to 217 b.c. The two occult manuscripts were among

a number of other bamboo manuscripts which had been placed

around the corpse inside the cofRn. Most of the manuscripts treat of

judicial and governmental affairs. Transcriptions of these were

published soon after the tomb cxcavation.® Photographs and trans­

criptions of the occult manuscripts were first published in 1981.7

6 The initial reports published in Chinese scholarly journals on the manuscripts found in tomb eleven at Shui-hu-ti are summarized in D. Harper, “ The twelve Qin tombs at Shuihudi, Hubei: new texts and archeological data,” Early China 3 (1977): 100-04. Following the first transcriptions of the judicial and governmental writings which appeared in Wen-wu 文物，two books were published with transcriptions o f them: Shui-

hu-ti CA(m mu ckit-chun 睡虎地秦墓竹簡（Peking: Wen-wu Press, 1977); and Shui-hu-ti

Ch*in mu chu<hien (Peking: Wen-wu Press, 1978; this edition includes a translation into modem Chinese). Among Western scholars who have made critical studies of the judicial and governmental writings, I would mention: A. F. P. Hulsewe, “ The Ch'in documents discovered in Hupei in 1975，” TP 64 (1978): 175-217; K . G. D. McLcod and R. D. S. Yates, “ Forms o f Ch‘in law: an annotated translation o f the Feng-chen shih,yi

HJAS 41.1 (1981): 111-63; and D‘ Bodde, “ Forensic medicine in pre-imperial China，,， JAOS 102 (1982): 1-15. A complete translation by Hulsewe of the judicial and govern­mental writings, tentative title Remnants of ChHn Law (Leiden: Brill), is in press.

7 YMCM is the archeological report on the Ch‘in tombs at Shui-hu-ti. I t includes plates wilh photographs and transcriptions of all of the bamboo slip manuscripts from tomb eleven. The plates of the occult manuscripts have been reprinted in Jao Tsung-i 頭

The first manuscript, the one containing the demonography

(hereafter ms A), does not have an overall title. The second manu­

script (ms B) bears the title Jih shu 13 書 (Day Book) written on a slip at

the end of the manuscript. Jih is a word which in early usage

denoted hemerological arts and divination. Inasmuch as ms A is

similar in content to ms B，both manuscripts represent the scope of

subjects which might fall within the arts of “day divination” in

Warring States and Ch^n-Han times.8

ms A consists of 166 bamboo slips which were originally laced

together.9 It displays some unusual features which provide new

perspectives on early book manufacture. First of all, the text is

written on both sides of the slips rather than on just one side as is

usual in old bamboo manuscripts. After filling the front side, the

text continues on the reverse side, leaving the back side of only six

slips blank at the end of the manuscript.10 This method of writing

the text suggests that calculations were made beforehand to ensure

the surface area of the bound slips was sufficiently broad to contain

the text front and back. That such predeterminations were necessary

is confirmed by the layout of the text on the slips. The text is com­

posed of a number of separate sections. Like the demonographic

section entitled “Chieh，” most sections are identified by a title which

appears in a raised heading on the slip where the section begins.

Within a section the text is not written in a continuous column down

the entire length of each slip, but rather the surface of the slips is

divided into horizontal registers. The number of registers placed

across the surface of the slips is not uniform through the manuscript,

but varies with each section. To read a section one begins with the

short column of text below the section title on the first slip. On

reaching the space or heavy bar which marks the boundary of the

upper register, one then moves to the left to read the short column

on the upper register of the next slip. Having read the short column

and Tseng Hsien-t^ung 曾憲通，Yiin-meng Chlin chien jih shu yen<hiu 雲夢秦簡 U 書研究

(Ilong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1982).8 See the commentary to the “ Jih-cht: chuan” 日者傳 (Account of the day diviners)

in SC 127. la for discussion o f the v/ordjih in the context of divination.9 YMCMt plates 116-143. The Chinese editors have assigned slip numbers to (he

entire manuscript corpus, including the judiciai and governmental writings. The 166 slips o f ms A are numbered 730-895. ms A was found on (he right side of the deceased^ head inside the coffin (YMCMf p. 21).

10 YMCMt plate 143，slips 735-730，reverse, are blank.

The first manuscript, the one containing the demonography

(hereafter ms A), does not have an overall title. The second manu­

script (ms B) bears the title Jih shu 13 "# (Day Book) written on a slip at

the end of the manuscript. Jih is a word which in early usage

denoted hemerological arts and divination. Inasmuch as ms A is

similar in content to ms B，both manuscripts represent the scope of

subjects which might fall within the arts of “day divination” in

Warring States and Ch^n-Han times.8

ms A consists of 166 bamboo slips which were originally laced

together/ It displays some unusual features which provide new

perspectives on early book manufacture. First of all, the text is

written on both sides of the slips rather than on just one side as is

usual in old bamboo manuscripts. After filling the front side, the

text continues on the reverse side, leaving the back side of only six

slips blank at the end of the manuscript.10 This method of writing

the text suggests that calculations were made beforehand to ensure

the surface area of the bound slips was sufficiently broad to contain

the text front and back. That such predeterminations were necessary

is confirmed by the layout of the text on the slips. The text is com­

posed of a number of separate sections. Like the demonographic

section entitled “Chieh，” most sections are identified by a title which

appears in a raised heading on the slip where the section begins.

Within a section the text is not written in a continuous column down

the entire length of each slip, but rather the surface of the slips is

divided into horizontal registers. The number of registers placed

across the surface of the slips is not uniform through the manuscript,

but varies with each section. To read a section one begins with the

short column of text below the section title on the first slip. On

reaching the space or heavy bar which marks the boundary of the

upper register，one then moves to the left to read the short column

on the upper register of the next slip. Having read the short column

and Tseng Hsien-^ung 曾憲通，Yiin-msng ChUrt chien jih shu yen<hiu 雲夢泰簡丨4 窖研究

(Hong Kong: Chinese University Press, 1982).8 See (he commcnlary to ihc “ Jih-ch(: chuan” 日者傅（Account of the day diviners)

in SC 127. la for discussion o f the word jik in the context of divination.9 YMCMf plates 116-143. The Chinese editors have assigned slip numbers to the

entire manuscript corpus, including the judicial and governmental writings. The 166 slips o f ms A are numbered 730-895. ms A was found on the right side of the deceased^ head inside the coffin (YMCMr p. 21).

10 YMCMt plate 143，slips 735-730, reverse, are blank.

Fig. 2. The first ten slips o f “ G hieh，” reproduced from Yun-meng Shui-hu-ti ChHn

mu, plates 131-132 (the Chinese editors have placed the ir transcription to the left o f each slip o f the orig ina l m anuscript).

on the upper register of the last slip in the section, one must return

again to the first slip and read the next lower register. This proce­

dure is repeated until the bottom register is reached. Division into

two，three，or six registers is most common among the sections of

the text (see figure 1). In some instances a very short section is written

down the entire length of several slips without division into reg­

isters.11

Some of the sections include diagrams and tables which are drawn

across the surface of the slips as if on a smooth sheet.13 Judging from

the layout of the registers and drawings, we may surmise that the

bound slips do indeed constitute an unbroken surface like a sheet

of silk. It has often been thought that the use of wood or bamboo

slips for writing ancient texts meant that the manuscript consisted

of a roll of bound slips，each slip containing one column of text

written down its entire length. To be sure, this was one method of

writing a text. The significance of ms A is that it shows us another

method for composing bamboo and wood slip manuscripts. Rather

than treating the slips as discrete surfaces loosely bound and rolled,

the slips were formed into a tightly bound mat which could be used

in the same way that one might use a sheet of silk.13

11 The demonographic section is divided into three registers, illustrated in figure 2. Some sections do not have heading titles, but can be easily recognized as distinct sections from the context. A five slip section (YMCM, plates 142-143, slips 740-736, reverse) related to protective magic for a horse (see n. 24 below) is a lengthy example of a section which is not divided into registers, but rather is written in fu ll columns which extend down the entire length o f cach slip. In addition to the two occult manuscripts, two other writings in the Shui-hu-ti manuscript corpus arc written using registers: a verse on the qualities expected of a government official, assigned the title “ Wei li chih tao” 為吏之道 (YMCM, plates 111-115, slips 679-729); and a chronology, assigned the title **Pien nicn chi” 編年記（yAfCM，plates 50-54, slips 1-53).

12 YMCMy plates 125-126, slips 844—855, contain a schematic drawing o f a housecompound showing twenty-two gate openings around the perimeter, cach of which hasportentous significance. YMCM’ plate 128, slips 879-883，contain drawings of two humanfigures with the twelve Earthly Branches (ti chih 地支）arranged in a ring around the headand limbs. Besides these two examples o f drawings, there are three tables in ms A and onetabic in ms B.

18 Early literary sources state that targets used in archcry, on which were painted various images, were also made o f tightly bound slips. See J. K . Riegel, “ Early Chinese Target Magic,” Journal of Chinese Religion 10 (1982): 1—18. Shui-hu-ti Ch‘in mu cku-chim

(1978 cd.), p. 280, indicates that the slips o f the manuscript with the verse on the qualities expected o f a government official had been bound together first, and then used as a writing surface for the verse. A manuscript of bamboo or wood slips was probably regarded

ms B, which consists of 259 slips，is not as well preserved as ms A.

The arrangement into sections with varying numbers of registers is

similar to ms A, although the text is written on only one side of the

slips. The title Jih shu appears on the back side of the last slip of the

text. A single thick bamboo slip which is blank concludes the

manuscript.14

Generally speaking, ancient Chinese astrology and divination

were grounded in a system of correspondence which meshed the

manifold phenomena of the world into a single fabric. The Yin

Yang dyad and Five Phase pentad provided the base, while numer-

ological correlations derived from the sexagenary cycle used in

calendrical computations extended the permutations of the system.

The contents of the two Shui-hu-ti manuscripts are devoted primarily

to the astrological and divinatory applications of this symbolic

system of correspondence. Among the astrological subjects discussed

are the method known as chien ch^u 建 除 （“establishment and

removal” ）for determining the portentous aspects of days during the

twelve months15 and the portentous consequences of the movements

of sui hsing 歲 星 （Jupiter).18 The Shui-hu-ti manuscripts supplement

as a kind o f prc-fabricatcd book-mat in Warring States and Ch*in-Han times, not as an assemblage o f separate slips. Certainly silk would have been the most suitable mate­rial for books with illustrations, diagrams, and charts. In the Han shu bibliographic treatise documents o f this type are usually rolls o f silk (chiian •卷、rather than rolls of wood or bamboo slips {pHen 爲) . However, as demonstrated by the Shui-hu-ti manu­scripts, it was possible (and more economic) to use a bound mat of slips for the same purpose. The hypothesis advanced by W. A. Ricket, “ An early Chinese calendar chart: Kuan-tzu I I I , 8 {Yu-kuan) TP 48 (1960): 200, that it would have been impossible to construct complicated charts on bamboo slips should be revised accordingly.

14 YMCM} plates 144-165, slips 896-1154. ms B had been placed at the deceascd*s feet (YMCM, p. 22). Plate 166 provides some fragments o f slips with text which all presumably belong to ms B. The title Jih shu is written on the reverse o f slip 1154. Origi­nally (he manuscript must have been rolled up with the beginning o f the text at the ccntcr and the end on the outside of the ro ll o f bound slips. That way, the title written on the back side of the last slip of text could be read at a glance. Thus, it would have been ncccssary to completely unroll the manuscript in order to read it. Other Shui-hu-ti manuscripts were rolled with the beginning of the text on the outside and the end at the center (the question of how the various manuscripts were rolled is discussed in YMCM,

p. 14). The thick end slip o f ms B is numbered 1155.16 YMCM, plates 117-118, slips 743-754; and plates 146-147, slips 921-941. Jao and

Tseng, Yiin-meng ChHn chien，pp. 4-11, analyzes the chien ch u method as described inthe manuscripts.

16 YMCMy plate 121, slips 793-796; analyzed in Jao and Tseng, Yiin-meng ChHn chient

pp. 67-99.

what we know of these two forms of astrology from the received

literature.

O f great interest arc the many sections of the manuscripts which

inform us of the favorable and unfavorable predictions regarding

nearly every human activity—with the emphasis on identifying the

days when certain actions are ill-omened and prohibited. There

are lists of days during the year when the earth cannot be violated

and construction work is not to be initiated.17 Divination by turtle

and milfoil is not to be performed on a day with a cyclical designa­

tion containing the sign tzu 子，for it will bring injury to the Supreme

Augustus (shang huang ± 4 ); and bathing or washing hair is pro-

hibited on a mao 卯 day which is designated “blood light” (hsiieh ming 血明）.18 Lucky and unlucky days for marriage are named and the

court official is also provided with a list of predictions for the success

of his business at court according to the duodenary sign of the day

and the time of day when he has audience.19

The above are just a sample of the observances affecting daily

life. Prohibitions of this type were an integral part of the hemerologi-

cal speculations of the Yin Yang specialists, as witness the assessment

made of the Yin Yang “school” in the Han shu bibliographic

treatise:20

Reverently follow ing the progress o f H igh Heaven, tracking the movements o f the sun, moon, asterisms, and chronograms; and reverently g iving to the people a seasonal calendar— it is in these things tha t they are excellent. W hen this function is carried out in a cripp ling way, i t becomes snarled in prohib itions and taboos and m ired in specious calculations. I l abandons the business o f m ankind and takes service from demons.

In the Lun heng 論衡，Wang Ch‘ung 王 充 (27-ca.lOO a .d .) criticizcd

17 YMCM, plate 124, slips 831-833 (construction taboos); and slips 833-835 (taboos on digging up the earth). Similar sections occur at other placcs in the manuscripts. Taboos of this type are mentioned in Lun heng 論 衡 （•SPPy ed.), “ Chi jih ’ ’ 識日，24.4a*

18 YMCMt plate 124, slip 830 (divination taboo); and slip 833 (bathing taboo). Lun

heng, “ Chi j ih ,” 24.3a，quotes a “ Hairwashing Book” （“ Mu shu” 沐書）which stales that washing hair on mac day makes a person’s hair turn white.

19 Choosing days for marriage is mentioned at many points in the manuscripts. See, for example, YMCMt plate 128，slip 884; and plate 130，slips 895-884, reverse, which conccrns marriage from the aspect of both the family sending out the daughter and the groom’s family. The section relating to officials is YMCM, plate 129, slips 886-895.

20 HS 30.40a.

those gullible souls who allowed their lives to be programed by the

“season and day books” {shih jih chih shu 時日之書）.21 It appears

that the Shui-hu-ti manuscripts are third century B.C. exemplars of

precisely the kind of superstitious calendars held in disrepute by

Wang Ch‘ung. The similarities between the manuscripts and popular

Chinese almanacs in use today are also striking.22 In spite of the

dour admonitions of critics of popular Chinese culture through the

centuries, the precautionary observance of such calendrical prohibi­

tions in the conduct of life has yet to slacken.

In addition to the demonographic section, the manuscripts furnish

rare material on other aspects of magico-religious belief and practice.

Sections on dreams in both manuscripts include the words of incanta­

tion used to expel demons who cause nightmares.23 In ms A there

is the text of a lengthy prayer chanted as part of the ritual for

protecting a horse from harm.24 The Pace of Yii (Yu pu 禹歩)，much

used by Six Dynasties Taoists, and other magical practices associated

with this divine culture hero occur in both manuscripts. The Pace

of Yii is also found in the Ma-wang-tui 馬王堆 manual of medical

recipes, Wu~shih~erh ping fang 五十二病方（Recipes for fifty-two ail­

ments), among the exorcistic methods used to expel demons of

disea.se. In these manuscripts we have the first direct documentation

of the Pace of Yii in the pre-Han magico-religious tradition; it

corroborates decisively the assimilation into later Taoist religion of

« Ltm heng3 “ Chi jih ，” 24.1a.22 Like the Shui-hu-ti manuscripts, the almanacs published annually in Taiwan and

Hong Kong offer an cclcctic assortment o f material meant to guide the individual in the activities of daily life: astrology, lucky and unlucky days, geomantic conditions, fortune- telling, charms, etc. How widely the ancient almanac literature was disseminated must remain an intriguing question. Two groups of manuscripts from tomb three ai Ma-wang- tui which Chinese scholars have labeled “ Hsing le” 刑德 and “ Y in yang wu hsin# ，

陰陽五行 remain unpublished, but also promise to add to our knowledge of ancient astrology and calendrical superstitions. There is a brief description o f the contents o f these writings in Chou Shih-jung 周世榮，“ LOeh t‘an Ma-wang-tui ch'u-t*u ti po-shu chu- chicn” 略談馬王堆出土的帛替竹簡，Ma-wang-tui i shuyen-ckiu ckuan-k an馬王堆凿害研究

琢刊 2 (1981): 41^2 .23 YMCM, plate 131, slips 883-882, reverse; and plates 159-160，slips 1085-1090

(discussed in Jao and Tseng, Yiin-meng ChHn ckieny p. 28). I have in preparation an article on incantations used to expel dream demons, the two in the Shui-hu-ti manuscripts being the oldest examples o f a type of incantation still in use today.

24 YMCMy plates 142-143, slips 740-736, reverse (discusscd in Jao and Tseng, Yiin-meng

Ck'in chien，pp. 42—45).

magical practices from the ancient religious core.25 Thorough analy­

sis of the Shui-hu-ti occult manuscripts will reillumine other

important aspects of early belief and practice which have been

obscured by gaps in the literary remains of the Warring States and

Ch‘in-Han periods. We shall come to know much more about the

society and culture of this period thanks to these long-buried

treasures. I trust that my introduction of the demonography will

prove to be an auspicious contribution to this scholarly under­

taking.26

THE DEMONOGRAPHY

The demonography is found on ms A on the reverse side of slips

872-828 (following the slip numbers assigned to the Shui-hu-ti

manuscript corpus by the Chinese editors). It is written in three

registers across the forty-five slips which it occupies.27 The title

25 For the magical practiccs associated with Y ii in the Shui-hu-ti manuscripts, see Jao and Tseng, Yiin-meng Ch(in chien，pp. 20-23. For the Pace of Yu in the Wu-shih-erh ping

fang, see Harper, “ The Wu Shih Erh Ping Fang,” pp. 98-101. W ith characteristic insight, M . Granet, “ Remarques sur le Taoisme ancien,” AM 2 (1925): 146-51, already deduced the ancient origin of the Pace of Y ii from references to Yii,s lameness in Warring States speculative literature; and Granet was the first scholar to recognize ihe importance of prior magico-religious traditions in the formation o f the Taoist sects which emerged in the second century a.d.

26 As of this writing (January, 1985), Jao and Tseng, Yiin-meng Cklin chien，is the only published study o f the Shui-hu-ti occult manuscripts of which I am aware, although a number o f scholars arc at work on the manuscripts. The Workshop on Divination and Portent Interpretation in Ancicnt China (organized by Professor Jeffrey K . Riegel and held at the University of California, Berkeley, in June, 1983) included a panel on the Shui-hu-ti occult manuscripts w ith papers by Jao Tsung-i, L i Hsueh-ch*in, Michacl Loewe, and Robin D. S. Yates. Marc Kalinowski has written a study of the occult manuscripts, “ Les traitcs dc Shuihudi ct Fh^m^rologic chinoise a la fin des Royaumes- Combattants** (typescript dated June, 1984), which w ili appear in T oung Pao,

An important question which I do not address in this article, but which I would like to at least mention, is the significance of placing manuscripts in ancicnt Chinese tombs along with other burial goods. The manuscripts from Shui-hu-ti and Ma-wang-tui are clearly writings which circulated among the literate elite of the period, and they may be treated as exemplars o f books used in life. Thus, the manuscripts were not a special category o f tomb literature. Rather, there was something magical and spiritual about books which made them appropriate items to be included among the burial goods. Cf. Hulsewe, “ Texts in tombs,” Asiatische Studien 18/19 (1965): 78-89, whose observations on this subject were made before the discoveries of manuscripts in ancicnt tombs in the 1970s.

“Chieh” 詰 appears in a raised heading at the top of slip 872，

followed by the prologue which begins immediately beneath it on

the slip. After the prologue come the recipe-like entries dealing

with demons and their noxious manifestations (see figure 2).

The meaning of the title is not immediately apparent, for the word

chieh 詰 is not one of the usual terms in the received literature used

to denote demonological arts or exorcistic practices. The Shuo wen chieh tzu 説文解字 glosses the word simply as wen 問 （“question,

interrogate，’).2S Philological analysis, however, reveals that the

etymon belongs to the religious lexicon of Shang and Chou times

and that chieh belongs to a word family redolent with magical

associations. Once explicated, the meaning of the word chieh can be

seen to signify the precise intent of the Shui-hu-ti demonography.

As evidenced by the Shuo wen chieh tzu gloss, in Han times chieh regularly referred to the act of interrogation or of subjection to

critical scrutiny. Compounds such as chieh tse 話黃 and chieh wen 詰問

referred specifically to the investigation of criminal accusations.29

The most precise indication of the legal definition of chieh which we

have comes from the Shui-hu-ti manuscripts, in a Ch(in judicial

case book. The relevant passage occurs at the beginning of a section

concerning the investigation of criminal charges:30

Whenever investigating crim ina l charges one must first listen to the ir words in the ir entirety and record them. Each person presents his statement. Even though one knows that they are ly ing, there is no need to autom atically make accusations

*7 YMCM，plates 131-135. The third register on the last nine slips is occupied by a text unrelated to the demonographic section.

28 SW 3A.29a.29 HS 86.15a relates that Wang Chia 王离 was interrogated (chieh wen) for over twenty

days without being allowed food，and finally died coughing blood. HS 51.8b describes the inquiry which resulted from a memorial submitted to the throne by Chia Shan 贾山

in which he made several strong accusations. The memorial was sent to a board of officials for critical scrutiny (chieh tse)y and Chia Shan was called upon to justify the claims made in the memorial. He managed to vindicate himself. The fact that the inquiry focused on Chia Shan’s memorial and on his justification o f statements made in it is signiBeant in light o f the meaning of chieh discussed below.

30 The case book is entitled “ Feng chcn shih” 封診式；and the section is “ Hsiin y ii” 訊 獄 (Investigating criminal chargcs). For the annotated text, see Shui-hu-ti Ch in mu

chu-ckien (1978 ed.), pp. 246-247. M y translation o f the passage differs from that of McLeod and Yates, “ Forms of Ch‘in law,” pp. 131-32, who do not analyze the meaning and legal significance of the word chiek.

(chieh). I f after the ir statements have been entirely recorded there are things which have not been explained, then accusc them w ith the accusations (? chieh-che chieh

chih 以詰者詰之 }■ Having accused them, again listen to and record the ir explana­tory statements in the ir entirety. Again see i f there are any other things for which they have no explanation and accuse them oncc more. I f the accusation o f them is pursued to the utmost and they repeatedly lie, a ltering the ir words and not subm it­ting, then in cases where the statute stipulates flogging，go ahead and flog them.

In this example of Gh(in legal parlance, chieh (which I have rendered

as ‘‘accusation’’ or “accuse”）refers to the interrogation of the parties

concerned in order to expose the lies in their statements and cxtract

the true facts. Crucial to the conduct of the interrogation is the

recording of the statements. Even the most obvious lies are left un­

challenged while the statement is being presented. Only after the

statement has been recorded is the person subjected to accusations

based on an examination of the written record. This punctilious

attitude towards due process of law is not the innovation of Ch‘in

organizational policy. It can be traced to the role of written state­

ments as concrete testimony to spiritual obligations in Shang and

Chou religion.

This aspect of early Chinese religion has been exhaustively studied

by the Japanese sinologist Shirakawa Shizuka 白川静. Shirakawa

argues that in a number of Shang graphs a box-like graphic element

which many epigraphers have interpreted as signifying a mouth

actually represents a ritual vessel used to hold written statements

presented to the spirits. According to Shirakawa’s interpretation,

these Shang graphs have a fundamental connotation of written

rather than oral communication with the spirits.31 Shirakawa

proposes formal criteria for distinguishing between the graphic

element for the ritual vessel and the one for the mouth. Unfortu-

nately, the absolute distinction that Shirakawa would make between

them is not borne out by an examination of all of the graphs

involved.32 That his analysis of the script is not entirely satisfactory

31 Shirakawa，s thesis is presented in two articles, both found in his Kdkotsu kimbungaku

ronsku 甲骨金文学論集(Kyoto: Hoyu shoten, 1974): “ Shaku shi” 釋史，pp. 1-68; and t(Sai-sho kanfcd jisetsu” 載書關係字説，pp. 307-64.

82 Shirakawa, Kdkotsu，p. 7, argues thai the graphic element representing the vessel is regularly a broad dish-shape ^ (older forms o f which have a bulge at the base y ) while the graphic element for the mouth is smaller in size ^ . The arbitrariness of Sliirakawa’s distinction is immediately apparent when one looks at the relevant Shang

however by no means invalidates Shirakawa’s brilliant insight

concerning the religious motif of the vessel in Shang spirit communi­

cation and its graphic manifestation in the Shang script. While

we cannot know for certain the principles of graph formation which

the Shang followed, it is clear that not every box-like figure in the

Shang graphs can be a representation of a mouth. Rather than assign

it the semantic root “mouth,” I would suggest the more fundamental

sense of “hollow cavity, container” for this graphic element, which

in actual practice might have been written in a variety of slightly

different forms. The physiological organ is then just one of the

applications of this graphic element in the composition of Shang

graphs.33

Since Shirakawa’s script distinctions are not an infallible guide

to the graphs which connote the religious motif of written statements

placed in vessels, we must examine each case individually. I believe

that by and large the series of graphs Shirakawa has isolated are

what he says they are— that the box-like element in them repre­

sents a ritual vessel used to hold some kind of writ.34 It is in this

graphs. Shima Kunio 岛邦男，Inkyo bokuji sdrui 殷墟卜辭綜類 (Tokyo; Kyuko sho-in, 1971), p. 117, provides many examples where the large box-like graph tl?clearly means “ mouth”； and it is used in the composition o f other graphs where it also represents the mouth (for example p. 301,t2S)> one o f the forms o f the word for tooth, chlih 齒) . I am indebted to Professor David N. Keightlcy for bringing to my attention this flaw in Shirakawa’s analysis, and to Professor David. S. Nivison for showing me additional examples which call into question Shirakawa’s graphic distinctions.

33 As pointed out to me by Professor Nivison, Shang graphs which include a representa­tion of the ox scapula in their graphic composition sometimes show the cavity at the top of the bone using this graphic element. See Shima, Inkyo, p. 303， one of the Shang forms o f pu 卜. While profiting from the critical observations o f Professors Keightlcy and Nivison, the speculation on the versatility o f the box-like graphic dement in the Shang script represents my own interpretation of the data.

34 Two notable examples are 罗 (shih 史）and 各 (kao 告) . Shirakawa, Kdkoisu，pp. 1-68, demonstrates that the first graph shows a hand holding a rod which is attached to a vessel; and that the second graph shows a vessel suspended from a branch. In both cases the graphs represent words for spirit communication which involve the ritual presentation of documents in vessels for divine inspection. I am not so convinced by Shirakawa’s evidence for placing，*0 (chu 祝）among the graphs which signify written spirit communica­tion. The graph shows a human figure surmounted by the box-like clement which is quite likely the mouth from which the incantation emerges (Shirakawa argues that it must be a human figure holding up a document vessel). Nonetheless, Shirakawa has broken new ground in Shang philology with his research on the vessel graphic element in the script, and we may expect further refinements of Shirakawa’s thesis to follow from his in itia l discoveries.

series that Shirakawa places chi 吉 (*kiet),36 conventionally translated

as “auspicious,” which is the root of our chieh 結 (*k(iet). Shirakawa

analyzes the Shang graph for chi 各 as representing a vessel with

a knobbed lid on top and speculates that originally the word signified

the spiritual benefaction which resulted from the offering of written

prayers in sealed vessels. Whether or not his speculation truly

accounts for the meaning of chi in Shang inscriptions, there is no

doubt that the word reflects in its graphic composition the motif

of the sealed vessel in spirit communication. The graph for chieh is simply an expanded form of the same word.36

In Chou literature chieh means literally to “obligate oneself to

the spirits by means of a written document” and thus to “subject

to spiritual scrutiny.’’37 Perhaps the most famous instance of a dec­

laration sealed in a casket in order to supplicate the spirits is recorded

in the “Chin t‘eng” 金滕（Metal bands) chapter of the Shang shu 尚書•

In order to relieve King Wu 武王 of his affliction, the Seigneur of

Chou 周公 wrote a secret prayer pledging his life in exchange for

the king’s and sealed it in a casket bound with metal bands.38 During

the Chou it was believed that spiritual surveillance gave binding

force to oaths and contractual agreements; writs sealed in vessels

and inscribed vessels were the material means of effectuating this

divine witness.39 The same belief accounts for the stipulation in Ch‘in

judicial proceedings that accusations are to be made on the basis of

recorded testimony, not merely on the basis of oral statements.

The written word provided material evidence to expose errors in

the speaker’s statements and bound the speaker to give a true

account, or else be punished.

Several other words which contain chi 吉 in their graphic composi­

tion are derived from the same etymon and provide further insight

85 The phonctic reconstructions used are the archaic Chinese reconstructions in B. Karlgrcn, Grammata Serica Recetisa (Stockholm: Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, 1957).

86 Shirakawa, Kdkoisu’ pp. 328-329.*7 Ibid., pp. 328-29, citing passages from the Shang shu 尚害 and Chou li 周禮 .« Shang shu {SSCCS ed.), “ Chin t ‘eng，” 13.6a.89 See the masterful summation o f the magico-religious significance o f writing and of

documents (including inscribed vessels) in Chou and Ch*in-Han times in J. Gernet, “ fic rit el histoire en Chine,” Journal (U psychologic normale el palhologique 56 (1959): 31-40. Gernet, “ La vcntc cn Chine d^pres les contrats de Touen-houang ( IX e-X e siddes),，’ TP 45 (1957): 295-391, specifically studies the role of spiritual surveillance in swearing oaths and making contracts.

into the nature of binding in Chou and Chcin-Han belief. Most

prominent among these cognates is chieh 結 （*kiet)，defined in the

Shuo wen chieh tzu as a “knot which cannot be untied.，，40 A frequent

term for religious and contractual obligations in pre-Han litera­

ture,41 the knot has a magical efficacy like that of the document

vessel. This conceptual parallel is evident in the tradition preserved

in early sources that the kings of remotest antiquity knotted cords

to enforce their rule, a custom which was later replaced by written

documents.42 Like written documents, the knots symbolized specific

obligations witnessed by the spirits.

The word for the topknot of hair is commonly written with the

graph 結 in Han literature, although chi 髮 (*kied) is attested in

early literature. Written with the latter graph, the word “topknot”

occurs in the Chuang tzu 莊子，where it is identified as the spirit name

of the stove deity.43 In the cult of the stove the deity presided over

the obligations to be observed by members of the household, a

function which was iconographically represented in Topknot’s

divine hairdo/4 The Shuo wen chieh tzu lists specialized words for

40 SW 13A.8b. TV 締 is the word used to gloss and SW 13A.9a defines ti as a “ knot which cannot be untied.” SW 13A.22b defines niu 紐 as a “ knot which can be untied,” making an intentional contrast between ti!chieh and niu.

41 See, for example, Kuan tzu 箭 子 ed.), “ Shu yen” 梢言，4.10b, where chieh niu

結紐 is paired with another important term for contractual obligations, yiieh shu 約束. The dclinitivc study o f the ancient concept o f contractual bonds (with special reference to military organizations) is in Masubuchi Tatsuo 增?鼎龍夫, Chugoku kodai no shakai to

kokka 中國古代O社會 i 國 家 （Tokyo: KObun d6 1960), pp. 147-86.42 This tradition is recorded in / ching 易 經 、SS<X1S ed.)> “ Hsi tz‘u” 繁辭，8.8a; and

again in the postface to the Shuo wen chieh tzu，SW 15A.la-b, where Hsii Shen 許慎 relates that knotting was used to govern down through tlie era of Shen nung 神 農 (Divine Agrarian) and that it was Ts‘ang Chieh 倉額 who invented (he script by observing the tracks of birds and beasts during the era of Huang ti 货帝(Yellow God). In Chuang tzu

莊 子 （•SPPred.)，“ Ch‘ii ch‘ ich” 肤篋，4.12b，and Lao tzu 老子 {SPPY、Wang PJ 王弼 ed.)， paragraph 80，government by knotting is represented as a characteristic o f the utopian age of simplicity prior to the advent of the fulsome artifice o f later times. Perhaps these early references to knotting preserve the memory of an antique form of communication by means of knotted cords (such as was used in other ancient civilizations), but the binding magic implied in the use of knots clearly had its origins in magico-religious belief.

43 Chuang tzu, “ Ta sheng” 達生，7.5a. 結 is regularly used to write the word for “ topknot” in the Shuo wen chieh tzu and other Han writings.

44 See E. H. Schafer, “ The stove god and the alchcm ists，，，in L. G. Thompson ed., Studia Asiatica: Essays in Felicitation of the Seventy-jifih Anniversary of Professor Ch en Shou-yt

(San Francisco: Chinese Materials Center, J975), pp. 261-66，for discussion of the stove deity in early times (and the likely feminine identity o f the deity Topknot).

topknot styles，most of which appear to have ritual significance.46

Disheveled hair was a demonic trait and thus great importance

was attached to the binding of the hair. The nature of hair itself,

the perceived contrast between unbound and knotted hair, and the

elaboration of topknot styles within the context of religious custom

all suggest that hair fashion involved notions of binding magic

which were related to knotted cords and sealed document vessels.46

The magically prophylactic aspect of the topknot in hair fashion

is well illustrated by a Han warrior hairstyle known as the “teratoid

topknot” (tcui chi 魃結). T ‘ui is identified in the Erhya 爾雅 as the name

of a creature which resembles a small bear; the Shuo wen chieh tzu preserves several cognates of t^ui which signify a repugnant face or

protruding brow. Judging from these cognates and from the com­

position of the graph，t^ui no doubt designated a type of fantastic

monster, hence my “teratoid” to describe the topknot.47 The Shih45 SW 9A.25a-28b includes the following words for topknot styles: pan 路 “ topknot

for sleeping” ；/m f'f “ topknot” ; chieh “ topknot with hairpins”； chua 髮 “ mourning topknot” . Hayashi Minao, Kandai no bumbutsu 漢代<D文物（Kyoto: Kyoto daigaku jimbun kagaku kcnkyiisho, 1976), pp. 73-76, provides a valuable discussion of the topknot in Han times based on literary and archcological cvidencc.

*6 Han fei tzu 餘 非 子 ed.), “ Nei ch‘u shuo hsia” 内儲説下，10.3a-b，recounts how a knight pretended to be a ghost by stripping naked and unbinding his hair in order to elude a cuckolded husband. In Han and pre-Han literature the term pH fa 被髮 denotes ihe long, loose hair which is characteristic both of dcmonic apparitions and of people who arc wild or possessed. For example, a ghoul who appeared in a dream to the ruler o f Chin 晉 had “ loose hair {plifa ) which reached to the ground** (Tso ckrnn 左傅 [SSCCS

ed.], Ch*eng 成 10, 26.29a). The unbinding o f the topknot could constitute a significant ritual act. In the passages on expelling dream demons from the Shui-hu-ti occult manu­scripts cited in n. 23 above, the person is instructed to unbind the hair and then chant the spell. Similarly, the act of first binding (he topknot is a sign of entering adulthood comparable to the capping ccrcmony (see SC J09.7a and 112.11b, and HS 54.7b, for use of the term chieh Ja 結髮 to denote the “ age o f coming to manhood” ).

47 Erh ya (SSCCS ed.)，“ Shih shou” 釋猷 , 10.15a，further describes the as being yellow with sparse fur. But it was the crcature’s head which was its trademark in the lcxicon of physiognomy. In SC 79.15a, a physiognomist uses the term ^ui yen 魅顔 to describe the peculiar protruding shape of Ts‘ai Tse，s 蔡澤 forehead. The same usage is given in SW 9A.4b under the cognate ch(ui 顔，glossed as a “ protruding brow.” Hui 催，

glossed in SW 8A.36b as a “ repugnant face,” is yet another cognate which refers to tlic appcarance of the bead. Present editions o f the Shuo wen chieh tzu list t*ui 魅 (5H7 4A.30b), but it was added to the text at a latter date (see Tuan Yii-ts‘ai,s commentary). Probably the physiognomic senses of the word were represented by ck*ui and kui，and Hsii Shen left out the graph which represented the word for the crcaturc itself.

I l is Fu Ch‘ien 服 虔 (second century) who identifies the teratoid topknot as a warrior hairstyle in the commentary to the occurrence of t*ui chi in HS 43.5b. Fu Ch*ien knows

chi 史記 reports that when Chao T‘o 趙他，the self-appointed King

of Southern Yiieh 南越IE, held audience with the Han envoy sent

to offer him the official seal of Han acknowledging his title, Chao

T‘o greeted the envoy while ‘‘wearing the teratoid topknot and

sitting like a winnowing basket.” Both the hairstyle and the sitting

posture were indications of Chao TVs aversion for the representative

of the Han court.48 In the Shih chi and Han shu the teratoid topknot

is identified as a characteristic hairstyle of barbaric peoples to the

south and north. The distribution of the teratoid topknot in a ring

around the Han borderlands in Han historical writing should not

be taken as a sign that the hairstyle was of foreign origin: its associa­

tion with barbaric customs probably developed as a cultural

stereotype in the Han mind.49 In the Han shu the word ch‘ui 椎

(“hammer” ) sometimes appears in place of t (ui 魃. Yen Shih-ku 顔師

古 (581-645) accordingly suggests that the topknot was shaped like

a hammer.50 Perhaps the bulges of the /‘wi，s monstrous visage indeed

conformed to the shape of a hammer (and it might then be aptly

called the hammer-head), which led to the use of ch'ui in place of

t^ui in the Han shu when referring to the teratoid topknot. This

later graph substitution notwithstanding, the original referent in

the name of the topknot was the creature with the protruding brow.

of the topknot as ch'ui chi 椎 髮 （“ hammer topknot” )，which appears to have been the more common name by Later Han times (see n. 50 below).

48 The Han envoy was Lu Chia 陸賈 and the event, which took place in 196 B . C . , is described in his biography in SC 97.5b-6a (and again in HS 43.5b). The significance of sitting like a winnowing basket and the nature o f the aversion expressed by hairstyle and posture are discussed below, pp. 483-90.

49 Besides the rcfcrcncc to the teratoid topknot in connection with Chao T 4o and Southern Yiieh, the Shik chi and Han shu identify it as part o f the dress custom of the Southwest I 夷 people (SC 116.1b, HS 95. la ); of the northeastern inhabitants of Ch‘ao- hsicn 朝鮮（5C 115.1b, HS 95.18b) ； and of the Hsiung-nii 匈奴 {HS 54.15b). The stereo­typical association of the teratoid topknot with barbaric custom~when in fact the topknot was a fundamentally Chinese custom—is evident in Lun heng, “ Shuai hsing” 率性, 2.15a, where Wang Ch*ung states that Chao T ‘o，s topknot and winnowing basket posture were signs that he had adopted the customs o f the southern barbarians and rcjcctcd the civilizing refinements of Han culture. According to Wang Ch*ung, Chao T ‘o subsequently pledged allcgiancc to the Han court and then regarded the teratoid topknot and winnowing basket posture with revulsion. I t was the magico-religious significance of such manners in indigenous Chinese custom, especially in giving expression to profanity, which placed them outside of proper etiquette; the result being their attribution to barbarians. This point is developed further on pp. 488-90 below.

60 See Yen Shih-ku，s commentary on the occurrcnce of t(ui chi in HS 43.5b. The name of the topknot is written ch*ui chi 椎結 in HS 54.15b，95.1a, and 95.18b.

The hairstyle was surely intended to be apotropaic, serving to protect

the wearer from harm and perhaps to strike fear in the heart of an

opponent as well.51

An exorcistic aspect of the chi 吉 word family is suggested in

another likely cognate, chieh 劫 (*ke3.t), which the Shuo wen chieh tzu glosses as “take precaution.”52 Although not attested in an explicitly

exorcistic context in the received literature, its graphic composition

should be compared to ho 劾，a word which connotes the subjugation

of demonic forces by means of exorcistic weapons. Like chi 吉，the

root hai 亥 can be traced to the Shang religious lexicon. Its derivates

consist not only of words for exorcistic beating, but also include

kai 該，which in the Shuo wen chieh tzu is glossed as the “contract

made within the army.”53 In the two word families it appears that

the magical efficacy of language is comparable to that of other instru­

ments; further, that the act of magical binding implicit in both word

families may apply to the summoning of spirit witnesses and to the

exorcism of spectral evils.64

By the time of the Shui-hu-ti manuscripts, chieh 詰 on the one

hand designated the use of written testimony as incontrovertible

evidence for testing the veracity of a witness in judicial proceedings,

and on the other hand was still applied to older practices in which

M A. E. D ien，“ A study o f early Chinese armor,” Artibus Asiae 43 (1981 /82): 18，relates the ch ui chi hairstyle to the headdress o f guardian figures in m ilitary dress found in Six Dynasties lombs. Their function in the burial is of course apotropaic. I t is likely that the leratoid topknot is represented among the pottery figures recently cxcavaled from the pits flanking the burial mound o f Ch‘in shih huang-li 秦始皇帝 east of Sian 西安.

The use o f the name of the tlui monster in an apotropaic context is also suggested in several personal names recorded in the Tso chuan: Ch*ing Fu-^ui (Tso chuan，Ch‘eng 17，28.25b); and Hsiang T u i 向 魆 （a.k.a. Huan T u i 桓魈；Tso chuan, Ting 定

10, 56.7a). They arc probably intended (o be protective names.52 W 1 3 B .5 U .53 SW 3A.3lb. On hai and related words, see Shirakawa Shizuka 白川靜，Kanji no sekai

漢宇 tD世界 2 vols. (Tokyo： Hcibonsiia, 1976)，1: 241-43. The signifies 力 and 受 appear regularly in graphs for words related to magical cocrcion and specifically indicate the instruments used to coerce the spirits. Shirakawa notes that ho 劾 is cognate with hai 效 , a graph which in Han times was restricted to a binom hai-ssu 友(which designated a kind o f talismanic stafT used for cxorcistic beating). Ssu alone is used as a verb meaning “ beat exorcisdcally” in the Wu-shih-erh ping fang (see Harper, “ The Wu Shih Erh Ping

Fang’” pp. 364-65, for details).&4 The fact that the same magical dcvices are ofien used both to aitraci and to repel

the spirits is characteristic of Chinese belief and practice. Sec Harper，“ The Wu Shih

Erh Ping Fang^1 pp. 76-79, for discussion o f this aspcct o f certain incantatory utterances.

oaths and spells had the power to magically obligate men and

demons. This form of “spdibinding” (the English word I would

choose to translate chiek) must then have also been applied generally

to the art of exorcism, hence its appearance in the title of the

Shui-hu-ti demonography.55

Guides to the mysterious and often terrifying spirit landscape of

the old Chinese world have a long tradition in legend. The Tso chuan 左傅 preserves the tale that the water-tamer Yii 禹 had caldrons

cast which were emblazoned with images of the spirit creatures of

the terrestrial realm. The caldrons were intended to reveal the

identity of the spirits so that humankind might not suffer their foul

play.66 Similarly, the Shan hai ching 山海經 enumerated the habitats

arid marvelous inhabitants of the earth. It was a talismanic book

which forearmed its possessor in undertaking a spirit quest.57

The prologue to the Shui-hu-ti demonography explicitly places the

text in the tradition of works which help to free a person from the

machinations of ill-willed spirit powers. Thus the prologue serves

to associate the purpose of the text as a whole with the function of

Yii’s magical caldrons. As we shall see, this tradition was perpetuated

in the Six Dynasties demonographic genre as well.

The prologue deserves close scrutiny:58

55 The relation of writing and spells to exorcism is made clear in Huai nan tzu 淮南子

{SPPY ed.), “ Pen ching*’ 本經，8.4b, where it is said that when Ts'ang Chieh invented writing, the demons wailed at night. The commentary explains that the demons wailed because they feared being subjugated {ho 劾）by the written documents. I t is worth noting that the word “ exorcise” has a similar etymology—the use of oaths and impreca­tions to expel evil spirits.

Tso chuan’ Hsiian 宜 3，21 ♦ 15b-16b. The story of the caldrons forms pari of an admoni­tion made to the covetously inquisitive ruler o f Ch*u 楚 :

In the past when the Hsia 夏 first possessed the Divine Virtue, the distant quarters made diagrams of the spirit creaturcs, contributed metal to the Nine Herdsmen, and cast caldrons to rcplicatc the spirit crcaturcs. Due to this the hundred spirit creaturcs were fully revealed, enabling the people to rccognize the machinations of spirits. Thus the people entered streams, marshes, mountains, and forests, and did not encounter the unseemly. None of the Ch‘ih-mei 蜗魅 and Wang-liang 罔兩 were able to waylay them.

The Ch'ih-mei and Wang-liang typify the noxious spirit forccs lying in wait for human victims.

•r,? The Shan hai eking has been traditionally regarded as a textual counterpart to the caldrons. See J. Needham, Science and Civilisation in China, 7 vols. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1954-), 3: 503.

68 See figure 3 for the transcription of the prologue. Jao and Tseng, Yun-meng Ch*in

slip 872, reverse, first register:IS •詰咎施害民罔行£ 民不羊告益詰之立

slip 871，reverse, first register:

道令民毋逾兇央6鬼之崭惡彼苽臥& slip 870，reverse, first register:

坐連行奇IFig. 3. Transcrip tion o f the prologue.

Note: usignific omitted” means that the root form o f the graph is used alone in the text without the addition o f the signific element which specifics the appropriate word; “ scribal variant” means that the graph in the text is an expanded form of the root graph, but is not attested in the received literature as specifying the appropriate word. a 羊= 祥 （sign ific omitlcd) b 央= 狹 (signific omitted) e S = 屈 （scribal variant)

1. Spellbinding to inflict odium on demons.

2. The Wang-hang who injure people treat the people unpropi­

tiously.59

3. Let the way for how to spellbind them be declared, to enable

the people to not encounter the baleful and calamitous.80

4. What demons detest are namely reclining in a crouch, sitting

chien，pp. 26-27, briefly discusscs the demonographic section and offers a partial trans­cription o f the prologue using modern punctuation which is not entirely accuratc.

89 In the original text the two phrases of my line 2 are each four graphs in length with rhyming between hang 行 （*g‘ang) and hsiang 祥 (*dziang).

60 The original text of the first half o f my line 3 crosscs from the bottom of the first register on slip 872, reverse, to the top of the first register on slip 871, reverse. At the bottom of the first register on slip 872, reverse, is a sign (么）which does not appear to be a graph, but rather some kind o f manuscript marker. The same sign occurs at the bottom of the second register on slip 872, reverse, but occurs nowhere else in the Shui-hu-ti manuscripts. That it must be some kind o f marker and not a graph (Jao and Tseng, YUn-

mng Ck*in ckieny p. 26, render it as chao 召) is dear from the fact that in both occurrcnccs it cannot be read as part of the text. The text in the second register is a single sentence which concludes before the sign 么 ; and in the first register，the only plausible reading of the text is to pass from the graph chih 之 directly over to tao 道 at the top of the first register on slip 871, reverse. Slip 872, reverse, is the first slip of the demonographic section. Unlike the calendrical enumerations and brief lists found in other sections of the

like a winnowing basket, interlinked motion, and the leaning

stand.

The iirst line announces the demonological subject. Chiu 咎，which

I have translated as “inflict odium ，，’ means literally “to commit

a fault which incurs spiritual odium.’，61 The word is also used transi­

tively to mean “direct spiritual odium towards someone’’ and in

this sense is part of the early lexicon of exorcism.62

The name Wang-hang 罔行 in the second line is not recorded in

the received literature. However it is clearly related to the set of

binomial demon names Wang-liang 罔兩，Wang-hsiang 罔象，and

Fang-liang 方良. While early sources offer distinct identifications—

for example，that the Wang-liang is a tree and rock sprite while

the Wang-hsiang is a water sprite— 63 it appears that all three

binoms spring from a word designating certain telluric bogies.64

It was to protect the people from the Wang-liang that Y ii，s caldrons

were cast.66 The Ckou li 周字豊 describes a method of killing the Spirit

of the Water {shui shen 水神）by submerging a pole of catalpa wood

manuscript, the demonography is written in a continuous prose style. The sentences in the text often cross over from one register to the next. Perhaps this unusual manuscript marker ( I know of no other examples o f it) is used to mark the first and second registers of the first slip of the demonographic scction in order to remind the reader not to read the text down vertically beyond the register divisions，but rather to continue reading across the section horizontally by registers. Yang 歹失{* iang), the last word in line 3, rhymes with hang and hsiang above.

61 Sec Shirakawa, Kanji 1: 180.62 See the discussion of the book title Declarations of Odium for Mutant Prodigies in n. 4

above.63 The locus classicus for this identification is a dcmonological teaching put in the mouth

of Confucius in Kuoyii 國諮 (SPPY ed.), “ Ia i y ii” 翁紐，5.7a.64 There are additional binoms besides these three which share the same etymological

affinity. See the extended discussion o f the relevant words in Kiang, Le Voyage, pp. 168- 216. Phonologically, the demon name Pkang-huang 彷植 (*b ,wang*g,wang) is the elosest to Wang-hang (* iniwang-g^ng). P‘ang-huang is identified as the spirit of the wilds {yek 野) in Chuang tzuy “ Ta shcng,” 7,5a (cf. n. 43 and 83). The velar in itia l of the sccond syllabic differs from the names Wang-liang (*miwang-!iang), Wang-hsiang (*miwang- dz支ang)，and Fang-liang ( * piwang-Uang). W. Boltz，^Philological footnotes to the Han New Year Rites,” JAOS 99 (1979); 432-33, reconstructs a hypothetical form **BLjang〜•*BZjang for the original demon name on the basis of the latter three binoms, but Boltz docs not comment on P*ang-huang. P4ang-huang and the new Shui-hu-ti form Wang-hang are nonetheless related to the other binoms and should be accounted for in spccuJations on the phonological and semantic background of this set of demon names.

6ft See the Tso chuan passage translated in n. 56 above.

stuck with ivory teeth in water; the spirit, according to Cheng

Hsiian 鄭 玄 （127-200)，is named Wang-hsiang.66 In the Pao p‘u tzu 抱扑子 there is evidence of the same beliefs regarding maleficent

water sprites in an account of a huge turtle which plagued the local

populace from its dwelling in a deep river pool. The turtle was

finally killed by a magician who first forced it to the surface by

scattering talismans all over the pool and then killed it with a pole.87

The expulsion of the spectral denizens of the ground when burying

the dead was an act performed by the fang-hsiang 方相，the chief

exorcist.68 According to the Chou li9 the fang-hsiang leads the funeral

procession and, on reaching the tomb，descends into the burial pit

to drive out the Fang-liang. Cheng Hsiian identifies Fangliang with

Wang-liang.68 In the Feng su t lung i 風俗通義，Ying Shao 應助（ca. 140-

ca.206) cites this Chou li passage by way of explaining the custom

of planting a thuja on the tomb and placing a stone tiger at the

head of the path to the tomb:70

On the tom b a thuja is planted and at the head oi the path a stone tiger. In the Chou li，“ On the day o f buria l the fang-hsiang ch ie f enters the p it to drive out the Wang- hsiang.” The Wang-hsiang likes to eat the liver and brain o f the deceased. People cannot constantly have the fang-hsiang stand by the side o f the tomb to bar it. But the Wang-hsiang fears the tiger and the thuja. Thus the tiger and thuja are placed before the tomb.

The Feng su t'ung i names the Wang-hsiang, rather than the Fang­

liang or Wang-liang, as the unsavory ghoul who lurks about the

tomb.71

In the Shui-hu-ti demonography, Wang-hang surely refers to the

68 Chou li (SSCCS ed.), tlHu cho shih” 壶涿氏，37.7b.97 Pao p'u tzut t(Teng she” 澄涉，17.15b.

This binom for the exorcist is probably related to the set of demon binoms under discussion. See Kiang, Le Voyage, p. 168 ff.; Boltz， Philological footnotes，，，p. 433; and Bodde, Festivals、pp. 77-80 and ! 16-17. Ikcda Suetoshi 池田末利，Chugoku kodai

shukydshi kenkyii 中國古代宗教史研究（Tokyo: Tokai Daigaku Shuppankai, 1981), pp. 760-784 ((,Haiyu kigen k6” 俳優起源考)，links the binom fang-hsiang to other words which refer to the shamanic performance o f masked animal dances; suggesting that fang-hsiang, like wu 巫 , has an underlying connotation o f shamanic dancing, i t is probably this conncction w ith shamanic dancing that accounts for the use o f piang-huangi wang-

liongt and other related binoms in pre-Han and Han literature to describe qualities of movement.妨 Chou liy “ Fang-hsiang shih” 方相氏，31,12a-b.70 Fang su t‘ung i chiao~chu 枚注(Peking: Chung-huashu-chii，1981),(<1 wen” 佚文，p. 574.71 Yu-yang tsa tsu 酉陽雜狙 (TYtmg-shu chi-ch''eng ed.), 13.100，records the same tradi­

tion, paraphrasing the Feng su t‘ung i text, and also names the Wang-hsiang.

same class of telluric sprites as Wang-liang, Wang-hsiang, and

Fang-liang. 11 is to combat these predatory spirits that people must

have recourse to magical prophylactics~to talismans, spells，and

all manner of exorcistic devices. To this end, as stated in the third

line of the prologue, “ let the way for how to spellbind them be

declared.”

The conclusion to the prologue in the fourth line enunciates the

first principle in dealing with demons (to know what is loathsome

to them) and lists the effective prophylactic body postures.72 Of

the four postures named, reclining in a crouch (ckcu wo 屈臣卜）and

sitting like a winnowing basket (chi tso 箕坐）are both attested in

later literature on physical cultivation. Taoist writings instruct the

adept to sleep on one side with the knees bent. This natal position

is said to increase the strength of the vital vapor [chH 氣）in the body

and provide protection from demonic incursions.73 The same

posture is also used in performing therapeutic exercises (the practice

of tao yin 導引）.74 To sit like a winnowing basket is to imitate the

72 I t is signficant that the prologue names body postures rather than certain apotropaic materials or charms as being what demons detest. The body itself can be exploited as a natural demonifuge even without additional magical devices. The same reliance on the rcsourccs o f one’s own body is also evident in the common belief that spitting was effec­tive against demons. For saliva magic in ancieni China, see Harper, “ The Wu Shih Erh Ping Fang,” pp. 83-97.

73 The proper position for sleeping according to Taoist physical cultivation practices is described in Sun Ssu-mo，s 孫思邀 (seventh century) Ch'ien chin yao fang 千金要方 (f/Y I155),81.16a-b:

Bend the knees {ch'ii hsi 屈膝）and recline on one side. I t increases the strength of a person’s vital vapor. . . . In sleeping one docs not tire of remaining curlcd up; in waking one docs not tire of remaining outstretched. Whenever a person sleeps outstretched, then there may be spectral affliction and diabolical evil.

The firsi two sentences of the above passage are also found in the description of sleeping posture in the Yang hsingyen ming lu 褰性延命録（W K873)，!.17a (this work is probably a Sung compilation).

Six Dynasties Taoists also practiced a sleeping posture known as “ redining in the Northern Dipper.” I t entailed visualizing the stars of the Big Dipper on one’s bedmat and then positioning the body to fit w ithin the bowl of the Dipper. See M. Soymi6, “ Histoire et philologie de la Chine medievalo et modcrne，” Annuaire de l Ecole Pratique

des Haates Etudes, IVe section (1971/72), p. 662 (citing Chen kao 真 詰 {HY 1010), 18.3a-b; and Shang-ch ing chin shu yu tzu skang-ching 淸金書玉字J J f {HY 878)，1.1b). This Dipper crouch allowed the adept to receive the beneficial influences of the stars of the Big Dipper and to keep spectral peril at a distance.

74 Wang Tzu-chHao laoyinja 王子裔游引法，quoted in Yitn chi chH chHen 裳发七錢 (HY 1026), 34.1 lb , describes one position where the adept lies down with the knees crouched.

shape of the Chinese winnowing basket by sitting with the legs

spread apart and fully extended. This posture is used in Taoist thera­

peutic exercises and is also one of the positions recommended for

intercourse in medieval sex manuals.76 The same posture is already

attested in pre-Han and Han literature as a way of expressing scorn,

for example, when Chao T‘o showed his contempt for the Han

envoy by wearing the teratoid topknot and sitting like a winnowing

basket.76 Its use in social situations was certainly related to the

apotropaic value of the posture as now attested in the demonography.

That certain postures had related applications in magico-religious

practice and in social manners is a point about which I will have

more to say while discussing the prologue postures.

The last two postures, interlinked motion (lien hsing 連行) and the

leaning stand {chH li 奇立)，are less well known. The term lien hsing occurs in the Ckou li in a description of the decoration of the rack

used to support a set of bells. According to the commentary it denotes

piscine creatures.77 Perhaps the pairs of fish with interlaced tails

which are found in Han tomb art represent the decorative motif

of piscine interlinked motion. The body posture designated lien hsing in the prologue may then refer to a position in which couples

interlink arms or legs in order to ward off danger.78

The leaning stand may refer to a one-footed stance or perhaps

to standing with the body leaning against a prop. In either case

it is the fact that the posture is not squarely upright that is

76 The usual term is chi chii 笑蹈，although chi tso 宾坐 also occurs. As an exercise posi­tion see Ning hsien-skeng taoyinyang shengfa 密先生導弓丨養生法，quoted in Yiin chi chH cffien， 34.4a. As a sexual position see Tung ksiian tzu 洞玄子, a T*ang sex manual, in the recon­structed edition of Ych Tc-hui 葉徳輝，Shuang met citing an 雙梅景閹装害 (1903?- 1908? woodblock ed.), .lb , where the man is instructed to sit like a winnowing basket (chi tso) and cmbrace the woman.

76 See the citations in n. 48 above.77 Chou li, “ Tzu jcn ” 梓人, 4U3b-14a.,R Professor Jeffrey K . Ricgcl pointed out to me that a pair of fish w ith tails intcrlaccd

appears at the bottom of the painted banner found over the coffin in tomb one at Ma- wang-tui; and I am indebted to Professor Riegel for first suggesting the interpretation I now offer. K . Finsterbusch, “ Zur ikonographie der Gstlichcn Han-zeit (25-220 a.d .): Bemcrkungen zu Michacl Locwcs Ways to Paradise:* MS 34 (1979-80): 420，relates the interlaced fish on the Ma-wang-tui banner to other interlaced figures (dragons, Fu Hsi and Nu Kua) in Han mortuary art, and she compares the fish to a m otif o f fish ciicirclcd by a ring which appears over tomb doors. The apotropaic function o f the latter fish m otif ties in w ith the function of interlinked motion as a posture.

significant.79 To stand with one’s body pitched over is prohibited

in the rules of etiquette of the Li chi 禮記. As amplified in the com­

mentary, the rule forbids standing with one foot raised so that the

body is off center: both feet must always be planted firmly on the

ground.80 The next rule in the Li chi is that one must not sit like a

winnowing basket. Thus it is evident that both postures were re­

garded as particular expressions of disrespect. It is probable that

the leaning stand was also a therapeutic exercise in ancient physical

cultivation. The posture, written i li 倚立，is named in the “I)ieh

chih” 別旨，a brief essay on physical cultivation which is appended

to some editions of the Pao p^u tzu. The text itself appears to be a

Sung production, but it must preserve older traditions.81

It cannot be a coincidence that three of the prophylactic postures

in the Shui-hu-ti demonography are the names of exercises in later

physical cultivation literature (reclining in a crouch，sitting like a

winnowing basket，the leaning stand); that the winnowing basket

posture also occurs in pre-Han and Han literature as an expression

of scorn; and that the now obscure posture known as interlinked

motion is related to animal configurations which are depicted in

7* ChH 奇 is used regularly in early texts to refer to a “ single lim b” or “ having one limb impaired.” Huai nan tzut “ Chui hsing” 墜形，4.8b, mentions a chH ku min 奇股段

(“ single legged people” ）in a Shan hai ching style listing of the inhabitants of the regions beyond the fringe of the Chinese domain; the corresponding entry in the Shan hai ching

itself reads chU hung 奇 肢 （“ single arm”； Yilan K*o 袁柯，Shan hai ching chiao-chu 校注

[Shanghai: Shanghai Ku-chi Press, 1980], p. 212). “ One leg” is the gloss given for chH

踏 in SW 2B.24b. / 倚，meaning “ lean against” [SW 8A.I6b), is surely related to the sense of physical impairment (for additional examples of this set o f words being used lo refer to impaired limbs, see Tuan commentary at SW 2B.24b).

B0 Li chi (SSCCS cd.), “ Ch‘ ii li shang，’ 曲禮上，2.1 lb,81 Pao /»‘《 tzu，“ Pieh chih,” .lb . The term occurs in a passage defining tao yin. For

bibliographic details on the "Pieh chih，，see Sakadc Yoshinobu 坂出祥伸， Do-in kd” 導引考，in Ikeda Suetoshi hakuse koki kitten toyogaku ronshu池田末利博士古“記念東洋学論集

(Hiroshima: Ikcda Suetoshi Hakuse Koki Kincn Jigydkai, 1980), p. 230, n. 2. The ^Pieh chih” does not say anything about how the leaning stand is to be performed. The only other reference which I have found to i li is in the K/ung Ying-ta 孔額逵（574~648) subcommentary on Li chi，“ L i ch‘i，，夺登器，24.1a-b. The text o f the Li chi concerns the tradition that during ancestral worship the impersonator o f the ancestor lies down only during the part of the ccrcmony when food and drink are offered; during the rest of the ceremony the impersonator is to stand. According to the subcommentary, the state­ment that the impersonator is to stand refers to a “ leaning stand” (i li). Thai is, the impersonator must be held up in a standing position, perhaps by attendants or by latcrai props.

Han religious art. These arc indications of complcx interrelations

between the postures and gestures used in magico-religious practice,

those adopted in popular custom, and those which becamc part of

the exercise regimen of physical cultivation.

Later literature on physical cultivation states that making the body

resistant to demonic incursions is one of the benefits to be realized

from practicing breath cultivation, cxercisc，and dietctics, and it

is likely that the prophylactic postures in the demonography prologue

were already thcrapcutic exerciscs in the physical cultivation arts

of the third century B.C.82 The connection between the function

of magico-religious posture and of therapeutic exercise in the main­

tenance of health is suggested in the Ckuang tzu, in the same anecdote

that identifies Topknot as the stove deity. The story conccrns a time

when Seigneur Huan of Chci 齊桓公 went hunting with Kuan tzu

管子 as driver. While in the marshes a demon appeared to Seigneur

Huan. alone. When he returned from the hunt the ruler fell into a

prolonged state of lassitude. Finally the learned Huang-tzu Kao-ao

皇-子告教 instructed Seigneur Huan on the nature of his malady

and the identity of the demon. His physical indisposition was of

his own making, an obstruction of the flow of vital vapor in his

body, and not the work of demons. Furthermore, the demon beheld

by the ruler was the marsh demon, Wei-i 委蛇，who appears to those

who will bccome an overlord. Delighted to hear that his demon

sighting was actually auspicious and not injurious, Seigneur Huan

donned his court costume and assumed his ritual position at court.

His illness vanished before the day was out.83

The Ckuang tzu appears to cite the anccdotc as an example of the

physiological and non-demonic origin of sickness. This represents

the adaptation of a story which must have been taken from a collec­

tion of anecdotal literature about Seigneur Huan in order to

illustrate a particular philosophical point. Given the general belief

in Warring States times that a person must undergo exorcistic puri­

fication after seeing demons, we could speculate that in its original

82 The introduction to the therapeutic cxcrciscs of Chung L i 鐘離，quoted in Hsiu

chen shih shu 修真十害 {HY 263), 19.3b, slates that when the physical regimen is assiduously practiced: “ Evil devils do not dare approach, there can be no confusion between dreaming and waking, cold and hot cannot penetrate, and calamity and sickness cannot obstruct.’，

83 Ckuang tzu, “ Ta shcng/，7‘4b-5a.

form the story may have had an exorcistic theme. After all, Seigneur

Huan believed that he was suflering from a demonic contagion

before being instructed by Huang-tzu Kao-ao, and his ritual posture

could have had both a therapeutic and an exorcistic function.84

Seigneur Huan’s actions provide a paradigm for the role of exercises

in righting bodily ills. Just as a ruler by adopting the ritually corrcct

posture brings order to his own person and to the world, so too

might ccrtain exercise postures restore health to any individual.85

To what extent we may trace the origins of specific excrcises

back to magico-religious antecedents is a difficult question, but there

is certainly evidence of such antecedents. The earliest attested

physical cultivation exercises are those which imitate the movements

of animals. The Chuang tzu identifies the “bear ramble” {hsiung ching 熊經）and the “bird stretch” (niao shen 鳥伸）as exercises per­

formed by physical cultivation adepts.89 In Later Han times Ilua

T‘o 華佗 taught a technique which he callcd the “disportmcnt of'

the five crcatures”一 five forms of exerciscs modeled after the tiger,

deer, bear, gibbon, and bird. Performance of these excrciscs removed

sickness from the bodv.87 The imitation of animal movements is#

not just an example of how man learns nature’s secrets by observing

the animals. A great many of these animal movements imitated as

exercises should rather be traccd to animal mimicry in the form

of masked dances in ancient religious practicc. Feathered dancers

performed the crane dancc arid other avian movements.88 The

84 According to one commentator, the ruler’s illness resulted from the “ loss of (he hun 魂 and plo 魄 souls” due to the demon sighting. The Han fei tzu anecdote cited in n. 46 above provides a good example of the cxorcistic purifications required to purge theill effects of seeing a demon. When the cuckoldcd husband was convinccd that the naked knight had really been a ghost, he bathed in animal feces in order to expel it. The spells chanted following a nightmare served the same function (see n. 23 above).

83 The parallelism between the physical and politico-ritual in the ancicnt Chinese conccpt of the ruler is conciscly defined in K . M. Schippcr, “ The Taoist body,，，History

of Religions 17 (1978): 355-57.86 Chuang tzu, “ K ‘o i” 刻意，6.1a (see also Hum nan tzu, “ Ching shen** 精神，7.6b). The

bear ramble and bird stretch are both illustrated in a Ma-wang-tui tomb three manuscript with drawings o f various therapeutic cxerciscs (sec Harper, “ The Wu Shih Erh Ping Fang'*

pp. 7-13).Hou Han shu cki-chieh 後澳害集解 (photographic reproduction of 1915 woodblock

cd., reprinted by I-wen Press, Taipei, n.d.), 826.8a.88 The role of animal dances in early Chinese religion is treated passim in M . Grand,

Danses et legendes de la Chine ancienne (Paris: Alcan, 1926). For discussion of the cranc

specifically exorcistic aspect of animal dances was most prominent

in the No _ expulsion performed at New Year. As recounted in

the Hou Han shu 後漢書 treatise on ritual observances, twelve cos­

tumed dancers acted the roles of the spirit beasts whom the cxorcist

conjured to devour the spectral monsters of the dying year. The

magical efficacy of these animal pantomimes would inevitably

have influenced the conception of therapeutic exercises as a

technique for driving away sickness. Exercises which an individual

might perform produced an effect comparable to exorcistic animal

dances.89

The very fact that the four postures are singled out in the demono­

graphy as effective against demons suggests that their magico-

religious value was primary and their employment in physical

cultivation secondary. The Li chi prohibitions against standing off

balance and sitting like a winnowing basket also suggest that these

two postures had definite associations with exorcistic actions which

made them unacceptable behavior in proper social intercourse.

The prophylactic nature of the leaning stand in the prologue may

be related to the limping and hopping movements used in ancient

shamanic dance steps. The Pace of Yii was the classic shaman’s

limp: it was performed by having one foot trail behind while the

other foot stepped forward. This lurching shuffle was a widely used

magical device for coercing the spirits and overcoming spectral

perils.90

dance, and the nature of masked animal dances as a symbolic replication of animal sacrifice, see pp. 216-225. M . Kaltenmark, Le lie-sien tchouan (Peking: Univcrsite de Paris, Centre d'etudes sinologiques de Pekin, 1953)，p. 23，n. 1，and p. I l l , n. 9, offers further speculations on the crane and other bird dances in religious belief and practice.

88 Hou Han shu，“ Chih” 志，5.10b. The best study of the masked animal dance in the No expulsion is Granct, Datises el legettdes, ]>p. 298-320. See also Bodde, Festivals,

pp. 81-127. The work of Ikeda Suetoshi，cited in n. 68 above, adds greatly to our knowledge of these masked dances in ancicnt religion. In Science and Civilisation in China

2: 145, Needham suggests tlic possibilily that the therapeutic exercises were derived from the “ dances of the rain-bririging shaman”； thereby inferring a magico-religious origin for the exercises. The significance o f imitating animal movements in performing cxcrciscs must, then, be interpreted in light o f the conccption o f these animals in magico- religious belief.

90 See Granet，“ Remarqucs” ； and Danses et Ugendes pp. 549-54. The Pace of Yu was said to entail either a shuffling or hopping motion on one leg. On the one-logged shaman dance and the Pacc o f Yii, see also W. Eberhard, The Local Cultures of South and East China

(Leiden: Brill, 1968)，pp. 74-77.

It was not a matter of mere rudeness to adopt these postures before

others. The exorcistic aspect of the postures in magico-religious

practice was what gave meaning to their use. The social message

conveyed by such postures was clear: treat whom you dislike as you

would treat a demon. Han literature typically associates such

uncouth habits as wearing the teratoid topknot or sitting like a

winnowing basket with the customs of frontier foreigners, when in

fact these habits represent profanities derived from indigenous

magico-religious practice.91

Occurrences of the winnowing basket posture in literature provide

evidence of its profane application that reveals traces of the under­

lying behavioral code. The posture occurs most often in conjunction

with derisive behavior and imprecations. Recounting a royal visit

which the founding Han monarch Kao tsu 高 祖 （r. 206-195 b.c.)

paid one of his nobles，the King of Chao 趙王，in 200 b.c., the Shih chi notes that in response to the young king’s faultlessly respcctful

service: “Kao tsu sat like a winnowing basket and cursed and was

extremely abusive to him.”92 Kao tsu，s behavior so outraged the

King of Chao’s officials that they thought only his assassination

would atone for his offense. The phrase “sit like a winnowing

basket and curse” signifies more than fickle behavior born of ill-

breeding, it connotes the posture and language of malediction. The

purposefulness of this behavior is even more apparent in the Chan kuo tsle 戰國策 tale of Ching K ‘o 荆柯 and his bungled plot to assas­

sinate Ch‘in shih huang-ti 秦始皇帝. Ching K®o’s poisoned dagger

having struck a pillar rather than the Ghcin ruler，ChMn shih

huang-ti smote Ching K ‘o repeatedly with his sword:93

#1 Another example of the influence of the magical and sacred upon the profane is the cursc uttcrancc na 那 . I t is the same word as no, written 難，備，or . SIV9A.42b defines no as the “ startled uttcrancc (when one) beholds a demon.” The fact that no is an cxorcistic expletive is ccrtainly significant in the meaning of the name of the rite of expulsion, the N o~ the cursing o f the noxious monsters probably included the chanting o f this utterance. Hou Han shu 83.1 la rccords the use o f mz as a curse utterance in a secular contcxt. A woman uttered a na in reviling a seller o f drugs, Han K/ang 雜康，who refused to bargain w ith her over the price (see Harper, “ The Wu Shih Erh Ping Fang,”

pp. 78-79, for discussion of the nafno word family in the lexicon of incantatory uttcranccs).92 SC 89.10a. The boy was heir to the Han title of king (wang 王）after the death of

his father, Chang Erh 張J f，who was allied with L iu Pang 劉 邦 （Kao tsu).93 Chan kuo ls*e 戰國策 （•SWF ed.), “ Yen ts‘e” 燕策，31.7b (repeated in SC 86.17a).

K^o, realizing that the mission had failed, leaned against a p illa r and laughed; then, s ilting like a w innow ing basket, cursed, saying, “ T h a t the mission was not successful is because I wanted to capture h im alive and be certain to obtain a binding pact, thereby avenging the heir apparent (of Yen 燕)•” Thereupon guards came forward from the left and righ t and killed K*o.

Although gravely wounded, Ching K ‘o did not lean against the

pillar and sit like a winnowing basket because his body failed him.

Ching K/o，s death sccnc as described in the Chan kuo ts^ was a consci­

ous expression of hatred for the Ch‘in ruler. The leaning stance and

winnowing basket posture were final gestures of scorn, meant to

add force to his parting curs匕 These gestures in a context only

slightly different could have been performed just before uttering

imprecations against demons, for such exorcistic curses were reg­

ularly preceded by specific ritual acts.84 Given the evidence of

prophylactic postures that we now have in the Shui-hu-ti demonog­

raphy prologue, it is dear that contemporary readers of Ching

K ‘o’s death sccnc would have appreciated the exorcistic elements

embedded in it.

Bccausc of the way the demonography prologue associates the

listing of demons arid exorcistic recipes which follow it with the

tradition of teaching the people to recognize and avoid dcmonic

harm, it is a significant addition to the whole text and to our under­

standing of the nature of the ancient demonographic genre. As I

have already noted, Y li，s magical caldrons described in the Tso chuan were the prototype for this tradition. Similarly the demono­

graphies which circulated in the Six Dynasties period drew upon

tlie talismanic tradition of revealing the secret identity of spirits

and demons for the benefit of the people. The Pao p ‘u tzu lists the

Chiu ting chi 九鼎記 (Record of the nine caldrons) among the docu­

ments which may be used to drive away demons. The title refers

to Yli’s nine caldrons, for the book constituted a reproduction of

the caldrons in the form of a demonography.95

The Pacc of Yu, for example, prcccdcs the chanting o f a malediction in a number of its occurrenccs in the Wu-shih-erh ping fang (see Harper, “ The Wu Shih Erh Ping Fang’”

p. 98); and the method for expelling nightmare demons in the Shui-hu-ti occult manu­scripts (see n. 23 above) instructs the person to unbind the hair and sit facing the northwest before chanting the incantation.

85 Pao izu, “ Tcng she/，17.7b. Kiang, Le Voyage, pp. 71-72，has su路csted that the demonc^raphy Chiu ting chi mentioned in the Pao p*u tzu is quoted under the title

Mentioned along with the Chiu ting chi in the Pao p‘u tzu is the

Pai tse t'u 白澤阔（Diagrams of white marsh). White Marsh is the

name of a spirit creature who instructed the Yellow God (Huang ti

黄帝）in the ways of spirits and demons. The demonographic book

associated with White Marsh resulted from this divine tutorial, for

the Pao p Ku tzu notes elsewhere that “ in order to foil the machinations

of the spirits, (the Yellow God) recorded the words of White

Marsh.”96 The Yellow God’s journey to the White Marsh and his

encounter with the spirit creature of the marsh is recounted in several

sources dating from the Six Dynasties and later. The crcature

appeared to the Yellow God while he was making a tour of the

Eastern Sea and revealed the names of the myriad spirit emanations,

which the Yellow God recorded and made known to the people

to protcct them from harm. According to some vcrsiofis，White Marsh

also drew portraits of the spirits and demons and the Yellow God

composed incantations to be used against them.97

The Pai tse Vu is listed in the bibliographic treatises of the Sui

and Tcang official histories. Passages attributed to it, preserved in

encyclopcdias and other sources, are collected in Ch*ing reconstruc­

tions. The Tun-huang 敦煌 manuscript corpus also preserves portions

of an illustrated manuscript entitled Pai tse ching kuai t‘u 白澤精怪圆

(Diagrams of spectral prodigies of White Marsh).68 Judging from

Hsia ting chih 夏拙志 in Fa yuan chu lin 法苑珠林 (Taishd 2122, p. 320c). For further discussion o f the Chiu ting chi and Hsia ting chih, see Ch*en P‘an 陳樂，**Ku ch‘an wei shu-lu chich-Oi (e rh )-古譏線害錄解题(- ),€ ¥ ¥ ¥ 12 (1947): 38-40.

96 Pao tzu, “ Chi yen” 極言，13.2b.•7 The sources for the legend o f White Marsh have been gathered logether by Yao

Chen-tsung 姚振宗 in his commcnlary to the Sui shu 隋窖 bibliographic treatise entry citcd in n. 98 below. Yiin chi ckU chHen 100.23b, adds the information that White Marsh made portraits of ihc spirits and also that the Yellow God wrote incantations to be used against ihe spirits.

For a summary of bibliographic details, see Yao Chen-tsung, Sui shu ching chi chih

k'ao cheng 隋菩經籍志考證，in vol. 4 of Erh-shih-wu shih pu-pien 二十•五史補編 (K*ai-ming Press, Taipei), p. 590. Ch(en f^an, “ Ku ch*an wci,” 35-47, provides a comprehensive examination of the Pai tse including the Tun-huang manuscript (Pclliot 2682). Jao Tsung-i, “ Pa Tun-huang pen Pai tse ching kuai t*u liang ts‘an chiian” 跋敦煌本白澤精怪

圈兩殘卷，CYYY^XA (1969): 539-43, includes plates of Pclliot 2682. Jao shows that Stein 6261 is a portion o f the same manuscript which somehow became separated from Pclliot 2682. X have used the reconstruction o f the Pai tse t‘u in Ma Kuo-han 馬國翰，Yii han

shanfang chi i shu 玉函山房輯佚害 (woodblock ed., preface dated 1874), "Tzu pien” 子編，

“ Wu hsing lei” 五行類. There is another reconstruction in Hung I-hsiian 洪頸值，Ching

tien chi lin 經典集林 {Wen ching t'ang ts ung-shu 問經堂兼害 cd.)，which I have not seen.

these fragments, the original book was composed of separate entries.

In each entry there was first an indication of the type of spirit

involved; then the spirit’s name was given; and finally there were

details of the magical methods either to coerce the spirit for profit

or to exorcise it. The entries which make up the Shui-hu-ti demono­

graphy are composed in the same manner and there are also parallels

in content. Thus the relationship between the Shui-hu-ti demono­

graphy and the Pai tse t^u not only consists in the sharing of certain

demonological legends—the talismanic tradition of Yii’s caldrons—

but involves a clear textual tradition. Although only one section of

a larger occult manuscript, the Shui-Jiu-ti demonography is a

third century b .c . exemplar of the same demonographic genre

represented by the Pai tse t^u in the Six Dynasties.

O f the original Pai tse t‘u we now have only a few fragmentary

entries’ remnants of a once rich demonological lore. Thus the Shui-

hu-ti text is both the oldest and the best preserved of the ancient

demonographies. Detailed examination of demon classification,

of the form and manner of spectral manifestations, of the magical

practice described in the text，and of the cultural background which

lies behind specific demonological beliefs: these studies are best

taken up with the full text in hand. Without offering a comprehensive

survey of the demonography, and also without providing the textual

and philological analysis which will appear in my translation, I would

like nonetheless to discuss several entries in the demonography.

My purpose is to illustrate the relationship of the text to the Pai tse f u and to offer some preliminary observations on the types of

demons and forms of magic in the text.

The format of the entries in the Shui-hu-ti demonography is as

described above for the Pai tse t6u. The following entry is the first

to appear after the prologue:99

W hen a person is attacked for no reason by a demon, this is the Stabbing Demon (tz*u kuei 刺鬼).10° M ake a bow from peach wood, arrows from jujube, and feather them w ith chicken feathers. Shoot i t when i t next appears and i t w ill go away.

>9 YMCMy plate 132, slips 869-868, reverse, first register (see figure 2).100 The words which I translate as “ this is” are shih shih, written 是= on the manu­

script. This formula occurs regu】a rly in the text when naming the demons; and it provides the earliest evidence for the use of the demonstrative shih in a verbal construction.

Compare both the format and content of the Stabbing Demon

entry with this entry from the Pai tse ^m:101

T he sprite of abandoned tomb mounds102 is nam ed W olf Demon (lang kuei 狼鬼）.103 I t likes to engage people in combat and does not desist. M ake a peach bow, ju jube arrows, and attach kite feathers to them. Shoot i t w ith them. I f W o lf Demon becomes W h irling W ind (p(iao feng 親風 )，104 remove a shoe, throw (the shoe) at it, and i t cannot transform.

Both entries begin with the type of demon (one which attacks for

no reason, and one which inhabits abandoned tombs); followed by

a specific identification (Stabbing Demon, Wolf Demon); followed

by the magic which controls it (exorcistic archery).

Pre-Han and Han ritual literature records numerous instances

of exorcistic observances involving archery. The recommended

method of removal in the two entries above is the classic form of

exorcistic archery with peach and jujube.106 The particular signifi­

cance of archery in the Shui-hu-ti demonography lies in the fact

that it shows the demonifugal bow and arrow already in use as

popular dcvices for countering spectral attacks. That is, these exorcis­

tic acts were not restricted to the observances of organized religion,

but might be performed by any individual in a moment of need.

While the diffusion of such practices into the activities of daily life

is fairly well documented for the Six Dynasties period and later,

nearly all of the magical practices described in the Shui-hu-ti

demonography are only attested in the context of formal religious

rites in ancient sources. Thus the demonography permits us to set in

focus a previously hazy picture of the interrelations between religious

and folkloristic traditions in Warring States and Ch^n-Han times.

Besides the evidence from other sections of the Shui-hu-ti occult

101 Pai tse t‘u (Yii lian shanfang chi i shu ed.), 3b.102 For the use of ckUu 丘 to mean “ abandoned,” see HS 45.18a，ap. chHu iHng 丘亭

and Yen Shih-ku,s commentary.103 W olf Demon is the name for the sprite o f abandoned tomb mounds. The wolf as a

dangerous spirit creature in its own right also appears in the Pai tse t*u and the Shui-hu- t i demonography (see n. 123 below).

m A W hirling Wind demon is mentioned several times in the Shui-hu-ti demono­graphy, which also recommends throwing a shoe at it (see n. 110 below).

105 Granet discusses the apotropaic woods used for bows in the rites of expulsion described in Han ritual literature in “ Le depot de 】，enfant sur le sol,” in Etudes sociologiques

sur la Chine (Paris: Presses Univcrsitaircs de France, 1953), pp. 165-167. Bodde, Festivals， pp. 127-38, also reviews the early sources concerning the ritual use of peach bows.

manuscripts, similar documentation of the popularity of this type

of magic comes from the Ma-wang-tui remedy manual Wu-skih-erk ping fang. Alongside rccipes for thcrapcutic treatments and the com­

pounding of drugs, this medical book includes rccipes for performing

magical exorcistic cures. Malediction, archery, flagellation, magical

entrapment, and demon inquisition: all these and more are described

as treatments for bites, warts, swellings，and the like.106 The similarity

of magical recipes in the Wu-skih-erh ping fang to entries in the Shui-

hu-ti demonography also reveals the extent to which the entries

are a type of recipe literature—they identify the demonic “ailment”

and provide a remedy.107

As in the Pai tse the Shui-hu-ti demonography usually (but

not always) gives a name to the various demons being described.

The names revealed in the Pai tse t6u are potent words, for simply

knowing a demon’s name and shouting it is the most common

magical device described in the fragments of this book. Indeed, a

principal function of the Pai tse t^u was as a register of cach demon’s

proper name. The Chuang tzu anccdotc about Seigneur Huan of Ch*i

and the marsh demon Wei-i also furnishes a list of demon proper

names. Knowing these names must have provided magical control

over them in the earlier demonological tradition as well.108 However

the Shui-hu-ti demonography does not appear to exploit name

magic. Perhaps the appellations in the text are not, strictly speaking,

the type of proper name which might give a person magical control

over the demon. If that is so, wc should not expect to find the

identifications provided in the Shui-hu-ti demonography used in

incantatory name-calling.

While some of the fragments of the Pai tse t‘u describe genie powers

which can benefit the person who knows the appropriate magic,

106 Harper, “ The Wu Shih Erh Ping Fang，” pp. 67-106，surveys the contents and signifi­cance of the magical rccipes in the Wu-shih~€rh ping fang.

10? In terms of text format the entries in the Shui-hu-ti demonography also resemble the recipes in medical recipe manuals. Each entry begins in a new column on the manu­script ralher than being written continuously in the space immediately under the preceding entry. The meaning of fang 方 （“ recipc”； originally the tablet on which a recipe was recorded) and its significance in the transmission of occult literature by fang

shih 方士 (“ masters o f recipes” ) during the Warring States and Ch*in-Han periods is discusscd in Harper, “ The Wu Shih Erh Ping Fang^ pp. 51-67.

108 Kuan tzu，c<Shui ti” 水地，14.3a-b, attests to this aspect o f demonology in a passage which appears to be based on material from an early demonography:

the Shui-hu-ti demonography entries ail deal with prophylactic and

cxorcistic measures against demons.109 The deviccs which foil

dcmonic attacks need not be as elaborate as the cxorcistic archery

described above. Simply throwing a shoe may suffice, as in the

instruction in the Pai tse t‘u for trapping the Wolf Demon when it

becomes the Whirling Wind. The same practice is described in the

Shui-hu-ti demonography, thrice as a means of countering the

Whirling Wind.110 Other things which the demonography recom­

mends throwing are white stones and cxcremcnt.111 The latter is a

well known demonifuge. Its use in the demonography is a good

example of precautionary magic:112

I 'h c dwelling places o f the great spirits cannot be passed through. They like to injure people. M ake pellets from dog excrem ent and carry them when passing through. Throw them at the spirit when it appears, and it will not injure people.Carrying prophylactic pills and amulets when venturing into the

Ch*ing-chi 慶忌 is like a human being in shape; is four inches long; wears a yellow robe; has a yellow headdress; carries a yellow parasol overhead; and rides a small horse. I t likes lo gaUop at high speed. Shout oul its name to it, and it can be dispatchcd beyond a ihousand li and report back in a single day. This is the genic of ihc dry marsh. . . . Wei 蚊 has one head and two bodies; its form is like a serpent and is cighl feet long. Shout out its name to it, and one can catch fish and turtles. This is the genie of the dry river.

109 As in the Kuan tzu passage cited in n. 108, entries in the Pai tse t'u describe how one can obtain favors and goods by calling out the demon’s name.

110 YMCMy plate 134, slips 844-843, reverse, first register; plate 134，slip 839，reverse, third register; and plate 135, slip 832, reverse, second register. Robert Chard, University of California, Berkeley, has written a study o f pHao fang in the Shui-hu-ti demonography and in the received literature, “ The demon Whirlwind {Piiao-feng 飄風) in ihe Shui- hu-ti Jik-shu.” Shoe-throwing is employed in a number of other entries in the Shui-hu-ii demonography as well.

111 For white stones, see YMCMS plait* 132，slip 868，reverse, third register. The full inventory of materials is lengthy; and it is revealing in terms of continuity with other evidence o f magical practicc in the received literature. A t times ihe text is reminiscent of passages in the Shan hai ching concerned with ihc magical properties o f ccrtain plants, minerals, or animals. Often substances arc ashed, jusl as might be done in the preparation of a drug, and then the ashes arc sprinkled over the area to be magically purified. Chou

li 37.6b-8a, furnishes several examples of ashes used exorcistically and other apotropaics. Marvels, exorcistic magic, and pharmacy were all bound together in the occult tradition. The Shui-hu-ti demonography alUrsts lo that interrelationship.

112 YMCM, plate 132，slips 869-868, reverse, sccond register (see figure 2). T iic Han

Jet (zu anecdote cited in n. 46 and n. 84 above is one of the earliest references to the exorcistic use of feces. For similar use of feces in the Wu-shih-erk ping /angy see Harper, “ The Wu Shih Erh PingFang；} p. 106.

wild regions inhabited by monstrous powers is the subject of much

discussion in the Pao p^u tzu.yxflScrceching, drum heating, and bell ringing arc also effective:114

I f humans o r birds and beasts as well as the six domestic animals constantly roani through a person’s domicile, these are spirits from above who like to descend and take pleasure in entering. H ave boys and girls who have never entered the domi­cile118 beat drums, ring bells with clappers, and screech a t them, and they will not come.

The Shih chi account of the ill-omened birth of Pao Ssu 襃拟，tlie

woman said to have ruined the House of Chou，provides an inter­

esting parallel that also illustrates the use of exorcistic screeching

(sao 榮)，116 During the reign of King Li 厲 王 (ninth ccntury B.C.)

a vessel containing dragon essence, a holy treasure handed down

from the Hsia，was opened and the dragon csscncc cscapcd into

the palace:117

I t could not be expelled. K ing L i had the wives strip naked and screech a t it. The essence changed in to a dark lizard and entered the king’s rear palace. An adoles­cent g ir l who had already lost her baby teeth118 encountered it. A t the age o f re­ceiving the ha irp in she became pregnant11® and w ithout husband gave b irth to an infant.

Abandoned and later rcintroduced to the Chou harem, this fruit

of a monstrous seed was the infamous Pao Ssu. The “spirits from

above” mentioned in the Shui-hu-ti demonography arc no doubt

of a sort like the dark lizard who raped the palace maiden. The

chorus of naked wives is a literal acting out of the word sao: as

explained in the Shih chi commentary, sao refers to “screeching en masse.^li0

Quite a few entries in the Shui-hu-ti demonography deal with

113 Especially Pao p%u tzu, “ Tcng she.”114 YMCM, plate 132, slips 865-863，reverse, second register (see figure 2).116 Perhaps the phrase weiju kung 未入宫 refers to children who arc “ not yet married.”1,6 This is the graph used to write sao in the demonography, glossed in SW 2B. 32b as

“ birds crying en masse.” The Shih chi passage below uses the graph 譟，glossed in SW

3A.26a as “ wrangle” (jao 擾 ) . The word connotes a cacophonous multiludc of voices, especially o f birds; and, thus, in exorcistic practicc refers to a chorus of screechers.

U75C4.25a-b.116 The age of seven sui 歳 for a woman according to the commentary.m Marriageable age.120 Reconfirming the basic sense of sao in the gloss in SW 2B.32b.

anthropomorphic and zoomorphic spirits and a number of these

apparitions are associated with sexual danger. There is good evidence

of dog hysteria in an entry about the “spirit dog” (shen kou 神狗）

who enters people’s homes at night, seizing the husbands and

sporting with the women.121 When a person hears animals talking,

this is also a sign of spectral powers playing tricks.122 Various

creaturcs and poltergeists may taunt people with noisome sounds

or tempt them with deceptive words. The wolf is the subject of an

entry which also furnishes advice on cooking these beasts: “The

wolf always shouts at people’s doors saying, ‘Open up. I am not a

spectre.* Kill it and boil it. The taste of the flesh is very fine.，，123

It is a pity that we do not have statistics on how often the wolf outside

the door found the occupants already wise to its ruse and ended up

in the stewpot.124

The catalogue of ghosts, revenants, spooks, bogies, inexplicable

contagions, and hauntings in the Shui-hu-ti demonography is

extensive. We have always known that this type of literature existed

in antiquity: the appropriate titles are recorded in the Han shu bibliographic treatise, and the fragments of the Pai tse t lu can now

be seen to exemplify the early dcmonographic literature as well.

The particular significance of the Shui-hu-ti demonography for the

study of ancient magico-rcligious traditions lies in the fact that

the text is a manual of demon lore which was intended for use by

believers. The Lun heng refers to many superstitions about demons,

but Wang Ch‘ung’s sole purpose was to refute such beliefs. Other

writers collected odd bits of popular demon lore in a more reportorial

181 YMCMt plates 133-134，slips 849-847, reverse, first register. According to the text, the spirit dog takes the guise o f a ghost (wet wei kuei 偽為鬼)• On the dog demon, see dc Groot, The Religious System o f China 5:571-76, who notes that in popular belief dogs appear as “ crafty imposters, and abusers of women.”

M2 YMCMt plate 134, slips 844-843, reverse, first register (the animals* spccch is said to be causcd by the vapor o f the W hirling W ind); plate 134, slips 837-836, reverse, first register (concerned with birds and beasts who speak to people when they are alone, labeling them prodigies).

128 YMCM, plate 132, slip 863, reverse, third register (see figure 2). See de Groot, The

Religious System of China 5: 563-70, for traditional lore on the wiles o f the wolf. Pai tse

t*u ,4a, reports that the hundred year old w o lf changes into a beautiful woman who sits by the roadside telling men chat she is orphaned and be踩 ing them to marry her.

124 Cooking the demon after capturing it is mentioned in fou r of the Pai tse t*u entries (•2a，.5a).

manner, for example, Ying Shao，who included a chaptcr entitled

“Prodigies and Spirits” (“Kuai shen” 怪神) in the Feng su fung ?.126

Playing in part the role of folklorist, Ying Shao made a record of

beliefs still current in his day, but his accounts represent the impres­

sions of an interested observer and cataloguer, not the learning of

a demonological specialist. Buried in a tomb in 217 B.C., the Shui-

hu-ti demonography provides scholars of the twentieth century with

a unique testament to the literature which guided the ancient

Chinese in their daily interaction with the demon world.

125 Feng su t*ung i, ch. 9. Dcmonological matters arc touchcd upon throughout YingShao、book.