Halloween Special: 5 Freaky Chinese Ghosts and Ghouls

There’s a rich history of Chinese ghosts — as many as 1,520 spirits have been compiled.

To celebrate the global love of ghosts and ghouls in time for Halloween, here is a list of our five favorite monsters, spirits, and demons from across Chinese folklore. 

猫鬼 Mao Gui

Cat ghosts, or maogui, are believed to be the ghosts of cats raised from the dead to take their targets’ lives and fortunes via gudu rituals (similar to voodoo magic in their application). These rituals were popular in the 6th and 7th centuries CE. Once targeted, the victim was said to feel as if pierced by needles, before maogui would eventually consume their organs. Many cats were apparently sacrificed during the Sui (581-618 CE) era, so the actions of maogui can be seen as revenge for cat-kind.

In contemporary Chinese RPG imagery, maogui are often interpreted as deceptively cute kittens, and also serve as inspiration for the 2017 fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat by renowned director Chen Kaige.

Luo Tou Shi 落头氏

These are beings whose heads can detach themselves from their bodies, fly away and wander around while they are asleep, flapping their ears like wings. It’s vital not to cover the neck while they're wandering, however, or the head will be unable to re-attach itself upon return, causing both head and body to perish. 

According to texts of the Jin (265-420 CE) era, these beings were a race that lived in the southern lands of Lingnan – now Guangdong and Guangxi — which were only accessible once Tang Dynasty (618-907 CE) roads were built through the hitherto impenetrable Nan Mountains. This isolation helped create China’s historical fascination with the exoticism of the far south.

画皮鬼 Hua Pi Gui

With a name that literally means “painted skin ghost,” these beings are green in appearance with big, gnashing teeth. This Chinese ghost eats humans at night and wear its victims’ skins by day, usually appearing as very beautiful women. Hua pi gui are believed to be the spirits of women that were horribly wronged during their lives, and remained trapped in bones for hundreds of years after their corpses had decayed, which is why they look for skins to move around in. 

Immortalized by Pu Songling in the anthology Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, hua pi gui have also enjoyed TV and film adaptations for generations within China, and had a lead role in the globally released Painted Skin I and II. Hell hath no fury!

Jiu Tou Niao 九头鸟

This nine-headed bird is an inauspicious being in ethnic Han myths. It was said to have had ten heads originally, but one was cut off by a hunter on the orders of Zhou Gongdan, a politician and thinker of the Western Zhou (10th to 8th centuries BCE) dynasty. With blood gushing from its headless neck, the jiu tou niao sucks out the spirit energy of children. In the old days, during the time the bird was believed to appear, lights were extinguished very early and dogs sent out. The jiu tou nao is well documented in texts of the Tang and Song dynasties.

Jiangshi 僵尸 

Any compilation of Chinese ghosts and demons would not be complete without China’s ultimate monster, the jiangshi. Originating in rural tales of the strange, these "Chinese zombies" have become horror and pop culture fixtures in China and elsewhere in Asia. Jiangshi are typically depicted in the wardrobe of a Qing dynasty official, with a binding spell attached to their hats, and hop around due to the stiffness of rigor mortis.

Hit "Read More" at the bottom of this message for our full compilation of Chinese ghosts and ghouls – 33 in total.

Illustrations by Elaine Chow and Mayura Jain

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