As the saying goes, it is easier to draw ghosts than it is to draw people, because ghosts are illusory and there are no definite rules. However, the ghosts in the minds of Chinese people have vivid images. They are Nie Xiaoqian with fluttering hair, Du Liniang with affectionate style, and Ying Ning with laughter…
Compared with these kind and beautiful female ghosts, male ghosts are pale. Why are there so many female ghosts with individuality in China? Mr. Xu Hualong, a famous Chinese folklorist and ghost culture research expert, answered this question for us.
Chinese female ghosts love and hate clearly Chinese male ghosts have no personality
Chinese ghosts leave the impression that there are more female ghosts. The ghosts in traditional dramas are often female ghosts, such as Du Liniang in Tang Xianzu's "The Peony Pavilion", which leave a good impression on people. These traditional operas have been passed down through several or even dozens of generations, leaving a deep memory in people's minds and becoming a content passed on by word of mouth, which also makes female ghosts appear a lot.
Chinese female ghosts have character traits such as beauty, virtuousness, integrity, kindness, etc., as well as the determination and courage to dare to speak out, to distinguish between love and hatred, and to never give up until the goal is achieved. Ghosts are quite different.
Representatives of female ghosts, such as Ao Guiying in the traditional drama "Wang Kui Bears Gui Ying". She loves and hates the 36 kinds of ghosts in Chinese folklore , and she is absolutely unambiguous. In order to help my sweetheart, Wang Kui, to go to the exam, I will help him with everything I can, but once I lose my heart and empathize with another, even if I turn into a ghost, I will claim his life. This kind of deep love and desperate love is only reflected in female ghosts.
In fact, there are quite a few male ghosts in China. In terms of absolute numbers, there should be far more male ghosts than female ghosts, but in general, there are not as strong and almost common things as female ghosts. This is because the images of male ghosts are so rich that it is difficult to sum them up in one sentence. Compared with female ghosts, male ghosts appear weaker and paler. Except for the characters of Yama and Zhong Kui, in many cases, they play the roles of wimps. Such as water ghosts, city gods, gambling ghosts, debt collector ghosts, impermanent ghosts, etc. Xi Fangping and Wang Liulang in "Liao Zhai" are also good male ghosts, but they are less well-known than female ghosts.
Are women rebelling against society or satisfying male sexual fantasies?
Female ghosts have such character traits, which are the result of women's social struggle against men. In traditional Chinese culture, women are often supporting roles in life and are not valued by society. No matter what talents women have, and no matter how they help men, what they get is unfair treatment. This is a fundamental social and psychological reason for the strong resistance of female ghosts.
There is another reason, which is related to the masculinity in Chinese society. Women are often the objects that men want to know, especially what happens to women deserves special attention. Just like in all kinds of works of art, women are indispensable, and stories purely about men are not so fascinating. In folktale works, women as protagonists will attract everyone's attention. Besides, in social life, women often play a cowardly role being bullied by men, so it is easier to get people's sympathy. Such an image can generate good feelings with the audience, and thus resonate. It causes men in a male society to have all kinds of unreasonable thoughts and fantasies about sex and so on.
The earliest ghosts were animal ghosts, and there will be more and more beautiful ghosts in the future
The earliest ghosts in China did not distinguish between men and women, but animal images—animal ghosts. In the primitive society, people lived by hunting and believed in animism, so they believed that a person would turn into some kind of mighty animal after death.
Later, ghosts began to take human form. "If someone looks like a mountain, he will be taken by Xue Lixi. She is both smiling and smiling, and Zi Muyu is kind and graceful." The *"mountain ghost" created by Qu Yuan is more like It is a mountain god, which represents a natural force. At this time, gods and ghosts are indistinguishable. Later, ghosts and gods gradually separated, and those who can benefit mankind became gods, and those who brought bad luck became ghosts. .
With the spread of Buddhism, the image of ghosts in folk beliefs has become more and more abundant: after death, people have to cross the Naihe Bridge, go through the trial of the underworld, and enter the six reincarnations. Before reincarnation, they have to drink "Mengpo soup" to forget their previous lives. Later, there were Hades and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva…
The Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties ushered in the peak of cultural creation, from "A Chinese Girl's Departing Soul" and "The Peony Pavilion" in the Yuan operas, to Yuan Mei's "Zi Bu Yu" and Pu Songling's "Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio" in the Qing Dynasty… The 36 kinds of ghosts in Chinese folklore were interpreted by literati, and the characters were vividly portrayed. A large number of images of beautiful female ghosts appeared and were widely circulated among the people.
The biggest feature of the artistic image of Chinese ghosts is to persuade people to do good, good will be rewarded with good, and evil will be rewarded with evil, which is more in line with the moderate thought of Chinese culture, and is not as extreme as Japan. China talks about ghosts, but there is a principle of being a human being in it.