Research Articles

 

Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.3, 2018

 

Origins and Characteristics of the Idea of Gui (Ghost) and Hun (Soul) in the Pre-Qin Period (Abstract)

 

Chao Fulin

 

As an organic part of traditional Chinese thought and culture, the concepts of gui (ghost) and hun (ethereal soul) had a strong impact on pre-Qin society, one that was closely related to ritual, sacrifices, and customs. The idea of gui originated in burial customs that emerged at the juncture of the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages. At the time of the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shanhaijing), strange-looking, frightening people may have been referred to as gui. The “Methods of Sacrifice” chapter of the Book of Rites (Liji) reads, “The dead are called gui; this has not changed in the past five dynasties.” This shows that in the Tang, Yu, Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, the deceased were called gui, indicating that the notion that a dead person becomes a gui or ghost appeared quite early. The earliest surviving record of gui occurs in an oracle bone inscription found in the Ruins of Yin. In such inscriptions, the character for gui is an image of the corpse used in sacrificial rituals. In the Spring and Autumn period, this practice died out, and the custom of serving the dead in their ghostly state arose. The concept of hun emerged much later than that of gui. It was only at the juncture of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods that the words hunqi (the soul’s energy) and hunpo (the soul) began to appear, and the concept of hun did not truly cast off its material shackles until late in the Warring States period.