The Newly Dead Ghost 新死鬼

有新死鬼，形疲瘦顿。忽见生时友人，死经二十年，肥健。相问讯，新鬼曰："汝何以得如此？"友鬼曰："但人家作怪，人必恐惧，自当与食。"新鬼往一大姓家，见一大磨。因推磨如生时。主人大惊，谓子弟曰："佛怜吾家贫，令鬼推磨。"乃以麦与之。新鬼大怒，谓友鬼曰："君何以欺我？"

A man had recently died and become a ghost. He was thin, exhausted, and hungry — a ghost in the raw, unaccustomed to his new condition. Then he encountered an old friend who had been dead for twenty years. The friend was plump, vigorous, clearly thriving. The new ghost asked: "How do you manage so well?"

The experienced ghost gave his advice: "Go to a wealthy household and cause some mischief. They'll be terrified and offer you food." The new ghost went to the house of a prominent family and, seeing a large millstone, did what came naturally — he pushed it, just as he had done in life. The family saw the millstone turning by itself.

But instead of being frightened, the master of the house exclaimed: "Buddha has taken pity on our poverty and sent a ghost to grind our grain!" He piled the ghost high with wheat as payment. The new ghost returned to his friend, furious. "You tricked me!" The experienced ghost shook his head. "You went to the wrong house. That family is devoted to Buddha — they see divine providence in everything. You need to find a household that fears ghosts, not one that sees them as heavenly servants."

😂 The Comedy of the Supernatural This tale is genuinely funny — and deliberately so. The You Ming Lu is not all existential dread and karmic horror. Liu Yiqing and his circle of scholars had a keen sense of the absurd. The image of a bewildered ghost pushing a millstone while a pious Buddhist homeowner thanks the Buddha for the free labor is pure comedy. It also reveals something important: by the 5th century, Buddhism had become so deeply embedded in daily life that even ghosts were subject to its interpretive framework.

The Haunted House 闹鬼宅院

有富人买一宅。居之，夜闻有声如人语。久之，见数人影出没。富人大惧，欲卖之。有道士曰："此宅有旧鬼，非害人者。当以正气镇之。"富人从之，设醮祭之，鬼遂绝。

A wealthy man bought a new house and moved in. At night he heard voices — not threatening, just conversational, as if invisible tenants were discussing household matters. Over weeks, shadowy figures appeared in the corridors. The owner prepared to sell.

A Daoist priest advised him: "These are old ghosts — former residents who died in this house. They mean no harm. They simply don't know they're dead, or they can't let go. Perform a ritual to acknowledge them, and they will depart." The owner set up an altar, performed the proper rites, and the haunting ceased.

🔮 Belief Archaeology: 鬼 (Ghosts) in Six Dynasties Thought The concept of gui (鬼) in the You Ming Lu is more nuanced than the Western "ghost." A Chinese ghost is not necessarily a tormented spirit seeking vengeance. It may be a confused soul, a lonely remnant, or simply a being that has not yet completed its transition to the next realm. The ghost-world is not separate from the living world — it overlaps, interpenetrates. The dead walk among us not because they are trapped, but because the boundary between realms is thin and porous.

The Brave Man Who Faced the Demon 勇者驱邪

有一人，胆气过人。夜行山中，见一物如人，长丈余，面黑如炭。其人大喝一声，物惊走。后人问之，答曰："吾平生不惧鬼神。正气在身，邪不能侵。"

A man of exceptional courage was walking through the mountains at night when he encountered a creature: humanoid in shape, more than ten feet tall, with a face black as charcoal. Without hesitation, the man let out a thunderous shout. The creature fled into the darkness.

When asked later how he had overcome his fear, he replied: "I have never feared ghosts or spirits. When righteousness resides within, evil cannot penetrate."

💪 Zhengqi (正气): The Chinese Anti-Demon Theory This tale illustrates a core Chinese supernatural principle: zhengqi (正气, righteous qi) is the ultimate defense against evil. Unlike the Western tradition of holy water, crucifixes, and exorcism rituals, the Chinese approach holds that a person's own moral cultivation — their qi, their spiritual energy — is what determines whether supernatural beings can harm them. A person of upright character is literally untouchable by demons. This idea runs from the You Ming Lu through Song Neo-Confucianism to modern Chinese martial arts fiction.

Further Reading 延伸阅读