六朝志怪小说“厉鬼成神”故事研究 = A STUDY OF THE PHENOMENON OF GHOSTS WHO ACQUIRED GODHOOD FOLLOWING UNNATURAL DEATHS: ZHIGUAI TALES FROM THE SIX DYNASTIES
Since antiquity, Chinese people offered sacrifices to ancestors, however, they also paid respect to ligui (spirits who had suffered unnatural death). In the Six Dynasties, a great many of this type of ghosts appear in the zhiguai tales (supernatural stories). In traditional Chinese culture, only virtuous people can attain godhood after death, however, ligui ghosts always cause great disasters. Their behavior and image contradict the traditional concept of a god, who must be both righteous and merciful. This thesis seeks to explain the process of how ligui ghosts attained godhood and their interaction with common people in medieval China. The ligui ghosts can be divided into two categories according to gender, males and female always acquired godhood through different processes, males retained godhood because of political reasons while females mostly because of family reasons. The phenomenon was caused partly by local shaman (wu) who devoted efforts to promote their cults, and partly by the state regulation and local policy. At the same time, literati in the Six Dynasties also greatly contributed to the spread of the stories. Furthermore, this thesis focuses on studying the interactions between ligui and common people, how the living be called upon in dreams, love affairs between the living and dead, and stories of retribution
unnatural death, ligui, Six Dynasties, strange writings, shaman (wu) culture
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