The Origin of the "Ghost": Masks and Rituals in China

Author: Ryuko Hatano
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: This book documents the origins, development, and spread of Nuo culture. Through investigative reports from various regions in China, it introduces the rituals, beliefs, and on-stage appearances of Nuo deities, which are often depicted with ghostly imagery, in search of clues for comparative studies of Japanese and Chinese ghost deities. She points out that the Chinese ghosts in Nuo rituals (i.e., the masked performers who embody the Nuo ritual targets as well as the masked characters in Nuo theater) do not merely represent the dead and ancestors but are categorized into malevolent ghosts and benevolent ghosts who dispel disasters for the people. When the latter are worshipped as gods, their appearances are deliberately made fierce and terrifying to portray their ability to overcome disasters.