215 – Chinese Ghosts
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We are joined by Ph.D. student Minwen Huang, who shares with us the history of the literary genre of Chinese Ghosts called Zhiguai, and how such beings (and literature) are viewed from ancient times to the present.
A wiki page about the character for “ghost”: 鬼
Images of Women in Chinese Thought and Culture: Writings from the Pre-Qin Period through the Song Dynasty – a collection of Chinese stories including the Zhiguai stories of Gan Bao.
Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling – a classic collection of weird tales and ghost stories.
A Chinese Ghost Story – 1987 Hong Kong action comedy-drama based on Zhiguai stories
Mr. Vampire – 1985 comedy horror film based on Chinese “Hopping Vampire” lore
Spooky Encounters – 1980 comedy horror with the incomparable Sammo Hung
Legend of the 7 Gold Vampires – 1979 Hammer/Shaw Brothers horror film
(Update: The Radio Lab episode on the computerization of Chinese characters.)