Primary source analysis
Chapter 7, which is entitled “Demons and spirits”, centers on two postmortem halves of the person – demons and spirits or yin and yang – and unites three selections of extracts from some written works by the representatives of the Han dynasty proving that these two phenomena can be regarded both as the concepts of different kinds and as the concepts that can be integrated on some basis. The author of the first selection exhibits functions of some social customs based on demons and spirits taking into consideration their social utility. The second selection, written by Liu Xiang, deals with the correct identification of spirits and points out their significance. The author of the third selection, Wang Chong, concentrates on materialistic explanation of seeing demons and makes some connection between dreams and the belief in demons.
Wang Chong voices a very sophisticated idea that “demons are not the result of the essential spirit of a dead person, but rather are brought about by a living person’s thoughts while imagining or envisioning a thing coming into existence” (138). The author stresses that if people fear the arrival of devils their thoughts undoubtedly come into existence. In other words, our thoughts are materialistic. It goes without saying that this idea can be applied to the present-day reality in terms of people’s searching for their identity, their relations with each other and their expectations towards the future. So if a person is obsessed with some idea, especially an unpleasant one, or views their life as a complete failure, or feels jealous or envious towards the others, it gives the reason for the devils to appear and either to make the reality live up to the person’s worst expectations or to turn negative thoughts against the person who produced them. That’s why it is possible to say that everything that happens in our life depends on our way of thinking.
If worry and fright brings out our devils, then I wonder what can bring out the spirits.
Works cited
