Chinese spirit possession

Lore & Background

The practice has deep historical roots. In the State of Qi, shamans who claimed possession by gods were criticized as heterodox by Confucians. Movements led by such shamans often sparked peasant rebellions against ruling dynasties. During the Boxer Rebellion, spirit possession was used for protective purposes; boxers whirled swords, prostrated violently, and chanted incantations to Taoist and Buddhist spirits, believing they had achieved invulnerability and superhuman skills.

In the Song Dynasty, practices varied among Confucian, Buddhist, and Daoist traditions. Daoist priests and Buddhist monks who performed possession rituals were at the top of the hierarchy, followed by lay exorcists and Esoteric Buddhist monks, with village spirit-mediums at the bottom. The Yijian Zhi by Hong Mai contains nearly two hundred accounts of spirit possession, including village mediums possessed by earthly spirits, child-mediums used in exorcisms, and funeral rites where relatives were possessed by the deceased.

During the Qing era, the Qing Code criminalized spirit possession as part of the 'Ban on Vernacular Masters and Heretical Techniques.' In contemporary times, spirit possession is more subdued; shamans are most prominent in coastal cultures of Fujian, Taiwan, Guangdong, and Hong Kong. In Wenzhou, most shamans are women operating from home, as temple practice is reportedly restricted. At the national level, shamans can be fined or jailed for public practice.

Reader's Guide

Chinese spirit possession has played a significant role in both religious life and political upheaval. Historically, it was a catalyst for peasant rebellions, most notably the Boxer Rebellion, where practitioners claimed invulnerability through possession. The practice reflects a complex hierarchy of specialists—from Daoist priests to village mediums—and was criminalized in the Qing Code. In modern times, it persists in coastal regions despite suppression under rationalist and Maoist ideologies. The practice also intersects with medicine: mental illness was often attributed to possession, and patients were brought to temples for exorcisms. A 1993 study of 100 Chinese psychiatric patients found belief in spirit possession unrelated to education, with more women than men holding such beliefs. Today, shamans can be controversial yet economically beneficial at the grassroots level, as seen in Yueqing City where a shamaness contracted with village party leaders to practice in a temple in exchange for a large payment.

Did You Know?

• During the Boxer Rebellion, boxers claimed invulnerability to knives, bullets, and cannon fire after achieving spirit possession.
• In Wenzhou, most shamans are women and operate from their own homes because temple practice is reportedly restricted.
• A 1993 study found that belief in spirit possession among Chinese psychiatric patients was not related to education status.

Rebellions and the Power of Possession

Spirit possession in China has long been intertwined with political upheaval. As early as the state of Qi, shamans who claimed divine possession drew criticism from Confucian scholars as heterodox practitioners. Throughout Chinese history, movements led by shamans practicing spiritual possession frequently erupted into peasant rebellions against the ruling dynasty. The most celebrated example is the Boxer Rebellion of the early 1900s, where practitioners engaged in whirling sword performances, violent prostrations, and chanting incantations directed at Taoist and Buddhist spirits. Once possession was achieved, boxers claimed invulnerability to knives, bullets, and cannon fire, along with superhuman martial skills. For these practitioners, spirit possession served a protective function during warfare. Larry Clinton Thompson's work on William Scott Ament documents how boxers believed that chanting specific incantations would cause Chinese deities to descend and shield the human body from harm. This pattern of shaman-led resistance against state authority represents one of the most dramatic intersections of religious practice and political conflict in Chinese history.

The Song Dynasty Hierarchy of Practitioners

During the Song dynasty, spirit possession occupied a clearly stratified position within Chinese religious life, closely mirroring the broader societal hierarchy. At the apex stood Daoist priests and Buddhist monks who performed possession rituals, followed by a growing class of independent specialists including lay Daoist exorcists known as fashi and Esoteric Buddhist monks. At the base were village spirit-mediums and rural practitioners. Edward Davis characterized possession as necessarily a social experience, and Song writers labeled it pingfu, emphasizing the experience of a mortal body being taken over by ghosts, gods, or ancestors. Unlike shamanism, the possessed individual could not communicate with the entity within. Hong Mai's Yijian Zhi from the Southern Song dynasty preserves nearly two hundred possession accounts, documenting village mediums possessed by earthly spirits, child-mediums employed for exorcism, and funeral rites where the deceased possessed relatives as a form of communication. Non-ritualized possession, treated as illness, also featured prominently in these records.

State Control and Grassroots Survival

The relationship between Chinese spirit possession and state authority has been one of persistent tension. The Qing Code explicitly criminalized the practice, folding it into the Ban on Vernacular Masters and Heretical Techniques. In the twentieth century, the dominant ideology of a rational, scientific nation positioned shamanism and spirit possession as irrational superstition. Under the Mao era, religious activity was broadly suppressed, and shamanism only resurfaced in post-Mao periods. Today, practitioners are most visible in the coastal cultures of Fujian, Taiwan, Guangdong, and Hong Kong. In Wenzhou, most shamans are women who operate from their own homes because temple practice is prohibited. At the national or urban level, public practitioners face fines or even imprisonment. Yet in Yueqing City, village party leaders reportedly entered a contract with a shamaness: she would perform possession rituals for villagers, and in return she would remit the equivalent of seventy-five thousand US dollars to the local government. This arrangement sparked controversy over collusion, yet at the grassroots level in rural Wenzhou, shamans remain broadly supported as economic stimulants and community benefactors.

Possession at the Intersection of Illness and Healing

Chinese spirit possession has historically served as a framework for understanding and treating mental illness. Patients exhibiting symptoms of psychological distress were commonly brought to temples, where their condition was interpreted as symptomatic of spirit possession rather than a medical ailment. Accounts stretching back to ancient times describe individuals falling ill to possession and subsequently receiving Buddhist or Daoist exorcisms. A crucial distinction in this medical context is that the individual's soul is not entirely displaced by the possessing entity. Instead, the soul is suppressed, a process denoted by the Chinese character for pressing down, so that it coexists in a diminished state alongside the spirit. At the temple, mediums would perform rituals and exorcisms aimed at restoring the person's equilibrium. This framework positioned spiritual intervention as a therapeutic act, blurring the boundary between religious ritual and medical treatment in a way that persisted across centuries of Chinese cultural life.