East Asian Spirits, Gods & Demons

[Yithian]

Stevens, K. G. (1997). Chinese Gods: The Unseen World of Spirits and Demons. London: Collins & Brown.

Someone has just posted scans of this excellent but hard to obtain title. As is explained, it's a good resource for those interested in classic Chinese literature, but it may also appeal to those with a general interest in folklore and anthropology.

China is a land full of gods and goddesses, ranging from the Creators of the World to Worthies local to only one or two villages.​

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This book introduces the reader to the most important figures of Chinese folk history, and those of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism.​

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Intensely pragmatic in their religion, Chinese people hold all gods in reverence, but it is only the ones who answer prayers with concrete results that are exceptionally praised. Many gods have particular specialities, for instance, there are different Wealth Gods for success in business and for gambling. There are also individual gods for each trade, from those for removal men in Hong Kong to students at Beijing University.​

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In addition, there are the City Gods and Kitchen Gods, the Earth Gods who protect a specific piece of land, and myriad spirits who protect wells, mountains or bridges, distribute rain or snow, control flooding or protect humanity from disease and epidemics.​

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Keith Stevens has spent a lifetime researching the subject, travelling extensively in China, Taiwan and throughout South-East Asia. He has gathered information from hundreds of temple keepers, god-carvers and religious specialists and collected details of images and their stories – providing glimpses into the sometimes little-known folk history of China. The author also provides pointers on how to identify images, together with invaluable background information including chronology of Chinese history, a map of the area covered, a glossary and detailed index with the names of deities in Chinese characters.​

See here for the uploader's introduction on his site about Journey to the West:
https://journeytothewestresearch.co...d-of-spirits-and-demons-1997-by-keith-stevens

Or here for a direct link to the scan (55mb):
https://journeytothewestresearch.fi...en-world-of-spirits-and-demons-compressed.pdf

 

[Yithian]

Utah State University is offering a free download of the following text:

Japanese Demon Lore by Noriko T. Reider.​

Abstract​

Oni, ubiquitous supernatural figures in Japanese literature, lore, art, and religion, usually appear as demons or ogres. Characteristically threatening, monstrous creatures with ugly features and fearful habits, including cannibalism, they also can be harbingers of prosperity, beautiful and sexual, and especially in modern contexts, even cute and lovable. There has been much ambiguity in their character and identity over their long history. Usually male, their female manifestations convey distinctivly gendered social and cultural meanings.

Oni appear frequently in various arts and media, from Noh theater and picture scrolls to modern fiction and political propaganda, They remain common figures in popular Japanese anime, manga, and film and are becoming embedded in American and international popular culture through such media. Noriko Reiderýs book is the first in English devoted to oni. Reider fully examines their cultural history, multifaceted roles, and complex significance as "others" to the Japanese.

Direct Link (2.4MB):
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1071&context=usupress_pubs

 

[AmStramGram]

In terms of Asian divine weirdness, this book is well worth a read :

Richard Von Glahn, The Sinister Way – The Divine and the Demonic in Chinese Religious Culture (2004)

"The most striking feature of Wutong, the preeminent God of Wealth in late imperial China, was the deity's diabolical character. Wutong was perceived not as a heroic figure or paragon of noble qualities but rather as an embodiment of humanity's basest vices, greed and lust, a maleficent demon who preyed on the weak and vulnerable. In The Sinister Way, Richard von Glahn examines the emergence and evolution of the Wutong cult within the larger framework of the historical development of Chinese popular or vernacular religion—as opposed to institutional religions such as Buddhism or Daoism. Von Glahn's study, spanning three millennia, gives due recognition to the morally ambivalent and demonic aspects of divine power within the common Chinese religious culture."

The book focuses on the successful transformation of a demonic figure (the lusty "Wutong Caishen", which means "Spirit of the Five Path to Wealth") into a more acceptable "god of wealth". Interestingly the early Wutong figure shares some similarities with our Western Satan or Odinn's figures, as he often made devious "pacts" with his followers in exchange for his support ("you lend me your wife, and I will make you rich").

As a side note, there are currently lots of translations of old taoist texts coming out in France which underline the exceptional nature of the aforementioned "Wutong Caishen". As a matter of fact, from the beginning, the taoist churches seem to have been very hostile to such "demonic" local deities, and from the biographies of famous exorcists from the Song Dynasty (see for instance, Vies des saints exorcistes: Hagiographies taoïstes, XIe-XVIe siècles, Vincent Gossaert), we learn that these exorcists often started their religous carreer fighting against local demons who acted as "gods" in order to extort sacrifices from the people. Local spirits had to surrender or die. This long running struggle could be seen as an effort from the established taoist movements to replace and/or absorb older shamanic or mediumnic cults. In Von Glahn's book, we get a rare example of a "demon" who made it through and became "mainstream".

Minor weirdness : I am sure I read this book around 2001/2002, on the recommandation of a university teacher from Hong Kong Baptist University, which is impossible as the book only came out in 2004.