Event: Sex, Death, and the Perfect Chinese Ghost Story

Sixth Tone Agora is a series of public events, including lectures and expert roundtables, organized by Sixth Tone. It is an opportunity to meet and engage with some of contemporary China’s most interesting and innovative thinkers, academics, and writers.

The next Agora event will take place from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., November 6, 2022. Fu Mengxing, an assistant professor of literature at Shanghai International Studies University, will give a talk about female ghosts in traditional Chinese literature.

The lecture is in English. Slots must be reserved in advance. Entry fee: 40 yuan. The fee will be refunded as a coupon for the store’s café (valid until November 20).

SPEAKER: Fu Mengxing

Bio: Fu Mengxing is an assistant professor of literature at Shanghai International Studies University. Her research focuses on Chinese and English comparative literature, Gothic and zhiguai writing, and literary fantasy.

Abstract:

No less a figure than Confucius himself once dismissed all talk of “demons, feats, disorder, and spirits.” The supernatural, it would seem, had no place in the world of the cultivated scholar-gentleman.

And yet even a cursory reading of Chinese literature suggests ghosts were not so easy to exorcise. These spectral apparitions occupied a place in the Chinese canon like that of the vampire in the West: Dark and haunting, but also alluring and intoxicating, they were as irresistible as they were dangerous.

Unlike the vampire, however, Chinese ghosts are almost universally female, and their victims almost always male. In this lecture, Professor Fu Mengxing of the Shanghai International Studies University will explore the many meanings of ghosts in Chinese folklore and Confucian metaphysics, while tracing the transformation of the female ghost in Chinese literature from demon to lover.

* Audiences are required to scan the place code, present 72-hour negative nucleic acid certificate, screenshot of successful event registration, and take body temperature upon admission.

* Audiences are requested to wear a mask throughout the participation period.

Scan the QR code to make a reservation and find out more about the event.