![]() ![]() ![]() The official would then enlist all the people able to fight Gu. According to the Zhouli ritual text, an officer (Shushi 庶氏) was assigned with the ingrate task of having to exterminate poisonous attacking them with Gu spells, exorcising them, and attacking them with herbal herbs. The survivor would later be transformed into a demon or a spirit. As we have already mentioned before, various poisonous animals were sealed in a container. The first type is abdominal Gu or the golden worm inside the stomach. The punishment of cutting asunder Gu Types He is then said to have given his gold caterpillar in marriage.“Īccording to Bencao Gangmu, the golden bugs would originate in Sichuan and only then would spread in Hubei, Hunan, Fujian, Guangdong, and Guangxi.Īccording to the pharmacologist of the Tang Dynasty Chen Cangqi the ashes of old flowered silk are a cure for the poison of insect venom Gu or reptiles which each this silk. Usually the owner for this purpose puts some gold or silver into a basket, places the caterpillar also therein, and throws the basket away in a corner of the street, where someone may pick it up and take it with him. It is extremely difficult to get rid of it, for even water, fire, weapons, or swords can do it no harm. It can draw towards a man the possessions of such victims, and thus make him enormously rich. Its ordure put in food or drink, poisons those who take it, causing certain death. “ A gold caterpillar is a caterpillar with a gold color, which is fed with silk from Shuh (Szĕ-ch‘wen). For centuries the Miao women have been treated with suspicion and fear just because of their mastery in Gu. If for some reason the sacrifices were interrupted, the animal would have instead caused damage. They were called the golden silkworms.Īccording to tradition, the animal Gu, was able to produce gold if they were made the necessary sacrifices. Li Xian’s commentary to the Hou Han Shu (The Book of Later Han) of the seventh century, associates the name Jincan to a golden funeral decoration and Su E (ninth century) describes it instead as a golden worm coming from Kashmir.Īccording to Eberhard, Gu and Jincan would be associated with the Duanwu Festival (the festival of dragon boat) which takes place on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month of the Chinese calendar that corresponds theoretically the height of the summer heat.Īmong the Miao (an ethnic minority living in the south of China and South East Asia), the most poisonous animals were placed in a vessel so that they devour each other. The silk or gold bug earthworm is a synonym for Gu and it dates back to the Tang Dynasty. According to Marshall, the Gu character refers to the evil power of the ancestors that can cause diseases in life. The reference to the practice of sealing poisonous animals in a single container is therefore expressed already by the original name. The use of Gu comes from the generic term Chong (虫) which means not only insect and worm but also amphibian, reptile, and dragon combined with min (jar, cup, plate 皿). The word Jincan is instead used for the first time during the Tang Dynasty (seventh century A.D.). The name Gu has ancient origins dating back to the oracle inscriptions of the Shang Dynasty (fourteenth century BC). Related: Demons, Monsters, and Ghosts of the Chinese Folklore, Amazing Paintings of Demons and Mythological Creatures of the Chinese Folklore, Hungry Ghost Festival images, Traditional Paintings of Chinese Dragons and other legendary creatures Gu According to Chinese folklore, a Gu spirit was able to transform into different animals: snakes, worms, earthworms, frogs, dogs, or pigs. Gu magic was used to manipulate the will of others, partners, to make people ill and not least cause death. The only survivor would have accumulated all the toxic substances of the losers. The preparation of Gu potions involved the use of the poison of several creatures (snakes, centipedes, scorpions), sealing them inside a closed container where they kill and devoured one another. Once we started producing Gu, no one can be exempt from doing so, under penalty of death by the witch doctor. In Chinese folklore, especially in the South, was developed a whole literature on the magic to harm, sicken, or eliminate people somehow perceived as antagonistic.Īll these practices are counted under the umbrella name of Gu (poison 蛊) or Jincan (from golden silkworm 金 蚕). Chinese Black Magic, The ancient practice of magic in China: venom-based poison. ![]()
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