Magic in East Asia
Taoist talismans, the I Ching and feng shui, onmyodo and the omamori, and the mudang of Korea. 308 entries on EveryJaadu so far.
Places of magic
Kyoto 5Beijing 3Edo 3Mount Tai 3Shikoku 3Akita 2Asakusa 2Guangdong 2Himeji Castle 2Kifune Shrine 2Kumano Sanzan 2Mount Hiei 2Mount Ōmine 2Mukden 2Nagano Prefecture 2Sado Island 2Sendai 2Seoul 2Shimane Prefecture 2Aikoku Station 1Aizu region 1Akishino-dera 1Amami Ōshima 1Amoy 1Anyang 1Aojiang 1Aomori prefecture 1Ariake Sea 1Asagaya 1Awaji Island 1
Rites of the region
Writing and burning a fu talismanJoss paper and the Hungry Ghost offeringKau cim and jiaobeiThe I Ching and the yarrow stalksFeng shui placementSetsubun bean-throwingHarai, the Shinto rite of purificationOmamori and ofuda renewalOmikuji fortune slipsGut, the Korean shaman rite
Countries
PurposeProtectionHealingSeeing and foretellingLuck and prosperityLove and attractionCursing and harmCleansing and purificationSpeaking with spirits and the deadChange and initiationBinding and oathsPower and authorityWonder and entertainment
WhoShamansFolk healersPriests and ritual specialistsWitches, sorcerers and cunning folkDiviners and readersMediums and the possessedCeremonial magicians and alchemistsHouseholds and ordinary peopleStage magiciansScholars and sceptics
BeliefHindu and TantricBuddhistJainMuslim and SufiJewishChristianSikhZoroastrianShinto and TaoistIndigenous and shamanicAfrican and Afro-diasporicPagan and NeopaganEsoteric and occultFolk and village customSecular and stageOther traditions
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreChinese dragon龍
A legendary water deity and imperial symbol in East Asian cultureBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇯🇵 JapanKappa河童
A river-dwelling yōkai known for its head dish and love of cucumbersBeing · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanKami神
Spirits and deities of Shinto, found in nature, ancestors, and placesBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreQilin麒麟
A legendary chimerical creature from Chinese mythology that signals the arrival or death of a sage.Being · Power and authority Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanIttan-momen一反木綿
A flying cloth yōkai from Japanese folklore that warns children to stay indoors at nightBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanNoppera-bōのっぺらぼう
A faceless spirit from Japanese folklore that mimics human appearanceBeing · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇯🇵 JapanJorōgumo絡新婦 (kanji), じょろうぐも (hiragana)
A shapeshifting spider yōkai of Japanese folklore that lures victims with human guise.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanŌkuninushi大国主神
A Japanese kami of the earth, nation-building, and protective magic.Being · Protection · Healing Living
🇯🇵 JapanInugami犬神
A Japanese spirit of dog possession and folk sorceryBelief · Cursing and harm · Power and authority Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaHundun混沌
A faceless being and the primordial void in Chinese cosmology and myth.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreDongyue Dadi東嶽大帝
The Chinese mountain god of Mount Tai who rules lifespans and underworld recordsBeing · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Power and authority Living
🇯🇵 JapanOni鬼（おに）
A horned demon of Japanese folklore known for strength and evil deedsBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanZashiki-warashi座敷童子
A parlor spirit from northern Japan that brings fortune or ruin to a household.Being · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreXiezhi獬豸
A one-horned beast from East Asia that separates the guilty from the innocentBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary
🇰🇷 South KoreaJeoseung Saja저승사자
A Korean psychopomp who escorts the dead to the afterlife.Being · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇯🇵 JapanMiko巫女
A Shinto shrine priestess and traditional female medium in JapanTradition · Speaking with spirits and the dead · Protection Living
🇨🇳 ChinaLan Caihe藍采和
An ambiguous Taoist immortal known for a flower basket and wandering songsBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreFox spirit狐狸精
A shapeshifting creature from Chinese folklore that can take human form and live for centuries.Being · Cursing and harm · Love and attraction Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanShikigami式神
A conjured spirit from Japanese Onmyōdō, often bound to paper or animal form.Being · Power and authority · Cursing and harm Historical
🇷🇺 RussiaKikimoraКикимора
A female house spirit in Slavic folklore that reflects the state of a home.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary
🇨🇳 China and 2 moreEight Immortals八仙
Eight legendary Taoist figures of China, each with a power and a vesselFigure · Protection · Healing Living
🇨🇳 China and 4 moreKitchen God灶君
The Chinese hearth deity who reports domestic conduct to the Jade EmperorBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Living
🇯🇵 JapanBaku獏
A Japanese spirit said to eat bad dreams and protect sleepersBeing · Protection Living
🇨🇳 China and 3 moreFenghuang鳳凰 (fènghuáng)
A mythological bird symbolizing virtue and imperial harmony in East Asian cultureBeing · Power and authority · Love and attraction Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanTsukumogami付喪神
Household objects that gain a spirit after reaching their hundredth year in Japanese folklore.Being · Cursing and harm Historical
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreRokurokubiろくろ首
A Japanese spirit with a stretching neck or a flying headBeing · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanKodama木霊
A tree spirit in Japanese folklore that brings misfortune if the host tree is harmedBeing · Cursing and harm Living
🇯🇵 JapanNurarihyon滑瓢 or ぬらりひょん
A slippery Japanese monster that slips away and haunts homes in folklore and pop culture.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreJiangshi殭屍
A Chinese corpse said to rise and hop, feared for its strengthBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇨🇳 China and 1 moreYue Lao月下老人
The Chinese deity of marriage who binds destined couples with red cordsBeing · Love and attraction · Binding and oaths Legendary
🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreRusalkaрусалка
A water spirit of Slavic folklore, often linked to drowned women and seasonal ritesBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanKuda-gitsune管狐 (kuda-gitsune)
A small spirit kept in a tube or sleeve to aid fortune-telling and cursing in Japanese folklore.Being · Seeing and foretelling · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanYōkai妖怪
A vast class of supernatural spirits and entities in Japanese folkloreBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇯🇵 JapanTengu天狗
Japanese mountain spirits that evolved from ominous birds into protective forest guardians.Being · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanKitsuneきつね
A Japanese fox spirit known for shapeshifting and trickeryBeing · Cursing and harm · Protection Legendary
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreGuanyin觀音 (Guānyīn)
The Bodhisattva of compassion, worshipped across East Asia as a listener to human sufferingBeing · Protection · Healing Living
🇨🇳 ChinaElemental
Mythic beings linked to earth, water, air, and fire in Renaissance occultism.Being · Wonder and entertainment Historical
🇨🇳 ChinaJin Chan金蟾
A three-legged toad charm used in feng shui to attract wealth and guard against bad luckBeing · Luck and prosperity · Protection Living
🇯🇵 Japan and 1 moreTennin天人
Heavenly beings in Japanese Buddhism, often depicted as beautiful women with feathered scarves.Being · Luck and prosperity Historical
🇹🇼 Taiwan and 1 moreOng Yah王爺 (Ông-iâ)
Royal Lord deities of Fujian and Taiwan who tour the land, driving out diseaseBeing · Protection · Healing Living
🇯🇵 JapanOsaki尾先
A mountain spirit in Japanese folklore that brings wealth or possession.Being · Luck and prosperity · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanMisaki御先
Japanese spirit-like entities that serve gods or possess humans with illness and calamityBeing · Cursing and harm · Speaking with spirits and the dead Living
🇨🇳 China and 5 moreMoon rabbit月兔 (yuètù)
A mythical figure seen in lunar markings, pounding elixirs or rice cakes across Asia and the Americas.Being · Wonder and entertainment Living
🇯🇵 JapanNamazu鯰
A giant catfish myth believed to cause earthquakes in JapanBeing Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanAbura-sumashi油すまし
A mountain spirit from Amakusa folklore said to be a thief turned yōkaiBeing Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanNurikabe塗り壁
A spirit that manifests as an invisible wall to block travelers at nightBeing · Cursing and harm Historical
🇯🇵 JapanGashadokuroがしゃどくろ
A giant skeleton spirit born from the bones of those who died in war or famine.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary
🇯🇵 JapanRaijū雷獣
A Japanese lightning creature that sleeps in navels and falls from stormsBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Elemental: No machine-readable author provided. Ragesoss assumed (based on copyri, Public domain, source
- Guanyin: JL Cogburn, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Jin Chan: Tristanb, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Lan Caihe: Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, source
- Gazu Hyakki Yagyō: Toriyama Sekien, Public domain, source
- Eight Immortals: Fanghong, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tennin: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Curse: Katsushika Hokusai, Public domain, source
- Kikimora: Гиппиус Татьяна Николаевна (1877-1957), Public domain, source
- Fox spirit: Chen Menglei, Public domain, source
- Fenghuang: Supremo Editor, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hundun: Oldie~commonswiki, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tsukumogami: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Rokurokubi: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source
- Nurarihyon: Brigham Young University, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jiangshi: Dick Thomas Johnson, CC BY 2.0, source
- Ong Yah: Suzuki1314 at Chinese Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Kami: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Miko: Chris Gladis, Flickr user MShades, CC BY 2.0, source
- Kitsune: Yoshitoshi, Public domain, source
- Kappa: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Yōkai: Kyosai Kawanabe (河鍋 暁斎), Public domain, source
- Rusalka: Andrey Shishkin, CC BY 3.0, source
- Ōkuninushi: Yashima Gakutei, CC0, source
- Qilin: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Moon rabbit: An artist, Public domain, source
- Namazu: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Abura-sumashi: Triton, CC BY 3.0, source
- Nurikabe: Anonymous Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Gashadokuro: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Noppera-bō: 芥川龍之介, Public domain, source
- Baku: Momotarou2012, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chinese dragon: Unknown author, CC0, source
- Dongyue Dadi: H2v5o68z, CC0, source
- Jeoseung Saja: National Folk Museum of Korea, CC BY 4.0, source
- Inugami: Sawaki Suushi (佐脇嵩之, Japanese, *1707, †1772), Public domain, source
- Yue Lao: 仔仔好帥, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Xiezhi: Carty239 at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Oni: Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760-1849), Public domain, source