Magic in East Asia

Taoist talismans, the I Ching and feng shui, onmyodo and the omamori, and the mudang of Korea. 311 entries on EveryJaadu so far.

Places of magic

Rites of the region

Writing and burning a fu talisman Joss paper and the Hungry Ghost offering Kau cim and jiaobei The I Ching and the yarrow stalks Feng shui placement Setsubun bean-throwing Harai, the Shinto rite of purification Omamori and ofuda renewal Omikuji fortune slips Gut, the Korean shaman rite

Countries

🇨🇳 China 214 🇭🇰 Hong Kong 14 🇯🇵 Japan 256 🇲🇴 Macau 2 🇲🇳 Mongolia 28 🇰🇵 North Korea 3 🇰🇷 South Korea 42 🇹🇼 Taiwan 27

KindTradition Rite Charm Oracle Substance Being Figure Text Illusion Belief

PurposeProtection Healing Seeing and foretelling Luck and prosperity Love and attraction Cursing and harm Cleansing and purification Speaking with spirits and the dead Change and initiation Binding and oaths Power and authority Wonder and entertainment

WhoShamans Folk healers Priests and ritual specialists Witches, sorcerers and cunning folk Diviners and readers Mediums and the possessed Ceremonial magicians and alchemists Households and ordinary people Stage magicians Scholars and sceptics

BeliefHindu and Tantric Buddhist Jain Muslim and Sufi Jewish Christian Sikh Zoroastrian Shinto and Taoist Indigenous and shamanic African and Afro-diasporic Pagan and Neopagan Esoteric and occult Folk and village custom Secular and stage Other traditions

OccasionWeddings and betrothal Festivals Birth and childhood Death and remembrance Harvest, farming and weather New year Initiation and coming of age Illness and misfortune Journeys and voyages Everyday use

StandingLiving Revived Fading Historical Legendary Performed

OrderBest known A to Z Newest Living first

🇨🇳 China and 2 moreShen蜃 A sea creature from Chinese mythology said to create mirages through shape-shiftingBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇨🇳 ChinaZouyu騶虞 A legendary Chinese creature said to appear only under benevolent ruleBeing · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇨🇳 ChinaPeaches of Immortality仙桃 Legendary Chinese fruits said to grant eternal life to deities and mortalsSubstance · Luck and prosperity · Change and initiation Legendary

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreFengli风狸 / 風狸 A legendary flying mammal from Chinese lore, said to carry a magic wand and resist death.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇰🇷 South KoreaEgg ghost달걀귀신 A headless Korean spirit shaped like an egg, said to bring death upon sightingBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇨🇳 China and 1 moreShuihu水虎 A legendary water creature from Chinese folklore, later adopted into Japanese myth.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇨🇳 ChinaXirang息壤 A magical soil in Chinese mythology that expands to control flood watersSubstance · Protection Legendary

🇨🇳 ChinaNine-headed bird九頭鳥 A mythical creature from ancient China that became a symbol of deceit.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanOsakabehime刑部姫 A yōkai spirit said to inhabit Himeji Castle and reveal its fate.Being · Seeing and foretelling Legendary 🇨🇳 China and 4 moreHuoshu火鼠 A legendary fire-resistant rat from Chinese folklore said to yield self-cleaning cloth.Being · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇹🇼 TaiwanMo-sin-a魔神仔 A short, furry forest demon from Taiwanese folklore said to lure travelers into the mountains.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanShichinin misaki七人ミサキ A group of seven vengeful ghosts from Japan that appear near water and kill those who see them.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇨🇳 ChinaPanhu盤瓠 A dragon-dog origin myth of the Yao and She peoples in ChinaFigure · Speaking with spirits and the dead Legendary 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreFengxi封豨 A two-headed boar monster and ancient rain deity from Chinese mythBeing · Cursing and harm · Seeing and foretelling Legendary 🇰🇷 South Korea and 1 moreDokkaebi도깨비 A one-legged supernatural being from Korean folklore, often linked to household objects and magical items.Being · Wonder and entertainment · Luck and prosperity Legendary 🇨🇳 ChinaShangyang商羊 A mythical Chinese bird that predicts rain by dancing on one legBeing · Seeing and foretelling Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanKinoko木の子 A mountain spirit in Japan that looks like a small child and plays tricks on workers.Being Legendary 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreKakuen玃猿 (Jué yuán) A legendary ape-like creature from Chinese and Japanese folklore known for abducting humans.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇨🇳 ChinaChang伥 A Chinese ghost enslaved by a tiger to lure new victimsBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇯🇵 JapanShidaidaka次第高 A tall spirit in Japan that grows when you look up and shrinks when you look down.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇯🇵 JapanKuzunoha葛の葉 A kitsune spirit and mother of the famous onmyōji Abe no Seimei in Japanese folkloreFigure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇨🇳 China and 2 moreOx-Head and Horse-Face牛頭馬面 Guardians of the underworld who escort souls to judgment in East Asian myth.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇨🇳 ChinaAo鰲 A colossal sea turtle of Chinese myth whose legs support the skyBeing · Protection · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇰🇷 South KoreaKorean dragon용/룡; 미르 A benevolent water spirit and royal symbol in Korean mythology and folkloreBeing · Protection · Luck and prosperity Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanAzukihakari小豆はかり A Japanese yōkai known only for the sound of red beans rattling in a house.Being Legendary

🇨🇳 China and 2 moreThree-legged crow三足烏 A mythological bird representing the sun in East Asian traditionsFigure · Power and authority · Luck and prosperity Legendary 🇹🇼 TaiwanLui-kong-tsiau雷公鳥 A Taiwanese thunder-creature said to summon storms from treetopsBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreMōryō魍魎 Spirits of nature and graves in East Asian folklore, often linked to corpse theft.Being · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanKeneō懸衣翁 A Japanese oni who judges souls by the weight of their clothes at the Sanzu RiverBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇯🇵 JapanKiyohime清姫 A Japanese folktale about a woman who becomes a serpent after being rejected by a monkFigure · Cursing and harm Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanIkuchiゐくち A legendary sea serpent from Japanese folklore that leaves oil on shipsBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanAmorōnagu天降女子 A celestial maiden from Japanese folklore who descends to Earth for love or soulsFigure · Love and attraction Legendary 🇨🇳 ChinaNine-tailed turtle九尾龜 A legendary Chinese creature linked to divination and folkloreBeing · Seeing and foretelling · Luck and prosperity Legendary

🇯🇵 JapanBanchō Sarayashiki番町皿屋敷 A Japanese ghost story about a servant who dies unjustly and haunts her murderer by counting plates.Figure · Cursing and harm · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇨🇳 ChinaLuduan甪端 A mythical Chinese creature said to speak every language and travel vast distances in a single dayBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary

🇯🇵 JapanYama-uba山姥 A Japanese mountain spirit depicted as either a cannibalistic monster or a benevolent guardian.Being · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanTsuchinokoツチノコ A snake-like cryptid from Japanese folklore said to roll like a wheelBeing · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇰🇷 South KoreaGangcheori강철이 A fire-breathing dragon from Korean folklore that scorches the land in its wakeFigure · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇯🇵 JapanAmabieアマビエ A prophetic sea creature from Japan that wards off disease with its imageFigure · Protection · Seeing and foretelling Legendary 🇰🇷 South KoreaMago Halmi마고할미 A giant creator goddess in Korean mythology associated with hemp weaving and the separation of heaven and earth.Figure · Wonder and entertainment Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanSankai産怪 A yōkai born from a woman during childbirth if proper care is neglectedBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇨🇳 ChinaInterconnected-arm gibbon通臂猿 A mythical primate with linked arms that can extend one limb by pulling in the other.Figure · Power and authority Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanŌnyūdō大僧正 A giant monk spirit in Japanese folklore, ranging from helpful helpers to menacing shadows.Being · Cursing and harm · Healing Legendary 🇨🇳 ChinaHuodou祸斗 A fire-spitting dog from southern Chinese folklore that signals disasterBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇨🇳 ChinaNine-Eared Hound九耳犬 A legendary dog from Leizhou Peninsula mythology that predicts prey and discovers the Thunder GodBeing · Seeing and foretelling · Power and authority Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanMakuragaeshi枕返し A Japanese spirit that flips pillows and turns sleepers upside downBeing · Cursing and harm · Luck and prosperity Legendary 🇯🇵 JapanAzukibabaaあずきばばあ A Japanese yōkai that mimics the sound of red beans to lure or frighten peopleBeing · Cursing and harm Legendary

🇯🇵 JapanHitotsume-nyūdō独眼僧 A one-eyed Japanese monk spirit from folklore and legendBeing · 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.

Fengli: Anonymous (1603), Public domain, source
Three-legged crow: Jinsha Site Museum. Original author: ancient Shu people., Public domain, source
Ao: David Jackson, CC BY-SA 2.0 uk, source
Kiyohime: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Zouyu: Chen Menglei, Public domain, source
Shuihu: Author: b. 1654, Public domain, source
Peaches of Immortality: Anonymous ( China ) Unknown author, Public domain, source
Nine-headed bird: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Banchō Sarayashiki: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, Okiku ,, Public domain, source
Luduan: Gisling, CC BY 2.5, source
Yama-uba: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Amabie: Unknown author, Public domain, source
Interconnected-arm gibbon: Xuande Emperor, Public domain, source
Nine-Eared Hound: User:Vmenkov, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Hitotsume-nyūdō: Kashiwa Seiho (柏正甫), Public domain, source
Shidaidaka: by Reggaeman, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Kuzunoha: Print artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) Print artist: Utagawa Hiroshige, Public domain, source
Ox-Head and Horse-Face: ScribblingGeek, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Korean dragon: Unknown author, CC BY 4.0, source