Tradition: Chinese Mythology
Alternative Names: 帽妖, The Hat Yokai, The Hat Demon Incident of 1018
Category: Object
The Myth
The Hat Demon Panic was a widespread supernatural scare during the Northern Song dynasty, beginning in 1018 during the reign of Emperor Zhenzong. Reports circulated of a strange creature resembling a hat that could fly through the air and enter homes at night to devour people. The rumours initially spread around Luoyang, one of the dynasty’s major cities, where frightened residents became afraid to sleep. Daily routines, work, and commerce were disrupted as households stayed awake at night to protect themselves.
On the twenty-fifth day of the fifth lunar month, the governor Zhang Min formally reported the situation to the emperor. Emperor Zhenzong ordered an investigation, questioned the local authorities about their failure to contain the rumours, and summoned Daoist masters to perform rituals. The panic continued to spread over the following months, reaching Kaifeng, the capital, and other major population centres. People stayed awake with weapons at hand, and even some soldiers were reportedly affected. When someone mistook an ordinary object for the creature and shouted in alarm, neighbours joined in, sometimes triggering waves of screaming that spread through entire streets.
The emperor eventually offered rewards to anyone who identified the people spreading the rumours. Several individuals were arrested, including a monk known as Tianshang and two fortune-tellers, Zhang Gang and Geng Gai. The three principal rumour-mongers were executed, while some of their followers and other participants received imprisonment or exile. In Nanjing, however, the prefect Wang Zeng took a different approach: he publicly declared the creature a fabrication, ordered the city gates left open at night, and challenged the supposed monster to enter. He also sent soldiers to arrest those spreading panic, and the rumours soon subsided there.
The incident illustrates how reports of a mysterious creature could develop into a major social and political crisis. The original sightings remain unclear, and later interpretations have suggested that the initial report may have arisen from an unusual sighting before the rumours were amplified and exploited by political actors. The surviving account does not establish whether any actual supernatural creature existed; the Hat Demon is remembered primarily through the widespread fear and disorder associated with the incident.
Sources
“Mào Yāo” (北宋帽妖案). Chinese Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 24, 2026. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%8C%97%E5%AE%8B%E5%B8%BD%E5%A6%96%E6%A1%88