Tradition: Chinese Mythology
Alternative Names: 庙鬼, Temple Ghost
Category: Ghost
The Myth
Miao Gui, or the Temple Ghost, is a malevolent spirit featured in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio (Liaozhai Zhiyi) by Pu Songling. It takes the form of a woman to approach and torment men. In the story, the ghost appears as a heavyset, dark-complexioned woman whose appearance is described as unattractive. Despite the man’s rejection of her advances, she refuses to leave him alone.
The tale follows Wang Qihou, a student from Xincheng, who encounters the woman entering his room. She approaches his bed with an intimate and improper intention, but Wang rejects her. The spirit continues to appear whenever he sits or lies down, and when he remains firm in resisting her, she becomes angry and slaps him across the face. She then hangs a belt from a beam and forces him into an apparent attempt at hanging himself. Wang finds himself imitating the posture, standing rigidly with his feet off the ground, unable to die. Afterwards, he becomes mentally ill and repeatedly attempts to run towards a river, claiming that the ghost intends to throw him into it.
One day, a warrior carrying chains enters the room and angrily rebukes the spirit for tormenting an honest man. He binds the woman’s neck and drags her out through the window. As she passes outside, she loses her human appearance: her eyes flash like lightning, and her mouth becomes as red as a basin of blood. Wang recalls seeing a clay demon resembling her among the four clay figures at the entrance of the City God Temple. Once the spirit is removed, his illness disappears. The story presents iron chains as a means of restraining and driving away the ghost.
Sources
“廟鬼 (Miàoguǐ).” Chinese Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 16, 2026. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BB%9F%E9%AC%BC