Tradition / Region: Chinese mythology
Alternate Names: Hōryō, Hōliang, Hōxiang, Hongliang, Mizuha
Category: Mountain dweller, Zombie, Demon
The Myth
In the deep places of the world—where mountains rise thick with trees and rivers slip silently through stone—there dwell beings known as the mouryō. They are not born as humans are, but arise from the spirit of the land itself: from forests, streams, roots, and shadows beneath the earth.
Ancient texts say that the mouryō appear like small children, no taller than three-year-olds, yet their forms are unsettling. Their skin is dark and reddish, their eyes glow red, their ears are long, and their hair is strangely beautiful. Though they resemble children, they are not innocent. They linger near graves, riverbanks, and old pine trees, places where the boundary between life and death is thin.
At night, the mouryō creep from the roots of trees or from wet earth. They dig into burial grounds and feast upon the livers of corpses, sustaining themselves on the remains of the dead. Because of this, people once feared them greatly, believing that graves left unguarded would invite these beings. Some said that when a corpse vanished, carried away in the night, it was not the work of hellfire or demons from below, but the mouryō dragging the body back into the forest.
In later tales, the mouryō became confused with other corpse-stealing monsters. Some claimed they were the same as the fiery kasha, while others insisted they were water spirits, haunting rivers and marshes. Still others said they were kin to the kappa, born of stagnant waters and rot. No matter the explanation, the fear remained the same: the mouryō were creatures that thrived where decay met neglect.
Travelers avoided old trees at night, and families guarded their dead, for it was said that once a mouryō had tasted a corpse, it would return again and again. Silent, patient, and hungry, the mouryō endured as a reminder that the land itself remembers death—and that some spirits feed upon what humans leave behind.
Gallery
Sources
TYZ-Yokai Blog contributors. (n.d.). 魍魎 (Mouryō). In TYZ-Yokai Blog, from https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1072334859.html
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
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Philosophical Readings
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Psychological Readings
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Esoteric Deep Dive
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Political / Social Readings
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Other
- How to Invite The Mouryō