Tradition: Chinese Mythology
Alternative Names: 一目五先生, Wuqigui (五奇鬼), Five Extraordinary Ghosts
Category: Ghost
The Myth
Yimu Wu Xiansheng, meaning the One-Eyed Five Gentlemen, is a group of five supernatural beings from Zhejiang, China, recorded in Yuan Mei’s Qing dynasty collection Zibuyu. The five ghosts share a single functioning eye: four of them are blind, while the fifth possesses the only eye and uses it to guide the entire group. The other four cannot act independently and must obey the commands of their one-eyed leader, who determines whom they may approach.
The five ghosts are said to appear during years of widespread epidemic. They travel together and approach people while they are deeply asleep, sniffing them with their noses. If one ghost sniffs a person, that person falls ill; if all five sniff the same person, the victim dies. The four blind ghosts stumble and move uncertainly, relying entirely on the one-eyed ghost’s judgment to direct their actions.
In one account, a man named Qian stays overnight at an inn where the other guests are asleep. He remains awake and witnesses the five ghosts arriving after the lamp suddenly dims. The ghosts prepare to sniff a sleeping guest, but their leader forbids them because the person is exceptionally virtuous. It then rejects another guest who is greatly blessed, as well as a third who is profoundly wicked. When the four ghosts ask whom they may feed upon, their leader points to two people who are neither good nor evil and possess neither fortune nor blessings. The four ghosts surround these unfortunate sleepers and sniff them together. Their breathing gradually fades as the ghosts’ bellies swell. The story portrays the five beings as supernatural agents of disease who select their victims according to a person’s moral character and fortune.
Sources
“一目五先生 (Yīmùwǔ Xiānsheng).” Chinese Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 16, 2026. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%B8%80%E7%9B%AE%E4%BA%94%E5%85%88%E7%94%9F