Fox Spirits and Wall Building Ghosts

We are “told of persons who, when walking alone in the dark, suddenly find themselves surrounded by a four sided wall, and feel as though they had been thrust into prison. They have in reality met the...”wall building ghost,” and their best plan is to squat down and look steadily in front of them. After a time they must cover their face with their hands, and on looking up again will find that they are free to move on. Sometimes trees take the place of the wall.”

Recently, we have discovered Robert Swallow’s Sidelights on Peking Life, a peculiar insider’s guide to Beijing from the year 1927. The book is a description of life in Beijing’s Hutong alleyways colored by the author’s curiosity, humor and instinct for a good story. Robert Swallow was born in China and he clearly had excellent Chinese. In the book, he dedicates 10 pages to describing the ghosts that haunt the streets of the city, and some of them are quite amazing. Our favorite is the wall building ghost, described in the passage above.

Swallow also describes the fox spirits which dwell in old, abandoned buildings but “unless disturbed or angered is more inclined to give help than create mischief.” Fox spirits are said to dwell at the Temple of Heaven and the Ch’i Hwa Men. Reading this account immediately brings to mind the story of Pamela Werner and the mystery surrounding the circumstances of her death at the Fox Tower, allegedly home to such fox spirits.

Below are some more of Swallow’s descriptions of the ghosts and spirits of old Peking. You can order a limited edition paper copy of Sidelights on Peking Life (1927) here.