淡江人文社會學刊【第三十五期】
Unorthodox Worship, Wealth and Lust:
A Study of Wutong in Yijian Zhi
Yin-Ping Lau*
《Abstract》
In the past Wutong worship was popular especially in the southern
part of China. Yijian Zhi is the first fiction to record Wutong worship.
This article studies fifteen Wutong stories in Yijian Zhi from the views of
unorthodox worship, wealth and lust. The three stories “Hu Shi Cheng
Wu”, “Dujiao Wutong” and “Hujie Wulang” reflect the unorthodox
worship of Wutong among people of the Song Dynasty in which
human-sacrifice was the most terrible worship-rite. In “Kong Lao
Chong” and “Dujiao Wutong”, Wutong acts as the god of wealth.
Wealth that Wutong bestowed could easily vanish if Wutong took to
disliking. Unexpected wealth can bring happiness as well as unhappiness
to the protagonists. Besides the god of wealth, Wutong is also the god of
lust. In “Jiangnan Muke” and “Wu Langjun”, Wutong acts as the god
of lust. One interesting point is that the victims would have mixed
feelings of grief and hurt as well as some hidden joyful pleasure. The
paradoxical feeling may reflect the strong sexual desire on one hand as
well as the overwhelming moralistic pressure on the other hand, similar
to the situation of meeting an incubus.
Key Words: god of lust, god of wealth, human-sacrifice, incubus,
unorthodox worship, Yijian Zhi, Wutong
*Yin-Ping Lau, Associate Professor, Department of Chinese, Lingnan University