Yaoguai

Template:ChineseText Yaoguai (妖怪 pinyin yāoguài) or yaomo (妖魔 yāomó, literally, "demon") or yaojing (妖精 yāojīng, literally, "sprite" or "seductive") is a Chinese term that generally means "demon". Yaoguai are mostly malevolent animal spirits or fallen celestial beings that have acquired magical powers through the practice of Taoism. The evil ones are usually referred to as guài (literally, "freak") or mó (literally, "demon") in Chinese. Their greatest goal is achieving immortality and thus deification. In Journey to the West, the demons seek this mostly by the abduction and consumption of a holy man (in this case, Xuanzang).

Not all yaojing are actually demons; some others are of quite unusual origins. In the case of Bai Gu Jing, she was a skeleton that became such a demon. Many yaojing are fox spirits, or according to the Journey to the West, pets of the deities. There are also yaoguai kings (mówáng) that command a number of lesser demon minions.

In Chinese folklore, the Chinese hell (Di Yu) is a place that is populated by various demonic spawns. Most of these demons are influenced by the Indian rakshasa or yaksha and therefore bear some similarity with the Japanese oni.

In Japanese, yaoguai are known as yōkai (actually, the term is a loanword from Chinese; the native Japanese equivalent, sometimes written with the same kanji, is mononoke).

Famous yaoguai in Chinese mythology:

• Bai Gu Jing - literally, "white bone spirit"
• Niu Mo Wang - literally, "bull demon king"
• Pipa Jing and Jiutou Zhiji Jing - in Fengshen Yanyi

Note: Sun Wukong uses this term often to insult his (demonic) adversaries.

Yaoguai in popular culture

• The 2008 video game Fallout 3 features mutated bears identified as Yao Guai. These creatures roam the game's setting, a post-nuclear Washington, D.C. and surrounding areas of Maryland and Virginia (the Capital Wasteland.) They attack both the player and various non-player characters. One of the in-game radio stations broadcasts an occasional public service announcement, reminding listeners "don't feed the Yao Guai".

• The Taiwanese Black Metal band Chthonic has a drummer which wears a metal mask of a black demon mouth.

• Once Upon a Time featured a yaoguai in the second season episode "The Outsider."

See also

• Demon
• Di Yu
• Huli jing
• Journey to the West
• Rakshasa
• Wekufe
• Yōkai
• Yōsei