Why Peach Wood Wards Off Evil: Because Hou Yi Was Killed by It

Peach wood swords, peach wood plaques, peach wood nails—why are they all said to ward off evil?

There is a widely circulated saying, originating from a sentence in a very old book: “Yi died of a peach-wood club.” It means that Hou Yi, the great hero who shot down nine of the suns, was finally killed by a peach wood stick.

Legend has it that after Hou Yi died, he became the leader of ghosts. In life he killed countless demons and monsters, and ghosts feared him, but he himself happened to die under a peach wood stick. Since then, all ghosts have feared peach wood, regarding it as Hou Yi's nemesis.

Another legend is that there is a Mount Dusuo in the East Sea, on which grows a great peach tree whose branches coil for three thousand li. To the northeast of the tree is a gate, the place where ghosts enter and exit, and two gods, Shentu and Yulei, stand beside the gate, guarding all the ghosts. Whoever harms people in the mortal world, they bind the ghost with reed ropes and throw it to the tigers to eat. Later people hung peach wood boards on the gate, painting the images of these two gods; when ghosts saw them, they dared not enter.

This is the predecessor of spring couplets, “taofu.” Every New Year, people took down the old taofu and put up new ones, until the Song Dynasty, when they gradually evolved into couplets written on red paper.

Even earlier, in the Spring and Autumn period, there was the saying “taohu jishi”: make a bow of peach wood and arrows of thorns, shoot in all directions, to drive away calamity.

Ancient people felt peach trees were special: they bloom early, bear much fruit, the wood is red and hard, and some say peaches have “immortal” energy. These are all reasons why peach wood is used to ward off evil.

So even today, many families, during the New Year, still hang a peach wood plaque at the entrance.

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