"The Water Ghost's Succession": A Drowned Person Can Only Be Reincarnated After Finding a Replacement

In many places in the South, there is a saying called "The Water Ghost's Succession": it means that a person who drowns becomes a water ghost, and must find another person to die in the water in their place before they can be reincarnated.

So some rivers and ponds are said to "have water ghosts," and every summer someone drowns. Adults forbid children from going there, saying scary things: the water ghost will take human form and call your name on the shore, or hold your foot in the water and drag you down in one go. In some places, if a certain river or pool has drowned several people, the villagers can describe it clearly and have even given it a name.

In Taiwan and Southern Fujian, there is another story called "The Water Ghost Becomes a City God": it says that a water ghost stayed in the river for many years, and one day, a woman came to the riverbank to wash clothes and slipped into the water. The water ghost was about to drag her down when he saw that the woman was holding a child in her arms. His heart softened, he didn't strike, but instead supported the mother and child and sent them ashore.

This matter was known to the gods in heaven. The gods said: You were willing to continue suffering in the water to save someone; you are a person of virtue. So they gave him an official position and made him a City God, so he no longer had to stay in the water.

This story tells us that accumulating virtue is more important than catching a replacement.

Every summer vacation, fire departments and schools in various places still remind children: do not go swimming in wild ponds or rivers. The story of the water ghost is old, but every summer there are still accidents in the river, and whenever adults mention things by the water, their tone is still as tense as in the past.

#Folklore #网络转载 #民间习俗