The Evolution of Confucian Belief in Ghosts, Spirits, and Sacrificial Culture: The Pre-Qin and Song–Ming Periods

Belief in ghosts, spirits, and sacrificial culture is important in the Confucian tradition. Across different periods, Confucian interpretations have changed. Pre-Qin Confucianism distanced itself from earlier wu-shi 巫史 (shaman) culture, remaining agnostic about whether ghosts and spirits possess supernatural powers to govern national prosperity or personal fate. In governance and social practice, it prioritized human agency over the authority of ghosts and spirits, marginalizing their influence. While affirming the didactic function of sacrifice, Pre-Qin Confucians venerated ghosts and spirits but insisted on “ji er bu qi” (祭而不祈, “sacrificing without supplication”). Song–Ming Confucianism, responding to challenges from Buddhism and Daoism, reinterpreted these concepts and understood ghosts and spirits in terms of qi (氣, ether), framing them as the contraction and expansion of “qi” (“qi zhi qu shen”, 氣之屈伸). They did not recognize the independent existence, sentience, or supernatural powers of ghosts and spirits. Because the qi of ancestors and the living are identical, communication with ghosts and spirits could be established during ancestral worship. They favored sacrifice to ghosts and spirits but criticized the Buddhist practice of making images of them. In summary, Pre-Qin and Song–Ming Confucianism offered different explanations for why ghosts and spirits should be venerated and the relationship between sacrifice and blessings. These interpretations, shaped by efforts to distinguish themselves from wu-shi traditions and Buddhist–Daoist doctrines, reveal differences and contradictions between the two major phases of Confucian thought. Both, however, shared the aim of negating shamanistic practices and countering heterodoxy.