Three Anecdotes about Superstitious Fears from Ying Shao’s 應劭 Treatise “Feng su tong yi” 風俗通義 (“Penetrating into the Meaning of Traditions and Customs”). Introduction, translation from Chinese and commentary

This article presents a translation of three anecdotes from the chapter “Guai Shen” 怪神 (“Monsters and Deities”) of the Ying Shao’s 應劭 (d. before 204) treatise Feng su tong yi 風俗通義 (“Penetrating into the Meaning of Traditions and Customs”). The extant text of this treatise contains one chapter, which touches upon the popular local beliefs of the people at the end of the Han era 漢 (202 BCE — 220 CE). Using anecdotes about his fellow countrymen and contemporaries, Ying Shao discusses the possibility of afterlife and the moral aspects that help a person when he encounters with an evil spirit. The article presents a Russian translation with preface and commentaries and allows the reader to see the various aspects of the author’s view on human relationships with the supernatural world.