Animal Spirits

Dong Yue Miao, Beijing

Seventy "spirit departments" of Mt. Tai are represented in small alcoves along the main axis. On the back wall is the presiding deity of that department, usually flanked by two assistants. The side walls exhibit beings (minor gods, spirits, humans, etc.) assigned to that department. The whole concept of the afterlife is modeled after the bureaucratic hierarchy of the Chinese state with officials, recorders, and bailiffs. Spirits in the form of animals (deer, monkeys, tiger) belong to the "department" seen here.