Sorcery
Gu meaning 2.6 "sorcery that harms humans" or "cast damaging spells" is exemplified in the Modern Standard Chinese words wugu 巫蠱 (with "shaman") "sorcery; art of casting spells" and gudu 蠱毒 (with "poison") "a venomous poison (used in Traditional Chinese medicine); enchant and injure; cast a harmful spell over".
Gu-sorcery allegedly resulted in a debilitating psychological condition, often involving hallucinations. The Zuozhuan (宣公8, tr. Legge 1872:302) records that in 601 BCE, Xu Ke 胥克 of Jin was discharged from office because he had gu, "an illness which unsettled his mind". The Qing Dynasty philologist Yu Yue 俞樾 etymologically connects this meaning of gu 蠱 with gu 痼 "chronic, protracted (illness)". Guji 蠱疾 "insanity; derangement; condition caused by excessive sexual activities" is a comparable word.
The Hanshu provides details of wugu-sorcery scandals and dynastic rivalries in the court of Emperor Wu (r. 141-87 BCE), which Schafer (1967:103) calls "notorious dramas of love and death".
This early Chinese history (tr. Loewe 1970:169) records that in 130 BCE, a daughter of Empress Chen Jiao (who was unable to bear a son) was accused of practicing wugu and maigu 埋蠱 "bury a witchcraft charm " (cf. voodoo doll). The "empress was dismissed from her position and a total of 300 persons who were involved in the case were executed"; specifically (tr. Groot 1910 5:828) "their heads were all exposed on stakes" (cf. 2.3). This history claims wu 巫 "shamans" from Yue conducted the gu magic, which Eberhard (1968:152) notes, "seems to have consisted, at least in part, of magic human figures buried under the road which the emperor, the intended victim, was supposed to take".
Accusations of practicing wugu-magic were central to the 91 BCE (Wugu zhi huo 巫蠱之禍) attempted coup against crown prince Liu Ju by Jiang Chong 江充 and Su Wen 蘇文. The Hanshu (tr. Groot 1910 5:836) claims that, "no less than nine long months of bloody terrorism, ending in a tremendous slaughter, cost some tens of thousands their lives!"
Traditional Chinese law strictly prohibited practicing gu-sorcery. For instance, during the reign of Tang Empress Wu Zetian, Schafer (1967:103) says,
the possession of ku poison, like the casting of horoscopes, was cause for official suspicion and action: At that time many tyrannical office holders would orders robbers to bury ku or to leave prophecies in a man's household by night. Then, after the passage of a month, they would secretly confiscate it.
Read more about this topic: Gu (poison), Gu Meanings
Famous quotes containing the word sorcery:
“To the intelligent, nature converts itself into a vast promise, and will not be rashly explained. Her secret is untold. Many and many an Oedipus arrives: he has the whole mystery teeming in his brain. Alas! the same sorcery has spoiled his skill; no syllable can he shape on his lips.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)