I read Chinese Ghost stories for this week. I had high hopes going into this as I am a fan of ghost stories. Yet I was unaware of how Chinese ghost stories would differ from the ghost stories Im used to hearing about. I read over The Soul of the Great Bell. While it was short it seemed almost poetic and metaphorical; on purpose Im sure. I was very thrilled with the more that I kept reading. The ending was ever so bitter sweet and while I was satisfied with the idea of the daughter being the haunting force behind this bell it was incredibly sad to read of what she is eternally looking for which is her lost shoe.
My knowledge of Chinese ghost stories is very limited but it seemed to carry some themes from some Japanese ghost stories that I’ve read about. If a female dies and becomes the ghost in the stories I’ve read its described as being sacrificial purely for the sake of saving lives of others or appeasing gods etc. While in this story you have the girls father who is attempting to create this bell and he’s failed to make it correctly on previous attempts, nothing he’s done has worked so far. The way his daughter died seemed to mimic how the female would be sacrificed in Japanese ghost stories; where she dies for a good cause and yet she is the ultimate one to pay the price as she is eternally haunting her place of death.
I really enjoy ghost stories in general, but it is even more exciting to read about how ghost stories are perceived in other cultures. They seem to hold very similar themes because of the subject material but some are more poetic than others. Some even hold lessons for life.
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