In the

Sinosphere The Sinosphere, also known as the Chinese cultural sphere, East Asian cultural sphere, or the Sinic world, encompasses multiple countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia that were historically heavily influenced by Chinese culture. The Sinosph ...

, a death in vain ( , , ) is a death that is not a death of natural causes, such as a

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

homicide Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...

, or an

accident An accident is an unintended, normally unwanted event that was not deliberately caused by humans. The term ''accident'' implies that the event may have been caused by Risk assessment, unrecognized or unaddressed risks. Many researchers, insurers ...

, which is an unjust

death Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

. For example, in ''

Journey to the West ''Journey to the West'' () is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century during the Ming dynasty and attributed to Wu Cheng'en. It is regarded as one of the Classic Chinese Novels, great Chinese novels, and has been described as arguably the ...

'': "Those people are the

ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

of the 64 places of smoke, the 72 places of grass, the princes and the chiefs, all of whom died in vain, and have no

money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are: m ...

and no control, and cannot be reborn, and are all lonely and

hungry Hunger is a sensation that motivates the consumption of food. The sensation of hunger typically manifests after only a few hours without eating and is generally considered to be unpleasant. Satiety occurs between 5 and 20 minutes after eating. T ...

." In

the Travels of Lao Can ''The Travels of Lao Can'' () is a novel by Liu E (1857–1909), written between 1903 and 1904 and published in 1907 to wide acclaim. Thinly disguising his own views in those of Lao Can, the physician hero, Liu describes the rise of the Boxers ...

: "I can go, but it is not useful to the business, but to add one more wrongful death in the cage." Chinese people often set up temples for people who died in accidents, called

Yin miao In Taiwan, Taiwanese Chinese folk religion, folk religion, ''yin Miao shrine, miao'' ( zh, t=陰廟, p=Yīnmiào, l=Yin and yang, dark temple) are Chinese temple architecture, temples dedicated to Ghosts in Chinese culture, wandering and homeless ...

, hoping that after these people died in vain, they would be placated with

jisi ''Jesa'' (, ) is a ceremony commonly practiced in Korea. Jesa functions as a memorial to the ancestors of the participants. Jesa are usually held on the anniversary of the ancestor's death. The majority of Catholics, Buddhists and nonbelievers p ...

(offerings) and not disturb the human world.

References

{{Reflist Folklore studies Cultural aspects of death Causes of death

See also

References