Moths are often denoted as symbols of death from cultures all over the world, and some of the resemblances between the different myths are uncanny! I talked about one of these in a past MotW, but I was thoroughly surprised when I found a similar legend from across the world in China!
Qing Ming is a festival in early April where people go out to enjoy the spring weather and honor the graves of their ancestors. There’s also an abundance of moths during the festival, but they have a special place in Chinese mythology! In ancient China, it was believed that moths were actually the souls of deceased people who came back during Qing Ming to visit their loved ones. Depending on the legend, the souls either possessed the insects, or were the physical manifestation of the soul itself. This is rooted in a Taoist belief, from the Book of Transformation by Tan Qiao. The belief is that existence is dependent entirely upon an emptiness of void in the universe. The emptiness becomes spirit, the spirit becomes breath, breath becomes form, and then the form returns to the void once its life is over, only to repeat again.
Sometimes, during the festival of Qing Ming, the moths find their ways into peoples’ homes and land on photos of the deceased. It is considered a serious taboo to kill or otherwise disturb the moth during Qing Ming, as it’s believed that they are turning a former loved one away.
No matter whether you choose to believe in this myth of not, it’s still fascinating, and there have been several creepy occurrences revolving around it! For example, in 2003, a moth landed on Yuiiko Tan’s family alter during Qing Ming. They let it outside, but it would always return, causing the dogs from her own house and the neighborhood to go crazy. The moth hid behind her grandfather’s photo, and followed her into her bedroom. Then it was gone. Yuiiko’s grandfather passed away on the day she was born, and she believes it might’ve been his spirit in that moth coming to visit since he never got to meet her.
Alex Yeoh had a less pleasant experience. In 2007, at the end of the Qing Ming festival, an Atlas Moth positioned itself on the parapet outside his apartment and refused to leave until it died a week later. The other tenants of the building refused to disturb it, and he soon learned that two people had committed suicide from that parapet before.
Of course, there is evidence to refute this mythology–moths can get disoriented and that’s how they find their way into homes. As for hiding behind picture frames, they like to hide in small, dark places away from predators. Atlas Moths are naturally lazy and refuse to fly whenever possible to conserve energy for mating and laying eggs.
Still, it’s a fascinating thing to learn about! Look out for more moth stories soon!
Moth Myths: The Qing Ming Festival
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