Drowned ghosts can by no means be launched

Ma da is the identify of the ghosts who drown in rivers, lakes and ponds, and is among the most terrifying non secular legends in Vietnam.

The Drowned Ghosts

These days, there will not be many people ghost tales instructed by grandparents and fogeys, so for some individuals, ghosts could also be an unfamiliar identify.

Ghosts are merely understood as spirits below water, which could be rivers, lakes, or ponds. As a result of Vietnam has many massive rivers, seashores, and lakes, drownings usually happen. Since historical occasions, tales about ghosts have been handed down by means of generations of Vietnamese individuals, to warn youngsters to not bathe in rivers or lakes alone, particularly at night time.

Drowning individuals to “take their place”

In line with legend, the ghosts are normally the souls of people that drowned and couldn’t be liberated, so that they keep on the backside of chilly rivers 12 months after 12 months. When somebody swims in a abandoned place or a river, the ghosts will seem from beneath, seize the particular person’s legs and arms, and drag them into the water. Because of this, even when the sufferer is aware of how you can swim and is an excellent swimmer, they are going to nonetheless drown.

In Vietnam, the locations with probably the most ghosts are mentioned to be Da River, Lot River, Cai River and deep rivers and lakes. In Hanoi, Linh Dam Lake can also be a spot the place many individuals drowned, dedicated suicide, had many ghosts and had been closely haunted.

When a ghost finds a substitute particular person, it will likely be in a position to climb to the shore, on a mound or a tree department, and escape the chilly water. There’s additionally a perception that when a ghost pulls one other particular person to interchange it, it will likely be in a position to be liberated and reincarnated. A corpse dragged away by a ghost can’t be discovered instantly. That’s the reason previously, in lots of river sections, individuals needed to invite a shaman to come back and carry out a ritual, or if somebody dedicated suicide, they needed to burn incense. They even held an altar to “request the physique” to have the ability to discover the sufferer’s physique.

Even in locations like swimming swimming pools, ghosts generally seem as a result of somebody drowned earlier than.

What does ghost pores and skin appear like?

The ghosts generally take the type of youngsters, maybe as a result of solely youngsters drown whereas swimming. They’re generally described as black or slimy inexperienced, slippery like moss on the underside of a river. Though nobody calls the ghosts by identify anymore, the notion that drowned individuals drown the dwelling stays widespread even in trendy occasions.

Typically, individuals solely see a hand or a face pulling the sufferer underwater earlier than drowning.

Legend of the ghost pores and skin

There are numerous thrilling tales about drowned ghosts, coming from everywhere in the world. In Japan, it’s the Funayurei of the ocean. In line with this legend, Funayurei are sailors, fishermen and individuals who died at sea. They’re very crafty and devious, will do every part to sink ships and drag individuals underwater.

In Vietnam, ghosts additionally seem in lots of tales and mysterious non secular phenomena. Even within the youngsters’s nursery rhyme, Bac Kim Thang, there’s a story about ghosts dragging individuals into the water to be reincarnated. They reside in a river, and anticipate individuals to cross the monkey bridge above, then forged a spell to make the bridge slippery, individuals fall, and allow them to drag them all the way down to take their place.