A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Macgowan’s water demon demands a boy and a girl each year from households beside the Tien-ho. A grandfather describes its visits as an oppressive gust with a peculiar smell and no visible body. The later temple encounter instead presents an enormous figure with fiery eyes and a sword. These are distinct moments in the account, not evidence that the demon is permanently bodiless. The same informant says it escaped the Goddess of Mercy’s Western Heaven and joined other spirits in underwater caverns.

The supernatural attendants Chiau and Chu assume the exact appearances of the intended children, then expand to confront their attacker. The demon instantly heals its wounds but loses the fight and escapes into the river. Its allies create an exceptional snowstorm, freeze the water and disguise themselves as merchants to lure Sam-Chung onto the ice. When it thaws, Sam-Chung and Chu are captured; Chiau flies to seek the goddess. The demon hopes eating Sam-Chung will extend its life by a thousand years, but the promised benefit is never demonstrated.

The Goddess of Mercy frees the captives and immobilizes the chief demon while its allies flee. It is taken to a dungeon for beings whose release depends on acquiring compassion: the ending is imprisonment, not destruction. Macgowan’s chapter names no individual teller or Chinese original. Its religious explanations and moral vocabulary remain those of this English retelling; the sacrificial demand is a narrative event, not independent documentation of a historical practice.

Demands two child victimsHeals wounds during combatOrganizes a frozen-river trapFinally imprisoned rather than killed
01

Origins & earliest records

China, as presented in J. Macgowan’s English literary retelling; individual teller unspecified

02

Records & interpretation

Complete chapter and ending read in the 1910 edition’s Gutenberg transcription; title and contents checked.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Chinese Folk-Lore Tales

    J. Macgowan · 1910

    Chapter X, SAM-CHUNG AND THE WATER DEMON; complete chapter. No printed page range verified.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Primary records and illustrations

Complete chapter through ending, title and contents read

J. Macgowan, Chinese Folk-Lore Tales (Macmillan, 1910)

1910 English edition. Chapter X, SAM-CHUNG AND THE WATER DEMON; HTML heading #id00587; printed pagination unverified

Complete cache macgowan-10.txt; master macgowan1910.html. No named individual teller or Chinese original provided here. Source-specific forms and final outcome retained; no merger with other river spirits.

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References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical English literary retellingMacgowan, chapter X: Sam-Chung And The Water DemonResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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