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The theory of ghosts and spirits is vague and uncertain; only shamans claim to communicate with them to cure diseases, which is even more absurd and unworthy of mention. Although the *Rites of Zhou* (*Zhouli*) mentions officials such as Male Shamans (*Nanwu*), Female Shamans (*Nvwu*), Grand Invokers (*Dazhu*), and Minor Invokers (*Xiaozhu*), their role was merely to express sincerity through prayer for sacrifices and to remove inauspiciousness. There is no record of them overstepping their bounds to manage medical affairs, nor of anyone abandoning the medical laws established by Shennong (Divine Farmer) and Huangdi (Yellow Emperor) to firmly believe in ghosts and spirits.

Huangdi and Shennong established medical laws originally for the benefit and survival of the people, holding significant importance in the world and constituting urgent tasks for rulers. Therefore, amidst busy state affairs, rulers personally investigated herbs and plants to understand disease patterns. Their principles are profound, and their texts are ancient and simple. Later famous doctors followed this track, mutually inheriting and expounding upon it, making this path highly prominent. Those who grasped its essence could perceive the mind of heaven and earth, understand the sentiments of people and things, serve their parents and fulfill filial piety, elevate the world to benevolence and longevity, and preserve themselves from premature death due to non-natural causes. Even those who grasped only its rudiments could make the weak strong, restore balance to the depleted, lighten the heavy burden, enable the bedridden to rise, ensuring life with treatment and death without it. All these are principles of medicine, easy to know and understand, yielding clear results when practiced. One must ask: do ghosts and shamans possess such miraculous efficacy? To abandon what should be believed (medicine) and believe what is absolutely untrustworthy (ghosts/shamans) is the height of foolishness!

Occasionally, some believe in both shamans and doctors. This usually happens when acupuncture and herbal medicine fail, so they resort to shamans to exhaust human effort. Or, during epidemics where many infected cannot be saved, families lacking accumulated virtue may fear and reflect, hoping to avoid residual calamities. While their mindset and actions approach goodness, ultimately they seek help from blind and mute shamans, merely becoming objects of ridicule for petty people.

In later ages, mountain spirits and human demons fabricate forms and images, using ghosts and spirits as private assets, acting as actors and entertainers, making a living from talismans and repentance rituals. They speak falsely of benefits and harms, disturbing people's minds. A disturbed mind breeds suspicion, and suspicion breeds fear, making it seem as if ghosts and spirits are allied with the shamans. Patients rely on them for protection. Beyond wasting wealth, there are prohibitions against taking medicine, causing missed opportunities for treatment; bans on wind and cold exposure, leading to spraying water behind curtains; the destitute reducing food intake to pay fees, suffering worse from cold and hunger than from illness; noble women facing indecent assaults and humiliation; even disguising monsters, beating gongs and shouting to scatter the soul, feigning divine speech, calling names and criticizing characters, exposing hidden faults. What was intended to cure disease instead aggravates it; what was meant to dispel evil instead attracts it. The sincere intentions of benevolent people and filial sons are treated as rebellion, which is precisely the situation. If heroes and upright individuals were subjected to such terrifying changes, few would not tear their hair in anger and die resentfully. As the saying goes, "He who made the first figurines has no descendants." Those constrained by ghosts and spirits cannot discuss supreme virtue. "Believing in shamans and not in doctors" is one of the five untreatable conditions.

Alas! Human life depends on heaven and earth; what do ghosts and spirits have to do with us? When life reaches its end, at the moment of dying, even doctors are helpless, so how can one hope for shamans? Moreover, ghosts and spirits are synonymous with Creation/Nature itself, governing efficacy and movement. Are they merely the souls of the dead? Legends say that a person's clothes and belongings remain exactly as they were in life. If the soul can hallucinate or transform, would its clothing also change with it? As the *I Ching* (Book of Changes) states: "Essence and qi form objects, wandering souls cause transformation; thus we know the feelings and appearances of ghosts and spirits." Ghosts and spirits are naturally just that; what connection do they have with human affairs? Even solemn deities like City Gods and Earth Gods exist merely to cherish the Way of Spirits and establish teachings. It is said that Yin and Yang share one principle, and spiritual power operates silently to govern. If they cannot assist in clarifying affairs, promoting good, and condemning evil, how can they blindly respond to prayers and blessings to bring auspiciousness and remove disease? Furthermore, requests are numerous. Cases exist where auspiciousness does not descend while disease persists, and cases of the lonely and orphaned dying unknown. Would ghosts and spirits, regarding life, death, and fleshly kin, bear to watch passively? If, as Zhu Xi stated, that which extends outward is Spirit (*Shen*) and that which returns inward is Ghost (*Gui*), then places like Furong City and Zhezu Country are lands of bliss. Regardless of other matters, if natural relatives live together and lifespans increase with the sun, would jealous ghosts and spirits refuse to let humans enjoy this? In a world with only birth and no death, what harm would disease do? If one claims that illness is caused by offending ghosts and spirits, and propitiation removes the curse, then ghosts and spirits are simply issuing private commands for wine and meat, purchasable with paper money. Which family lacks paper? Where is there no wine and meat? Who does not understand vocalizations? Does the proverb not say, "Only after the shaman speaks can the ritual be completed, so that ghosts and spirits sense it, come to enjoy, and provide relief"? If one rigidly believes that ghosts and spirits grant every request, with specific individuals praying and others performing purification rites across the world, they would need billions of分身 (avatars) to cover everything in an instant, yet they fail to reach everyone. Meanwhile, poison and witchcraft kill innocents. Why would ghosts and spirits willingly obey such commands? And the ghosts and spirits commanded are deceased humans. Are the ancestors of others not also ghosts and spirits? Seeing their descendants suffer, how could they not defend them? Even if they lack the strength to fight, they could litigate. Yama's laws are strict and punishments severe; it is easier to live than to die. Where would one hide?

Furthermore, ghosts and spirits gain prestige through rulers. Rulers who humbled themselves to serve them most exceeded Emperor Wu of Liang and Emperor Huizong of Song. Not only did they die unnatural deaths, but their descendants were also killed in succession. Historical records exist. Did they ever fear national law or repay the ruler's grace? Consider those inferior to beasts, who can be driven like dogs and horses, reversing human fortune and misfortune. What explanation is there for this? Past and future events are unknown to Sages, yet shamans claim full knowledge. Talismans on paper and peach wood boards do not frighten children, yet ghosts and spirits revere them strictly. Thus, ghosts and spirits are inferior to children, and shamans far surpass Sages. Is this logical?

What exists in things is Principle (*Li*); handling things is Righteousness (*Yi*). If one "Yi" contradicts "Li," a gentleman does not follow it. These vague and absurd ghost-shamans are deeply admired for their lofty conduct, yet their foolishness is low and unchangeable. I, Tingjing, unable to save people with the Way of Huangdi and Shennong, firmly deny the existence of such phenomena here. I dare to clarify this distinction, enabling people to choose the correct art and trust in it rather than the other, so that common practices flourish and human life is preserved, not losing the nurturing influence of the Ancient Kings.

Although doctors can save lives, they can also take them. Not believing in doctors avoids disaster. Shamans serve others, bowing and scraping. Believing in them intensifies the matter, leading to dangerous hearts and premature death, which is understandable given the circumstances. Now, when people reach the end of their natural lifespan, monks and Daoists perform various rituals, daily conducting deliverances to turn the wheel of reincarnation. Otherwise, the family is deemed unlucky. Enlightened ones are initially confused by barking sounds (blind imitation), and old customs are eagerly followed. Consequently, ghosts and spirits appear manifest and significant; every action and movement seems inseparable from them, forming an unbreakable custom. Is this not true not only for shamans but for all involved?