Hsiu-Kou-Ku: The Ritual Refining of Restless Ghosts Among the Chinese of Thailand

Abstract

The Hsiu-Kou-Ku, or 'Festival to refine the restless ghosts' bones', is the most important festival organized by the Overseas Chinese of Thailand. This article discusses the role played by this festival in the relationship between the Thai majority group and the Chinese minority. The celebration of Hsiu-Kou-Ku involves the Chinese takdng charge of Thai unfortunate dead whose salvation they ensure by appropriating for themselves their substance (the bones) and the beneficial energy they radiate. The interethnic co-operation involved in this ritual is grounded in an ideological symbiosis between Thai and Chinese religions. However, this co-operation gives rise to ambiguous representations and ambivalent feelings on the part ofboth groups. While it expresses the identification of the Chinese with the Thai national community, it also reinforces the ethnic boundary separating them.