Ghost in a Graveyard

Ghost in a Graveyard, late 19th century, Unknown Japanese, 43 7/8 × 15 3/8 in. (111.44 × 39.05 cm) (image)75 9/16 × 16 7/8 in. (191.93 × 42.86 cm) (without roller), Ink on silk, Japan, 19th century, Traditionally in Japan, the spirit is said to leave the body after death and travel to the Pure Land to become an ancestor spirit. However, if the deceased had powerfully obsessive emotions in this life, her soul would remain in the world of the living as a ghost, unable to proceed to the next world until finding release from her obsessions. Ghosts are almost always female and are commonly portrayed as legless figures wearing white robes used for corpses and with long, disheveled hair and horrific facial expressions. (Photo by: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)