The Abductions Called Demons in China’s Historical Records

In the fifth lunar month of 1018, people in Luoyang, the Western Capital of the Song dynasty, described an object shaped like a hat flying at night. They said it flew straight into houses, sometimes changed into a large wolf, and injured people. The report eventually reached the imperial court. When the rumor reached Kaifeng, residents shut their doors early, gathered in the streets through the night, and feared that the thing ate people. This was not a modern internet story. It appears in the *History of Song* and in Song-era chronicles.

The *History of Song* records three connected events in a few lines: the strange object appeared in Luoyang, fear spread to the capital, and the court arrested people accused of spreading sorcery. A local report became a security problem that disturbed military camps. The emperor ordered rituals and arrests. The response shows that the court treated the rumor as dangerous, yet it left no public explanation of what the object actually was.