Ma Da
Also called Con Ma Da, Ma Nước.
In Vietnamese folklore, Ma Da is the vengeful ghost of a person who drowned, bound to the river or pond where it died until it can lure a living substitute to drown in its place.
At a glance
- Tradition
- Vietnamese folklore
- Region
- Vietnam (place of origin)
- Trait family
- The Swift-Footed
- Symbols
- Ghost
Near this figure
Symbols
Judged against the description by a model. Meanings are our own paraphrase.
- Ghost is image-domain A ghost is the returning dead made present to the living, apparition of unfinished business and unresolved grief, by turns vengeful, pitiable and tenderly protective.
why
In Vietnamese folklore, Ma Da is the vengeful ghost of a person who drowned, bound to the river or pond where it died until it can lure a living substitute to drown in its place.
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Behaviour
- Site bound until substitute claimed
why
The defining feature of Ma Da across tellings is the belief that a drowned soul cannot pass on to its next life until another living person drowns in the same spot to "take its place," a folk concept known as "thế mạng" (substitution of a life), described in phrasings such as "tìm người thế mạng" (find someone to substitute a life).
- Drags victims underwater
why
To accomplish this, Ma Da is said to call out, whisper, or cry in a voice resembling someone the living person knows, or to reach up from beneath the surface and pull at the legs of swimmers and waders until they are dragged under.
- Pulls legs of waders
why
To accomplish this, Ma Da is said to call out, whisper, or cry in a voice resembling someone the living person knows, or to reach up from beneath the surface and pull at the legs of swimmers and waders until they are dragged under.
Sight and sound
- Voice mimics loved one
why
To accomplish this, Ma Da is said to call out, whisper, or cry in a voice resembling someone the living person knows, or to reach up from beneath the surface and pull at the legs of swimmers and waders until they are dragged under.
Utility powers
- Vocal mimicry
why
To accomplish this, Ma Da is said to call out, whisper, or cry in a voice resembling someone the living person knows, or to reach up from beneath the surface and pull at the legs of swimmers and waders until they are dragged under.
Curses
- Drowning lure
why
or to reach up from beneath the surface and pull at the legs of swimmers and waders until they are dragged under.