Are There Really 'Moshenjai' in Taiwan's Mountains? Why Missing Persons Often Say They Were Led Away by Strangers — Academia Sinica Study Reveals Prototype of Folk Legends

In Taiwan’s mountainous regions, news of elderly people, children, or hikers going missing recurs periodically. Some are fortunate enough to be rescued, yet their accounts remain difficult to explain: "Someone called me to follow them," "A stranger guided me," or "I clearly saw someone, but they vanished instantly." When elders hear such stories, their first thought is often 'Moshenjai.' But what exactly is Moshenjai? After long-term collection of related legends, Lin Mei-yu, adjunct researcher at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Ethnology, discovered that these seemingly bizarre tales contain numerous recurring plot elements. Rather than questioning whether mysterious creatures truly inhabit the mountains, these stories may better reveal how Taiwanese people understand forests, getting lost, and the cultural memories left behind when humans confront unknown natural environments.

Is Moshenjai a 'ghost'? Research suggests it is closer to a forest spirit.

Many equate Moshenjai directly with ghosts, but in folkloric studies, the two are not identical. According to Academia Sinica’s 'Research Matters,' which summarizes Lin Mei-yu’s research, Moshenjai resembles wild 'mountain and water spirits'—legendary beings often described as short-statured, capable of shape-shifting and trickery, whose most typical behavior is luring people off their intended paths. Ghosts, however, stem from the belief that human souls persist after death. Thus, stories about hauntings due to deaths at specific locations belong to a different folkloric category than Moshenjai legends.

Lin Mei-yu and Li Chia-kai’s co-authored book, The Anthropological Imagination of Moshenjai, systematizes a set of common characteristics found in Taiwanese Moshenjai legends: individuals suddenly losing mental clarity and walking forward uncontrollably; people circling familiar areas endlessly; others traversing normally impassable terrains; and tales describing Moshenjai transforming into humans or animals to 'lead' people into the mountains.

Thus, 'being led away by a stranger' has become one of the most central plotlines in these legends.

Why do missing persons frequently claim 'someone led me away'?

Most chillingly, such descriptions are not confined to ancient myths. In 2014, an 80-year-old woman surnamed Peng from Hsinchu joined a tour group visiting Lintianshan Forest Recreation Area in Hualien. She went missing, and after days of search efforts by police, firefighters, and civilian rescue teams, she was found approximately 90 hours later near Wanli Creek, about 3 kilometers from her last known location. Upon rescue, she recalled being 'vaguely drawn into the mountains.' Contemporary reports cited her mentioning a woman with an umbrella guiding her deeper into the forest, leading some to associate the incident with folk legends like 'Moshenjai' and the 'Red-coated Girl.'

However, such accounts cannot serve as evidence of supernatural phenomena. Medical experts interviewed at the time noted that after several days without proper nutrition or sleep in the mountains, her body was extremely fatigued, potentially causing hallucinations or auditory illusions. Medically, dehydration, sleep deprivation, physical exhaustion, delirium, or cognitive abnormalities can all impair judgment regarding environment, direction, and external stimuli.

Therefore, survivors’ claims of 'someone calling me' or 'someone leading me' may stem from various physiological or cognitive factors, though each case differs. Without further medical diagnosis, it is inappropriate to either confirm supernatural causes or assume the person suffers from dementia or delirium.

Academia Sinica research reveals: Nearly 400 legends repeatedly share the same narrative motifs

What truly makes Moshenjai worthy of study is another question: Why do people from different regions tell such similar stories?

During her lecture 'The Anthropological Imagination of Moshenjai' at Academia Sinica’s Institute of Ethnology, Lin Mei-yu stated she collected nearly 400 related legends from Taiwan and Fujian, discovering repeated occurrences of specific 'motifs.'

For example, those taken often run into caves, rock walls, or dense forests; lost individuals must be called back by relatives shouting their names; Moshenjai offer seemingly delicious chicken legs or food, only to reveal later they were insects, soil, or inedible substances.

Lin thus proposes an anthropological hypothesis: These stories may connect to very early human life experiences and the 'collective unconscious.' Before entering civilized society, humans lived in forests for extended periods. The 'being led into a cave' motif might symbolize humanity’s transition from cave-dwelling to building shelters; mistaking insects or raw meat for fine food could reflect the shift from raw to cooked diets; and the need to 'shout one’s name' to retrieve the lost may represent humanity’s evolution from namelessness to identity, language, and social systems.

This is precisely what makes The Anthropological Imagination of Moshenjai so fascinating: It does not ask 'What does the monster look like?' but instead explores why humans across generations keep telling similar monster stories.

Could Moshenjai be the 'Taiwanese dwarf'? Similar legends exist worldwide

Moshenjai is not an isolated Taiwanese phenomenon. The Anthropological Imagination of Moshenjai compares Taiwanese legends with Fujianese folklore, Japan’s 'kamikakushi' (spirit abduction), indigenous Taiwanese and Pacific Islander traditions, and European and American dwarf legends. Ultimately, the study positions Moshenjai as a type of 'spirit' and proposes a comparative folkloric view of Moshenjai as the 'Taiwanese dwarf.'

This illustrates a broader truth: The fear of suddenly becoming lost, disappearing, or behaving inexplicably upon entering forests or wilderness is not unique to Taiwan. Different cultures simply give this unknown different names.

What 'being led by Moshenjai' truly reflects may be humanity’s fear of the forest

So, are there really Moshenjai in Taiwan’s mountains?

Lin Mei-yu’s research does not provide a scientific 'yes' or 'no.' In fact, she explicitly distinguishes two things in the preface of The Anthropological Imagination of Moshenjai: Her concern is not whether Moshenjai exists biologically, but whether large numbers of people have long shared similar experiences of 'being led away, getting lost, and mental confusion.' She clearly states that this book does not aim to prove Moshenjai’s existence.

From an anthropological perspective, Moshenjai may be more of an image created by Taiwanese people to personify 'the unknown in the forest.' In the past, without GPS, mobile phones, or modern rescue equipment, entering fog, valleys, or dense forests meant that losing direction could be life-threatening. Thus, warnings like 'don’t wander into the mountains,' 'don’t respond if someone calls you,' and 'if taken, shout your name loudly' were packaged into the Moshenjai story—a tale passed down through generations that every child could understand.

Whether Moshenjai truly exists remains unproven scientifically. Yet the fact that the story 'Moshenjai takes people away' has been told so long in Taiwan is itself a real cultural phenomenon. It may not record what actually lives in the mountains, but rather documents humanity’s enduring fear of the unknown world when standing at the edge of the forest.