In Western Halloween traditions, pumpkins are carved into lanterns to ward off wandering spirits, symbolizing a fear or aversion to ghosts. Yet in Journey to the West, Chinese ghosts and underworld kings are depicted as fond of pumpkins—a curious contrast.
In Journey to the West, the tales of immortals, demons, mortals, and ghosts unfold across the three realms (Heavenly, Mortal, and Underworld), which reflects the Daoist cosmology.