Editing Will-o'-the-wisp (section)

===Asia===
{{anchor|India}}
{{See also|Chir Batti|Naga fireball}}
Aleya (or marsh ghost-light) is the name given to a strange light phenomenon occurring over the marshes as observed by [[Bengali people|Bengalis]], especially the fishermen of [[Bangladesh]] and [[West Bengal]]. This marsh light is attributed to some kind of [[marsh gas]] apparitions that confuse fishermen, make them lose their bearings, and may even lead to drowning if one decided to follow them moving over the marshes. Local communities in the region believe that these strange hovering marsh-lights are in fact Ghost-lights representing the ghosts of fisherman who died fishing. Sometimes they confuse the fishermen, and sometimes they help them avoid future dangers.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.pak-times.com/2009/04/07/bengali-ghosts/|title=Bengali Ghosts|first=Ambarish|last=Pandey|work=[[Pakistan Times]]|date=April 7, 2009|access-date=November 18, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111025215051/http://www.pak-times.com/2009/04/07/bengali-ghosts/|archive-date=October 25, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://booksobsession.blogspot.com/2009/10/hbt-guest-post-with-author-saundra.html|title=Blog post by the author Saundra Mitchel of the novel "Shadowed Summer" at Books Obsession|website=Booksobsession.blogspot.com|date=October 9, 2009 |access-date=November 18, 2011}}</ref> Chir batti (ghost-light), also spelled "chhir batti" or "cheer batti", is a dancing light phenomenon occurring on dark nights reported from the [[Banni grasslands]], its seasonal marshy wetlands<ref name="Ghost lights that dance on Banni grasslands when it's very dark; August 28, 2007; The Indian Express Newspaper">{{cite news|url=http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=253114|title=Ghost lights that dance on Banni grasslands when it's very dark|author=D V Maheshwari|date=August 28, 2007|work=[[The Indian Express]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114034106/http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=253114|archive-date=January 14, 2009}}</ref> and the adjoining desert of the marshy [[Salt pan (geology)|salt flats]] of the [[Rann of Kutch]]<ref>"I read somewhere that on dark nights there are strange lights that dance on the Rann. The locals call them cheer batti or ghost lights. It's a phenomenon widely documented but not explained." Source: [http://www.intoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&issueid=&id=313&Itemid=&sectionid=8&secid=48&completeview=1 Stark beauty (Rann of Kutch)]; Bharati Motwani; September 23, 2008; [[India Today]] Magazine, Cached: Page 2 of 3 page article with these search terms highlighted: cheer batti ghost lights rann kutch [http://www.intoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=313&Itemid=1&issueid=&sectionid=8&secid=48&limit=1&limitstart=1], Cached: Complete View – 3 page article seen as a single page [https://archive.today/20120803102541/http://www.intoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&issueid=&id=313&Itemid=&sectionid=8&secid=48&completeview=1]</ref><ref name="Ghost lights that dance on Banni grasslands when it's very dark; August 28, 2007; The Indian Express Newspaper" /> Other varieties (and sources) of ghost-lights appear in folklore across India, including the Kollivay Pey of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the Kuliyande Choote of Kerala, and many variants from different tribes in Northeast India.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Bhairav|first1=J. Furcifer|title=Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons|last2=Khanna|first2=Rakesh|publisher=Blaft Publications Pvt. Ltd.|year=2020|isbn=978-9380636474|location=India|pages=11–13}}</ref> In Kashmir, the [[Bramrachokh]] carries a pot of fire on its head.

[[File:Will-o'-the-wisp of Russia.jpg|thumb|A Japanese rendition of a Russian will-o'-the-wisp]]

Similar phenomena are described in Japanese folklore, including {{nihongo||人魂|[[hitodama]]|extra=literally "Human Soul" as a ball of energy}}, ''hi no tama'' ("ball of flame"), ''aburagae'', {{nihongo||小右衛門火|koemonbi}}, ''ushionibi'', etc. All these phenomena are described as associated with graveyards. [[Kitsune]], mythical [[yokai]] demons, are also associated with will 'o the wisp, with the marriage of two kitsune producing kitsune-bi (狐火), literally meaning 'fox-fire'.<ref>Lombardi, Linda. "Kitsune: The Fantastic Japanese Fox". tofugu.com</ref> These phenomena are described in [[Shigeru Mizuki]]'s 1985 book ''Graphic World of Japanese Phantoms'' (妖怪伝 in Japanese).<ref name="Shigeru">Mizuki, Shigeru. "Graphic World of Japanese Phantoms". 講談社, 1985. {{ISBN|978-4062023818}} {{page needed|date=December 2022}}</ref>

In Korea the lights are associated with rice paddies, old trees, mountains or even in some houses and were called '[[Dokkaebi|dokkebi]] bul’ (Hangul: 도깨비 불), meaning goblin fire (or goblin light). They were deemed malevolent and impish, as they confused and lured passersby to lose their way or fall into pits at night.
[[File:粦-bronze.svg|thumb|Character 粦 in bronze script. Its shape depicting a person surrounded by fire like dot and dancing with emphasised feet.]]
The earliest Chinese reference to a will-o'-the-wisp appears to be the Chinese character 粦 lín, attested as far back as the Shang dynasty oracle bones, depicting a human-like figure surrounded by dots presumably representing the glowing lights of the will-o'-the-wisp, to which feet such as those under 舞 wǔ, 'to dance' were added in bronze script. Before the [[Han dynasty]] the top had evolved or been corrupted to represent fire (later further corrupted to resemble 米 mǐ, rice), as the small seal script graph in a dictionary [[Shuowen Jiezi]], compiled in the Han dynasty, shows. The dictionary explained that it was "ghost fire" coming from dead men, horses and cattle during wars and their blood turned into this kind of fire after many years. Although no longer in use alone, 粦 lín is in the character 磷 lín phosphorus, an element involved in scientific explanations of the will-o'-the-wisp phenomenon, and is also a phonetic component in other common characters with the same pronunciation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=%E7%B2%A6&oldid=71954921|title=粦|date=March 17, 2023|via=Wiktionary}}</ref>

Chinese polymath [[Shen Kuo|Shen Gua]] may have recorded such a phenomenon in the [[Dream Pool Essays|Book of Dreams]], stating, "In the middle of the reign of emperor Jia You, at Yanzhou, in the Jiangsu province, an enormous pearl was seen especially in gloomy weather. At first it appeared in the marsh… and disappeared finally in the Xinkai Lake." It was described as very bright, illuminating the surrounding countryside and was a reliable phenomenon over ten years, an elaborate Pearl Pavilion being built by local inhabitants for those who wished to observe it.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XINLC2ubHqwC&q=pearl+pavilion+light+marsh&pg=PT99 |title=Wonders in the Sky: Unexplained Aerial Objects from Antiquity to Modern Times |isbn=978-1101444726 |last1=Vallee |first1=Jacques |last2=Aubeck |first2=Chris |date= 2010|publisher=Penguin }}</ref>