The Wail of the Ghost

What secrets lie behind the belief in spirits and deities? Why have the Miao people's pranks, the Jino people's shamans, the shamanism of the northern nomadic peoples, the tattooed women of the Dulong people, the worship of local deities among the ethnic minorities of Southwest China, as well as the Mao Shan ghost-catching and spirit-channeling practices widely practiced among the Han Chinese, all endured for so long and remained so enduring, leaving behind so many mysteries that defy explanation?