Many of the so-called "allure arts" are tinged with superstitious elements, some being entirely witchcraft. Roughly starting from the Tang Dynasty, the development of allure arts gradually shifted towards witchcraft. At that time, people often used witchcraft to ensure safety, seek children, pursue love, and cure diseases. Talismans were used in various ways—pasting, burning, or even swallowing them—which were also commonly employed in marital relations. This practice was quite prevalent in Dunhuang's folk culture, as evidenced by many examples cited by Gao Guofan in his book *Dunhuang Folklore Studies*.
The emergence of these phenomena is closely related to Daoism. Unlike the Yin-Yang and Five Elements school which emphasizes "human following the laws of heaven," Daoists believed that human subjective powers could influence heavenly and earthly matters. Their primary allure arts included drawing talismans and casting curses, such as the "Harmony Charm" for making two lovers fall in love, and the "Hunter Brother Divine Spell Talisman" specifically for women suffering from unrequited love. The parties involved simply needed to place the talisman drawn by the shaman on the body of their beloved or make them drink it, and they would "get what they wished for."
In the *Book of Tang: Biography of Prince Di*, there is a mention of two concubines quarreling over favor, where one sought help from a shaman. The shaman gave her a talisman, instructing her to secretly place it under her husband's shoe sole, ensuring his affection for her. This talisman was called the "Harmony Talisman" and is recorded in both the *Myriad Methods Treasury* and the *Great View of Spiritually Verified Divine Talismans*.
In *Jin Ping Mei*, a work considered a vivid depiction of Ming dynasty secular life, there are numerous descriptions of such practices. One mentioned is the "Return-Back" allure art, a technique for women to regain a man’s affections. When Pan Jinlian lost favor with Ximen Qing, she asked the wandering sorcerer Liu Lixing to perform this "Return-Back" ritual. The method involved carving likenesses of the male and female parties on a piece of willow wood, writing down their birth dates and times, binding them together with forty-nine red threads, covering the "man's" eyes with a piece of red gauze, stuffing mugwort into his heart, pinning needles into his hands, gluing his feet, and then secretly placing it under the pillow of the fickle man. After sleeping on it for a few days, the man would naturally change his mind and return to her.
The above mainly describes the witchcraft used by women against men, but there were also witchcraft methods for men to ensnare women. In *Inductive Records* written by Zhang Bei of the Jin Dynasty, it states: "When menstrual cloth is hung at the door, women will linger." The footnote explains: "Take the menstrual blood of a woman, burn it to ash, and sprinkle a little at the threshold; the woman will stay and not leave." In Hong Mai's *Yijian Zhi* of the Song Dynasty, there is a story about a Maoshan Taoist performing the "Immortal Maiden Summoning Art" at midnight, luring young virgins into a secret room to rape them. In the fifteenth volume of Ji Xiaolan's *Yuewei Caotang Notes* of the Qing Dynasty, it mentions "Red Sect Lamas having the power to summon women."
In ancient China, hair was often imbued with various superstitious meanings, believing that leg hair could drive away ghosts and head hair could be used for spells. For example, in *Jin Ping Mei*, there is a passage where Ximen Qing, unable to resist the demands of the courtesan Li Guijie, went home and deceived Pan Jinlian into giving up her hair, which he then gave to Li Guijie. Li Guijie "secretly placed the woman's hair inside her shoe sole, trampling on it daily." Thereafter, Pan Jinlian suffered daily headaches, nausea, and loss of appetite.
Of course, all of these incidents are absurd and irrational, but they reflect the reality that ancient women were dependent on men, thus resorting to every possible means to win their favor. On the other hand, some men schemed to possess certain women for their own amusement. These accounts provide a glimpse into the dynamics of male-female relationships in ancient China.