In written chinese, the character 魔 (mó) can mean : Demon, Devil, Fiend, wicked force, magic.
It is made of two components : - 麻 Hemp, Cannabis and - 鬼 Evil spirit So, a Demon is literally an « Evil spirit of the cannabis ».
The character 魔 was originally used to translate the sanskrit word मार (Māra) when the first buddhist missionaries came to China from India. In buddhism, Māra is the malignant Demon King who tries to stop Siddartha Gautama from achieving enlightenment by tempting him with visions and illusions. Māra is the dreaded Lord of Illusions. The reason for this translation is that the ancient chinese medicine was well aware of the psychoactives effects of the cannabis and its entheogenic properties, and therefore the link with the illusions of Māra is then simple and easy to understand.
