SUPERNATURAL IN HONG KONG 143 to the Chinese ghosts described by Steven Harrell (1986: 102-103), which he says represent repressed fears. They are useful for our discussion of the nature of the supernatural The concept of the supernatural became important during the Enlightenment, when scholars began to emphasise the distinction between the natural world and the realm of spirits. The scope of the natural world expanded as scientists discovered areas, from planetary motion to national economies, in which natural science could be used to explain phenomena that had previously been assumed to be controlled by divine will lebster's ninth new collegiate dictionary(1990)gives the concept of the super natural two related but separate meanings. In one sense, ' supernaturalrefers to an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe, especially relating to spirit(s). A second meaning is'departing from what is usual or normal esp.so as to appear to transcend the laws of nature. The first meaning focuses on a spirit world. The second meaning, though it can include the first meaning(because spirits transcend the laws of nature), focuses instead on any phenomenon that cannot be explained by science. This is sometimes called the paranormal In what follows, I use the term'supernatural' in the dictionary sense of eyond the observable universe and transcending the laws of nature, recognising that the concepts of nature vary from culture to culture, and over time. Thus, practices that are regarded as natural by informants may be regarded as supernatural by us. Alternatively, phenomena that informants may view as supernatural may be viewed as natural by us (e. g, see Hyman 1981 for an xample of a social and psychological explanation of fortune-telling). I use the term 'natural for phenomena understandable through ordinary science, as opposed to parapsychology or religion. Some such phenomena-fortune-telling -may unusual, may require special talents, or may even be viewed as strange, but they are natural if they are explicable by the natural and social sciences. Informants may or may not have a category of the supernatural, but i will argue that it is useful for us to have one Morton Klass has argued that the concept of supernatural should be aban doned because it is ethnocentric to impose it on cultures where the distinction between natural and supernatural is not made. He rejects basing the natural on what the ethnographer considers to be part of reality(Klass 1995: 30, emphasis in original). His o claim that anthropologists should only use concepts as used by informants is a mistake in epistemology. It is impossible to write anthropology with only the concepts used by informants. We must translate native concepts into other anguages, such as English, and from concepts developed within anthropology,SUPERNATURAL IN HONG KONG 143 to the Chinese ghosts described by Steven Harrell (1986:102–103), which he says represent repressed fears. They are useful for our discussion of the nature of the supernatural. The supernatural The concept of the supernatural became important during the Enlightenment, when scholars began to emphasise the distinction between the natural world and the realm of spirits. The scope of the natural world expanded as scientists discovered areas, from planetary motion to national economies, in which natural science could be used to explain phenomena that had previously been assumed to be controlled by divine will. Webster’s ninth new collegiate dictionary (1990) gives the concept of the super￾natural two related but separate meanings. In one sense, ‘supernatural’ refers to ‘an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe’, especially relating to spirit(s). A second meaning is ‘departing from what is usual or normal esp. so as to appear to transcend the laws of nature’. The first meaning focuses on a spirit world. The second meaning, though it can include the first meaning (because spirits transcend the laws of nature), focuses instead on any phenomenon that cannot be explained by science. This is sometimes called the paranormal. In what follows, I use the term ‘supernatural’ in the dictionary sense of beyond the observable universe and transcending the laws of nature, recognising that the concepts of nature vary from culture to culture, and over time. Thus, practices that are regarded as natural by informants may be regarded as supernatural by us. Alternatively, phenomena that informants may view as supernatural may be viewed as natural by us (e.g., see Hyman 1981 for an example of a social and psychological explanation of fortune-telling). I use the term ‘natural’ for phenomena understandable through ordinary science, as opposed to parapsychology or religion. Some such phenomena—fortune-telling, for example—may be unusual, may require special talents, or may even be viewed as strange, but they are natural if they are explicable by the natural and social sciences. Informants may or may not have a category of the supernatural, but I will argue that it is useful for us to have one. Morton Klass has argued that the concept of supernatural should be aban￾doned because it is ethnocentric to impose it on cultures where the distinction between natural and supernatural is not made. He rejects basing the natural on ‘what the ethnographer considers to be part of reality’ (Klass 1995:30, emphasis in original). His argument is flawed, however.2 To claim that anthropologists should only use concepts as used by informants is a mistake in epistemology. It is impossible to write anthropology with only the concepts used by informants. We must translate native concepts into other languages, such as English, and from concepts developed within anthropology