妖、神為代表的虛擬存在貫穿中國古代人思想活動的始終，對中國傳統道德倫理觀念的形成發揮了重要作用，其影響至今仍存。借助文學倫理學理論來考察中國古典小說的道德倫理主題進化過程，可以見到圍繞著妖、人、神三者關係，經歷了三個階段：身份混沌無界定，人居中間而妖、神善惡分明居於人倫的兩端，妖、神成為人演繹道德倫理規則的外象。正是基於這一淵源，鬼神觀念在現代中國人直至海外華人的道德規則運行中依然發揮作用。

The virtual presence of demon and god was an ideological activity of ancient China, and it played an important role in the formation of Chinese traditional moral and ethical concepts. Its influences can still be seen until this day. By applying literary theories to examine the evolution of ethical themes in Chinese classical novel, the identities of demon, man and god are found to be chaotic and actually none defining. Man is placed in between demon and god, where demon represents evils, and god represents the good in ethics. Due to this deep-rooted origin, the concept of demon and god still plays its part in the rules of modern Chinese ethics.