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Jiangshi

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Jiang Shi (simplified Chinese: 僵尸; traditional Chinese: 僵屍 or; pinyin: jiāngshī; literally "stiff corpse" or "zombie") are reanimated corpses that hop around, killing living creatures to absorb life essence (气/氣 qì) from their victims. Jiāngshī is pronounced gœngsi in Cantonese, or gangshi in Korean and kyonshi in Japanese.

They are said to be created when a person's soul ([魄] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language tag: zh-t (help) pò) fails to leave the deceased's body, due to improper death, suicide, or just wanting to cause trouble.[1][2] They may also be victims of premature burial.[3]

Generally their appearance can range from unremarkable (as in the case of a recently deceased person) to horrifying (e.g. rotting flesh, rigor mortis, as with corpses that have been in a state of decay over a period of time). A peculiar feature is their greenish-white furry skin; one theory is that this is derived from fungus or mold growing on corpses. They are said to have long white hair all over their heads[4] and they may be animals.[5] The influence of Western vampire stories brought the blood-sucking aspect to the Chinese myth in more modern times in combination with the concept of the hungry ghost, though traditionally they act more like western zombies.

A supposed source of the jiang shi stories came from the folk practice of "Moving a Corpse over a Thousand Li" ([千里行屍] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language tag: zh-t (help)), where traveling companions or family members who could not afford wagons or had very little money would hire Taoist priests to transport corpses who died far away from home by teaching them to hop on their own feet back to their hometown for proper burial. Taoist priests would transport the corpses only at night and would ring bells to notify other pedestrians of their presence because it was considered bad luck for a living person to set eyes upon a jiang shi. This practice ([湘西趕屍] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language tag: zh-t (help)) was popular in Xiangxi where many people left their hometown to work elsewhere.[6][7] After they died, their corpses were transported back to their rural hometown using long bamboo rods, believing they would be homesick if buried somewhere unfamiliar. When the bamboo flexed up and down, the corpses appeared to be hopping in unison from a distance. [8][9][10] Once it was a myth.[11]

Two oral accounts of corpse walking are included in Liao Yiwu's book The Corpse Walker. One account describes how corpses would be walked using a two person team. One man would carry the corpse on his back with a large robe covering both of them and a mourning mask on top. The other man would walk ahead with a lantern and warn his companion about obstacles ahead of him. The lantern was used as a visual guide for the corpse carrier to follow since they could not see with the robe covering them. It is speculated in the accounts in the book that corpses would be carried at night to avoid contact with people and the cooler air would be more suitable to transporting bodies.[12]

Some people[who?] speculate that the stories about jiang shi were originally made up by smugglers who disguised their illegal activities as corpse transportation and wanted to scare off law enforcement officers.[13]

Jiang shi in film

Jiang shi became a popular subject in Hong Kong films during the 1980s, primarily due to the films of Sammo Hung, including Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980) and Mr. Vampire (1985). Some movies even featured both jiang shi and Western zombies. A Jiang Shi is a main character in the 1991 comedy The Gods Must Be Crazy III.

In the movies, jiang shi can be put to sleep by putting a piece of yellow paper with a spell written on it on their foreheads (Chinese talisman or [符] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language tag: zh-t (help), pinyin: fú). Generally in the movies the jiang shi are dressed in imperial Qing Dynasty clothes, their arms permanently outstretched due to rigor mortis. Like those depicted in Western movies, they tend to appear with outrageously long tongues and long razor sharp black fingernails. They can be evaded by holding one's breath, as they track living creatures by detecting their breathing.[14] They are blind, and lack knowledge.

Because it usually takes decades for a unattended resentful corpse to become a Jiang Shi, they are usually depicted wearing attire identified with the previous dynasty. Their modern visual depiction as horrific Qing Dynasty imperial officials may have been derived by the anti-Manchu sentiment of the Han majority during the Qing Dynasty period, who were viewed as bloodthirsty creatures with little regard for humanity.

A Jiang Shi also appeared in Jackie Chan Adventures, in Season 2 Episode 35.

It is also the conventional wisdom of feng shui in Chinese architecture that a threshold (simplified Chinese: 门槛; traditional Chinese: 門檻; pinyin: ménkǎn), a piece of wood approximately 15 cm (6 in) high, be installed along the width of the door at the bottom to prevent a jiang shi from entering the household.[15] Sticky rice is believed to draw the evil spirit of the jiang shi out.[citation needed] In the film Mr. Vampire, only sticky rice works, and mixing it with regular rice diminishes its effectiveness. Furthermore, the glutinous rice must be in its uncooked form for it to be effective. Other items used to repel jiang shi in films include chicken's eggs (whereas duck's eggs are ineffective), and the blood of a black dog.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ 充滿詭異色彩 文獻記載湘南恐怖僵屍村傳說
  2. ^ 殭屍的七個等級
  3. ^ 东北湿地干尸复活之谜棺木里满是抓痕
  4. ^ de Groot, JJM (1892–1910). The Religious System of China. The Hague.
  5. ^ 世界上真的有僵尸吗？
  6. ^ 湘西“赶尸”习俗
  7. ^ 神秘骇人的湘西“赶尸”揭秘(图)
  8. ^ 湘西赶尸骗局被揭穿
  9. ^ 无法破译的湘西三邪：赶尸、放蛊、落花洞女！
  10. ^ 湘西“赶尸匠”后人揭秘真相 (图)
  11. ^ NOWnews【大陸新聞】神秘檔案／湘西趕屍？苗族法師露一手記者目瞪口呆
  12. ^ Liao, Yiwu. The Corpse Walker: Real Life Stories, China from the Bottom Up. New York: Pantheon Books, 2008.
  13. ^ 「湘西趕屍」說法和其真偽
  14. ^ Newman, Kim (1996). The BFI Companion to Horror. London: Cassell. p. 175. ISBN 0-304-33216-X.
  15. ^ "Hopping Mad: A Brief Look at Chinese Vampire Movies". Penny Blood Magazine. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
  16. ^ Encounters of the Spooky Kind, Bey Logan audio commentary DVD featurette) (DVD). Hong Kong Legends, UK. 1980 (film), 2001 (DVD). {{cite AV media}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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