Everyone knows what a vampire is. Creatures of the night that suck blood from their victims and enchant with their charisma. But what about the undead from other cultures that are beloved in their country of origin yet are widely unknown elsewhere? The jiangshi are one such monster.
Beloved in Hong Kong since the Mr. Vampire movies in the 1980s, Jiangshi are a nightmarish creature that haunts the night and sucks the qi, or life force, out of their victims. Jiangshi means “stiff corpse,” and generally appears in Qing Dynasty official garb.
How The Jiangshi Came to Be
The story goes that necromancers revive the dead into mindless monsters, with outstretched hands. They hop towards their victims due to rigor mortis. Also, they are generally depicted with green fur or mold on their bodies due to decay and can be shown with wild white hair or black hair.
History of the Jiangshi in Literature and Film
Jiangshi literature largely began in the Qing Dynasty, with Notes of the Thatched Abode of Close Observations by Ji Xaolan, being one of the first to depict Jiangshi among its tales of the supernatural. The stories collected in the Thatched Abode are supposedly all true accounts. Similarly, Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling collected 500 tales that made apparent comments on societal issues.
Jiangshi later became wildly popular in the 1980s with the introduction of the previously mentioned Mr. Vampire movies. Premiering in 1985 and followed by two sequels, the movies take place in republican-era China with Master Kau as the main character.
Tropes in Jiangshi Fiction
Major tropes of the genre include the monster coming to life either by the hand of a necromancer, having lived a wicked life, or committing suicide. Jiangshi can be defeated by a multitude of things, including mirrors, chicken eggs, adzuki beans, fire, and throwing money on the ground (they seemingly stop to count it). In many novels, Jiangshi are sent as a preliminary threat, most likely due to them being mindless.
Jiangshi Recommendations
Ready to dive into books that feature this maddening monster? There’s tons of books to look into, but check out our spine tingling recommendations first!
GrandMaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
Infinitely popular in danmei (two men romantic pairing) circles, The Mo Dao Zu Shi series is a xianxia , a term meaning “Immortal heroes”. Xianxia refers to cultivation high fantasy, where the characters achieve immortality by meditation and cultivation. This Xianxia depicts the life of Wei Wuxian, a cultivator who diverges from the accepted cultivation techniques to found demonic cultivation, or necromancy. After being resurrected into a new body, Wei Wuxian adopts a new name and goes to solve a mystery of a dismembered corpse along with Lan Wangi, a person from his past life. Jiangshi are mentioned throughout this story as some of the undead that Wei Wuxian controls.
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
In Certain Dark Things, vampires are a known species and are divided into many subspecies. One of them being, of course, jiangshi. The story follows Domingo, a street rat who cares very little for vampire politics in Mexico, until Atl, a native Mexican vampire who drags Atl into all of the drama. In this literary world, iangshi are depicted as being a strain of vampires from China, who prefer dark places and hold power along the American Pacific coast. These jiangshi are able to control the minds of their victims in darkness.
The Shadow Book of Ji Yun: The Chinese Classic of Weird True Tales, Horror Stories, and Occult Knowledge by Yun Ji
This collection of true stories was first published in 1789 and has been recently translated into English as of 2021. The story follows Ji Yun, who is the Imperial Librarian and Special Advisor to the Emperor of China, during his paranormal adventures. The jiangshi make an appearance in this collection among other Chinese spooks and haunts.
While jiangshi stories aren’t as popular as other vampiric and zombie retellings, they are definitely worth checking out. Whether on screen or in literature, these hopping monsters are guaranteed to scare you out of your wits and keep you looking over your shoulder.
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