Jiangshi- The Chinese Hopping Vampire

Familiar: No
Spirit Animal: No
Spirit Guide: No
Totem: No
Mythical: No
Supernatural: Yes
Cryptid: No
Urban Legend: No
Creepypasta: No

A jiāngshī, also known as a Chinese hopping vampire, is a type of reanimated corpse in Chinese legends and folklore. The characters for ” jiāngshī ” are read goeng-si in Cantonese, cương thi in Vietnamese, kyonshī in Japanese, and gangsi in Korean. It is also known as phi dip chin in Thai, hantu pocong in Malay, and vampir cina in Indonesia. Although its Chinese name is often translated as ‘Chinese hopping vampire / zombie / ghost), its literal meaning is ‘stiff corpse’. It is typically depicted as an undead creature dressed in Chinese shroud which is sometimes mistaken as official garments from the Qing Dynasty, and it moves around by hopping with its arms outstretched. It kills living creatures to absorb their qi, or “life force”, usually at night. One could argue that they’re closer to zombies, particularly of the Haitian variety. During the day, it rests in a coffin or hides in dark places such as caves.

Official uniform of a mandarin from Qing Dynasty, which jiāngshī are usually portrayed wearing

They are said to be created when a person’s soul (魄 pò) fails to leave the deceased’s body. The causes for a corpse to be reanimated can be classified in either of two categories: a recently deceased person returning to life, or a corpse that has been buried for a long time but does not decompose.

jiāngshī may be the result of several misdeeds, including the use of necromancy to resurrect the dead; the spiritual possession of a corpse; a corpse who has absorbed enough qi to reanimate of its own volition; a corpse who has not received a proper or fast enough burial after its funeral; a corpse who has been struck by lightning or jumped over by a pregnant cat(or a black cat in some tales); and a person whose soul fails to leave their body for various reasons, including an improper death, suicide, violent death, hanging, drowning, or the simple desire to want to ruin other people’s lives for no reason.

if a burial was postponed after death, a dead body may become restless, and return to haunt the living. Another supposed way of a corpse turning into a jiāngshī is that it fails to decompose even after burial. Such deaths cause the soul to be unable to leave the body, thus resulting in a reanimated corpse.

Generally, a jiāngshī’s appearance can range from unremarkable (as in the case of a recently deceased person) to horrifying (rotting flesh, rigor mortis, as with corpses that have been in a state of decay over a period). Additionally, the jiāngshī is recognizable by its posture and movement. The arms of these creatures are permanently outstretched, due to rigor mortis, and they hop, rather than walk. The Chinese character for “jiang” literally means “hard” or “stiff”.

It is believed that the jiāngshī are so stiff that they cannot bend their limbs or body. jiāngshī are depicted in popular culture to have a paper talisman (with a sealing spell) attached onto and hanging off the forehead in portrait orientation, and wear a uniform coat-like robe and round-top tall rimmed hat characteristic of a mandarin (Chinese official from during the Qing dynasty). A peculiar feature is its greenish-white skin; one theory is that this is derived from fungus or mold growing on corpses.

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 when it comes across a victim it will suck the life force out of them, feeding solely on the qi for sustenance and in order to grow more powerful.

Some have disputed the comparison of jiāngshī with vampires, as jiāngshī are usually mindless creatures with no independent thought. One unusual feature of this monster is its greenish-white furry skin, perhaps derived from fungus or mold growing on corpses. They are said to have extremely long prehensile tongues and long black sharp claw-like fingernails. Also, they are blind, and if one holds their breath when it passes, they may remain unnoticed. They locate prey using their sense of smell or by listening out for their breathing. Like Slavic vampires and Anglo zombies, a person drained of Life Energy will become another of its kind — minus the robes, of course, unless they were actually wearing them at the time.

After one hundred years and stealing enough qi, the jiāngshī acquires the ability to fly and can also climb trees and high buildings. These flying jiāngshī stalk their prey with ease and can drain the life essence from any creature without even leaving a mark. After nearly a thousand years, the flying jiāngshī inherits demigod-like status and becomes a ba (魃) or Drought Demon. Ba can shape shift into any creature, cause droughts, and infect large groups of people with plague. It is thought they can even fly into the heavens to kill celestial dragons. Tens of thousands of years may pass before the ba makes its final transformation and becomes a Demon King.

If you know what movie this is from, I would love to know in the comments so I can watch it!

A potential source of the jiāngshī stories came from the folk practice of “transporting a corpse over a thousand li”. During the Qing Dynasty, efforts were made to return the bodies of Chinese workers who died far away from home back to their place of birth. This was done so that their spirits would not grow homesick. it was believed that their souls would long to return home if they were buried somewhere unfamiliar to them.

There were those who specialized in this trade and handled the transportation of the corpses back to their ancestral homes. These ‘corpse drivers’, as they are called, are said to have transported the dead at night. The corpses would be arranged upright in single file coffins which were attached to 2 bamboo rods that rested on the shoulders of two men. As they went on their journey, the bamboo poles would flex. Viewed from afar, this would look as is the dead were bouncing on their own accord.

It is from here that rumors about reanimated corpses began. Initially, it was speculated that the ‘corpse drivers’ were necromancers who were able to magically reanimate the corpses of the dead. Under the supervision of the ‘corpse drivers’, the dead would hop back home.

This was done overnight to minimize the decay of the body. Additionally, travelling at night meant that there would be a lower chance of encountering the living, and meeting the dead is considered bad luck. For added measure, a priest with a bell is said to lead the procession, thus warning people of their approach.

Two oral accounts of transporting corpses are included in Liao Yiwu’s The Corpse Walker. One account describes how corpses would be transported by a two-man team. One 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.

Supposedly if someone died far away from home and their relatives could not afford a vehicle to carry their corpse back for burial, they could hire a Taoist priest to conduct a ritual that would reanimate the deceased and incite them to “hop” their way home. These priests would transport several corpses late at night and would ring bells to notify others of their approach, as it was considered bad luck for anyone to set eyes on a jiāngshī.

jiāngshī are also said to be terrified of their own reflections. A mirror is the essence of liquid metal. It is dark on the external but bright inside and thus can repel a jiāngshī. Another item is something made of wood from a peach tree. Peach is the essence of the Five Elements. It can subjugate evil auras and deter evil spirits. Another method would be to nail seven jujube seeds into the acupuncture points on the back of a corpse. Fire is also a great method to defeat the jiāngshī. It is said, that when set on fire, the sound of crackling flames, blood rushes forth and bones cry.

Thread stained with a concoction of black ink, chicken blood and burnt talisman or blood of a black dog will repel the jiāngshī. The Ba Gua sign or a Taoist talisman, stuck on the forehead can immobilize them whilst it is firmly stuck on. Dropping a bag of coins can cause the jiāngshī to count the coins much like in eastern European vampiric folklore.

It is said evil spirits withdraw when they hear a rooster’s call because the rooster’s call usually occurs with the rise of the sun however, it is unclear if it is the actual rooster’s voice that repels evil or if it is the sun that does it. The rooster merely heralding the rise of the sun. Another strange method is the urine of a virgin boy.

Witch Tip: To subdue a hopping vampire the person must take a thin yellow piece of paper and write out a distinct spell in chicken’s blood, which will then be attached to the vampire’s forehead. A person defending themselves against a hopping vampire/zombie can use an 8 sided mirror called Ba-qua mirror, which is often used in Feng Shui. The mirrors purpose is to reflect the light, which in turn scares the creature away. A sword charged under the light of the moon made of Chinese coins can be used in an attack against the vampire.

It is also the conventional wisdom of feng shui in Chinese architecture that a threshold, a piece of wood approximately 6 in high, be installed along the width of the door at the bottom to prevent a jiāngshī from entering the household

Hsien-Ko, known in Japan as Lei-Lei, is a fictional character from the Darkstalkers fighting game franchise and that is the first place I ever encountered one of these creatures and I loved her immediately.

Danger Level: Unsafe