Jiangshi fiction

Literature

Derived from Chinese folklore, jiangshi fiction first appeared in Qing dynasty literature. The jiangshi is a corpse reanimated by a Taoist priest, who commands it and directs it to a location for proper burial. Jiangshi hop as they move and absorb qi, the essence of the living. The English translation of jiangshi as 'hopping vampire' may have been a marketing ploy by Hong Kong studios for Western markets, though jiangshi do not drink blood or desire immortality. Fictional accounts appear in Qing collections such as the story 'A Corpse's Transmutation' in the Shuyiji collection, 'A Vampiric Demon' and 'Spraying Water' in Pu Songling's Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, and 'The Demonic Corpse' in Dongxuan Zhuren's Shiyiji. In 'Spraying Water,' an animated corpse spews a liquid that kills a government official's wife and two servants. A traveler is chased by a jiangshi in 'A Corpse's Transmutation,' which killed three of his companions. Yuan Mei's Zi Bu Yu contains thirty jiangshi stories. Qing writer Ji Xiaolan provides a detailed description of jiangshi folklore in his book Yuewei Caotang Biji. In contemporary literature, the upcoming fantasy novel A Curse Carved in Ink by Tzeyi Koay integrates the folklore into a dark fantasy setting, following an antiquarian bookseller possessed by the 'jiangshi's claw,' a demonic force that drains life and energy, reflecting the traditional motif of consuming qi. To break the curse, the protagonist must travel to Diyu and undertake trials inspired by the Five Poisons.

Hong Kong cinema

Before the jiangshi craze of the 1980s and 1990s, monster films were already being made. The earliest vampire movie was 1936's Midnight Vampire, directed by Yeung Kung-Leung. In the 1970s, vampire films blended Western horror with Hong Kong kung fu. The jiangshi films of the 1980s moved away from the Dracula-like vampires of earlier works. On screen, jiangshi wear traditional changshan robes and have a talisman on their forehead, which lets a Taoist priest control the corpse. Some Western horror clichés, like the cloak from Hollywood's Dracula, still appear in movies such as Vampire vs Vampire and A Bite of Love.

The 1980 film Encounters of the Spooky Kind, directed by Sammo Hung, made jiangshi films popular in Hong Kong, though it wasn't the first. According to Andrew Heskens, Hung took the idea of hopping vampires from The Shadow Boxing and turned it into a phenomenon. This film is an early kung fu horror comedy, with martial artists playing the jiangshi. A sequel, Encounters of the Spooky Kind II, came out in 1990, directed by Ricky Lau.

The genre's big breakthrough was Mr. Vampire (1985), also directed by Ricky Lau. It set many familiar clichés: a Taoist priest who uses magic and kung fu, bumbling sidekicks who provide comic relief, and a vengeful ghost as the main threat.

Later jiangshi films started mixing the creatures with Western vampires. In 1989's Vampire vs. Vampire, a Taoist priest and a childlike jiangshi meet a British vampire. The jiangshi saves the priest when his usual spells don't work on the vampire. The recurring cliché of jiangshi children, which nods to a similar character in Mr. Vampire II, shows the genre's self-awareness by referencing its own past.

Television series

In the Jackie Chan Adventures episode 'Chi of the Vampire,' a jiangshi attacks the main characters in an abandoned mountain castle in China. The vampire, initially blind and weak, drains the chi of Tohru, Jade, and Uncle to regain strength. Tohru and Jade survive by transferring their chi, but Uncle becomes the vampire's servant. To reclaim their chi before sunrise, the Chans must find a toadstool in a graveyard, place it in the jiangshi's left sock, and throw it into a river. The jiangshi is destroyed by sunlight. In Power Rangers: Jungle Fury, the minions called Rin Shi seem based on the jiangshi; the association is clearer in its parent Super Sentai season, Juken Sentai Gekiranger, whose enemy footsoldiers are named Rinshi. In Three Delivery, Mr. Von Yang uses the Hopsink Shrimp recipe to revive his deceased twin brother Tommy, awakening a horde of jiangshi that terrorize Chinatown. In Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, the episode 'The Po Who Cried Ghost' features jiangshi as zombie-like specters formed when the living did not pay them respect; they rise to seek revenge by devouring brains. They are called 'hopping ghosts' and can paralyze victims with their 'death' breath; a bite turns the victim into a jiangshi. In Dragon Ball Super, jiangshi are human-type Earthlings transformed by witchcraft using paper talismans. The technique is used by Yurin to take revenge on Tien Shinhan by turning his students and Master Roshi into jiangshi. Goku defeats Jiangshi Max Power Master Roshi, and Tien and Goku foil the plot, allowing the transformed students to return to normal.

Video games

In Touhou Shinreibyou ~ Ten Desires, the stage 3 boss Yoshika Miyako is a jiangshi. Hsien-Ko from the Darkstalkers fighting game series is a jiangshi. The video game Sleeping Dogs, set in Hong Kong, features the expansion Nightmare in North Point, which includes jiangshi as enemies. The hero Mei from Overwatch has a jiangshi-inspired skin for the Halloween Terror 2017 event and a 'hopping' emote. Jiangshi, under the Japanese name Kyonshi, are the primary enemies in the NES game Phantom Fighter, though they are mistakenly called zombies. Jiangshi-inspired enemies called Pionpi appear in the Chai Kingdom of Super Mario Land (1989). Jiangshi are featured as enemies in Spelunky, found as early as the second area. Munak and Bongun in Ragnarok Online have the appearance and behavior of jiangshi. The Tale of the Dragon DLC for Age of Mythology: Extended Edition includes the jiangshi as a unit for the god Shennong. A jiangshi appears as a secret miniboss in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. In Kingdom Hearts II, the Nightwalker Heartless enemies in the Land of Dragons world are based on jiangshi. A Kyonshi Hat was added to Splatoon 2 on October 5, 2018. Jiangshi are playable zombies in Counter-Strike Online in certain modes. Kyonpan, an unused Pokémon from Gold and Silver, is based on the jiangshi. In SOMA, reanimated corpse monsters referred to as jiangshi appear. An insect-inspired jiangshi appears in Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves. In Genshin Impact, the playable character Qiqi is based on the jiangshi, though called a 'zombie' in English.