Halloween special: what are Chinese hopping zombies? Meet jiangshi, the undead horror film villains made famous in cult 80s Hong Kong movie Mr Vampire

Oct 29 , 2020

Jiangshi was a popular subgenre of horror films in Hong Kong cinema especially in the 1980s. Photo: handout

Bruce Lee’s personal assistant Lam Ching-ying later became famous himself as the notorious vampire-slaying hero of the Mr Vampire trilogy, Magic Cop and Encounters of the Spooky Kind II – here’s everything you need to know about the menacing movie monsters

Different cultures share different spooky stories, and where the Western world is taught to fear vampires and zombies, Chinese folklore shuns jiangshi, which directly translates to “stiff corpses”. They’re also known as “Chinese hopping zombies” or “Chinese hopping vampires” for how they get around.

You might have spotted the undead monster – traditionally recognisable for its dark robes, red-topped cap, forehead talisman and deathly pale skin – in movies, TV shows or video games.

The jiangshi genre gradually became a trend in Hong Kong cinema after the release of the film Mr Vampire in 1985. Photo: Handout

But what are jiangshi exactly, and what are the most famous pieces of media that they feature in? As Halloween approaches, read our explainer to find out more, from the historical origins of these terror-inducing creatures to how you’d successfully escape if you ever ran into one – hypothetically, of course.

What are jiangshi?

There are a number of jiangshi origin stories. According to one, if a family member passed away far from home in China, those who could not afford much in the way of travelling expenses for the deceased were said to hire a Taoist priest to transport the body.

According to Chinese folk takes, Taoist priest would temporarily reanimate corpses as a cost-effective way to transport them to their burial places. Photo: Handout

The priest would do this by temporarily reanimating the body, enabling it to follow along all the way to its proper burial place. The priest, meanwhile, would ring a bell to warn passers-by to keep their distance, as gazing upon a jiangshi was believed to bring bad luck. The practice was supposedly popular in Xiangxi, in China’s southern Hunan province, where many original residents left home to find work in other areas.

Much like their Western counterparts, jiangshi are averse to sunlight, and stay in coffins or hide in dark places during the day. To stay “alive”, they need to kill living creatures and absorb their life essence, or chi, at night.

What do they look like?