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Illustration of Jiangshi
Original AI-made illustration based on the descriptions in the sources. Not an official design.
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Jiangshi

Also called: 殭屍, 僵尸, chiang-shih, geung si, kyonshī, gangsi
Folklore and mythUndeadHopsA bad death or burial1500 to 1899

The jiangshi is the reanimated corpse of Chinese folklore, a rigid body driven by the residue of its own soul to attack the living and drain their vital energy. It was described in detail by Qing-dynasty writers and explained by the Dutch sinologist J. J. M. de Groot through the Chinese dread of delayed burial and exposed corpses. Hong Kong cinema of the 1980s turned it into the hopping, talisman-stuck figure known worldwide. Mindless, physically decayed and stopped only by ritual or force, it is East Asia's main native counterpart to the zombie.12

Battle it
First recorded
1789
Discussed in Ji Xiaolan's Yuewei Caotang Biji (c. 1789-1798) and Yuan Mei's Zi Bu Yu
Origin
Chinese
China, Hong Kong, Taiwan
What causes it
A bad death or burial
Qing writers explain it by the body's lower soul (po) staying behind after the higher soul (hun) has left, especially when burial is delayed or the death was improper.
How you become one
A corpse left unburied, struck by lightning or jumped over by a cat may rise; so may a suicide or a body revived by sorcery.
How it moves
Hops
Modern depictions have it hop with arms outstretched; in older accounts it runs its victims down, and very old ones can fly.
Intelligence
Mindless
Weak spots
  • a paper talisman (fulu) fixed to the forehead
  • peach wood
  • mirrors
  • a rooster's crow
  • glutinous rice
  • black dog's blood
  • fire
  • seven jujube stones nailed into the back (Yuan Mei)
  • holding one's breath, since it is blind and tracks by breathing
  • a raised door threshold

When did it first appear?

Ancient worldMiddle Ages1500 to 18991900 to 19671968 to 19992000 to 20092010 to today1789

Discussed in Ji Xiaolan's Yuewei Caotang Biji (c. 1789-1798) and Yuan Mei's Zi Bu Yu

field notes

What the sources say

1

The name means 'stiff corpse'12

2

Folklore describes greenish-white skin, sometimes furred with mould, and anything from fresh rigor to advanced decay12

3

It kills with brute strength and absorbs its victims' qi; blood-drinking is a modern borrowing from Western vampires12

4

Ji Xiaolan distinguished the newly dead who revive from long-buried corpses that never decay12

5

The Qing official's robe and hat became standard through the Hong Kong film Mr. Vampire and its sequels12

6

The hop may derive from the Xiangxi trade of carrying corpses home upright on bamboo poles12

Could you outrun it?

Speed class from how the sources describe it (hops), not a measurement.

You, walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
Jiangshi about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
You, jogging about 10 km/h (6.2 mph)
A fit adult sprinting about 24 km/h (15 mph)
A fast cyclist about 37 km/h (23 mph)

Sources

  1. Jiangshi - Wikipedia
  2. Vampire folklore by region - Wikipedia

Every fact on this page comes from these sources, written in our own words. Spotted a mistake? Tell us at [email protected].

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Folklore from the same lands

Ro-langsTibetanXiangxi walking corpsesChinese (western Hunan; attributed to Miao sorcery)

Same era: 1500 to 1899

Zombi (Haitian)Haitian (Vodou folklore), 1750StrigoiRomanian, 1714Vampir (South Slavic)South Slavic (Serbian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Bosnian), 1725AbhartachIrish, 1870Arnold PaoleSerbian, 1732ChurelSouth Asian, 1880
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