Jiangshi fiction explained

Jiangshi fiction, or goeng-si fiction in Cantonese, is a literary and cinematic genre of horror based on the jiangshi of Chinese folklore, a reanimated corpse controlled by Taoist priests that resembles the zombies and vampires of Western fiction. The genre first appeared in the literature of the Qing dynasty and the jiangshi film is a staple of the modern Hong Kong film industry. Hong Kong jiangshi films like Mr. Vampire and Encounters of the Spooky Kind follow a formula of mixing horror with comedy and kung fu.

Literature

Derived from Chinese folklore, jiangshi fiction first appeared in the literature of the Qing dynasty. The jiangshi is a corpse reanimated by a Taoist priest. The priest commands the jiangshi and directs it to a location for a proper burial. Jiangshi hop as they move and are able to absorb qi, the essence of the living.[1] The ties between jiangshi and vampires, and the English translation of jiangshi as "hopping vampire", may have been a marketing ploy manufactured by Hong Kong studios eager to enter Western markets.[2] Unlike vampires, jiangshi do not drink blood[3] or desire immortality.[4]

Fictional accounts of jiangshi were included in Qing collections of ghost stories and other supernatural tales. They are featured in the story A Corpse's Transmutation (Shibian) in the Shuyiji collection, A Vampiric Demon (Jiangshi gui) and Spraying Water (Penshui) in Pu Songling's Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio,[5] and The Demonic Corpse (Jiangshi gui) in Dongxuan Zhuren's Shiyiji.[6] In Spraying Water, the animated corpse spews a liquid that kills the wife of a government official and her two servants.[7] A traveler is chased by a jiangshi in A Corpse's Transmutation, which killed three of his companions.[8] There are thirty stories of jiangshi in Zi Bu Yu, written by Yuan Mei. Qing writer Ji Xiaolan provides a detailed description of jiangshi folklore in his book Yuewei Caotang Biji[9] (The Shadow Book of Ji Yun, Empress Wu Books, 2021).

Hong Kong cinema

A number of monster films were produced before the jiangshi boom of the 1980s and the 1990s. The earliest concerning vampires is Midnight Vampire (午夜殭屍) directed in 1936 by Yeung Kung-Leung. Vampire films were also made in the 1970s,[10] which merged the vampires of Western horror with the martial arts of Hong Kong kung fu films.[11] The jiangshi films of the 1980s were a departure from the Dracula-like vampires of its predecessors.[12] Cinematic portrayals of jiangshi show the corpses wearing traditional changshan garments with a talisman placed on its head that allows the Taoist priest to control the cadaver.[13] The clichés expropriated from Western horror were fewer, but still visibly present. The cloak, a motif from Hollywood's adaptations of Dracula, appears in the jiangshi films Vampire vs Vampire and A Bite of Love.[14]

The 1980 film Encounters of the Spooky Kind, directed by Sammo Hung, was the progenitor of the films based on the jiangshi of Chinese legends in the Hong Kong film industry. The film is an early example of kung fu horror comedy in Hong Kong and the jiangshi of the film are played by martial artists. A sequel, Encounters of the Spooky Kind II, was directed by Ricky Lau in 1990.[15]

The 1985 film Mr. Vampire, directed by Ricky Lau, was the breakthrough success of the genre. The film established many of the genre's recognizable clichés. The protagonist is a Taoist priest, skilled in casting magical spells and performing kung fu, who uses supernatural powers to control the undead. He is assisted by incompetent sidekicks, whose antics are a source of comic relief, and must face a vengeful ghost.[16]

In later jiangshi films, jiangshi interact and exist alongside Western vampires.[17] In the 1989 film Vampire vs. Vampire, a Taoist priest and childlike jiangshi encounter a British vampire. The jiangshi saves the priest when his spells for taming the jiangshi are fruitless against the vampire. The cliché of jiangshi children, an allusion to a similar character in Mr. Vampire II, shows an awareness in jiangshi films of the genre by referencing its past cliches.[18]

Jiangshi films declined in popularity around the mid-1990s.[19] There was a brief resurgence in jiangshi and vampire films during the early 2000s. Tsui Hark produced The Era of Vampires in 2002 and The Twins Effect, directed by Dante Lam and Donnie Yen, was released in 2003.[20] The Era of Vampires was not a comedy like earlier jiangshi films, a move that provoked criticisms from the genre's fans who felt that the film was trying to appeal to a more "Hollywood" demographic. In 2009, Katy Chang made Nanjing Road, a jiangshi horror movie set against China's economic expansion.[21] In 2013, Juno Mak made Rigor Mortis as a tribute to earlier series such as Mr. Vampire. In 2014, Daniel Chan made Sifu vs Vampire.

Jiangshi films have attracted an international audience since its heyday. In the West, the genre is popular because it both resembles and is distinct from the monsters of European and American folklore.[22] It is also popular in the Chinese diaspora and in southeast Asia.[23]

Television series

Video games

Tabletop Games

, a 2021 tabletop role-playing game by Banana Chan and Sen-Foong Lim, is about Chinese immigrants to the US and Canada managing a family restaurant while battling Jiangshi.[26]

See also

Notes and references

Citations

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Stokes 2007, p. 448
  2. Hudson 2009, p. 209
  3. Lam 2009, pp. 46-51
  4. Hudson 2009, p. 208
  5. Chiang 2005, p. 99
  6. Chiang 2005, p. 106
  7. Chiang 2005, pp. 97-98
  8. Chiang 2005, pp. 104-106
  9. Chiang 2005, pp. 99-100
  10. Stokes 2007, p. 448
  11. Lam 2009, pp. 46-51
  12. Hudson 2009, p. 208
  13. Hudson 2009, p. 216
  14. Hudson 2009, p. 205
  15. Hudson 2009, p. 215
  16. Lam 2009, pp. 46-51
  17. Hudson 2009, p. 218
  18. Hudson 2009, p. 220
  19. Hudson 2009, p. 225
  20. Stokes 2007, p. 449
  21. Web site: Nanjing Road Official Pirate Edition. Amazon .
  22. Lam 2009, pp. 46-51
  23. Hudson 2009, p. 205
  24. Web site: Age of Mythology EX: Tale of the Dragon on Steam.
  25. Web site: Old Pokémon Gold and Silver Demo Discovered; Prototype Pokémon Unveiled -. 2018-06-01. mxdwn Games. en-US. 2019-09-23.
  26. Web site: Wieland . Rob . Save The World And Your Family Restaurant With This New RPG . 2023-04-14 . Forbes . en.

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