|
A jiangshi, also known as a Chinese "hopping" vampire or zombie, is a type of reanimated corpse in Chinese legends and folklore. "Jiangshi" is read goeng-si in Cantonese, cương thi in Vietnamese, gangshi in Korean and kyonshī in Japanese. It is typically depicted as a stiff corpse dressed in 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, while in the day, it rests in a coffin or hides in dark places such as caves.〔http://www.mythicalcreaturesguide.com/page/JiangShi〕 Jiangshi legends have inspired a genre of jiangshi films and literature in Hong Kong and East Asia. ==Genesis== The Qing Dynasty scholar Ji Xiaolan mentioned in his book ''Yuewei Caotang Biji'' (閱微草堂筆記) that the causes of a corpse being 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. Some causes are described below: * The use of supernatural arts to resurrect the dead. * Spirit possession of a dead body. * A corpse absorbs sufficient yang ''qi'' to return to life. * A person's body is governed by three ''hun''s and seven ''po''s. The Qing Dynasty scholar Yuan Mei wrote in his book ''Zi Bu Yu'' that "A person's ''hun'' is good but his ''po'' is evil, his ''hun'' is intelligent but his ''po'' is foolish". The ''hun'' leaves his body after death but his ''po'' remains and takes control of the body, so the dead person becomes a jiangshi. * The dead person is not buried even after a funeral has been held. The corpse comes to life after it is struck by a bolt of lightning, or when a pregnant cat (or a black cat in some tales) leaps across the coffin. * When a person's soul fails to leave the deceased's body, due to improper death, suicide, or just wanting to cause trouble.〔 (充滿詭異色彩 文獻記載湘南恐怖僵屍村傳說 )〕〔 (殭屍的七個等級 )〕 * A person injured by a jiangshi is infected with the "jiangshi virus" and gradually changes into a jiangshi over time, as seen in the ''Mr. Vampire'' films. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「jiangshi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|