raulovskyA jiāng shī, and also known as a Chinese “hopping” vampire or zombie, is a type of reanimated corpse in Chinese legends and folklore. “jiang shi” is read as Geongsi in Cantonese, Gangshi in Korean and Kyonshī in Japanese. According to legend, in the day, the jiang shi rests in a coffin or hides in dark places such as caves. At night, it moves around by hopping, with its arms outstretched. It kills living creatures to absorb their qi (life essence).
Generally, a jiang shi’s appearance can range from unremarkable (as in the case of a recently deceased person) to horrifying (rotting flesh, rigor mortis, as with corpses that have been in a state of decay over a period of time). The Chinese character for “jiang” in “jiang shi” literally means “hard” or “stiff”. It is believed that the jiang shi is so stiff that that it cannot bend its limbs and body, so it has to move around by hopping while keeping its arms stretched out for mobility.
2013-05-17 16:41:39 +0000