Jiang Shi

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The Jiang Shi ( Chinese  殭屍  /  僵尸 , Pinyin jiāngshī , W.-G. chiang 1 -shih 1 , Jyutping goeng 1 -si 1  - "rigid corpse", symbolic " undead ", " revenant " or " zombie "), also written Jiang-shi and Jiangshi , is a fictional being from Chinese mythology and describes an undead. The being found its way into postmodern Japanese literature, where it is called Kyonshī ( キ ョ ン シ ー ).

description

Since most Jiang Shi are made shortly after death, according to folklore , the deceased still looks fresh, almost asleep, even after days. In other cases, the Jiang Shi is said to arise some time after death, so that the body looks putrid and rots while you get up again. A Jiang Shi should be recognized by the fact that his hair turns white and, despite death, continues to grow until it completely covers the corpse. The fingernails should turn black, also continue to grow and become unusually long and sharp-edged. Since rigor mortis has usually already set in, the Jiang Shi can only move with difficulty (usually jerkily or hopping).

backgrounds

The background of the belief in the undead is the religious idea in traditional Daoism that humans have two souls: a pure and benign soul ( 魂 , hún ) and a dark, restless soul ( 魄 , pŏ ). If a person dies, the benign soul ascends to heaven, while the dark soul passes into the hereafter or disappears. In rare cases, however, the dark soul is said to be so strong that after leaving the body it can develop a life of its own and take possession of the bodies of people who have just passed away.

Possible origin

The origin of the legend of Jiang Shi could be the Chinese tradition of hired corpse collectors or relatives to track down deceased relatives who perished far away from their hometown or even outside the country and have them brought back to their homeland. This practice was known as Xiangxi gan shi ( 湘西 趕 屍  /  湘西 赶 尸 , Xiāngxī gǎn shī  - "traveling corpses in Xiangxi"). The corpses were upright and wrapped in shrouds between two strong, elastic bamboo poles and were carried away by two men. Due to the elasticity of the bamboo poles and the weight of the dead person, it could happen that the poles and the corpse bobbed up and down on foot during transport. From a great distance it may have looked to observers as if the corpse was hopping after the man in front. The oldest traditions of the Xiangxi ganshi come from the southern Chinese provinces of Jiangxi and Hunan , especially Xiangxi .

folklore

According to folklore, Jiang Shi are created through the absence or deliberate omission of a dignified burial . The restless spirit of the deceased does not find the way to the hereafter and returns to the decaying body, driven by the desire to return to his home country and perhaps finally to be buried and redeemed there. In this case the motive would be homesickness . Sometimes the reason can also be vindictiveness , especially in the case of murder or unfortunate victims. The now malignant spirit ( 鬼 煞 , Guī shā ) uses its original body to drive its former tormentors or murderers to their death.

Another way of creating a Jiang Shi is said to be through black magic . By black magic seal or spell list can Summoner 's body like a puppet controlled. It has been handed down from certain provinces in China that black magicians can literally be hired to have the corpses retrieved from far away from deceased people. The Jiang Shi so summoned would answer the summoner's call. Sometimes criminal black magicians would secretly create Jiang Shi in order to let them do certain, mostly criminal or dangerous jobs. On the ban slip (which is usually stuck to the forehead of the dead) is usually the name of the conjurer and the order to be carried out. A third possibility is said to be to banish a summoned, lower demon into the corpse.

Jiang Shi are often compared to vampires even though they do not drink blood . Rather, they withdraw the life force ( Qi ) from their victims , since the self-energy of a Jiang Shi is limited and quickly used up. A popular rumor has it that when a Jiang Shi is attacked, one should throw blessed grains of rice or shiny coins at the feet - since an undead is obsessed with counting all shiny, small objects, the undead will immediately start counting the grains of rice or Pick up coins one by one. Also, since some Jiang Shi are supposedly blind, they use their breath to track their victims . However, if the victim could hold his breath long enough, the Jiang Shi would eventually give up the persecution and move on. Destruction of the undead should only be possible through exorcism or holy fire .

Modern

literature

Jiang Shi are regularly featured in fairy tales and SiFi literature . Jiang Shi are already mentioned and described in the Liaozhai Zhiyi , a short story collection by the Chinese writer Pu Songling ( 17th century ). In modern Manga magazines, Jiang Shi appear again and again as hostile assistants or opponents. For example in the manga series Rosario + Vampire , Dragon Ball and Die Monster Mädchen .

films and series

The figure of Jiang Shi has also found its way into classic and modern horror films . Jiang Shi is called Kyonshī in Japan and is the subject of countless video games and movies. The multi-part horror comedy Jiang shi fan sheng (English title Mr. Chinese Vampire , from 1986) is well known. The cartoon series Jackie Chan Adventures dates from 2000-2005 , in which the protagonist Jackie Chan has to fight Jiang Shi in two episodes. In various anime series, such as Shaman King and Dragon Ball , Jiang Shi appear as attacking assistants of certain antagonists.

Video games

Jiang Shi are also popular scary motifs in video games. They appear in Phantom Fighter (1989/1990 for the Nintendo NES ) and in Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (2008 for the Nintendo DS ). The best known, however, is the parodied form of Jiang Shi, which appears in the Game Boy game Super Mario Land and is called “Pionpi” (from Japaneseピ ョ ン ピ ー; pyon-pī , an onomatopoeic rendering for “hop”). The essence is here as a defiant, constantly bouncing zombie in traditional , Chinese court costume represented. In the sci-fi horror adventure SOMA by the indie game developer Frictional Games , the Jiangshi are some of the opponents who confront the player. There is also a Jiangshi skin for the heroine Mei in the first-person shooter Overwatch .

Merchandises

In Japan and China in particular, small plastic figures are popular as key rings and rag dolls, whose appearance is modeled on the Pionpi from Super Mario Land. Pionpi also appear on trading cards for Super Mario fans.

literature

  • Fan Lizhu, James D. Whitehead, Evelyn Eaton-Whitehead: Flesh bodies, stiff corpses and gathered gold. In: Journal of Chinese Religions , Issues 32–33. Society for the Study of Chinese Religions, Indiana University, Bloomington 2004.
  • Richard Wilhelm (Ed.): Chinese fairy tales (= The fairy tales of world literature ). Thousand. Diederichs, Munich 1990, ISBN 3-424-00253-4 .
  • Barb Karg, Arjean Spaite, Rick Sutherland: The Everything Vampire Book: From Vlad the Impaler to the vampire Lestat - a history of vampires in Literature, Film, and Legend . Everything Books, Avon 2009, ISBN 1605506311 .
  • John Hamilton: Vampires . ABDO, Edina 2007, ISBN 1599287749 .
  • J. Gordon Melton: The Vampire Book: The Encyclopedia of the Undead . Visible Ink Press, Canton 2010 (3rd edition), ISBN 157859281X .
  • Brenda Rosen: The Mythical Creatures Bible: The Definitive Guide to Legendary Beings . Sterling Publishing Company Inc., New York 2009, ISBN 1402765363 .
  • Russel DeMaria, Zach Meston, David Sillar: Nintendo Game Boy Secrets (= Secrets of the Games Series , Vol. 1). Prima Publishing, Rocklin 1991, ISBN 155958078X .
  • Katsunori Tanaka, Mochizuki Asma, Nagata Ryosuke: キ ョ ン シ ー 電影 大 全集: キ ョ ン シ ー 映 画 作品 集. Parade-Verlag (パ レ ー ド), Tokyo 2011, ISBN 4434152416 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c Barb Karg, Arjean Spaite, Rick Sutherland: The Everything Vampire Book. P. 21 & 22.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Fan Lizhu, James D. Whitehead, Evelyn Eaton-Whitehead: Flesh bodies, stiff corpses and gathered gold. Pp. 25-28, 32-33.
  3. ^ A b c John Hamilton: Vampires . P. 19.
  4. ^ A b J. Gordon Melton: The Vampire Book. Pp. 124 & 125.
  5. ↑ Brenda Rosen: The Mythical Creatures Bible. Pp. 190-191.
  6. ^ Richard Wilhelm (ed.): Chinese fairy tales . Pp. 74-76.
  7. ↑ a b c d e Katsunori Tanaka, Mochizuki Asma, Nagata Ryosuke: キ ョ ン シ ー 電影 大 全集. Pp. 71-76, 80-81.
  8. ↑ a b Russel DeMaria, Zach Meston, David Sillar: Nintendo Game Boy Secrets . P. 237.
  9. ↑ 16 Things We Know About Soma (English). Retrieved July 1, 2014.