Jiang Shi: China

135 2 0
                                    

Sometimes called “Chinese hopping vampires,” these ghastly creatures blur the line between ghost and zombie. The spirits of people who died by suicide or violence, Jiang Shi (“Stiff Corpse”) have greenish skin, wear the robes of the Qing Dynasty, and move by hopping or bouncing. They feed off the qi (life essence) of living humans, though more modern legends describe them as sucking blood, likely due to the influence of Western vampire myths.

Likely origin: The Jiang Shi legend may have come from the pre-Modern Chinese practice of corpse transport, in which the body of someone who died far from home would be transported back for burial. Corpses were attached vertically to two bamboo poles for transport, which made them appear to “hop” when carried. The Qing Dynasty robes of the Jiang Shi in popular culture may stem from the anti-Qing sentiment rampant during the early days of Chinese moviemaking, when the Jiang Shi was seared into the popular imagination.

Creepiest Stories and Urban Legend's from around the WorldWhere stories live. Discover now