Jiangshi

Region: East Asia
Location:China (widespread across northern and southern folklore)

The Jiangshi is one of the most recognizable beings in Chinese folklore — a reanimated corpse that moves by hopping with stiff, outstretched arms. Its rigidity comes from the belief that corpses stiffen after death, so when they rise they cannot bend their limbs. Jiangshi wear Qing Dynasty mandarin robes, with pale or greenish skin, long black hair, and sometimes a paper talisman stuck to their foreheads to restrain them. They sense life not by sight but by the breath or qi of living beings.
  Folklore offers multiple origins for a Jiangshi: improper burial, violent death, unfulfilled purpose, or the corruption of qi. Some are created through sorcery or Taoist rituals gone wrong. Jiangshi feed on the living — either consuming blood, qi, or life energy depending on the region. To evade them, people carry charms like mirrors, peachwood talismans, or rooster crow sounds, which are believed to repel undead spirits. Taoist priests in traditional stories engage Jiangshi using chanting, bells, and ritual magic.
  Beyond horror, Jiangshi reflect deep cultural anxieties surrounding improper burials, liminality of death, and unsettled spirits. Migrant workers who died far from home were sometimes transported in upright posture, bound between bamboo poles — a practice later romanticized into stories of “corpses walking home.” Over centuries, Jiangshi evolved from chilling figures in ghost tales to iconic symbols in opera, film, and literature. They remain one of China’s most enduring supernatural archetypes.

World
Koina
Owner
kaixabu
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

The spark is human. The polish is digital.

 

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