Friday, September 1, 1989

Jiaolong (蛟龍)

Jiaolong (蛟龍)

Alternative Names (異名):
蛟龍, Jiaolong, Crocodile Dragon


Jiaolong, in Chinese mythology, is the horned dragon, which is one of the nine Chinese dragons. It does not seem to be powerful enough to be able to fly in the sky, and therefore is mainly known to live in sea and the big river. For this reason, the Jiaolong is also known as the flood dragon.

In Taiwan, a famous waterfall in the Alishan National Scenic Area is also called the Jiaolong or Flood Dragon Waterfall


Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiaolong
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology

Jiang Shi (僵尸, Chinese)

Jiang Shi (僵尸)

Alternative Names (異名):
僵屍(traditional Chinese), 殭屍, 僵尸(simplified), jiāngshī(pinyin), Jiang Shi, Stiff corpse(literally), Chinese vampires(Western), Geungsi(Cantonese), Gangshi(Korean), Kyonshī(Japanese)


Jiang Shi (traditional Chinese: 僵屍 or 殭屍; simplified Chinese: 僵尸; pinyin: jiāngshī; literally "stiff corpse"), sometimes called Chinese vampires by Westerners, are reanimated corpses that hop around, killing living creatures to absorb life essence (气/氣qì) from their victims. jiāngshī is pronounced geungsi in Cantonese, gangshi in Korean, and "kyonshī" in Japanese. They are said to be created when a person's soul (魄 pò) fails to leave the deceased's body, due to improper death, suicide, or just wanting to cause trouble. Generally their appearance can range from plain ordinary (as in the case of a recently deceased person) to downright horrifying (i.e. rotting flesh, stiffness, rigor mortis, the like commonly associated with corpses that have been in a state of decay over a period of time) An unusual feature of folklore is their greenish-white furry skin; one theory is this is derived from fungus or mould growing on corpses. They are said to have long white hair all over their heads. The influence of Western vampire stories brought the blood-sucking aspect to the Chinese myth in modern times. In fact, Dracula is translated to Chinese as "blood-sucking jiāngshī" where the thirst of blood is explicitly emphasized because it is not a traditional trait of a jiāngshī.

It came from the mythical folklore practice of "Traveling a Corpse over a Thousand Li" (千里行屍), where traveling companion or family members who could not afford wagons or have very little money would hire Taoist priests to transport corpses of their friends/family members who died far away from home over long distances by teaching them to hop on their own feet back to their hometown for proper burial. This practice (湘西趕屍) was popular in Xiangxi where many people left their hometown to work elsewhere. After they died, their corpses were transported back to their rural hometown using long bamboo rods, believed they were home-sick or buried somewhere unfamiliar. When the bamboo flexed up and down, the corpses appeared to be hopping in unison from a distance. Some people speculate that the scary mythology about Jiang Shis was originally made up by smugglers who disguised their illegal activities as corpse transportation and wanted to scare off law enforcement officers.

Jiang Shis were a popular subject in Hong Kong movies during the 1980s; some movies even featured both Jiang Shis and "Western" zombies. In the movies, Jiang Shis can be put to sleep by putting on their foreheads a piece of yellow paper with a spell written on it (Chinese talisman or 符, pinyin: fú). Generally in the movies the Jiang Shi are dressed in imperial Qing Dynasty clothes, their arms permanently outstretched due to rigor mortis. Like those depicted in Western movies, they tend to appear with an outrageously long tongues and long razor sharp black fingernails. They can be evaded by holding one's breath, as they track living creatures by detecting their breathing. They're blind, and lack knowledge. Their visual depiction as horrific Qing Dynasty officials reflects a common stereotype among the Han Chinese of the foreign Manchu people, who founded the much-despised dynasty, as bloodthirsty creatures with little regard for humanity. It is also the conventional wisdom of feng shui in Chinese architecture that a threshold (traditional Chinese: 門檻; simplified Chinese: 门槛; pinyin: ménjiàn), a piece of wood approximately 15 cm (6 in) high, be installed along the width of the door at the bottom to prevent a Jiang Shi from entering the household. When grains or rice, seeds, anything small thrown in the path of a jiang shi, the jiang shi will stop and count the grains of rice. Sticky rice is believed to draw the evil spirit of the jiang shi out


Cultural references

The Jiang Shi has appeared in many films from Hong Kong that have seen Western release, including the Geungsi Sinsang (also known as Mr. Vampire) series featuring Lam Ching-Ying.

Mixed Martial Artist Genki Sudo employed a troupe of break-dancing Jiang Shi in one of his characteristically flashy stage entrances.

The Jiang Shi once appeared in an episode of Jackie Chan Adventures.

In Darkstalkers, a character by the name of Hsien-Ko is a Jiang Shi, her sister Mei-Ling is Chinese talisman on her hat.

The character of Chaozu in the anime/manga series Dragon Ball (Z) is reportedly based on a Jiang Shi, with his very pale skin, the fact he flies instead of walking most of the time and that by stretching out his arms he invokes his powers. His costume is also very common to the Quin Dynasty that Jiang Shis supposedly wear


See also

Undead
Vampire
Vetala
Medieval revenant
Zombie
Chinese mythology
Yokai
Yurei
Chupacabra


Links

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiang_Shi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_mythology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chinese_mythology


Chinese mythology | Vampires | Corporeal undead