#ExpedienteMacabro: Jiāngshī, the Chinese Monster That Absorbs Human Energy

By: Arturo Rojas

It is said that Halloween began as a holiday in which children can face their fears and even laugh at them a little.

However, there are cultures where the approach to the spirit world is a bit more respectful... and cautious.

In China, for example, the 7th month of the year is known as Ghost Month. The 15th day of that month is called Ghost Day, when the afterlife converges with the earthly world and spirits go out to roam the Earth. On that date, people don't go out into the streets to avoid running into one of the fearsome spirits or demons that populate their folklore.

Among Chinese monsters, one of the most feared -and best-known- is the 僵尸 (Jiāngshī), an undead being that feeds on the life energy of human beings.

One of its distinctive traits is that it doesn't fly, doesn't run, heck, it doesn't even walk, it moves along by hopping (What did you expect? It's a corpse with rigor mortis reanimated through a botched spell). But if a jiāngshī manages to stand on its victim's shadow, it immobilizes them so it can close in hop by hop.

Another characteristic is that this monster evolves, so it must be stopped before it reaches its maximum level of power, or it will be virtually impossible to defeat. The best-known way to stop it is by placing a Taoist talisman on its forehead that drains it of all its strength, provided one has the skill to pull off the feat.

The Chinese “zombie” has starred in numerous Chinese horror films; among the most memorable is Mr. Vampire directed by Ricky Lau in 1986, which kicked off a saga that ran until 1992, and, more recently, Rigor Mortis made in 2013.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkFNjevTcjw (abre en nueva pestaña)