湘西赶尸 Origin of the Chinese Vampire - The Hmong/Miao Walking Corpses

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• published: 01 Dec 2015
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Yes! The famous Chinese "Vampires/Zombies" or dead evil walking corpses were actually inspired from the Ghao Xong (Miao or Hmong)'s legends in Xiangxi, Hunan province, China. This has been said to be a real practice among the Ghao Xong which were most likely found and written down during the Ming Dynasty. In early China, the Miao (Hmong/Hmu/Ghao Xong) people were known to be the first kind of people to have practice black magic and witchcraft. In this Ghao Xong practice and beliefs, if a dead relative was unable to come home and being bury close to their home, the dead relative would become a wondering lonely ghost. To avoid that, the relatives of the dead person would often ask or hire the shamans or daoism/taoism priests to help guide the body back home to their relatives. The corpses would either hop, or walk back as it is being guided by the shaman's chants and gong sounds. Often at times, the relatives would only to be able to get a rare glimpses at the dead body before burying. The myth of the practice is said to be thrived from Chiyou (Txiv Yawg). After the raging bloody wars with HuangDi, Chiyou saw many of his people dead in the battlefield. He didn't want to leave all of them behind, so he asked the shamans to guide them back home properly without leaving them all there. With Chiyou's banner heading towards the South, the shamans guided the dead bodies of soldiers back home. From that point on, this practice was established. The idea of Jiangshi (僵尸) or Ganshi (赶尸) became more known worldwide as it has been popularized by the Hong Kong 1990s' media and movies often wearing in Qing Dynasty's clothing. The Ghao Xong specifically also wore Qing Dynasty's clothing as well due to oppression and trying to assimilate the Ghao Xong under their rule. I actually have known this for awhile, but now that I found a perfect documentary (in English), more information to show to you all. :) Although this documentary tries to prove a scientific point of view into the superstition, we may actually never know whether it's possible or just mere superstitions and sightings.