WEBVTT - The Monsterfact: The Jiang Shi

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of

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<v Speaker 1>My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and

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<v Speaker 1>this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures,

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<v Speaker 1>ideas and monsters in time. Imagine yourself out on the road,

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<v Speaker 1>so frustratingly close to the walls of the city you've

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<v Speaker 1>been traveling too, and yet night is falling, the mist

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<v Speaker 1>is rolling in, and then up ahead you see several

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<v Speaker 1>figures in the gloom, fellow travelers, a patrol of guards

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<v Speaker 1>from the city. You entertain the possibility that they are bandits,

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<v Speaker 1>and then they do something quite unnatural. They hop like

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<v Speaker 1>a creature whose legs are bound or stiff with rigor mortis,

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<v Speaker 1>or perhaps even forgetful of proper bipedal locomotion, and forced

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<v Speaker 1>to lunge itself forward through physical space like a great

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<v Speaker 1>writhing worm. The creatures hop and hop again, ever closer

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<v Speaker 1>to you, And as they get closer you see that

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<v Speaker 1>they are undead horrors, dressed in robes from the Ching Dynasty,

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<v Speaker 1>decayed corpses, burning with unnatural life. As they hop, they

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<v Speaker 1>reach out towards you with elongated fingernails. They gasp with bloody,

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<v Speaker 1>faint tooth jaws, and if they catch you, they will

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<v Speaker 1>drain every last ounce of precious chi from your body.

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<v Speaker 1>In some ways relatable to Western concepts of the zombie

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<v Speaker 1>and the vampire, this is the jiang shi. And while

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<v Speaker 1>Chinese mythology and folklore is filled with various ghosts and monsters,

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<v Speaker 1>this particular horror seems to emerge from a ching dynasty

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<v Speaker 1>crisis concerning the burial of the dead. According to the

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<v Speaker 1>Afterlife Corpses, A Social History of Unburied Dead Bodies in

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<v Speaker 1>Chin China sixteen forty four through nineteen eleven by historian

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<v Speaker 1>Joehi Su, numerous records from the eighteenth and nineteenth century

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<v Speaker 1>discussed the problem of unburied bodies left upon the ground

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<v Speaker 1>without proper burial. These were not exclusively the victims of war, famine,

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<v Speaker 1>or disaster either. They were seemingly, for the most part,

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<v Speaker 1>individuals who simply had no permanent grave. This, Sioux writes,

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<v Speaker 1>was due to changing socioeconomic structure and the resulting imbalance

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<v Speaker 1>between population and arable land. A family would need to

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<v Speaker 1>secure claim to the land in order to bury deceased

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<v Speaker 1>loved ones. If a grave could not be obtained, they

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<v Speaker 1>were left out and often abandoned or lost. While jiang

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<v Speaker 1>Nan was the region most impacted by this, it became

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<v Speaker 1>an empire wide crisis because it wasn't just about the dead,

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<v Speaker 1>but it perceived cultural decline in funeral custom and even

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<v Speaker 1>devotion to one's ancests. While solutions finally emerged, such as

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<v Speaker 1>public cemeteries and coffin homes, the specter of the jiangshi

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<v Speaker 1>remained in the Chinese imagination, a specter of the abandoned

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<v Speaker 1>and vengeful dead. These beliefs, along with other records Sue

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<v Speaker 1>writes quote, demonstrate unburied dead bodies as highly abnormal and

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<v Speaker 1>deeply problematic, representing a dysfunctional aspect of popular death custom.

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<v Speaker 1>Jiangshi famously play a role in an entire sub genre

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<v Speaker 1>of Chinese supernatural, horror and comedy films, including Mr. Vampire,

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<v Speaker 1>which we watched on Weird House Cinema last year. They're

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<v Speaker 1>also now featured in Dungeons and Dragons, listed in Ones

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<v Speaker 1>Van Ripton's Guide to Ravenloft as a challenge level nine

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<v Speaker 1>monster capable of changing shape and of course, draining the

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<v Speaker 1>energy of its victims. While sometimes played for comedy, there

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<v Speaker 1>is a deep and unnatural horror to the Jiangshi, and

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<v Speaker 1>it absolutely demands a place in your nightmares and at

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<v Speaker 1>your gaming table. Tune in for additional episodes of The

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<v Speaker 1>Monster Fat each week. As always, you can email us

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<v Speaker 1>at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of I Heart Radio.

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