Geong Si,[2] or Jiangshi, are reanimated human corpses created from Chinese occultism. Typically risen when the deceased's hun soul leaves the body but the po soul remains, jiangshi are reanimated by spirit energy and talismans containing an "unavenged grievance" placed upon their foreheads, with their wills bent towards their creator.[3] Those wounded or killed by a jiangshi will be transformed into one if they have unavenged grievances themselves and will be obedient to the creator of the jiangshi that felled them.[4] A side effect from a wound inflicted by a jiangshi turns the victim's blood black and sparkling, resembling the night sky.[5]
History
14th century[]
In the winter 1374, Tral, a criminal from Attilan was active on the Tibetan Plateau near the head of the Yangtze River, animating corpses with his will, believed by the locals to be the Geong Si of myths. Tral used them to attack Adam Destine and his sons Thaddeus and Albert (travelling to the Shalu Monastery in Shigatse), killed Thaddeus, but was ended by Albert. Inhuman representatives soon arrived on the site, explaining the situation to Adam Destine.[2]
Modern Age[]
Zheng Zu had experimented on jiangshi but ultimately did not utilize them for his criminal activities. After his death, his daughter Sister Hammer revived her father's experiments, creating a whole army of jiangshi to bolster the Five Weapons Society, planting microchips containing her unavenged grievance towards her brother, Shang-Chi, to reanimate them.[5] Sister Hammer has her jiangshi army assault London, with many victims being turned into jiangshi themselves. During her fight with Shang-Chi, Hammer realizes that her unavenged grievance was against her father rather than her brother, causing her to let go of her hate and incapacitates her jiangshi.[4]Powers and Abilities
Weaknesses
Jiangshi are ideally destroyed by applying paper amulets written in chicken's blood by a Taoist exorcist to their foreheads. Victims of a jiangshi attack can avoid being turned into one by keeping their hearts pure before succumbing to their wounds. When the creator of a jiangshi lets go of their unavenged grievance, the jiangshi will cease to exist and those infected by jiangshi will be cured of their wounds.[4]
Jiangshi can also be destroyed by excessive damage to their bodies, such as explosions.[3]Notes
- A jiangshi, or "Chinese hopping vampire", is a type of reanimated corpse in Chinese legends and folklore. The characters for "jiangshi" are read geung-si in Cantonese, "cương thi" in Vietnamese, "kyonshi" in Japanese, and "gangsi" in Korean. It is also known as "phi dip chin" in Thai, "hantu pocong" in Malay, and "vampir cina" in Indonesia.[6]