#ying the jiangshi

[blossom-blur]

Ying🖤🔴

He's a friendly jiangshi who just wants to be your friend and is a great cook too. ^^ (I know he colors of his clothes are not great, but look, it is all I may pick for him. I'm now a bit picky to colors) Enjoy!

Name: Ying Gender: Male Age: 25 Species: Jiangshi / Jiang Shi (A Chinese vampire or zombie) Height: 6'4 Hair: A Bit Dark Brown Eyes: Little Dark Red Skin: Pale Grey Home: Dragon Town (A Chinese-like town) Personality: Friendly, Polite, Compassionate, A tiny bit Deranged, Kind, Protective, and Very Understanding Likes: Nighttime, Cooked meat, Cooking, Making new friends, Full moonlight, Freedom, Peaceful and beautiful places, etc Dislikes: Mirrors, Daylight, Peach wood, Glutinous rice, Specific talismans, Killing people to take their life force, Evil, and his father Powers/Abilities: Very Good Martial Arts Skills / Enhanced Senses like Hearing / Enhanced Strength / Can take life-force and chi from living beings (But never uses it much) / Great Cooking Skills / Speed / Flight and Hover Facts:

His favorite foods are Peking duck, pork buns, wonton soup, and dim sum

His favorite drink is tea

[asksythe]

Is there any cultural significance or reasoning for Xiao Xingchen giving both his eyes to Song Lan, instead of just one?

I can certainly see there being plot and/or thematic reasons for it (like it makes a better parallel with Wei Wuxian who couldn’t give just half his golden core; it’s necessary for Xiao Xingchen to be completely blind for the Yi city tragedy to play out as it did; etc.) but I’m wondering if there is more to it then that.

Your insights on other bits of MDZS lore have been really interesting!

That’s a tough question. The short answer is: yes. It’s a cultural thing. 

The longer answer is that I’m not sure I can adequately answer your question... because I feel that I'm not qualified. It goes deep. This is reaching the DNA of Chinese culture and the value system itself. I would say it’s probably better if you read more Chinese classics or immerse yourself in the culture. This is one of those things that are immensely difficult to put into words. The best way is to experience it.    

But since you asked me, I’m going to at least give it a try. 

The reason that Xiao Xingchen gave both eyes to Song Lan and the true root of the Yi City tragedy includes three different cultural concepts: Jishi 济世 (the Chinese ideal of saving the world), Enyuan Yinguo 恩怨因果 (Karma and Karmic Debts), and the quest to find Dao 道 (truth). 

1/ Jishi 济世 

济世 Jishi is a Chinese term denoting a philosophical ideal pursued by certain classes or castes of people since ancient times in China. It means to sacrifice and save the world. It’s self-sacrificial heroism in the most ideal and purest sense of the concept, similar to our modern-day Doctors without Borders.   

This is Xiao Xingchen’s higher calling, his chosen purpose. Xiao Xingchen came down from Baoshan Sanren’s mountain at 17 years old with one purpose: to make the world a better place. He rejected no one who needed his help. He went out of his way to reject the invitations from the cultivator Houses to join their ranks and enjoy the wealth and privilege it might bring because he didn’t want to be distracted from a higher calling.

Using modern Western vernacular, Xiao Xingchen is a hero. That’s his religion and identity. That’s on top of a personality that already holds high self-responsibility. So is there any wonder he feels he’s responsible for Song Lan’s loss and must give Song Lan both eyes?  

2/ Enyuan Yinguo 恩怨因果

恩怨 En Yuan. Yuan is resentment, spite, hatred, grudge. But En is a lot harder to nail down in English. It’s commonly translated as favor, but ‘favor’ has none of the cultural weight and encoded social obligation of En. The pure meaning of En is ‘a good deed done from the heart.’ A kindness. A mercy. A gift. 

For example, Jiang Fengmian taking Wei Ying into Jiangshi is En. Wen Ning saving Jiang Cheng and Wei Ying is En. Wen Ning reclaiming Jiang Fengmian and Yu Furen’s corpses and artifacts is En. Big En, comparable rebirthing an entire household. Wen Ruohan teaching Zhao Zhuli (later on known as Wen Zhuliu) and granting him a chance to prove himself is also En. Nie Mingjue doing the same to Jin Guangyao is the same level of En (granting critical knowledge and opportunity to completely change one’s life). Jin Guangyao taking in Lan Xichen and hiding him from Wen pursuers before the Sunshot campaign is En.   

因果 Yinquo = Karmic Bonds, the fruits that bloom from the seeds one sow. It’s also understood as a link between people’s life. Our lives collide, intertwine, and diverge like threads on a tapestry. We are each bound to each other by the threads of Karma and our debt to each other. This is yinguo. 

There is a deep-seated belief in China that a person’s life is a ledger. To live is to constantly add to and take away from the ledger. When other people perform En for you, that means you take from their ledger and add to yours. When someone takes from your ledger, a yuan/grudge is born. From the moment you were born, you were granted the greatest of En, the gift of life from your parents.   

In Chinese culture, it’s believed that one must try one’s best to square the ledger. One must repay En and reclaim Yuan. Entangled Enyuan eventually leads to tangled Yinguo, and that’s just a big headache nobody wants because it directly impacts your afterlife, your next life, your descendants, and sometimes even your ancestors that are already dead. 

To strive your best to repay En is seen as a virtue. Of course, not everyone is capable or even wants to reach this ideal. Like when we say it’s good to be honest, but being truly and completely honest in daily life is… a task, shall we say. Sometimes, it’s very hard to truly repay what you owe. And sometimes, your Enyuan with a person or with a House is so entangled that it’s either hard to really say who owes who, or hard to admit to the fact that you are the one in the reds.  

You are seeing parallels between Xiao Xingchen and Wei Wuxian because they both embody this ideal to the extreme. Both would take it upon themselves to repay. Xiao Xingchen paid with his eyes. Wei Wuxian repaid Jiang Fengmian’s En by giving Jiang Cheng his jindan, helped Jiang Cheng rebuild Jiang Shi using Guidao (Path of the Dead), gave up all his war achievements for the rebuilding of Jiangshi and left Jiangshi without a penny to his name despite being a major contributor to victory, and then… repaid Wen Ning, Wen Qing’s En to Jiang Cheng and Jiangshi in Jiang Cheng’s place when the other didn’t.  

In some ways, you can say that both Xiao Xingchen and Wei Wuxian are flawed in that they underestimate their own value and well-being and overestimate what other people do for them. You can even say that they are foolish because they pay for En that isn’t theirs to pay, and that eventually leads to their suffering and death. But this is just the kind of people they are. They are true idealists who genuinely believe in a Truth greater than mortal squabbles. They are pure, uncorrupted Daoists, the kind that holds the founding precepts of Daoism in their heart.  

In the novel, there are many examples of different people and how they see Enyuan Yinguo and how much value they put in them. 

We have Su Se, who was saved by Wei Wuxian twice but didn’t even acknowledge it. Instead, he saw that as a Yuan because he probably hated the fact that it showed how weak and insignificant he was. Yet Jin Guangyao merely remembered his name and gave him some support to create his House, and he was willing to be Jin Guangyao’s attack dog, going so far as to abandon his own House members in Fuma Cave when Jin Guangyao’s plan failed and using his life to buy time for Jin Guangyao in Guanyin temple. 

We also have Jiang Cheng, who was well aware that he owed Wen Ning and Wen Qing, but didn’t want to acknowledge it because he was poisoned with trauma and hatred at the hands of Wen Chao and felt that because of his relationship with Wei Ying, he was entitled to Wen Ning’s En. And yet he is rational enough to understand that admitting to owing this ginormous En and not repaying it is a huge stigma on House Jiang, and so even when he answered Nie Mingjue, confirming that the Wen remnants did have En with him, he answered in such a way that downplayed the enormity of En. Answering truthfully would have exonerated Wei Wuxian and the Wen remnants because the laws regarding Enyuan are so foundational that no one could have blamed the Jiang for saving the Wen remnants. But answering truthfully would have been admitting to his owing the Wen, setting House Jiang against House Jin, and turning House Jiang into a target of ridicule for other Houses because such an En should have been paid long before Wei Wuxian had to take drastic measures and jailbroke the Wen remnants from Quiongqi Path.   

We also have Lan Xichen, who effectively compromised his entire House and compromised his own judgment because he saw Jin Guangyao as having granted him a huge En (which is not wrong, per se). 

And then we have Jin Guanyao, who killed both people who bestowed En on him (Wen Ruohan and Nie Mingjue both gave Jin Guangyao critical knowledge, opportunities, and elevated him above his station. And yet when it came to Lan Xichen, despite his effectively pushing the Lan to death in the second Burial Mound Siege, Jin Guangyao still acted like Lan Xichen was in the wrong for not paying Jin Guangyao’s En even more than he already had. 

Then finally, look at these Enyuan and consider the way it binds the various characters in both good and bad ways. 

So it’s a deeply embedded and very nuanced concept that manifests differently in different characters.  

3/ The Quest for Truth 道 Dao:

Dao/Tao 道: the truth, the path, the knowledge, the faith, the ideal, the natural order of the universe, that from which everything comes and that from which everything returns. 

What does Dao have to do with Xiao Xingchen? 

Well, because Xiao Xingchen is a Daoist. Remember when he reminded A-Quing to address him as Daozhang? That. 

He’s not the only Daoist in MDZS, either. The man who created Dao as a philosophy and spirituality, Laozi, is also the man who created the concept of cultivation in the first place. So every single cultivator in MDZS, indeed every single cultivator in xianxia genre, treads in Laozi’s footsteps, takes from his wisdom, and stands on his shoulders in their quest for heavens. 

The first sentence in Laozi’s definitive work on Dao, the Tao Te Ching, says: 

‘Dao that can be told is not Dao. Truth that can be named is not truth. Path that can be walked is not the right Path.’

The Tao Te Ching is a foundational Chinese Classic. It is the shortest but also the most complex and hard to understand. 

This first verse of the Tao Te Ching means: truth is not something that is fixed. Truth is nuanced. Knowledge is not something that can be given to you by words only. You must find this knowledge by yourself. Path is not something that anyone else can tell you. Your path must be walked by your own feet. Faith is not something that can given to you by someone else. You must find faith in yourself.  

So then, apply this sentence to Xiao Xingchen’s journey. Do you see it? Xiao Xingchen choosing Jishi is his journey to find and prove his Dao. Jishi is Xiao Xingchen’s Dao. 

Yi City is not a tragedy. Yi City is Xiao Xingchen’s tribulation and the unavoidable consequences of choosing to remain pure to the founding precepts of Dao while the rest of the cultivator Houses, including Nie and Lan, have long betrayed their origin. 

Even if, by some miracle, Xue Yang and Xiao Xingchen never entangled with each other, there will always be a Xi City or a Zi City for Xiao Xingchen. Because it is a consequence and a price to pay to find the truth that he desires. And he did find that truth. Song Lan, who he had left in a decisive gesture of severing their Karmic Bond, returned and would likely spend decades if not centuries walking Xiao Xingchen’s path, waiting for the day Xiao Xingchen awoke. And A-Qing never left Xiao Xingchen, never gave up on him either. 

   

Ugghh, such a heavy topic. I usually don't like to write too much on such topics because... it's hard to write and it's hard to read, and most people don't really have the patience to read. But it is a question. So I tried. In any case, have this fanart I commissioned from Nguyen Linh.

[fengshenjunlang]

People tried to make Wei Wuxian not "as morally good" as he is by claiming that he is disrespecting the dead and culturally unacceptable. Completely forgetting MDZS is a world where the dead can raise on their own.

And Jiangshi as in the Hopping Dead is culturally existing in Chinese Taoism. MXTX said in her recent interviews in the Japanese magazine Subaru that she used the folk legends of Jiangshi as the basis of Fierce Corpses.

So where did this culturally unacceptable even come from???

Do not use any other culture or literature to judge MDZS!!!!!!

Do not use the sob stories of Western Zombies to judge mdzs Fierce Corpse!

Do not forget and never ever forget, if Wei Wuxian is truly as flawed as you guys tried to make it to be, MXTX wouldn't have wished in her MDZS end notes that her readers will take Wei Wuxian's nature/temperament as example.

For more information about Culturally existing of Raising the Dead in China, someone else already wrote about it:

[mementoboni]

Kaoru and Hong Kong Movies

X ( Long post!! )

It's been a while, but I found that Kaoru mentioned a lot of classic Hong Kong movies in this tweet.

These are the movies I used to watch when I was a kid, and I never thought I'd ever hear them from Kaoru one day, so I want to give a brief introduction to these movies. 😀

01. スパルタンX (Spartan X)

繁體中文：快餐車 / English: Wheels on Meals

Wheels on Meals is a 1984 Hong Kong martial arts action comedy film written and directed by Sammo Hung (洪金寶), with action choreographed by Jackie Chan (成龍). The film stars Jackie Chan (成龍), Sammo Hung (洪金寶), Yuen Biao (元彪), Lola Forner, Benny Urquidez and José Sancho.

In 1984, it was adapted into the video game Spartan X (released as Kung-Fu Master internationally).

The final fight between Jackie Chan and Benny Urquidez

🎥 Best Fight Scene 👇

02. 五福星 (ごふくせい)

繁體中文：奇謀妙計五福星 / English: Winners and Sinners (or 5 Lucky Stars)

Winners and Sinners is a 1983 Hong Kong action comedy film written and directed by Sammo Hung (洪金寶), who also starred in the film. The film co-stars Jackie Chan (成龍) and Yuen Biao (元彪), the latter serving as one of the film's action directors.

The film is followed by My Lucky Stars (福星高照) and Twinkle, Twinkle Lucky Stars (夏日福星), insofar as the "Five Lucky Stars" concept (福星系列) and many of the same actors return in those latter films. However, the character names and indeed their roles differ - Stanley Fung's character is the nominal "leader" of the quintet in Winners and Sinners (奇謀妙計五福星), whereas Hung's character takes the mantle in the latter films.

🎥 Best Fight Scene 👇

03. 霊幻道士 (れいげん どうし)

繁體中文：殭屍先生 (or 暫時停止呼吸) / English: Mr. Vampire

As this is one of my favorite movies, I will introduce more 😃

Mr. Vampire is a 1985 Hong Kong comedy horror film directed by Ricky Lau (劉觀偉) and produced by Sammo Hung (洪金寶).

The vampire of the film is based on the jiangshi (殭屍/ㄐ一ㄤˉ ㄕˉ), the hopping corpses of Chinese folklore (similar to both zombies and vampires).

"殭" means "to die immortal" (死而不朽) or "stiff" (about the same as "僵"), and "屍" means "dead body".

The film was released under the Chinese title 暫時停止呼吸 (literally: Hold Your Breath for a Moment) in Taiwan. This is because most (not all) of the 殭屍 can't see with their eyes, they can only tell where people are by their breathing, so if you hold your breath you won't get caught by 殭屍.

🎥 ※ This video is dubbed in Mandarin (with Eng subs) 👇

The film is set in the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China (清朝末年~民國初期), that is, the late 19th century to the early 20th century, and most of the 殭屍 are wearing the costumes of Qing Dynasty officials.

(That's why, when I first read about the Qing Dynasty (清朝) in the history textbook, I wondered why people were all dressed as 殭屍 🤣)

🎥 ※ This video is dubbed in Mandarin (with Eng subs) 👇

The box office of Mr. Vampire success led to the creation of a Mr. Vampire franchise, with the release of four sequels directed by Ricky Lau (劉觀偉) from 1986 to 1992, and subsequent similarly themed films with different directors released between 1987 and 1992, with Lam Ching-ying (林正英) as the lead for the majority of them.

The film was the breakthrough success of the jiangshi genre, a trend popular in Hong Kong during the 1980s, and established many of the genre's recognisable tropes.

🎥 ※ This video is dubbed in Mandarin (with Eng subs) 👇

I highly recommend this movie!!

Also, I love the the movie song - Ghost Bride (鬼新娘).

🎥 ※ This song is in Cantonese (廣東話/粵語). 👇

04. Mr.Boo

繁體中文：半斤八両 / English: The Private Eyes

The Private Eyes is a 1976 Hong Kong comedy film written, directed by and starring Michael Hui (許冠文) and co-starring his brothers Samuel Hui (許冠傑) and Ricky Hui (許冠英) as well as Shih Kien (石堅) and Richard Ng (吳耀漢) in his second film role. Sammo Hung (洪金寶) served as the film's action director and Jackie Chan (成龍) was also a stuntman.

In 1979, when Jiahe Corporation (嘉禾公司) promoted Bruce Lee's (李小龍) kung fu film in Japan, it added "The Private Eyes" and changed its propaganda department to "Mr Boo!" as a call to action, it became a huge hit, earning a billion yen at the box office in Japan, followed by several Huh Brothers (許氏兄弟) comedies featuring "Mr. Boo!" as the title.

It is worth mentioning that Hsu Kuan-chieh's (許冠傑) character was voiced by the famous Japanese actor Kitano Takeshi (北野武). In 1981, Takakura Ken (高倉健) starred in "駅 STATION ", there are also male and female protagonists watching "The Private Eyes" kitchen fighting scenes. Japanese manga master Akatsuka Fujio (赤塚不二夫) has written the preface and Japanese lyrics for this film.

🎥 The kitchen fighting scenes 👇

#吳耀漢

繁體中文：吳耀漢 / English: Richard Ng

Kaoru mentioned 吳耀漢 in the tag because he passed away in April 2023. 吳耀漢 is a famous actor in Hong Kong, and he has appeared in all the movies mentioned above except Mr. Vampire.

※ In fact, 吳耀漢 appeared in 霊幻道士3 (繁體中文：靈幻先生 / English: Mr. Vampire III), a sequel to the Mr. Vampire series, which was released in 1986. I guess this is the movie Kaoru was referring to.

Speaking of 吳耀漢, I would like to recommend another Hong Kong movie: Rigor Mortis

05. Rigor Mortis

繁體中文：殭屍(2013) or 殭屍 七日重生

Rigor Mortis is a 2013 Hong Kong horror film directed by Juno Mak (麥浚龍) and produced by Takashi Shimizu (清水崇，the director of 呪怨 Juon). The film is a tribute to the Mr. Vampire film series. Many of the former cast are featured in this film: Chin Siu-ho (錢小豪), Anthony Chan (陳友), Billy Lau (樓南光) and Richard Ng (吳耀漢). *吳耀漢 is the 殭屍 on the poster. 👆

Unlike the usual Hong Kong comedies, the overall atmosphere in Rigor Mortis is very depressing. The whole movie is full of nostalgia and reluctance for Mr. Vampire, which reminds people of the glory of Hong Kong jiangshi movies back in the day. Personally, I think it is the best jiangshi movie of the last 20 years.

🎥 OFFICIAL TRAILER 👇

🎥 The Hallway Scene in the movie also uses the song Ghost Bride (鬼新娘), and the song is even more creepy as it slows down. 👇

--- --- ---

It's really happy to know that Kaoru has watched these movies.

💜 Thanks for reading 💜

Btw, today (2023/08/30, the 15th day of the 7th lunar month) is The Ghost Festival (中元節).

[lautakwah]

For those (who think they're) unfamiliar with these people, here's a quick crash course/refresher:

Ann Hui, the only woman on this list (rip). Famous for having a grounded, realistic style in her filmmaking that focuses on women and social issues. One of the most celebrated and critically acclaimed filmmakers in general. She's known for Vietnam Trilogy (personally I hated them but HK'ers are always weird abt vn), Love in a Fallen City (1984), Song of Exile (1990), A Simple Life (2011).

John Woo, perhaps also known for his Hollywood films in the 2000s, he's actually the one who popularized and (re)defined the heroic bloodshed genre. One of the most well-known action directors out there; if you know the "shoots people with a gun in each hand while jumping/falling down" move, just know that is literally something he invented. Known for A Better Tomorrow (1986), The Killer (1989), Hard Boiled (1992).

Johnnie To, a highly versatile director with a strong sense of style, with a cult following outside of his native Hong Kong. While his crime thrillers are the films he's most known for, he's dipped his toes in basically every genre, most met with critical and commercial success. Known for The Eighth Happiness (1988) (fans of cmedia will be happy to know this is the movie that pioneered the lny comedy formula, à la All's Well, Ends Well (1992)), All About Ah-Long (1989), A Moment of Romance (1990), The Mission (1999), Election (2005).

Yuen Woo-ping, probably better known for his action choreography rather than his directing, most of his films are wuxia or have martial arts in them as a narrative vehicle, and featuring some of the most well-known action stars of all time, like Jet Li and Donnie Yen. Famous works include Drunken Master (1978), Iron Monkey (1993), Tai Chi Master; he also did the choreography for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), and The Matrix 2 & 3 (among others).

Patrick Tam, while by now probably outshined by his mentee, Wong Kar-wai, is nevertheless one of the seminal members of the HK New Wave and credited by a lot of filmmakers as their inspiration if he didn't personally help them with their projects. His works are characterized by stylish directing with vivid imagery contrasting the meandering narratives and tonal shifts. Known for Nomad (1982), Burning Snow (1988).

Allen Fong, a director who has little titles to his name, but every one critically acclaimed. As like most of his contemporaries, his films are on the social issues and the uncertain, changing geopolitics of HK in the 80s, while ostensibly not focusing on those head-on. Known for Father and Son (1982), Ah Ying (1983).

David Lai, same as Allen Fong, probably isn't as well-known as some of the others on this list, but for those who do know him, he might be the most important on the list. He's directed a ton of cult classics, and has worked together with veritable superstars in the 80s and 90s. Known for The Lonely Fifteen (1982), Possessed (1983), Saviour of the Soul (1991).

Ringo Lam, a name associated with action films and heroic bloodshed the same way John Woo's is, but a powerhouse in his own right. If an action movie's conventions weren't pioneered by John Woo, there's a good chance it was pioneered by Ringo Lam instead. Most of his action/crime films focused on the dark underbelly of HK society, of which the On Fire films were probably most well-known (City on Fire (1987) in particular was ripped off for Hollywood's Reservoir Dogs). Known for Aces go Places IV (1986), City on Fire (1987), Prison on Fire (1987), Full Contact (1992).

Sammo Hung, on top of being a HK New Waver, is also one of the Seven Little Fortunes, and most famous for his martial arts and action movies, as well as choreography. He reinvented the martial arts genre and pioneered the jiangshi (cultural equivalent of zombie... ish) genre in HK cinema. Well-regarded in the industry, he's also credited by many to have helped jumpstart their careers. Known for Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980), The Prodigal Son (1981), the Lucky Stars Series, Wheels on Meals (1986), Millionaire's Express (1986), Moon Warriors (1992).

Tsui Hark, regarded as one of the masters of Asian cinema (not just HK!), and highly influential as both a HK filmmaker and one in the mainland. If you're more than passingly aware of Asian films you've probably heard his name or seen one of his movies -- or you swear you'll watch that one movie he's done any day now (even if you don't know he did that movie). While he started with mainly wuxia films, his repertoire is much more varied than that, and there's little that he hasn't done or tried. Known for Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind (1980), All the Wrong Clues for the Right Solution (1981), Peking Opera Blues (1986), the Once Upon a Time in China series (1991-1997) (the one with Jet Li in the first films), Green Snake (1993), and, more recently and I'm willing to bet you've all heard of this: The Battle at Lake Changjin (2021) (<- movie that made headlines for being "ccp propaganda" about the Korean War that had the highest box office ever at the time).

question to all cinephiles!

Reblog for sample size etc!

[chernobog13]

Lam Ching-ying as Master Kau, the One-Eyebrow Priest, aka Mr. Vampire, in a promo still for one of the several Mr. Vampire sequels.

If you are only familiar with jiangshi, the Chinese hopping vampires, from various manga and anime, you owe it to yourself to see these films.  Mr. Vampire (1985) is the film that popularized the genre, and introduced most of the tropes that come with it.

Mr. Vampire is hilarious and fun.  The sequels - Mr. Vampire ll, lll, and lV - are fun as well, but be warned they are only sequels in the “spiritual” sense.  They share the same theme of battling jiangshi, and use much of the same cast (though playing different roles), however, they can almost be considered stand-alone films.

The only true sequel is Mr. Vampire 1992, which reunites the original cast in their original roles, and picks up the story immediately after the end of the first Mr. Vampire.

Lam Ching-ying was an accomplished actor and martial artist, with a long list of credits.  However, after the tremendous success he became type-cast as a unibrowed Taoist.  Unlike other actors, though, Lam embraced this wholeheartedly.  He starred in numerous other jiangshi and horror comedies, and even directed himself in a few, including the very entertaining Vampire vs. Vampire (1989). 

Lam was starring in a Mr. Vampire-inspired television series, Vampire Expert, in the mid-1990s when he, sadly, developed liver cancer and passed away at the age of 49.

[wangxian-on-repeat]

Wei Wuxian: and with this brew i summon thee hence

Jiangshi: *crawls out of the ground*

Jiangshi: man

Jiangshi: your resurrection potion tastes like shit

[fuforthought]

The Musical Vampire (1992)

[asleepyy]

winter grumpiness

[robininthelabyrinth]

For the mini fill! LWJ is not just a few years younger than LXC - he's ten years younger, and definitely the precious baby of the Lan clan. If only his mother hadn't passed on her cannabilistic traits to her children, but especially to LWJ

continuation of the LWJ likes blood one

Some people might start to become concerned about Lan Wangji’s biting kink once they learned that his mother had been in the midst of transforming into a jiangshi during his birth, and that he himself had been infected by that transformation.

Not Wei Wuxian.

If anything, in his secret heart of hearts, he had to admit that he found it quite…compelling. A plus, rather than a minus – an extra little bit of danger, a frisson of excitement that wouldn’t be there if it wasn’t so risky. He knew that others would probably call him mad, especially Jiang Cheng, but he couldn’t help it, he liked it.

“Do you love me?” he whispered in Lan Wangji’s ear, knowing the answer even before Lan Wangji hummed in asset. “Do you hunger for me?”

“I would consume you,” Lan Wangji growled. “I would keep you in my stomach for all time, safe and protected.”

Wei Wuxian laughed.

The laugh turned into a choked-off moan when Lan Wangji buried his teeth in his neck.

It was a good sort of moan, but then, it was a good sort of bite.

“Don’t you forget it,” Wei Wuxian teased as soon as he could breathe again.

“Mm. Wei Ying is my favorite.”

And didn’t Wei Wuxian know it. Sure, Lan Wangji still went to his uncle and his brother when he wanted to see a bit of blood, but Wei Wuxian knew he was the one Lan Wangji truly lusted to see. His body, his blood…even Lan Qiren admitted that Lan Wangji’s desires were tied to love, and so Wei Wuxian knew that his lover’s desires were a reflection of the strength of his love for him.

So no, Wei Wuxian didn’t care that Lan Wangji might be considered odd.

As long as it was all his.

[legendaryweaponsofla]

Halloween Kung Fu Jiangshi Horror Guide via http://www.lwola.com/halloween-kung-fu-jiangshi-horror-guide/

Halloween is coming up, and it's the perfect season for watching these top "Jiangshi," or "hopping vampire" movies. 

#Billy-Chong, #Halloween, #Hopping-Vampires, #Horror, #Jiangshi, #Lam-ChingYing, #Mr-Vampire, #Sammo-Hung

[asksythe]

I read your tweet on how Wei Ying’s Guidao is orthodox cultivation based on real Guidao and that it’s descended from Bashu witchcraft. I’m very interested in that. Can you elaborate on it? What parts of WWX’s Guidao are based on real-life folklore? I’ve also seen people talk about how his cultivation is bad because it locks souls in their dead bodies. That doesn’t sound too credible to me, but I don’t know enough to be sure. 

Hmm… I’m not sure what you want me to elaborate on exactly. It’s a lot of materials to cover. Dry materials at that.

In any case, Guidao 鬼道 (Path of the Dead, Ghost Path) is a real-life orthodox cultivation. WWX’s Ghost Path, aside from sharing the name, has two main aspects that draw directly from real-life basis: 1/ the summoning, nurturing, and utilizing of ghosts or wraiths (in the novel, those would be the ghost lady and the ghost child that killed Wang Lingjiao and Wen Zhuliu. In the Donghua, they are represented as ghost brides), and 2/ commanding fierce corpses.

These two aspects are drawn from two different sources.

I. Maoshan Sect’s Guidao:

As I mentioned in the tweet, the ghost path belongs to one of the three main fulu orthodox schools of Daoism: the Maoshan Sect (the other two being Quanzhen and Zhengyi)

The earliest mentions of Ghost Path are in Han and Jin history records as well as the Three Kingdoms: Zhang Lu biography texts. These texts talk of a Daoist named Zhang Lingzhi, whose Daoism is called Guidao 鬼道. Zhang Lingzhi taught the people the way of ghosts and dao and raised an army. His soldiers and generals were called ghost soldiers and ghost generals. Zhang Lingzhi’s Daoism was itself descended from Bashu ethnic group witchcraft. Zhang Lingzhi founded the 天师道 Tianshidao School.

(Citation: Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences - “巴蜀的“鬼道”如何变成了道教?” - How did Bashu’s ghost path become Taoism? http://www.sass.cn/912/default.aspx If you want to dig deeper, you can contact the academy directly for their research paper.)

Tianshidao School underwent several name changes over the year. To this day, they are known under the name (or descended, as some would say) Maoshan Sect in Jiangsu Province.

Maoshan sect has four major specialties: talisman, array, sorcery, and the nurturing of ghost familiars. After the cultural revolution, Maoshan sect lost a lot of its scriptures and relics. But it has been around for literally thousands of years. So there are still things there. It’s not the titan it used to be, but it’s still very much a cultural icon. There are numerous movies, books, and games that draw from Maoshan history and legends. One of them happens to be a movie cited as MXTX’s inspiration for aspects of MDZS in the recent Subaru magazine.

(Mr. Vampire, the movie cited in Subaru magazine features the adventure of a Maoshan Daoist)

II. Tujia 土家族 ethnic group’s stiff corpse driving sorcery - Hunan:

The other aspect of WWX’s ghost path: the commanding of dead corpses by a warlock. In the same Subaru interview, MXTX also talked of folk legends of Jiangshi (stiff corpse, or commonly translated as Chinese hopping vampire) serving as the basis for her fierce corpse, ranging from things like general abilities, toxicity, and tricks like using rice gruel to cure their poison.

Jiangshi has been around since the Ming dynasty, but tales of warlock with the ability to command them originate from the Tujia ethnic group in Hunan.

A jiangshi warlock process the corpses, plaster them with paper talismans to restrain their ferocity, tie them in a row, and leads them using a bell that the warlock continuously rings.

(Hoppy hoppy! It's edgiest conga train!)

Well, I don’t think I need to point out the similarity between the real-life Tujia warlock and WWX’s corpse commanding ability.

This specific sorcery was created in a time of war, when young men died in far-off lands. Their families, wanting to bury them in their home soil, would pay a warlock to go fetch their corpses and walk these corpses all the way back to their home province.

These legends might seem very fantastic but the corpse walking part is a very real job that still existed until the last 50 years. It’s featured in Liao Yiwu’s real-life journalism record “The Corpse Walker”

(It's a really thrilling read. I got the physical copy over 13 years ago while I was in my last year at university. I recommend it.)

III. How does Tujia warlock (and WWX) supposedly command corpses?

Regarding the whole, did WWX lock people’s souls inside their dead bodies. Uh…. I don’t think so.

Why?

Because Chinese beliefs about souls are different from Western beliefs. In Chinese lore, a person has three souls and seven spirits (三魂七魄). The three souls represent the positive aspects of a person, with one soul literally being a divine spark. The seven spirits represent earthly taints and degradations and are bound to the body. When a person dies, the three souls will go to the heavens, the next life, and the underworld, respectively. The seven spirits, on the other hand, dissipate after death after 49 days.

This belief is shared in other Sinosphere nations as well and is featured in other media franchises. If you read Inuyasha, you will remember the Jewel of Four Souls and the Four Souls concept being a close relative to three souls seven spirits. In Vietnam, there is folklore of Ba Hồn Bảy Vía and rituals on how to call a person's soul home.

It’s these seven spirits that create Jiangshi. If the spirits do not completely dissipate, the corpse turns into a Jiangshi, a literal life vampire that has only the worst aspect of the dead person and who is forever hungering for life energy. It is these seven spirits that a Tujia warlock (and WWX) controls.

When you have this context, you can put the creation of Wen Ning in a different perspective, and why is it that it's such a big deal he retains his consciousness as a corpse.

(Citation: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E5%83%B5%E5%B0%B8/80733

[tilthedayidice]

May I ask a palette for Paracelsus's brother as well? His name is Wan Ying, and he's a jiangshi bard. He's another good kid who saldy lacks some autonomy. He has an incredible memory as long as someone remembers to order him to remember. He's tall, with long, light green eyes and hair, and has fuchsia flowers in them. He wears a white and dark green outfit, and black&white stockings. He has his golden talisman on his forehead. He's very protective of his younger brother.

Dice Envy Avocado Toast

Dice Envy Grindavik

Dice Envy Eureka

Dice Envy Fifolet

Dark Moon Dice Custom Set

Chessex Marble Ivory/Black

Crystal Caste White Pearlized Hybrid Dice

[myths-and-magictricks]

Two more characters of my own. On the right, Paracelsus, and Wan Ying on the left.

Wan Ying is the older foster brother. He’s a jiangshi, and a bard built on dex. Ha has an incredible memory (as long as someone tells him to remember). His range and intesity of emotions is limited but his love and care for his brother an mother is genuine. Paracelsus is a homunculus, and should be a factotum, He was shocked when he discovered he’s not human, so he started to travel to find his purpose in life. Despite her lying to him, he still loves his mom very dearly. Their mom really wanted a child, but she was cursed to be sterile, so she tried to create one. Wan Ying and Paracelsus are the only ones that survived. Near their home there’s a small graveyard with failed “experiments”, though she doesn’t regard them as such, but instead, as her children anyway, and takes care of their graves as a mother would do for the grave of a child of her own flesh and blood. She’s sad Paracelsus wants to travel, but knows she can’t hold him there forever, that’s why she instructs him on various surviving techniques and equips him with many tools to make his traveling life easier. He left with the promise to write often and the blessing of his brother.

[roommatesaucomics]

Halloween doodles

1. I grew up watching a lot of Chinese films with Jiangshi (hopping corpse/vampires) especially the ones starring Lam Ching-ying (RIP).

2. https://youtu.be/k9MlmEx8sA4

One of my hated theme of horror movies are the ‘curios girl’ scenario, in which said girl let her curiosity get the better of her and endangered her whole village. I mean, I can understand if its about breaking free from tradition but we’re taking about a murderous entity. Worst part about this, is that there’s no guarantee that it would really end everything should they stop said creature.

3. Pokemaniacal

4. The Thing is still my favorite horror movie