When Western scholars began to carefully study Chinese folklore in the 19th century, they unexpectedly stumbled upon stories about the Chinese bloodsucker Chian Shi or Kian Shi. Belief in such creatures is based on the Chinese interpretation of the existence of two souls.
Its essence lies in the fact that each person has a higher, or rational, soul, as well as a subordinate, or irrational. The first has the shape of a body and, when separated, appears as an exact double.
The supreme soul can leave the sleeping body and wander around. For a short time, she can enter another body and speak through it. If something happens to a wandering soul, it has negative consequences for the body. Sometimes the supreme soul appears in the form of an animal.
The subordinate soul, called pyai or pio, dwells in the body of the fetus during pregnancy and is often retained in the body of the deceased person, as a result of which the process of decomposition does not occur. When the drunken leaves the body, it decomposes. If the drunken is strong, then it persists and inhabits the body for quite a long time. A body animated by a drunken body is called chian-shi.
Chian-shi looks quite ordinary and is not perceived as a vampire until he does some act that might betray him. However, at times it takes on a sinister appearance and glows with a green phosphorescent fire. In this state, it develops sawtooth teeth and long claws.
In a different way, chian-shi are people who went to another world after an unnatural death (due to suicide, hanging, drowning, sudden death) or after improperly performing the burial rite. It is believed that the deceased becomes angry and worried if his funeral is delayed for a long time. Animals, and especially cats, should be kept away from the unburied body so that they cannot jump over it, for then it too can become a vampire.
Chian-shi roam the world and drink the blood of the living. Over time, they become more powerful, acquire long and soft hair, acquire the ability to be werewolves.
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But beautiful girls, after a premature or violent death, become, according to Chinese legends, vampire foxes. In addition, a girl who had a connection with the devil during her lifetime can become such a vampire. This beautiful fox tries to gain confidence in people.
During the transition to the "inanimate" state, the beauty of a girl, as is usual with vampires, is greatly enhanced, than the fox uses to seduce young people. She then enters their home and drinks the blood. She also knows how to transform into a fluffy black fox in order to flatter children or the elderly in the hope that she will be taken into the house. She does this again in order to freely drink the blood of her victims in her home.
To protect against this evil spirits, the Chinese display stone figures of a fox in their homes, which has risen on its hind legs and wrapped in a black cape. It is believed that a fox, seeing such a figure, will think that she already has a rival in the house, and will leave there.
One of the versions of the belief about Chian Shi speaks of their ability to turn into white wolves. The strength of such a vampire lies in his soft white hair. And the longer and thicker the hair, the stronger the chian shi.
There is a third version of the legend, according to which chian-shi is a "numb corpse." These creatures walk with their arms outstretched forward, because their muscles have long cooled and hardened. For the same reason, they move very slowly and heavily, therefore they prefer to move in wide jumps. It is said that zombies with black nails in China travel up to hundreds of miles because more than anything else they want to return to their hometown.
Chian-shi do not eat flesh, they only drink human blood, but they cannot think, because their brain is dead, as is the body. They are also unable to see and speak, but they have an excellent sense of smell, so they can track a person by his smell, feel the warmth from the breathing of a living and find him by this sign.
Therefore, it is advised when meeting with this creature to try not to breathe, and if it works out, then perhaps there is a chance to get rid of its deadly attention. You can repel the attack in an original magical way: write a word on a piece of paper with the blood of a chicken, and then, if possible, glue the piece of paper on the monster's forehead.
In the beliefs of the ancient Chinese, chian-shi did not possess some of the properties that were inherent in the Slavic vampire. For example, he could not dematerialize and rise from the grave, and therefore, his transformation had to take place before the funeral. This forced the burial to be carried out very quickly.
The Chinese chian shi were exceptionally nocturnal creatures, strong and vicious. There are detailed reports of their attacks on living people, severed heads and limbs. It was this murderous cruelty that received the most attention in the evidence.
Chian-shi usually shocked the victims with his appearance, since he did not have the ability to lure them. In addition to the need to kill, he could experience a strong sexual desire, which was drawn to violence against women.
The Chinese knew several remedies against the vampire. Among them, like other peoples, was garlic, a universal medicinal plant, as well as salt, which was believed to have a corrosive effect on the skin of the monster. In addition, with the help of an ordinary broom, a brave man could literally sweep a vampire to hell. Glutinous rice, in particular, was considered an antidote for bloodsucker bites.
Iron objects, rice and red peas created barriers to the chian shi and could often be placed around an empty coffin so that he would not choose it as a resting place.
If the evil spirits, gaining strength, reached the stage of transformation into a flying creature covered with hair, then only thunder or a bullet could end it. But the most radical means was burning - the cleansing fire has always been the most faithful defense for a person.
Chian-shih has become a character in numerous stories and folk tales. In the 17th century, he became the hero of one of the most famous stories of the Chinese writer Pew Xiang-Lin, the author of the 16-volume book Liao Choi.
The story "The Resurrected Body" tells the story of four merchants who stayed at a hotel and, by the will of circumstances, settled down for the night in a barn, where, as it turned out, the body of the deceased daughter-in-law of the hotel owner lay awaiting burial. One of the four guests could not sleep in any way, so he was awake with a book in his hands.
But then the dead body, which suddenly had fangs, approached the three sleeping men and bit each of them. The fourth, who was watching this, was numb with fear. Finally he came to his senses and, grabbing his clothes, started to run, pursued by the vampire. When the ghost of his daughter-in-law caught up with him, he hid under a willow tree.
The vampire pounced on him with extraordinary fury and speed, but at the last second the man dodged, the monster slammed into the tree with all his might, and the long claws sank deep into the trunk. The victim himself fainted from fear and fatigue.
The next day, the hotel staff found in the barn three dead merchants and the body of the deceased, which was covered in blood. The woman was as fresh as on the day of her death, because the drunkard, the subordinate soul, had not yet left the body. The owner admitted that she died 6 months ago, but he did not bury her, as he was waiting for the auspicious day for the funeral according to astrological signs.
In general, having formed its own myth about Chian-shi, Chinese folklore created a recognizable image in the East, just as the films about Dracula contributed to the popularity of the vampire in the West.