China is not just a country. It’s an entire civilization, one that seems to go back more than 5 thousand years. A sign of this distant past can be seen in Chinese folk religion – the ancestor worship and mysterious, esoteric rituals. In fact, the people of China often refer to themselves as ‘Descendants of the Dragon’. Mythology has always been a key part of Chinese culture, deeply affected by her long history of warfare. It is fitting then that some of our world’s darkest tales are Chinese legends. So for the sake of posterity I have taken the liberty of compiling ten incredibly creepy Chinese legends.
Dark Chinese Legends
10 Jiangshi
Deep in the rural regions of China, there sometimes emerges a foul undead creature. Blind and unable to speak, they are stiff, moving slowly as if their limbs are made of wood. Yet they are made of flesh and bone like any of us. Known as Jiangshi, they were once ordinary humans – but after death, something went wrong. Perhaps they were evil in life, and denied access to heaven – or perhaps they were not blessed by a priest soon enough. Rigor Mortis having set in, they move with an awkward shuffle. Their skin is discolored and decaying. Blood pours from their eyes and mouth, and sharp, claw like nails protrude from their fingers. Everything about the Jiangshi is hideous. Every element of their being represents morbidity.
No blood flows to their brain, resulting in a total lack of intelligence. All that drives them is hunger. So despite their slow movement, they will never stop pursuing a victim. And unfortunately, their victim of choice are humans. To be specific, they crave blood. Without it, the Jiangshi will crumble into dust. So if after a few days they are unable to subdue a human, the blood of wild animals will have to do. And so they roam, always seeking to end their unquenchable thirst.
9 The Scorpion Merchant
There was once a lone scorpion merchant, a man who specialized in capturing live scorpions, before killing and reselling them. It was a grim, yet reliable trade, and over the years he killed countless of them. Then one night, a bad omen made itself known to him. In a dream, he was visited by a gigantic humanoid creature, it’s face glowing yellow. That humanoid was the god of scorpions, and now it was coming for the man who had killed so many of his children.
A few days later the scorpion merchant entered an inn. He was terrified, and clearly running from something – in fact, he begged the inn keeper to hide him. Naturally, the keeper was confused by this, but in a split second decision, allowed him to hide inside a large urn. Moments later, the nightmare came true. A being walked in, savage in appearance, with a large yellowish face. In a deep voice it asked for the scorpion merchant, demanding the innkeeper reveal his location. But the keeper was a man of his word, only pointing outside as if the target had already gone. The being left, and tragedy seemed to have been avoided. But when the large urn was opened, all the keeper found was a pool of blood.
8 Diao Si Gui
Most viscous of all spirits of Chinese legends are the Hanged Ghosts. Whether by execution or self-destruction, a death by hanging is unnatural – and as such, victims are tormented even after. In every case, their spirits have long hair, glowing red eyes, and the noose still around their neck. Look into their eyes and a hypnotic spell will take hold of you. Finding your mind filled with otherworldly thoughts, only ending your life will bring peace. And so, you become another hanged ghost.
In other cases, they stay hidden, latching onto victims and slowly strangling them. What begins as a shortness of breath becomes a deadly embrace, and only at the moment before death do you realize it’s presence. All hanging ghosts are disturbed, but the longer it took them to die, the more cruel they now are. So if you cross ones path, pray for a quick death.
7 Carrying a Corpse
Execution has always been a part of Chinese criminal justice – and even going back hundreds of years, the bodies’ of the executed were taken back to their home towns for burial – but to save money, there was a strange method of transporting them. Corpse drivers had a very strange job. On a long bamboo pole they would carry dead bodies above their heads, sometimes travelling for weeks to far away villages. From a distance it would look like the corpses themselves were walking. As such, Corpse Drivers were widely treated with suspicion.
One cold morning, a corpse-driver was struggling through the wilderness, when suddenly, his burden was reduced. Looking up, he realized the corpse he carried was missing a head. Assuming it had fallen off, he retraced his steps for hours, but found no head. With no other option, he carried on wandering – and on reaching his destination 2 days later, found the head, in the central square of it’s home village.
6 Taotie
Known to hide deep in remote valleys is a race of creature known as the Taotie. Hideous and reptilian, they are like enormous hyenas, but with abnormally large jaws, and eyes close to their shoulders. Their skin is green, with scales like heavy chain mail. With one bite they can chop a human in half, and if you encounter one, that will surely be your fate. While barbaric in appearance, they are highly intelligent, living in large organized communities. What defines the Taotie more than anything is hunger. No matter how much they eat, they remain ravenous. A torturous state of constant starvation.
And so, any creature who enters their territory will be stripped to the bone. When everything edible in a patch of land is eaten, they simply move on to another. This means you can never be sure where Taotie are to be found. No one knows for certain how they came to be – but it is said they descended from dragons, mutated and deformed by centuries of inbreeding.
5 Last Bus to Beijing’s Fragrant Hills
One dark night in November of 1995, a young man boarded a bus in Beijing. Just three others were on board, and an eerie quiet was in the air. It was bus 375, the last one of the night, and heading for an area known as the Fragrant Hills – the site of a once great imperial palace. Then while on a remote stretch of land, two men flagged down the bus, and as it was so cold outside, the driver stopped to let them on. Strangely though, the pair were dressed in traditional robes. Like those of the Qing Dynasty. Slowly they walked on, and looking down at the floor, sat quietly at the back of the bus.
The journey resumed, quieter and more eerie than before – until the young man panicked shortly after. Screaming and shouting, he demanded the driver pull over, and when off the bus, ran off road into the wilderness. Of all people aboard bus 375, only he was ever seen again. The bus never turned up, and when asked why he panicked and got off, the young man claimed to have realized the two newcomers had no feet – that they were ghosts.
4 The Buried Maid
Long ago there was a wealthy lord, a kind yet lecherous man. His long suffering wife had no choice but put up with his numerous affairs, but was especially bothered by his seduction of their maid. While he was alive, there was little she could do to stop this. When eventually he died, though, it was time for revenge. Without the knowledge of their sons, she had the maid buried alive inside her husband’s tomb, to slowly starve to death.
Ten years later, when the lady of the house died also, the tomb was re-opened. And to the shock of all present, the trapped maid was still alive. Blinded and driven mad by the solitude, she claimed the ghost of her dead lover had brought her enough food and water to survive. His son would go down in history as Gan Bao, a writer known for recording and compiling Chinese legends.
3 The Hungry Ghost
Among the character flaws bad enough to deny a soul entry to heavy is greed. Be greedy enough in life, and in death you will become an Egui, the hungry ghost of Chinese legends. No matter how much they eat, the Egui are always hungry. For most of the year they are trapped in hell, where hunger is the least of his worries. But for one month every summer, the gates of hell swing open, and hungry ghosts are let loose on our world. And so, they prowl the towns of cities of China, recognizable by the grey skin and swollen stomach. Any flesh in their path smaller than a horse will be totally consumed, barely slowing them down in their march to eat. As such, some families leave food outside at night, in the hope that will be enough to prevent one entering the house.
2 Chang’e and Hou Yi
Thousands of years ago, there was a loving married couple, called Chang’e and Hou yi. The pair dreamed of being immortal, so that they could always be together. Far and wide they traveled in their quest to find the elixir of life, and after many years of searching, were gifted a vial of it from a mysterious woman who lived in the mountains. According to her, half a dose would be enough to grant eternal life, but drink the full vial and who knows what would happen. And so, they planned on drinking it together when a good moment presented itself. Before that could happen, though, an intruder broke into their home.
And with Hou Yi out hunting, Chang’e panicked. Alone she drank the elixir, giving no thought to the danger of it – and before the vial was empty, she had been transformed. Into the sky she flew, all the way to the moon, where from that moment she was trapped. That is how she became the lunar goddess, forever alone with just her memories of Hou Yi. Back on earth, Hou Yi returned to hear the news, and on realizing he had not only lost his chance to be with his lover, but condemned her to eternal pain, took his own life.
1 The Painted Skin
A scholar lived a reclusive life at home. His name was Wang, and for the most part, his wife was the only person in his life. But one day, he encountered a beautiful young woman on the street. Claiming to be from an abusive family, she had nowhere to go – and in a moment of lust driven empathy, Wang decided to take her in. Given her youth and beauty, Wang hid her presence from his wife, sneaking the girl into his study. As the plan was for it to be a temporary residence, she would likely be gone before his wife noticed. As any fool could have predicted, the two began a secret affair. And as the days went by, Wang spent more and more time in his study. Then one morning, Wang encounters yet another stranger – a local priest who was gifted in reading energy.
The priest warned Wang not to return home, saying he bared the mark of evil, and his house had been invaded by a demon. These were superstitious times, so Wang quickly ran home to find out the truth. Without announcing his arrival, Wang peered through the window of his study, and to his horror, the woman’s appearance was entirely different. Green faced, and with large jagged teeth, her skin looked like that of a corpse. She was indeed a demon. In preparation for his return, she was painting herself to appear normal – And on the table beside her was a mask made from human skin. This left only one course of action, Wang would return to the priest and get some kind of protective charm. But when he turned around, he found the demon standing behind him.