Jiangshi fiction

Hong Kong jiangshi films like Mr. Vampire and Encounters of the Spooky Kind follow a formula of mixing horror with comedy and kung fu.

They are featured in the story A Corpse's Transmutation (Shibian) in the Shuyiji collection, A Vampiric Demon (Jiangshi gui) and Spraying Water (Penshui) in Pu Songling's Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio,[5] and The Demonic Corpse (Jiangshi gui) in Dongxuan Zhuren's Shiyiji.

[6] In Spraying Water, the animated corpse spews a liquid that kills the wife of a government official and her two servants.

[12] Cinematic portrayals of jiangshi show the corpses wearing traditional changshan garments with a talisman placed on its head that allows the Taoist priest to control the cadaver.

As Andrew Heskens of easternkicks.com wrote, "Sammo Hung [...] took the idea of hopping vampires/deceased from The Shadow Boxing (aka The Spiritual Boxer II) and turned it into a phenomenon with Encounter of the Spooky Kind, and things were never the same.

"[15] Encounters of the Spooky Kind is an early example of kung fu horror comedy in Hong Kong and the jiangshi of the film are played by martial artists.

The protagonist is a Taoist priest, skilled in casting magical spells and performing kung fu, who uses supernatural powers to control the undead.

Tsui Hark produced The Era of Vampires in 2002 and The Twins Effect, directed by Dante Lam and Donnie Yen, was released in 2003.

[20] In 2009, Katy Chang made Nanjing Road, a jiangshi horror movie set against China's economic expansion.