Vengeful Demons, Hungry Ghosts & Shapeshifters - 7 Scary Creatures From Chinese Folklore

These creatures from Chinese folklore, legends and myths promise to tease out every bit of sanity you have left. The longer you stay here reading this, the deeper the rabbit hole goes. From hungry ghosts who can anything to survive to the downright horrible Zombie-vampire hybrid that won't let you live another day, Chinese folklore is replete with characters that depict our fears, our shortcomings and even our sins. While some of these stories have given birth to superstition, others work to amuse. Either way, it makes for one heck of a read. Feast away.

1. Hungry ghosts

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Hungry ghosts (¨¨gu¨«) as a concept represents the soul of the person who has committed sin: murder, theft or sexual misconduct. A hungry ghost is different from a regular ghost in that they symbolise a highly unfortunate human condition, much more than a spirit or a ghost who may eventually find their exit. According to Taoist tradition, hungry ghosts can simply come to be in cases of violent or wrongful deaths.

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For those who consider this to be more than a concept, an ¨¨gu¨« are damned souls who are forever hungry and insatiable for eternity. Their mouth is said to be really small so eating food is more difficult. Its skin can be a sickly grey or green, probably owing to the fact that its so perpetually hungry even decomposed food will do. According to the Buddha Dharma, there are three main groups of hungry ghosts: those with no wealth, those with a little and those with a lot.

In the seventh month of the Chinese calendar, locals host the Festival of the Hungry Ghosts - the only time to appease the spirits, and perhaps the only time the spirits can feed on proper food.

2. Shapeshifting Yaoguai

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The Yaoguai are demons or malevolent animal spirits with magical powers who devour souls to gain immortality. In order to do this, these shapeshifters would take whatever form would entice their victims. Their stories date back to 1592 AD. One such tale speaks of a man who from outside his own house, peeps through a window to gaze upon the woman he has brought home. Only it's not a beautiful woman but a yaoguai painting features on a woman's skin.

3. The Jiangshi, half zombie and half vampire

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What's worse than a vampire or a zombie? A creature that's both. The Jiangshi (stiff) are said to be newly deceased corpses that need blood to live on. Much like zombies and vampire, the crossover occurs at the time of rigor mortis. The reasons behind a someone's copse turning into a Jiangshi are plenty: black magic, suicide, burial gone wrong. But in the origin lies the truth. The legend claims these creatures, due to stiff joints and rigor mortis, find it hard to move around the way they did as humans. So they usually jump/hop from place to place. This little tidbit is quite similar to actual events which explain how the legend came to be born. At the time the Qing Dynasty was in power, the dead bodies of migrant workers were forced upright so they could be carried on a person's back. From a distance, it seemed these bodies were jumping around. The bodies were usually carried at night so as not to upset local folk, and, so, this legend came to be.

4. Nang Tani, the ghost lady who lurks under banana trees

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For us Indians, this story will remind you of the woman in the white saree often spotted on desolate roads. In southern China meanwhile, Nang Tani is often seen cradling a baby in her arms, standing under a banana tree and wailing. And much to the convenience of humans who deal in money, this ghost can apparently help predict winning lottery numbers. You invoke this being by tying a red thread around the banana tree and securing it with a nail or two. The other end of the rope should be tied to you bed. Once you win the lottery you can release the ghost on greedy relatives who want a slice. Just kidding. The bit about the greedy relatives isn't true but they say it's important you release Nang Tani once you win the lottery, else you'll end up with a curse upon your head.

5. Ox-Head and Horse-Face, guardians of the Underworld

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According to Chinese mythology, Ox-Head and Horse-Face are the guardians of the Underworld. One has the head of an ox, while the other has the face of a horse. These creatures found prominence in the Chinese novel Journey to the West, according to which they are sent to capture Sun Wukong (the Monkey King) who defeats them and steps into the Underworld. Here he erases his name and that of his of his companions from a book that maintains the names the of all living souls, and sweet immortality becomes his.

6. The Shui Gui or water ghosts

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The Shui Gui are the trapped (and often vengeful) souls of the people who have drowned. They are said to live at the bottom of water bodies and often adapt to marine life. So, the next time you want to take a dip and cool off, ask yourself if life at the bottom of the lake is what you really want because legend has it that these creatures often lie in wait of unsuspecting victims. Once you drown and die, they enter your body and leave your soul to take their former place at the bottom with the fish.

7. N¨¹ gui, the feminine ghost

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The are vengeful creatures, often female ghosts, who are often depicted as wearing a long white or red dress. That in stark contrast to jet black hair and the fact that it's just you and a pissed off ghost in the middle of nowhere makes for a scary story. They are said to appear as very beautiful woman out to seduce men. Once men take the bait, the creature's true side is revealed. They kill the men for their blood thereby acting out their revenge. So, now it's not hard to imagine the real inspiration behind movies like The Ring and The Grudge. Revenge in this case is born after a wrongdoing like rape or injustice.