Questions about Chinese vampires

I am 138 · Post by **I am 138** » Sat Oct 27, 2001 12:24 pm

I'm watchin' Mr. Vampire and having a discussion with my better half. I read somwhere that Ricky Lau (director) created the concept of the hopping vampire. But I know they're in several movies, so I was wondering if anyone knows if it was a cultural thing, or if Lau really did come up with it? Also, how come some of them don't hop? Anyone got a reason for that? I'm sure that's a slightly obscure question, but someone who's anal and likes this shit might know...

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"Anarchy means crossing when it says 'Don't Walk'" - TISM

YouTube · Post by **Chris Slack** » Sat Oct 27, 2001 6:29 pm

Someone will correct me if I am wrong but I believe the hopping vampire dates way back in Chinese mythology. Perhaps Ricky Lau brought it to the screen for the first time?

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I am 138 · Post by **I am 138** » Sat Oct 27, 2001 11:06 pm

That sounds right to me, Chris. I didn't think it was just for Mr. Vampire, because there are so many other hopping vampire films, like Encounters of a Spooky Kind, but then again, Samo Hung starred in that and produced Mr. Vampire, so I wasn't sure.

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"Anarchy means crossing when it says 'Don't Walk'" - TISM

Griff [Mola] · Post by **Griff [Mola]** » Sat Oct 27, 2001 11:38 pm

I heard two reasons why they hop. Either because their feet were originally shackled or because their spirit's magnetism is at odd with the Earth's. Was this in a movie, did I read it or am I just making it up? Suits me, either way. Boinga boing.

Jon · Post by **Jon** » Sun Oct 28, 2001 11:34 am

Here's a great site for fans of Asian cinema looking for information on just this sort of stuff. It looks at chinese history, mythology and compares the real world to the reel world.
http://www.illuminatedlantern.com/archive.html

Muncher666 · Post by **Muncher666** » Sun Oct 28, 2001 6:32 pm

I don't think they're actually supposed to be vampires in chinese myth, but the concept is certainly there - they're known as chinese ghosts to my knowledge, but they do the hopping vampire thing.

Perhaps it's a little myth and a little Lau?

Allan.

Latte Thunder · Post by **Latte Thunder** » Wed Oct 31, 2001 4:30 am

According to the guy who runs Illuminated Lantern, Hopping Vampires hop because of an old ghost story that involved corpse drivers (taoist monks who delivered the dead from the place of death to their homes). The corpse driver had to move the corpses so the only way to get them to move was to make them get up and move themselves. They hop because, well, because that's what reanimated corpses do! The reasons for the hopping are never clearly explained in the story and over time the legend grew until it became the norm in chinese ghost stories. Ghosts and Vampires hop just because.

not exactly the answer I was hoping for, but the Illuminated Lantern guy really seems to know what he's talking about.

Mike B · Post by **Mike B** » Wed Oct 31, 2001 11:14 am

I read somewhere that the hopping was also caused by rigor mortis--after being in the grave and stiffening up, the only way they could move once the taoist monks put the papers on their heads was to hop stiffly.

Mike B.

I am 138 · Post by **I am 138** » Wed Oct 31, 2001 1:20 pm

What I read on Illuminated Lantern was that the bodies had stiffened up, and the only way they could move was to hop, which makes sense, since their limbs can't bend. The reason their arms are outstretched is because they are blind (though they do manage to move their arms...hmmm...). The reason the Grandfather in Mr. Vampire begins to be able to move freely is because he loosens up by the films finale. His son, who he bites, never hops because he is a fresh corspe and rigormortis hasn't set in.

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"Anarchy means crossing when it says 'Don't Walk'" - TISM

Doc Benway · Post by **Doc Benway** » Thu Nov 01, 2001 12:02 pm

Great thread man, right on...anyway,
hopping Vampires, Yes, but my question is....can they only hop in a straight line?

I seem to recall a scene where a hopping vampire gets stuck cause he can't jump high enough to get over a log and couldn't escape because he couldn't turn or back up.

Also, is it a taoist priest? Can a Confucian get in on the action? How about a Buddhist? See, I thought that Taoism was more a philosophy than a religion (actually, this is a coinsidence but I just started reading the Tao Te Chi last night!).

YouTube · Post by **Chris Slack** » Thu Nov 01, 2001 12:37 pm

Here's a fairly informative (although verifying the truth of it all could prove impossible) page on Chinese vampires that a co-worker found for me when I asked her if she knew anything

http://www.godofvampires.com/whatiknow.html

Griff [Mola] · Post by **Griff [Mola]** » Thu Nov 01, 2001 4:48 pm

That's a potentially embarrassing question to ask a co-worker.

I'm glad things worked out, however.

I am 138 · Post by **I am 138** » Sun Nov 11, 2001 9:08 am

I just watched Dr. Vampire, and in it the guy who's bitten asks "What do vampires look like?" 'cause he didn't think the girl that bit him moved like a vampire. He then proceeds to outstretch his arms and hop around. Later, he is extatic when given a gift of a robe and hat so he can go around lookin' like a hoppin' vampire. This indicates to me that the hoppers are indeed the standard in China now, anyways, even if they weren't before (which I think we figured out). Also, interestingly, sometimes the vampires were referred to as "ghosts" and I know that's where the hopping started to, with ghosts stories.

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"Anarchy means crossing when it says 'Don't Walk'" - TISM

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Questions about Chinese vampires

Questions about Chinese vampires