Why are so many zombie movies about zombies from the Qing Dynasty of China?

Anyone who has watched Uncle Ying’s zombie movie knows that the zombies in Uncle Ying all wear official uniforms of the Qing Dynasty. Why is this?

It should be said that among the Hong Kong movie themes in the last century, zombie movies led by Mr. Lam Ching-ying were once popular. Uncle Ying's "zombie Taoist" image is still a classic today: wearing a zodiac robe, a copper coin sword in his left hand, and a Bagua instrument in his right hand. In addition, the image of zombies in movies has always made people love and fear them: their bodies are as hard as iron, their arms cannot droop but can only be extended horizontally, and their knees cannot bend and can only jump.

The legend about zombies originated from the Huangdi period. According to legend, the earliest zombie was Mandrill, the daughter of the Yellow Emperor. When Huang Di fought against Chi You, he did not have the upper hand at first. Later, in order to help her father achieve great things, Mandrill put a blood curse on Chi You's army. But after the Yellow Emperor's great cause was completed, the mandrill was unable to ascend to the divine realm because she killed too many creatures; in the end, she became a zombie because of her excessive resentment.

Of course, the above is just a legend, which is stored in the "Book of Mountains and Seas". Later, although records about zombies appeared from time to time, they were too sparse and will not be mentioned here. To say that there are really detailed records of zombies, it must be the Taoist work "Da Qian Lu", in which "the limbs are stiff, the head is not lowered, the eyes are not slanted, the legs are not separated, and the corpse is not rotten", which is very similar to the zombies in our impression. resemblance.

After "Da Qian Lu", Yuan Mei's "Zi Buyu" and Ji Xiaolan's "Yuewei Thatched Cottage Notes" are also highly regarded "zombie" books, and some even call them "zombie encyclopedias" The whole book".

Of course, some people may ask, since there are many records about zombies in the Qing Dynasty, does it have to be based on the Qing Dynasty? Actually, this is not the case. However, from a biological point of view, if the death time of a corpse is too short (not to mention cremation), it cannot become a zombie; but if the time of death is too long, it is not a zombie but a corpse wrapped in bandages. Something like that.

So, the time cannot be too long or too short. (Think carefully, zombies in movies and TV shows hundreds of years from now will probably be wearing suits and ties, carrying briefcases, and Rolexes)

Just kidding.

Therefore, the zombies in the movie are unlikely to come from the Tang Dynasty and other periods, and are most likely to be based on the Ming and Qing Dynasties. So why do the zombies in the movies we see wear clothes from the Qing Dynasty instead of the Ming Dynasty?

One of them is that when making a movie, the cost of the movie must be considered. Compared with the costumes of the Ming Dynasty, the costumes of the Qing Dynasty were much cheaper. This should be easy to understand. After all, most of the costume dramas we see today are Qing palace dramas. There are also Ming Dynasty dramas, but there are too few compared to Qing palace dramas. And everyone knows that "things are more valuable when they are rare".

Secondly, and very importantly, the Qing Dynasty costumes, especially those worn by officials, look more in line with the image of zombies. As we all know, the official uniforms of the Qing Dynasty were basically straight and uniform, and the colors were mostly dark. Coupled with the appearance of the official hats, they easily gave people a "stiff" feeling, and this feeling is exactly what zombie movies need. .

If someone insists on asking, "Is it not allowed to wear Ming Dynasty clothes?" In fact, it is not impossible, but Ming Dynasty clothes are very similar to Hanfu, lighter in color, and looser, making it difficult to photograph. No "zombie feel". Can you imagine someone jumping out of a tomb wearing white clothes and long sleeves at night? If you can think of it, Nie Xiaoqian in "A Chinese Ghost Story" should be it.

Is this made up? Of course not. Just like the talisman painting method and Yin-Yang theory in movies, there is a certain reason why zombies in zombie movies wear Qing Dynasty costumes. Although there are still zombie movies made in modern times, they no longer have the same flavor as Uncle Ying's. In the future, no one will be able to surpass Uncle Ying's zombie movies!