Why do the zombies in Hong Kong zombie movies wear Qing Dynasty official uniforms?
When everyone talks about zombies, they always first think of zombies wearing Qing Dynasty official uniforms, with their hands stretched out, jumping forward and looking for living people. Everyone has probably seen Mr. Lin Zhengying's zombie movies. This image of Qing Dynasty zombies has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
There are three major ghosts in the world: Chinese zombies, British vampires, and Egyptian mummies. There are many classic works related to their legends in books, TV shows and movies in the world. But there is a question that has been bothering me: Why do zombies in zombie movies always look like Qing Dynasty costumes? There are so many dynasties in China, why are all the zombies from the Qing Dynasty? Isn’t there a zombie from the Tang, Song, and Ming dynasties, or a zombie from the Qin and Han dynasties?
Until now, I have gradually understood some truths. Now I will tell you the truths I have come up with. Let’s see if this is the truth:
1. Analyze from an economic perspective: The Qing Dynasty is the closest dynasty to modern times, and the costumes of any period or dynasty are not as numerous as those of the Qing Dynasty. Therefore, there are a lot of reference materials to learn from, and zombie movies are generally low-cost, low-budget projects. If you learn from the costumes of other dynasties, firstly, it is easy to distort the culture of that era, and secondly, the costumes are also expensive to produce. Labor fee. The costumes of the Qing Dynasty had great advantages in the above two points. In addition, most of the films about the Qing Dynasty are palace dramas. Adding a zombie drama to a palace drama is a quick way to attract more attention and increase box office.
2. Analysis from the perspective of legendary data: The formation of zombies does not occur overnight. When a person dies and is buried in the ground, he turns into a zombie. That looks like nonsense! According to legend, if it is less than a hundred years after death, zombies will not form at all. Only those who have died for more than five hundred years can become a big devil, and only those who have died between one hundred and five hundred years can be called zombies. Okay, let’s get serious about the science of zombies now. Calculated as 2000 AD (since most zombie movies were probably made during that period). In other words, if we count 2000 AD from now, if zombies really existed in the world, they would have mutated into the ground between 1500 AD and 1900 AD. Based on this calculation, everyone probably understands a little bit! There was a historical period that happened to be between the Qing Dynasty. In addition, when people in the Qing Dynasty died, they liked to be buried in Qing Dynasty official uniforms, and they were buried in a beautiful scenery, which looked decent! It has the meaning of returning to one's hometown with clothes fully clothed. If they were zombies from the Han, Tang, Song, and other dynasties, their clothes would be completely torn, and all of them would probably be naked zombies!
3. Analysis from the perspective of national sentiment: The Red Flower Club, the anti-Qing Dynasty and the restoration of the Ming Dynasty, Chen Jinnan, has always been an unavoidable stalker in Hong Kong. Due to special historical reasons at the time, Hong Kong was ceded to British imperialism by the then Qing Dynasty. Hong Kong people felt like they were being thrown around as commodities. This is why later literary works, film and television works, are all mixed with a kind of faint resentment. Coupled with the Qing Dynasty, it was the most humiliating and darkest historical period in China. The officials of the Qing Dynasty were also corrupt and incompetent, so let the officials of the Qing Dynasty take on the role of zombies!
4. Analysis from the perspective of film and television aesthetics: The official uniforms of the Qing Dynasty were barrel-style and slim-fitting. The color was dark, and with a peacock feather on the back of the official hat, it was large and could be covered. Most of the face, placed in the dark, this outfit will add a lot of points to the zombie style! If you want to make an artistic zombie movie, you can only use costumes from the Tang, Han, and Song Dynasties. Why? Their main colors are mainly light. When worn, men will look chic and women will look elegant. Just like Mr. Leslie Cheung's "A Chinese Ghost Story". Only that kind of film can be suitable for literary and artistic fans. For example, the dark type of late-night zombies can only use the props of the Qing Dynasty official uniform type.
5. Analysis from the perspective of Chinese folklore: During the Qing Dynasty, a profession began to spread in Taoism: corpse trainer! According to legend, they have the ability to make corpses move. I won’t explain them in detail here. Interested friends can check "The Corpse Exorcist" by themselves to learn more.