What is Chaozu

Heavenly Generals and Hopping Vampires in Dragon Ball

by Tamara Henson

A lot of Dragon Ball fans have asked "What is Chaozu?". With his dead white skin, rouged cheeks, stiff posture,
expressionless face, and unaging nature, his origins stem from eastern Asian legends and literature.

Chaozu's presence in the story and personality is equivalent to the character Nazha in Journey to the West (Xiyouji in
Japan). Nazha is a Daoist deity and general of Heaven who fights against Son Wukong (the Monkey King) when he rebels.
His personality is cocky but after the fight he becomes friends with Son Wukong and helps the pilgrims on their journey
west. He is friends with the three-eyed general Erlang-shen (the inspiration for Tenshinhan)and is able to fly due to the feng
huo lun ("wind fire wheels") beneath their feet.

As for his appearance, Chaozu is a jiangshi or 'Hopping Vampire'. Jiangshi (Japanese Kyoshi, pronounced in both languages
as 'Zhyang-shee') means 'stiff reanimated corpse'. Jiangshi have been a part of Chinese legend since the Han Dynasty (206
BC) and were a common sight in Kung-Fu films of the 1980s such as "Jiangshi Xiansheng" ("Mr. Vampire") in 1885 and its
many sequels. When the Dragon Ball manga was written these movies were all the rage in Japanese pop culture with
movies, toys, clothing, and TV spin-offs based on them.

Chaozu was classified in Daizenshu 7 (1996) as human. What that book did not say was that the reason he is 1.37 meters
(4'6") tall and never ages is because he is a child who is already dead. This is also why Chaozu holds his hands out in front
of himself when he is using his powers and why his movements are stiff instead of smooth. It also explains why he hops or
floats around with his arms extended instead of walking. He died as a child and is now doomed to remain one in both body
and mind. When did he die? Well he wears the clothes of the Quing Dynasty era.

During the Ming and Quing Dynasties it was believed that to be buried away from home would bring bad luck to all the
deceased's relatives so when someone died away from home that would have their bodies shipped back. It was believed that
one could pay a Daoist priest to reanimate the corpse and send it walking home. A corpse could also reanimate on its own
due to an improper burial, suicide, or a black cat jumping over the coffin before burial.

To create and control the jiangshi, the priest sticks a fu (seal or charm) on the corpse's forehead to bind it to its master. This
piece of paper contains a magical talisman that causes the inferior soul (the one that stays with the body in contrast to the
superior soul which goes to the afterlife) to reanimate the corpse. If a jiangshu animates on it own or if it loses it's fu
(causing the priest to lose control of it) then they will begin to prey on the living and grow in power.

In appearance these creatures have pale skin and wide-open "dead" eyes. Rouge (blush) was applied to corpses in ancient
China to make them look more alive thus the red circles on Chaozu's cheeks. Because Chinese burials at this time tightly
bound a corpse's legs to make the body easier to transport, the jiangshi cannot actually walk but must hop to get around with
the stiffened arms held out in front of it.

Jiangshi do not drink blood. They are "psychic vampires” that feed on a persons ki by sucking it out of their breath. Fully
powered jiangshi can fly, turn invisible, breathe gale-force winds, and grow dagger-like claws.

The Jiangshi is immune to mortal weapons such as swords or guns but can be defeated by magic, weapons made of peach
wood, showing them their reflection in an 8-sided mirror, ringing a bell, striking them with a broom (to sweep away the dust
of the dead), hitting them with sticky rice (which burns them like holy water does other vampires), asking them to count, or
placing a fu on their foreheads.

Bibliography:
Dragon Ball Culture Volume 5: Demons by Derek Padula, Copyright © 2015, by Derek Padula. Thedaoofdragonball.com