Why do Chinese zombies wear Qing dynasty official robes?

Most Chinese people have probably watched the zombie movies starring Lam Ching-ying, a Hong Kong artist. At that time, the zombie movie genre had just emerged, but it had already reached its peak. No one has made any classic zombie movies like Lam's since then. The unchanging zombies in Qing dynasty official robes, clichéd and boring plots, and poor acting are all problems. So the question is, why are all zombie movies obsessed with Qing dynasty official robes?

The reason why zombies wear Qing Dynasty official costumes has a great connection with the Manchu's entry into China proper in the past. When the Manchus established the Qing Dynasty by entering Shanhaiguan, they learned from the lessons of the Yuan Dynasty's rulers being assimilated by Han culture and eventually perished. Therefore, the Manchus promoted Manchu culture throughout the country, including making Han people wear Manchu clothes and cutting their hair in the Manchu style.

This policy of the Qing Dynasty was strongly resisted by the Han people, and as a result, the Qing Dynasty resorted to massacres to solve the problem. This led to massacre events such as the Ten Days of Yangzhou, the Three Massacres of Jiading, and the Sichuan Massacre. At that time, the whole country was full of corpses, and in the southern region, there arose the profession of corpse transporters, who were responsible for transporting corpses back to their hometowns. In order to save labor, a method was invented that allowed the corpses to walk in a jumping motion alongside the transporter, which is also the earliest prototype of zombies.

Therefore, the Qing Dynasty created too much killing and caused dissatisfaction among the people. Dressing the corpses in Qing official robes was a way to show contempt for the Qing Dynasty. In addition, in ancient times, it was traditional to add glory to the deceased, and portraits were always depicted in official clothing. Therefore, wearing official clothing after death became a tradition. Later, in movies, the fixed image of a Qing Dynasty zombie wearing official clothing was formed.

In addition, many filmmakers follow the latest trends and often jump on the bandwagon of popular themes. After the first zombie movie received widespread acclaim, many people copied its settings to shoot movies of the same genre. Therefore, the setting of zombies wearing Qing Dynasty clothing was passed down.

In addition, the official uniforms of the Qing Dynasty were mainly blue and black, which gives people a gloomy feeling. When combined with the pale or terrifying faces of zombies, it can create a good atmosphere of horror. Therefore, zombies in movies have always been dressed in Qing Dynasty official uniforms. In some TV dramas, even the four ancient zombie kings from a distant era are dressed in Qing Dynasty official uniforms, which is somewhat regrettable.