Sexual vampire

A sexual vampire practiced esoteric Daoist sexual techniques where one partner purportedly strengthened their own body by absorbing the other partner's qi ("life force") and jing ("sexual energy") without emitting any of one's own. Practitioners believed that sexual vampirism could enable them to maintain eternal youth and become a Daoist xian ("transcendent; immortal"). However, an unwitting victim repeatedly subjected to sexual vampirism would supposedly weaken and die.

Myths about Chinese gods and immortals recount sexual vampires who allegedly became xian transcendents. For instance, after having sexual intercourse with 1,200 young women, the legendary Yellow Emperor achieved spiritual transcendence and ascended into heaven.

In Chinese erotic literature and sex manuals, intercourse is often metaphorically referred to as a "battle" or "war" of the sexes. This metaphor emphasizes the idea of one partner "defeating" the "enemy" through a caizhan (採戰, "battle of [sexual energy] absorption"). These texts are predominantly written for a male audience, guiding men to defeat their female enemy in a "sexual battle" by mastering Daoist ejaculation control. The goal is to excite the female partner until she reaches orgasm and sheds her yin essence, which the male then absorbs.

Two Chinese mythological creatures are comparable to sex vampires. A jiangshi (殭屍, "stiff corpse; hopping vampire") kills people to absorb their qi ("life force"). A hulijing (狐狸精, "fox spirit") or jiuweihu (九尾狐, "nine-tailed fox") shapeshifts into a beautiful woman who seduces men to absorb their jing ("semen; sexual essence"). In both Chinese mythology and popular literature, the themes of vampires and "other monsters avid for sperm abound" (Schipper 1982: 156).

A Chinese sexual vampire is analogous to English terms like psychic vampire, energy vampire, succubus, or incubus. These mythical beings feed on human vital forces, similar to traditional vampires (sanguinarians or hematophages) who purportedly feed on blood.