Most of us are familiar with the two most popular mythical animals in Chinese culture, the Phoenix and the Dragon.
But do you know, there are many more than that? For starters, there’s the Jing Wei; the mythical bird that tried to fill up the ocean with twigs and pebbles, the Nine Headed bird; mainly used by the elders to scare children, Rui Shi; the celestial guard dog, Kui; a mythical one legged monster, Huli Jing; fox spirits, Nian; ( more info at: Chinese Lion Dance), and Xiezhi; a Unicorn beast.
Feng Huang- Phoenix
The Phoenix, is known as Feng Huang, and is mostly described as a beautiful bird, engulfed in flames, reigning over all other birds. The Feng Huang is the feminine counterpart of the Chinese Dragon, the Long, and is usually paired with Long. A common picture of the Feng Huang is of it attacking snakes, with its wings spread wide open. It is said that this mythical bird is made of the beak of a peacock, the face of a swallow, the forehead of a fowl, the neck of a snake, the breast of a goose, and the back of a tortoise, as well as the hindquarters of a stag and the tail of a fish.
In its origin, the Feng Huang has no connection at all to the phoenix of the western world, and current theories suggest that it may be a representation of a large prehistoric bird, similar to an ostrich. During the Han Dynasty, the Feng Huang was used to symbol the direction of south, showing two phoenixes facing each other. It is also used to symbolize the Empress, when paired with a dragon, where the dragon represents the Emperor. In ancient China, the Phoenix can often be found in the decorations for weddings or royalty, along with the Dragons. That is mainly because the Chinese consider the dragon and phoenix the symbol of blissful happiness between husband and wife.
Jing Wei
Jing Wei, the bird who tried to fill the ocean, was originally the daughter of Emperor Yandi. She perished at a young age in the East Sea, and after her death, assumed the shape of a bird in order to exact revenge upon the sea by bringing stones and small twigs in effort to fill it up. Jing Wei has a short dialogue with the sea, where the sea scoffs at her, saying she’ll never be able to fill it up in the next millon years. However, Jing Wei retorts that she’ll take ten, twenty, hundred years to fill it up, so that others will not perish at its hands. From this story, the Chinese show us the meaning of dogged determination and perseverence in face of the most impossible odds.
Jiu Tou Niao- Nine Headed Bird
The nine-headed bird, or Jiu Tou Niao, is a creature of ill omen in Chinese mythology. It appears in various Chinese tales, as the arch nemesis of a hero. The hero finally catches and kills Jiu Tou Niao, which has kidnapped various girls who have died in its lair. This story is used to scare the younger generation, mainly girls, to stay in the safe haven of their homes, and not venture out alone.
Ra Shi Da- Guardian Lions/Dogs
Male Guardian
Guardian lions, called Fu Dogs or Foo Dogs, are referred to as Shi, or Ra Shi Da are powerful mythical protectors that have traditionally stood in front of the Chinese Imperial palaces, temples, emperor’s tombs and other structures. Imperial guardian lions are still common decorative symbols in the entrances to hotels, restaurants and other buildings. They are traditionally carved from decorative stone or granite, or cast in bronze or iron. The lions are generally presented in pairs, with the male on the right, and female on the left. The male lion has a globe under his right paw, and the female, though identical, has a single cub under her left paw. Other styles have both lions with a single large pearl in their partially opened mouth, but traditionally, the males have their mouth opened, while the females have a closed mouth, symbolizing the pronounciation of the sacred word, “om”. However, since the Chinese artisans of that time had never seen the real form of a lion, they styled the traditional guardians after native dogs, like the Pekingneses, ShihTzu or Chow Chow.
Female Guardian
Huli Jing- Fox Spirit
Hu Li Jing, in Chinese, are fox spirits. The fox spirits encountered in Chinese tales, are usually females, and appear as beautiful young women. One of the most infamous fox spirits is Daji, who was portrayed in the Ming novel, Feng Shen Yan Yi. She was a beautiful daughter of a general, married forcibly to a cruel officer, Zhou Xin. A nine tailed fox spirit, who at that time served Nuwa, whom Zhou Xin had once offended, entered her soul, and expelled Daji’s true soul. The fox spirit, using Daji’s body, together with her new husband, invented many devices of torture, for example, forcing righteous officials to hug red hot metal pillars. Because of such acts, many people revolted and fought against his dynasty, Shang. Finally, the fox spirit in Daji’s body is driven out by Jiang Zi Ya, the first Prime Minister of the Zhou Dynasty. Typically, fox spirits are dangerous, but some stories in the Pu Song Ling’s novel are based on the love story of a fox spirit with a young man.
Nian- The Beast
Nian is the beast of the Chinese New Year, coming out to terrorize the villagers come the new year. It is believed that Nian lives under the sea, coming out to attack people at the same time each year. There is another story about the beast. It is said that an immortal made use of Nian’s powers (eating up venomous snakes and killing wild beasts like tigers and lions) before taming it (by flashing his red undergarment to scare Nian, who feared the colour red). Since then, people put up red spring couplets to prevent Nian from coming back.
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