Qilin
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| Qilin | ||
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| Animal Name | Qilin | |
| Other Names | Kirin | |
| Origin | Shenzhou | |
| Related Animals | dragon, phoenix, turtle, giraffe, unicorn | |
The Qilin is a kind of auspicious beast in Chinese mythology and legend.
Introduction
One of the most sacred animals in Chinese culture, it is one of the "Four Holy Beasts" along with the Azure Dragon, the Vermilion Bird and the Black Tortoise, and is regarded as the master of all beasts. The male is called Qilin and the female is called Lin.
The Shuowen Jiezi says: "Qilin means benevolent and kind, with a deer body, dragon tail and one horn; lin means female Qilin." The Erya Shishou says: "Mo means deer body, ox tail and one horn." The Ruiyingtu says: "It has a sheep's head, wolf's hooves, round top, colorful body, and is 12 feet tall." From these statements, we can roughly infer the appearance of the Qilin.
Because it has horns but does not use them to fight, it is similar to the demeanor of a gentleman, so it is regarded as a symbol of a series of positive images such as gentleman, prosperity, auspiciousness, etc. The appearance of the Qilin can be judged as a prosperous era, and the capture of the Qilin symbolizes the end of the prosperous era.
In addition to transliteration, Qilin also has an English translation of "Unicorn". Since Qilin does have only one horn, and Lu Xun once wrote "Unicorn is Qilin", some people think that unicorn is Qilin. In fact, unicorn is a Western concept, and its appearance is similar to that of a horse, which is quite different from Qilin. Of course, they still have many similarities, such as both are mythical beasts.
Kirin also means "giraffe" in Japanese, and it does have similar appearance to a giraffe . Although the prototype of Kirin may be a certain kind of deer , it is more likely that people attached the giraffe to Kirin or called the giraffe after the legendary auspicious beast Kirin for the sake of auspiciousness. Judging from Zheng He's relevant deeds, they may have mistaken the giraffe for Kirin. In fact, Kirin may also be the product of totem fusion, so there is no single prototype. But now Kirin has become an elegant name for giraffes, such as the albino species is called "Jade Kirin", and some extinct "short-necked deer" are also named "Lin", such as Henan Lin and Brahma Lin.
Qilin in ACGN works
- Qilin/Mythical Beast : An ancient dragon monster that appears in the Monster Hunter Series.
- Kirin: A race in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Among the well-known Kirin, there is Autumn Blaze.
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