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Merfolk
Merfolk or merpeople are legendary water-dwelling human-like beings. They are attested in folklore and mythology throughout the ages in various parts of the world. Female merfolk may be referred to as mermaids, although in a strict sense mermaids are confined to beings who are half-woman and half-fish in appearance. Male merfolk are called mermen. Depending on the story, they can be described as ugly or beautiful. Chinese ''renyu'' () stands for "merfolk", but in ancient geographical or natural historical tracts, this referred to "human-fish" or "man-fish" purported to inhabit rivers or lakes in certain parts of China. Japanese '' ningyo'' () is also "merfolk", and also applied to various human-like fish recorded in writings from medieval times into the Edo Period. China Certain fantastical types of "fish", generically referred to as ''renyu'' (, "human-fish") is alleged to occur in various parts of China according to the ''Shan Hai Jing'' (''Classic of Mountains and Seas'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mermaid
In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mermaids are sometimes associated with perilous events such as floods, storms, shipwrecks, and drownings. In other folk traditions (or sometimes within the same traditions), they can be benevolent or beneficent, bestowing boons or falling in love with humans. The male equivalent of the mermaid is the merman, also a familiar figure in folklore and heraldry. Although traditions about and sightings of mermen are less common than those of mermaids, they are generally assumed to co-exist with their female counterparts. The male and the female collectively are sometimes referred to as merfolk or merpeople. The Western concept of mermaids as beautiful, seductive singers may have been influenced by the Sirens of Greek mythology, which were originally half-birdlike, but ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ningyo
as the name suggests, is a creature with both human and fish-like features, described in various pieces of Japanese literature. Though often translated as "mermaid", the term is technically not gender-specific and may include the " mermen". The literal translation "human-fish" has also been applied. Overview The earliest records of the ''ningyo'' attested in written Japanese sources are freshwater beings allegedly captured in the 7th century ( §Asuka period), documented later in the '' Nihon Shoki''. But subsequent examples are usually seawater beings. In later medieval times ( §Kamakura period)), it was held to be a sign of ill omen, and its beaching ( §Omens in Michinoku) was blamed for subsequent bloody battles or calamity. The notion that eating its flesh imparts longevity is attached to the legend of the ('eight hundred ear oldBuddhist priestess', cf. §Yao Bikuni) During the Edo period, the ''ningyo'' was made the subject of burlesque ''gesaku'' novels (cf. §S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merman
Mermen, the male counterparts of the mythical female mermaids, are legendary creatures, which are male human from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down, but may assume normal human shape. Sometimes they are described as hideous and other times as handsome. Antiquity Perhaps the first recorded merman was the Assyrian-Babylonian sea-god Ea (called Enki by the Sumerians), linked to the figure known to the Greeks as Oannes. However, while some popular writers have equated Oannes of the Greek period to the god Ea (and to Dagon), Oannes was rather one of the ''apkallu'' servants to Ea. The ''apkallu'' have been described as "fish-men" in cuneiform texts, and if Berossus is to be believed, Oannes was indeed a being possessed of a fish head and man's head beneath, and both a fish tail and manlike legs. But Berossus was writing much later during the era of Greek rule, engaging in the "construction" of the past. Thus even though figurines have been unearth to corroborate thi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merman
Mermen, the male counterparts of the mythical female mermaids, are legendary creatures, which are male human from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down, but may assume normal human shape. Sometimes they are described as hideous and other times as handsome. Antiquity Perhaps the first recorded merman was the Assyrian-Babylonian sea-god Ea (called Enki by the Sumerians), linked to the figure known to the Greeks as Oannes. However, while some popular writers have equated Oannes of the Greek period to the god Ea (and to Dagon), Oannes was rather one of the ''apkallu'' servants to Ea. The ''apkallu'' have been described as "fish-men" in cuneiform texts, and if Berossus is to be believed, Oannes was indeed a being possessed of a fish head and man's head beneath, and both a fish tail and manlike legs. But Berossus was writing much later during the era of Greek rule, engaging in the "construction" of the past. Thus even though figurines have been unearth to corroborate thi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Merfolk (other) or merboy, a male merperson
{{disambiguation ...
Merfolk or merpeople are legendary water-dwelling human-like beings. Merfolk may also refer: * Mermaid or mergirl, a female merperson * Merman Mermen, the male counterparts of the mythical female mermaids, are legendary creatures, which are male human from the waist up and fish-like from the waist down, but may assume normal human shape. Sometimes they are described as hideous and other ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging from traditional building styles common to the group. Folklore also includes customary lore, taking actions for folk beliefs, the forms and rituals of celebrations such as Christmas and weddings, folk dances and initiation rites. Each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a folklore artifact or traditional cultural expression. Just as essential as the form, folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to the next. Folklore is not something one can typically gain in a formal school curriculum or study in the fine arts. Instead, these traditions are passed along informally from one individual to another either through verbal instruction or demonstr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jiaolong
''Jiaolong'' () or ''jiao'' (''chiao'', ''kiao'') is a dragon in Chinese mythology, often defined as a "scaled dragon"; it is hornless according to certain scholars and said to be aquatic or river-dwelling. It may have referred to a species of crocodile. A number of scholars point to non- southern origins for the legendary creature and ancient texts chronicle that the Yue people once tattooed their bodies to ward against these monsters. In English translations, ''jiao'' has been variously rendered as "''jiao''-dragon", "crocodile", "flood dragon", "scaly dragon", or even "kraken". Name The ''jiao'' character combines the "insect radical" , to provide general sense of insects, reptiles or dragons, etc., and the right radical ''jiao'' "cross; mix", etc. which supplies the phonetic element "''jiao''". The original pictograph represented a person with crossed legs. The Japanese equivalent term is . The Vietnamese equivalent is ''giao long'', considered synonymous to Viet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward H
Edward is an English given name. It is derived from the Anglo-Saxon name ''Ēadweard'', composed of the elements '' ēad'' "wealth, fortune; prosperous" and '' weard'' "guardian, protector”. History The name Edward was very popular in Anglo-Saxon England, but the rule of the Norman and Plantagenet dynasties had effectively ended its use amongst the upper classes. The popularity of the name was revived when Henry III named his firstborn son, the future Edward I, as part of his efforts to promote a cult around Edward the Confessor, for whom Henry had a deep admiration. Variant forms The name has been adopted in the Iberian peninsula since the 15th century, due to Edward, King of Portugal, whose mother was English. The Spanish/Portuguese forms of the name are Eduardo and Duarte. Other variant forms include French Édouard, Italian Edoardo and Odoardo, German, Dutch, Czech and Romanian Eduard and Scandinavian Edvard. Short forms include Ed, Eddy, Eddie, Ted, Teddy and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages. Population decline, counterurbanisation, the collapse of centralized authority, invasions, and mass migrations of tribes, which had begun in late antiquity, continued into the Early Middle Ages. The large-scale movements of the Migration Period, including various Germanic peoples, formed new kingdoms in what remained of the Western Roman Empire. In the 7th century, North Africa and the Middle East—most recently part of the Easte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sea Silk
Sea silk is an extremely fine, rare, and valuable fabric that is made from the long silky filaments or byssus secreted by a gland in the foot of pen shells (in particular '' Pinna nobilis''). The byssus is used by the clam to attach itself to the sea bed. Sea silk was produced in the Mediterranean region from the large marine bivalve mollusc ''Pinna nobilis'' until early in the 20th century. The animal, whose shell is sometimes almost a metre long, adheres itself pointed end down to rocks in the intertidal zone using a tuft of very strong thin fibres. These byssi or filaments (which can be six centimetres long) are spun and, when treated with lemon juice, turn a golden colour, which never fades. The cloth produced from these filaments can be woven even more finely than silk, and is extremely light and warm; it was said that a pair of women's gloves made from the fabric could fit into half a walnut shell and a pair of stockings in a snuffbox.In ''Spirals in Time,'' Scales p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bowuzhi
''Bowuzhi'' (博物志; "Records of Diverse Matters") by Zhang Hua (c. 290 CE) was a compendium of Chinese stories about natural wonders and marvelous phenomena. It quotes from many early Chinese classics, and diversely includes subject matter from Chinese mythology, history, geography, and folklore. The ''Bowuzhi'', which is one of the first works in the literary genre of ''zhiguai'' "tales of anomalies; supernatural stories", records the earliest versions of several myths, such as the white '' yenü'' 野女 "wild women" living south of China in a society without men. Scholars have described the ''Bowuzhi'' as "a miscellany of scientific interest" and "an important minor classic". Author The ''Bowuzhi'' author Zhang Hua (232-300) was a Western Jin dynasty (265-316) scholar, poet, and protoscientist. His biography in the (644) ''Book of Jin'' depicts Zhang Hua as a ''fangshi'' "master of esoterica" who was especially skilled at numerological arts, and a voracious collector of bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
