Bashe

Bashe () was a python-like Chinese mythological giant snake that ate elephants.

Name

The term ''bashe'' compounds ''ba'' "a proper name; tip, tail; crust; greatly desire; cling to; be near" and ''she'' "snake; serpent".

The Chinese character for ''ba'' was graphically simplified from ancient Oracle bone script and Seal script pictograms of a long-tailed snake. In early Written Chinese usage, ''ba'' frequently referred to the Zhou Dynasty (1122 BCE – 256 BCE) state of Ba, which was located in present-day eastern Sichuan. In Modern Standard Chinese usage, ''ba'' often transcribes foreign loanwords such as ''ba'' "bar (unit)", ''Bali'' "Paris", or ''Guba'' "Cuba". ''Ba'' is a variant Chinese character for ''ba'' "grasp; handle", ''ba'' "bamboo; fence", or ''ba'' in ''bajiao'' "banana" (using ''ba'' as the phonetic element with graphic radicals for "hand", "bamboo", and "plant").

''Bashe'' not only names this mythical giant reptile but is also a variant Chinese name for the South Asian ''ran'' or ''mang'' " python" (and South American "boa constrictor" or African "mamba"). "Mythical draconyms often derive from names of larger reptilians", says Carr and "Since pythons usually crush their prey and swallow them whole, one can imagine Chinese tales about southern ''ran'' 'pythons' being exaggerated into legendarily-constipated ''bashe'' 'giant snakes' that ate an elephant every three years". In literary usage, ''bashe'' is found in the four-character idiom ''bashetunxiang'' (lit. "''ba''-snake gulping down an elephant") meaning "inordinately greedy; extremely insatiable".

Early textual occurrences

The earliest references to the legendary ''bashe'' are in the ''Chuci'' and ''Shanhaijing'', two Chinese classic texts containing Warring States period (475 BCE – 221 BCE) materials compiled during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE).

The ''Chuci'' is an anthology of Chinese poems (see Qu Yuan) from the southern state of Chu and it mentions ''bashe'' in the ''Tianwen'' "Heavenly Questions" section. The preeminent ''Chuci'' translator David Hawkes describes the ''Tianwen'' as a "somewhat odd combination of archaic riddles with questions of a speculative or philosophical nature" and believes "it started as an ancient, priestly riddle-text (a sort of catechism to be used for mnemonic purposes) which was rewritten and greatly enlarged by a secular poet". This mythological questionnaire asks:

The ''Shanhaijing'' is an ancient Chinese mytho-geography. Chapter 10, the "''Haineinan jing''" "Classic of Regions within the Seas: South" describes a legendary land where ''bashe'' lived:

The ''Shanhaijing'' commentary by Guo Pu (276–324 CE) compares the ''ba'' snake with the southern ''ran'' "python", which after eating a large animal can wind around a tree trunk and expel the bones from between its scales and notes they could grow up to a length of 100 ''xun'' (about 270 meters). Guo's commentary likewise notes this exaggerated length for the ''changshe'' "long snake" that the ''Shanhaijing'' locates on Daxian Mountain "Mount Bigwhole": "There is a snake here named the long-snake; its hair is like pig bristles. It makes a noise like a nightwatchman banging his rattle".

The 1578 CE ''Bencao Gangmu'' entry for ''ranshe'' "python" mentions the ''bashe'':

Compare how the ''Shanhaijing'' description of the ''ba''-snake's sympathetic magic is interpreted as eating the snake (Birrell "take a dose of this snake" and Schiffeler "swallow its flesh") or eating the undigested elephant bones (Read "take these bones as medicine"). This materia medica lists uses for python bile, flesh, fat, teeth, and oil. The ''Bencao Gangmu'' says pythons can reach lengths of 50–60 ''chi'' (about 16–20 meters), but ''Python molurus'' grow up to 5.8 meters and '' Python reticulatus'' 9.2 meters.

The Chinese folklore scholar Wolfram Eberhard links ''bashe'' with the legendary archer Houyi who descended from heaven to destroy evildoers. One of Houyi's victims was a monstrous serpent in Lake Dongting, the ''xiushe'' "adorned/long snake" (or ''changshe'' , cf. above). Eberhard concludes giant snakes such as the ''xiushe'', ''bashe'', and ''ranshe'' "were typical for the South", but were not part of a snake cult like those among the ancient Baiyue.

See also

*Snakes in Chinese mythology

References

*
*
*
*
*
*

External links

ancient Chinese characters for ''ba''
Search results for {{lang, zh, 巴 in all texts
Chinese Text Project

Animals in Chinese mythology
Legendary serpents
Yaoguai