Bái Zé (), or in
Japanese is a mythical
cow-like beast from
Chinese legend
Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions.
Much of ...
. Its name literally means "white marsh".
The ''Bái Zé'' was encountered by the
Yellow Emperor
The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (), is a deity ('' shen'') in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Soverei ...
or ''Huáng Dì'' while he was on patrol in the east. Thereafter the creature dictated to ''Huáng Dì'' a guide to the forms and habits of all 11,520 types of supernatural creatures in the world, and how to overcome their hauntings and attacks. The emperor had this information written down in a book called the ''Bái Zé Tú'' (白泽图/白澤圖). This book no longer exists, but many fragments of it survive in other texts.
In Japan
The common Japanese image generally depicts the ''hakutaku'' as a "cow or monstrous
cat creature with nine eyes and six horns, arranged in sets of three and two on both its flanks and its man-like face. It is also commonly depicted as having the body of a
lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus '' Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphic; adu ...
and eight eyes, known for having a horn or multiple horns on their heads." However, the number of extra eyes actually varies depending on interpretation, and sometimes the creature is pictured with only one in the center of its head. It is considered to be "intelligent, and well read with the ability to understand human speech."
In ''Zen and Japanese Culture'',
D. T. Suzuki describes the hakutaku as "a
mythical creature whose body resembles a hand and whose head is human. It was anciently believed that the creature ate our bad dreams and evil experiences, and for this reason, people, wishing it to eat up all the ills which we are likely to suffer, used to hang its picture on the entrance gate or inside the house."
Gallery
File:SekienHakutaku.jpg, Baize by Toriyama Sekien
File:Gusukuma Portrait of the Sacred Beast Baize.jpg, Portrait of the Bai Ze on a Ryūkyūan scroll painting by Gusukuma Seihō
File:Hakutaku.a.k.a.Bai.Ze.detail.of.painting.working.print.01.JPG, Edo era Japanese illustration of Bai Ze
References
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Chinese legendary creatures
Japanese legendary creatures
{{Japan-myth-stub
Human-headed mythical creatures