Chi (mythology)

''Chi'' ( zh, c=螭, p=''chī'', w=''ch'ih'') means either "a hornless dragon" or "a mountain demon" (namely, ) in Chinese mythology. Hornless dragons were a common motif in ancient Chinese art, and the was an imperial roof decoration in traditional Chinese architecture.

Word

In Modern Standard Chinese usage, occurs in words such as:
*—"hornless dragon"; i.e. making it clear that a dragon and not a demon is being talked about.
*—"carved dragon handle (esp. on cups)"
*—"a roof ornament shaped like a dragon". Compare the homophonous variant .
* or —"an architectural adornment; gargoyle"
*—"carved patterns of sinuous dragons (esp. on pillars/bronzes)"
*—"steps of the imperial palace; the Emperor"

Characters

The Chinese character for , combines the "bug radical" (Kangxi radical #142)—typically used in words for insects, reptiles, and dragons—with a phonetic symbol, (). This phonetic element is pronounced either when used for "demon; dragon" or when used for . The c. 3rd century BCE seal script character for , which is the earliest known writing, has the same radical-phonetic combination.

This is also a variant Chinese character for (differentiated with the "ghost radical" ) "mountain demon", which only occurs in the compound . is sometimes written or with . Note the "ghost radical" in the ''mei'' characters (with a phonetic of ) and (with the "hair radical" representing the demon's hair, cf. variant ).

The ''Shuowen Jiezi'' (121 CE), which was the first Chinese dictionary of characters, gives , and definitions.
*:
*:
*:
This "earth cricket" () compares with , which the Classic of Mountains and Seas mentions in , "There is an animal here [at the Mound of Offspringline] which looks like a ram, but has four horns. Its name is the earth-cricket. It devours humans."

Etymologies

The etymology of ''chi'' "dragon; demon" is obscure. Carr reviews three proposals by Peter A. Boodberg, Paul K. Benedict, and James Matisoff.

Boodberg proposed that ''chi'' or etymologically descends from a Sino-Tibetan root *''brong-bri'' "wild oxen", from *''brong'' "wild bull" and *''bri'' or *''brien'' "wild cow". He described this root as a "semantic atom, a referential complex with the meaning of 'wild' → 'wild animal' → 'couple'", and applied this etymon to many male and female animal couples, including *''ly^wung'' < *''bl^wong'' and *t'ia . Compare how Yin and Yang cosmology dichotomized rainbow-dragons between Yang/male and Yin/female .
Benedict noted how Karlgren inconsistently reconstructed Old Chinese *''t'lia'' for , , and ; but *''lia'' for all the other words in this phonetic series (e.g., , ). Benedict reconstructed Old Chinese *''xlia'' "a mountain demon", deriving from a Proto- Tibeto-Burman *''sri(-n)'' "demon" root, also evident in Tibetan ''sri'' "a species of devil or demon; a vampire", ''srin-po'' "demons", and Lushai ''hri'' < *''sri'' "the spirit believed to cause sickness". He additionally hypothesized the *''xlia'' phonetic was cognate with '' shen'' < *'' yěn'' "spirit; god" from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *'' -lrin'' < *'' -in''.

Matisoff analyzes Benedict's *''sri(-n)'' "demon" root as *''s-r-i-n'', and links Chinese *''xlia'' with another Tibetan cognate ''hdre-srin'' "goblins and demons" (from ''hdre'' "goblin; demon; evil spirit").

Schuessler reconstructed Old Chinese *''rhai'' for ''chī'' , , and "mountain demon", and proposed a Sino-Tibetan etymology comparable with Tibetan ''’dre'' < ''ɴdre'' "goblin; demon, evil spirit" and ''gre-bo'' "species of demon", Tangkhul ''rai'' "unclean spirit", Bodo ''ráj'' "devil", and possibly Proto- Kam–Sui ''la:l'' "devil; ghost" borrowed from Chinese.

Meanings

Chinese classic texts use to mean both "a hornless dragon" and "a mountain demon". The following discussion focuses upon earliest recorded usages in pre- Han texts, some of which have uncertain dates of compilation.

Hornless dragon

The '' Lüshi Chunqiu'' (c. 239 BCE) quotes Confucius comparing , , and .

The dragon eats and swims in clear water; the one-footed dragon eats in clean water but swims in muddy water; fish eat and swim in muddy water. Now, I have not ascended to the level of a dragon but I have not descended to that of fish. I am perhaps a one-footed dragon!

The reason for translating "one-footed dragon" is unclear. Compare the legendary .

The '' Chuci'' (c. 2nd century CE) uses five times, which is more than any other Chinese classic. Two contexts mention ; "They lined water monsters up to join them in the dance"; and "Driving black dragons, I travel northwards." Another mentions and ; "With a team of azure dragons, white serpents in the traces." Two final contexts mention with ; one describes a team of four dragons: "I ride a water chariot with a canopy of lotus; Two dragons draw it, between two water-serpents"; the other uses the compound : "And water dragons swim side by side, swiftly darting above and below."

The ''Huainanzi'' (c. 139 BCE) chapter mentions and . The former occurs with : "When the red hornless dragon and the green horned dragon roamed the land of Chi , the sky was limpid and the earth undisturbed." The latter occurs with : the chariot of Fu Xi and Nüwa was "preceded by white serpents and followed by speeding snakes."

The " Records of the Grand Historian" (c. 100 BCE) biography of Sima Xiangru includes two of his '' fu'' poems that mention . "The Shanglin Park" mentions them with , "Here horned dragons and red hornless dragons"; "Sir Fantasy" mentions them with

Theses texts describe black, white, and red , which contradicts the ''Shuowen Jiezi'' "like a dragon and yellow" definition. However, a possible explanation might be found in the '' Hanshu'' () commentary of Wei Zhao, which describes the demon as "resembling a tiger with scales".

Many later dictionaries—for instance, the '' Guangya'' (c. 230 CE), '' Longkan Shoujian'' (997 CE), and '' Piya'' (c. 1080 CE)—define a contrast between and .
De Groot provides a picture of a sepulchral stone tablet decorated with a ''chi'' and the ''Gujin Tushu Jicheng'' illustration of this hornless dragon.

Mountain demon

The variant used in only occurs as a bound morpheme in , but ) occurs in other expressions such as . Both modern Chinese and Japanese normally use "ghost radical" characters to write and '' wǎngliǎng'' or , but these were not regularly used in classical texts. The '' Hanshu'' (111 CE) first wrote as , but earlier texts like ''Zuozhuan'' and ''Shiji'' wrote it as , with the "hornless dragon" variant. The '' Guoyu'' (c. 4th century BCE) first wrote as , but more classics like the ''Shuoyuan'', '' Zhuangzi'', ''Huainanzi'', and ''Chuci'') phonetically wrote it as , without the ghost radical.

''Chīmèi'' is joined with ''wǎngliǎng'' in the expression . Since some commentators differentiate between "demons of the mountains and forests" and "demons of the rivers and marshes", can mean either "'demons, monsters' generally or 'mountain and water demons' separately". De Groot describes ''chimei'' as "another demon-tribe" because the "Chinese place in their great class of hill-spirits certain quadrumana, besides actual human beings, mountaineers alien to Chinese culture, perhaps a dying race of aborigines."

The '' Zuozhuan'' (c. 389 BCE) commentary to the '' Chunqiu'' has the earliest textual usages of both and .

Both the contexts concern banishing evildoers into dangerous wilderness regions. The former (18;Tr. .) refers to the (, , , and ); the legendary ruler Shun, "banished these four wicked ones, Chaos, Monster, Block, and Glutton, casting them out into the four distant regions, to meet the spite of the sprites and evil things". Du Yu's commentary glosses as "born in the strange '' qi'' of mountains and forests, harmful to humans". The latter context only mentions the villainous Taowu: "The ancient kings located T'aou-wuh in ne ofthe four distant regions, to encounter the sprites and other evil things."

The context records how Yu the Great, legendary founder of the Xia dynasty, cast nine instructional bronze '' ding'' "tripod cauldrons" to acquaint people with all the dangerous creatures in China's Nine Provinces.

Anciently, when Hea was distinguished for its virtue, the distant regions sent pictures of the [remarkable] objects in them. The nine pastors sent in the metal of their provinces, and the tripods were cast, with representations on them of those objects. All the objects were represented, and [instructions were given] of the preparations to be made in reference to them, so that the people might know the sprites and evil things. Thus the people, when they went among the rivers, marshes, hills, and forests, did not meet with the injurious things, and the hill-sprites, monstrous things, and water-sprites, did not meet with them [to do them injury].

Note how Legge translates each syllable individually: "injurious things, and the hill-sprites" and "monstrous things, and water-sprites".

Wang Chong's (late 1st century CE) considers the as a dragon hybrid, "Those who give their opinion on the ch'i, state that they are dragon-like beings; therefore, as the word mei is copulated to (the name of) a dragon, the mei must be a congener of this animal."

Mythic parallels

In Chinese folklore and art, most dragons, including the , are represented with two horns. Besides the , only a few dragons supposedly lacked horns, for instance, or .

In comparative mythology as well, horned dragons are generally more common than hornless ones. Based upon the roof adornment, Kroll translates ''chi'' as '' wyvern'', "a footed winged dragon with a serpent's tail, becoming in medieval times an oft-pictured heraldic beast."

Notes

References

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Digitalized edition
2007 Chicoutimi Canda - Paris by Pierre Palpant.
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Digitalized edition
2007 Chicoutimi Canda - Paris by Pierre Palpant.
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* ) with a translation and analysis of chapter six , publisher=Hong Kong University Press , isbn=9789882201798

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Footnotes

Further reading

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External links

{{Commons category, Chishou, Chi
螭 entry
Chinese Etymology
螭 entry page
1716 CE Kangxi Dictionary
Jade awl of a ''chi'' dragon
Warring States period, National Palace Museum
Marble ''chishou'' hornless dragon head
Yuan dynasty, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Lacquerware vase with hornless dragon design
Qing dynasty, National Palace Museum
Hornless dragon on a porcelain plate
Qing dynasty, Royal Alberta Museum

Chinese legendary creatures
Chinese dragons
Chinese iconography