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Creatures Real and Imaginary in Chinese and Japanese Art: An Identification Guide
This guide to identifying lions, unicorns and other creatures real and fanciful in Chinese and Japanese artwork explains how these and other animal depictions were introduced to the East, and how their portrayals changed over time. Tracing the lion's early use in Mesopotamian art and its cultural symbolism in Greece and Rome, this study includes stylized foxes, tigers, badgers and cats, as well as fanciful creatures like dragons, humanoid birds, water imps, demons and other chimerical beasts. Stories and descriptions are provided along with numerous photographs and drawings, making this work an invaluable resource for art collectors and anyone interested in East Asian culture and history.
180 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 10, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 21, 2019
I’m finally back with my World of Genji project research! This isn’t strictly about Heian Japan, but it is about the relationship between Japanese and Chinese culture, which is one of the things that I want to look at.
Although the title specifically mentions China and Japan, the history of these creatures covers a few more countries. This is because the exchange of culture didn’t just occur between Japan and China – China was influenced by, and in turn influenced, many other countries as well.
The book opens with a history of how lions have been depicted, starting from the way the Greek and Romans drew their lions, how heraldic lions have been drawn, and then goes on to explore how the lion may have entered China. The book argues that “as the lion is primarily an African and Near Eastern species, it is reasonable to assume that its long journey (as a design) began there.” The book looks at the Ordos style of art (from the Ordos Plateau in what is now part of Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region of China) and ties that to the widely accepted idea that the “majority [of authorities] believe that the nomadic tribes introduced [bronze casting to China].” According to them:
This is a pretty long quote, but I thought it showed the way art moves through different countries and cultures pretty well. I never really saw the Chinese lions as anything other than Chinese (then again, I never really thought of them as being related to real lions), so it was very cool to learn about the concept of lions moved into China and how their depiction changed.
After looking at the ways the lion has been depicted, the book discusses the t’ao-t’ieh masks and puts forth the theory that it was inspired by the Lagash lion and “could be a possible first introduction of the lion motif into China.”
Part II goes on to look at the lion in China and the different types of lions – the shizugou, feishi, and gaimei – that are depicted in Chinese art. Part III looks at the Ch’i-lin (Qilin). I learnt that the Qilin used to be one of the four sacred animals, replaced relatively recently by the tiger due to the tiger’s astronomical significance. Also, I found out that a giraffe was once brought to the imperial court during the Ming dynasty and was announced as a Qilin, due to its horn-like protuberances and “tessellated fur pattern resembling scales“. Finally, I also learnt that the Qilin is always depicted with hooves, which is how you can differentiate it from other, similar, mythical creatures (like the Baize).
Other mythical creatures examined in Part IV include the Xizhai, Baize, Pixiu, the Fenghuang, the Peng, dragons, and much more.
Part V goes back to the lion as the book looks at the lion in Japan. I may have studied Japanese, but I haven’t really studied the history of the language, so I was surprised to find that the word for lion, 獅子(shishi), is the shortened form of 唐獅子 (kara-shishi), which tells us that the idea of the lion must have come from China. One of the pictures in the book is of a silver incense burner with lion and phoenix designs from China to the Emperor Shomu. It’s apparently one of the earliest important artworks showing the introduction of the lion design in Japan and it’s pretty interesting that the lion here is “realistic and almost like a heraldic lion in Europe.” I also learnt that the lion appears in performing arts in Japan too – there’s their version of the lion dance (shishimai) and in a Noh drama called Shakyo, a stylised lion appears!
After the discussion of the lion, Part VI of the book looks at other mammals in Japan such as the Inari (fox), the Baku, Mujina, Bakeneko and Nekomata (paranormal cats), and the Tanuki. In the case of the tanuki, I learnt that “people also coveted their scrotal skin, which was used for pounding gold pieces into leaf”. I wonder how they even found out that the tanuki’s scrotal skin was “especially strong” and suited for pounding gold!
The last part of the book, Part VII talks about humanoid creatures and other types of yokai, including oni, yuki onna, kappa, dragons, kirin (the Japanese version of the Qilin), and Tengu. I found the discussion on the tengu very interesting because their original description, in the Chinese Classics of Mountains and Seas, described them “as something resembling a black monkey”, which is so far from their kanji (which translates literally to “heavenly dog”) and the way they are depicted today!
My biggest gripe with this book is that they persist in using the Wade-Giles system for Chinese words, which to my pinyin-trained brain was a bit awkward. They do put in the pinyin next to the Wade-Giles translation the first time the word appears, but I would have personally preferred them to just stick to pinyin the whole way.
Apart from that, I really enjoyed the book. I am not an expert in Chinese and Japanese history so I can’t really evaluate the book on its accuracy, but the artwork and scholarship they cite seems pretty solid and it does line up with what I have heard about the creatures mentioned in the book. Hence, I’m inclined to believe most of what they’re saying.
Creatures Real and Imaginary in Chinese and Japanese art does much more than introduce us to the creatures in two cultures. I focused mainly on how the book talks about lions in my review because I thought that example showed the biggest number of multi-cultural influences, but the entire book does a good job of introducing the reader to the types of art available in Chinese and Japanese culture and how it’s been influenced by other cultures as well. There is a lot of information and pictures in this book, making it valuable not only to aspiring art collectors, but also to anyone who wants to learn about the history of animals and mythological creatures in China and Japan.
Although the title specifically mentions China and Japan, the history of these creatures covers a few more countries. This is because the exchange of culture didn’t just occur between Japan and China – China was influenced by, and in turn influenced, many other countries as well.
The book opens with a history of how lions have been depicted, starting from the way the Greek and Romans drew their lions, how heraldic lions have been drawn, and then goes on to explore how the lion may have entered China. The book argues that “as the lion is primarily an African and Near Eastern species, it is reasonable to assume that its long journey (as a design) began there.” The book looks at the Ordos style of art (from the Ordos Plateau in what is now part of Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region of China) and ties that to the widely accepted idea that the “majority [of authorities] believe that the nomadic tribes introduced [bronze casting to China].” According to them:
“[E]arly Chinese artwork bears a striking resemblance to the Ordos style, making it difficult to dismiss a clear connection between such cultural (artistic) styles. For example, a Chinese bronze artifact of the tsun (zun) shape, which depicts a crouching feline, dates from the late Chou (Zhou) or early Han Dynasty. It shows a head and wing ornament closely related to the animal motifs introduced from the ancient Near East through the Ordos region. Later, these decorative wings and horns were added to the Buddhist lion, after its introduction from India. Another similar piece is the chimera of ts’ang (cang) type lion. Figure 1.2 shows a winged lion, also known as a chimera, in which the flowing mane is represented as wings. This most likely was a gradual development, stemming from ancient Babylonian lion portrayals.”
This is a pretty long quote, but I thought it showed the way art moves through different countries and cultures pretty well. I never really saw the Chinese lions as anything other than Chinese (then again, I never really thought of them as being related to real lions), so it was very cool to learn about the concept of lions moved into China and how their depiction changed.
After looking at the ways the lion has been depicted, the book discusses the t’ao-t’ieh masks and puts forth the theory that it was inspired by the Lagash lion and “could be a possible first introduction of the lion motif into China.”
Part II goes on to look at the lion in China and the different types of lions – the shizugou, feishi, and gaimei – that are depicted in Chinese art. Part III looks at the Ch’i-lin (Qilin). I learnt that the Qilin used to be one of the four sacred animals, replaced relatively recently by the tiger due to the tiger’s astronomical significance. Also, I found out that a giraffe was once brought to the imperial court during the Ming dynasty and was announced as a Qilin, due to its horn-like protuberances and “tessellated fur pattern resembling scales“. Finally, I also learnt that the Qilin is always depicted with hooves, which is how you can differentiate it from other, similar, mythical creatures (like the Baize).
Other mythical creatures examined in Part IV include the Xizhai, Baize, Pixiu, the Fenghuang, the Peng, dragons, and much more.
Part V goes back to the lion as the book looks at the lion in Japan. I may have studied Japanese, but I haven’t really studied the history of the language, so I was surprised to find that the word for lion, 獅子(shishi), is the shortened form of 唐獅子 (kara-shishi), which tells us that the idea of the lion must have come from China. One of the pictures in the book is of a silver incense burner with lion and phoenix designs from China to the Emperor Shomu. It’s apparently one of the earliest important artworks showing the introduction of the lion design in Japan and it’s pretty interesting that the lion here is “realistic and almost like a heraldic lion in Europe.” I also learnt that the lion appears in performing arts in Japan too – there’s their version of the lion dance (shishimai) and in a Noh drama called Shakyo, a stylised lion appears!
After the discussion of the lion, Part VI of the book looks at other mammals in Japan such as the Inari (fox), the Baku, Mujina, Bakeneko and Nekomata (paranormal cats), and the Tanuki. In the case of the tanuki, I learnt that “people also coveted their scrotal skin, which was used for pounding gold pieces into leaf”. I wonder how they even found out that the tanuki’s scrotal skin was “especially strong” and suited for pounding gold!
The last part of the book, Part VII talks about humanoid creatures and other types of yokai, including oni, yuki onna, kappa, dragons, kirin (the Japanese version of the Qilin), and Tengu. I found the discussion on the tengu very interesting because their original description, in the Chinese Classics of Mountains and Seas, described them “as something resembling a black monkey”, which is so far from their kanji (which translates literally to “heavenly dog”) and the way they are depicted today!
My biggest gripe with this book is that they persist in using the Wade-Giles system for Chinese words, which to my pinyin-trained brain was a bit awkward. They do put in the pinyin next to the Wade-Giles translation the first time the word appears, but I would have personally preferred them to just stick to pinyin the whole way.
Apart from that, I really enjoyed the book. I am not an expert in Chinese and Japanese history so I can’t really evaluate the book on its accuracy, but the artwork and scholarship they cite seems pretty solid and it does line up with what I have heard about the creatures mentioned in the book. Hence, I’m inclined to believe most of what they’re saying.
Creatures Real and Imaginary in Chinese and Japanese art does much more than introduce us to the creatures in two cultures. I focused mainly on how the book talks about lions in my review because I thought that example showed the biggest number of multi-cultural influences, but the entire book does a good job of introducing the reader to the types of art available in Chinese and Japanese culture and how it’s been influenced by other cultures as well. There is a lot of information and pictures in this book, making it valuable not only to aspiring art collectors, but also to anyone who wants to learn about the history of animals and mythological creatures in China and Japan.
September 1, 2023
This book did not start well. You see, it stated that dinosaurs were being called dragons and that there could be prehistoric creatures, especially dinosaurs etc. in Africa. This did not bode well for this book.
Soon I had skipped a lot of this book, since I was sure that I don't need to know the history of buddhism, I already wondered why this chapter started with European and Middle Eastern depictions of lions. Only the t'ao-t'ieh section was interesting in regard to what this shang art is supposed to show. Some theories even considered connections to gorgons. It was interesting to see the pictures who sometimes look nothing like lions and read how winged lions might have evolved out of stylized mane depictions, but apart from that this book was boring. I hoped the Qilin chapter would be better. It was, somehow. However, even though sometimes this book was interesting, in the end, it doesn't tell you anything more about these beings then a random wikipedia article would. So I stopped reading at about one quarter of the book.
This book is not to be recommended.
Soon I had skipped a lot of this book, since I was sure that I don't need to know the history of buddhism, I already wondered why this chapter started with European and Middle Eastern depictions of lions. Only the t'ao-t'ieh section was interesting in regard to what this shang art is supposed to show. Some theories even considered connections to gorgons. It was interesting to see the pictures who sometimes look nothing like lions and read how winged lions might have evolved out of stylized mane depictions, but apart from that this book was boring. I hoped the Qilin chapter would be better. It was, somehow. However, even though sometimes this book was interesting, in the end, it doesn't tell you anything more about these beings then a random wikipedia article would. So I stopped reading at about one quarter of the book.
This book is not to be recommended.
June 16, 2024
This book should be taken as entertainment or a collection of amusing stories.
I have to admit that I could hardly force myself to finish the chapter on Chinese fantasy animals, but the chapter on Japanese mythology was really hilarious.
If you are interested in finding out
- how a deer and a peeing monk have babies,
- why kappas are so obsessed with anuses,
- why your cat might brutally kill you in 7 years
- how gold and tanuki testicles are related
and many other strange stories with explanations (!),
then I strongly recommend reading this book.
I have to admit that I could hardly force myself to finish the chapter on Chinese fantasy animals, but the chapter on Japanese mythology was really hilarious.
If you are interested in finding out
- how a deer and a peeing monk have babies,
- why kappas are so obsessed with anuses,
- why your cat might brutally kill you in 7 years
- how gold and tanuki testicles are related
and many other strange stories with explanations (!),
then I strongly recommend reading this book.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews