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tokapi
Jan 13, 2008, 09:55
Besides my deep love for East Asia history,I also take interest in Chinese Mythology.:-)

China's Qilin 麒麟 is one spiritually endowed mystical beast similiar to the unicorn in the West. There have been legends about Qilin since the Zhou Dynasty ( 周朝 ),often depicted as a docile creature although it had a horn on its head.Hence for generations, the Qilin 麒麟 was loved and cherished by the rulers.It was rare to spot a Qilin 麒麟 and if one was sighted, it was regarded as a national treasure that helped boost the authority of the ruler.

Among the common folk,the Qilin 麒麟 was an auspicious symbol,and there was the custom of 'The Qilin 麒麟 bestowing a Child'. According to one legend, there was an elderly artist who was childless. One night, he saw a golden, sparkling Qilin 麒麟 - with a child on its back - walking towards him. The artist was delighted, only to awake and find it was a dream. The following year, his elderly wife became pregnant and gave birth to a son. The boy was extremely clever and could recite poetry and paint when he was only six years old. People called this boy ' The Qilin Child 麒麟 '. This legend was spread far and wide. When it was the Spring Festival, people would paste pictures that depict this legend.

Today,麒麟 Qilin remains as an auspicious symbol among the Chinese and pendants with designs of the Qilin are worn by children for good health and happiness.

Qilin ( 麒麟 Chinese unicorn ) "The body of a deer, the tail of an ox, the hooves of a horse, and a single short horn growing out of the middle of its forehead. The hair on its back is five-colored to represent the five sacred Chinese colors: red, yellow, blue, white, and black. The hair on its belly is yellow."

- a creature of good omen
- said to have 5-colored scales which would signify auspiciousness
- male is “ qi 麒”, female is “ lin 麟”
- male has a horn, none on female
- tip of horn is fleshy, so unfit for war
- able to walk on land and water
- always solitary
- kind, benevolent, discriminatory mind

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qilin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirin_Brewery

huaxia
Oct 6, 2008, 09:50
oo~I think that I love Chinese dragon more than the unicorn~

iceman
Nov 6, 2008, 22:53
oo~I think that I love Chinese dragon more than the unicorn~



like me i also like chinese dragon

hungtakwai
Dec 10, 2008, 11:34
Qilin is beloved in China was backed up with reasons. First of all we call Qilin a . (In Manderine, it is pronounced as De, In Cantonese, it is pronounced as "Duck") is a concept of the Confuchianism talking about the mentally well behavior. It refers to the ability to have love on everyone and everything in the world, and carry out justice without fear. Qilin was said to be only appear if the Ruler in the country was statisfy with the requirement of , or just appear to the good people statisfy with the requirement of . That's why most Emperor in China wanna saw Qilin as that is a prove of his ruling is good. As for Qilin itself, it is said to be "Walinking without stepping of ants, and eating grass without hurting their roots."
Qilin is a symble of Life. Just like an embarsstor from the God above encouraging people, animals and even plants to live their life better. The myth mentioned just now actually implies the syble of bringing life.

This Creature is just ammasing.:cool:

crysun
May 14, 2009, 17:53
this is chinese traditional culture i like it too
这传统C欢