The qilin, or kirin in Japanese, is a mythical chimeric creature with hooves known in China and other East Asian cultures, which is said to appear with the arrival or imminent death of a wise man or illustrious ruler . Qilin is a specific type of the mythological lin family of single-horned beasts.
1. Origins
The earliest references to the qilin are found in the 5th century BC. Zuo Zhuan The qilin appeared in a variety of later Chinese historical and fictional works, such as Feng Shen Bang. Emperor Wu of Han apparently captured a live qilin in 122 BC, although Sima Qian was skeptical about this.
The legendary image of the qilin was associated with the image of the giraffe in the Ming dynasty. The identification of the qilin with giraffes began after Zheng He’s voyage to East Africa (landing, among other places, in present-day Somalia). The Ming dynasty bought giraffes from Somali traders along with zebras, incense, and other exotic animals. Zheng He’s fleet brought two giraffes to Nanjing, which they called “qilins.” The emperor proclaimed giraffes to be magical creatures, whose capture signaled the greatness of his power.
The identification between the qilin and the giraffe is supported by some attributes of the qilin, including its vegetarianism and calm nature. Its supposed ability to “walk on grass without disturbing it” may be related to the giraffe’s long, thin legs.
The qilin is also described as having deer antlers and scales like a dragon or fish; since giraffes have horn-like “ossicones” on their heads and a tessellated coat pattern that looks like scales, it is easy to draw an analogy between the two creatures. The identification of qilin with giraffes has had a lasting influence: even today, the same word is used for the mythical animal and the giraffe in both Korean and Japanese.
Axel Schuessler reconstructs the Old Chinese pronunciation as gerin. Finnish linguist Juha Janhunen tentatively compares gerin with an etymon reconstructed as kalim, denoting “whale”; and represented in the isolated Nivkh language and in four different language families—Tungusic, Mongolic, Turkic, and Samoyedic—where kalay(Ó™)ng means “whale” and kalVyÇ “mammoth.”
Even aborigines “vaguely familiar with the real animals underlying” often confuse whales, mammoths, and unicorns: they conceptualize mammoths and whales as aquatic, as well as mammoths and unicorns as having a single horn; for inland populations, the existing whale remains an abstraction, in this sense no different from the extinct mammoth or the truly mythical unicorn.”
However, Janhunen cautiously observes that “the formal and semantic similarity between kilin is the same as gilin and unicorn and kalim meaning ‘whale’ (but also Samoyedic kalay meaning ‘mammoth’) is sufficient to support, though perhaps not confirm, the hypothesis of an etymological connection, and also points to a possible connection between the ancient Chinese keris and the Mongolian keris, which is similar to kiris, meaning “rhinoceros.”
2. Description
Qilin generally have Chinese features similar to those of a dragon. Their heads, eyes with thick eyelashes, manes that always flow upwards, and beards are particularly striking. The body has total or partial scales and is often shaped like an ox, a deer, or a horse. They are always shown with cloven hooves.
The Chinese dragon has horns, so it is more common to see qilin with horns. Dragons in China are also more commonly depicted as golden, so the most common representations of qilin are also golden, but they are not limited to gold and can be any color of the rainbow, multicolored, and have various skin or leather colors.
Qilin are symbolized through an extensive artistic scale in the Middle East, specifically China, also with segments of their bodies wrapped in flames. They sometimes have feathery features or decorations, curly and fluffy tufts of hair like the horse art of the Ming dynasty on various parts of their legs, from the fetlocks to the upper legs, or even with decorative fins similar to those of a fish as a decorative adornment, or carp whiskers, or even dragon scales similar to those of a carp.
Qilin are almost always personified by jeweled adornments, or gleaming like pure gold and precious pearls, imitating the ideology of Chinese dragon characterization. They are often associated in color with the elements, precious metals, stars, and gemstones. However, qilin can also be earthy and modest brown or earth tones. It is said that the voices of these beings are protective and tinkle like the ringing of bells.
In Buddhist symbolism, it is forbidden to step on the grass so as not to damage the natural foliage, which is why the Qilin is always in the air or above the water. As creatures of peace and serenity, they do not eat meat and are vegan. They are very careful when walking so as never to step on a living creature, and they only appear in areas ruled by a wise and benevolent leader, which may include a home. If the Qilin is disturbed, it will breathe fire from its mouth and use other powers that exist in myths and legends.
Qilin are also a symbol of fertility and are often depicted in decorations such as bringing a baby to a family.
3. In ritual dances
In the hierarchy of dances performed by the Chinese (lion dance, dragon dance, etc.), they rank high, second only to the dragon and phoenix, which are the highest.
In the qilin dance, the movements are characterized by rapid and powerful movements of the head. The Qilin Dance is often considered a difficult dance to perform due to the weight of the head, the postures involved, and the emphasis on sudden bursts of energy like a “unicorn.” One-horned beast depicted on a ceramic model from the Northern Wei period (386-534)
Qilin is often translated into English as “unicorn,“ as it can sometimes be depicted as having a single horn, although this is misleading, as qilin can also be depicted as having two horns. A separate word, “horned beast,” is used in modern Chinese for “unicorns.” A number of different Chinese mythical creatures can be depicted with a single horn, and a qilin, even if depicted with a single horn, would be called a “single-horned qilin” in Chinese, not a “unicorn.”
It is because of the whimsical, supernatural, mythical, mystical, and religious similarities of ancient times with Western unicorns that the Chinese government has minted silver and gold coins on several occasions, depicting both the qilin and the Western unicorn together.
4. Variations
There are diversifications in the appearance of the qilin, even within historical China, due to disagreements between cultures in different regions.
Qing
The qilin of the later Manchu Qing dynasty (1644-1911) was a fantasy animal. The symbolism of the qilin depicts a creature with a dragon’s head, deer-like horns, skin and scales like a fish, hooves like an ox, and a tail like a lion.
Thailand
In Thailand, the Qilin is known as “Gilen” and is a member of the pantheon of mythical forest animals in the Thai Himapant. It is very likely that the Gilen was introduced into the pantheon under the influence of the Tai Yai who came down from southern China to settle in Siam in ancient times, and the legend was probably incorporated into the Himapant legends of Siam in this way.
The Gilen is a mixture of several animals, which come from different elemental environments, representing elemental magical forces present within each personified creature. Many of the Himapant animals actually represent gods and the Celestial Realms, and bodhisattvas, who manifest as personifications representing the true nature of each creature’s deity through the symbolism of the various body parts amalgamated in the Mythical creature’s design.
Japan
In Japanese art, the Kirin is described as a deer. It is personified with the form of a dragon and the body of a deer, but has a tail similar to that of an ox instead of a lion’s tail. It bears the name of the animal and uses the image of one of them on its labels and is often presented as partially unicorn-like, but with a horn curved backward.
In the Chinese Post-Qin hierarchy of mythological animals,the qilin is ranked as the third most powerful creature (after the dragon and the phoenix), but in Japan, the kirin occupies the first place. This follows the style of the ancient Chinese, as the qilin was ranked higher than the dragon or the phoenix before the Qin dynasty. During the Zhou dynasty, the qilin was the highest, the phoenix second, and the dragon third.
Vietnam
In Vietnam, the Qilin is known as “Kỳ lân Trung Hoa, “ or simplified as “Kỳ lân.” The origins of the Kỳ lân descend from the Chinese Qilin, and it shares many similar characteristics, such as the head of a dragon or a tiger, the mane of a lion, the hooves of an ox or a horse, the tail of a lion or an ox, the scales of a fish, and it may have one or two horns or antlers.
