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Admonisher Animal – Wangtienhou (望天吼 pinyin:wàng tiān hǒu)

In front of the main gate, Tienanmen (天安門 pinyin:tiān ān mén), the Gate of Heavenly Peace, of the Imperial palace in Beijin China, there is a tall and ornate pillar, which the Chinese call Huabiao (华表 pinyin:huá biǎo). High above on top of this carved stone column sits a fabulous creature called Wangtienhou (望天吼 pinyin:wàng tiān hǒu). It resembles a dragon but is not a dragon, nor is it claimed to be one of the nine descendants of the dragon.

It is, however, considered sacred and given esteemed reverence. Perched high on a carved column that resembles a totem pole with wings, this creature stands guard and watches every movement of the Emperor. In addition, whenever the Emperor should leave the Imperial palace, he becomes a reminder and an admonished for the Emperor not to indulge in recklessness and become un-cultivated, discarding and neglecting decorum and engage in being a profligate and dissipated, given to debauchery.

Since the Wangtienhou resembles a lion and it stands for all things auspicious, his messages from above, reflect the voice from Heaven. This has been symbolized by the populace in the Lion Dance of the lion climbing up on a tall pole and from the heights, drops from the lion’s mouth, a banner of good wishes and auspicious sayings.

- By William C. Hu and David Lei

Technorati Tags: Tienanmen, Huabiao, Wangtienhou, 望天吼, dragon, Lion Dance, mythical creatures, fenshui, lucky charms, travel, beijin, point of interest in beijin, must see in Beijin

Xiezhi (獬豸pinyin:xiè zhì)

A fabulous beast called Xiezhi (獬豸 pinyin:xiè zhì), by the Chinese, is described as being somewhat like a unicorn and a dragon, although with a singular horn and cleft-foot like a goat, which has the ability to discriminate between right and wrong and destroys the wicked by biting or goring them. It is believed to live in the wilds and is said to be fire-eating even to its own destruction. Since it also looks like a goat, it is also called Shenyang (神羊 pinyin:shén yáng).

This fabulous creature stood for justice and in the work on legal cases of the Tang (唐 pinyin:táng) dynasty, entitled, T’ang-yin pi-shih, it is recorded and described as a single-horned goat, that appears whenever there was a wrongly accused person who had been misjudged by the judicial system. In a much earlier work, by Wangchong (王充 pinyin:wáng chōng), entitled Lunheng (論衡 pinyin:lún héng), it is described also a a goat with a single horn, who is able to judge as to the innocent and guilty, and bites and gores the guilty. During both the Ming (明 pinyin:míng) and Qing (清pinyin:qīng) dynasties, it was used as an insignia for civil officials, and a badge of Didu (提督 pinyin:dī dū) or circuit intendant.

In addition it was the emblem for governmental censors. The Xiezhi was the symbol of an upright and honest person, as well as a protector of the court in determining justice. It is a most auspicious symbol that has been both carved, sculpt and painted to decorate halls and courtrooms. This animal is revered and most endeared that there is a dance created, which is similar to the lion dance performed mostly in the South and called in Cantonese as Hai-zai.

This justice animal, is also used as a roof ornament and placed ont he ridge of the eaves, usually behind the Suanni (狻猊 pinyin:suān ní) and before the Douniu (鬥牛 pinyin:dòu niú) pottery roof figures.

-By William C. Hu and David Lei

Technorati Tags: Xiezhi, 獬豸, Shenyang, single-horned goat, emblem, auspicious symbol, justice animal, roof ornament

Tan (貪 pinyin:tān)

In ancient times, on the walls of the Yamen (衙門 pinyin:yá mén) or Chinese courthouses, there is a painting of a fabulous beast. This mythical beast has a head resembling a dragon, scaled body like a unicorn, hoofed feet like an ox and a long tail like that of a donkey. It bears no resemblance to any other specific animal, but a composite of several. The beast is usually depicted with his fore feet placed guardedly on eight different precious objects babao (八宝 pinyin:bā bǎo), namely a large flaming pearl, lozenge, stone chime, pair of rhinoceros horns, coin, mirror, book and leaf. On the upper left hand corner of the picture is a large red sphere, representing a blazing sun. Although this beast had all these precious objects, he was unsatisfied and wanted to have the glowing sun as his possession, which led to his demise by drowning while attempting to get hold of its reflection in the water.

Although this depiction had been known earlier, it was not standardized until the Zhou (周 pinyin:zhōu) dynasty, 1122-221 B.C. and named formally as Tan (貪 pinyin:tān), or avaricious. In 221 B.C. when Qinshihuangdi (秦史皇帝 pinyin:qín shǐ huáng dì) unified the country and declared himself the first Emperor of a unified Empire, In order to govern the Empire with a centralized rule and laws, there was created a bureaucratic organization, of which were many Yamen or courthouses operating on various levels of governmental strata. In creating and dispersing the large number of magistrates and officials to various locales, it was ordered that on the wall behind each judicial bench, there was to have a large painting of which was called Tan, or ‘Avaricious’.

Like the Wangtienhou or Admonished Animal which is a symbol of The Emperor, the Tan was a reminder and warning against avariciousness for the officials and magistrates. These were considered auspicious beasts which admonishes of being aware of propriety and a good moral code of conduct.

- By William C. Hu and David Lei

Technorati Tags: Yamen, Chinese courthouses, babao, Tan, Qinshihuangdi, Avaricious, auspicious beasts