4 Chinese Mystical Creatures You Must Know About

Hey guys! It's Mia and Felicia, and it's Off The Grid Wall, and today... What are we talking about? We're gonna talk about mythical Asian creatures. So when I think of mythical creatures, I just think of like the Loch... Is it Loch Ness? Loch Ness? Oh my gosh, yeah! I don't even know. I never know how to say it. It's like Loch Ness... or like unicorns, and fairies, and mermaids, and mermen... like in Ariel. Yay! But yeah, today we're gonna be talking about the Chinese mythical creatures, which are a little bit different. Yeah, so we got our friend, who's actually really bomb at drawing, to illustrate to you guys these cool animals. So check it out. First up, the dragon. A lot of you guys might already know that Chinese dragons are different from Western dragons. In Chinese culture, the dragon is a kind and benevolent creature that signifies power, strength, and good luck. It is described as having these characteristics. A stag's horns, a camel's head, a cow's ears, a demon's eyes, a snake's neck, a clam's belly, a carp's scales, an eagle's claws, and a tiger's soles. 3,000 years ago, during the Zhou dynasty, the five-clawed dragon became the emperor's symbol, and things that belong to the emperor have names like dragon rope, dragon throne, and dragon carriage. The dragon's features signify great characteristics. Its protruding forehead indicates wisdom, its horns signify longevity, its ears denote success, and its claws show bravery. Chinese dragon is thus widely known as an auspicious being, and you would see that Asian parents really want dragon babies. Okay, well, not literally. As in, birth rate in Asian communities around the world rises each year of the dragon. The phoenix. Feng huang, or phoenix, is another famous Chinese mythical creature. It is portrayed as being made up of the beak of a rooster, the face of a swallow, the forehead of a fowl, the neck of a snake, the breast of a goose, the back of a tortoise, the hindquarters of a stag, and the tail of a fish. Whoa! It symbolizes high virtue, compassion, prosperity, and grace. Feng huang is believed to be born out of fire and is therefore considered the king of all birds. The phoenix does not tolerate lies or abuse power. It is a kind creature and is said to only consume morning dew to not cause harm to any animals and plants. The phoenix and the dragon are often depicted together as they represent a balance of forces that harmonize the world. So it's not a surprise that in Chinese families, a set of boy and girl twin babies are referred to as dragon-phoenix twins since they are considered as great blessings. Next, we have a super unique mythical creature, the qilin. The what now, you might ask? The qilin is said to have the body of a deer or an ox or a horse. Its body is covered with the scales of a fish. Its head is similar to the dragon and sometimes depicted with a horn. And you know how people say not to judge a book by its cover? Well, for sure that's the case here. Although it appears to be fierce, qilin is actually a noble and benevolent creature. It is a creature that belongs to heaven and usually appears with gods. Legend has it that qilin likes to help good people, especially those who are filial. In Buddhist descriptions, the qilin is shown to be walking in clouds so as to avoid harming grass. However, don't underestimate the qilin due to its kindness because for sure, kindness isn't equal to weakness. The qilin is more than capable of pursuing evildoers as it possesses supernatural powers. Bi Xi. Last but not least, we have the Bi Xi, which is one of the nine sons of the dragon. Bi Xi has a really interesting story. Once upon a time, the fire god got really upset at the water god. So he went to battle the water god, but unfortunately was defeated and ended up banging his head on a pillar atop of a mountain. This pillar was actually a pillar that held the sky up and kept heaven and earth apart. The pillar collapsed, the sky fell, and water from heaven started to drown the human world. The goddess Nu Wa saw this and quickly fixed the disastrous situation, found a heavenly turtle, believed it to be the Bi Xi, which sacrificed its legs and became a crucial piece of mending the sky. The legs now replace the four pillars and heaven and earth were back to their original position. All right, guys, I hope you enjoyed this video and if you're interested in listening to more about Chinese legends and myths, you should check out Xun Yun Performing Arts, which is currently touring around the world. So the show touches on a lot of these Chinese animals and gives you an in-depth kind of storytelling of how they arrived and how they incorporated themselves into Chinese culture. So if you're interested in what we just showed you, make sure you check out the show. We always watch it every year. We'll put the information on the show and how to get tickets if you're interested in the description box below. And thank you so much for watching and we'll see you guys soon. Bye.