qilin

The qilin is a legendary hooved chimerical creature that appears in Chinese mythology, and is said to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a sage or illustrious ruler. Qilin are a specific type of the mythological family of one-horned beasts. The qilin also appears in the mythologies of other Chinese-influenced cultures. Origins The earliest mention of the mythical qilin is in the poem included in the Classic of Poetry (11th – 7th c. BCE). Spring and Autumn Annals mentioned that a lin was captured in the 14th year of Duke Ai of Lu (481 CE); Zuo Zhuan credited Confucius with identifying the lin as such. The bisyllabic form qilin ( ~ ), which carries the same generic meaning as lin alone, is attested in works dated to the Warring States period (475 – 221 BCE). Qi denotes the male and lin denotes the female (e.g. in Shuowen Jiezi).