Qilin facts for kids

A qilin of the Qing dynasty in Beijing's Summer Palace

The Qilin (Chinese: 麒麟; pinyin: qílín; Wade-Giles: ch'i-lin) is a mythical hooved Chinese chimerical creature known throughout various East Asian cultures, and is said to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a wise sage or an illustrious ruler.

Description

A qilin has a single horn on its forehead, a yellow belly, a multicoloured back, the hooves of a horse, the body of a deer, and the tail of an ox. Gentle of disposition, it never walks on verdant grass or eats living vegetation.

Origins

The first qilin is said to have appeared in the garden of the legendary Huangdi (Yellow Emperor) in 2697 bc. Some three centuries later a pair of qilin were reported in the capital of Emperor Yao. Both events bore testimony to the benevolent nature of the rulers.

The advent of a great sage was made known when a qilin appeared to the pregnant mother of Confucius (6th century bc). The qilin thereupon coughed up an inscribed jade tablet that foretold the future greatness of the unborn child. The death of Confucius was foreshadowed when a qilin was injured by a charioteer.

In 1414 a live giraffe was brought to China for the first time and presented as a qilin to the Ming emperor Yongle. The tough old warrior, seeing through the intended flattery, curtly remarked that he certainly was no sage and the animal was certainly no qilin. In Japanese, a giraffe is called kirin, but the characters are those for qilin.

Images for kids

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  Qilin with Rider, from the Oxford College Archives of Emory University

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  Qilin tomb guardian, 4th century

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  A Qing dynasty qilin-shaped incense burner

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  One-horned beast depicted in ceramic model from Northern Wei period (386–534)

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  Qilin statue in Pingzhen Xinshi Park, Taoyuan, Taiwan

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  A Ming-era painting of a tribute giraffe, which was thought to be a qilin by court officials, from Bengal

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  Plate with a qilin in the center, Yuan dynasty

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  Embroidered qilin, Qing dynasty

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  Kỳ Lân statues, Bat Trang kiln, Hanoi, Nguyen dynasty, crackle glaze ceramics – at the National Museum of Vietnamese History in Hanoi, Vietnam

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  The logo of Kirin Beer features a kirin (photo taken in Hiroshima, Japan)

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  Qilin pendant

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  Qilin incense burner at the World Museum in Liverpool, United Kingdom

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  An illustration of Simurgh and Qilin in Gulistan

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  Qilin incense burner (one of a pair) at the World Museum in Liverpool, United Kingdom

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  Qilin depicted in the Imperial Encyclopaedia

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  Kirin relief in Tokyo, Japan

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  A winged variant of kirin statue in Tokyo, Japan

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  Qilin (kî-lîn) as an object of worship in Yilan, Taiwan

See also

In Spanish: Qilin para niños