The printable version is no longer supported and may have rendering errors. Please update your browser bookmarks and please use the default browser print function instead.
Four malevolent beings in Chinese mythology
"Taowu" redirects here. For the prehistoric mammal, see Taowu liui.
Huandou (驩兜; Huāndōu; 'happy helmet', a.k.a. 驩頭, 讙頭; Huāntóu; 'happy head'[3]), a chimeric minister and/or nation from the south who conspired with Gonggong against Emperor Yao[4]
Gun (鯀; Gǔn; 'big fish'),[a][7] whose poorly-built dam released a destructive flood and whose son was Yu the Great;
Sanmiao (三苗; Sān Miáo; 'Three Miao'), the tribes that attacked Emperor Yao's tribe.
the Hundun (渾敦, 渾沌; Hùndùn; 'chaotic torrent'[b]), a yellow winged creature of chaos with six legs and no face;[10][11]
the Qiongqi (窮奇; Qióngqí; 'distressingly strange', 'thoroughly odd'), a monstrous creature that eats people,[12][13]
the Taowu (檮杌; Táowù; 'block stump'), a reckless, stubborn creature;[14] The Taowu is said to appear with "a human face, a tiger's feet, a pig's tusks and a tail 18 feet long."
the Taotie (饕餮; Tāotiè; 'greedy glutton'), a gluttonous beast.[15]
Identification
Zhang Shoujie's Correct Meanings of the Record of the Grand Historian (史記正義; Shǐjì Zhèngyì) identifies Huandou (讙兠) with Hundun (渾沌), Gonggong with Qiongqi (窮竒), Gun with Taowu (檮杌), and the Sanmiao "Three Miao" (三苗) with Taotie (饕餮).[16]
^According to Schuessler (2009), 鯀 (standard Chinesegǔn < Old Chinese *kwə̂nʔ) is the same word as 鮌 (gǔn < OC *kwə̂nʔ) and 鯤 (kūn < OC *kûn), the latter being a mythical giant fish mentioned in Zhuangzi.[5][6]
^Schuessler, Axel. (2009) Minimal Old Chinese and Later Han Chinese. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i. p. 317, 333-4
^Zhuangzi, "Enjoyment in Untroubled Ease" quote: "北冥有魚，其名為鯤。鯤之大，不知其幾千里也。" translation: "In the Northern Ocean there is a fish, the name of which is Kun - I do not know how many li in size."
^Shiji"Annals of the Five Emperors" quote: "昔帝鴻氏有不才子，掩義隱賊，好行凶慝，天下謂之渾沌。少暤氏有不才子，毀信惡忠，崇飾惡言，天下謂之窮奇。顓頊氏有不才子，不可教訓，不知話言，天下謂之梼杌。此三族世憂之。至于堯，堯未能去。縉云氏有不才子，貪于飲食，冒于貨賄，天下謂之饕餮。天下惡之，比之三凶。舜賓於四門，乃流四凶族，遷于四裔，以御螭魅，於是四門辟，言毋凶人也。"
^Zuo zhuan"Duke Wen" quote: "舜臣堯，賓于四門，流四凶族，渾敦，窮奇，檮杌，饕餮， 投諸四裔，以禦魑魅，". translation: "When Shun became Yao's minister, he received the nobles from the four quarters of the empire, and banished these four wicked ones, Chaos (Hundun 渾敦), Monster (Qiongqi 窮奇), Block (Taowu 檮杌), and Glutton (Taotie 饕餮), casting them out into the four distant regions, to meet the spite of the sprites and evil things (Chimei 魑魅)."
^Shenyijing"Classic of the West Wilderness: Ten Examples" quote: "崑崙西有獸焉，其狀如犬，長毛四足，似羆而無爪，有目而不見，行不開。有兩耳而不聞，有人知往。有腹無五臟，有腸直而不旋，食物徑過。人有德行而往牴觸之。有凶德則往依憑之。天使其然，名為渾沌。《春秋》云：渾沌，帝鴻氏不才子也。空居無為，常咋其尾，回轉仰天而笑。"
