Chinese Wildman from Big Trouble In Little China

http://www.ebay.com/itm/BIG-TROUBLE-LITTLE-CHINA-CHINESE-WILD-MAN-Figure-N2-Mirage-N2toys-2002-RARE-/290871470288
This item went up for sale in Ebay recently, a model for the Chinese Wildman as it appearews in the movie Big Trouble in Little China. Although it is sensatonalised and the nails are much longer than they would probably grow in the wild, it's pretty easy to make out that the original creature would have been a sort of orangutan. Although most of the things in the movie were presented in outlandish fashion, this does represent an authentic Chinese tradition.

Below is the relevant section of George Eberhart's Mysterious creatures although the entries on Ren-Xiong, Yeti and Yeren probably overlap with it. At least one Chinese man who was on an expedition to track down the Himalayan Yeti in the 1950s referred to it as a "Xing-Xing"

 

Here are some other relevant entries, all apparently describing the same os a similar species

 (Again, without including ant reference to the better-known Yeti and Yeren)

 

 [The entry includes a misleading error: "Beruang" is a common name for the sun bear. "Beruang Rambai" is a recognised name for a male orangutan. This would probably be the equivalent to the "Orang Gadang" on Sumatra, although that is a confusing and disputed form.]

[For "Baboon", read "Stump-tailed Macaque"]

 

Wildmen And Yokai Again

T[wo] Bigfoot busts from my collection in the UK. A model maker in Washington state made him for me back in 2007. He wanted to give [the one on the right] a more horrific appearance but I told him to make it as life like as possible.
Robert W. Morgan description of Forest Person he has researched.[left] This custom bust was made for me in 2005 by a NYC film effects artist. It was going to be part if a series of busts to be followed by a "Skunk Ape", "Yeren", "Yeti" and "Almasty". [Dale D has blown up the eyes to match the indicated size of the eye sockets and to match reports by other witnesses]

Two sculpted Bigfoot busts owned by Thomas Finlay, who resides in the UK

Homo (sapiens) heidelbergensis/neanderthalensis skull above
Orangutan skull shown below, compare to the head structure shown in the two busts

I believe the two busts correspond to two different types of creatures both named "Skunk Ape" and "Eastern Bigfoot" by different researchers-one being more of a human and the other being more like an ape (Specifically most like an orangutan). And what is more, they are the same as two kinds of "Wildmen" commonly spoken of in Tibet and South and East Asia (or the Oriental realm generally)

Big Yeti, Yak Stealer or Yak Bear, Greater Migo, Nyalmo, etc

In a separate instance, I have suggested that the "One-eyed" appearance of the Mapinguari is due to having the alarm-flash eyelids that orangtans have (along with many other kinds of apes and monkeys), together with the darker space in between, the whole of the area looking like one huge eye in the middle of the face at a distance. Orangutanlike creatures are rumored also in the Philippines and Mainland South Asia, and they are sometimes described as cyclopses

Glaugco's representation of a Mapinguari compared to an orangutan

Recently, Dr Jeff Meldrum posted on his facebook [page asking about a Japanese Yokai creature called the Yama-chichi and asked if it could be considered to be the equivalent of the Bigfoot. I immediately referred him to the following link, which was the first thing that came up on a search:

 Yama-jijii(やまじじい)

Yamajijii(やまじじい)also known as Yama-chichi(there is also an entirely different Yokai with the name Yama-chichi as well),is a Yokai from Shikoku Island(the tales are very wide spread throughout the island)that is said to live in the mountains there.Most stories agree that he has a large rock-like head with one huge eye in the center of his head with a mouth full of small razor sharp teeth and a body covered in gray short-haired fur and that he can read minds(much like the Satori)and that he has a very loud voice capable of killing(with which he usually likes to challenge people to a loudness contest).There are also many stories where a Yama-jijii is kept as a pet like a hunting dog by hunters.Some stories say he is Child sized other stories say he is the size of a rather large man.Some stories say in addition to his large eye,he has another very small eye,other stories say he has only one eye,one arm,and one leg.Some stories say he is a peace-full nature loving creature,other stories say he will take away animals and small children to eat.

Here's my Yama-jijii action figure.I sculpted his rock-like head from clay over a CTVT Cochise head.His body is a Castaway tan (original flesh) colored body which I sculpted on fur with the clay.I painted all sculpted parts with acrylic paints and sealed with Modpodge.

And it just so happens that this one-eyed creature is listed as one of the traditional creatures equated to the Hibagon or Yeti-like creature that is being reported more recently in Japan. Dr Meldrum's original posting was a smaller copy of this book being highlighted on one of the internet sites:

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004666377/

Yama-chichi kills man in sleep

Creator(s): Takehara, Shunsensai, fl. 1789-1817, artist

Related Names:
Tōkaen, Michimaro, fl. 1808-1841 , author

Date Created/Published: [1841]

Medium: 1 print (2 pages) : woodcut, color.

Summary: Ukiyo-e print illustration showing scene from traditional tale in which a Yeti-like creature inhales the life force from sleeping travelers; opposite page contains text; covers from other volumes also shown.

-The "Stealing of Breath" I take to be an allusion to sleep apnea. Here is a fuller account from a site specialising in Japanese Folklore:

http://ioreth.org/mukashi/yamachichi.html

What the Yama-chichi Observed

Mukashi mukashi, there was a cooper in a certain place. While he was working outside one morning after it had snowed, a frightful monster with only one eye and one leg appeared from the mountain and stood in front of the cooper. Seeing him, the cooper began to tremble and thought, "This must be the thing called a yama-chichi, which I have heard about in stories for a long time." The apparition then said, "Say, Cooper, you're thinking I must be the thing called a yama-chichi, aren't you?" The cooper thought, "How awful. He observes right away what I think." Then the monster said, "Say, cooper, you think it is awful because I observe right away what you think, don't you?" After that whatever the cooper thought was observed until he was quite confounded. With nothing he could do about it, the man kept at his work, trembling violently all the time. Suddenly his numb hands slipped accidentally. The bamboo hoop sprang out in front of him and slapped the yama-chichi in the face. The yama-chichi was taken by surprise. "These human beings are dangerous because they sometimes do things they are not thinking about," he declared. "There is no telling what will happen if I stay here." He went stumping pell-mell back to the mountains.

--From the Kyōdo Kenkyū, Vol. II. Collected in Tottori.

There is actually another bakemono [Folktale] called yama-chichi, which does not have the same description as this mind-reading monster. The alternate yama-chichi is a monster that appears when people are sleeping, and sucks the life out of their mouths. It is also said that if one awakens while the yama-chichi is draining another of his energy, then the energy drained before that point is transfered to the person who awakens.

[This is thus a form of Night Hag or Nightmare. To confuse things further, "Chichi" is Japanese slang for a women's breasts-DD]

The appearance of the Night-Hag Yamachichi would appear to be based on an orangutan like ape though, the resemblance is quite striking. And if a one-eyed Wildman is meant to describe a sort of an orangutan, then the two Yamachichis could be variant traditions describing the ure seemt the same as the lesser Yeti or the more apeklike Skunk Ape.

But the "Mindreading" capabilities are borroed from stories of a more standard wildman, the Satori

Satori also means "Enlightenment", but the theory has been advanced that in the case of the Wildmen, the name is a transcription of the name used by European missionaries, "Satyrus"and it could be that its supposed mental powers arose from a pun (parallel instances could be cited). At this point I do not need to argue whether Bigfoots are or are not psychic, all I am interested in is what are the creatures supposed to lok like.

Below are a couple of recent toys said to represent tradional Wildmen, the one on the left is called a Satori and the one on the right is said to be a "Bearman" (The traditional name in Tibet and China)

The Satori is more of a transplanted Central-Asiatic Almas in that it is more of a hairy human. Depictions of it run from little different from an ordinary monkey (Richard Freeman shows such a print in his Yokai dictionary) up to very nearly human (possibly meaning to depict human-halfbreeds) such as in the case of the "Satori" depicted below:

Sekien Satori, From Wikipedia

Sekien Oni in cave, eating some furry varmint, from Wikipedia

"Cannibal Giants" fall into a different category; in Japan they are known as Onis. Since they seem to be to some low degree as cultural animals, the real creatures the legends are based on are more probably like the Siberian Chuchuunas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oni_(folklore)

Oni (鬼^?) are creatures from Japanese folklore, variously translated as demons, devils, ogres or trolls. They are popular characters in Japanese art, literature and theatre.^[1]
Depictions of oni vary widely but usually portray them as hideous, gigantic creatures with sharp claws, wild hair, and two horns growing from their heads.^[2] They are humanoid for the most part, but occasionally, they are shown with unnatural features such as odd numbers of eyes or extra fingers and toes.^[3] Their skin may be any number of colors, but red and blue are particularly common.^4][5]

Notes

1. ^ Lim, Shirley; Ling, Amy (1992). Reading the literatures of Asian America. Temole University Press. p. 242. ISBN 0-87722-935-X. http://books.google.com/books?id=X0ntg_EzA0kC&pg=PA242&dq=ogres+oni&num=100&cd=2#v=onepage&q=ogres%20oni&f=false.
2. ^ Mack, Carol; Mack, Dinah (1998). A Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels, and Other Subversive Spirits. Arcade Publishing. p. 116. ISBN [[Special:BookSources/1-55970-447-1|1-55970-447-1]]. http://books.google.com/books?id=1IDS3UUrqAIC&pg=PA116&dq=oni#v=onepage&q=oni&f=false.
3. ^ Bush, Laurence C. (2001). Asian horror encyclopedia: Asian horror culture in literature, manga and folklore. Writers Club Press. p. 141. ISBN 0-595-20181-4. http://books.google.com/books?id=lesg5YSXckQC&pg=PA141&dq=oni#v=onepage&q=oni&f=false.
4. ^ Hackin, J.; Couchoud, Paul Louis (2005). Asiatic Mythology 1932. Kessinger Publishing. p. 443. ISBN 1-4179-7695-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=0ECwJUcn1_UC&pg=PA443&dq=oni#v=onepage&q=oni&f=false.
5. ^ Turne, Patricia; Coulter, Charles Russell (2000). Dictionary of ancient deities. Oxford University Press. p. 363. ISBN 0-19-514504-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=jEcpkWjYOZQC&pg=PA363&dq=oni#v=onepage&q=oni&f=false.

In sum, I would suggest that in addition to the standard Sasquatch (?Gigantopithecus) type familiar enough in both Eastern Asia and Western North America, we have two other forms whose range overlaps the larger Hominid: one a type of orangutan which likes on the ground and so has very different feet (known in fossil form as "Fossil Pongo" although probably it needs a new genus  and species name) and the other a more familiar type of relic hominid like the Almas, which also has a more specialised larger form, the Chuchuuna. Both the more apelike and the more humanlike forms occur in North America and would seem to be related to creatures reported in South America. the South American apelike Mapinguariints that are different again, and once again show a specialization for arboreal life much as in the known orangutans of Indonesia.

Best Wishes, Dale D.

Gyuki or Ushi-Oni

The Gyuki or Ushi-Oni is represented by this odd Japanese statue said to represent what several people had been seeing in the 1600s. Although it is called an "Ox-headed Demon" and translated also as "Minotaur", most commentators bring attention to the odd capelike effect of the area under the arms and at the sides.
Orangutan at the left and a redrawing of the creature from the statue at the right, from Deviant Art. The colouration is speculative but the resemblance between the two is striking. Male orangutans can have such long hair on their arms that it hangs down a long way, and the hair over the upper back also forms a "Cape". The thumbs are represented as spikes on the statue and in the painting, and oddly enough so is the moustache. The feet are "Cloven" but in this case that seems to mean the big toe is in opposition to the others. The EYELIDS would be white and the nose is flat with round nostrils pointing straight ahead (I had to retouch the painting to make the nose clearer) And it is just possible the protruding ears mean to indicate the cheek pads on the male. The original creature would have had no horns but adding horns to "Onis" is pretty much the standard practice.

The creature seems to be the same creature as is called Xing-Xing in Chinese, pronounced Shing-Shing and said to mean "Lively-Lively." In the Japanese version it means a distinctly reddish creature, but one of the Chinese descriptions has it being green or blue. Presumably that was a copyist's error. One Chinese description says it has the body (belly?) of a pig but a face more like a man's, which is a fair description of an orangutan, and the word is used in modern Chinese and Japanese (and on the larger nearby islands such as Taiwan) as a direct translation for the recognised name of the orangutan.

In this case, I think we have a series of old and misunderstood reports of a male Hibagon, and some of the reports also make it out to be a cyclops or a water-dwelling creature like a Kappa. The ordinary appearance of the females and young are less extreme and the netsuke illustrated in an earlier CFZ posting (reposted here) could still be the same species. More recently, the bigger adult males are said to be like gorillas, which is probably more generic once again. In this case there is a whole constellation of observed features which are close to a male orangutan, although perhaps not portrayed exactly correctly on the statue.

Best Wishes, Dale D.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ushi-oni

Yet another ushi-oni is depicted as a statue on the grounds of the Negoroji temple in Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture. It is a bipedal monster with huge tusks, spurred wrists, and membranes like a flying squirrel. A sign nearby explains that this creature terrorized the area about four-hundred years ago, and was slain by a skilled archer by the name of Yamada Kurando Takakiyo (山田蔵人高清). He dedicated its horns to the temple, and they can still be seen to this day. [1]
http://www1.plala.or.jp/negoro/usioni.html

[The horns are possibly fossils. They did not come from a recently living animal and probably have nothing to do with the creature that was sighted four hundred years ago and slain by the archer.-DD]

Ushi-oni are also mentioned in Sei Shōnagon's tenth-century diary The Pillow Book, and in the Taiheiki of the fourteenth century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibagon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y%C5%8Dkai
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_legendary_creatures_from_Japan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dj%C5%8D
[Shojo is used to translate the Chinese Shing-shing. It also means a young girl]



Princess Mononoke Apes (Shojo=Shing-Shing or Xing-Xing, Orangutans)

Pink Tentacle Abominable Yokai

Here is a sampling of standard Wildmen types listed as Yokai (Traditional Japanese Monsters) from the Pink Tentacle site and amplified by a few examples from Wikipedia. The first one illustrated here IS pretty much the standard (Eurasian-Almas) Wildman and going under the name Satori. It is said to be able to read minds (my cat can "read my mind" to a limited extent and part of that is picking up on body language, scents and other things that most human beings are not used to picking up on. But my cat and I can gague each other's emotional state and intentions without direct communication to some extent) The name "Satori" is very interesting and it has been stated to be the direct transliteration of the Classical term "Satyr" as introduced by early Portugese missionaries.
"The satori is a type of mountain-dwelling goblin that can read human minds. When it encounters travelers passing through the mountains, the creature approaches them and begins speaking their thoughts aloud.[or mocking them, as in "Monkey See, Monkey Do"?-DD] Once the victims become thoroughly confused and disoriented, the satori captures and eats them.
It is said that an empty mind is the best protection against a satori attack. Thinking nothing at all causes the creature to turn away in boredom or flee in fear. A notorious satori named Omoi lives on the slopes of Mt Fuji"


"The 'wild woman' shown here appears to be an aquatic humanoid with scaly skin, webbed hands and feet (each with three fingers and toes), long black hair, and a large red mouth. People claim to have encountered the creature in the 1750s in mountain streams in the Asakura area of Fukuoka prefecture "


Another wild Woman as a transcription of the Chinese variety (Yeren) from the Wikipedia entry Shojo. In native Japanese the term Shojo also means "Young Woman" or "Virgin" but the Wikipedia has this as a translation of the Chinese term Shing-Shing. Please note that this "Wild Woman" is positioned much the same as the last one and it is otherwise comparable.



Kijimuna are tree sprites from Okinawa and the native equivalent to "Troll Dolls." young-Urchin "Onis" are also depicted with big bushy hair like this.


Onis are the standard Japanese Ogres or Trolls and so the exact local equivalent of "Marked Hominids": in this case they are commonly depicted as redheads. Onis are also depicted as the Demons in Hell and so I suppose that makes them the equivalent of Big Hairy Monsters or Hairy Bipeds [I do not call any such reports "Bigfoot" reports-once a report crosses over a line to become supernatural, I cross it off of my list. Not my territory to cover those.]Female Onis can also be seductive, like teenage European Troll girls are supposed to be.



Onis are also the local equivalent of Ghouls (Guls) as this print shows:



As far as the current REPORTS go, we have the Hibagon:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibagon


Hibagon (ヒバゴン?) or Hinagon (ヒナゴン?) is the Japanese equivalent of the Bigfoot or Yeti.

DescriptionThe hibagon is described as a black creature with white hands and large white feet, standing about five feet tall. Sightings have been reported in forested, mountainous areas of the country.[1] It has been reported in the forests around Mount Hiba in Hiroshima Prefecture and has been said to resemble a gorilla.[2]

The creature is reported to look like an ape and smell like decaying flesh. It is said to live in low shrubbery on the foothills of Mt. Hiba and also areas around Hibayama National Park. A typical sighting says that it is about five feet tall with a face shaped like an inverted triangle. The Hibagon has a snub nose, large deep glaring eyes and is covered with bristles. Theories to account for this cryptid range from a gorilla, a wild man, or a deserter from the Japanese army, to an individual ravaged by atomic radiation from the nuclear attack on Hiroshima. A sighting from 1972 reports that the creature has a chocolate brown face and is covered with brown hair. Although the Hibagon is said to have 'deep glaring eyes', in two reports by a Mr. Sazawa and a Mrs. Harada, the creature took no hostile action and fled from four armed residents intent on hunting it. Japanese Boy Scouts claimed to find footprints 25 cm (10 in) long and 15 cm (6 in) wide. As with most hominid cryptids, the Hibagon is said to have a most unpleasant stench, like a decomposing human body.[3]

As far as the smell goes, that usually comes from eating carrion and handling carcasses. As far as identity goes, Hibagon are probably the local population corresponding to Yetis and Yerens. because of that, it is most surprising to find this depiction on the Pink Tentacle site:

Which is a supposed anatomical section of a demonic creature called a "Kasha --a Cat-like demon that descends from the sky to feed on corpses before cremation" and is therefore assumedly attached to Buddhist mythology imported from areas Westward and Continental (because of the cremation-desecration angle). In fact this is a fair copy of a Tibetan "Big Yeti" confused as a "Snow Lion" and its urinary bladder is in fact said to contain ice here (meaningless, but probably a marker that the legend originated in Tibet). So this is a transposed version of a "Dzu-Teh" or "Nyalmo" and described as a troublesome demon. And because of this, I doubt that such a thing is supposed to live locally: it is just an indication of how legends diffuse over the Orient.

Best Wishes, Dale D.

Quoting mainly
http://pinktentacle.com/tag/yokai/

REPOST: DALE DRINNON on Hibagon at the CFZ

Saturday, July 17, 2010
DALE DRINNON: Hibagon
Hibagon is the name for the unidentified apelike cryptid of Japan. Some of its names are also applied to the Kappa and they tend to merge together in legend. Hibagon is most often reported around Mt. Hiba and its name means "Hiba monster". it is said to be the height of a small human (5'3" to 5'8") but powerfully built and covered with dark brown hair.

A while back I found some photos of an interesting netsuke on an internet photo search. Netsukes are little carved figures meant to hold cords that in turn hold objects onto a kimono's belt. these ones were for sale as collectible antiques, from the 17-18th century of before. This was labelled as a Japanese macaque ("Monkey", but that was the only KNOWN monkey locally) but it resembles a chimpanzee much more closely. The form of the head, facial features, and the indicated type of hair on the body all look like a chimpanze, but especially the form of the hands and feet. And on the bottom view, you can see that it has no tail. The Japanese macaque does have a short stumpy tail which would show from that angle, and the heels are broad and wide, indicating something more like a chimp than a macaque.

So I am going to say this is a representation of a native ape of Japan. I have seen other similar depictions in Japanese art but this is far and away the clearest example. There are also parallel Chinese depictions (statuettes) but they would presumably be depicting the Yeren instead. Some of the Chinese ones are notable for their very long, orangutan-like arms.












Fossil Ape Candidate for Hibagon (From a Japanese Website)

Map of Japan, And Japanese Macaque for Comparison.

Below, Two young Chimpanzees. The Netsuke has the Light skin and Dark hair Characteristic of a Young Chimpanzee.