Merfolk

Merfolk, mercreatures or merpeople are legendary water-dwelling human-like beings. They are attested in folklore and mythology throughout the ages in various parts of the world.

"Merpeople" redirects here. For other uses, see Merfolk (disambiguation).

Female merfolk may be referred to as mermaids, although in a strict sense mermaids are confined to beings who are half-woman and half-fish in appearance. Male merfolk are called mermen. Depending on the story, they can be described as either ugly or beautiful.

Chinese renyu (人魚) stands for "merfolk", but in ancient geographical or natural historical tracts, this referred to "human-fish" or "man-fish" purported to inhabit rivers or lakes in certain parts of China. Japanese ningyo (人魚) is also "merfolk", and also applied to various human-like fish recorded in writings from medieval times into the Edo Period.

China

Certain fantastical types of "fish", generically referred to as renyu (人魚, "human-fish") is alleged to occur in various parts of China according to the Shan Hai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas, 4th century BC). It is mentioned in the Bei Shan Jing ("Classic of the Northern mountains"), Zhong Shan Jing (Central Mountains), and Xi Shan Jing (Western Mountains) sections of this work.[1][2]

This work and others also mention several additional types of "anthropomorphic fish"[3] with limbs in other regions such as the chiru (赤鱬; "red ru fish"[4]) and lingyu (陵魚; "hill-fish"), considered to be in the same category of creatures. Certain tribes or races of humans were also described being part-fish, namely the Di people.[5][1]

It is recorded that the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was illuminated with lamps fueled by the oil of the human-fish (renyu), whose flames were meant to last a very long time.[6][7]

Renyu or human-fish
(aka haieryu. subtypes tiyu and niyu )
Renyu of Jueshui ("Bursting River"), Mt. Dragon-Marquis.
A fei-like renyu
Described as resembling a fei 𩵥 type of fish.
― Wang Qi. Sancai Tuhui (1609)[8][lower-alpha 1]
A tiyu-like renyu
Described as resembling a tiyu 䱱魚 .[lower-alpha 2]
―Wang Fu(d. 1759) Shan hai jing cun, pub. 1895[9]

The renyu (人魚; human-fish) is described in the Bei Shan Jing ("Classic of the North Mountains") section as dwelling on Mt. Longhou (龍侯山, "Dragon-Marquis Mountain") in the waters of the Jueshui (決水, "Bursting River"), which flows eastward into the Yellow River.[11] It is said to "resemble the tiyu"[12][13] (translated as "resemble catfish"[14][10][15])[16][lower-alpha 3][20] possess four legs, with a voice like baby crying.[21]

Eating the fish purportedly cured idiocy[14] or dementia.[22][23] This fish as a cure was also quoted in the Compendium of Materia Medica or Bencao Gangmu (1596) under its entry for Tiyu (Chinese: 䱱魚) [21]

The Bencao Gangmu categorized the tiyu (䱱魚) as one of two types of "human-fish" (renyu). The human-fish were also known as "child-fish" or haieryu (孩兒魚; 儿孩鱼).[21][29]

The other type, called the niyu (鯢魚) is elaborated in a separate section.[32] It has been noted by Li Shizhen that the character for the Niyu (Ni 鯢 fish) consists of the "fish" indexing component (魚) and "child" (兒) radical.[31]

Translators of the Bencao Gangmu attempt to match entries with actual taxa of animals, forbs, etc., where possible, and the tiyu type is glossed as "newts" while the niyu type is "Chinese giant salamander".[26]

Chiru or red ru fish
The chiru or "red ru fish".
― Hu Wenhuan 胡文焕 (fl. 1596–1650). Shanhaijing tu 山海經圖 ("Illustrations to the Classic of Mountains and Seas", 16th century).[lower-alpha 4]

The chiru (赤鱬; "red ru fish".[4] Wade-Giles: ch'ih-ju; "red ju"[34]) is described in the Nan Shan Jing ("Classic of the Southern Mountains") as a human-headed fish. It is said to be found in the Qingqushan (青丘山 "Green-Hills Mountains") in the Pool-of-Yi (Yì zhī zé 翼之澤; "Carp-Wings Lake"). It is described as basically fish-form but having a human face, and issuing sounds like the mandarin duck. Eating it purportedly prevented scabies or itchy skin.[35][4]

The illustration of the chiru from China may have influenced the legless, human-faced fish visualization of some of the ningyo in Japan, according to the hypothesis of Morihiko Fujisawa.[36]

Jiaoren

The jiaoren (蛟人 "flood dragon people" or 鮫人 "shark people")[38][lower-alpha 5] that appear in medieval writings are considered to be references to merfolk.[3][40][41]

This mythical southern mermaid or merman is recorded in Ren Fang's Shuyi ji "Records of Strange Things" (early 6th century CE).[43][44]

In the midst of the South Sea are the houses of the kău (Chinese: 鮫; pinyin: jiao; Wade–Giles: chiao[45]) people who dwell in the water like fish, but have not given up weaving at the loom. Their eyes have the power to weep, but what they bring forth is pearls.[46]

Similar passages appear in other texts such as the Bowuzhi (博物志, "Treatise of Manifold " c. 290 CE) as "weep[ing] tears that became pearls".[47][48][49][lower-alpha 6]

These aquatic people supposedly spun a type of raw silk called jiaoxiao 蛟綃 "mermaid silk" or jiaonujuan 蛟女絹 "mermaid woman's silk". Schafer equates this with sea silk, the rare fabric woven from byssus filaments produced by Pinna "pen shell" mollusks.[50][lower-alpha 7]

Japan
Main article: ningyo

The ningyo (人魚 "human-fish") of Japan has its own history in the country's literary record. The earliest references (in the Nihon shoki, entry for year 619, reign of Empress Suiko) do not specifically use the term ningyo, and the "thing" appeared in fresh water (a river in Ōmi Province, canal Settsu Province), and may presumed to be a giant salamander.[52] Later accounts claim that Empress Suiko's regent Prince Shōtoku knew the creature to be a ningyo when one was presented to him by representatives of Ōmi. [53] The appearance of the human-fish was strongly associated with ill omen in later treatments of the Prince's encounter with the human-fish.[54]

During the Kamakura Period, ningyo of the marine sort were frequently reported as washing ashore, and these were taken to be ominous signs usually prefiguring bloody battles.[55]

The ningyo, or rather renyu (人魚) and the like found in Chinese sources (chiru, tiyu etc., etc., discussed above) were also discussed in Japanese literature, for example, works of scholars of herbal and traditional medicine, such as Kaibara Ekiken (d. 1714) and Ono Ranzan (d. 1810). These Japanese scholars were also aware of European discussions on "sirens", "anthropomorphic fish", "peixe muller (fish-woman)", etc.[56][57]

See also
Look up merperson, merpeople, merfolk, merchild, or merchildren in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Explanatory notes
  1. The accompanying text here says the renyu resembles a fish called fei.
  2. Image for the tiyu (renyu/haieryu) in Suzuki tr. 1929 Benca Gangmu is reproduced in Kuzumi 2006b, p. 60 which resembles this picture.
  3. The tiyu is not literally a catfish but a subtype of renyu "human-fish", according to the Bencao Gangmu, as given below. However, this translation may be justified in the light of Guo Pu's commentary to the Bei Shan Jing, which reads "The renyu is, namely, the niyu. It resembles catfish with four feet/legs, and voice like a child crying. Nowadays this catfish is also called the ti 人魚即鯢也。似鮎而四足、聲如兒嗁。今亦呼鮎爲䱱。音蹏(テイ)". In Naoaki Maeno ed. (1975). Sengaikyō retsu sennin den apud Yamaguchi (1995)[17]
  4. A close copy of this woodcut occurs in Wu Renchen's edition of 1667.[33]
  5. The conception of them seems to have shifted from half-reptilian to half-fish in later periods.[39]
  6. A 15th-century compilation of quotations from Chinese literature, the Chengyu kao (Chinese: 成語考; "Idioms investigated") merely gives a partial quote from the Bowuzhi as "The mermaid wept tears that became pearls".[49]
  7. Chinese writings claimed that the raw material for such "silk" came from shuiyang 水羊 "water sheep" or shuican 水蠶 "water silkworm" aka bingcan 冰蠶 "ice silkworm".[51] Cf. sea silk.

References

Citations

  1. Kuzumi (2006b), p. 53.
  2. Kong Chao; Chen Fengheng (1808). Yì zhōu shū, juàn 17. Wáng huì jiě, dì 59 逸周書卷十七 王會解第五十九 [Supplementary Notes # 59 to the Wang Hui ("Royal Assemblies") Chapter of the Lost Book of Zhou]. Chenshi Dusao lou congshu 陳氏讀騷樓叢書 38. fol. 21b.. Commentary relating to the Huì people (Yemaek) in the east.
  3. Magnani (2022), p. 87.
  4. Strassberg, Richard E., ed. (2018). "15. Red Ru-fish (Chiru)" 赤鱬. A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways Through Mountains and Seas. University of California Press. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-52029-851-4.
  5. Magnani (2022), p. 89.
  6. Sima Qian (1993). "Mushi-bu dai-42-kan furoku suiko" 蟲部第四十二卷 附録 水虎. Records of the Grand Historian: Qin dynasty. Vol. 3. Translated by Watson, Burton. Columbia University Press. p. 3. ISBN 9780231081689.
  7. Strassberg, Richard E., ed. (2018). "292. Hill-fish (Lingyu)" 陵魚. A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways Through Mountains and Seas. University of California Press. pp. 203–204. ISBN 978-0-52029-851-4.
  8. Wang Qi [in Chinese]; Wang Siyi, eds. (1609). "Niaoshou 6-juan Linjie-lei Renyu" 鳥獸六巻 鱗介類 人魚 [Birds & Beasts, Book 6 / Fish & Shellfish / Human-fish.]. Sancai Tuhui Book 94 of 106 三才圖會 第94卷(全106卷）. N. p.; Also Huaiyin caotang 槐陰草堂 published version of 1609, with additional proofing editors (潭濱黄・晟東曙) listed at the book 5 title page .
  9. Wang Fu [in Chinese], ed. (1895). "Book 3. Bei Shan Jing, No. 3" 巻之三 北山經第三. Shan hai jing cun 山海經存. Wang Yi Bo. fol. 19a. (illustration at fol. 27a)
  10. Birrell tr. (2000), p. 45.
  11. Alternatively, River BurstBurst (決決水) on Mount Dragonbutt.[10]
  12. "Juan 03. Bei Shan Jing" 卷03 北山經 [Classic of Northern Mountains]. Shan Hai Jing (SKQS) 山海經 (四庫全書本). 1773–1782 [c. 400BC] – via Wikisource. 又東北二百里曰龍侯之山無草木多金玉決決之水出焉〈音訣〉而東流注于河其中多人魚其狀如䱱魚四足其音如嬰兒〈䱱見中山經或曰人魚即鯢也似鮎而四足聲如小兒啼今亦呼鮎為䱱音蹄〉食之無癡疾
  13. Cf. Unschuld tr. (2021), p. 733: "The Bei shan jing states: "The Jue shui river has many ren yu 人魚 sea-cows. They are shaped like ti yu 䱱魚, newts, but have four feet.."
  14. Strassberg, Richard E., ed. (2018). "125. Human-fish (Renyu)" 人魚. A Chinese Bestiary: Strange Creatures from the Guideways Through Mountains and Seas. University of California Press. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-52029-851-4.
  15. Cf. Luo tr. (2003), p. 3606: "Beishan Jing: In Jueshui River there are many dugongs. They look like catfish but have four legs..""
  16. Cf. Unschuld tr. (2021), p. 733:
  17. Yamashita, Tetsurō [in Japanese] (1995-06-30), "Hōbutsushū shikai (4): Shukke tonsei setsuwa kiji no kōshō (sono 1)" 『宝物集』私解（四）-出家遁世説話記事の考証（その一）- (PDF), Meiji daigaku Nihon bungaku, 23: 21, hdl:10291/14933
  18. Yuan, Ke [in Chinese], ed. (2004). Shānhāijīng jiàozhù 山海經校注. Liren shuji. ISBN 9789579113359.
  19. Fujisawa (1925), pp. 45–46.
  20. This Guo Pu quote as commentary to Bei Shan Jing is hard to confirm in other secondary sources, but similar phrases about renyu resembling catfish were written by other near-contemporaries, one being "Guangzhi" 廣志 (attributed to Guo Yigong 郭義恭) as preserved in the Shui Jing Zhu: Yi River, cf. commentary to the Hainei bei jing 海内北經 (Classic of regions within the seas: North), by Yuan Ke.[18] Another is Xu Gugang, probably from his Shiji Yinyi or "Pronunciation and Meaning of the Shiji"; both these are quoted in annotations to the Shiji: Books of the First Emperor of Qin, 6, which mentions the human-fish oil used for lanterns in the Emperor's tumulus.[19]
  21. Li Shizhen, Bencao Gangmu, (Chapter 44 §42) "Animals with Scales 4": §Tiyu. (Chinese);[24][25] (English translations);[26][27] (Japanese tr.).[28]
  22. Unschuld tr. (2021), p. 733.
  23. Luo tr. (2003), p. 3606.
  24. Li Shizhen (1596).
  25. Li Shizhen (1782).
  26. Unschuld tr. (2021), pp. 732–733.
  27. Luo tr. (2003), pp. 3606–3607.
  28. Suzuki tr. (1929).
  29. Luo tr. (2003), index. 6: 4255
  30. Unschuld tr. (2021), pp. 733–734.
  31. Luo tr. (2003), pp. 3607.
  32. Li Shizhen, Bencao Gangmu, (Chapter 44 §43) "Animals with Scales 4": §Niyu. (Chinese);[24][25] (English translations);[30][31] (Japanese tr.).[28]
  33. Guo Pu (1667). "Juan 3. Shouzu. Gudiao" 山海經圖 巻三 獸族 蠱雕 [Book 3. Beast-kind. Poison-Eagle]. In Wu Zhiyi (Wu Renchen) [in Chinese] (ed.). Tuxiang shanhaijing xiangzhu 圖像山海經詳註. Wang Shihan proofing ed. Fu Wen Tang.
  34. Schiffeler (1977), p. 120.
  35. "Juan 01. Nan Shan Jing" 卷01 南山經 [Classic of Southern Mountains]. Shan Hai Jing (SKQS) 山海經 (四庫全書本). 1773–1782 [c. 400BC] – via Wikisource.
  36. Fujisawa (1925), p. 26.
  37. Schafer, Edward H. (1952). "The Pearl Fisheries of Ho-p'u". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 72 (4): 156. doi:10.2307/596378. JSTOR 596378.
  38. Edward H. Schafer also refers to "shark" here being interchangeable with jiao dragon (which he suggests translating as "cockatrice").[37]
  39. Nakano (1983), p. 143.
  40. Sugimoto, Akiko (2006). Translated by William Wetherall. "Chasing the Moon (Part 9)" 追月記. Journal of the American Oriental Society. 42 (3): 40. Jiaoren (鮫人 mythical fish-human, mermaid, merman). website
  41. Nakano (1983), p. 143; Matsuoka (1982), p. 49
  42. Nakano (1983), p. 140.
  43. Ren Fang, Shuyi Ji, second volume.:[42] "南海中有鮫人室水居如魚不廢機織其眼泣則出珠晉木𤣥虚海賦云天琛水怪鮫人之室" (translation quoted below).
  44. Schafer (1952), p. 160, quoting the Shu-i shark-people (extracted in Piya 1.17): "In the South of the Sea are the houses of the shark people.."
  45. Schafer 1967, pp. 217–218
  46. Schafer 1967, p. 220
  47. Zhang Hua 張華. "Book 2, "Foreigners" section; 卷之二「異人」". Bowuzhi 博物志 – via Wikisource. 南海外有鮫人，水居如魚，不廢織績，其眼能泣珠。
  48. Magnani (2022), p. 91.
  49. Lockhart, James Haldane Stewart, Sir (1893). A Manual of Chinese Quotations: Being a Translation of the Ch'êng Yü K'ao. Kelly & Walsh, Limited. p. 280.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  50. Schafer 1967, p. 221
  51. Schafer, Edward H. (1963). The Golden Peaches of Samarkand: A Study of T'ang Exotics. University of California Press. pp. 202–203. ISBN 9780520054622.
  52. Castiglioni (2021), pp. 8–9.
  53. Castiglioni (2021), pp. 9–10.
  54. Castiglioni (2021), pp. 9–13.
  55. Castiglioni (2021), pp. 13–15.
  56. Castiglioni (2021), p. 22.
  57. Kuzumi (2006a), pp. 61–65.

Bibliography

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