Zouyu

Zouyu (Chinese: 騶虞), also called zouwu (騶吾) or zouya (騶牙), is a legendary creature mentioned in old Chinese literature. The earliest known appearance of the characters 騶虞 (zou yu) is in the Book of Songs,[1][2] but J.J.L. Duyvendak describes that the interpretation of that little poem as referring to an animal of that name is "very doubtful".[1]

Zouyu illustration from the Chinese encyclopedia Gujin Tushu Jicheng

Zouyu appears in a number of later works, where it is described as "righteous" animal, which, similarly to a qilin, only appears during the rule of a benevolent and sincere monarch. It is said to be as fierce-looking as a tiger, but gentle and strictly vegetarian, and described in some books (already in Shuowen Jiezi[3]) as a white tiger with black spots.[1]

In 1404, during the reign of the Yongle Emperor, Prince Zhu Su, his relative from Kaifeng (in modern-day Henan province) sent him a captured zouyu spotted and captured in Shenhou; an anonymous painter later painted that zouyu, which was evidently a rare white tiger.[1][4] Another zouyu was sighted in Shandong.[1] The zouyu sightings were mentioned by contemporaneous authors as good omens, along with the Yellow River running clear and the delivery of a qilin (i.e., an African giraffe) by a Bengal delegation that arrived to China aboard Zheng He's fleet.[1]

Puzzled about the real zoological identity of the zouyu said to be captured during the Yongle era, Duyvendak exclaims, "Can it possibly have been a Pandah?"[1] Following him, some modern authors consider zouyu to refer to the giant panda.[5]

Sinologist and linguist Wolfgang Behr includes the zouyu ~ zouwu ~ zouya among several leophoric names, besides 獅子 shī-zǐ and 狻猊 suān-ní, in ancient Chinese texts to denote lions.[6]

Riordan & Shi (2016) propose that Zou Yu ("驺瑜 [sic]")[lower-alpha 1] and other words for some enigmatic pantherine predators in ancient Chinese texts[lower-alpha 2] possibly denoted snow leopards.[8][lower-alpha 3]