Chiyou (蚩尤, ) is a mythological being that appears in East Asian mythology.

Individual

According to the Song dynasty history book '' Lushi'', Chiyou's surname was Jiang (), and he was a descendant of

flame A flame (from Latin ''flamma'') is the visible, gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction taking place in a thin zone. When flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density they ...

. According to legend, Chiyou had a

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

head with a distinct metal

forehead In human anatomy, the forehead is an area of the head bounded by three features, two of the skull and one of the scalp. The top of the forehead is marked by the hairline, the edge of the area where hair on the scalp grows. The bottom of the fore ...

. He had 4 eyes and 6 arms, wielding terrible sharp weapons in every hand, similar to a description of ''

fangxiangshi The ''fangxiangshi'' (Chinese: wikt:方相氏, 方相氏) was a Chinese ritual exorcist, the meaning of whose name is obscure but has been translated as "one who sees in all (four) directions", "he who scrutinizes for evil in many directions", a ...

''. (2005) (2006) . p 11-13. In some sources, Chiyou had certain features associated with various mythological bovines: his head was that of a

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

with two

horns Horns or The Horns may refer to: * Plural of Horn (instrument), a group of musical instruments all with a horn-shaped bells * The Horns (Colorado), a summit on Cheyenne Mountain * ''Horns'' (novel), a dark fantasy novel written in 2010 by Joe Hill ...

, although the body was human, and his hindquarters were those of a bear. He is said to have been unbelievably fierce, and to have had 81 brothers and many followers. Historical sources often described him as 'bold leader', as well as 'brave'. Some sources have asserted that the figure 81 should rather be associated with 81 clans in his kingdom. Chiyou knows the constellations and the ancients spells for calling upon the weather. For example, he called upon a fog to surround Huangdi and his soldiers during the

Battle of Zhuolu The Battle of Zhuolu () was the second battle in the history of China as recorded in the '' Records of the Grand Historian'', fought between the Yanhuang tribes led by the legendary Yellow Emperor and the Jiuli tribes led by Chiyou. The battle ...

Tribe

Chiyou is regarded as a leader of the Nine Li tribe (, RPA mww, Cuaj Li Ntuj) by nearly all sources. However, his exact ethnic affiliations are quite complex, with multiple sources reporting him as belonging to various tribes, in addition to a number of diverse peoples supposed to have directly descended from him. Some sources from later dynasties, such as the '' Guoyu book'', considered Chiyou's Li tribe to be related to the ancient San miao tribe (). In the ancient

Zhuolu Town Zhuolu () is a town and the county seat of Zhuolu County, northwestern Hebei province, Northern China. It has an area of and a population of 57,400 as of 2002, and is made up of 6 communities and 30 villages. It is located southeast of Zhangjiak ...

is a statue of Chiyou commemorating him as the original ancestor of the

Miao people The Miao are a group of linguistically-related peoples living in Southern China and Southeast Asia, who are recognized by the government of China as one of the 56 List of ethnic groups in China, official ethnic groups. The Miao live primarily in ...

.De la Cadena, Marisol. Starn, Orin. Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. 007(2007). Indigenous experience today. Berg Publishers, 2007. . pg 239. The place is regarded as the birthplace of the San miao / Miao people, the Hmong being a subgroup of the Miao. In various sources, the "nine Li" tribe is called the "Jiuli" kingdom, Jiuli meaning "nine Li". Modern

Han Chinese The Han Chinese () or Han people (), are an East Asian ethnic group native to China. They constitute the world's largest ethnic group, making up about 18% of the global population and consisting of various subgroups speaking distinctive va ...

scholar Weng Dujian considers Jiuli and San Miao to be

Man A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromos ...

southerners. Chiyou has also been counted as part of the

Dongyi The Dongyi or Eastern Yi () was a collective term for ancient peoples found in Chinese records. The definition of Dongyi varied across the ages, but in most cases referred to inhabitants of eastern China, then later, the Korean peninsula, and Ja ...

Epic battles

Chiyou (;

Old Chinese Old Chinese, also called Archaic Chinese in older works, is the oldest attested stage of Chinese language, Chinese, and the ancestor of all modern varieties of Chinese. The earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones ...

( ZS): *''tʰjɯ-ɢʷɯ'') was a tribal leader of the Nine Li tribe () in ancient China. He is best known as a king who lost against the future

Yellow Emperor The Yellow Emperor, also known as the Yellow Thearch or by his Chinese name Huangdi (), is a deity ('' shen'') in Chinese religion, one of the legendary Chinese sovereigns and culture heroes included among the mytho-historical Three Soverei ...

during the

Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were two groups of mythological rulers in ancient north China. The Three Sovereigns supposedly lived long before The Five Emperors, who have been assigned dates in a period from 3162 BC to 2070 BC. Today ...

era in

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions. Much of t ...

. For some

Hmong people The Hmong people ( RPA: ''Hmoob'', Nyiakeng Puachue: , Pahawh Hmong: , ) are a sub-ethnic group of the Miao people who originated from Central China. The modern Hmongs presently reside mainly in Southwest China (Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chon ...

, Chiyou or Txiv Yawg was a sagacious mythical king. He has a particularly complex and controversial ancestry, as he may fall under

Miao Miao may refer to: * Miao people, linguistically and culturally related group of people, recognized as such by the government of the People's Republic of China * Miao script or Pollard script, writing system used for Miao languages * Miao (Unicode ...

or even

, depending on the source and view. Today, Chiyou is honored and worshipped as the God of War and one of the three legendary founding fathers of China.

Description

When the

Yan emperor The Yan Emperor () or the Flame Emperor was a legendary ancient Chinese ruler in pre-dynastic times. Modern scholarship has identified the Sheep's Head Mountains (''Yángtóu Shān'') just north of Baoji in Shaanxi Province as his homeland and ...

was leading his tribe and conflicts with Nine Li tribes led by Chiyou, the Yan emperor stood no chance and lost the fight. He escaped, and later ended up in Zhuolu begging for help from the

. At this point the epic battle between Chiyou and the Yellow Emperor's forces began. The battle last for 10 years with Chiyou having the upper hand. During the Battle of Zhuolu, Chiyou breathed out a thick fog and obscured the sunlight.Big5.china.com.cn.
Big5.china.com.cn
" ' Retrieved on 2010-08-22. The battle dragged on for days while the emperor's side was in danger. (2005) (2006) . p 11-13. Only after the Yellow Emperor invented the

south-pointing chariot The south-pointing chariot (or carriage) was an ancient Chinese two-wheeled vehicle that carried a movable pointer to indicate the south, no matter how the chariot turned. Usually, the pointer took the form of a doll or figure with an outstretch ...

, did he find his way out of the battlefield. Chiyou then conjured up a heavy storm. The Yellow Emperor then called upon the drought demon

Nüba Nüba (), also known as Ba (魃) and as Hanba (旱魃), is a Chinese drought deity. "Ba" is her proper name, with the ''nü'' being an added indication of being feminine and ''han'' meaning "drought". Legend Ba is the daughter of the Yellow Emperor ...

(), who blew away the storm clouds and cleared the battlefield. Chiyou and his army could not hold up, and were later killed by the Yellow Emperor. After this defeat, the Yellow Emperor is said to become the ancestor of all

Huaxia ''Huaxia'' (華夏, ) is a historical concept representing the Chinese nation, and came from the self-awareness of a common cultural ancestry by the various confederations of pre-Qin ethnic ancestors of Han people. Etymology The earliest ext ...

. His followers were forced to live in the mountains and leave their Li kingdom.De la Cadena, Marisol. Starn, Orin. Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. 007(2007). Indigenous experience today. Berg Publishers, 2007. . pg 239. After Chiyou's death, it is said that it rained blood for some time.

Societal influence

According to the ''

Records of the Grand Historian ''Records of the Grand Historian'', also known by its Chinese name ''Shiji'', is a monumental history of China that is the first of China's 24 dynastic histories. The ''Records'' was written in the early 1st century by the ancient Chinese hist ...

'',

Qin Shi Huang Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of "king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Emperor ( ...

worshiped Chiyou as the God of War, and

Liu Bang Emperor Gaozu of Han (256 – 1 June 195 BC), born Liu Bang () with courtesy name Ji (季), was the founder and first emperor of the Han dynasty, reigning in 202–195 BC. His temple name was "Taizu" while his posthumous name was Emper ...

worshiped at Chiyou's shrine before his decisive battle against

Xiang Yu Xiang Yu (, –202 BC), born Xiang Ji (), was the Hegemon-King (Chinese: 霸王, ''Bà Wáng'') of Western Chu during the Chu–Han Contention period (206–202 BC) of China. A noble of the Chu state, Xiang Yu rebelled against the Qin dynas ...

. The mythical title God of War was given to Chiyou because the Yellow Emperor and Yan Emperor could not defeat Chiyou alone. Altogether, Chiyou won 9 major battles including 80 minor confrontations. On the 10th and final war, both emperors combined their forces and conquered Chiyou. Chiyou remains as a figure of worship today. In one mythical episode, after Chiyou had claimed he could not be conquered, the goddess Nuwa dropped a stone tablet on him from

Mount Tai Mount Tai () is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an. It is the highest point in Shandong province, China. The tallest peak is the '' Jade Emperor Peak'' (), which is commonly reported as being t ...

. The stone failed to crush Chiyou, who managed to escape. From then on, the 5-finger-shaped stone tablet, inscribed "Mount Tai ''

shigandang ''Shigandang'' (; Japanese: ''ishigantō'') is an ornamental stone tablet with writing, which is used to exorcise evil spirits in east Asia. 石敢當 are often associated with Mount Tai, and are often placed on street intersections or three-w ...

''" () became a spiritual weapon to ward off evil and disasters.Lee, James. 006(2006). James Lee Astrology guide 2006 Chinese edition. World publishing co. . p 208-209. According to notes by the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

painter Luo Ping: "Yellow Emperor ordered his men to have Chiyou beheaded... seeing that Chiyou's head was separated from his body, later sages had his image engraved on sacrificial

vessels Vessel(s) or The Vessel may refer to: Biology *Blood vessel, a part of the circulatory system and function to transport blood throughout the body *Lymphatic vessel, a thin walled, valved structure that carries lymph *Vessel element, a narrow wat ...

as a warning to those that would covet power and wealth." The

Tale of Heike is an epic account compiled prior to 1330 of the struggle between the Taira clan and Minamoto clan for control of Japan at the end of the 12th century in the Genpei War (1180–1185). Heike () refers to the Taira (), ''hei'' being the ''on'yo ...

mentions a

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

"of the type called Chiyou's Banner or Red Breath."

In popular culture

* Ch'ih-yu (conceptualized as a dragon) is one of the characters in the background story in ''

The Settlers III ''The Settlers III'' (german: Die Siedler III) is a real-time strategy video game with city-building elements, developed and published by Blue Byte. Released for Microsoft Windows in November 1998, it is the third game in ''The Settlers'' ser ...

''. * Chi You is a name for an Aragami creature in the PlayStation Portable game, '' God Eater''. * The

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

Heavenly Executioner Chiwoo ''Heavenly Executioner Chiwoo''(치우천하) is a manhwa created by Park KangHo and Lee HaNa. The series was first introduced to american audiences in the 2005 San Diego Comic-Con as part of the manhwa booth being run by the Korea Culture & Con ...

'' is partly based on the legends about Chiyou. * The main antagonist of the

Shenmue is an action-adventure game series created, produced and directed by Yu Suzuki. '' Shenmue'' (1999) and ''Shenmue II'' (2001) were developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for Dreamcast. '' Shenmue III,'' developed by Suzuki's company Y ...

saga, Lan Di, is one of the leaders of a group called the Chi You Men, who seek to awake the power of the God Chi You. * A series of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

bullion coin Bullion is non-ferrous metal that has been refined to a high standard of elemental purity. The term is ordinarily applied to bulk metal used in the production of coins and especially to precious metals such as gold and silver. It comes from the ...

s minted by

KOMSCO The Korea Minting, Security Printing and ID Card Operating Corporation (KOMSCO; Korean: 한국조폐공사) is a state-owned corporation which is responsible to print and mint the banknotes and coins and other government documents. Its headquart ...

feature Chiyou, referred to as the Chiwoo Cheonwang series. * Chi You appears as an antagonist in the ''TMNT/Ghostbusters'' miniseries of the ''

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Leonardo, Michelangelo (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Miche ...

'' IDW comics continuity. Herein he is a godling or immortal creature who is engaged with others of his kind—including the

Rat King A rat king is a collection of rats whose tails are intertwined and bound together in some way. This may be a result of an entangling material like hair, a sticky substance such as sap or gum, or the tails being tied together. Historically, thi ...

and Kitsune—in a "game" for dominion over mankind. * There is a Mechanical Mod used in the

vaping An electronic cigarette is an electronic device that simulates tobacco smoking. It consists of an atomizer, a power source such as a battery, and a container such as a cartridge or tank. Instead of smoke, the user inhales vapor. As such ...

community known as the Chi You. * He is also a reoccurring demon in the ''

Megami Tensei ''Megami Tensei'', marketed internationally as ''Shin Megami Tensei'' (formerly ''Revelations''), is a Japanese media franchise created by Aya Nishitani, Kouji Okada, Kouji "Cozy" Okada, Ginichiro Suzuki, and Kazunari Suzuki. Primarily developed ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

series. * Chi You appears as sub-

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...

enemy in the

La-Mulana ''La-Mulana'' (stylized as ''La•Mʊlana'') is a platform-adventure video game, designed to imitate the look and feel of MSX games. Released on June 27, 2006, in Japan for Microsoft Windows, the game was only available in Japanese, but an Engli ...

''. * Chi You's clan became a group of priestess/assassin combo in ''

Kingdom Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...

'', where Qiang Lei was once part of. * In the 1997 south korean cartoon

Mythology of Heaven Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...

by Lee Hyun-se, chiyou appears as the protagonist in book 2. * The descendants of Chi You formed a warrior order named Saulabi in the novel of ''

The God of High School ''The God of High School'' () is a South Korean manhwa released as a webtoon written and illustrated by Yongje Park. It has been serialized in Naver Corporation's webtoon platform Naver Webtoon since April 2011, with the individual chapters colle ...

'' * He is one of the kings represented by the members of the K-pop boy group

, as one of them is named "Chiwoo". His story is told in the album "History of Kingdom: Part II. Chiwoo". * He appears as a man-eating evil deity in the manga

Record of ragnarok is a Japanese manga series written by Shinya Umemura and Takumi Fukui and illustrated by Ajichika. It began in Coamix's (formerly also published by Tokuma Shoten) ''seinen'' manga magazine ''Monthly Comic Zenon'' in November 2017. It was l ...

* Chiyou appears a
Shuuu Yasogami
the final stage boss of the Touhou fangam
Infinite Blade Pavilion
In this iteration, Shuuu is able to produce weapons. However, in her character profile, she's said not to have a savage personality - only that of a gentle craftsman. * Chiyou appears in

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

as the archenemy of the Chinese superhero Sword Master. In the comics, Chiyou is depicted as an evil monstrous god who was defeated and sealed away along with his demonic army by the

and the descendants of the

Three Sovereigns The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were two groups of mythological rulers in ancient north China. The Three Sovereigns supposedly lived long before The Five Emperors, who have been assigned dates in a period from 3162 BC to 2070 BC. Today ...

. In the present day, Chiyou's seals have weakened, allowing his demonic minions to escape and to find a way revive their master, prompting

Fu Xi Fuxi or Fu Hsi (伏羲 ~ 伏犧 ~ 伏戲) is a culture hero in Chinese legend and mythology, credited along with his sister and wife Nüwa with creating humanity and the invention of music, hunting, fishing, domestication, and cooking as well ...

's descendant Sword Master (Lin Lie) to take of the fabled Sword of Fu Xi to stop Chiyou's release. * In the mobile game Arknights, published by Yostar, Superintendent Ch’en of the Lungmen Guard Department wields a “dragon-slaying” sword named Chi You.

References

Bibliography

* Michael J. Puett, ''The Ambivalence of Creation: Debates Concerning Innovation and Artifice in Early China''. 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Chi You Legendary Chinese people Characters in Chinese mythology Chinese gods War gods Hmong culture Legendary rulers