Feng (mythology)

In Chinese mythology and folklore, ''Fēng'' (封, lit. "mound; hump") was an edible monster that resembles a two-eyed lump of meat and magically grows back as fast as it is eaten. Early Chinese texts also referred to this legendary food with the names Shìròu (視肉, "look like meat"), Ròuzhī (肉芝, "meat excrescence"), and Tàisuì (太歲, "great year; Jupiter"). Ròulíngzhī (肉靈芝, "meat Lingzhi mushroom") is a modern name popularized by Chinese news media reporting on purported discoveries of Feng throughout China, including a widely publicized Xi'an television reporter who misidentified a sex toy as a ''roulingzhi'' monster.

Names

''Fēng'' ( 封, lit. "hump") meant "mound, tumulus, raise a mound; altar; earth up (a plant); wall, bank of field; boundary embankment, fief" in Old Chinese; and means "to seal; bank (a fire); confer (title/territory/etc.) upon, feudal; envelope" in Modern Standard Chinese. Feng occurs in other Chinese mythological names. Fengzhu (封豬, with "pig; swine") or Bifeng (伯封, with "elder brother; uncle"), the son of Kui and Xuanqi (玄妻, "Dark Consort"), was named owing to his "swinish" wickedness. Wolfram Eberhard says, Fengzhu translates "pig with a hump" because ''feng'' means "hump", although commentaries often interpret the word as "big".

''Shìròu'' (視肉, lit. "look like meat") compounds ''shi'' ( 視 "regard; look at/upon; inspect; watch; sight; vision") with ''rou'' ( 肉 "meat; flesh; pulp; 'flesh' of melons/etc."). The ''Kangxi Zidian'' dictionary entry for ''shi'' (視) quotes Guo Pu's ''Shanhaijing'' commentary to use the otherwise unattested variant ''jùròu'' (聚肉, with 聚 "gather; assemble; get together").

''Tǔròu'' (土肉, "soil flesh") compounds ''tu'' ( 土 "soil; earth; clay; land; crude") with ''rou''. Compare ''turougui'' (土肉桂, with 桂 "cinnamon; cassia-bark tree"), which is the Chinese name for " Cinnamomum osmophloeum".

''Ròuzhī'' (肉芝, "meat excrescence") uses ''rou'' with the complex word ''zhi'' ( 芝, "supernatural mushrooms; excrescences"). Fabrizio Pregadio explains, The term ''zhi'', "which has no equivalent in Western languages, refers to a variety of supermundane substances often described as plants, fungi, or 'excrescences'."
''Língzhī'' ( 靈芝, "spiritual excrescence") – known in English as the Lingzhi mushroom and identified with Ganoderma genus – is seen in the modern Feng name ''Ròulíngzhī'' (肉靈芝 "meat Lingzhi mushroom").

'' Tàisuì'' (太歲, "great year; Jupiter)", combining ''tai'' ( 太, "great; very; too") and ''sui'' ( 歲, "year (of age)") in reference to Jupiter's orbit of 11.86 years (12 years in Chinese tradition), is an old name for the planet Jupiter. Jupiter is the God of the Year in the Chinese zodiac and Fengshui, and worshiped in religious Daoism. Feng is considered to be the earthly manifestation of Jupiter's '' shen'' (神, "spirit; god; deity") and sometimes syncretized with the deity Taisui Xingjun (who in the novel 三教源流搜神大全 is born from a lump of flesh)

Classical usages

Beginning in the Han dynasty (206 BCE-220 CE), the Chinese classics have recorded ''Feng'' and its synonyms.

The ''Shanhaijing'' has 14 usages of ''Shìròu'' (視肉, lit. "look like meat/flesh"), in locations north, south, east, and west of "The Classic of Regions Beyond the Seas" and "The Classic of the Great Wilderness". Scholars generally date these textual sections from around the 1st century BCE to 1st century CE, making ''shirou'' the earliest recorded name for ''feng''. For instance,

Mount Menial ��山 the great god Lofty lies buried on its south face; the great god Tellswift lies buried on its north face. Here there are black bears and brown bears, striped tigers, long-tailed apes, leopards, and also the leave-scarlet bird, the look-flesh creature, and the sob-sigh creature. (6)

"Lofty" and "Tellswift" translate Emperor Yao and Emperor Ku. Birrell notes that the ''shirou'' is,

A fabled creature, the recurring animalian motif of numerous utopian passages in the text, usually associated with the burial place of deities. Kuo notes that the look-flesh creature "is a mass of flesh which looks like the liver of an ox; it has two eyes. Even though you eat it, it is never really consumed, because it grows again, and is born again in the same form as it was before." This myth may constitute a utopian idea of a never-ending supply of meat, from the perspective of the inhabitants of poor rural areas.

The ''Shanhaijing'' commentary of Guo Pu (276-324) provides invaluable information about the ''shirou'' and ''turou'' 土肉.

It is a lump of meat in the shape of an ox liver. There are two eyes in it. It can be eaten as food. More of them can be found. Such things are called Feng and are edible. People do not know this. There is also another thing in the sea called Turou that is pure black and five ''cun'' in width. It is as big as an arm of an infant. There is an abdomen but no mouth and eyes. It has 30 legs. It can be stir-fried and taken as food. This is something like a cross between a worm and a fish, and is similar to Feng.

''Feng'' also appears in the ''Shanhaijing'' mythic name ''fengshi'' (封石, "fief stone"), for example, " n Mount Accord the ''yufu'' jade is abundant on its summit, as well as copious amounts of bloodstone and fief-stone." The ''Shanhaijing'' commentary of Hao Yixing (郝懿行, 1757–1825) quotes the (c. 533-544 CE) ''Qimin Yaoshu'', "The stone is medicinal. It tastes sweet and is not poisonous."

Zhang Hua's (c. 290 CE) ''Bowuzhi'' "Record of the Investigation of Things" says, "In the land of Yuexi/Yuesui there is a cow that does not die if you cut a piece of meat off it. After some days the flesh has grown back again as before." Yuexi/Yuesui commandery was around present-day Xichang, Sichuan.

The (c. 320 CE) '' Baopuzi'', written by the Jin Dynasty Daoist scholar Ge Hong, mentions ''Ròuzhī'' (肉芝, "meat/flesh excrescences") in two contexts. Ge Hong's "A Taoist Library" lists the illustrated text ''Ruozhitu'' 肉芝圖, which is no longer extant. "The Genie's Pharmacopia" (仙藥) categorizes ''zhi'' (芝 "a legendary numinous mushroom; Ganoderma; excrescence"), "There are five types of excrescences: rock ��芝 wood ��芝 herb ��芝 flesh ��芝 and the tiny 菌_means_"mushroom;_fungus;_bacterium;_germ".html" ;"title="Wikt:菌.html" ;"title="��芝, ''jun'' 菌_means_"mushroom;_fungus;_bacterium;_germ"">Wikt:菌.html"_;"title="��芝,_''jun''_Wikt:菌">菌_means_"mushroom;_fungus;_bacterium;_germ",_and_each_of_them_has_120_species._The_text_lists_six_kinds_of_''rouzhi''_"flesh_excrescences"_that_will_give_one_the_invulnerability_and_longevity_associated_with_Daoist_''Xian_(Taoism).html" "title="Wikt:菌">菌 means "mushroom; fungus; bacterium; germ"">Wikt:菌.html" ;"title="��芝, ''jun'' Wikt:菌">菌 means "mushroom; fungus; bacterium; germ", and each of them has 120 species. The text lists six kinds of ''rouzhi'' "flesh excrescences" that will give one the invulnerability and longevity associated with Daoist ''Xian (Taoism)">xian''. Here are two examples.

The ten-thousand-year-old hoptoad is said to have horns on its head, while under its chin there is a double-tiered figure 8 written in red. It must be captured at noon on the fifth day of the fifth moon and dried in the shade for a hundred days. A line drawn on the ground with its left root will become a running stream. When its left foreleg is carried on the person, it will ward off all types of weapons. If an enemy shoots at you, the bow and arrow will both turn against the archer. The thousand-year-old bat is as white as snow. When perching, it hangs head down because its brain is heavy. If both of these creatures are obtained, dried in the shade, powdered, and taken, a body can live for forty thousand years.

If in the mountains you should come across a little man seven or eight inches tall riding in a palanquin or on a horse, it will be a flesh excrescence. By seizing and taking it you will immediately become a genie.

The ''Zazhi'' 雜志 "Miscellaneous Notes" by the Song dynasty official Jiang Linji 江鄰幾 (1005-1060) records that the Neo-Confucianism, Neo-Confucian teacher Xu Ji 徐積 (1028-1103) found a Feng in Luzhou (in modern Anhui), Luzhou (modern Anhui).

Mr. Xu Ji ��積once picked up a small baby at the riverside in Lu Zhou. There were no fingers on its hands and there was no blood in its body. He was afraid of it and buried it in the ground. This was actually Feng as recorded in the book ''Baize Tu''. Eating such a thing will increase one's physical strength.

The (c. 3rd century) ''Baize tu'' (白澤圖, "Diagrams of the Baize 'White Marsh' Spirit") is no longer fully extant, but is identified with a Dunhuang manuscript (P2682).

The (1547) ''Xihu Zhi'' (西湖志 "West Lake Record") by Ming dynasty scholar Tian Rucheng (田汝成, 1503-1557) uses the name Taisui.

When Dung Biaoyi ��表儀dismantled a house and dug up the earth, something like a lump of meat was found. A Taoist master said this was Taisui. It was harmless. So it was abandoned.

Li Shizhen's (1578) ''Bencao Gangmu'' classic Chinese materia medica includes the Feng under Chapter 51, which describes medicines derived from ''yu'' (禺 "monkeys") and ''kuai'' (怪 "supernatural creatures") such as the ''wangliang'' (魍魎 "a demon that eats the organs of corpses") and ''penghou'' (彭侯 "a tree spirit that resembles a black tailless dog"). The ''Feng'' entry quotes the ''Shanhaijing'' with Guo's commentary, the ''Zazhi'', and ''Xihu Zhi''. Bernard Read's translation glosses the Feng as "a naiad" and says, "This refers to a class of peculiar organisms such as the sea cucumber or anemones to which were accredited supernatural qualities, based upon the supposition that they were spiritual beings." The sea cucumber and sea anemone are both marine animals, as is the ''turou''.

Modern revival

For 2,000 years, the Feng creature (a.k.a. Taisui, Rouzhi, etc.) has been an obscure aspect of Chinese mythology, but in the late 20th century, Chinese media began reporting a series of fake Feng findings. In modern context, counterfeit and imitation goods made in China are so common that English borrowed the Chinese loanword ''shanzhai''.

Most of the alleged Feng findings have been restricted to Chinese-language sources, often with extraordinary pictures. For instance, construction workers near Lüshunkou District of Dalian dug out a 78-kilogram lump of fatty meat, which they sold to a Mr. Sun (孙) for 20,000 ''yuan'' (about $3,200), who later began selling "Taisui" mineral water. The Xinhua reporter, who inspected Sun's "Taisui" kept in a water-filled tank, said it was about 40 cm wide, resembled white pig fat wrapped in a brown and yellow skin, and felt like sauced beef tendon.

One "Feng" story received international attention in June 2012. Xi'an Television reported that villagers digging a well had found a "Roulingzhi", which was being kept in a bucket of water. The reporter who handled the object described as a fleshy monster with a mouth and nose. However, after viewers identified it as a fleshlight sex toy with a vagina and anus, the story became an internet meme in China, and the station issued an apology.

Comparative mythology

Legends about a "lump of flesh" are culturally widespread.

In Chinese mythology,. the world-creator Hundun resembled a lump of flesh; the nine sons of the dragon were born as a limbless lump of flesh, split into nine parts and thrown them into the river, where they became dragon kings; the hero King Zhao of Zhou was born as a lump of flesh that had to be split; and the dead sometimes appear as a lump of flesh, like the Taisui. In a Chinese fairy tale, The Pretty Little Calf was born as the third wife's son, but the first and second wives claimed he was a lump of flesh, and tried to kill him by drowning and feeding to a water buffalo.

Examples can be found in many cultures. The Indian ''Mahabharata'' tells how Gandhari, the wife of Dhritarashtra, wished for 100 sons, and after two years of pregnancy gave birth to a lump of flesh, which were cut into 101 pieces and placed in jars, and developed into 100 sons and a daughter. The Tamil saint Thirumalisai Alvar was born as a limbless lump of flesh after twelve months in the womb, abandoned by his parents, and returned to life by Vishnu. The creation of man in the ''Qur'an'' (22:5) says, "We first created you from dust, then from a sperm drop, then from clotted blood, then a lump of flesh 'mudghah'' both shaped and unshaped, so that We might manifest to you ur power. In Welsh mythology, Lleu Llaw Gyffes was born from a lump of flesh dropped by Gwydion, and concealed in a chest until he matured. In Manx folklore, if a Tarroo-ushtey water bull mates with a cow, it only calves a lump of flesh and skin without bones.

References

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Footnotes
{{reflist, refs=
{{cite book , last1=Schuessler , date=2007 , first1=Axel , title=ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese , location=Honolulu HI , publisher=University of Hawaiʻi Press , page=237 , isbn=9780824829759

DeFrancis, John, ed. (2003), ''ABC Chinese-English Comprehensive Dictionary'', University of Hawaii Press. p. 259.

Pregadio, Fabrizio (2008), 'Zhi'' 芝 'numinous mushrooms'; 'excrescences'", in ''The Encyclopedia of Taoism'', ed. by Fabrizio Pregadio, Routledge, 1271-1274. p. 1271.

Luo Xiwen, tr. (2003), ''Bencao Gangmu: Compendium of Materia Medica'', 6 vols., Foreign Languages Press. p. 4132.

Greatrex, Roger, tr. (1987),
The Bowu Zhi: An Annotated Translation
', Föreningen för Orientaliska Studier. p. 97.

Read, Bernard E. (1931), ''Chinese Materia Medica, Animal Drugs, From the ''Pen Ts'ao Kang Mu'' by Li Shih-Chen, A.D. 1597'', Peking Natural History Bulletin. no. 407.

Xinhua Net (2014)

26 September 2014. {{in lang, zh

Xi'an Television (2012), ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=789he-8T_-E China news confuses rubber vagina/anus for special mushroom YouTube, 19 June 2012.

ABC News (2012)
Sex Toy Fools Entire Chinese Village
ABC News, 19 June 2012.

Huffington Post (2012)

Huffington Post, 19 June 2012.

The Mirror (2012)
"How can the reporter mistake a sex toy for fungus?"
19 June 2012

Chinese legendary creatures