The Four Perils () are four malevolent beings that existed 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 ...

and the antagonistic counterparts of the Four Benevolent Animals.

''Book of Documents''

In the ''

Book of Documents The ''Book of Documents'' (''Shūjīng'', earlier ''Shu King'') or ''Classic of History'', also known as the ''Shangshu'' (“Venerated Documents”), is one of the Five Classics of ancient Chinese literature. It is a collection of rhetorica ...

'', they are defined as the "Four Criminals" (): *

Gonggong Gonggong () is a Chinese water god who is depicted in Chinese mythology and folktales as having a copper human head with an iron forehead, red hair, and the body of a serpent, or sometimes the head and torso are human, with the tail of a serpe ...

(, the disastrous god; * Huandou (, a.k.a. , ), a chimeric minister and/or nation from the south who conspired with Gonggong against

Emperor Yao Emperor Yao (; traditionally c. 2356 – 2255 BCE) was a legendary Chinese ruler, according to various sources, one of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors. Ancestry and early life Yao's ancestral name is Yi Qi () or Qi (), clan name i ...

Gun A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, p ...

(), father of

Yu the Great Yu the Great (大禹) was a legendary king in ancient China who was famed for his introduction of flood control, his establishment of the Xia dynasty which inaugurated dynastic rule in China, and his upright moral character. He figures prominen ...

whose poorly-built dam released a destructive flood; * Sanmiao (), the tribes that attacked

's tribe.

''Zuo Zhuan'', ''Shanhaijing'', and ''Shenyijing''

In Zuo Zhuan, ''

Shanhaijing The ''Classic of Mountains and Seas'', also known as ''Shan Hai Jing'', formerly romanized as the ''Shan-hai Ching'', is a Chinese classic text and a compilation of mythic geography and beasts. Early versions of the text may have existed sinc ...

'', and '' Shenyijing'', the Four Perils (

Hanzi Chinese characters () are logograms developed for the writing of Chinese. In addition, they have been adapted to write other East Asian languages, and remain a key component of the Japanese writing system where they are known as ''kanji' ...

: 四凶;

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin (), often shortened to just pinyin, is the official romanization system for Standard Mandarin Chinese in China, and to some extent, in Singapore and Malaysia. It is often used to teach Mandarin, normally written in Chinese for ...

: Sì Xiōng) are defined as: * the

Hundun Hundun () is both a "legendary faceless being" in Chinese mythology and the "primordial and central chaos" in Chinese cosmogony, comparable with the world egg. Linguistics ''Hundun'' was semantically extended from a mythic "primordial chaos; ...

(, ), a yellow winged creature of chaos with six legs and no face; * the Qiongqi (), a monstrous creature that eats people, considered the same in Japan as

Kamaitachi is a Japanese yōkai often told about in the Kōshin'etsu region and can also refer to the strange events that this creature causes. They appear riding on dust devils and they cut people using the nails on both their hands that are like sick ...

; * the Taowu (), a reckless, stubborn creature; * the

Taotie The ''Taotie'' () is an ancient Chinese mythological creature that was commonly emblazoned on bronze and other artifacts during the 1st millennium BC. ''Taotie'' are one of the " four evil creatures of the world". In Chinese classical texts such a ...

(), a gluttonous beast.

Identification

Zhang Shoujie's ''Correct Meanings of the Record of the Grand Historian'' () identifies ''Huandou'' (讙兠) with ''Hundun'' (渾沌), ''Gonggong'' (共工) with ''Qiongqi'' (窮竒), ''Gun'' (鯀) with ''Taowu'' (檮杌), and the ''Sanmiao'' "Three Miao" (三苗) with ''Taotie'' (饕餮).''Shiji Zhengyi'' "Volume 1" Siku Quanshu version, Zhejiang university's cop
p. 133
pf 156

In popular culture

*The four perils are featured in the popular Japanese

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

'' A Certain Scientific Accelerator''. *In '' Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon'', the Four Perils are the demon group crossed over the mainland during

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period was a period in Chinese history from approximately 770 to 476 BC (or according to some authorities until 403 BC) which corresponds roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou period. The period's name derives fr ...

. The members are Konton, Tōtetsu, Kyūki, and Tōkotsu which led by the Beast King of the Eastern Lands Kirinmaru. *In ''

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and are 2022 role-playing video games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo and The Pokémon Company for the Nintendo Switch. They are the first instalments in the ninth generation of the ''Pokémon'' video game series. First an ...

'', the four legendary Pokémon Ting-Lu, Chien-Pao, Wo-Chien, and Chi-Yu are primarily inspired by the four perils.

Notes

References