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Xiezhi
The xiezhi (獬豸; xièzhì < Eastern Han Chinese *gɛʔ-ḍɛʔ) is a mythical creature of Chinese origin found throughout Sinospheric legends. It resembles an ox or goat, with thick dark fur covering its body, bright eyes and a single long horn on its forehead. It has great intellect and understands human speech. The xiezhi possesses the innate ability to distinguish right from wrong and when it finds corrupt officials, it will ram them with its horn and devour them. It is known as a symbol of justice.
According to legend, the xiezhi, was a single-horned sheep or goat which had power to divine the guilt or innocence of a person. Gao Yao, the minister of justice for the legendary Emperor Shun employed the beast during criminal proceedings and he would command the sheep to ram (head-butt) the accused. The beast would ram the guilty, but spare the innocent. The account appears in Wang Chong, Lunheng (80 AD).
In the same work (Lunheng), the legend is prefaced the remark that public offices are painted with the images of the beast and the minister.
As a symbol of traditional Chinese law, xiezhi has been promoted by the Chinese dynasties. The judicial hat (法冠) was also referred to as the xiezhi after the mythical sheep/ox. The xiezhi hat was part of the attire of censors (yushi) into the 8th century during the Tang period, especially for an impeachment trial.
Legend has it that during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, King Wen of Chu once obtained a xiezhi and put its image on his head and then the xiezhi crown became a fashion in the State of Chu. Law enforcement officials in the Qin dynasty also wore such crowns, as did the Han dynasty, which inherited the Qin system. By the Eastern Han dynasty, images of the xiezhi became an indispensable ornament in the Xie Men,[clarification needed] and the XieZhi crown was titled on the law.[clarification needed] Therefore, law enforcement officials were called xiezhi.[citation needed]
Mentions of the xiezhi in Chinese literature can be traced back to the Han dynasty. "Rhapsody on the Imperial Park" (上林賦), Sima Xiangru mentions the xiezhi 解豸/解廌 "sagacious stag" among the prey in the year-end barricade hunt staged by the Son of Heaven. Scholar Yáng Fú (楊孚) described the xiezhi 獬豸 in his treatise Yiwu Zhi as a "righteous beast, which rams the wrongful party when it sees a fight and bites the wrongful party when it hears an argument". It is described in the Shuowen Jiezi as being "a cattle-like beast with one horn; in ancient times. It settled disputes by ramming the party at fault".
As an inherently just beast, the xiezhi was used as a symbol of justice and law. The Censorate of the Ming and Qing eras, who were responsible for the monitoring of the civil service, wore the xiezhi as a badge of office. Among the common folk, the image of the xiezhi was believed to dispel evil spirits; a xiezhi might be carved on a lock to frighten off evil spirits.[citation needed] Similarly, military policemen of the Republic of China wear badges bearing the xiezhi[citation needed] and it is engraved on the gavels in the law courts of the People's Republic of China.[citation needed]
Linguist and Sinologist Axel Schuessler reconstructs the Late Han pronunciation of this mythological animal's name (解豸 ~ 解廌) as *gɛʔ-ḍɛʔ. Noting that in Zuo Zhuan′s chapter "Duke Xuan′s 17th year", "豸 is supposedly a graphical loan for 解 'understand'", he suspects the gloss 解; xiè - when misunderstood - "ended up as a pre-syllable in the animal name" 豸 ~ 廌 and "may be responsible for the belief that this animal could tell straight from crooked, right from wrong."
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Xiezhi AI simulator
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Xiezhi
The xiezhi (獬豸; xièzhì < Eastern Han Chinese *gɛʔ-ḍɛʔ) is a mythical creature of Chinese origin found throughout Sinospheric legends. It resembles an ox or goat, with thick dark fur covering its body, bright eyes and a single long horn on its forehead. It has great intellect and understands human speech. The xiezhi possesses the innate ability to distinguish right from wrong and when it finds corrupt officials, it will ram them with its horn and devour them. It is known as a symbol of justice.
According to legend, the xiezhi, was a single-horned sheep or goat which had power to divine the guilt or innocence of a person. Gao Yao, the minister of justice for the legendary Emperor Shun employed the beast during criminal proceedings and he would command the sheep to ram (head-butt) the accused. The beast would ram the guilty, but spare the innocent. The account appears in Wang Chong, Lunheng (80 AD).
In the same work (Lunheng), the legend is prefaced the remark that public offices are painted with the images of the beast and the minister.
As a symbol of traditional Chinese law, xiezhi has been promoted by the Chinese dynasties. The judicial hat (法冠) was also referred to as the xiezhi after the mythical sheep/ox. The xiezhi hat was part of the attire of censors (yushi) into the 8th century during the Tang period, especially for an impeachment trial.
Legend has it that during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, King Wen of Chu once obtained a xiezhi and put its image on his head and then the xiezhi crown became a fashion in the State of Chu. Law enforcement officials in the Qin dynasty also wore such crowns, as did the Han dynasty, which inherited the Qin system. By the Eastern Han dynasty, images of the xiezhi became an indispensable ornament in the Xie Men,[clarification needed] and the XieZhi crown was titled on the law.[clarification needed] Therefore, law enforcement officials were called xiezhi.[citation needed]
Mentions of the xiezhi in Chinese literature can be traced back to the Han dynasty. "Rhapsody on the Imperial Park" (上林賦), Sima Xiangru mentions the xiezhi 解豸/解廌 "sagacious stag" among the prey in the year-end barricade hunt staged by the Son of Heaven. Scholar Yáng Fú (楊孚) described the xiezhi 獬豸 in his treatise Yiwu Zhi as a "righteous beast, which rams the wrongful party when it sees a fight and bites the wrongful party when it hears an argument". It is described in the Shuowen Jiezi as being "a cattle-like beast with one horn; in ancient times. It settled disputes by ramming the party at fault".
As an inherently just beast, the xiezhi was used as a symbol of justice and law. The Censorate of the Ming and Qing eras, who were responsible for the monitoring of the civil service, wore the xiezhi as a badge of office. Among the common folk, the image of the xiezhi was believed to dispel evil spirits; a xiezhi might be carved on a lock to frighten off evil spirits.[citation needed] Similarly, military policemen of the Republic of China wear badges bearing the xiezhi[citation needed] and it is engraved on the gavels in the law courts of the People's Republic of China.[citation needed]
Linguist and Sinologist Axel Schuessler reconstructs the Late Han pronunciation of this mythological animal's name (解豸 ~ 解廌) as *gɛʔ-ḍɛʔ. Noting that in Zuo Zhuan′s chapter "Duke Xuan′s 17th year", "豸 is supposedly a graphical loan for 解 'understand'", he suspects the gloss 解; xiè - when misunderstood - "ended up as a pre-syllable in the animal name" 豸 ~ 廌 and "may be responsible for the belief that this animal could tell straight from crooked, right from wrong."