Shuihu

The shuihu or shui hu{{Refn|The Unshculd translation uses the form shui hu.{{sfnp|Unschuld tr.|2021|p=499}} The form shuihu is employed by a Japanologist and a sinologist, though the latter concerns a shuihu that dwells in the human body and "like to eat mercury".}} ({{lang-zh|t=水虎}}; "water tiger") is described as being "about the size of a three- or four-year old (human) child", with a head like a tiger's,{{sfnp|Unschuld tr.|2021|p=499}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Literally it only actually states "resembling children aged three to four years" in the Bencao Gangmu,{{sfnp|Unschuld tr.|2021|p=499}} but the extrapolation has been made that this concerns the size or "being shaped like a child".}} and a shell like that of the pangolin.{{sfnp|Unschuld tr.|2021|p=499}}{{Refn|group=lower-alpha|The Bencao Gangmu in its entry for shuihu refers to the pangolin as the {{lang-zh|p=lingli|t=綾鯉|labels=no|}},{{sfnp|Unschuld tr.|2021|p=499}} which literally can be translated to mean "hill carp". This explains why it is stated as "carp" rather than "pangolin" in one translated paper. The Bencao Gangmu has its own entry on the {{lang-zh|p=lingli|t=綾鯉|labels=no|}}, where it is noted that the beast is also known as {{lang-zh|p=chuanshanjia|t={{linktext|穿山甲}}|labels=no|}}, which is the common modern term. The Japanese translation of this pangolin entry can be consulted for verification, where chuanshanjia is pronounced senzankō in Japanese. As noted above, illustrator Sekien mingled the script of lingli (ryōri) with the reading of the chuanshanjia (senzankō).}} Their knees, which are also tiger-like may be visible above water, but their claws always remain submerged, despite their habit of lying on sand and basking in the sun in autumn.{{sfnp|Unschuld tr.|2021|p=499}}

;Alternative reading

A dissident reading exists,{{efn|For the passage in the Chinese source, Bencao Gangmu, further elaborated below.}} particularly among Japanese sources. The Osaka physician {{interlanguage link|Terajima Ryōan|ja|寺島良安}} in his Wakan Sansai Zue (1712) interpreted the text to read "its knee-cap resembles that of a tiger's forepaw claws".{{harvp|Ozawa|2011|pp=31–32}} The accompanying woodcut illustration (figure top right) depicts this. The artist Toriyama Sekien who consulted Terajima's encyclopedia{{Refn|name=three-realms|"Suiko, Water-Tiger.. His illustration is new but the description paraphrases the one in the Illustrated Sino-Japanese Encyclopedia of the Three Realms [{{=}}Wakan sansai zue]".}} also drew the creature with the claws on the knees, with the caption: "..its kneecaps are sharp like tiger claws".

The description occurs in a quote from the Xiang miang ji ({{lang|zh|襄沔記}}; "Records of Xiang mian", 8th century) preserved in the well-known Ming Period materia medica, the Bencao Gangmu.{{sfnp|Unschuld tr.|2021|p=499}}{{harvp|Li Shizhen|1782}}. Bencao Gangmu (Siku Quanshu library edition): 本草綱目 (四庫全書本)「巻42 蟲之四 溪鬼蟲〈拾遺〉水虎」:"時珍曰襄沔記云中廬縣有涑水注沔中有物如三四嵗小兒甲如鱗鯉射不能入秋曝沙上膝頭似虎掌爪常没水出膝示人小兒弄之便咬人人生得者摘其鼻可小小使之名曰水虎". The (misprinted) word for pangolin "鱗鯉" in this edition occurs as "鯪鯉" in the 1596 edition, and the latter is the form given by Unschuld.

A similar description can be found the Shui Jing Zhu (Commentary on the Water Classic, 6th century) as quoted in the 17th century Ming Period dictionary, {{interlanguage link|Tongya|zh|通雅|lt=Tongya}}, where it is stated that the shuihu is also known as shuitang ({{lang-zh|t=水唐|labels=no}}) or shuilu ({{lang-zh|t=水盧|labels=no}}); however, the form shuitang may only be uniquely attested in the Tongya.{{interlanguage link|Asakawa Zenan|ja|朝川善庵}} Zenan zuihitsu 善庵随筆, via Kojiruien (1930) Dobutsu-bu/kemono 7 ([https://ys.nichibun.ac.jp/kojiruien/index.php?%E5%8B%95%E7%89%A9%E9%83%A8/%E7%8D%B8%E4%B8%83 e-text])

According to the quote from the Xiang miang ji, the shuihu inhabits the confluence between two rivers, where the river Shu ({{lang|zh|涑水}}) in {{interlanguage link|Zhong lu county (Xiangzhou District)|ja|中廬県 (襄陽区)|lt=Zhong lu county}} (in today's Xiangzhou District, Hubei Province){{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The identity of the River Shu here is uncertain.{{sfnp|Suzuki tr.|1930|loc=p. 324 n2}} There is a river Shu mentioned in the Commentary on the Water Classic but that is situated in Wenxi County in what is now Shanxi Province.}} flows into the river Mian{{sfnp|Unschuld tr.|2021|p=499}} ({{=}}Han River).

The original text found in the Bencao Gangmu states that the if the suihu is caught alive, then the harvested nose can be "used for some trifles".{{sfnp|Unschuld tr.|2021|p=499}} The part of the anatomy in question is not referred to as the nose (bi, {{lang|zh|鼻}}) but as the biyan ({{lang-zh|t=鼻厭|s=鼻厌}}) in the Tongya text,{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Also written as gaoyan ({{lang-zh|t=皋厭|s=皋厌}}) in the unrectified text.}} further explained to be the yin ({{lang-zh|t=陰|s=隂}}) or the "force" (si; {{lang-zh|t=勢|s=势}}) of the beast. In reference to the shuihu, the harvest of this body part has been glossed as "castration",{{Refn|"Removing gaoyan which is castration {{lang|zh|{{linktext|摘}}皋厭}}은 {{lang|zh|{{linktext|勢|去|}}}}".}} namely, the removal of its genitals, as one newspaper has more bluntly put it.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|It is not an obscure reference that the term yin (陰) could imply or denote the genitalia, and it is one of the dictionary definitions, but the term yin (as in yin-yang) carries a variety of meanings.}} It is also stated that the part can be applied as an aphrodisiac (meiyao; {{lang|zh|媚藥}}).

;trifle use

The term xiaoshi ({{lang|zh|小使}}) which has been literally rendered as "used for some trifles" in translation{{sfnp|Unschuld tr.|2021|p=499}} actually refers to some aspect of sexuality or reproduction (bodily fluid), according to sources. More specifically, this term xiaoshi (lit. "small use") is glossed as a synonym of xiatong ({{lang|zh|小通}}, lit. "small avenue/path") in the Zhengzitong dictionary, etc., and one instance of usage of "small avenue" occurs in a poem in the Han shi waizhuan, where it is sung that the male's "small avenue" achieves sexual maturity at age 16, and the female's at age 14.{{efn|As pointed out in Ono Ranzan's commentary on the shuihu. The same gloss (indication of synonym), and poem example also occurs in the Tongya, though in another book not specifically connected with the shuihu.}} In an English translation of this poem, the male's "small avenue" is rendered as "semen", and the female's as "her fluids".

;taming

There are alternative interpretations, where instead of pharmacological use, the live specimen becomes a tamed or trained beast with the removal or manipulation of the body part.

One interpretation of the statement is that when the genitals are removed the beast, it becomes tame or docile, much like the spaying or neutering of dogs and cats. The Wakan Sansai Zue interpreted this passage of Chinese text to mean that if a person {{nihongo|pinch|摘まむ|tsumamu}} the nose, the beast turns into a {{nihongo|servant|小使|kozukai}}.{{efn|The historical kana" given in the original is コツカヒ"; the modern form is "コヅカイ".}}

In Japan, the word suiko (shuihu) has become a synonym for kappa, but this was not always the case.

{{interlanguage link|Terajima Ryōan|ja|寺島良安}} in his 18th century Wakan Sansai Zue stated that the suiko was a type/kindred of a kawatarō (the western local name for kappa{{sfnp|Ozawa|2011|pp=27–28}}{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Terajima Ryōan was a physician based in Osaka, and he uses the term {{nihongo|kawatarō|川太郎; かハたらう}}. The {{interlanguage link|Butsurui shōko|ja|物類称呼|lt=Butsurui shōko}} (1775) explains that kawatarō, or so the creature is known in either Kinai (≈Kansai) or Kyūshū, is known as kappa in the east, and this is a truncated form of kawa-wappa.{{sfnp|Ozawa|2011|pp=27–28}} Cf. local historian Prof. Mataji Miyamoto who states that what was called kappa in Edo was called {{nihongo|gatarō|河太郎; がたろう}} in Osaka.}}) but was to be distinguished from it; thus he placed the suiko and kawatarō as separate (though adjacent) entries.{{sfnp|Ozawa|2011|pp=31–32}} The artist Sekien, who followed after this encyclopedia,{{Refn|name=three-realms}} also illustrated the two creatures separately.{{Refn|"Although [suiko] is often treated as a variation of the kappa, Sekien breaks it out into its own entry here".}}

However, many herbal medicinalist scholars, etc., during Japan's Edo Period equated the suiko with the kappa.{{sfnp|Ozawa|2011|pp=31–32}} Hence suiko became a synonym or alias for kappa or kawatarō.{{harvp|Suzuki tr.|1930|loc=p. 324 n1}}. Annotation attributed to Yano. probably entomologist Yano Munemoto 矢野宗幹, since this is the "Bugs" section of the work. But it is not clear if the shuihu of China and the kappa of Japan share a common origin. The synonymous usage can be found in Ono Ranzan's commentary, which was on the topic of the suiko (shuihu), but also discussed the creature's love of sumo-wrestling usually associated with the Japanese kappa; he also included various collected lore on the suiko (i.e., kappa) found from his fieldwork or information gathering conducted in Japan.{{sfnp|Ozawa|2011|p=28}} An illustrated work entitled {{nihongo|Suiko kōryaku|水虎考略|extra="A Study of Water Tigers", 1820; copy made 1836}} was in fact a catalogue of kappa legends and testimonies.

In parts of Aomori Prefecture, the kappa have been deified and enshrined by the name of suiko-sama.

• kappa
• {{interlanguage link|enkō (folklore)|ja|猿猴}}
• {{interlanguage link|kenmun|ja|ケンムン}}

{{Notelist}}

;Citations

{{reflist|30em|refs=

{{cite journal|last1=Baldrian-Hussein |first1=Farzeen |author-link= |title= The Book of the Yellow Court: A Lost Song Commentary of the 12th Century |journal=Cahiers d'Extrême-Asie |volume= 14 |year=2004 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1nIwAQAAIAAJ&q=shuihu |pages=216 |doi= 10.3406/asie.2004.1207|jstor=44160396|isbn=9782855396408 }}

{{harvp|Li Shizhen|1596}} "Bugs (Worms, Insects, Amphibians) 4"; {{harvp|Li Shizhen|1782}} Book 42, "Bugs 4". The Chinese text is also printed side by side in the Unschuld translation.

{{Cite book|author=Han Ying |author-link=:zh:韩婴 |translator-last=Hightower |translator-first=James Robert |translator-link=James Robert Hightower |title=Han Shih Wai Chuan: Han Ying's Illustrations of the Didactic Application of the Classic of Songs |publisher=Harvard University Press |date=1952 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FQfFbZ75dL4C&pg=PA28 |page=28 |isbn=9780674370005}}

{{cite journal|last1=Ishida |first1=Eiichirô |author1-link=Ishida Eiichirō |last2=Yoshida |first2=Ken'ichi |author2-link=Ken'ichi Yoshida (literary scholar)|title=The Kappa Legend: A Comparative Ethnological Study on the Japanese Water-Spirit "Kappa" and Its Habit of Trying to Lure Horses into the Water |journal=Folklore Studies |volume= 9 |issue= |year=1950 |url=https://dl.ndl.go.jp/view/download/digidepo_10208282_po_1304.pdf?contentNo=1&alternativeNo= |pages=119–120 |doi= 10.2307/1177401|jstor=1177401}}

{{Cite book|editor-last=Iwai |editor-first=Hiromi |editor-link=:ja:岩井宏實 |author-mask=Iwai, Hiromi (superv. ed.) |title=Mizu no yōkai |script-title=ja:水の妖怪 |series=|date=April 2000 |publisher=Kawade Shobō Shinsha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PXEPAQAAMAAJ&q=水虎 |page=14 |isbn=9784309613826 |quote=水虎は河童の呼び方の一つとするのが一般的だが、石燕は、河童とは違う妖怪と考えていたようだ [The suiko is generally considered to be another name for kappa, but Sekien seemed to think it was a separate yōkai from the kappa.]}}

{{Citation|editor1=Jang Dobin 張道斌 |editor1-link=:ko:장도빈 |editor2=Gwon Sangro 權相老 |editor2-link=:ko:권상로 |title=Gosa seongeo sajeon ({{lang|ko|고사성어사전}}) |script-title=zh:故事成語辭典 |publisher=Hakwonsa |year=1982 |page=528}}

{{Cite news|author= |title=Kappa densetsu: shinkakuka no rūtsu wo tadoru Aomori |script-title=ja:河童伝説: 神格化のルーツたどる 青森 |newspaper=Mainichi Shimbun |date=2016-04-02 |url=https://mainichi.jp/articles/20160402/k00/00e/040/245000c |page= |language=ja}}

{{Cite book|last=Miyamoto |first=Mataji|author-link=:ja:宮本又次 |title=Fūzokushi no kenkyū & Kōnoike-ke no kenkyū |script-title=ja:風俗史の研究・鴻池家の研究 |series=Osaka no kenkyū 5 |publisher=Seibundō shuppan |year=1970 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VoUfAQAAMAAJ&q=がたろう |page=230 |quote= |language=ja}}

{{cite book|last=Marcon |first=Federico |author-link= |title=The Knowledge of Nature and the Nature of Knowledge in Early Modern Japan |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2015 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=usEECgAAQBAJ&pg=PA195 |page=195 |isbn=9780226251905}}

{{cite book|last=Nappi |first=Carla |author-link= |title=The Monkey and the Inkpot: natural history and its transformations in early modern China |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=2010 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zqeJ2xLk7NUC&pg=PA35 |pages=35, 174 n9, 209 |isbn=9780674054356}}

{{citation|last=Ono |first=Ranzan |author-link=Ono Ranzan |editor-last=Ono |editor-first=Mototaka |editor-link=|title=Jūshū honzō kōmoku keimō (in 35 vols.)|script-title=ja:重修本草綱目啓蒙 |volume=28 |publisher=Hishiya Kichibē |date=1844 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wrlZAAAAcAAJ&pg=PP121 |pages=18b–20a|language=ja}}. ([https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/2569382/23 copy held at NDL])

{{Cite book|last=Strassberg |first=Richard E. |author-link= |title=Inscribed Landscapes: Travel Writing from Imperial China |publisher=University of California Press |year=1994 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SrstoswsLzkC&pg=PA445 |page=445, endnote 10 |isbn=9780520914865}}

{{harvp|Suzuki tr.|1930}}. [https://archive.org/details/kokuyakuhonzkmok10lishuoft/page/410/mode/2up p. 361]

{{cite web|url=https://new.qq.com/omn/20201125/20201125A0BLY200.html |title=Jiuzhou yaoguai lu:shuihu|script-title=zh:九州妖怪录│ 水虎 |trans-title=Records of the Nine Provinces' monsters: shuihu |work=Tencent Newspaper |script-work=zh:腾讯新聞 |date=2020-11-25 |access-date=2021-07-03}}

{{citation|last=Terajima |first=Ryōan |author-link=:ja:寺島良安 |author-mask=Terajima Ryōan |chapter=40. Gūrui & kairui: Suiko |script-chapter=ja:四十 寓類・怪類：水虎 |title=Wakan Sansai zue |script-title=ja:和漢三才図会 |volume=27 |publisher= |date=n.d. |orig-date=1712 |chapter-url=https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/2596374/21 |at=Book 40 (kan-no-40), fol. 17b–18a}}

{{citation|last=Thoms |first=P. P. |author-link=Peter Perring Thoms |title=A dictionary of the Chinese language, in three parts |publisher= |year=1819 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VAxnAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA1029 |page=1029}}

{{citation|author=Fang Yizhi |author-link=:zh:方以智 |title=Tongya |script-title=zh:通雅 |volume=47 |url=https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=553842&remap=gb |language=zh}}, ¶38

{{citation|author=Fang Yizhi |author-link=:zh:方以智 |editor=Yao Wenxie |editor-link=:zh:姚文燮|title=Tongya |script-title=zh:通雅 |location=Kuwana, Japan |year=1805 |volume=47 |url=https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/2580465/21 |page=19b–20a |language=zh}}

Fang Yizhi. Tongya 18. ¶46; Fang Yizhi (1800) [https://books.google.com/books?id=CEFbAAAAcAAJ&pg=PP441 unpaginated]; {{harvp|Fang Yizhi|1805}} [https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/2580450/38 18, pp. 13b–14a].

{{citation|last=Toriyama |first=Sekien |author-link=Toriyama Sekien |title=Konjaku gazu zoku hyakki |script-title=ja:今昔画図続百鬼 |year=1779 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/2324/422771 |page=|hdl=2324/422771 }}, Kyushu University Library Collections.

{{citation|last=Toriyama |first=Sekien |author-link=Toriyama Sekien |translator=Hiroko Yoda |translator2=Matt Alt |title=Japandemonium Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopedias of Toriyama Sekien |publisher=Courier Dover Publications |year=2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oeTtDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA91 |page=91 |isbn=9780486818757 }}

{{Cite book|last=Totton |first=Mary-Louise |author-link= |title=Weaving Flesh and Blood Into Sacred Architecture: Ornamental Stories of Candi Loro Jonggrang |publisher=University of Michigan |year=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bAMeAQAAMAAJ&q=lingli |page=65 |isbn=9780493736860}}

{{cite book|last1=Unschuld |first1=Paul U. |author1-link= |last2=Zheng |first2=Jinsheng |author2-link=|chapter=Section Worms/Bugs. Chapter 42. Appendix. Shui hu |title=Chinese Traditional Healing (3 vols): The Berlin Collections of Manuscript Volumes from the 16th through the Early 20th Century |publisher=BRILL |year=2021 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RQsyAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA333 |page=333 |isbn=9789004229099}}

{{citation|editor1-last=Zhang |editor1-first=Zhibin |editor1-link= |editor2-last=Unschuld |editor2-first=Paul Ulrich |editor2-link= |title=Dictionary of the Ben Cao Gang Mu, Volume 2: Geographical and Administrative Designations |location= |publisher=Univ of California Press |date=2015 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jUxeDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA218 |page=218|isbn=9780520291966 }}

}}

;Bibliography

{{refbegin}}

• {{citation|last=Ozawa |first=Hana |author-link= |title=Kappa no imēji no hensen ni tsuite: zushō shiryō no bunseki wo chūshin ni |script-title=ja:「河童」のイメージの変遷について―図像資料の分析を中心に― |trans-title=Charting the Changing Image of the Kappa through Visual Representations |journal=Jomin bunka |issue=34 |date=March 2011 |pages=23–46 |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/230524143.pdf |language=ja}}
• {{citation |editor=Jingū shichō |editor-link=Ise Grand Shrine |chapter= |script-chapter=ja:動物部/獸七: 河童 |title=Koji ruien |script-title=ja:古事類苑 |volume=49 |publisher=Koji ruien kankōkai |date=1930 |url=https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/1874269/262 |pages=480–490 |doi=10.11501/1874269 |author1=神宮司庁 }}
• {{cite wikisource|author=Li Shizhen |author-link=Li Shizhen |chapter=Bugs (Worms, Insects, Amphibians) 4 |script-chapter=zh:蟲之四 溪鬼蟲 水虎 |title=Bencao Gangmu |script-title=zh:本草綱目 |year=1596 |wslink=zh:本草綱目/蟲之四#溪鬼蟲 |edition=}}
• {{cite wikisource|author=Li Shizhen |author-link=Li Shizhen |chapter=Book 42. Bugs (Worms, Insects, Amphibians) 4 |script-chapter=zh:巻42 蟲之四, 溪鬼蟲〈拾遺〉 水虎鬼彈附|title=Bencao Gangmu (SKQS) |script-title=zh:本草綱目 (四庫全書本)』 |year=1782 |origyear=1596 |wslink=zh:本草綱目 (四庫全書本) /卷42#溪鬼蟲 |edition=}}
• {{cite book|ref={{SfnRef|Suzuki tr.|1930}}|last=Li |first=Shizhen |author-mask=Li Shizhen |translator-last=Suzuki |translator-first=Shikai |chapter=Mushi-bu dai-42-kan furoku suiko |script-chapter=ja:蟲部第四十二卷 附録 水虎 |title=Tōchū kokuyaku honzō kōmoku |script-title=ja:頭註国訳本草綱目 |volume=10 |publisher=Shunyōdō |year=1930 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/kokuyakuhonzkmok10lishuoft/page/367/mode/2up |pages=323–324 |language=ja}}
• {{cite book|ref={{SfnRef|Unschuld tr.|2021}}|author=Li Shizhen |translator=Paul U. Unschuld |chapter=Section Worms/Bugs. Chapter 42. Appendix. Shui hu |title=Ben Cao Gang Mu, Volume VIII: Clothes, Utensils, Worms, Insects, Amphibians, Animals with Scales, Animals with Shells |publisher=Univ of California Press |year=2021 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KXUgEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA499 |page=499 |isbn=9780520976986}}

{{refend}}

• {{cite web|url=https://ys.nichibun.ac.jp/kojiruien/index.php?%E5%8B%95%E7%89%A9%E9%83%A8/%E7%8D%B8%E4%B8%83 |title=Dōbutsu-bu/jū 7 |script-title=ja:動物部/獸七 |work=Kojiruien database |script-work=ja:故事類苑データベース |publisher=International Research Center for Japanese Studies|date=2019-11-13 |access-date=2021-06-02}}
• {{cite web|ref=none|url=http://yab.o.oo7.jp/wakan40.html |author=yabtyan |title=Wakan sansai zue kan dai 40 |script-title=ja:和漢三才圖會卷第四十 |date=2010-03-02 |access-date=2021-06-02}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:shuihu}}

Category:Chinese legendary creatures

Category:Kappa (folklore)

Category:Water spirits