Xingxing Monkeys in Chinese culture

a shōjō illustration 1712 wakan sansai zue

xingxing 猩猩 or shengsheng 狌狌 monkey; orangutan reduplicates xing, graphically combines quadruped radical xing 星 star phonetic, or sheng 生 life in variant xing or sheng 狌. name used foreign simians in modern terminology, xingxing means orangutan , heixingxing hei- 黑 black means chimpanzee , , daxingxing da- 黑 large gorilla .

the erya says, [xingxing] small, , likes cry. (猩猩小而好啼). guo pu s commentary (tr. van gulik 1967:26) notes, shanhaijing says: has human face , body of pig, , able speak. @ present found in [jiaoji] , [fengxi] district (i.e. north indo-china). [xingxing] resembles [huan 獾] (badger) or small pig. call resembles crying of small child. fengxi 封谿 corresponds modern bắc ninh province in vietnam.

the huainanzi (tr. major et al. 2010:508) says, orangutan knows past not know future; male goose knows future not know past. ; gao s commentary (tr. van gulik 1967:26) says, [xingxing] has human face body of beast, , colour yellow. fond of wine.

the bencao gangmu entry xingxing or shengsheng, read (1931: no. 403) identifies orangutan, simia satyrus , records,

li shizhen: orangutan can talk , knows future. xingxing [猩猩] means [xingxing 惺惺] intelligent . orangutan recorded in books er ya , yi zhou shu several dozen times. following explanation summary: found in mountain valleys in ailaoyi area , fengxi county in jiaozhi. looks dog or macaque. yellow hair resembles of ape, , white ears resemble of pig. face looks human, , legs similar of man. has long hair , good-looking face , head. cries in same way baby cries, or dog barks. flock , move covertly. ruan qian: local people in fengxi catch animal in following way: place wine , straw sandals on roadside. orangutans come spot , call out names of ancestors of people placed things. leave temporarily , come shortly afterwards. drink wine , try sandals on. while orangutans enjoying themselves, people catch them , keep them in cages. when 1 of them killed, fattest 1 chosen. weeps sadly. people in xihu area use blood dye kind of woolen fabric, maintain bright color long time. after puncture made in orangutan let out blood, person flog animal , ask number of beatings. flogging stop after 1 dou of blood has been collected. book li ji (record of rites) said orangutan speak. book guang zhi guo yigong said orangutan not speak. book shanhai jing said orangutan speak. [li shizhen comments]: orangutan kind of animal looks human being. looks ape or monkey , can speak simple words parrot. may not same ruan qian said. book er ya yi luo yuan: in ancient books, orangutan described similar pig, dog or monkey. recorded animal looks baboon. looks naked bare-foot woman long hair hanging head. not seem have knees, , travel in group. when encounter human beings, cover bodies hands. people kind of savage human. according luo yuan said, seems such creature yenü (meaning wild girl ) or yepo (meaning wild woman ). same? (tr. luo 2003: 4128, cf. read 1931: no. 403)

the subentry yenü 野女 wild women or 野婆 wild wife says,

the book bowu zhi [博物志] tang meng: in rinan area there kind of creature called yenü (meaning wild girl ) travels in group. no male ones found. white , crystal-like, wearing no clothes. book qidong yeyu zhou mi [周密]: yepo (meaning wild woman ) found in nandanzhou. has yellow hair shaped coils. naked , wears no shoes. looks old woman. of them female , there no male ones. climb , down mountain fast golden monkeys. under waists pieces of leather covering bodies. when encounter man, carry him away , force him mate. reported once such creature killed strong man. protected waist when being killed. after dissecting animal, piece of seal chip found similar piece of gray jade inscriptions on it. li shizhen: according ruan qian , luo yuan said above, seems yenü orangutan. seal chip found in animal, similar case testes of male mouse said have seal characters [fuzhuan 符篆 symbolic seal script ] on them, , case under wing of bird seal of mirror has been found. such things still unclear us. (tr. luo 2003:4128, cf. read 1931: no. 403a)

the bright scarlet dye known xingxingxue 猩猩血 gibbon s blood not used chinese, observed in imported western textiles. although source tradition of bloody dye remains untraced, edward h. schafer (1963:210) notes western analogue in st. john s blood , variety of red dye kermes, derives insect kermes. tang dynasty chancellor pei yan wrote,

the hu [ barbarians ] of western countries take blood dyeing woolen rugs; color clean , not turn black. when prick blood, if ask, how give me? [xingxing] say, 2 pints enough? in order add amount, thrash whip before asking , go along increase, can obtain gallon. (quan tangwen 全唐文, tr. schafer 1963:209)

edward h. schafer quotes tang story.

a number of beasts captured , put in pen, cooked magistrate of tonkinese town. picked fattest of number , thrust weeping forth, await magistrate s pleasure in covered cage: commandant asked thing was, , [xingxing] spoke within cage, , said, servant , jug of wine! commandant laughed, , cherished it. of course clever, winebibbing animal became treasured pet. (1963:209)

the chinese belief gibbons enjoyed drinking wine has parallels in classical antiquity, monkeys reputed overfond of wine, aristotle, aelian, , pliny observed, , drunkenness made them easy capture. chinese stories xingxing liking wine appealed japanese. in japanese mythology, shōjō 猩猩 god of wine red face , long, red hair, drunk , dancing merrily. compare drunken monkey hypothesis human attraction ethanol may have genetic basis.