Qilin, Myths and Legends Contest Entry

Contest entry for: , ,  , , and

In this contest we were to showcase uncommon myths. I chose Chinese mythology since I have extremely easy access to it via my in-laws, and fiancé. I decided on something people may have heard of but not know anything about, the Qilin. I love the concept of these little things, hard as hell to find information worth using but I think I managed.

Here's some info I have heard of, note that the legend has changed over the years.

The Qilin can also be referred to as the "Chinese unicorn".

There is also a legend in Japanese that depicts these creatures, there they are called "Kirin."

Often times in lore they were said to be the pets of the gods. The Qilin is very docile and only punishes the wicked. It is said that they care for the land, depicted to walk on clouds instead of the earth in fear of harming a single blade of grass.

The Qilin is often depicted with an equine-like body that is covered in scale that are on fire. I was shooting for a more whimsical, docile creature... but hey you can depict it however, it is mythology after all.

I wanted to go for a more unicorn-like creature, but the Qilin is a dragon(like most Chinese creature). I just can't draw dragons, or scales. Anyways what was going to be an Ox-head and Horse-face piece became a Qilin, don't ask how that happened.

I won't bore you with my details but here are some links that I found very useful. I wish I had recorded my father-in-law telling me the tales but, I wasn't fast enough

www.theworldofchinese.com/2013…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qilin
www.ancient-origins.net/myths-…

And a very helpful video that not only displays the Qilin, but also many other creatures in Chinese mythology in depth: www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4LMkK…