# Fengli

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fengli
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Fengli.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fengli
> Source revision: 1337535807
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

***Fengli*** (,[a] literally '**wind leopard cat'**) is a legendary or mythified flying [mammal](/source/Mammal) of China, whose descriptions from various sources were collated in the *[Taiping Yulan](/source/Taiping_Yulan)* encyclopedia (10th century) and the *[Bencao gangmu](/source/Bencao_gangmu)* (16th century) compendium of [materia medica](/source/Materia_medica).

It is called ***fūri*** by Japanese sources dating back to the [Edo period](/source/Edo_period).

## Overview

The beast is described as resembling a dark-colored or blue-green (or greenish yellow and black) animal spotted like a leopard but smaller, about the size of a wildcat ([leopard cat](/source/Leopard_cat)) or [marten](/source/Marten). Alternate sources say the beast resembles a vanishingly short-tailed monkey, or a rabbit. It is capable of flying or gliding across trees or jutted rocks, eating fruits. Sources say that its alias ***fengshengshou*** favors eating spiders.

The *fengli* bears a number of other aliases, including ***fengmu*** (; Japanese: *fūbo*,[1] literally "wind mother"), *fengshengshou* ([b]), ***pinghou*** (,[c] 'flat monkey'), etc.

A collated account of the *fengli* is given in the *Bencao gangmu* (1596), under its "Four Legged Animals II" section, but it misstates some alias names and work titles, drawing from such sources as the entry for "*fengmu*" in the encyclopedia *Taiping yulan* (c. 980).

The beast lore could have been based on actual fauna; the *fengli* may in fact have been the *[colugo](/source/Colugo)* according to one hypothesis, or a [palm civet](/source/Palm_civet) or a [slow loris](/source/Slow_loris) according to others.

The *fengli* has a number of lore attached to it. It is said to carry a magical wand (or a broken stalk of grass), which when pointed at a prey can cause it to fall off a tree (cf. [§hunting wand](#hunting_wand)). It is also said to die easily by striking, but such death is feigned, and it will revive momentarily upon receiving wind upon it. It is supposedly immune to cutting by blade, or burning by fire. But plugging its nose with the [sweet flag](/source/Sweet_flag) (root portion) was considered lethal to it. Otherwise, only by rupturing its brain and breaking its bones could it be killed completely.

Its urine purportedly was effective against [leprosy](/source/Leprosy), according to the old Chinese [pharmacopoeia](/source/Pharmacopoeia).

The *[jiqu](#jiqu)* (), which reputedly ate perfume ([Indian frankincense](/source/Indian_frankincense), or [mastic](/source/Mastic_(plant_resin))) was described as a separate beast in the original source, but has been equated with the *fengli* by the *Bencao gangmu*.

## Nomenclature

The beast *fengli* (), literally 'wind leopard cat',[2] is described under that title in the *Bencao Gangmu* (1782)[1596]. The *fengli* article was originally a sub-article within the preceding [leopard cat](/source/Leopard_cat) article.[3][4]["lower-alpha" 1]

The creature's name is pronounced *fūri* in Japanese, but (erroneously) glossed as *kazetanuki* (風貍/かぜたぬき) or 'wind [racoon dog](/source/Racoon_dog)' in the *[Wakan sansai zue](/source/Wakan_Sansai_Zue)*,[5][6] due to the fact that *li* (simplified character: 狸) is commonly read as *[tanuki](/source/Japanese_raccoon_dog)* by the Japanese.[7]

### Aliases and sources

A number of aliases for *fengli* are given in the *Bencao Gangmu*, one of them being *fengmu* ( or 猦𤝕[8], literally “mother of wind”[9]),[10][11][2] which is the heading used in the *Taiping yulan* encyclopedia.[12]["lower-alpha" 2]

The *fengli* name has its original source in the [*Guihai*] *Yuheng zhi* (; "Treatises of the Supervisor and Guardian [of the Cinnamon Sea]")["lower-alpha" 3][13] and referred to as **wind cat** in an English translation from this source.[14]

The *fengmu* alias can be sourced to the *[Nanzhou yiwu zhi](/source/Yiwu_Zhi)* (, "Records of Extraordinary Things from Nanzhou", miscited as the *Guangzhou yiwu zhi* ),[15][16] and these "Records" also provide the alias *pinghou* (;[11][2] Japanese:*heikō*;[6] “flat monkey”[?][9]).[17]

Also *fengshengshou* (,[d] 'wind-life/birthing-beast'[?][18]) is given in the [*Hainei*] *Shizhou ji* ([海内]��洲記, "Records of the Ten Islands [Within the Sea]"[19]) [20] and the *Baopuzi*.[21]

And ***fengxing*** ( is the name quoted from the *[Lingnan yiwu zhi](/source/Yiwu_Zhi)* (嶺南異物志, "Records of Extraordinary Things from Lingnan") in the encyclopedia.[12][e]

While the beast ***jiqu*** (, *kikkutsu*[22]) is treated as another alias of *fengli* by the *Bencao gangmu*, the *jiqu* is treated in a separate chapter (Ch. 16) in the original source,[23] and presumably distinct from *fengli* as far as the source (*Youyang zazu*) is concerned, placing these in Books/Chapters 16 and 15, respectively.[24] The reputation of eating a type of perfume[25] ([mastic](/source/Mastic_(plant_resin))[2]) is attributed to the *jiqu*.[23] Its characteristics are rather different and shall be segregated and discussed under [§Jiqu](#Jiqu) below.

## Geographical range

The *fengli* dwelled in such places as [Yong zhou](/source/Yong_zhou) (in present-day [Guangxi](/source/Guangxi_Zhuang_Autonomous_Region)), one of the old provinces (*zhou*) in the [Lingnan](/source/Lingnan)[26](areas south of the "Five Ridges"/[Wuling Mountains](/source/Nanling_Mountains)), and elsewhere further south in Lingan.[f][2][11]

The *fengli* was also found in certain western parts of Shu (蜀, archaic for [Sichuan](/source/Sichuan)), in areas called the "outside of Xijao" (蜀西徼外).[27]["lower-alpha" 4]["lower-alpha" 5]

### Non-native to Japan

The *fengli* (*fūri*) was not a creature known to be found in Japan so far as [Terajima Ryōan](/source/Terajima_Ry%C5%8Dan) knew, according to his *Wakan sansai zue*.[28] However [Negishi Yasumori](/source/Negishi_Yasumori), the author of [*Mimibukuro*](/source/Mimibukuro), thought it was just a "type of [tanuki](/source/Japanese_raccoon_dog) ([racoon dog](/source/Racoon_dog))", and felt that human encounters with it in Japan were documented.[29]

## External appearance

### Size

The *fengli* is said to measure about the size of a *li* (leopard cat)[30] or an otter according to the *Bencao gangmu*.[31][2][11]

The *fengshengshou* (風生獸) is rather described as blue/green leopard-like, but about the size of a *[xingxing](/source/Sh%C5%8Dj%C5%8D)*[21][20] which is tentatively identified as [orangutan](/source/Orangutan),[32][33] suggesting perhaps a large beast. However, scribal errors seems to be in play, because while size comparison to *xingxing* (orangutan-sized) is traceable to a second-hand quotation of *Baopuzi* via encyclopedia,[21] the original text of the *Baopuzi* itself compares the size to the *li* (狸, "badge").[34][35]

And there is the alias *fengxing* (風猩), presumably meaning 'wind orangutan', but the beast there is described as being monkey- or ape-like yet small.[36][37]

### Coat and color

The creature, described by its different aliases, is likened to several different animals depending on the source.

The amalgamated profile of the *fengli* according to the *Bencao gangmu* is that its fur has markings similar to a [leopard](/source/Leopard), and is multicolored, either "blue-green, yellow, and black",[11] or "greenish-yellow and black",[2] depending on the translator.[g] The *BCGM* also says it is a short-tailed (almost tailess) beast resembling a small ape or monkey, with red eyes.[2][11]

#### Breakdown by source

The creature *fengshengshou* (風生獸) is described as blue (or rather green)[38] and leopard-like in two sources quoted by the encyclopedia.[20][21]

However, one of the two sources quoted secondhand, the *Baopuzi*, provides quite a different reading when the standalone edited text is consulted. The BPZ actually describes the *fengshengshou* as a beast that "resembles a *diao*(貂) [marten or sable].. [which] is dark[h] in color and as big as a *li* (狸) or badger".[21][35]

As for the simian resemblances, the *fengli* is said to resemble a *hwangyuan* (黃猨) or "yellow [gibbon](/source/Gibbon)" according to the aforementioned [*Guihai*] *Yuheng zhi* ("Treatises.. [of the Cinnamon Sea]"),[i][13][14] while *fengli* resembled a *ju*- monkey (狙)), had long eyebrows and tended to shy away, according to the *[Youyang zazu](/source/Youyang_zazu)* (酉陽雜俎"; "[a Miscellany from Youyang](/source/Miscellaneous_Morsels_from_Youyang)").[24][9] The *fengmu* beast (風母獸) which bore the alias *pinghou* (平猴) or “flat monkey” was monkey-like, hairless, and red-eyed according to the *Nanzhou yiwu zhi*.[j][39] The *fengli* resembles a rabbit according to one source.[40]

## Behavioral traits

The *fengli* resembles a rabbit and is small according to [Chen Cangqi](/source/Chen_Cangqi), and it captures the wind, travels tree to tree, eating fruits.[40][11][2]

But the preferred food is also said to be the [spider](/source/Spider) for the *fengmu* beast[36] or the *fengli*.[13][14][41][k]

It is said to curl up like a [hedgehog](/source/Hedgehog) (蝟) by day,[36][13] and by night it turns active and agile,[36] or flies in air when the wind rises,[13] or "jump[s] very high with the wind, crossing cliffs and pasing above trees―like birds flying in the air", as the *BCGM* sums it up.[2][42]

### Capture, feigned death, killing method

The *BCGM* writes that when the creature encounters a human, they present a shy demeanor, "bend their head and seem to beg for mercy",[43][2]["lower-alpha" 6] though an original source words it somewhat differently.[44]

The *fengli* (*fengxing*,[l] *fengshengshou*[m]) will seem to die easily when struck, but resuscitates momentarily upon turning its mouth toward the wind.[45][2][46] The *fengshengshou* is reputedly immune to penetration by blade, and also incombustible when attempted to burn with fire, and can only be completely killed by pulverizing its bones and breaching its brain.[47][2][48]

Another piece of lore is that it can also be killed instantly by plugging its nose with the rhizome[11] (root[49]) of the sweet flag (*Acorus* sp.[2]) particularly the *[Acorus gramineus](/source/Acorus_gramineus)* species ([石菖蒲](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%9F%B3%E8%8F%96%E8%92%B2), "[grassleaf sweet flag](/source/Grassleaf_sweet_flag)").[11][50][51]

### Hunting wand

According to the lore of southerners, the *fengli* always carries a small stick or wand (杖) which when pointed at renders (the birds or beasts[52]) incapable of flying or running[36] (or immobilizes them).[52][2] When a human obtains this wand, mere pointing at the prey will ensure its capture. But even if the *fengli* is netted, the wand will not be found (it has discarded the tool[52]). But by caning the *fengli* a hundred times[36] (or by severely hitting it[52]） the animal will be persuaded to point to the whereabouts of the wand.[2]

Other sources report somewhat differently on the wand. The wand owned by is more difficult to obtain than the *yixingcao* (翳形草, tr. as 'grass that covers up [your] body' (a sort of grass of invisibility)[9]) according to the experts of the art of treating wind diseases. This "wand" is actually a piece of grass stalk that the *fengli* breaks off, measuring a little over 1 [chi](/source/Chi_(unit)) or Chinese foot (thus not something it carries always), and in order to catch it in action, humans span a length of rope between trees, then conceal themselves in the hollow of a nearby tree. After about three days' wait, the creature will come, and finding a flock of birds gathered in the trees, points at them with the grass-stalk causing them to fall, and starts eating. Humans emerge to capture it, but the *fengli* typically swallows the grass or flings it away. Thus it is struck several hundred times until it is willing to retrieve the correct grass.[24][9]

The magic grass of the *fūri* is also mentioned in the Edo Period essay [*Mimibukuro*](/source/Mimibukuro), and includes an anecdote that someone who stole the grass a *fūri*, tried to catch the bird by climbing a tree, and when he held it out the bird, the bird and that person both fell from the tree.["lower-alpha" 7][29][53]

## Medicinal claims

The blend of this brain["lower-alpha" 8] with chrysanthemum flowers extends one's life (by 500 years[35]) after administering 10 *jin* ([catties](/source/Catty), Chinese pound) of the medicine.[54][2][35] The longevity claim was made probably due to the reasoning that the long-lived immortals (*[xianren](/source/Xian_(Taoism))*) were also considered to be capable of flight (like the *fengli*), according to the commentary by [Minakata Kumagusu](/source/Minakata_Kumagusu).[55]

The urine is also said to treat "massive wind" (大風, i.e., [leprosy](/source/Leprosy)[56]).[57] Certain ailments were believed caused by wind, hence, the wind creature's urine was believed effective.[55]

Its urine is milk-like, and hard to obtain, but can be procured if the beast is raised in a farm.[2]

## Jiqu

The ***jiqu*** (, Japanese: *kikkutsu*[22] or *kekkutsu*[58]) is a beast whose name is tentatively translated as "the one that bows to good fortune"[?].[9]

According to the *Youyang zazu* (酉陽雑俎) it likes to eat a type of aromatic substance called *xunlu xiang* (),[23][9] namely "Indian frankincense",[59]

The *fengli* considered synonymous to *jiqu* in the *BCGM*, it is described as feeding on this [frankincense](/source/Frankincense)/olibanum,[11] or [mastic](/source/Mastic_(plant_resin)).[60][2][61] It was probably only local rumour that the beast ate this perfumewood resin, according to a scholar in the field perfume ingredients.[62]

A large *jiqu* weighed 10 catties [≈pounds], and bore resemblance to an otter. It was almost hairless, with no hair on the head, body, or limbs, but a blue (green) stripe of fur ran from its nose, along the spine, down to its tail, about 1 *[cun](/source/Cun_(unit))* [≈inch] wide, with individual hairs about 3 or 4 fen (0.3–0.4 *cun*).[23][9][63]

## Identification with actual fauna

### Colugo

The *fengli* in writings was hypothesizes to be a [colugo](/source/Colugo), a bat-like mammal,["lower-alpha" 9] by Minakata Kumagusu (1920).[55][53] The colugo's wing is furry on the upper side, unlike the smooth-winged bat.[55]

While the *fengli* (*fūri*) is identifiable with the *colugo*, a flying yōkai called *[nobusuma](/source/Nobusuma)* may be identifiable with the *musasabi* or the [Japanese giant flying squirrel](/source/Japanese_giant_flying_squirrel) (*Petaurista leucogenys*),[53] according to some Japanese opinion. Cf. next section on [§Giant flying squirrel](#Giant_flying_squirrel)

### Giant flying squirrel

A tentative identification with the [red giant flying squirrel](/source/Red_giant_flying_squirrel) (*[Petaurista petaurista](/source/Petaurista_petaurista)*: Chinese: [棕鼯鼠](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%A3%95%E9%BC%AF%E9%BC%A0)) has been suggested by Yang Wuquan.[64]

### Palm civets

Suzuki's 1931 Japanese translation of the *Bencao gangmu* (*Honzō kōmoku*) under this entry indicates its scientific name to be uncertain, but in the marginal notes mentions ichthyologist [Shigeru Kimura](/source/Shigeru_Kimura)'s opinion it may be the *musang* or the common [Asian palm civet](/source/Asian_palm_civet).[n][65]

A Chinese scholar has also explored the possibility that the [masked palm civet](/source/Masked_palm_civet) (*Paguma larvata*, Chinese name: [果子狸](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%9E%9C%E5%AD%90%E7%8B%B8) *guozili*) might be attested as *fuli* in classical Chinese writings.[66]

### Slow lorises

[Ignatius Sichelbart](/source/Ignatius_Sichelbart) (Chinese: 艾啓蒙) who served as court painter for the Qing Emperors painted *Fengxing tu*[o] (Fig. right) in realistic precise detail, and is considered to have portrayed a [slow loris](/source/Slow_loris).[67]

The identification of *fuli* as slow loris actually occurs in [B. E. Read](/source/Bernard_Emms_Read)'s *Materia Medica* (RMM for short), although he employed the Chinese name of the beast, *lan hou* (), which he literally translated as a "sloth monkey".[68][69][70]

The opinion that the *fengli* belongs to the slow loris genus ([懶猴属](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%87%B6%E7%8C%B4%E5%B1%AC)) *Nycticebus* is also elocuated in a paper by Tochio (2004), a scholar of natural history.[p][71]

## See also

- [List of legendary creatures from Japan](/source/List_of_legendary_creatures_from_Japan)

## Explanatory notes

1. The combined-character romanization (*fengli*, as used by Luo tr.), will be used instead of separated romanization (*feng li*) used by Unschuld tr., but pinyin phoneticization with diacritics (*fēng lí*) will be appended.

1. Japanese:*fūseijū*.

1. Japanese:*heikō*.

1. Japanese:*fūseijū*.

1. Which is correct over *fengmu* being quoted from the same source in BCGM,[10] and it is emended thus in the edition of BCGM edited by Ju Chenglong 胡承龍 (2016).[72]

1. Lingnan extended from Guangxi to [Guangdong](/source/Guangdong) and Hong Kong, etc.

1. The *BCGM* notes that the creature has a blue stripe of hair running from nose to tail, but this is actually a description of another beast (cf. [§*Jiqu*](#jiqu)) which is conflated in the *BCGM*.

1. Here *qing* (靑) which means "blue/green" is rendered as "dark".

1. 《南州異物志》.

1. *BCGM* mentions eating perfume (mastic) for food, but this is attributed to the *jiqu*, which the original source treats as a separate creature (Cf. [§*Jiqu*](#Jiqu)).

1. 風猩

1. 風生獣

1. *[Paradoxurus hermaphroditus](/source/Paradoxurus_hermaphroditus)*. Kimura gave *P. musanga* but this is an outdated synonym. The Japanese common name is given here as *kinobori zaru* (キノボリザル).

1. .

1. However, Tochio's main topic is another mammal entirely, and in his digression here, he erroneously swapped the Chinese names "蜂猴" (loris) and "懶猴" (slow loris). Him calling *Lorisidae* "懒猴科" is not wrong, however, *Nycticebus* must be "懒猴属" and *Nycticebus coucang* ([Sunda slow loris](/source/Sunda_slow_loris)) actually "懒猴", which he swaps.

## References

**Citations**

1. The reading is not given in (Suzuki tr. 1931) but it has been verified in a dictionary.[73]

1. Li Shizhen (2021). ["Four-legged Animals II. 51-24 *Feng li* wind leopard cat"](https://books.google.com/books?id=pJIFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA814). *Ben Cao Gang Mu, Volume IX: Fowls, Domestic and Wild Animals, Human Substances*. Translated by Unschuld, Paul U. Univ of California Press. pp. 920–922. ISBN 9780520379923.

1. (Suzuki tr. 1931, p. 352): "もとは貍の條下に附記してあったが.. Though it was originally appended under the *li* article."

1. (Suzuki tr. 1931). "貍" pp. 346ff; (Unschuld tr. 2021) Chapter/section 51-24. Leopard cat, pp. 807ff.

1. Terajima, Ryōan (1712), ["38. Beasts: Fūri"](https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/2569722/1/24), "Wakan sansai zue: 105 kan shu 1 kan bi 1 kan", Vol. 26 of 81, Kan-no-38, fol. 21r

1. Terajima, Ryōan (1987). [*Wakan sansai zue*](https://books.google.com/books?id=2aZIAAAAMAAJ&q=風狸). Vol. 6. Heibonsha. p. 93. ISBN 978-4-582-80466-9.

1. Thus *li* (貍) in the preceding section of *BCGM* was misconstrued as "tanuki" or racoon dog (also in its preceding section) in the *WSZ (Wakan sansai zue)*.[74]

1. Styled thus with the additional beast radical "犭" (犭+風; 犭+母) in the *[Yupian](/source/Yupian)* 玉篇 "Jade Chapters" under the part for the dog [radical] 犬部. *Yupian* explains *fengmu* to be a tailed beast which even after being struck dead shall revive after receiving wind.[34]

1. Duan Chengshi (2021). "The jiqu 狤𤟎: “the one that bows to good fortune”?". *On Feathers and Furs: The Animal Section in Duan Chengshi's 段成式 Youyang zazu 酉陽雜俎 (ca. 853). An annotated translation*. Translated by Chiara Bocci. Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 145–152. ISBN 9780520379923. [JSTOR j.ctv2bfhhkv](https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv2bfhhkv)

1. Li Shizhen (1782 [1596]). "Book 51. *Fengli*". "Bencao Gangmu (Siku Quanshu)"

1. Li Shizhen (2003). ["Drug 51-24 Fengli"](https://books.google.com/books?id=qUgoAQAAIAAJ&q=fengli). *Compendium of Materia Medica: Bencao Gangmu*. Vol. 6. Translated by Luo Xiwen. Foreign Languages Press. pp. 4079–4080. ISBN 9787119032603.

1. "Juan 908. Shou-bu 20. Fengmu". "Taiping yulan". c. 980.

1. Fan Chengda, ["Guihai yuhengzhi"](https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=296411) (in Chinese), ¶75.

1. Fan Chengdai (2021). ["Quadrupeds. § Wind cats \[Fengli\]"](https://books.google.com/books?id=L8YVCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA78). *Treatises of the Supervisor and Guardian of the Cinnamon Sea: The Natural World and Material Culture of Twelfth-Century China*. Translated by James M. Hargett. University of Washington Press. pp. 78–79. ISBN 9780295802060.

1. ["Guang zhou yi wu zhi /Gui hai Yu heng zhi"](https://books.google.com/books?id=DeNDDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA3158). *Dictionary of the Ben Cao Gang Mu, Volume 3: Persons and Literary Sources*. University of California Press. 2018. pp. 158, 159. ISBN 9780520291973.

1. The *Taiping yulan* cites *Nanzhou yiwu ji* ()[12] but emendable to *~yiwu zhi*[15] the trivial alteration of the final character meaning "history/records" being commonplace. Zheng et al.'s notes on BCGM, on the source "Guangzhou yiwu zhi" notes this is quoted secondhand from the *Taiping yulan* and the latter gives *Nanzhou (ditto)*.[15]

1. *Nanzhou yiwu ji* quoted in *Taiping yulan*.[12]

1. The exact intended meaning is ambiguous. Translators of BCGM (Unshuld, Luo) don't bother to provide the meaning of aliases other than *fengli*. Bocci renders *jiqu* and *pinghou* but not *fengshengshou*.

1. (Zheng et al. 2018) "[*Shi zhou ji*](https://books.google.com/books?id=DeNDDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA421)", pp. 920–922

1. [*Hainei*] *Shizhou ji* 《[海内]十洲記》 on "*fengshengshou* 風生獸", *apud* *[Taiping Yulan](#taiping)*

1. *Baopuzi* *Baopuzi neipian* 抱朴子·內篇 on "*fengshengshou* 風生獸", *apud* *[Taiping Yulan](#taiping)*

1. Suzuki tr. (1931), p. 352.

1. Duan Chengshi (1781 [c. 860]). "Juan 16 Jíqū jiǎo wài Bófánzhōu xūnlùxiāng suǒchū yě rú fēngzhī jíqū hǎo dàn..". "Youyang zazu (Siku quanshu)"

1. Duan Chengshi (1781 [c. 860]). "Juan 15 Nán zhōng yǒu shòu míng fēnglí..". "Youyang zazu (Siku quanshu)"

1. *xunluxiang* (薫陸香), Japanese: *kunroku kō* ([薫陸香](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%AF%E3%83%B3%E3%83%AD%E3%82%AF))[22]

1. Yong zhou is given as one of four provinces or *zhou* (of minority peoples[75]) within Lingnan where the bird *qinjialo* 秦吉了 (aka *jieliao niao* 結遼鳥) can be found (*BCGM*, "Fowls").[76][77]

1. "outside of Xi jiao in Shu",[2]； "outside Xijiao in Sichuan"[11]。

1. "未聞在于本朝"[5]。"風狸は嶺南(広東・広西地方)の山林中に多くいて、まだわが国にいるとは聞かない".[6]

1. Negishi Yasumori (1991). ["Fūri no koto"](https://books.google.com/books?id=vGclAQAAMAAJ&q=風狸). *Mimibukuro*. Vol. 2. Iwanami bunko. Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi (ed.). Iwanami. p. 220. ISBN 978-4-00-302613-7.; ――(1972), Heibonsha, [p. 133](https://books.google.com/books?id=AJVIAAAAMAAJ&q=狸の一種)

1. Again, often misconstrued as *tanuki*, i.e., racoon dog by *Wakan sansai zue*,[5][6] and even recent Japanese sources.[53] In some editions of the *BCGM*, the use of the simplified character of *li* (狸 can be found, easily read as "tanuki" by the Japanese. And the simplified *li* (狸) is also used in the relevant passage in *Baopuzi*,[34] and the description translated as "as big as a badger" by Feifel.[35]

1. "其大如狸如獺"[78][10]。

1. Unschuld tr., *BCGM* IX: "Fowls, Domestic and Wild Animals,..". Four-legged Animals III. 51-52. *Sheng sheng 猩猩*. [pp. 920–922](https://books.google.com/books?id=pJIFEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA92)

1. Luo tr. (2003), pp. 4128–.

1. Guo li bian yi guan 國立編譯館 / Zhonghua cong shu bian shen wei yuan hui & Zhonghua wen hua fu xing yun dong zong hui 中華文化復興運動總會 (eds.) (2001). ["仙藥篇第11"](https://books.google.com/books?id=CnVbsZsgIXgC&pg=PP457). *Baopuzi neipian jin zhu jin yi* (in Chinese). Taiwan Commercial Press. p. 433. ISBN 9789570516807.

1. Feifel, Feifel (ed.) (1946). ["Pao-P'u Tzu 抱朴子 Nei-P'ien 內篇 Chapter XI"](https://books.google.com/books?id=vn5OAQAAMAAJ&q=%22feng+sheng+shou%22). *Monumenta Serica 華裔學志*. **11**: 13–14. [doi:10.1080/02549948.1946.11744875](https://doi.org/10.1080/02549948.1946.11744875). ISBN 978-7-5013-3860-3. [JSTOR 40725995](https://www.jstor.org/stable/40725995)

1. *Lingnan yiwu zhi* 嶺南異物志 on "*fengxing* 風猩", *apud* *[Taiping Yulan](#taiping)*

1. Cf. *BCGM*, "physical appearance is that of monkeys, but they are smaller".[2]

1. The term *qing* (靑) ambiguously means "blue, green, or blue-green", as a matter of common knowledge. Note that in the description from *BCGM* given above, Luo renders as "blue-green" and Unschuld as "greenish".

1. *Nanzhou yiwu zhi* 《南州異物志 》（*apud* *『[Taiping Yulan](#taiping)*, which calls it *~ji* 記. It is referred to as *Ganzhou yiwu zhi* 《廣州異物志》 in the *Bencao Gangmu*, as aforestated.

1. Chen Cangq. [*Bencao shiyi*](/source/Bencao_shiyi)?, quoted by *BCGM*: "藏器曰風貍生邕州以南似兎而短棲息高樹上候風而吹至他樹食果子其尿如乳甚難得人取養之乃可得"[78][10]。

1. Also used in the *BCGM*: "其性食蜘蛛".[78][10]

1. "晝則踡伏 不動如蝟 夜則因風騰躍甚捷 越巖過樹 如鳥飛空中[10]。または「蜷伏」とつくる[78]。

1. "人網得之 見人則如羞而叩頭乞憐之態".[78][10]

1. "若行逢人，便叩頭，狀如懼罪自乞" in the *Nanzhou yiwuji* [sic.] quoted in the *Taiping yulan* encyclopedia.[39] A published English translation wanting, but the latter phrase is literally "as if to beg for guilt (or fear of punishment)" which does not quite make sense.

1. *BCGM*: "人撾擊之 倏然死矣 以口向風.[78][10]

1. Cf. *fengshengshou* in *Shizhouji*[20] and *Lingnan yiwuzhi*.[36]

1. "須臾複活 惟碎其骨 破其腦乃死 一云刀斫不入 火焚不焦 打之如皮囊 雖鐵擊其頭破 得風複起"[78][10]

1. Cf. *fengshengshou* in *Shizhouji*[20] and *BPZ*.[34]

1. Though not explicit in the Chinese text, "root" is parenthetically inserted in the Unschuld tr.[2] The word for "root" is also interpolated in the quote in the 17th commentary by [Fang Yizhi](/source/Fang_Yizhi): "十洲云以石菖蒲根塞鼻乃死"[79]

1. "惟石菖蒲塞其鼻 即死也".[78][10]

1. A variant reading states that a [sweet flag](/source/Sweet_flag) (*Acorus calamus*) growing on top of stone should be used (*fengshengshou* 「風生獣」 in BPZ 《抱朴子・内篇》[34][35]、*fengshengshou* 「風生獣」 in *Shizhouji* 《[海内]十洲記》[20]).

1. *Liangnan yiwuzhi* 嶺南異物志 *apud* *BCGM*.

1. Miyamoto, Yukie (2013). "Dai-4-shō. Sora to umi no yōkai. §Fūri". *Nihon no yōkai FILE*. Gakken. pp. 116–117. ISBN 978-4-054056-63-3.

1. *Shizhouji*,[20] quoted as "腦主治酒浸服愈風疾〈時珍 出嶺南志〉和菊花服至十觔可長生〈十洲記〉".[78][10]

1. (Minakata 1920) *Jūnishi-kō: Saru* 十二支考・猴.(Minakata 1971, p. 354)

1. (Unschuld tr. 2021, p. 355): *Da feng* 大風 "massive wind"... sores caused by a massive intrusion of wind evil and also to conditions of leprosy.

1. *Guihai yuhengzhi* 《桂海虞衡志》,[13][14]、*Yuhengzhi* apud *BCGM*.[2][11]

1. Naomi, Genshū (1759), ["Kikkutsu"](https://books.google.com/books?id=lbdZAAAAcAAJ&pg=PP50), "Kōyamatohonzō 10kan betsuroku 2 kan", Vol. Betsuroku-ge, Nagata Chōbei, pp. 22–23

1. Borgen, Robert (2020), ["Chapter 5. A Japanese Pilgrim's visit to Wutai in the winter of 1072"](https://books.google.com/books?id=b2ULEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA152), *The Transnational Cult of Mount Wutai: Historical and Comparative Perspectives*, BRILL, p. 152, ISBN 9789004419872

1. Mastic is known by the Chinese name *yang rushang* (洋乳香, characterizing it as a sort of frankincense (*rushang*).

1. BCGM: "亦啖薰陸香".[78][10]

1. Yamada, Kentaro (1974). ["Nyūkō・motsuyaku shōshi"](https://books.google.com/books?id=BxVEAQAAIAAJ&q=吉屈) [A Short History of Frankincense and Myrrh in China]. *Journal of Nagoya Gakuin University. Humanities and natural sciences*. **2** (3): 76–77.

1. The *BCGM* appropriates this description and ascribes it to his *fengli*: "或云一身無毛 惟自鼻至尾一道有青毛 廣寸許 長三四分 其尿如乳汁".[78][10] Cf. Unschld tr.: "no fur, except for a path.. nose to tail.. covered with greenish fur..," etc.[2] Its urine being milk-like, appended at the end, is not found in the *Youyang zazu*.

1. Yang Wuquan 楊武泉[80] apud (Hargett tr. 2011, pp. 77–78), n52.

1. Suzuki tr. (1931), p. 351.

1. Ceng Xiongsheng (2004). ["Zhōngguó lìshǐ shàng de guǒzi lí"](https://books.google.com/books?id=WClKAQAAIAAJ&q=風狸). *九州學林*. **2** (3): 230.

1. ["Yī fú "fēng xīng tú", huà zhōng de dòngwù yísì chuānyuè \[gǔdài\]le, shì qiánlóng yùyòng huàshī de zuòpǐn"](https://new.qq.com/rain/a/20200309A0H0TN00) (in Chinese), *Tencent*, 2020-03-09

1. Read also identifies it as a *Loris sp.*, but that taxonomy is obsolete and slow loris is now filed under the Nycticebus genus.

1. Feifel tr., note 70).[35]

1. Read, Bernard Emms (1931). [*Chinese Materia Medica*](https://books.google.com/books?id=oPBsAAAAMAAJ&q=%22feng+li%22). Peking Natural History Bulletin. p. 3 (#373)

1. Tochio, Takeshi (March 2004), ["Tenkinshikō wo motomete: Unnan no tabi"](https://seijo.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=731&file_id=18&file_no=1) [In search of the black snub-nosed monkey: Journey to Yunnan], *Seijō kokubungaku*. '***(20): 108******[repository](http://id.nii.ac.jp/1109/00000615/)***

1. Li Shizhen (2016). ["Feng li <*shiyi*>"](https://books.google.com/books?id=deHvCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1469). *The Ben Cao Gang Mu: Chinese Edition* (in Chinese). Hu Chenglong 胡承龍 (ed.). Univ of California Press. pp. 1469–1470. ISBN 978-0-520-95974-3.

1. ["Fūbo"](https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/991742/1/676). *Nihon ruigo daijiten*. Seikōkan. 1909. p. 1323. 支那に住し猿に似たる獣

1. Terajima Ryōan (1712) *Wakan sansai zue*, "Kan-no-38. Beasts:[貍 Tanuki](https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/2569722/1/23)"

1. (Luo tr. 2003), [p. 3839](https://books.google.com/books?id=qUgoAQAAIAAJ&q=Yongzhou)

1. [Unschuld (2021), Volume IX: Fowls, etc.](https://books.google.com/books?id=NXUgEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA311)

1. (Luo tr. 2003), Volume IX: Fowls, [Fowls: 49-17-A01 Qinjialo 秦吉了, p. 3839](https://books.google.com/books?id=qUgoAQAAIAAJ&q=Yongzhou)

1. Li Shizhen (1596). "our-legged Animals II. *Fengli*". "Bencao Gangmu"

1. Fang Yizhi (1884). ["風生獸"](https://books.google.com/books?id=vX0tAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP632). *zh:物理小識: 十二卷*. 寧靜堂. p. 巻十 十二裏.

1. Zhou Qufei (1999). *Lingwai daida jiaozhu*. Yang Wuquan (ed.). Beijing: Zhonghua shuju. pp. 9.360–361, n1.

**Bibliography**

- Minakata, Kumagusu (1920), "Jūnishi-kō(7): Saru ni kansuru minzoku to densetsu", *Taiyō*. **26** (1,2,5,,13,14). [Aozora bunko No.2539](http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000093/card2539.html) - Minakata, Kumagusu (1971), ["Saru (sarudoshi)"](https://books.google.com/books?id=xacLAAAAIAAJ&q=風狸), *Minakata Kumagusu zenshū: Jūnishi-kō 1*, Heibonsha, p. 354, ISBN 9784582429015
- Li, Shizhen (1931). ["Kemono-bu dai-51-kan jō fūri<shūi>"](https://archive.org/details/kokuyakuhonzkmok12lishuoft/page/377/mode/2up). *Tōchū kokuyaku honzō kōmoku*. Vol. 12. Translated by Suzuki, Shinkai. Shunyōdō. pp. 351–451.

1. Suzuki identifies *li* as *Lynx microtid*[81] (recté *microtis*), but this is still a synonym for the leopard cat or a subspecies thereof. The leopard cat *Prionailurus bengalensis* was also published under the *P. euptilura* synonym, and *microtis* was regarded as the subspecies of the latter.[82]

1. *Taiping yulan*: "*Fengmu*"quotes sources under alternate names of the beast,[12] though not *fengli*.

1. Cited by LSZ(Li Shizen) in *BCGM*[11][2] in shorthand as *Yuheng zhi* ""Treatises of the Supervisor and Guardian".[15]

1. "Shu xi jiao wai" (蜀西徼外) is glossed as a regional name in Sichuan, encompassing [Kangding](/source/Kangding) district and [Aba](/source/Ngawa_County) district of Sichuan.[83]

1. "Shu xi" (蜀西) alone refers to western Sichuan, and (Suzuki tr. 1931, p. 352) parsed it differently as "outside the borders (徼外 *jiao wai*, Japanese:*kōgai*) of Shuxi (Western Sichuan).

1. The term 叩頭 is construable as [kowtow](/source/Kowtow). Just to illustrate, in an entirely different work, this term is rendered as "knock his head on the ground".[84]

1. The Chinese source used by the *Mimibukuro* is unclear; although the author says he learned it from *[Soushen Ji](/source/Soushen_Ji)* (捜神記) there is no mention of *fengli* anywhere in that work (notes in Hasegawa ed.)[85]

1. "This brain": Luo translates as "this medicine", suggesting it to be not just brain, but the concoct mentioned beforehand, namely, the brain steeped in wine said to treat "wind ailments", according to the *Lingnan yiwuzhi*.[11]

1. Some biologists then considered colugo to be closely related to the bat, while others had different opinions, as Minakata explains. Even mythographer Miyoko Nakano stated the colugo was close to a bat in a 2002 book.[86]

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Fengli](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fengli) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fengli?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.