Chiru of the Ying River, anonymous1667 Shanhaijing illustration
Printed赤鱬 caption gives fishbody/humanface and英水; humanlike face drawn on a fish body, no human torso invented. Physical Smithsonian edition1667; anonymous plate illustrator, GuoPu commentator and WuZhongheng editor; later pictorial witness, not date of ancient text composition.
Overview
Chiru inhabits the Ying River in the Qingqiu mountain passage of the Shanhaijing’s first southern sequence. Its body is fishlike, but its face is human. Its voice is likened to the call of a mandarin duck. The text does not equip it with a human torso, arms, or a singing mermaid’s tail; those would be additional traits from another tradition.
The same geographical passage contains a nine-tailed fox and the bird Guanguan, creating a group of extraordinary creatures within a single mountain-and-river setting. Chiru is further connected with a claim about preventing skin disease by eating it, with a variant reading noted in the hosted text. That claimed effect is evidence of the passage’s literary framework. It is neither a verified health instruction nor proof that Chiru corresponds to an actual medicinal fish.
Origins & earliest records
China; Shanhaijing, Southern Mountains
Records & interpretation
Directly read Chinese primary-text transcription; exact section and geographical passage retained. No matched scan or illustration verified.
Additional images
View larger chiru, named historical Shan hai jing woodcut
Exact named figure in the Southern Mountains section of a seventeenth-century illustrated Shan hai jing edition. Historical interpretation, not a biological photograph. Source file cites the Library of Congress digitized edition.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Shanhaijing: Southern Mountains
First southern sequence; Ying River 英水 near Qingqiu; hosted text displays commentary separately in brackets.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Primary records and illustrations
Shanhaijing, Southern Mountains
南山經. First southern sequence; Ying River 英水 near Qingqiu
Directly read transcription, not a collated historical scan. Identifying passage: 其中多赤鱬，其狀如魚而人面，其音如鴛鴦。 Base text and bracketed commentary distinguished; no exact plate assigned.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary-text transcriptionShanhaijing, Southern Mountains: First southern sequence; Ying River 英水 near QingqiuResearch access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
Historical illustrationChiru of the Ying River, anonymous1667 Shanhaijing illustration
Printed赤鱬 caption gives fishbody/humanface and英水; humanlike face drawn on a fish body, no human torso invented. Physical Smithsonian edition1667; anonymous plate illustrator, GuoPu commentator and WuZhongheng editor; later pictorial witness, not date of ancient text composition.
Further credits appear with each additional image.
