The pixiu ([pʰǐ.ɕjóʊ]; Chinese: 貔貅) is a Chinese mythical hybrid creature. Pixiu are considered powerful protectors of the souls of the dead, xian, and feng shui practitioners, and resemble strong, winged lions. A Pixiu is an earth and sea variation, particularly an influential and auspicious creature for wealth, and is said to have a voracious appetite exclusively for gold, silver, and jewels. Therefore, traditionally to the Chinese, Pixiu have always been regarded as auspicious creatures that possessed mystical powers capable of drawing cai qi (財氣; "wealth") from all directions, and according to the Chinese zodiac, it is especially helpful for those who are going through a bad year. There are two types of Pixiu that are categorised by their antlers. The one with two antlers is the female and is called a Bìxié, and the one with one antler is the male and is called a Tiānlù.
Bìxié (辟邪; bìxié; pi-hsieh; lit. "to ward off evil spirits"): The female of the species wards off evil. It is also believed that Bìxié have the ability to assist anyone who is suffering from bad feng shui from having offended Tai Sui (太歲). Tiānlù (天祿; tiānlù; t'ien-lu): The male of the species is in charge of wealth. It is said to go out into the world to search for gold and other forms of wealth. When it returns to its master's house, the Bìxié is then said to guard the riches. Displaying Tiānlù at home or in the office is said to prevent wealth from flowing away. Pixiu crave the smell of gold and silver and like to bring their masters money in their mouth. Statues of this creature are often used to attract wealth in feng shui. Today, Pixiu are a popular design on jade pendants.
Etymology Sinologist Axel Schuessler (2007) states that in old texts pí (貔) referred to large panther-like cats. Minimally reconstructing 貔's Old Chinese pronunciation as *bi, Schuessler compares it to Tibetan: དབྱི།, Wylie: dbyi "lynx" then proposes a probable Sino-Tibetan etymology. Moreover, he sees possible cognacy with པི (pi) and བྱི (byi) in two Tibetan words for "cat", namely: པི་ཤི (pi shi) and བྱི་ལ (byi la) respectively. Elements པི (pi) and བྱི (byi) are either of native Tibetan origin or derived from Indic (cf. Hindi बिल्ला (billā) ← Sanskrit बिडाल (biḍāla)). Xu Ke (徐珂) describes the 貔貅; pixiu as resembling either tigers or bears and having ashen white furs, the 貔; pi being male and the 貅; xiu female.
Characteristics Pixiu are auspicious, winged animals, written about in ancient Chinese history and heralded through the millennia by fantastic stories of powerful and grandiose feats of victory in battle. Their legend has been passed down through 2,000 years of Chinese lore. They have the head of a Chinese dragon, the body of a lion, and historically sport on their heads either one antler (male) or two antlers (female). In modern times, this legendary creature's historical physical appearance has been somewhat lost, and is now more commonly depicted with only one antler. Ancient Chinese descriptions, depictions and stone carvings of Pixiu from the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) show the male with a single antler and the female with two. As with the Chinese phoenix, the common image today represents a single gender with one antler (male). Pixiu have protruding eyes and sharp teeth. There is one ancient stone sculpture variation found with hooves, but all Pixiu have wings. Many have a bifurcated (split) tail that hangs low and downward that covers its rear, a representative metaphor that they hold gold inside their stomachs but will not let it out. Imperial Pixiu used during the Qing dynasty developed the physical characteristic of a fatter, more rotund body, indicating a stomach that could be loaded with unlimited amounts of gold and all forms of wealth and good fortune. Due to their similar appearances, Pixiu are often confused with stone lions and qilin, but they can easily be distinguished from those two animals by its pair of feathered wings with which it can fly between Heaven and Earth. In the Eastern Han dynasty, pixiu were thought to be able to fly into the realm of immortals or xian by Daoists and a minority of Confucianists.
Mythology One story of the Pixiu tells that it violated a law of Heaven by defecating on the floor of Heaven. When it was found out, it was punished by a spanking executed by the Jade Emperor. The spanking was hard enough to cause its rectum to be permanently sealed. This is why Pixiu can eat gold, silver and jewels but cannot expel it. This is one of the origins of the status of Pixiu statues as a symbol of the acquisition and preservation of wealth. Another story describes the Pixiu as the well-behaved, youngest son of the Dragon King and was spoiled by its parents. One day, Pixiu played on the Dragon King's desk and accidentally broke a seal that represented the power of the Dragon King. The Dragon King became very angry and used magic to turn Pixiu into an animal. He then sealed his rectum and declared that from then on, Pixiu could only eat things representing wealth. Pixiu have a reputation of being fierce creatures. The large fangs visible in their mouths are used to attack demons and evil spirits, draining their essence and converting it to wealth. Pixiu also guard against disease caused by these evil spirits. It is written that Pixiu patrol the Heavens to keep demons at bay and to protect their owners from all harm. It was believed that the ferociously devoted Pixiu would always and constantly guard its master, even after he passed from this life onto the next world. It was also believed that Pixiu would help their masters ascend to heaven by flying them up to Heaven on their backs.
History
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