| Bai Ze | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Real Name |
Bai Ze |
|
First Appearance |
Chinese Mythology |
|
Created by |
Chinese Mythology |
Origin[]
Bai Ze is a mythical creature from ancient Chinese legends. In the Ming Dynasty book SanCai TuHui, Bai Ze’s appearance is described as having green hair on a loong (Chinese dragon) head, with a horn growing on the top and the ability to fly. In the History of Yuan, it is recorded as having the head of a tiger, red mane, loong’s body, and a horn. Bai Ze’s image in China combines features of both the loong and tiger.
In the folk beliefs of imperial China, Bai Ze also symbolized the ability to expel ghosts and ward off evil spirits. According to the legend of Bai Ze, the remaining scrolls of the "Baize-jing guai—tu" recorded the signs of strange phenomena and evil spirits. It also detailed the disasters caused by these evil ghosts, as well as methods to avoid these calamities. At the same time, besides serving as divination texts, according to Chinese records from the 9th to 10th centuries, there was a custom of hanging drawings of Bai Ze in households to protect against spirit-world harm, while Bai Ze diagram is also used to pray for the well-being and health of family members .
Public Domain Appearances[]
All published appearances of the Bai Ze from before January 1, 1930 are public domain in the US.
Some notable appearances are listed below:
- Book of Song
- SanCai TuHui
- History of Yuan
Notes[]
- The Japanese Yokai called Hakutaku is based on the Bai Ze.
- The Pokemon Absol which was introduced in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire is most likely based on both the Bai Ze or Hakutaku.