Dangkang, the Lucky Tusked Pig of the Shan Hai Jing
Dangkang is a tusked pig of Mount Qin that calls out its own name, and its appearance means a great harvest across the whole world.
- Chinese name
- 当康 (dāngkāng)
- Oldest source
- Shan Hai Jing, Eastern Mountains, Book 4
- Where it lives
- Mount Qin
- In the game
- Wood beast · 2 Gold · Gold Harvest
What the Shan Hai Jing says
Mount Qin is in the fourth book of the Eastern Mountains, the last of the eastern ranges. The Shan Hai Jing says a beast lives there like a pig with tusks, called the Dangkang. It cries its own name, which probably means its name was taken from the sound it makes. When it appears, the whole world reaps a great harvest. The entry is only one line, but it is one of the happiest lines in the book.
有兽焉，其状如豚而有牙，其名曰当康，其鸣自叫，见则天下大穰。
A beast lives here, like a pig with tusks, called the Dangkang. It cries its own name. When it appears, the whole world reaps a great harvest.
Most omens in the Shan Hai Jing are warnings. The Dangkang's is abundance, and it fits its shape: pigs were a measure of a farming family's wealth in early China, and a tusked pig calling across the hills is easy to picture as a herald of full granaries. The text does not say whether it can be eaten or worn; it is valued only as a sign.
A lucky beast in a range of disasters
The same book is a dark place. It is home to the Fei of Mount Tai, the one-eyed, white-headed ox whose appearance brings plague, and to the heyu, a pig-like beast with a human face whose appearance brings great floods. Set beside them, the Dangkang shows that the book's omens could point either way, and that the people who compiled it watched the hills for good signs as closely as for bad ones. It is the rare beast in the eastern books that anyone would hope to meet.
Harvest signs in early China
In a farming world, the size of the harvest decided whether people ate or starved, and rulers watched the skies, the seasons and the animals for any hint of what the year would bring. A creature whose appearance meant plenty was exactly the kind of sign people wanted reported. The Dangkang belongs with other lucky beasts of Chinese tradition, such as the Fenghuang, whose appearance means the world is at peace.
Dangkang in Beasts of Shanhai
In Beasts of Shanhai, our browser game built on these creatures, the Dangkang's great harvest becomes gold. It is a Wood beast that adds Gold before the first battle of every stage, more at higher star levels, so buying one early pays for itself many times over a long run. It is the closest thing the game has to a farm, and it rewards players who plan ahead, which suits a beast that announces good years.
Harvest Boar in Beasts of Shanhai
In our free browser game Beasts of Shanhai, Harvest Boar is a Wood beast that costs 2 Gold. Its skill is Gold Harvest. +1 Gold before the first battle of each stage. At two stars it gives +2 Gold, and at three stars +3.
Questions
What is a dangkang?
The dangkang is a beast of Mount Qin in the Shan Hai Jing, shaped like a pig with tusks. It cries its own name.
What does seeing a dangkang mean?
Good news. The Shan Hai Jing says that when it appears, the whole world reaps a great harvest.
Is the dangkang good or evil?
Good. Unlike most beasts of the Eastern Mountains, which bring floods or plague, the dangkang is a sign of plenty.
More creatures
Fei 蜚An ox with a white head, one eye and a snake's tail. Rivers dry and grass dies where it walks, and plague follows.
Chenghuang 乘黄A fox-like beast with horns on its back from the land of the White People. Whoever rides it lives 2,000 years.
Nine-Tailed Fox 九尾狐A fox with nine tails and a cry like a baby's. It eats people, and eating it keeps curses away.
Taotie 饕餮A goat-bodied beast with a human face and eyes under its arms, so greedy it eats itself.
Hundun 混沌A faceless god like a red sack, with six legs and four wings. It has no eyes, yet it knows song and dance.
Bai Ze 白泽A talking beast that knows the nature of all things. Not in the Shan Hai Jing, but often counted among its creatures.