Feiyi, the Six-Legged Snake That Brings Drought

What the Shan Hai Jing says

The first book of the Western Mountains climbs Mount Taihua, which the text describes as cut square, five thousand ren high and ten li wide, so steep that no bird or beast lives there. Only one creature is named: a snake called the Feiyi, with six legs and four wings. When it appears, great drought strikes the land. On a mountain where nothing else can live, the snake is all the more striking.

Mount Taihua is usually identified with Mount Hua in Shaanxi, the western of China's five sacred mountains, famous for its sheer granite cliffs. The picture of a mountain cut square fits that landscape well. A ren is an old measure roughly the height of a person, so five thousand ren is the book's way of saying impossibly high. The Feiyi's home is a real and famous peak, which makes the creature feel close at hand.

Three creatures called Feiyi

The name appears more than once in the Shan Hai Jing. Elsewhere in the first Western book, on Mount Ying, a bird called the feiyi looks like a quail with a yellow body and a red beak; eating it cures pestilence and kills parasites. In the first book of the Northern Mountains, on Mount Hunxi, a snake called the feiyi has one head and two bodies, and when it appears its country suffers great drought. The two snakes share the drought omen, while the bird of the same name is a cure.

Drought in the ancient world

In a farming society, drought was among the disasters people feared most, because it meant failed harvests and famine. A snake with wings and legs, living on high dry peaks where nothing grows, made a fitting sign of a sky that would not rain. The Shan Hai Jing has other beasts that ruin the land in different ways: the Fei brings plague, and the Bifang brings fire to its town. Taken together they read like a list of the troubles every village dreaded.

Feiyi in Beasts of Shanhai

In Beasts of Shanhai, our browser game built on these creatures, the Feiyi's drought scorches the whole enemy side at once. It is a Fire beast that sets every foe burning at the start of a battle, each for a share of its own health, so it hurts big beasts most. At three stars the burn is much stronger and foes can no longer dodge. For another giant serpent of the book, see Bashe, the snake that swallows elephants.

Drought Snake in Beasts of Shanhai

In our free browser game Beasts of Shanhai, Drought Snake is a Fire beast that costs 3 Gold. Its skill is Great Drought. At the start of a battle all foes Burn, each for 15% of its own max HP. At two stars the burn is 30%, and at three stars it is 45% and foes can't Dodge.

Play Beasts of Shanhai free