Zhuru, the Fish-Finned Fox That Brings Fear

What the Shan Hai Jing says

Zhuru lives on Mount Geng, in the second book of the Eastern Mountains. The text says the mountain has no plants but plenty of clear water-jade and many large snakes. The beast is shaped like a fox with the fins of a fish, the same word the book uses for a fish's wings. It cries out its own name, and when it appears, its land is gripped by fear. The word used for fear here suggests panic spreading through a whole state, not one frightened traveler.

Crying its own name

Many Shan Hai Jing creatures are said to cry their own names, so that the sound announces exactly who has arrived. The one-legged fire bird Bifang does it, and so does Jingwei, the bird that tries to fill the sea with pebbles. In the original, the character for the Zhuru's cry is an older variant form, which is why our translation adds a short note. For a beast whose appearance means fear, calling its own name turns the cry itself into the warning.

Omens of the Eastern Mountains

The Eastern Mountains books are rich in omens: creatures whose appearance tells the people nearby what kind of trouble is coming, such as drought, flood, locusts or unrest. The Zhuru fits this pattern closely. It does nothing in the text except appear, and its appearance is the message. For early readers, recording such signs was a way of making sense of disasters before they happened. Its fox shape also links it, loosely, to the nine-tailed fox, another fox of the book with a cry that carries a meaning.

Zhuru in our game

In Beasts of Shanhai we turned the fear it spreads into a fighter that steps forward, draws every attack, and grows angrier with each blow it lands. It is a Fire beast, a choice that follows its name, since zhu means vermilion, even though the original entry never mentions the color of its coat. Its rising attack is our way of showing panic that feeds on itself and spreads.

Finwing Fox in Beasts of Shanhai

In our free browser game Beasts of Shanhai, Finwing Fox is a Fire beast that costs 2 Gold. Its skill is Growing Rage. It gains +1 attack after each of its own attacks for the rest of the battle, and has Guard, so foes must attack it first. At two stars it gains +2 per attack, and at three stars +3 and heals 1 HP.

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