Zhuyan, the White-Headed Ape That Foretells War
Zhuyan is an ape with a white head and red feet, and in the Shan Hai Jing its appearance means that great wars are coming.
- Chinese name
- 朱厌 (zhūyàn)
- Oldest source
- Shan Hai Jing, Western Mountains, Book 2
- Where it lives
- Mount Xiaoci
- In the game
- Fire beast · 1 Gold · Last Strike
What the Shan Hai Jing says
Zhuyan lives on Mount Xiaoci, in the second book of the Western Mountains. The text says the mountain has white jade on its upper slopes and red copper below. The beast is shaped like an ape, with a white head and red feet, and it is called Zhuyan. The last line is the one that made it famous: when it appears, there will be great wars. The phrase da bing means war on a large scale, armies on the move, not a quarrel between neighbors.
有兽焉，其状如猿，而白首赤足，名曰朱厌，见则大兵。
A beast lives here, like an ape with a white head and red feet, called the Zhuyan. When it appears, great wars follow.
Omens of war and peace
The second book of the Western Mountains has several signs like this. On Mount Lutai lives the Fuxi, a bird like a rooster with a human face that cries its own name; when it appears, there is war. On Mount Nüchuang lives the luan bird, shaped like a pheasant with five-colored markings; when it appears, the whole world is at peace. Together these entries read almost like a guide to watching the land for news, with the Zhuyan as one of the clearest warnings.
What an omen meant
Beasts like the Zhuyan do not cause the trouble they announce. In the Shan Hai Jing, seeing one is a sign, the way a certain cloud or star might be read as a sign. The book gives many such warnings: the Zhuru fox brings fear, the Bifang bird brings strange fires, and other creatures bring flood or drought. For people who lived through famine and war, a list of such signs was a way to feel that disaster could at least be seen coming.
Zhuyan in our game
In Beasts of Shanhai, because its arrival means war, we made its last act a strike: when it falls, it hits the enemy at the front of the line, so even its death keeps the fighting going. It is a Fire beast, a choice that follows its red feet and the first character of its name, zhu, which means vermilion. Its low cost and fragile body suit an omen: it appears, it falls, and the fighting goes on.
War Ape in Beasts of Shanhai
In our free browser game Beasts of Shanhai, War Ape is a Fire beast that costs 1 Gold. Its skill is Last Strike. Last Breath: it hits the leftmost foe for damage equal to its own attack (at least 2). At two stars the hit is 1.5 times its attack (at least 4), and at three stars it hits the two leftmost foes (at least 6 each).
Questions
What does the Zhuyan look like?
An ape with a white head and red feet, according to the Shan Hai Jing.
What does it mean if you see a Zhuyan?
The Shan Hai Jing says that when it appears, great wars follow.
Where does the Zhuyan live?
On Mount Xiaoci, in the second book of the Western Mountains, a mountain with white jade above and red copper below.
More creatures
Zhuru 朱獳A fox with fish fins that cries its own name. Wherever it appears, its land is gripped by fear.
Bifang 毕方A one-legged crane with red markings on blue and a white beak. Where it appears, strange fires break out.
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.