Luduan

 


Everyone has heard about qilins. Although fewer people realize that the qilin is not as unicorn like as it is typically depicted. The qilin was originally depicted with two horns before comparisons between it and western unicorns were made. However there are other one horned beasts in Chinese mythology, several in fact. One being the luduan, which shares many aspects with both qilin and unicorns, and had a single horn before western influence.

Written descriptions of luduan depict it as deer like, green in color and having a single antler or horn. Sculptural depictions instead show the luduan as a cat like creature with paws.

Legends about the luduan say it could run 18 000 li in a day (7000 km), speak every known language and detect the truthfulness of a speaker. The luduan was a peaceful creature who hated violence in any form. Accounts by Buddhist monk, Yelu Chucai say the luduan appeared before Genghis Khan and convinced him to abandon his conquest in India.

Although it's also said in the bibliographies of Wuhuan Xianbei that the Mongols hunted luduans to use the horn to make their bows. In this account Wuhuan Xianbei conflated the luduan with the Tibetan antelope.

Today luduans are most often depicted in their feline form as incense burners.




  

  


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