불쥐

MonsterChina · East AsiaLegendFear 8/10

Description

불쥐(火鼠, 화서)는 중국 신화에 나오는 괴물의 일종이다. 중국 대륙 남쪽 끝에 있는 화산의 불길 속에 산다고 하며, 일설에는 곤륜에 산다고도 한다. 일본 에도 시대의 백과사전인 《화한삼재도회》에서는 중국의 《본초강목》을 인용해 중국 서역의 화주산(火州山)에 봄여름에는 불타고 가을겨울에는 사라지는 들불이 있는데, 그 불 속에 불쥐가 산다고 쓰여 있다. 체중

Origin & Background

Huoshu (火鼠) is a fantastic being in Chinese tradition, said to live inside a fireproof tree in the mountains of South China. This creature appears in the Han dynasty text, Shen Yi Jing (神異經), where it is recorded to be found in a place called 'Fire Mountain' (火山). This Fire Mountain is 40 li long, with trees that burn continuously without extinguishing.

The Legend

Huoshu is described as a rat or a creature similar to a rat that lives in fire. It is said that cloth woven from this creature's fur becomes clean and free of dirt when burned. Because of this property, cloth made from huoshu's fur is called 'Hwa Wanju' (火浣布), which is actually considered to be asbestos cloth.

Variants

Huoshu appears in various forms in different texts. For example, in 'Shijiuji' (十洲記), it is referred to as 'Hwa Gwangsu' (火光獸), described as a creature similar in size and shape to a rat. Additionally, in 'Bao Pu Zi' (抱朴子), it is said to be found in 'Sogou' (蕭丘) in the South Sea, where a white rat that does not burn appears alongside native plants.

In Popular Culture

Huoshu also plays an important role in Japanese literature. In the classic Japanese work 'Taketori Monogatari' (竹取物語), there is a scene where Princess Kaguya requests a coat made from huoshu's fur, and this creature is also mentioned in 'Genji Monogatari' (겐지 이야기). These texts illustrate how huoshu has been incorporated into Japanese culture.

This article is based on the Wikipedia article "Huoshu" (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikipedia