Taotie

BeastChina · East AsiaMythFear 9/10

Description

Gluttonous beast with only a massive head. Seeks to devour everything.

Origin & Background

Tao Tie is a mythical creature from ancient Chinese mythology, commonly engraved on bronze and other artifacts around the 1st millennium BC. Tao Tie is mentioned as one of the 'evil beings' alongside Hen Dong, Kung Chi, and Tao Wu in Chinese classics such as the 'Shan Hai Jing' (Classic of Mountains and Seas). This creature is primarily depicted in motif form on ritual bronzes known as Ding from the Shang Dynasty (approximately 1600 BC - 1050 BC) and the Zhou Dynasty (approximately 1046 BC - 256 BC).

The Legend

Tao Tie is generally depicted as an animal face symmetrically arranged on the front of a vessel, characterized by two bulging eyes and typically lacking a lower jaw. In the 'Zuo Zhuan', Tao Tie is described as a greedy and gluttonous being, mentioned as the son of the Jin Yun clan who lived during the era of the Emperor. The 'Lü Shi Chun Qiu' explains that Tao Tie eats people but cannot swallow them, causing harm instead. This creature was seen as a symbol of fear and power to external tribes, while being regarded as a symbol of protection to its own tribe.

In Popular Culture

Tao Tie appears as a major antagonist in the 2016 fantasy film 'The Great Wall', depicted as an alien creature with green skin. Additionally, there are characters that appear as major enemies in spin-off games of the 'Touhou Project', and it also appears in 'Digimon New Century'. In modern popular culture, Tao Tie is reinterpreted in various forms.

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