You care not for the speech of the humans. Your instincts call for you to punish the man before you.
You cannot resist any longer. You stand and stalk over to the sweating man.
He knows you know. He stinks of terror. His eyes are wide as you get even closer. You raise a paw and strike.
Xiè Zhì or Xièzhì is also known as Xiè Cai or Xiè Chai. It is described as having one horn, but its body shape has many forms akin to a dog, goat, or (as in the case of the Korean version) a lion.
One scholar called it a "righteous beast" since it has the ability to see right and wrong, good and evil. In some stories, they were used in courts of law. The wrongdoer would either be bitten, clawed up, or rammed by the creature as a sign of guilt.
The Korean version is called a Haetae. It had a bell around its neck and scales on its body. Statues of it were used to protect Hanyang (Seoul).
Mention of the it goes back to the Han Dynasty (around 206 BCE).
In modern times, the Xièzhì is used as a symbol for law and justice in China as well as the Haichi as the official symbol of Seoul.
Make sure you always tell the truth around this one then - I would not like to be on the end of its horn.
ReplyDeleteTasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)
i don't think it distinguishes if it was a past crime or not. or if you tell the truth about it.
DeleteSo it's kind of like a good monster, but still scary.
ReplyDelete~Ninja Minion Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
Story Dam
Patricia Lynne, Indie Author
pretty much.
DeleteI guess if it's your job. But a slap, is a paw or a claw? :)
ReplyDeleteA creature on the side of justice? Cool. We haven't seen too many of those.
ReplyDeletenope, but it will still destroy you if it decides to
DeleteI love this one, definitely a nicer creature than some of the ones you have talked about! I guess only people who have done something really bad have to worry about him lol
ReplyDeleteDebbie
or not so bad and still gets punished.
Delete