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Kirin (麒麟 Kirin, lit. Qilin) is a divine beast from China. A variant called Kirin-Jishi (麒麟獅子 Kirin-Jishi, lit. Qilin Lion) exists in Japanese folklore.
Appearance[]
The Kirin is consistently depicted as a horned, horse/deer-like creature.
Personality[]
History[]
1985 Anime[]
Kakutanjū, a subspecies of Kirin, appeared in the third movie based on the third anime adaptation, GeGeGe no Kitarō: Saikyō Yōkai Gundan! Nippon Jōriku!!.
2007 Anime[]
Nue in the 2007 anime.
Nue in this anime adaptation was depicted to be a Qilin-like character in appearance and personality.
The Great Yōkai War[]
Kirin-Jishi appeared as a symbolic theme of the film.
Powers and Abilities[]
Legend[]
The statue of Kirin-Jishi and Shōjō in the Shigeru Mizuki Road.
The Qilin is a holy beast from Chinese mythology. The appearance of the Qilin varies, but is generally some kind of hooved-animal, such as a deer, giraffe, or a draconic-unicorn with a horse tail. It is known as Kirin in Japanese and Girin in Korean mythology, where in both modern Japanese and Korea is used to refer to the giraffe, and Kỳ Lân in Vietnamese mythology. It is considered one of the Four Holy Beasts, alongside the Língguī (Spirit Turtle), Fènghuáng (Phoenix), and Lóng (Dragon).
Qilin can live for up to 2,000, and appear only once every 1,000 years, specifically if a wise and benevolent person is ruling their land and heralding a golden age. The Qilin is a benevolent animal, not hurting any living being and walking on grass without trampling a single blade. It has been said that Qilin are born after a Lóng and ox crossbreed.
Qilin have been linked to real world animals, most notably the giraffe from Africa. After Zheng He's Ming Dynasty (specifically the 15th century) voyage to East Africa (landing specifically in modern-day Somalia), his fleet bought two giraffes from the Somali merchants along with zebras, incense, and various other exotic animals. Zheng He's fleet brought the giraffes to Nanjing, where they were identified as Qilin. In Japan, in around 680 AD, the bones of a supposed Kirin were found on Mt. Katsuragi, but were later identified as simply the remains of a large deer.
Genuine Qilin sightings are rare, especially in Japan, however the Enshiki, a code of laws compiled by the Fujiwara Clan in the middle of the Heian Period (specifically the fifth year of Engi, 905 AD), under the order of Fujiwara no Tokihira and others, describes a tale of a possible Kirin's appearance in Tokyo. It states that in "the early years", lived a man named Iseya Yoshibei who lived in 5-chome, Hongo, Tokyo. One day, he looked up at the sky while drying clothes. The sky was fine that da, with no clouds. Suddenly, a strange beast came from the east and flew across the sky. Looking closely at its shape, Iseya noticed it was a four-legged beast with its tail and ears gently shaking, walking leisurely in the sky, just like a Kirin. He wanted to call others the watch it, but unfortunately, nobody was around near Iseya. He last saw the Kirin wandering near the northwest and gradually disappearing.
The Kirin-Jishi is a variant of Qilin created through traditional theatres as a local variant of Lion dance among Tottori and Hyogo Prefectures where the former is the birth place of Shigeru Mizuki. Shōjō is strongly associated with the dance of Kirin-Jishi.