Asian Mythology

1. Asian Mythology Creatures from Thailand, China, and Japan

2. Three main groups • There are three main groupings of creatures in Asian mythologies: • 2 legged • 4 legged • Fish/water based

3. Ghilen • In Chinese legends, the creature is said to have the head of a dragon with a single antler, the body of a deer covered with scales, a tail of an ox, and horse-like hooves. The creature was a result of combination of 5 primary elements; earth, water, fire, wood, and metal. Some say a Ghilen can live up to several thousand years.

4. Panorn Marueks • With the upper-body of a monkey and the lower part of a deer, this creature possesses the agility of a deer-like animal but able to fully utilize its functional hands for grabbing objects. PanornMarueks also have exceptional sense of hearing as a trait from monkeys. Like monkeys, PanornMarueks prefer fruits such as banana and coconuts to grasses. Written in the legend of Himmapan, PanornMarueks generally have a greenish body color.

5. Sinta Panattees • SintaPanattees are inhabitants of rivers and fresh water lakes. They can walk atop river surface by hopping on lotus without even shaking the leaves. A SintaPanattee has lean horse body with blood red fin grow from the middle of reddish mane, with leg fins attached along the tendon all the way down to ergot, and a fish tail.

6. Hemara UssaDorn • One of the most distinctive looking horse-based creatures, with its bird-like head and the body of a horse. The name “HemaraUssa Dorn” is a mixed word. “Hemara” means Hongsa which is a type of bird, and “Ussa Dorn” means horse. According to the legend, the body of a HemaraUssa Dorn is covered with black fur with white horse tail. HemaraUssaDorns inhibit grasssland close to a water source. Omnivorous in nature, their diets include grass, insects and small fish.

7. Karin Puksa • Karin Puksa or flying elephant has blackish body of a fine elephant with blood red wings and tail of a bird. It can fly at great speed and distant. Like its elephant relative, Karin Puksa equipped with a pair of tusks used mainly for defence and crushing vegetation. The trunk, used much like a normal elephant’s, is used for grabbing and lifting objects, feeding, drinking, smelling, and making sound. A wing span twice as large as its body allows a Karin Puksa to lift itself in the air. The bird like tail’s used for directing the flight course.

8. White Elephant • The white elephant was something above an ordinary elephant. Believe to have sacred power and regarded as the mount of the war god. For the kings of Burma and Siam (Ancient Thailand), the possession of these sacred beasts became very important. A king who had many, fine white elephants would be successful. It's said that the king who has white elephant will bring his kingdom to prosperous. If his white elephants died, it foretold disaster for king and kingdom. The kings of old hunted eagerly for these special creatures. In occasions, if kings have many of these fine beasts, they would present them to one another as marks of diplomacy. In some cases, however, they fought over them.  In Thailand, the white elephant was once the symbol on the nation flag as it represents sacredness.

9. Mucha Nu • Mucha Nu is a mixed creature with the body of a monkey but with scaleyfish tail. He is one of the heroes in the epic tale of Ramayana. He's the son of the great monkey, Hanuman, and a giant's daugther, SuwannaMucha. Although his mother is the daugther of the main villian giant, Tossakan, she has the uppr body of a beautiful woman and the lower body of fish like a mermaid.

10. Khi Mee • Little’s known about KhiMee. In old paintings, KhiMee has yellowish dog like body with thick neck fur and a bushy tail. There are, howver, many different types of KhiMee. Hence they look different from the painted version on this page. Omnivorous in nature, Khimee belongs to Canine group of animal. Most of these animals hunt alone, but some catch their food in pack. KhiMee has keen sense of smell and strong legs built for hunting. The main diets for KhiMee are smaller animals such as squirrels, rabbits, etc. When sick, a KhiMee has a way to heal himself by eating grass much like modern day dogs.

11. Nok Insee • NokInsee or Eagle is a semi-large bird that truly exists in the real world. In the wolrd of Himmapan, however, the creature's a bit different. NokInsee in Himmapan forest has light green color with brownish wings and a tail

12. Asura Waypuk • AsuraWaypuk shares very similar traits with AsoonPuksa as both are mixed creature between a bird and a giant. In the story the beast is a son of a giant and a bird. The beast was also a governer of Wichian city, a giant city. Malicious in nature, one day the beast spotted and kidnapped prince Rama and his brother. Prince Rama's loyal generals, Hanuman and Sukreepeventaulyl took the princes back and slainedAsuraWayupuk.

13. Garuda • The most important creatures of the Himmapan forest is probably the Garuda. Garuda is the king of birds, half-man and half-bird, the vehicle of Vishnu, a Hindu God. Descriptions of Garuda vary from legend to legend. He’s usually represented as having the head, beak, wings, and talons of an eagle. With the torso like that of human. His face appears white, his wings red, and shiny golden body. Some texts, however, give different descriptions. Sometimes, he is described as having eight limbs, with six being human limbs, two are legs with strong eagle like claws. Another text says Garuda has either four or two limbs. When he’s shown with two limbs, he will be holding a Naga in each talon.

14. Sadayu • Sadayu is a large bird in the epic tale of Ramayana (Ramakien). He's a son of Garuda and a brother to another great bird, Nok Sumpatee. The bird played an important role in the story as it's a great allie to the kingdom of Ayotthaya and prince Rama. In the tale, Sadayu is a large bird with greenish body color. One day he witnesses Tossakan (Ravana, the main villian in the story) kidnapping Sida (Sita), the wife of prince Rama. The courageous bird intervened and fought bravely with the giant. The giant was unable to defeat the bird. Sadayu madea mistake by accidentally told the giant that he's afraid of nothing besides Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu, and the great ring which Sita's wearing. The giant heard that and realized the bird's weakness, he immediately slipped the ring out of Sita's finger and threw it at Sadayu. One of Sadayu's wings was broken due to the giant's action. The giant then took Sida away. Defeated, the bird carried the ring and went to report the incident to prince Rama before he passed away.

15. Nang Ng-uek • Nang Ng-uek or mermaid is the marine creature that got mentioned in almost every cultures. Across the world, the creature's described as a beautiful maid and the lower body of a fish.

16. Kunchorn Waree • KunchornWaree is a marine based creature which has combined features of an elphant and a fish. With quite a strange combination; the creature has only elephant head, 2 front legs of an elephant and the body of a fish, the creature is able to swim swiftly under water.This creature is often confused with another Elephant-Fish creature, WareeKunchorn, which has the entire body of an elephant with fish gills and fins.

17. Naga • The Naga, or the king of snakes, is a srpent like creature with beard and pointed crown. In old text, Naga is the half-brother of the Garuda. Base on mythology, the two had the same father and their mothers were sisters. Nagas are sworn enemies of Garuda due to their mother's conflict. The Naga is often found in Thai architecture and also frequently portrayed giving comfort and shade to the meditating Buddha, the coils of the great snake acting as a cushion while the many heads function as an umbrella.

18. Khon Tun • KhonTun is a magical being that lives between the human world and the heaven, in tehHimmapan forest. This race of creature is said to be very musical in nature. They are very keen on virtually all sorts of musical instruments. There are many places in old text and literature which mentioned Khon Tun. One of the most famous tales is the story of Khakee. In the story, Khakee is a beautiful lady who was the cause of the great conflict among the king, lord Garuda, and KhonTun as the three of them fell in love with the same woman. The fight for the woman's ownership is the main plotline which result in many tragedies.

19. Makalee Pon • Makalee Pons are strange female beings which are born from magical trees exist only in Himmapan Forest. The strange tree would yeild fruits, and MakaleePon would come out of these fruits once they are rippen. In Thai old text, Makalee Pons are eventually become hermit's wives.

20. The most common chimeras: LIONS • Lions are probably the most abundant creature with many different species than other Himmapan creature type. There are 2 main categories of lions in Himmapan World; pure lions, and mixed lions.Pure lions are lions which are not the results of mixing with other animals. There are only 4 pure lions: BuntuRajasri, Kala Sriha, KraisornRajasri, and TinnaSriha.And then there are "mixed-lions" which are the results of mixing and matching various types of animals with the lion. Generally a mixed lion has body of a lion with added physical features from other animal types.

21. Pure Lions – Buntu Rajasri • BuntuRajasri or BuntuSuraMareu Kin is one of the four pure lions with uniform yellowish hair covering entire body. BuntuRajasris are large carnivores that favor large animals like deer, buffalo, elephant, and sometimes even human. In the old story book which tells about the Himapan forest describes a BuntuRajasri as a large lion with a body as large as a cattle with fallen leaf like yellow color.

22. Pure Lions – Kala Sriha • Kala Sriha is one of the four pure lions in the Himapan legend and is herbivorous in nature. With the body as large as a male cattle, the entire body of Kala Sriha is covered with black fur. (The word "Kala" means black.)It's worth mentioning that the other herbivorous pure lion is Tina Sriha. While Kala Srihas do not eat meat, it doesn't mean they are not dangerous. A Kala Sriha has a body as strong as a lion's and able to roar loudly. It's said that only a simple roar of a Rajasri can hurt other animals. A Kala Sriha, like other lions, possesses the 7 characteristics of a lion.

23. Pure Lion – Kraisorn Rajasri • Vividly described in the story of Wessandon as a powerfully built, graceful lion with red mane, red lips, red tail tip, and red paws. The KraisornRajasri belongs to the group of pure lions. The KraisornRajasri is a solitary animal and able to communicate with others of its kind through a variety of sounds, including roars and grunts. It feeds mainly on large animals. With a large, broad head, and heavily muscled quarters, the lion is a perfect hunter. It hunts mostly on the ground, stalking or ambushing its prey and able to consume large animals like deer, mule, or horse in a single meal.

24. Pure Lion – Tinna Sriha • Tinna Sriha is said to have red body with horse like hooves. Tinna Sriha is herbivorous in nature.

25. Mixed Lion – Tukkar Tor • Tukkar Tor is a very strange lion based creature with its lower body of a lion and the head of an elephant. The creature is often confused with Kochasri as both has very similar appearance. The differences are Tukkator has beard and its hair flows forward.

26. Dragons • In Chinese mythology, dragons are the most important of the mythological creatures. They are said to be embodiments of both spirit and earth, walking in all planes of the universe.

27. Nine Types of Dragons • Yinglong, the Winged Dragons, are the oldest of all eastern dragons and the only kind with wings. • Qiulong, the Horned Dragons, are considered to be the mightiest dragons. • Panlong, the Coiling Dragons, are water dragons believed to mostly inhabit the lakes of the Orient. • Huanglong, the Yellow Dragons, once emerged from the River Luo and presented the legendary Emperor Fu Hsi with the elements of writing. They are known for their scholarly knowledge. • LóngWáng, the Dragon Kings, are rulers over each of the four seas, those of the east, south, west, and north. Although their true form is that of a dragon, they have the ability to shapeshift into human form. They live in crystal palaces guarded by shrimp soldiers and crab generals. • Tianlong, the Celestial Dragons, are the celestial dragons who pull the chariots of the gods and guard their palaces. • Shenlong, the Spiritual Dragons, control the wind and the rain. • Fucanglong, the Dragons of Hidden Treasures, are underworld dragons which guard buried treasures, both natural and man-made. Volcanoes are said to be created when they burst out of the ground to report to heaven. • Dilong, the Underground Dragons, are earth dragons whose task it is to preside over rivers and streams. According to some accounts, they are the female counterpart of the Shenlong and they fly only in order to mate.

28. The Nine Parts of A Chinese Dragon  • The dragons are said to be made up of many different types of animals of the Earth: • Head: Camel • Scales: Carp (fish) 117 scales total - 81 infused with yang, the good, and 36 infused with yin the bad. This evens out the dragons temper and personality. • Horns: Giant Stag (deer) • Eyes: hare (rabbit) • Ears: Bull • Neck: Snake • Belly: Clam • Paws: Tiger • Claws: Eagle • Chinese and Japanese dragons have similar characteristics and parts, the main different being Chinese dragons usually have 5 toes and Japanese dragons have 3.

29. Works Cited • All images and documentation borrowed from : http://www.himmapan.com/index.html http://www.draconian.com http://www.draconika.com