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Bashe

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Bashe(Chinese:Ba xà;pinyin:bā-shé;Wade–Giles:pa-she) was a Python -likeChinese mythologicalgiant snake that ate elephants.

Name

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The termbashecompoundsbaBa"elephant-eating snake"[1][a]andsheXà"snake; serpent".

TheChinese characterBaforbawas graphically simplified from ancientOracle bone scriptandSeal scriptpictogramsof a long-tailed snake. In earlyWritten Chineseusage,baBafrequently referred to theZhou Dynasty(1122 BCE – 256 BCE) state ofBa,which was located in present-day easternSichuan.InModern Standard Chineseusage,baBaoften transcribes foreignloanwordssuch asbaBa"bar (unit)",BaliParis"Paris", orGubaCuba"Cuba".BaBais avariant Chinese characterforbaĐem"grasp; handle",baBa"bamboo; fence", orbaBainbajiaoChuối tây"banana" (usingbaBaas thephoneticelement with graphicradicalsforThủ"hand",Trúc"bamboo", andThảo"plant" ).

Bashenot only names this mythical giant reptile but is also a variant Chinese name for the South AsianranNhiêmormangMãng"Python"(and South American"boa constrictor"or African"mamba")." Mythical draconyms often derive from names of larger reptilians ", says Carr[2]and "Since Python s usually crush their prey and swallow them whole, one can imagine Chinese tales about southernranNhiêm' Python s' being exaggerated into legendarily-constipatedbashe'giant snakes' that ate an elephant every three years ". In literary usage,basheis found in thefour-character idiombashetunxiangRắn nuốt voi(lit. "ba-snake gulping down an elephant ") meaning" inordinately greedy; extremely insatiable ".

Early textual occurrences

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The earliest references to the legendarybasheBa xàare in theChuciandShanhaijing,twoChinese classic textscontainingWarring States period(475 BCE – 221 BCE) materials compiled during theHan Dynasty(206 BCE – 220 CE).

TheChuciis an anthology of Chinese poems (seeQu Yuan) from the southern state ofChuand it mentionsbashein theTianwenThiên hỏi"Heavenly Questions" section. The preeminentChucitranslatorDavid Hawkes[3]describes theTianwenas a "somewhat odd combination of archaic riddles with questions of a speculative or philosophical nature" and believes "it started as an ancient, priestly riddle-text (a sort of catechism to be used for mnemonic purposes) which was rewritten and greatly enlarged by a secular poet". This mythological questionnaire asks:

Where are the hornless dragons which carry bears on their backs for sport? Where is the great serpent with nine heads and where is the Shu Hu? Where is it that people do not age? Where do giants live? Where is the nine-branched weed? Where is the flower of the Great Hemp? How does the snake that can swallow an elephant digest its bones?

— tr. Hawkes[4]

TheShanhaijingis an ancient Chinese mytho-geography. Chapter 10, the "Haineinan jing"Trong nước nam kinh"Classic of Regions within the Seas: South" describes a legendary land wherebashelived:

The Big Snake eats elephants and after three years it disgorges their bones. Gentlemen take a dose of this snake so that they will never have heart disease or illnesses of the belly. The snakes of Bigsnake country are green, or yellow, or scarlet, or black. One author says the black snakes have a green head. The land of Bigsnake lies west of Rhinoceros country.

— tr. Birrell[5][6]

TheShanhaijingcommentary byGuo Pu(276–324 CE) compares thebasnake with the southernranNhiêm"Python", which after eating a large animal can wind around a tree trunk and expel the bones from between its scales and notes they could grow up to a length of 100xunTìm(about 270 meters). Guo's commentary likewise notes this exaggerated length for thechangsheTrường xà"long snake" that theShanhaijinglocates on DaxianĐại hàmMountain "Mount Bigwhole":[7][8]"There is a snake here named the long-snake; its hair is like pig bristles. It makes a noise like a nightwatchman banging his rattle".

The 1578 CEBencao Gangmuentry forransheTrăn"Python" mentions thebashe:

TheShan-Hai-Chingsays that Python s can eat elephants, the bones of which they emit every three years. Gentlemen who take these bones as medicine never suffer from heart or visceral ailments. They are referred to asPa She,that is the great snake.

— tr. Read[9]

Compare how theShanhaijingdescription of theba-snake'ssympathetic magicis interpreted as eating the snake (Birrell "take a dose of this snake" and Schiffeler "swallow its flesh" ) or eating the undigested elephant bones (Read "take these bones as medicine" ). Thismateria medicalists uses for Python bile, flesh, fat, teeth, and oil. TheBencao Gangmusays Python s can reach lengths of 50–60chiThước(about 16–20 meters), butPython molurusgrow up to 5.8 meters andPython reticulatus9.2 meters.

TheChinese folklorescholarWolfram Eberhardlinksbashewith the legendary archerHouyiSau dựcwho descended from heaven to destroy evildoers. One of Houyi's victims was a monstrous serpent inLake Dongting,thexiusheTu xà"adorned/long snake" (orchangsheTrường xà,cf. above). Eberhard[10]concludes giant snakes such as thexiushe,bashe,andranshe"were typical for the South", but were not part of a snake cult like those among the ancientBaiyue.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Ba is also aloangraphfor "a proper name; tip, tail; crust; greatly desire; cling to; be near"

References

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  1. ^Xu Shen,Shuowen Jiezi,vol. 15,"radical ba";quote: ( ba: Trùng cũng. Có người nói rằng thực tượng xà. Tượng hình. ), rough translation: "Ba (bā): an animal. Some say [it is] a snake that eats elephants. A pictogram." Note: "animal" is a semantic shift from "worm, bug, insect"; see"entry trùng"inMinistry of Education Mandarin Chinese Dictionary(《 giáo dục bộ quốc ngữ từ điển 》)
  2. ^Carr 1990,p. 167.
  3. ^Qu Yuan & Hawkes 1985,p. 126.
  4. ^Qu Yuan & Hawkes 1985,p. 128.
  5. ^Birrell 2000,p. 136.
  6. ^Schiffeler 1978,p. 97.
  7. ^Birrell 2000,p. 40.
  8. ^Schiffeler 1978,p. 109.
  9. ^Read 1934,p. 112.
  10. ^Eberhard 1968,p. 84.
  • Birrell, Anne (2000).The Classic of Mountains and Seas.Penguin.
  • Carr, Michael (1990)."Chinese Dragon Names"(PDF).Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area.13(2): 87–189.
  • Eberhard, Wolfram (1968).The Local Cultures of South and East China.E.J. Brill.
  • Qu Yuan; Hawkes, David (1985).The Songs of the South: An Anthology of Ancient Chinese Poems by Qu Yuan and Other Poets.Translated by Hawkes, David. Penguin.
  • Read, Bernard E. (1934). "Chinese Materia Medica VII; Dragons and Snakes".Peking Natural History Bulletin.8(4): 279–362.
  • Schiffeler, John W. (1978).The Legendary Creatures of the Shan hai ching.Hwa Kang.
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