Mingshe
Mythological Narrative
Mount Xian carries gold and jade but no vegetation; the Xian River leaves it and runs north into the Yi. Its waters hold many Mingshe, 'singing snakes': serpents with four wings whose call rings like a struck stone chime. The consequence is fixed — wherever one is seen, that town will suffer a great drought.
Three hundred li to the west, the waters of Mount Yang hold the Huashe, a human-faced flood omen. Within the same Yi River basin the two serpents mark opposite disasters, drought and deluge, a matched pair of hydrological warnings in the second central sequence. Beyond the four wings and the chime-like voice the classic offers nothing more; the creature's whole image hangs on a dozen characters, and the chime — an instrument of temple ritual — sounds here from the mouth of a drought omen.
Academic Discussion & Critique
Exchange peer-reviewed hypotheses, comparative Indo-European etymologies, and archaeological field interpretations regarding Mingshe.
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Huashe
A creature of Mount Yang's waters with a human face, a jackal's body and bird's wings, moving with a serpent's crawl; its voice is a shouted rebuke, its appearance a flood warning.
Fuzhu
A beast of Mount Ao'an shaped like a white deer but bearing four horns; wherever it appears, that town will be struck by a great flood.
Mafu
A man-eating beast of Mount Manqu with a human face on a tiger's body, whose cry mimics a wailing infant; the Yi River rises from its mountain.
Yong
A bird of Mount Lingqiu shaped like an owl, with a human face, four eyes, and ears, calling out its own name; wherever it appears, great drought follows across the land.