Realms of Fantasy and Myth: Week 26 - Kirin

Realms of Fantasy and Myth: Week 26 - Kirin

Welcome to the twenty-sixth issue of my weekly news article!  I hope you enjoy it, and please, show the featured artists some love and recognition through pageviews, 's and 's!
If you like this article, please show support by clicking the heart icon on the left to add it to your favorites.  Thanks!


*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************


This week's creature feature is: Kirin


NOTE:
While the Kirin and Qilin have the same Wikipedia article, they are rather different in appearance.  Therefore, this article will be about the more Japanese "Kirin", a dear/equine like creature.  The Qilin, with the more lion/dog like appearance, will be covered in a future article.


From Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qilin :

The Qilin , also spelled Kirin (from Japanese) or sometimes Kyrin, is a mythical hooved Chinese chimerical creature known throughout various East Asian cultures, and is said to appear in conjunction with the arrival of a sage. It is a good omen that brings serenity or prosperity. It is often depicted with what looks like fire all over its body. It is sometimes called the "Chinese unicorn" due to conflation with the unicorn by Westerners.
In Japan, the Qilin is called Kirin, which has also come to be used in the modern Japanese word for a giraffe. The Japanese art tends to depict the Qilin as more deer-like than in Chinese art. Alternatively, it is depicted as a dragon shaped like a European-style unicorn, only with an ox's tail instead of a lion's tail. The Kirin Brewery Company, Ltd. is named after the animal.
In the Post-Qin Chinese hierarchy of mythological animals, the Qilin is ranked as the third most powerful creature (after the dragon and phoenix), but in Japan, the Kirin occupies the top spot.
The identification between the Qilin and the giraffe is supported by some attributes of the Qilin, including its vegetarian and quiet nature. Its reputed ability to "walk on grass without disturbing it" may be related to the giraffe's long legs. Also the Qilin is described as having antlers like a deer and scales like a dragon or fish; since the giraffe has horn-like "ossicones" on its head and a tessellated coat pattern that looks like scales it is easy to draw an analogy between the two creatures.
It is unlikely that giraffes and qilin were regarded as the same creature in pre-modern times however. For example, typical depictions of the qilin have much shorter necks than giraffes. However, the Chinese language suggests that it was originally a type of deer, or perhaps an antelope.


Now, for the features!  Works are featured from various categories, in no particular order:



:thumb128568748: :thumb21356100:


:thumb144808058:
:thumb39421407:
:thumb97622694: :thumb96879947:

:thumb69517694: :thumb145988112:


NOTICE: I NEED YOUR IDEAS!
Did you get featured and want to pay it forward?  Do you know of an artist with amazing fantasy art?  Are YOU one? Read on!
I've been having some health issues over the last few weeks, and I haven't had as much time as I'd like to work on these articles. So here's the deal: I'm planning on doing a "Reader's Pick" article, with a bunch of fantasy or mythical creatures combined into one feature. The only rules are these: No nudity (just no naughty bits showing), no excessive blood or gore, and they MUST COME FROM A CATEGORY I'VE ALREADY DONE. These should be the ones I've "missed", if you will. All visual media. Just leave a comment on this article with a link to your favorite deviation or deviant, and I'll pick out the ones that really stand out to me to feature! Of course, if I don't have enough, I'll wait until I do.
Also, do you have a favorite fantasy creature that I haven't covered yet? Leave a comment suggesting which ones you would like to see!
If you suggest a deviation or a topic, and I use it, I will include your icon at the top of the news article that I feature it in!  Think of it as a little free exposure!



*****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Thank you so much for viewing, and come back next week for a different inhabitant of the Realms of Fantasy and Myth!


~Arah


Previous Issues:
Week 1 - Unicorns: news.deviantart.com/article/78…
Week 2 - Merfolk: news.deviantart.com/article/79…
Week 3 - Eastern Dragons: news.deviantart.com/article/79…
Week 4 - Kitsune: news.deviantart.com/article/80…
Week 5 - Alicorn: news.deviantart.com/article/81…
Week 6 - Gnomes: news.deviantart.com/article/82…
Week 7 - Tanuki: news.deviantart.com/article/83…
Week 8 - Centaurs: news.deviantart.com/article/84…
Week 9 - Special Edition: news.deviantart.com/article/84…
Week 10 - Orcs: news.deviantart.com/article/85…
Week 11 - Dryad: news.deviantart.com/article/87…
Week 12 - Halflings: news.deviantart.com/article/87…
Week 13 - Elves: news.deviantart.com/article/88…
Week 14 - Faeries: news.deviantart.com/article/92…
Week 15 - Vampires: news.deviantart.com/article/93…
Week 16 - Sphinx: news.deviantart.com/article/94…
Week 17 - Griffin: news.deviantart.com/article/94…
Week 18 - Phoenix:  news.deviantart.com/article/95…
Week 19 - Djinn: news.deviantart.com/article/97…
Week 20 - Werewolves: news.deviantart.com/article/97…
Week 21 - Selkie: news.deviantart.com/article/98…
Week 22 - Gargoyles: news.deviantart.com/article/99…
Week 23 - Western Dragons: news.deviantart.com/article/10…
Week 24 - Drow: news.deviantart.com/article/10…
Week 25 - Yeti: news.deviantart.com/article/10…