The Demon Chained under Turtle Mountain: The History and Mythology of the Chinese River Spirit Wuzhiqi.

• Author: Katz, Paul R.
• Position: Book Review

The Demon Chained under Turtle Mountain: The History and Mythology of the Chinese River Spirit Wuzhiqi. By POUL ANDERSEN. Berlin: G UND H VERLAG, 2001. Pp. 96, illus. M 52 (paper).

In this short but stimulating monograph, Poul Andersen shows what can be done by adopting a microhistorical approach to the study of a single work of art, in this case a seemingly obscure statue located in the Museum of East Asian Art in Berlin. This particular item, a three-legged iron "demon" just over 40 centimeters in height and weighing about 69 kilograms, was bequeathed to the museum by a patron of the arts named Hanna Bekker vom Rath (1893-1983). Andersen's many photos of this statue show that it is indeed quite striking, and he also notes that many members of the staff have been very fond of it (see p. 27, n. 64). Although Western scholars have long been puzzled as to the identity of this figure, Andersen draws on the work of Huang Zhigang and other scholars (1) to prove that it is none other than the three-legged water spirit Wuzhiqi (variously written as [CHINESE CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] or [CHINESE CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), who controlled the waters of the Huai and Guo r ivers, and whose cult gained prominence in Yuyi [CHINESE CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] country (formerly in Anhui; now in Jiangsu).

After introducing us to the statue of Wuzhiqi in chapter 1, the author devotes chapter 2 to discussing this demon/deity's origins. While scholars like Hu Shi [CHINESE CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] and Lu Xun [CHINESE CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] have attempted to link Wuzhiqi to Sun Wukong Andersen shows that legends about him date back to at least the medieval era, and provides a thoroughly annotated translation of the legend of Wuzhiqi in the Taiping guangji [CHINESE CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] (pp. 17-21; the Chinese text is reproduced on pp. 85-87). According to this text, Wuzhiqi was a water demon who had to be imprisoned under Turtle Mountain (Guishan [CHINESE CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]; located in Yuyi) by the sage-king Yu [CHINESE CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]. Andersen provides a lengthy analysis of account and its significance, based on the work of Derk Bodde, Marcel Granet, Henri Maspero, and his own extensive knowledge of Taoism and Chinese culture. H e concludes that Wuzhiqi resembles many other Chinese spirits in having started out as a demon but eventually...