Tāotiè is a divine beast capable of devouring things terribly, living from the early period when things first began to be born, with big eyes, wide mouth, strange looks, aggressive nature, greedily. Some opinions suggest that Tāotiè has a goat body, tiger teeth, big head, bright eyes, a fierce face, and a protruding nose; There was a pair of curved animal horns above his head, sometimes like goat's horns, sometimes like buffalo's horns; large mouth jutting out, teeth pointed like a saw blade, mouth slightly curved to the side, or mouth closed. Squatting, stooping, head touching the ground or riding on clouds, the two sides have a pair of sharp claws like dog or tiger claws. There are a pair of fleshy wings on the sides, shaped like ears.Tāotiè has a lifespan of up to 100 thousand years. Tāotiè's greed is sometimes described that, having devoured all things, Tāotiè swallowed itself and turned into nothingness, thus representing insatiable greed.
In ancient Chinese mythology, Tāotiè was classified as one of the The Four Evil Gods (Tāotiè, Qiongqi, Táo wù, Hùndùn). - the most evil creatures in the world Among the four great beasts, Tāotiè is mentioned more than ever, even a book says it is the leader of all violence, cruelty…. It is described as a ferocious beast, with great power, very greedy, see anything, is a symbol of greed and lust. Descriptive texts about these beasts are quite limited and are only passed down through local stories.). Tāotiè images can be found through bronze objects from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Accordingly, this monster is depicted with a large face, wide mouth, large eyes and especially without a lower jaw.
It is said that Tāotiè is the fifth child of the Dragon. The mascot with big eyes, wide mouth, strange appearance, and insatiable appetite should be cast on eating utensils to imply a reminder to eaters not to be eager to eat but to become impolite. Mother is Zhuyin.
The book of Mystery of Gods and Devil tells about this species is very scary: In the southwest, there is like a body with many feathers, on the head of a pig, the evil greed, accumulating wealth without using it, is good at stealing his grain.
The Book of Shan Hai Jing also describes this animal as follows: On the mountain Gōu wú, there are many pearls on the mountain, there are many fields in the mountain, there are animals there, its shape is the body of a goat, human eyes, Under the armpits, teeth like tigers, nails like humans, its sound like children, his name is Páo xiāo, is like cannibalism.
📚 Explore more of the Mystical Creatures series here: Dive into the Enchanted Realms of Mythology
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