Collected Illustrations of the Three Realms: Volume on Birds and Beasts, Book Two

The Elephant

The Elephant original: 象 (Xiàng) is native to the mountain valleys of Jiaozhi A historical region encompassing northern Vietnam and parts of southern China. Its body is said to contain the meat of a hundred different beasts, each distinct within its own section, yet only the trunk is considered the animal's own true, essential flesh.

An elephant nurses its young once every three years. While its body is several times the size of an ox, its eyes are no larger than those of a pig. Its trunk is seven feet long The traditional Chinese foot (chi) is roughly equivalent to 12.2 inches and as thick as a man's arm. The creature uses this trunk to gather everything it eats. When it consumes fodder, it will repeatedly arrange the grass into neat piles before finally eating it.

The elephant possesses the wisdom to distinguish between solid and hollow ground; if the earth is even slightly soft or unstable, it will refuse to cross. At the tip of its trunk is a claw-like shape Trunk tip The "finger" or prehensile protrusion at the end of an elephant's trunk, used for fine motor tasks with which it can pick up even a tiny needle as if it were a magnet made of flesh.

Its internal organs are unique; the gallbladder is not attached to the liver but instead moves freely throughout the body. Among the various parts of its flesh, its tusks grow to a length of one foot. It is said that whenever thunder shakes the earth, a pattern resembling a sudden burst of flowers appears momentarily upon the ivory of the tusks, only to vanish and recede shortly after.

In temperament, the elephant is modest and disciplined original: 姤 (gòu); implying a sense of shame or reserve in mating. They maintain a distinct order in their pairings and do not rear offspring resulting from seasonal lust.