The Qilin (Chinese: 麒麟), also spelled Kirin (from Japanese) or sometimes Kyrin, is a mythical hoofed 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 rui (Chinese: 瑞, roughly translated as “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.

The earliest references to the Qilin are in the 5th century BC book Zuo Zhuan. The Qilin made appearances in a variety of subsequent Chinese works of history and fiction. At one point, however, it became identified with the giraffe, and even today, the giraffe is called a “kirin” by the Japanese, and Koreans.

The Qilin became a stylized representation of the giraffe in Ming Dynasty. It is known that on Zheng He’s voyage to East Africa (landing, among other places, in modern-day Kenya), the fleet brought back two giraffes to Beijing. It is also known that these two giraffes were referred to as “Qilins”. The Emperor proclaimed the giraffes magical creatures, whose capture signaled the greatness of his power.

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, suggesting that it was originally a type of deer, or perhaps an antelope.

A qilin of the Qing dynasty in Beijing’s    Summer Palace   

Although it looks fearsome, the Qilin only punishes the wicked. It can walk on grass yet not trample the blades and it can also walk on water. Being a peaceful creature, its diet does not include flesh. It takes great care when it walks never to tread on any living thing, and it is said to appear only in areas ruled by a wise and benevolent leader (some say even if this area is only a house). It is normally gentle but can become fierce if a pure person is threatened by a sinner, spouting flames from its mouth and exercising other fearsome powers that vary from story to story.

Some stories state that the Qilin is a sacred pet (or familiar) of the deities. Therefore, in the hierarchy of dances performed by the Chinese (Lion Dance, Dragon Dance, etc.), the Qilin ranks highly; second only to the Dragon and Phoenix who are the highest.

In the Qilin Dance, movements are characterized by fast, powerful strokes of the head. The Qilin Dance is often regarded as a hard dance to perform due to the weight of the head, stances and the emphasis on “fǎ·jìn” (traditional Chinese: 法勁) — outbursts of strength/power/energy.

In the Ming dynasty of China (1368–1644) the Qilin is represented as an oxen-hoofed animal with a dragon-like head surmounted by a pair of horns and flame-like head ornaments.

The Qilin of China’s subsequent Manchurian dominated Qing dynasty (1644–1911) is a much more fanciful animal. Manchurian depictions of the Qilin show a creature with the head of a dragon, the antlers of a deer, the skin and scales of a fish, the hooves of an ox and tail of a lion. (An image is shown above as a bronze sculpture.)

In Japan, the Qilin is called Kirin (i.e. 麒麟 in Kanji) in Japanese, 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. This is following the style of the ancient Chinese, as Qilin was ranked higher than the Dragon or Phoenix before the Qin Dynasty. During the Zhou dynasty, the Qilin was ranked the highest, the Phoenix ranked second and the Dragon the third.

In Ilkhanid and Timurid Mongol-Persian mythological miniatures, the buraq was portrayed in a style reminiscent of the Chinese qilin, reflecting the Chinese background of painters who introduced watercolor techniques to Iran and initiated several medieval schools of Persian miniature painting.

     A Qilin in the dragon, fish, and ox style
of the Ming Dynasty