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Kui () is a polysemous figure in ancient Chinese mythology. Classic texts use this name for the legendary musician Kui who invented music and dancing; for the one-legged mountain demon or rain-god Kui variously said to resemble a Chinese dragon, a drum, or a monkey with a human face; and for the Kuiniu wild yak or buffalo. ==Word== While Kui 夔 originally named a mythic being, Modern Standard Chinese uses it in several other expressions. The reduplication ''kuikui'' 夔夔 means "awe-struck; fearful; grave" (see the ''Shujing'' below). The compounds ''kuilong'' 夔龍 (with "dragon") and ''kuiwen'' 夔紋 (with "pattern; design") name common motifs on Zhou Dynasty Chinese bronzes. The ''chengyu'' idiom ''yikuiyizu'' 一夔已足 (lit. one Kui already enough") means "one able person is enough for the job". Kui is also a proper name. It is an uncommon one of the Hundred Family Surnames. Kuiguo 夔國 was a Warring States period state, located in present-day Zigui County (Hubei), that Chu annexed in 634 BCE. Kuizhou 夔州, located in present-day Fengjie County of Chongqing (Sichuan), was established in 619 CE as a Tang Dynasty prefecture. ''Kuiniu'' 夔牛 or 犪牛 is an old name for the "wild ox; wild yak". The (1578 CE) Bencao Gangmu (tr. Read 1931, no. 356) entry for ''maoniu'' 氂牛 "wild yak", which notes medicinal uses such as yak gallstones for "convulsions and delirium", lists ''kiuniu'' as a synonym for ''weiniu'' 犩牛, "Larger than a cow. From the hills of Szechuan, weighing several thousand catties." The biological classification ''Bos grunniens'' (lit. "grunting ox") corresponds with the roaring ''Kui'' "god of rain and thunder" (see the ''Shanhaijing'' below). Translating ''kui'' 夔 as "walrus" exemplifies a ghost word. The Wiktionary translation equivalent "1. one-legged monster, 2. walrus" was copied from the Unihan Database. However, Chinese ''kui'' does not mean "walrus" (''haixiang'' 海象 lit. "sea elephant") and this ghost first appeared in early Chinese-English dictionaries by Robert Henry Mathews and Herbert Giles. Mathews (1931:538) translates ''kui'' as "A one-legged monster; a walrus; Grave, respectful", which was adapted from Giles (1912:821) "A one-legged creature; a walrus. Grave; reverential". Giles's dictionary copied this "walrus" mistake from his translation (1889:211-2) of the ''Zhuangzi'' (see below), "The walrus said to the centipede, 'I hop about on one leg, but not very successfully. How do you manage all these legs you have?'" He footnotes, "'Walrus' is of course an analogue. But for the one leg, the description given by a commentator of the creature mentioned in the text applies with significant exactitude." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kui (Chinese mythology)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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