Bai Ze

Bai Ze is a divine beast from ancient Chinese legends. Although it is often called a mythical creature from the *Classic of Mountains and Seas* today, strictly speaking, the existing *Classic of Mountains and Seas* does not record Bai Ze. Legends of Bai Ze are mainly passed down through later literature and are closely related to a lost text called the *Bai Ze Tu*. According to legend, when the Yellow Emperor was touring the world, he encountered Bai Ze near the East Sea. Bai Ze could speak human language, understood all things in the world, and knew the names, appearances, and habits of all kinds of ghosts and monsters. When the Yellow Emperor asked it about strange occurrences in the world, Bai Ze answered one by one, with legends saying there were a total of 11,520 types. The Yellow Emperor then ordered people to record these strange phenomena, forming the *Bai Ze Tu* that was later called. Therefore, Bai Ze's most special characteristic is not its power, but its 'knowledge.' It is like an encyclopedia of monsters imagined by ancient people: when faced with an unknown monster, as long as its name, origin, and characteristics are known, people can find a way to deal with it. In this sense, Bai Ze symbolizes understanding the unknown through knowledge and resisting fear through cognition. In later generations, Bai Ze is often depicted as a white exotic beast with horns, whiskers, and strange eyes, and is regarded as a symbol of auspiciousness and warding off evil. What it represents is not mere divine power, but insight into all things in the world. Thus, perhaps the most interesting aspect of Bai Ze is not 'what it looks like,' but 'what it knows.' It knew about the strange beings that humans did not know, and it left names, appearances, and memories for a chaotic world. If the Qilin symbolizes benevolence and the XieZhi symbolizes discerning right from wrong, then Bai Ze symbolizes the wisdom of 'knowing all things and recognizing spirits.'