Polysemous figure in ancient Chinese mythology
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 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 Unihan Database lists the definition as "one-legged monster; walrus". 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' Chinese-English Dictionary" translates "kui" as "A one-legged monster; a walrus; Grave, respectful", which was adapted from "A Chinese-English Dictionary" "A one-legged creature; a walrus. Grave; reverential". Giles's dictionary copied this "walrus" mistake from his translation 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."
Characters.
The modern 21-stroke Chinese character for "kui" combines five elements: "shou" "head", "zhi" "stop", "si" "6th (of 12 Earthly Branches)", "ba" "8", and "zhi" "walk slowly". These enigmatic elements were graphically simplified from the ancient Oracle bone script and Seal script pictographs for "kui" 夔 showing "a face of demon, two arms, a belly, a tail, and two feet".
Excepting the top 丷 element (interpreted as "horns" on the "ye" 頁 "head"), "kui" 夔 is graphically identical with "nao" – an old variant for "nao" "macaque; rhesus monkey". The Oracle and Seal script graphs for "nao" pictured a monkey, and some Oracle graphs are interpreted as either "kui" 夔 or "nao" 夒.
The (121 CE) "Shuowen Jiezi", which was the first Chinese dictionary of characters, defines "nao" 夒 and "kui" 夔.
"Kui", concludes Groot, "were thought to be a class of one-legged beasts or dragons with human countenances."
Most Chinese characters are composed of "radicals" or "significs" that suggest semantic fields and "phonetic" elements that roughly suggest pronunciation. Both these 夔 and 夒 characters are classified under their bottom "walk slowly radical", and Carr notes the semantic similarity with Kui being "one-legged". Only a few uncommon characters have "kui" 夔 phonetics. For instance, "kui" (with the "ox radical" 牛) in "kuiniu" 犪牛 "wild ox; wild yak", and "kui" (with the "foot radical"足) in "kuiluo" 躨跜 "writhe like a dragon".
Etymologies.
The etymology of "kui" 夔 relates with "wei" "yak; buffalo". Eberhard suggested "Kui" "mountain spirits that looked like a drum and had only one leg" was "without doubt phonetically related" to the variant name "hui" ; both were classified as "shanxiao" 山魈 "mountain demons" ("mandrill" in modern Chinese). He concludes there were two series of names for "one-legged mountain imps", "xiao" or "chao" in the southeastern languages of Yue and Yao, and "kui" or "hui" "from a more western language".
Schuessler connects the etymologies of the word "wei" 犩 "wild buffalo" ; Late Han "ŋuɨ" and the ancient word "kui" 夔 or 犪 "a large mythical animal of various descriptions … with one foot … as strong as an ox … a large buffalo" ; Late Han "guɨ" ; Old Chinese *"grui" or *"gwrə". The Chinese mythical "kui" 夔 originated as a loanword from a Kam–Tai source (cf. Proto-Tai *"γwai" 'buffalo' and Sui "kwi" ; "gwi" 'buffalo'), comparable with Proto-Austronesian *"kəbaw" (cf. Tagalog "kalabao", Malay "kĕrbao", and Fiji "karavau"). Chinese "wei" 犩 "wild buffalo" derives from "ultimately the same etymon as "kui"", but the source might have been a Tibeto-Burman language, compare Proto-Tibeto-Burman *"Iwaay" 'buffalo', Jinghpaw "ʼu-loi" or "ŋa-loi" ("ŋa" 'bovine'), and Burmese ကျွဲ "kywai" ; "klway".
Classical usages.
"Kui" frequently occurs in Chinese classic texts. Although some early texts are heterogeneous compositions of uncertain dates, the following discussion is presented in roughly chronological order.
Early authors agreed that the mountain dragon-demon Kui had "yizu" 一足 "one foot" but disagreed whether this also applied to Shun's music master Kui. Since the Chinese word "zu" ambiguously means "foot; leg" or "enough; sufficient; fully; as much as", "yizu" can mean "one foot; one leg" or "one is enough". "The Confucianists," explains Eberhard, "who personified K'ui and made him into a 'master of music', detested the idea that K'ui had only one leg and they discussed it 'away'" (e.g., "Hanfeizi", "Lüshi Chunqiu", and "Xunzi" below). Instead of straightforwardly reading "Kui yi zu" 夔一足 as "Kui [had] one foot", Confucianist revisionism construes it as "Kui, one [person like him] was enough." There is further uncertainty whether the mythical Kui was "one footed" or "one legged". Compare the English "one-footed" words "uniped" "a creature having only one foot (or leg)" and "monopod" "a creature having only one foot (or leg); a one-legged stand".
Shujing.
The "Shujing" uses "kui" 夔 in three chapters; Current Text chapters mention Shun's legendary Music Minister named Kui, and Old Text "Old Text" chapter has "kuikui" "grave; dignified". (New or Current Text and Old Text refer to different collections of Shangshu material with the Current Text being collected before the Old Text version. There is a long history of debate about the relative authenticity of the Old Text version as well as the dating of the constituent texts in both the Current and Old Text versions; see the article on the Shujing for more information.)
First, the "Canon of Shun" says the prehistoric ruler Shun appointed Kui as Music Minister and Long 龍 "Dragon" as Communication Minister.
The Di [Emperor Shun] said, 'Kui, I appoint you to be Director of Music, and to teach our sons, so that the straightforward shall yet be mild; the gentle, dignified: the strong, not tyrannical: and the impetuous, not arrogant. Poetry is the expression of earnest thought; singing is the prolonged utterance of that expression; the notes accompany that utterance, and they are harmonized themselves by the standard tubes. (In this way) the eight different kinds of musical instruments can be adjusted so that one shall not take from or interfere with another; and spirits and men are brought into harmony.' Kui said, 'I smite the (sounding-) stone, I gently strike it, and the various animals lead on one another to dance.' 
Second, "Yi and Ji" elaborates the first account.
Kui said, 'When the sounding-stone is tapped or struck with force, and the lutes are strongly swept or gently touched, to accompany the singing, the progenitors (of the Di) come (to the service), the guest of Yu is in his place, and all the princes show their virtue in giving place to one another. (In the court) below (the hall) there are the flutes and hand-drums, which join in at the sound of the rattle, and cease at that of the stopper, when the organ and bells take their place. (This makes) birds and beasts fall moving. When the nine parts of the service, as arranged by the Di, have all been performed, the male and female phœnix come with their measured gambolings (into the court).' Kui said, 'Oh! when I smite the (sounding-) stone, or gently strike it, the various animals lead on one another to dance, and all the chiefs of the official departments become truly harmonious.' 
Third, "The Counsels of the Great Yu" uses "kuikui" 夔夔 "grave; dignified; awestruck" to praise Shun's filial piety for his father Gusou 瞽叟 (lit. "Blind Old Man"); "with respectful service he appeared before Gu-sou, looking grave and awe-struck, till Gu also became transformed by his example. Entire sincerity moves spiritual beings."
Chunqiu and Zuozhuan.
The (c. 6th–5th centuries BCE) "Chunqiu" and (early 4th century BCE) "Zuozhuan" use Kui as the name of a feudal state and of the legendary Music Master.
The "Chunqiu" history records that in 634 BCE the army of Chu destroyed Kui 夔; "In autumn, an officer of Ts'oo extinguished K'wei, and carried the viscount of K'wei back with them." Zuo's commentary notes the viscount of Kui, also written Kui 隗, was spared because the ruling families of both Chu and Kui had the same surname (see "Guoyu" below).
The "Zuozhuan" for 514 BCE provides details about Kui's raven-haired wife Xuanqi 玄妻 "Dark Consort" and their swinish son Bifeng 伯封.
In ancient times the prince of Jing had a daughter, with splendid black hair and very beautiful, so that her brightness cast a light around her, and she was named 'the dark Lady'. The prince K'wei [Shun's] minister of Music, married her, and she bore to him Pih-fung, who in truth had the heart of a pig, insatiably covetous and gluttonous, quarrelsome and perverse without measure, so that men called him 'the great Pig'. 
Guoyu.
The (c. 5th–4th centuries BCE) "Guoyu" uses "kui" 夔 as a surname and a demon name. The "Discourses of Zheng" (鄭語) discusses the origins of Chinese surnames and notes that Kui was the tribal ancestor of the Mi "ram horns" clan. Since Kui was a legendary descendant of the fire god Zhurong 祝融 and a member of the Mi clan, Eberhard explains, he was a relative to the ruling clans of Chu and Yue.
The "Discourses of Lu" records Confucius explaining three categories of "guai" "strange being; monster; demon; evil spirit", including the "Kui" who supposedly resides in the 木石 "trees and rocks".
Ki Hwan-tszĕ, a grandee of the state of Lu, caused a well to be dug, when they fetched up something like an earthen pot with a goat in it. He had Chung-ni (Confucius) interrogated about it, in these words: "I dug a well, and got a dog; tell me what this is." On which the Sage answered: "According to what I have learned, it must be a goat; for I have heard that apparitions between trees and rocks are called khwei and wang-liang, while those in the water are lung or dragons, and wang-siang, and those in the ground are called fen-yang. 
De Groot says later scholars accepted this "division of spectres into those living in mountains and forests, in the water, and in the ground", which is evidently "a folk-conception older, perhaps much older, than the time of Confucius." For instance, Wei Zhao's (3rd century CE) commentary on the "Guoyu":
Some say that the khwei have one leg. The people of Yueh (Chehkiang and northern Fuhkien) style them 繅 (sao) of the hills, which character occurs also in the form 獟 (siao). They exist in Fu-yang (about the present Hang-cheu), have a human countenance and an ape-like body, and can speak. Some say that the one-legged wang-liang are spirits (tsing) of the hills, who by imitating human voices bewilder people. 
Xunzi.
The (early 3rd century BCE) Confucianist "Xunzi" mentions Kui twice. "Dispelling Obsession" says, "Many men have loved music, but Kui alone is honored by later ages as its master, because he concentrated upon it. Many men have loved righteousness, but Shun alone is honored by later ages as its master, because he concentrated upon it." Another chapter (成相 [no translation available], 夔為樂正鳥獸服) says when Kui rectified music, the wild birds and animals submitted.
Hanfeizi.
The (c. 3rd century BCE)