A (; Japanese pronunciation: ; ), is a legendary creature said to have inhabited river systems in what is now Hubei Province in China.
The water tiger is described as similar (in size) to a 3 or 4-year old human child, with tiger-like attributes in the lower limb and perhaps the head, though interpretations have varied. The modern interpretation is that the tiger-like (head), claws, etc., are always submerged and hidden, but the kneecap is exposed to view, although if a human tries to tamper with he may be killed.
Japanese books during the Tokugawa Period read the Chinese text rather differently. "Wakan Sansai Zue", an influential encyclopedia of the early 18th-century, gave a considerably divergent reading and stated that the "suiko" possessed kneecaps like tiger-claws. This odd feature was replicated in its woodcut illustration, and propagated in Toriyama Sekien's drawing of the "suiko" in his "yōkai" anthology.
Past Japanese writers also sometimes used ""suiko" (water-tiger)" as a stilted Sinitic term for the "kappa" (aka "kawatarō") in native folklore, even though "Wakan Sansai Zue" had distinguished these as two separate beings.
General description.
The "shuihu" or "shui hu" (; "water tiger") is described as being "about the size of a three- or four-year old (human) child", with a head like a tiger's, and a shell like that of the pangolin. Their knees, which are also tiger-like may be visible above water, but their claws always remain submerged, despite their habit of lying on sand and basking in the sun in autumn.
A dissident reading exists, particularly among Japanese sources. The Osaka physician Terajima Ryōan in his "Wakan Sansai Zue" (1712) interpreted the text to read "its knee-cap resembles that of a tiger's forepaw claws". The accompanying woodcut illustration (figure top right) depicts this. The artist Toriyama Sekien who consulted Terajima's encyclopedia also drew the creature with the claws on the knees, with the caption: "..its kneecaps are sharp like tiger claws".
Sources.
The description occurs in a quote from the "Xiang miang ji" (; "Records of Xiang mian", 8th century) preserved in the well-known Ming Period materia medica, the "Bencao Gangmu".
A similar description can be found the "Shui Jing Zhu" ("Commentary on the Water Classic", 6th century) as quoted in the 17th century Ming Period dictionary, "Tongya", where it is stated that the "shuihu" is also known as "shuitang" () or "shuilu" (); however, the form "shuitang" may only be uniquely attested in the "Tongya".
Geography.
According to the quote from the "Xiang miang ji", the "shuihu" inhabits the confluence between two rivers, where the river Shu () in Zhong lu county (in today's Xiangzhou District, Hubei Province) flows into the river Mian (
Han River).
Pharmacological use.
The original text found in the "Bencao Gangmu" states that the if the "suihu" is caught alive, then the harvested nose can be "used for some trifles". The part of the anatomy in question is not referred to as the nose ("bi", ) but as the "biyan" () in the "Tongya" text, further explained to be the "yin" () or the "force" ("si"; ) of the beast. In reference to the "shuihu", the harvest of this body part has been glossed as "castration", namely, the removal of its genitals, as one newspaper has more bluntly put it. It is also stated that the part can be applied as an aphrodisiac ("meiyao"; ).
The term "xiaoshi " () which has been literally rendered as "used for some trifles" in translation actually refers to some aspect of sexuality or reproduction (bodily fluid), according to sources. More specifically, this term "xiaoshi " (lit. "small use") is glossed as a synonym of "xiatong " (, lit. "small avenue/path") in the "Zhengzitong" dictionary, etc., and one instance of usage of "small avenue" occurs in a poem in the "Han shi waizhuan", where it is sung that the male's "small avenue" achieves sexual maturity at age 16, and the female's at age 14. In an English translation of this poem, the male's "small avenue" is rendered as "semen", and the female's as "her fluids".
There are alternative interpretations, where instead of pharmacological use, the live specimen becomes a tamed or trained beast with the removal or manipulation of the body part.
One interpretation of the statement is that when the genitals are removed the beast, it becomes tame or docile, much like the spaying or neutering of dogs and cats. The "Wakan Sansai Zue" interpreted this passage of Chinese text to mean that if a person the nose, the beast turns into a .
Classification issues.
In Japan, the word "suiko" ("shuihu") has become a synonym for "kappa", but this was not always the case.
Terajima Ryōan in his 18th century "Wakan Sansai Zue" stated that the "suiko" was a type/kindred of a "kawatarō" (the western local name for "kappa") but was to be distinguished from it; thus he placed the "suiko" and "kawatarō" as separate (though adjacent) entries. The artist Sekien, who followed after this encyclopedia, also illustrated the two creatures separately.
However, many herbal medicinalist scholars, etc., during Japan's Edo Period equated the "suiko" with the "kappa". Hence "suiko" became a synonym or alias for "kappa" or "kawatarō". But it is not clear if the "shuihu" of China and the "kappa" of Japan share a common origin. The synonymous usage can be found in Ono Ranzan's commentary, which was on the topic of the "suiko" ("shuihu"), but also discussed the creature's love of sumo-wrestling usually associated with the Japanese "kappa"; he also included various collected lore on the "suiko" (i.e., "kappa") found from his fieldwork or information gathering conducted in Japan. An illustrated work entitled was in fact a catalogue of "kappa" legends and testimonies.
In parts of Aomori Prefecture, the kappa have been deified and enshrined by the name of "suiko-sama".
References.
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