Merfolk

Merfolk, Mercreatures, Mermen or Merpeople are legendary water-dwelling, human-like beings. They are attested in folklore and mythology throughout the ages in various parts of the world.

In English, female merfolk are called mermaids, although in a strict sense, mermaids are confined to beings who are half-woman and half-fish in appearance; male merfolks are called mermen. Depending on the story, they can be described as either ugly or beautiful.

Chinese rényú (人魚) stands for "merfolk", but in ancient geographical or natural historical tracts, the term referred to "human-fish" or "man-fish" purported to inhabit rivers or lakes in certain parts of China. The Japanese analogue ningyo (人魚) likewise translates to "merfolk" while, at the same time, having also applied to various human-like fish recorded in writings from medieval times into the Edo Period.

China

Certain fantastical types of "fish", generically referred to as renyu (人魚, "human-fish") are alleged to occur in various parts of China according to the Shan Hai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas, 4th century BC). It is mentioned in the Bei Shan Jing ("Classic of the Northern mountains"), Zhong Shan Jing (Central Mountains), and Xi Shan Jing (Western Mountains) sections of this work.

This work and others also mention several additional types of "anthropomorphic fish" with limbs in other regions such as the chiru (赤鱬; "red ru fish") and lingyu (陵魚; "hill-fish"), considered to be in the same category of creatures. Certain tribes or races of humans were also described being part-fish, namely the Di people.

It is recorded that the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was illuminated with lamps fueled by the oil of the human-fish (renyu), whose flames were meant to last a very long time.

Renyu or human-fish

(aka haieryu. subtypes tiyu and niyu )

The renyu (人魚; human-fish) is described in the Bei Shan Jing ("Classic of the North Mountains") section as dwelling on Mt. Longhou (龍侯山, "Dragon-Marquis Mountain") in the waters of the Jueshui (決水, "Bursting River"), which flows eastward into the Yellow River. It is said to "resemble the tiyu" (translated as "resemble catfish") possess four legs, with a voice like baby crying.

Eating the fish purportedly cured idiocy or dementia. This fish as a cure was also quoted in the Compendium of Materia Medica or Bencao Gangmu (1596) under its entry for Tiyu (Chinese: 䱱魚)

The Bencao Gangmu categorized the tiyu (䱱魚) as one of two types of "human-fish" (renyu). The human-fish were also known as "child-fish" or haieryu (孩兒魚; 孩儿鱼).

The other type, called the niyu (鯢魚) is elaborated in a separate section. It has been noted by Li Shizhen that the character for the Niyu (Ni 鯢 fish) consists of the "fish" indexing component (魚) and "child" (兒) radical.

Translators of the Bencao Gangmu attempt to match entries with actual taxa of animals, forbs, etc., where possible, and the tiyu type is glossed as "newts" while the niyu type is "Chinese giant salamander".

Chiru or red ru fish

The chiru (赤鱬; "red ru fish". Wade-Giles: ch'ih-ju; "red ju") is described in the Nan Shan Jing ("Classic of the Southern Mountains") as a human-headed fish. It is said to be found in the Qingqushan (青丘山 "Green-Hills Mountains") in the Pool-of-Yi (Yì zhī zé 翼之澤; "Carp-Wings Lake"). It is described as basically fish-form but having a human face, and issuing sounds like the mandarin duck. Eating it purportedly prevented scabies or itchy skin.

The illustration of the chiru from China may have influenced the legless, human-faced fish visualization of some of the ningyo in Japan, according to the hypothesis of Morihiko Fujisawa.

Jiaoren

The jiaoren (蛟人 "flood dragon people" or 鮫人 "shark people") that appear in medieval writings are considered to be references to merfolk.

This mythical southern mermaid or merman is recorded in Ren Fang's Shuyi ji "Records of Strange Things" (early 6th century CE).

In the midst of the South Sea are the houses of the kău (Chinese: 鮫; pinyin: jiao; Wade–Giles: chiao) people who dwell in the water like fish, but have not given up weaving at the loom. Their eyes have the power to weep, but what they bring forth is pearls.

Similar passages appear in other texts such as the Bowuzhi (博物志, "Treatise of Manifold " c. 290 CE) as "weep[ing] tears that became pearls".

These aquatic people supposedly spun a type of raw silk called jiaoxiao 蛟綃 "mermaid silk" or jiaonujuan 蛟女絹 "mermaid woman's silk". Schafer equates this with sea silk, the rare fabric woven from byssus filaments produced by Pinna "pen shell" mollusks.

Japan

The ningyo (人魚 "human-fish") of Japan has its own history in the country's literary record. The earliest references (in the Nihon shoki, entry for year 619, reign of Empress Suiko) do not specifically use the term ningyo, and the "thing" appeared in fresh water (a river in Ōmi Province, canal Settsu Province), and may presumed to be a giant salamander. Later accounts claim that Empress Suiko's regent Prince Shōtoku knew the creature to be a ningyo when one was presented to him by representatives of Ōmi. The appearance of the human-fish was strongly associated with ill omen in later treatments of the Prince's encounter with the human-fish.

During the Kamakura Period, ningyo of the marine sort were frequently reported as washing ashore, and these were taken to be ominous signs usually prefiguring bloody battles.

The ningyo, or rather renyu (人魚) and the like found in Chinese sources (chiru, tiyu etc., etc., discussed above) were also discussed in Japanese literature, for example, works of scholars of herbal and traditional medicine, such as Kaibara Ekiken (d. 1714) and Ono Ranzan (d. 1810). These Japanese scholars were also aware of European discussions on "sirens", "anthropomorphic fish", "peixe muller (fish-woman)", etc.

In popular culture

• Merfolk are a fictional race of humanoids that live underwater in Dungeons & Dragons.
• Merfolk are humanoid aquatic creatures with fish-like characteristics in Magic: The Gathering.
• Merfolk are humanoid aquatic creatures with fish-like characteristics in Spectromancer.
• In One Piece, the Merfolk are among the different races in the anime and one of the two types that dwell underwater (the other being the Fishmen). Each of the Merfolk has their "fish" parts based on different fishes and related creatures like coelacanths, icefish, kissing gouramis, Japanese rice fish, striped beakfish, righteye flounders, olive flounders, blue-striped angelfish, smelt-whitings, sharks, oarfish, opahs, blue-ringed octopuses, shortfin mako sharks, seahorses, catfish, Bering wolffish, goldfish, and brotulas however not all of them are half fish as they have the aquatic parts of other marine creatures from waist down instead like an octopus.
• In Monster Musume, Meroune Lorelei is a mermaid princess wearing gothic loli clothes who moves around in a wheelchair when she's out of water.
• The Techno Trolls introduced in Trolls World Tour bears a striking resemblance to mermaids but are able to survive and walk on dry land like the other tribes of trolls.

See also

• Mer (disambiguation)
• Naiad, female spirits of Greek mythology
• Nixie, water spirits of Germanic (especially Scandinavian) folklore
• Piscine humanoid
• Rusalka, female spirits of Slavic folklore

Explanatory notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

1. Merfolk (disambiguation)
2. Mermaid
3. The Longest Promise
4. Ariel (The Little Mermaid)
5. Weekly World News
6. Lu Over the Wall
7. List of The Little Mermaid characters
8. Hairen
9. One Piece
10. Ixalan
11. List of One Piece characters
12. Will-o'-the-wisp
13. Kataw (Philippine mythology)
14. Merman
15. Changeling: The Dreaming
16. Aquaman
17. Fairy tale
18. The Spiderwick Chronicles
19. Fantasy
20. Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2