Shen (clam-monster)

In Chinese mythology, the shen or chen (zh-cpwl|c=蜃|p="shèn" or "chèn"|w="shen" or "ch'en"|l=large clam) is a shapeshifting dragon or sea monster believed to create mirages.

Meanings

Chinese classic texts use the word "shen" to mean "a large shellfish" that was associated with funerals and "an aquatic monster" that could change its shape, which was later associated with "mirages".

Large shellfish

The word used to mean a shellfish, or mollusk, identified as an oyster, mussel, or giant clam such as the Pearl of Lao Tzu. While early Chinese dictionaries treat "shen" as a general term for "mollusca", the "Erya" defines it as a large "yao" () which means shellfish, clam, scallop, or mother-of-pearl. According to "Shuowen Jiezi", an early 2nd century CE Chinese dictionary of the Han Dynasty defines it a large "ge" (), meaning clam, oyster, shellfish, or bivalve.

Chinese classics variously record that "shen" was salted as a food (in "Zuozhuan"), named a "lacquered wine barrel" used in sacrifices to earth spirits (in "Zhouli"), and its shells were used to make hoes (in "Huainanzi") and receptacles (in "Zhuangzi"). They also record two "shen-"compounds related with funerals: "shenche" (linktext|蜃|車, with cart or carriage) "hearse" ("Zhouli", Guo Pu's commentary notes "shen" means large shell-like wheel rims) and "shentan" 蜃炭 (with "charcoal") "oyster-lime; white clay", which was especially used as mortar for mausoleum walls ("Zuozhuan", "Zhouli").

Wolfram Eberhard (1968:292) describes the "shen" mussel as "a strange animal", and mentions the "Zhouli"'s Zhangshen 掌蜃 "Manager of "Shen", who was a special government official in charge of acquiring them for royal sacrifices and funerals. "It is not clear why these mussels were placed into the tombs," he admits, possibly either as a sacrifice to the earth god (compare "shen" 脤 below) or "the shell lime was used simply for a purifying and protective effect."

Edward H. Schafer, who aptly translates "shen" or "chen" as "clam-monster", traces its linguistic evolution from originally designating a "large bivalve mollusc",

Beginning as an unassuming marine invertebrate, the ch'en was later imagined as a gaping, pearl-producing clam, possibly to be identified with the giant clams of tropical seas, for instance "Tridacna". Finally, by early medieval times, it had become a monster lurking in submarine grottoes, and was sometimes endowed with the attributes of a dragon – or, more likely, under influence, a nāga. It expressed its artistic nature by belching up bubbles and frothy clots. These foamy structures were sometimes worked into buildings. …The plastic exhalations of the clam-monster sometimes burst the film of surface tension and appeared to astonished mariners as stunning mansions adrift on the surface of the deep. (1989:395)

Aquatic dragon

Second, "shen" 蜃 meant the "clam-monster" that miraculously transformed shapes. The "Shuowen jiezi" defines "ge" 蛤 (using a graphic variant with the "he" 合 phonetic above the radical) as the "category of "shen", which includes three creatures that transform within the sea. A "que" "sparrow" transforms into a "ge" 蛤, or "muli" 牡厲 "oyster" in Qin dialect, after 1000 (commentators say 10) years; a "yan" "swallow" transforms into a "haige" 海蛤 (with "sea") after 100 years; and a "fulei" 復絫, or "fuyi" 服翼 "bat", transforms into a "kuige" 魁蛤 (with "eminent") after it gets old. These kinds of legendary animal "transformations" – "hua" "transform, change, convert, turn into; metamorphose; take the form of" (see the "Huashu") – are a common theme in Chinese folklore, particularly for dragons like the "shen". The "dragon's transformations are unlimited", writes Visser (1913:126), and "it is no wonder that Chinese literature abounds with stories about dragons which had assumed the shape of men, animals, or objects.

The "Yueling" 月令 "Monthly Commands" chapter of the "Liji" (6, tr. Legge 1885 I:292, 297) lists sparrows and pheasants transforming into shellfish during the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. In (Shuangjiang) the last month of autumn, " ["jue" , a phonetic loan character for "que" 雀 "sparrow"] Small birds enter the great water and become ["ge" 蛤] mollusks", and in (Lidong) the first month of winter, " ["zhi" "pheasant"] Pheasants enter the great water and become ["shen" 蜃] large mollusks." While many other classical texts (e.g., "Lüshi Chunqiu ", "Yi Zhoushu", "Huainanzi") repeat this seasonal legend about pheasants that transform in "dashui" 大水 "great (bodies of) water; flood", the "Da Dai Liji" and "Guoyu" say they transform in the "huai" 淮 "Huai River." According to Chinese folklore (Visser 1913:69) swallows are a favorite food of both Chinese "long" and "shen" 蜃 dragons. Read (1934:301) explains, "Hence if people eat swallow's flesh they should not go out and cross a river (dragons will eat them if they do)."

Eberhard (1968:293) equates the "shen" 蜃 with the "jiaolong" 蛟龍 "flood dragon; crocodile" and compares tales of both these dragons attacking cattle in rivers. The 1596 CE "Bencao gangmu" Chinese materia medica describes the "shen" or "chen" 蜃 under the "jiaolong" entry, with quotes from the "Yueling" and Lu Dian's "Piya".

A kind of crocodile shaped like a huge serpent. Horned like a dragon, with a red mane. Below the middle of the back it has scales inversely arranged. It lives on swallows. It spurts forth clouds of vapour in huge rings. It appears when it is going to rain. The fat and wax is made into candles which have a fragrant smoke noticeable 100 steps away, and ascend in layers in the air. The "Yueh-Ling" says the pheasant metamorphoses into a "Ch'un" ["sic"] when it enters the water. Lu Tien says that serpents and tortoises together produce tortoises but cohabitation of tortoises and pheasants produce "Ch'un", although they are different animals they are moved by the same influences. Other records refer to its relationship to the clam. (43/5, Read 1934:315, cf. Visser 1913:76)

Mirage

The shape-changing "shen" is believed to cause a mirage or fata morgana. "Shen-" synonyms meaning "mirage" include "shenlou" 蜃樓 (with "multi-storied building", Schafer's 1989:396 "clam castle" or "high house of the clam-monsters"), "shenqi" 蜃氣 (with qi "breath; pneuma"), "shenqilou" 蜃氣樓, "haishishenlou" 海市蜃樓 (with "sea city/market"), and "shenjing" 蜃景 (with "scenery"). In Japanese vocabulary, "shinkirō" 蜃気楼 is the usual word for "mirage". Compare the association between the "long" 龍 "dragon" and "waterspouts", evident in words like "longjuan" 龍卷 (lit. "dragon roll") "waterspout" and "longjuanfeng" 龍卷風 ("dragon roll wind") "cyclone; tornado" (Visser 1913:220-224).

Characters

Most Chinese characters are written with a "phonetic" element that roughly indicates pronunciation with a "radical" or "signific" that suggests semantic field. "Shen"'s standard and antiquated characters combine the "chen" "dragon (zodiac), duodecimal 5th of the 12 Earthly Branches; period from 7-9 AM; time period; occasion; star; celestial body" phonetic with the "chong" "insect; reptile" radical.

A variety of other characters utilize this phonetic "chen" 辰 "5th; dragon", which the "Wenlin" says "may have depicted an ancient kind of hoe" in ancient oracle bone script (cf. "nou" 耨 "hoe; rake"). Some etymologically significant examples include:
*"chen" 晨 (with 日 "sun") "dragon star"
*"zhen" 震 (with 雨 "rain") "thunder; quake" (also a bagua trigram Unicode|☳ "The Arousing")
*"zhen" 振 (with 扌"hand") "shake; stimulate"
*"zhen" 娠 (with "woman") "pregnant"
*"shen" 脤 (with 肉 "meat") "sacrificial meat" This "chen" 晨 or "chenxing" 辰星 "dragon star" is an asterism in the traditional Chinese constellations, a morning star within the Azure Dragon that is associated with east and spring. Specifically, the "dragon star" is in the 5th and 6th lunar Twenty-eight mansions, with its "xin" 心 "Heart" and "wei" 尾 "Tail" corresponding to the Western constellations of Antares and Scorpius.

Etymologies

Carr (1990:144-145) etymologically hypothesizes that the "chen" < *"Unicode|dyɘn" 辰 phonetic series (using Bernhard Karlgren's Old Chinese reconstructions) split between *"Unicode|dyɘn" "dragon" and *"Unicode|tyɘn" "thunder". The former words include aquatic "shen" < *"Unicode|dyɘn" 蜃 "large shellfish; sea dragon", celestial "chen" < *"Unicode|dyɘn" 晨 "dragon star", and possibly through dragon-emperor association, "chen" < *"Unicode|dyɘn" 宸 "imperial palace; mansion". The latter ones, reflecting the belief that dragons cause rainfall and thunder, include "zhen" < *"Unicode|tyɘn" 震 "thunder; shake", "zhen" < *"Unicode|tyɘn" 振 "shake; scare", and "ting" < *"d'ieng" 霆 "thunderbolt".

Schuessler (2007:184, 459, 611) provides more refined reconstructions and etymologies:
*"shen" < *"Unicode|dɘns" 蜃 "'Clam, oyster' … 'some kind of dragon'."
*"chen" < *"Unicode|dɘn" 辰 "The 5th of the Earthly branches, identified with the dragon … cf. 蜃 'some kind of dragon'", which might be an Austro-Asiatic language loan from Vietnamese "trăn" or Mon "klan" "python".
*"chen" < *"Unicode|dɘn" 晨 or 辰 "Time when life begins to stir: (1) 'early morning' … (2) "start of growing/agricultural season in the 3rd month; heavenly bodies that mark that time' … 'heavenly body', 'time'."
*"zhen" < *"Unicode|tɘns" 振 or 震 "('To stir, be stirring':) 'to shake, rouse, quake' … 'to alarm, fear', 'scared', 'thunder', 'move'".
*"zhen" < "Unicode|tɘns" 娠 "'Pregnant', 'become pregnant' … is derived from 'to shake, rouse, excite' (e.g., a grasshopper from hibernation, i.e., coming to life), hence lit. 'start stirring, moving' (of an embryo)."

Popular culture

In the present day, the mythical "shen" "clam-monster" is best known through the everyday words for "mirage; illusion", typically Chinese "haishishenlou" 海市蜃樓, Korean "shingiru" 신기루 蜃氣樓, and Japanese "shinkirō" 蜃気楼.

In the Chinese novel "Water Margin", the character Tong Meng is nicknamed Fanzhiang Shen 翻江蜃 "River-churning Shen". In Japanese manga, Shin 蜃 is an illusion-creating weapon of Tomo (Seiryu Seishi) and an illusion-manifesting technique of Demon Eyes Kyo. The title "Honō no Mirāju" 炎の蜃気楼 "Mirage of Blaze" transcribes "shinkirō" 蜃気楼 with the English gairaigo loanword "mirāju".

References

*Carr, Michael. 1990. "Chinese Dragon Names," "Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area" 13.2:87-189.
*Eberhard, Wolfram. 1968. " [http://books.google.com/books?id=kAyGAAAAIAAJ&source=gbs_ViewAPI&pgis=1 The Local Cultures of South and East China] ". E. J. Brill.
*Legge, James, tr. 1885. " [http://books.google.com/books?id=LLni3mH5U1MC&dq=The+Li+Ki&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 The Li Ki] ", 2 vols. Oxford University Press. ISBN 141916922X
*Read, Bernard E. 1934. " [http://books.google.com/books?id=ZZDQGAAACAAJ&dq=Chinese+Materia+Medica+Bernard&ei=pfu5SIKYK4HaygTjtPWPBw Chinese Materia Medica VII; Dragons and Snakes"] "Peking Natural History Bulletin" 8.4:279-362.
*Schafer 1989. "Fusang and Beyond: The Haunted Seas to Japan," "Journal of the American Oriental Society" 109.3:379-400.
*Schuessler, Axel. 2007. "ABC Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese". University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0824829751
*Visser, Marinus Willern de. 1913. [http://fax.libs.uga.edu/GR830xD7xV8/# "The Dragon in China and Japan"] . J. Müller.