Mythology

Liu Er Mihou

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Tradition: Chinese Mythology
Alternative Names: Six-Eared Macaque, Six-Eared Monkey, 六耳猕猴
Category: Monkey

The Myth

The Liu Er Mihou, or Six-Eared Macaque, is a supernatural monkey appearing in the Chinese novel Journey to the West. It belongs to the Four Divine Monkeys, a group of extraordinary primates that exist outside the ordinary classifications of celestial beings and creatures. The other three are the Lingming Stone Monkey, represented by Sun Wukong; the Red-Rumped Horse Monkey; and the Tongbi Ape. The Six-Eared Macaque possesses six ears and supernatural perception, allowing it to hear events from a thousand miles away, understand human speech, discern the nature of things, and know what has happened and what is yet to come.

The Six-Eared Macaque is virtually indistinguishable from Sun Wukong. It copies his golden eyes, yellow hair, golden headband, tiger-skin skirt, travelling clothes, boots, and magical iron staff. Its martial abilities and supernatural powers are also equal to those of the original Monkey King. Even Sun Wukong’s companions, Guanyin, the celestial gods, and the judges of the underworld cannot determine which monkey is genuine.

The creature appears after Sun Wukong is expelled from the pilgrimage following a dispute with Tang Sanzang. Taking advantage of his absence, the Six-Eared Macaque assumes his appearance, attacks Tang Sanzang, steals the pilgrims’ luggage, and returns to Flower-Fruit Mountain. There, it gathers demon monkeys disguised as Tang Sanzang, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, and the White Dragon Horse, intending to establish a false pilgrimage of its own. When the real Sun Wukong returns, the two identical monkeys fight across the South Sea, Heaven, and the underworld, but nobody can distinguish them. The underworld deity King Qinguang eventually consults the supernatural hound-like being Di Ting, which recognizes the truth but refuses to reveal it directly, advising the monkeys to seek the Buddha instead.

At the Great Thunderclap Monastery, the Buddha identifies the impostor as the Six-Eared Macaque. He explains that its extraordinary hearing allows it to perceive distant events and understand the thoughts expressed through human speech, accounting for its ability to imitate Sun Wukong so perfectly. Terrified at being exposed, the creature attempts to flee, but the Buddha traps it beneath a golden alms bowl, forcing it to reveal its true form. Sun Wukong then kills the Six-Eared Macaque with his Ruyi Jingu Bang, ending the deception.

Sources

“The Six-Eared Macaque” (六耳獼猴). Chinese Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%AD%E8%80%B3%E7%8D%BC%E7%8C%B4

Changyou

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Tradition: Chinese Mythology
Alternative Names: 长右, Chang You
Category: Monkey

The Myth

The Changyou is a strange beast from Chinese mythology that resembles a monkey but possesses four ears. It lives on Changyou Mountain, a place described as having abundant water but no vegetation. Its cry sounds like a human groaning or moaning, giving the creature an eerie voice that distinguishes it from ordinary monkeys.

According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas, the appearance of a Changyou is an omen of catastrophic flooding. Whenever the creature is sighted, great floods are said to strike the surrounding districts, bringing destruction to human settlements. Its connection to water has led to comparisons with other legendary ape-like water monsters, such as Wuzhiqi.

Tradition also connects the Changyou to the time when Yu the Great was attempting to control the great floods of ancient China. The creature reportedly appeared three times on Mount Tongbai, where violent thunderstorms and fierce winds repeatedly obstructed the flood-control efforts. Unable to make progress, Yu called upon the gods to capture the monster. Only after the Changyou was subdued could the work of controlling the waters proceed successfully.

Sources

“Changyou” (长右). Chinese Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%95%BF%E5%8F%B3

Germakochi

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Tradition: Laz Mythology, Russian Mythology
Alternative Names: Germakochi
Category: Monkey

The Myth

Germakochi is a mysterious forest-dwelling creature from the mythology of the Laz people. It is described as a tall, hairy figure with a body that resembles a mixture of a human and a monkey. Living deep in the forests, Germakochi is curious about humans and sometimes approaches them, although its presence is feared. In earlier times, the Laz people were said to abandon their villages when they believed Germakochi had entered them.

Despite its frightening appearance, Germakochi is known for its curiosity and willingness to interact with people. According to tradition, the way to escape from it is to make a fire. The creature takes the fire but immediately bursts into flames, after which it flees toward the Black Sea and plunges into its waters. Its resemblance to the forest creature Ochokochi of Georgian mythology has also been noted, while some accounts compare it to the Kallikantzaros of Anatolian traditions.

Sources

“Germakochi.” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germakochi

Tamaki

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Gyokukan, 玉環
Category: Monkey

The Myth

Tamaki, also known as Gyokukan, is a supernatural figure who appears in Kokuji Nue Monogatari, an illustrated tale published in 1808. He is one of three siblings born to Ishikawa Yoshitoshi and Ukihashi, and his childhood name is Saeda. After growing into a handsome young man, he takes the name Gyokukan and enters the service of the imperial court. However, he becomes entangled in a political conspiracy involving Bifukumon-in and Han’i. Captured and tortured alongside Han’i, he dies and becomes one of three vengeful spirits whose grudges continue to influence the living.

After the monstrous Nue is defeated by Minamoto no Yorimasa and Inojunta, the vengeful spirits continue their revenge through supernatural transformations. Han’i becomes a snake, while Gyokukan transforms into an old monkey. Together, they manipulate events and bring misfortune upon Yorimasa and his son Nakatsuna. The spirits’ hatred eventually extends to the children of Inojunta and his wife Gunhagi, who have retreated to Nishiyama Village in Harima. Their three sons are named Nueta, Nueji, and Nuesan after monsters their father had defeated, provoking the spirits’ anger.

The revenge unfolds through a series of horrifying incidents. Han’i appears as a phantom to the young Nueta, causing a matchlock to seem to attack the boy. When his father Hayata attempts to cut the weapon away, he accidentally strikes his son, killing him; the supposed matchlock is revealed to be a dead snake. Later, Nueji disappears while playing with a grass tiger. Hayata sees what appears to be a real tiger carrying the child, but it is actually a tiger skin that had disappeared from the family home. Hayata’s arrow triggers a catastrophe, and he is crushed beneath a rock. Finally, an old monkey enters the family grounds and throws the youngest child, Nuesan, into a basin of boiling water, killing him. The monkey is caught and killed, and Han’i finally reveals the truth about the spirits’ revenge before taking his own life. A hidden flame escapes from his wound and flies away.

The deaths expose the chain of vengeance connecting the spirits, their enemies, and the children of those involved. Nobutoshi Amano recognizes his own role in the past crimes that helped create the tragedy and buries his daughter, whose grave becomes known as Ayame Mound. Eventually, Nashinosuke, Yorimasa’s daughter, establishes a shrine at Nishitsu to appease the three sisters’ spirits, enshrining them as Himemiya Daimyōjin. The sisters appear in a lady-in-waiting’s dream, bow respectfully, and depart. The story concludes with the vengeful spirits of the Beast Mound finally being pacified, while protective charms and the blessings of Kannon are said to have safeguarded the surviving children.

Sources

“Tamaki.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1084390218.html

Mononuke

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: もぬけ
Category: Monkey

The Myth

The Mononuke is a mysterious supernatural being described in Senkyō Ibun, a collection of accounts attributed to Torakichi, a boy who claimed to have lived among the mountain-dwelling people associated with tengu. According to his testimony, monkeys can grow extraordinarily large as they age, eventually standing upright and walking on two legs. Their heads develop long hair, their eyes shine with exceptional brilliance, and they acquire supernatural abilities that allow them to perform extraordinary feats.

If such a monkey survives for several thousand years, it may eventually burst into flames and burn its own body to ashes. From within the burning body emerges a new form, hairless and shaped much like a human being. This being is called a Mononuke. Although it usually possesses a human-like appearance, it can occasionally return to the form of a monkey and mingle with ordinary monkeys.

Torakichi claimed that his teacher, Sugiyama Sōshō, had once shown him the moment when a human-shaped being emerged from the burned body of an ancient monkey. He was instructed to observe such transformations, suggesting that the Mononuke represented one of the extraordinary forms that a supernatural monkey could attain after an immense lifespan.

Sources

“Monuke.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1051544881.html

Sarusuberi

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: さるすべり
Category: Monkey

The Myth

Sarusuberi is a mysterious supernatural ape described in Sekai no Yōkai Zen Hyakka. According to the account, a hunter once captured a large monkey that possessed the remarkable ability to speak human language. The creature was not merely intelligent but could also predict the hunter’s future.

Frightened by the ape’s uncanny abilities, the hunter became convinced that he was dealing with something unnatural. Rather than keep his strange captive, he hurriedly released it. The ape then disappeared, leaving behind the mystery of its origins and powers. The story’s original source is unknown, and Sarusuberi may have been a creature invented for the encyclopedia rather than one drawn from an established Japanese tradition.

Sources

“Sarusuberi.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1051082383.html

Mitsume no Kyūenbō

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Kyūenbō, Three-Eyed Old Monkey Monk, Sanmoku Kōen
Category: Monkey

The Myth

Mitsume no Kyūenbō is a three-eyed supernatural creature appearing in Ōishi Hyōroku Yumemonogatari, a tale about the adventures of a rough young man named Ōishi Hyōroku. The creature appears in the fields of Yoshino in Satsuma, where a shape-shifting fox has been tricking travellers and shaving their heads. Hyōroku sets out to defeat the fox but encounters a succession of frightening monsters, including Ibaraki Dōji, Shigetomi Ichiganbō, and two severed-head women. Terrified, he flees until he reaches the area around Mochidome Mountain, where the three-eyed creature emerges from the shadows of the trees.

The monster introduces itself as the Three-Eyed Old Monkey Monk, boasting that it has recently risen in status and changed its name to Kōanami. It claims to have been summoned to the Yoshino palace, where it accompanies the nobility during moon-viewing and flower-viewing festivities, enjoying luxurious cushions and precious curtains. It explains its transformation through an exaggerated saying: a monkey lives for a thousand years before becoming a hihi, and a hihi lives for ten thousand years before becoming Kōanami. Its head is supposedly studded with silver needles, while bronze mirrors cover its eyes, making it shine like a precious jewel in every direction.

The creature continues its lengthy speech by boasting of its training under the famous artist and craftsman Hon’ami Kōetsu. It claims expertise in evaluating swords, utensils, paintings, tea ceremony, flower arranging, and miniature landscape gardens, although it admits that it lacks the wisdom of the celebrated calligrapher Yan Zhenqing and cannot escape accusations of illiteracy. After delivering a series of insults against Hyōroku, the monster grabs him by the collar and attempts to pull him closer. Once again terrified, Hyōroku begs the gods for protection and runs away. The creature’s pompous self-praise and exaggerated claims suggest that it was intended to mock a particular person or social figure. A related illustrated version of the story features a similar monster called Sanmoku Kōen, or Three-Eyed Monkey Ape.

Sources

“Mi-me-kyuenbou.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1051081746.html

Saruki

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Saruki-oni, Monkey Demon
Category: Monkey

The Myth

Saruki was a monstrous monkey demon who terrorized the Noto region of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. Originally one of the monkeys living on Mount Onishi, it was banished after becoming violent and harming the people who lived at the foot of the mountain. Fleeing into a cave at Iwaido, Saruki established a stronghold and gathered eighteen followers under its command. The demon and its retinue spread terror throughout Oku-Noto, devouring cattle and horses, abducting women and children, and holding drunken feasts atop a great cedar tower near their cave.

The sacred maiden Sugihime of Ohata Shrine in Wajima’s Mitsui district attempted to defeat Saruki with a bow, arrows, and swords, but none of her weapons could penetrate the demon’s defenses. She then travelled to Izumo Taisha during the month when the gods gather there and appealed to the assembled deities for help. An army led by Keta Daimyojin, the great deity of Noto’s Ichinomiya, marched against the monkey demons. Yet their arrows proved useless because Saruki and its followers had coated themselves in lacquer to deflect the missiles. As the gods withdrew to reconsider their strategy, Sugihime heard a mysterious song by the shore: “Wrap yourselves in a thousand bolts of cloth and shoot arrows from the tubes, Princess of the Sacred Cedar.”

Following this advice, the gods concealed themselves beneath a thousand bolts of white cloth and approached Saruki’s tower while the demons were drinking. When Saruki caught another arrow, a second projectile hidden inside a hollow tube shot forward and pierced its eye. As the wounded demon fled, Princess Kamisugi beheaded it with the famous sword Onikirimaru. The divine army then destroyed the remaining followers. Numerous place names around Yanagida Village are associated with the battle, including Atimo, where Saruki was struck in the eye; Obako, where it treated its wound with medicinal herbs; Kurokawa, named for the black blood that stained the ground; and Onizuka, where the gods buried the demon. Iwaido Shrine is also said to have been established to pacify the spirits of the monkeys and demons.

Sources

“Saru-oni.” 新版TYZ 妖怪図鑑 (New TYZ Yokai Encyclopedia). https://tyz-yokai.blog.jp/archives/1048849432.html

Hiderigami

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Tradition: Japanese Mythology
Alternative Names: Batsu, Kanbo, Shinchi, 魃, ひでりがみ
Category: Monkey

The Myth

The Hiderigami is a grotesque, hairy humanoid spirit that stands only two to three feet tall. It has a single eye on the top of its head, along with just one arm and one leg. Despite its unusual body, it can run as swiftly as the wind. All Hiderigami are female and inhabit remote mountain regions, rarely venturing into places where humans live.

The Hiderigami is feared for the devastating heat radiating from its body. Wherever it travels, the ground dries out, clouds fail to form, and rain ceases to fall. Its presence can therefore cause drought across a wide area, making it a dangerous spirit even when people never see it. Despite its formidable powers, tradition claims that a Hiderigami can be killed by throwing it into a toilet.

The creature is associated with an ancient Chinese legend concerning the Yellow Emperor’s war against the warlord Chi You. The emperor summoned a powerful goddess named Batsu to help him win the battle. Batsu released her supernatural heat, securing victory, but expended so much power that she could neither return to Heaven nor contain the heat within her body. Wherever she remained, water dried up and rain could not fall. Unable to kill her or send her back to Heaven, the emperor banished her to a distant mountain and forbade her from returning. It remains uncertain whether the Hiderigami descended from Batsu or whether the goddess herself was transformed into this drought-causing spirit.

Sources

“Hiderigami.” Yokai.com. https://yokai.com/hiderigami/

Baiyuan

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Tradition: Chinese Mythology
Alternative Names: White Ape, White Gibbon, Bai Yuan, 白猿, 白猨, 白蝯
Category: Monkey

The Myth

The Baiyuan is a supernatural white ape covered entirely in white fur. In Chinese mythology, apes and monkeys are often treated as similar creatures, and the Baiyuan is portrayed as an intelligent, magical beast capable of cultivating spiritual powers and transforming into other forms. It is associated with extraordinary climbing abilities, a fondness for brewing and drinking alcohol, and an uncontrolled desire for women. Its white hair also symbolizes longevity, and some traditions describe ancient apes transforming into white-haired old men.

According to traditional accounts, apes can undergo extraordinary transformations as they age. The Baopuzi states that a monkey becomes an ape after eight hundred years, an ape becomes a jue after five hundred years, and a jue can live for a thousand years. Another account describes apes transforming into jue after five hundred years and jue becoming old men after a thousand. The Classic of Mountains and Seas also mentions white apes inhabiting Tangting Mountain, alongside unusual trees, precious stones, and gold. In another tale, recorded in the History of the Xia and Shang, Yu the Great and his companions hear mournful cries coming from a forest while working to control the floods; the sound is identified as the call of a white ape.

The Baiyuan is also associated with legendary masters of swordsmanship and magical teachings. In the Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue, a remarkable swordswoman encounters Yuan Gong, an old ape-like being who challenges her to a duel. Using a bamboo branch as a sword, he exchanges three moves with her before leaping into a tree and transforming into a white ape, thereby acknowledging her skill. In other traditions, a white ape becomes the disciple of the goddess Jiutian Xuannü, learning swordsmanship and supernatural arts. In the Ming-dynasty novel San Sui Ping Yao Zhuan, the Tongbi White Ape cultivates the Dao, receives the name Yuan Gong, and becomes Baiyun Dongjun, the Lord of White Cloud Cave, where he is appointed guardian of a celestial book.

Sources

“Bái yuán” (白猿). Chinese Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Accessed October 20, 2026. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%99%BD%E7%8C%BF