Tradition / Region: Chinese Mythology
Alternate Names: Heluo-fish
Category: Fish
The Myth
The Heluo Zhi Yu, or Heluo Fish, is said to live in the waters of the Tower River. It is a strange and unsettling creature, described as having one head and ten bodies, all moving together as a single being. When it cries out, its voice does not sound like a fish at all, but like the barking of a dog.
The flesh of the Heluo Fish is believed to possess powerful healing qualities. Those who eat it are said to be cured of tumors and severe internal illnesses, making it a creature both feared and sought after.
According to legend, the Heluo Fish is not bound to a single form. At times, it is said to transform into a Never-Old Bird, a mysterious creature that steals grains of rice from threshing tools. The bird flutters down into a mortar while stealing grain and dies there, completing its strange cycle of transformation.
Thus, the Heluo Fish is remembered as a being of many bodies and shifting shapes, whose presence links water, land, and air, and whose flesh holds both strangeness and healing power.
Gallery
Sources
A Book of Creatures contributors. (n.d.). Heluo-zhi-yu. In A Book of Creatures, from https://abookofcreatures.com/2019/08/26/heluo-zhi-yu/
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive
Other
- How to Invite The Heluo Zhi Yu