"In the Northern Sea there was a fish, whose name was kw‘ên
- Date of account
- Published 1886
- Source
- Mythical Monsters
- Reference
- Mythical Monsters · selected passage 126
- Rights
- public_domain
- Language
- English
- Record updated
- 2026-08-24
Record summary
"In the Northern Sea there was a fish, whose name was kw‘ên
Published source text
Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.
Source passage
Source text · mention only"In the Northern Sea there was a fish, whose name was _kw‘ên_. It is not known how many thousand _li_ this fish was in length. It was afterwards transformed into a bird called _p‘êng_, the size of whose back is uncertain by some thousands of _li_. Suddenly it would dart upwards with rapid flight, its wings overspreading the sky like clouds. When the waters were agitated [in the sixth moon] the bird moved its abode to the Southern Sea, the Pool of Heaven. In the book called _Ts‘i Hieh_, which treats of strange and marvellous things, it is said that when the _p‘êng_ flew south, it first rushed over three thousand _li_ of water, and then mounted to the height of ninety thousand _li_, riding upon the wind that blows in the sixth moon. The wild horses, _i.e._ the clouds and dust of heaven, were driven along by the zephyrs. The colour of the sky was blue; yet, is that the real colour of the sky, or only the appearance produced by infinite, illimitable depths?
Historical context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyThis is a historical compilation of unusual-animal reports and argument. Witness testimony, repetition between publications and the author's zoological assumptions all affect independence and reliability.
Modern context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyLattice compares morphology, behaviour and setting while keeping misidentification, folklore, exaggeration, error and known animals available as alternatives.
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