Legendary Voracious Beast
excerpt from a work in progress
...from the snout downward...
TAOTIE or “legendary voracious beast,” is a zoomorphic mask motif of great antiquity exemplified on the ritual bronze vessels of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties;
frontal (A Butterfly Effect)
bilaterally symmetrical/
Azure Dragon/
Vermilion Bird/
White Tiger/
Black Tortoise//: the 4 IMAGES in Four Directions
Four Benevolent Animals\
Four Malevolent Fiends\
Four Evil Creatures of the World\
CLASSIC OF MOUNTAINS AND SEAS, where many ritual wonders are exposed and expounded upon, grafted
fthe Spring and Autumn Annals of Lu—
DAODIE/TAOTIE: A Glutton?
the Pattern on Zhou Bronzes [ding] has a head but no body. When it eats people, it does not swallow them, but harms them.
Legend goes, it was midway in devouring a man, but before it could swallow him, its own body was damaged.
Crux of the sacrifice in GLUTTONY, and
food offering to the insatiable spirits
of the inherited dead--
ANCESTRY.
[In MING Culture, motives of the 9 Children of the Dragon are codified]
The taotie likes to eat and drink;
it used to appear on the surface of dings
[vessels in ancient times]...
At Table Together: with us, the
Legendary Voracious Beast obliquely referred to in the
Classic of Changes (BOOK OF) Continues
To eat and drink.
On a similar theme:
About the Creator
Rob Angeli
sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt
There are tears of things, and mortal objects touch the mind.
-Virgil Aeneid I.462
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Comments (2)
R, this was an interesting read. It felt well researched, although I don't know much about the time period/ culture. I learned a lot and found it quit thought provoking!
Taotie was in use 1000 BC -- dao and tas started around 500 BC -- puts a twisted tie onto the meaning of dao and tao.... nice research