Chi Ru

Origin and Mythology

The Chi Ru (赤鱬) is recorded in the Shan Hai Jing (Classic of Mountains and Seas). The ancient text places it in the Ying River, which flows south from Mount Qingqiu toward the Jiyi Marsh. It describes a legendary creature with the form of a fish and a human face, whose call sounds like mandarin ducks. The text also says that eating it prevented scabies, a traditional claim that belongs to the ancient record rather than modern health guidance.

The Shan Hai Jing does not tell a long adventure about Chi Ru. Instead, it preserves a brief, memorable encounter from an imagined landscape of mountains, rivers, and unusual beings. Its human face, birdlike call, and place in the Ying River make Chi Ru feel like a creature at the boundary of familiar life and ancient wonder.

Appearance

The original text gives Chi Ru a fish-like body and a human face, joining an aquatic form with a recognizably human presence. It does not describe the elaborate colors or ornaments used in our finished artwork. Those scarlet scales, fins, and moonlit details are MythColoring's visual interpretation, created to give the coloring page a sense of movement and water.

Symbolism

Chi Ru invites us to think about the mystery of rivers and the way ancient legends connected nature with imagination. Its mixed features make it feel rare rather than frightening. Through MythColoring, this Shan Hai Jing creature becomes a coloring page that lets families explore an ancient legend through their own colors.