Qilin

Origin and myth

The qilin is one of the four benevolent creatures of Chinese tradition, alongside the dragon, the phoenix and the tortoise. It is first named in the Zuo Zhuan, a historical commentary of the 5th century BC, which records that Confucius took the capture of a qilin in 481 BC as an omen of his own death. Later tradition claims a qilin appeared to the mother of Confucius before his birth, and the animal became the sign that a sage or a just ruler had come into the world.

The qilin is gentle to the point of walking on clouds so as not to crush the grass, and it eats no living thing. It punishes the wicked, and under the Ming it became the emblem of the highest military officials. When Admiral Zheng He's fleet brought a giraffe from East Africa to the court in 1414, it was presented as a qilin, and in Japanese and Korean the word for giraffe is still "kirin". The creature also passed into Japan as the kirin, and into Korea and Vietnam.

Over the centuries the qilin shifted from a single omen of Confucian virtue into a general symbol of good fortune, fertility and the safe arrival of children, carved on temple doorways and cast as bronze guardians.

Appearance

The qilin is a hooved chimera. The body is a stag's: slender legs, cloven hooves, a deep chest. The head is dragon-like, with a long muzzle, prominent brow ridges, a beard and flowing whiskers, and one or two horns - the single-horn version is why it is often called the Chinese unicorn. In Han depictions the horn is a single fleshy antler; in Ming and Qing art the horns branch like a deer's.

The body is covered in scales, often described as coloured in five hues or as golden, with a mane and a tail of flowing hair like a lion's, and sometimes flames licking from the shoulders and hocks. Ming bronze qilin are stocky and lion-like, seated with a raised head; Japanese kirin are lean, almost a deer in dragon skin. The essential recipe is dragon head, deer body, scales and hooves.

In modern fantasy

The qilin, usually under the name kirin, is a familiar creature in East Asian video games, animated series and collectible card games, generally portrayed as a rare, sacred and often lightning-associated beast. It appears in tabletop role-playing systems such as Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder as a celestial creature, and in monster-hunting and role-playing video games as a mount or a high-level encounter.

3D printing notes

The qilin is a hooved subject with a heavy head, which sets the print strategy: the four slender legs cannot support the mass on their own at small scales. At 28-32 mm tabletop scale, print in resin with a flame or cloud element connecting the belly to the base, or choose a seated guardian pose modelled on the Ming bronzes, which is stable and prints almost without supports.

At 75 mm, split into body, head-and-neck and tail, keyed with pegs. Supports go on the belly and inner legs where they are hidden; keep horns and whiskers at 1.2 mm or thicker. Hollow the body to 2 mm. FDM is practical for the seated guardian form at 100 mm and up if the scales are simplified into raised plates.

A 150 mm and larger centrepiece looks best as a walking qilin on a cloud base, with the clouds providing support to two hooves and the tail. Run a 3 mm brass rod through each rear leg. Flames at the shoulders and hocks can be printed separately in translucent resin. A hinged neck and jaw with 0.4 mm clearances add expression to a print-in-place display piece.

Painting and display

Gold is the traditional scheme: a dark bronze base, drybrushed with old gold and highlighted with bright gold on the scale edges, with a sepia wash in the recesses. The mane, tail and beard can be a contrasting colour - deep red, blue or jade green - and the flames painted from orange at the base to yellow at the tips. The five-coloured version uses glazes of red, yellow, green, blue and white over a gold base.

A cloud base in soft white and grey with a touch of blue, or a temple courtyard in stone, suits the creature. Translucent resin flames at the shoulders are a natural spot for warm LED lighting.

Related creatures

The qilin is often called the Chinese cousin of the Unicorn, and its dragon head links it to the Western Dragon. Among the four benevolent creatures it stands beside the Phoenix, and in Japanese folklore it shares the stage with the fox spirit Kitsune.

For a qilin guardian or a walking display piece, ask Fantasy Lab 3D for a custom print.