Case file · Folklore / legend
Xingxing, the talking ape of Chinese lore
Ancient Chinese texts such as the 'Classic of Mountains and Seas' describe the xingxing, an ape-like creature of the southern mountains that knew people's names; the 'Book of Rites' says it could speak.
300 BCE · 25.00, 102.70 · status: legend
The account
Later writers said hunters caught xingxing by setting out wine and straw sandals, which the creatures could not resist. The name came to be used for apes, and in modern Chinese xingxing means orangutan.
The sceptical view
Probably travellers' tales of gibbons and other apes, embellished by classical writers; no unknown primate is implied.