The giraffe hailed as a qilin

A giraffe sent from Bengal reached Nanjing in 1414 with Zheng He's fleet and was hailed at court as the auspicious qilin.

1414 CE · 32.06, 118.79 · status: explained

The account

Court painters and poets celebrated the animal as a sign of the Yongle Emperor's virtue; a second arrived from Malindi in 1415.

Sources

1. Wikipedia: Qilin
2. Wikipedia: Zheng He