Research Article FIFTY YEARS of TRACKING the CHINESE WILDMAN
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The RELICT HOMINOID INQUIRY 1:118-141 (2012) Research Article FIFTY YEARS OF TRACKING THE CHINESE WILDMAN ZHOU Guoxing* Beijing Museum of Natural History, Beijing, People’s Republic of China ABSTRACT. Upright walking, two meters in height, hands hanging down straight to knees, huge feet, bulging eyeballs, human face and black-red long hair – all of these are the macroscopic features shared in common by the Shennongjia Wildman, the Man Bear in both Jiulong and Yuanbao Mountains, the Himalayan Yeti (the Snowman), the American sasquatch (Bigfoot) and other legendary wildmen across the world. But do they really exist? As an anthropologist, the author has been watching this matter since the late 1950’s. He has collected information of relevance for analysis and study, and conducted field research. Having covered almost all the main areas where the Wildman has been encountered in China, he has collected a great amount of first-hand information and materials, including the supposed specimens. Furthermore, as a member of the executive board of the International Society of Cryptozoology, the author has maintained exchanges with other prominent Wildman researchers around the world, and has traveled to North America and the former Soviet Union to make direct contacts with the local Wildman trackers. He has gone through an interesting evolution in his search for the Wildman – from acceptance with reservation, to vacillation with doubt, to basically denial. Now he is trying to conclude what he has experienced in the last 50 years in the form of an academic work, Tracking the Wildman for Fifty Years. Here is a summary of the several instances that largely dissuade the author on the matter of the existence of the so-called Chinese Wildman. KEY WORDS: Yeren, Man Bear, Snowman, sasquatch, Shennongjia, China, cryptozoology INTRODUCTION continue, acknowledging that there might be a living species yet to be identified by science. Scientific interest in the Wildman of modern A summary report of the inferred China began in the 1950’s. This intensified in morphological and ecological characteristics the 1970’s when the author lead a large-scale and the possible phylogenetic position of the expedition sponsored by the Chinese Academy supposed Chinese Wildman was published in of Sciences to the provinces of Hubei and 1982.1 Now thirty years later, the author Shanxi, in 1977, and again in 1979-80. In spite reviews the subsequent developments and of the scope of the investigation, no direct reassesses his position. proof of the existence of the Wildman was found. Only footprints, hair and feces All sorts of Wildman hair – presumed to be from the Wildman were each with its own story. recovered. Opinions within the scientific community were divided concerning the Hair can be used as the physical evidence Wildman’s existence, with the majority to prove the existence of a particular living rejecting the possibility. A smaller number of scholars concluded that research should 1 ZHOU Guoxing (1982) Status of Wildman research in China. Cryptozoology 1:13-23. *Correspondence to: ZHOU Gouxing, email: [email protected]. © RHI TRACKING THE CHINESE WILDMAN 119 species. Over the decades I have collected a monkey, and a head of human size. It was dozens of hair specimens of various shape, about 1.2 to 1.5 m in height with robust length, coarseness and color from the so- physique and arms of almost human length. called Wildman. Comparative specimens from The dogbane hemp-like white hair on its head, the order Primates and other animals are a bit black at the root, is about 12.7 to 15.2 cm among the collection as well. My long, covering the upper half of the face. identifications have clearly shown that to my Later, I met an old man, ZHA Chengxian, and knowledge not a single real Wildman hair has asked what the hair was. ‘Wildman’s’ he been collected to date. All specimens were replied.” identified as originating from known animals, The hair provided by YIN Hongfa has been or from humans. identified by the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, as from the nape of a The Wildman hair collected by serow (Capricornis milneedwardsii DAVID, YIN Hongfa actually belongs to a serow. 1869) (Fig. 1). Later, according to FENG Zuojian, researcher of the Institute of Zoology, It is said that YIN Hongfa, resident of Chinese Academy of Sciences, who Qingxi Brook Production Brigade, Qiaoshang interviewed YIN in 1974, “We then Commune, County of Fang, claimed that he considered it a mystery. Why did he say it encountered a Wildman and yanked out a was Wildman’s hair, when obviously it should bunch of hair from it. “I was on holiday that be serow’s? Years later when we visited him day on May 1, 1974, when I went up Qinglong again, YIN Hongfa told the truth – that he Village after breakfast to cut kudzu vine and fabricated the story of fighting the Wildman heard footsteps down the hill,” he said. “I was only to scare the little children away and then facing uphill while standing on a tree discourage them from running around at night, trunk with some cut-off kudzu vines. I didn’t hoping that they would come home earlier spare a look, but simply asked who it was, rather than wander around. And that is it.” thinking that it might be somebody else By the witness’s own admission, the said coming for kudzu vines, yet received no encounter was fictitious. response. I was just appalled as I turned back and looked down at the sight of a non-human The Wildman red hair animal with white hair all over its body. It found in Shennongjia region was walking like a human with its head was actually dyed human hair. lowered, so fast that it got to me shortly from 6 m away and reached out for me. I backed The Wildman in the Shennongjia region is up to make way only to find its hand almost known for its bright red hair. The so-called on me. Never before had I seen such a thing Red-haired Wildman, has hair that resembles that I had no idea what capability it had, and the red national flag or the red scarf of the since I was alone, I decided to take a bet by Young Pioneers. This seemed improbable and chopping at its left arm with my sickle used prompted the zoologists to wonder how such a for cutting the kudzu vines. I grabbed its hair bright-red animal could remain hidden in the with my left hand and chopped again at its left forest. A great amount of red hair samples arm, and it shook its head abruptly and broke have been collected by the mountain residents a bunch of its hair. ‘Wow! Wow!’, as it cried and from extensive locations. Judging from and ran uphill, I rushed downhill back home. those that I have collected, they vary All I saw when it shook its head and revealed considerably in shape, being straight or curled its face was a round red mouth, yet not that of (Fig. 2, 3). When observed under a ZHOU GUOXING 120 magnifying glass, they are apparently decayed long hair on its hind legs and tail. from black hair since the rest of the hair shaft retains melanin, while some parts remain The Wildman hair found in white, yet to be dyed red. Twice we have sent Leigong Mountain, Guizhou Province, the red hair samples to academic institutions actually belongs to a wild boar. in the United States for identification, which concluded that they are all dyed human hair. Douzhai Village is a fairly remote Miao As we know, dyed hair contains completely ethnic village located near the Town of different elements from the non-dyed, and we Fangxiang, Leigong Mountain area, Guizhou just cannot attribute it to the Wildman based Province. Here a hunter named LI Ping, who on this difference. So can we still say there is lived in the west of the village, claimed to red-haired Wildman in Shennongjia region have seen the Wildman. He heard about it in after demonstrating the samples are actually childhood when his grandfather told Wildman dyed human hair? stories, in which two Wildmen, one male and One sample of curled red hair delivered for the other female, inhabited the Leigong identification was identified as belonging to Mountain. Sometimes the Wildmen would the Caucasian-like race, i.e. the white race. come down to the village to steal food and This seems inexplicable and it remains to be even babies from the villagers. When LI was seen whether the result was based on the about 36 or 37 years old, his father, who was a sample’s oval cross-section and whether the fan of hunting, usually took him up to the cross-section could be deformed under mountain and never came back empty-handed. pressure, or by some other means. One day the father and son went hunting again in the mountain, and they separated to a The Wildman hair collected by distance of around 200 m hoping for more JIANG Yong, cameraman, Institute of success. As LI got to a col a gunshot suddenly Scientific Research, Shennongjia Natural rang out from his father’s direction, and he Reservation Area, belongs to a goral. followed the report. He found his father standing there stunned with an animal lying in I made acquaintance with JIANG Yong, a front of him. It was human-sized and covered cameraman, in the year of 2007 when I visited with grey brown hair, resembling a human or Shennongjia.