蜀南多山猕猴

South of Shu蜀 ShǔAncient Shu kingdom/Shu commandery, modern Sichuan. Shu's dense mountains, vast forests, and rich biodiversity have made it a breeding ground for "strange creature" legends since antiquity. Zhang Hua places the monkey legend in Shu both for geographical reasons (Shu does have many monkeys) and reflecting Central Plains people's mystification of southwestern frontier lands. the mountains are many, and in the mountains the macaques are numerous. Macaques are large monkeys, strong enough to fight tigers.

Macaques delight in abducting women. When women enter the mountains to gather ferns, the macaques wait for them to walk alone, then seize and carry them off. In the deep mountains, they cohabit with the women. Children born of this union are shaped like humans but with hair on their faces. They can walk and run well, unafraid of cold or heat.

After several years, the woman might wait until the macaque went out, then escape home with the child. When the child grew up, people called it a "monkey-child猴娃 hóu wáA hybrid offspring of monkey and human. "Monkey-child" is the core element of Chinese "wild man" legends — half-human, half-monkey creatures possessing human intelligence and ape strength. This concept echoes worldwide "ape-man" legends (Himalayan Yeti, North American Bigfoot).." Its face was hairy; it was good at climbing but disliked living among humans, often returning to the mountains.

An "Anthropological" Record in a Naturalist's Compendium

"Monkeys of Shu" is one of the most disturbing entries in Bowu Zhi. Zhang Hua records a "monkey-human hybrid" legend with a naturalist's cool pen. He neither judges nor explains — just records: "macaques delight in abducting women," "children born shaped like humans but with hair on their faces." This detached narrative tone makes the story all the more chilling.

From a modern anthropological perspective, the legend may have multiple sources: Shu's mountainous areas do have aggressive macaque attacks; "monkey-children" may refer to mountain hermits or people with intellectual disabilities — their abnormal behavior attributed to "monkey blood"; it may also reflect some ancient memory of the fuzzy boundary between humans and primates — our common ancestor.

The Chinese Version of Global "Wild Man" Legends

Zhang Hua's "monkey-child" echoes "wild man" legends worldwide: the Himalayan Yeti, North American Bigfoot, Southeast Asian forest people. These legends share a common theme: human contact with some "half-human, half-beast" creature and the resulting hybrid offspring. Zhang Hua's version may be one of the world's earliest literary records of "wild men."