Pixiu

According to the Records of the Grand Historian: Annals of the Five Emperors, the Yellow Emperor 'trained bears, brown bears, pixiu, wildcats, and tigers to fight against the Yan Emperor on the plains of Banquan'—indicating that the pixiu was originally a ferocious beast deployed alongside troops in ancient warfare. Later legends recount that the pixiu offended celestial law and was struck by the Jade Emperor, who sealed its anus with a single palm-strike; henceforth, it could ingest gold, silver, and treasures but never expel them. Thus, it became revered as an auspicious beast that attracts and accumulates wealth. In popular practice, statues of the pixiu are commonly placed in shops and residences to ‘swallow wealth from the four directions’ and ‘ward off evil while protecting the home’. It is especially venerated by merchants and gambling establishments as a preeminent deity of prosperity, ranking alongside the three-legged toad and the golden toad among the foremost auspicious wealth-bringing creatures.