The Monstrefact Redux: Chiseltooth

Published Feb 16, 2022, 8:01 AM

In this classic episode of STBYM’s The Monstrefact, Robert discusses the monster Chiseltooth from Chinese mythology… (origianlly published 10/20/2021)

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Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and this is the Monster Fact, a short form series from Stuff to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on mythical creatures, ideas and monsters in time. Perhaps you've heard the story of Houghie the Archer, one of the greatest heroes in Chinese mythology. Already the world's greatest archer, he rose to divine superstardom during the time of the Ten Suns. When the Middle Kingdom suffered under the intense heat of a blazing sky. The Emperor Yao called upon Ye for assistance, and so the Great Archer shot each of the nine surplus sons out of the sky, saving the world from a fiery fate. But the Middle Kingdom was still not safe. While the solar calamity had been averted, many range and unnatural beings still roamed the land and tormented the people. Emperor Yao called upon the Mighty Archer once more to dispense with this new threat. The plague of monsters featured great serpents and giant birds. They boasted names such as nine gullet, Typhoon, mound Pig, and long Snake. According to translators John Major at All in two thousand tens The High Nuns, a guide to the theory and practice of government in early Han China. These monsters pop up in various warring states and hand works, and seemed to represent destructive forces of nature. But there's one monster we must single out for its unique appearance and ferocity. Zoocher chiseltooth or chisel tusk. An eighth century Tang Dynasty tile depicts a creature thought to represent chiseltooth. He has the appearance of a great eat ogre, with a bald head, pig like nose, bat ears, and a huge chisel like tooth emerging from his upper jaw. Cereal Birch's Tales from China retaels Ye's adventures and describes quote one huge tooth gleaming yellow against its chest. The monster is said to make grizzly use of his great razor sharp tooth, severing heads and rending his victim's flesh. He is the great butcher. He cuts down whole towns and eats what he likes. No wonder the Emperor ordered Ye to hunt the killer down. As Birch tells it, Ye and his companions set out across the water meadows and soon discovered signs of the monster's blood lust. Decapitated bodies littered the ground. Whole towns had been decimated, as if by an environmental force. Chisel Tooth fled before his hunters and retreated to his caves, but then re emerged with a great shield. Ye's arrows were useless against such defenses, but the great archer stood his ground. Chiseltooth advanced closer and closer, and just as the monster lowered his shield and reared his ugly head to strike, Ye let fly his arrow and severed the tooth from the monster's head right at the gums. Chiseltooth, like all the other monsters, fell dead at Ye's feet. Ye would have many more adventures, but his later life, we are told, was marked by tragedy. His wife, Changa, drank the elixir of immortality and flew to the moon alone immortal. Yea's annual offerings to his wife became the mid Autumn moon festival, still practiced today. Ye himself eventually died, in some tellings, at the hands of his own scheming apprentice, who wanted the secrets of his archery all to himself Ye Tune in for additional episodes of The Monster Fact each week during the months of September and October. As always, you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts for My heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

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