Qilin

Qilin

Illustration based on a Qing era depiction of a qilin
Grouping	Legendary creature
Sub grouping	Chimera
Similar entities	kirin, kỳ lân, gilen
First attested	5th century BCE
Country	China

Qilin
"Qilin" in Chinese characters
Chinese name
Chinese	麒麟
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin qílín Wade–Giles ch'i2-lin2 IPA [tɕʰǐ.lǐn] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization kèih-lèuhn Jyutping kei4-leon4 IPA [kʰej˩.lɵn˧˥] Southern Min Hokkien POJ kî-lîn
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabet	kỳ lân
Chữ Hán	麒麟
Thai name
Thai	กิเลน
RTGS	kilen
Korean name
Hangul	기린
Hanja	麒麟
Transcriptions Revised Romanization Girin McCune–Reischauer Kirin
Japanese name
Kanji	麒麟
Hiragana	きりん
Transcriptions Romanization kirin
Manchu name
Manchu script	ᡴᡳᠯᡳᠨ
Romanization	kilin

The qilin (English: /tʃiˈlɪn/ chee-LIN; Chinese: 麒麟) is a legendary hooved chimerical creature that appears in Chinese mythology, and is said to appear with the imminent arrival or death of a sage or illustrious ruler.^[1] Qilin are a specific type of the lin mythological family of one-horned beasts. The qilin also appears in the mythologies of other Chinese-influenced cultures.