Shan Hui | The Classic of Mountains and Seas

32nd Illustration of 山海经 (The Classic of Mountains and Seas) - 山犭军 (Shān Huī)
🐕👤As stated in the chapter 山海经·北山经 (The Classic of the Northern Mountains): two hundred miles further north there is 狱法山 (Yùfǎ Mountain), and a beast lives there which looks like a dog and has a human face. It has the capability of throwing things and laughs whenever it sees humans. Its name is 山犭军; the ancient text records its real name as 山犭军, not "山挥" (a character with the radical for "dog"/狗 and the radical for "army"/军, which seems untypeable in input methods). The hanzi "山挥" is used instead for ease of typing. Ancient people believed that the appearance of Shan Hui foretells strong winds, and it is a mythical beast symbolizing wind. It moves as fast as the wind, and its appearance foretells a great wind.
🐕👤The legends of the human-faced dog are widespread in both China and Japan, with urban legends even circulating in Japan in 1989 (the first year of the Heisei era) claiming sightings in subways or tunnels. Because of this, the human-faced dog is a modern "star" in Japanese yokai culture. Whether by coincidence or design, some eyewitnesses describe it as "running at around 80 kilometers per hour" and "capable of leaping six meters off cliffs," which to some extent, aligns with Shan Hui's description of being "swift as the wind."
🐕👤Some argue that the prototype of the Shan Hui may not be a canine, but rather a baboon – a primate also adept at throwing. This theory is supported by the baboon's habits, which align with descriptions in the Shan Hai Jing, such as being "good at throwing", "见人则笑 laughing (calling/barking) when seeing people", and having a "human face".
🐕👤As geographically recorded in Shan Hai Jing, Shan Hui lived in the same place as 䲃魚 (Zǎoyú), the carp fish with chicken feet in the 狱法山 (Yùfǎ Mountain). Knowing Shan Hui is skilled at throwing things, there is also a creature recorded in Shan Hai Jing who is skilled at throwing, its name is 举父 (Jǔ Fù), a monkey with stripes on its arms and the strength of a leopard.