What Animal Is a Bei? Uncovering the Mysterious Beast of Folklore

Many people may have heard the idiom “langbeiweijian” (wolves and bei working together in evil), but many have seen wolves on TV or in zoos, yet no one has ever seen a bei. So what animal is a bei?

1. What animal is a bei?

The bei is a close relative of the wolf. Because the bei's front legs are especially short, it has to climb on a wolf's back when it walks; the bei has no ability to live on its own: once it loses a wolf's support, it cannot move. What people today believe to be a bei is a wolf whose front legs were broken off by a hunter's trap, or a deformed wolf. Wolves are social animals and will not abandon their companions; wherever they go, they carry it on their backs.

2. Folk legends

There are many legends about the bei in the Changbai Mountain area. One of the more widely spread stories is "The Old Woman Outwits and Kills the Bei." It is said that long ago at the foot of Changbai Mountain there was a hunter's family, and after the master died of illness only an old woman of about seventy remained. One evening, an animal that looked like a wolf but was not a wolf, with short front legs and long hind legs, climbed into the hunter's home, seeking revenge on the old woman. The old woman said, I never provoked you, so what revenge are you seeking? The strange animal said: I am a bei. Because my front legs are short, I usually have to rely on wolves to help me walk. But your hunter killed the wolf, and now it is inconvenient for me to walk, so I have come to take revenge on you! Before it finished speaking, the bei stood up and pounced on the old woman, intending to eat her. Just then, a hunter passing by outside the door asked the old woman whom she was talking to. When the bei saw that someone had come, it was very frightened and quickly said to the old woman: Whatever you do, do not say I am a bei, or I will bite you to death! The old woman had no choice but to tell the hunter that a relative had come to visit. The hunter said: How come it looks like a wolf to me? When the bei heard this, it became even more frightened, and its two hind legs could no longer hold it up, trembling all over. The old woman said to the bei, I see you cannot stand, so let me just tie your two front legs to a tree, otherwise if your two front legs touch the ground you will not look like a human. When the bei heard this, it thought it made sense and quickly let the old woman tie its two front legs to a tree in the middle of the yard. After the old woman had tied the bei securely, she shouted to the hunter: Come quickly! This is a bei! The bei was shocked and knew it had been tricked, but it was too late to struggle and escape.

There are many folk legends about wolves and bei, and whether the bei actually exists remains a mystery; it is generally believed to be a deformed wolf.