In Search of the Legendary Nian: Could It be Machairodus horribilis?

Abstract

The legendary ferocious beast of unknown antiquity known as Nian has been narrated in Chinese folklore since the ancient times of the Shang Dynasty and passed down through generations from one dynasty to the next until today. The monster was described as having a body of a bull, the head of a lion, and the horn of a unicorn. It was said that the monster was afraid of loud noises (beating of drums, gongs, and cymbals as well as lighting firecrackers), glaring lights, and also the color red. Hence, these were the things used by the villagers to frighten Nian away. The recent discovery of a fossilized skull of a sabretooth cat known as Machairodus horribilis – an enormous cat that roamed northwestern China during the Late Miocene Epoch about seven million years ago – in Longjiagou Basin, China, by a team of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Science, has rekindled interest among folklorists, scientists as well as creationists if the legendary Nian might be anything associated with the sabretooth cat. This is just a hypothesis that the author of this paper has postulated and the verdict remains open for the readers to make their own decision.