貔貅 · píxiū
貔貅 · píxiū
Word · Wealth
What it means
The fortune swallower — a winged lion-like beast with no anus, so wealth that goes in does not come out. The most commercially tattooed creature in the language, and the one most often drawn wrong.
貔貅：招财辟邪的瑞兽，传说没有肛门，钱进不出。也是这个语言里被纹得最多的神兽，同时是被画错最多的一个。
Where the character comes from
The word enters the language through a description of a creature that eats and is not seen to expel, which is why it became the default luck-beast for anyone who wanted wealth to stay put. It lost its second character — 貔貅 became 貔, then often just 彪 on shop signage.
Two phonetic characters used together as one name; there is no single standard simplified form in the way 道 has one.
- Official historyShuowen Jiezi豸部
- ModernModern usage
How it gets misread
Píxiū vs. Bāo (leopard) → Winged, maned, no anus
The two are frequently swapped in sign writing. 豹 is a plain cat; a pixiu has wings and a mane.
Written 彪 → 貔貅 or 貔
彪 is a real but different mythical beast (the tiger's striped form). On shop signs it is a common lazy abbreviation that changes the animal.
Before you ink
Check the wings. The wing is what separates a pixiu from a qilin, and it is the first thing to go missing in a drawing.
It is a lucky creature, not a protector. If you want warding rather than keeping, the design brief should say so — the two are often confused.