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The xiezhi (labels=no < Eastern Han Chinese * gɛʔ-ḍɛʔSchuessler, Axel (2007). An Etymological Dictionary of Old Chinese. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.) is a mythical creature of China origin found throughout Sinosphere legends. It resembles an ox or goat, with thick dark fur covering its body, bright eyes and a single long horn on its forehead. It has great intellect and understands human speech. The xiezhi possesses the innate ability to distinguish right from wrong and when it finds corrupt officials, it will ram them with its horn and devour them. It is known as a symbol of justice.
In the same work ( Lunheng), the legend is prefaced the remark that public offices are painted with the images of the beast and the minister.
As a symbol of traditional Chinese law, xiezhi has been promoted by the Chinese dynasties. The judicial hat (法冠) was also referred to as the xiezhi after the mythical sheep/ox. The xiezhi hat was part of the attire of censors () into the 8th century during the Tang period, especially for an impeachment trial.
Legend has it that during the Spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, King Wen of Chu once obtained a xiezhi and put its image on his head and then the xiezhi crown became a fashion in the State of Chu. Law enforcement officials in the Qin dynasty also wore such crowns, as did the Han dynasty, which inherited the Qin system. By the Eastern Han dynasty, images of the xiezhi became an indispensable ornament in the Xie Men, and the XieZhi crown was titled on the law. Therefore, law enforcement officials were called xiezhi.
Mentions of the xiezhi in Chinese literature can be traced back to the Han dynasty. "Rhapsody on the Imperial Park" (上林賦), Sima Xiangru mentions the xiezhi 解豸/解廌 "sagacious stag" among the prey in the year-end barricade hunt staged by the Son of Heaven. "Account of Sima Xiangru", in Sima Qian, Shiji (91 BCE). quote: "於是乎背秋涉冬，天子校獵。…… 弄 解豸" "Account of Sima Xiangru A", in Book of Han (111 CE), quote: "於是乎背秋涉冬，天子校獵。…… 弄 解廌"Sima Xiangru, "Fu on the Imperial Park" (translated by David Knechtges) (2008). in How to Read Chinese Poetry: A Guided Anthology edited by Cai, Zong-Qi. quoted: "And then, as the year turns its back on autumn and edges into winter, the Son of Heaven stages the barricade hunt. … Paw the sagacious stag. p. 67–68" Scholar Yáng Fú (楊孚) described the xiezhi 獬豸 in his treatise Yiwu Zhi as a "righteous beast, which rams the wrongful party when it sees a fight and bites the wrongful party when it hears an argument". Records of Strange Things (異物志) in Court Advisor Yang's works (楊議郎著書). quoted: "東北荒中有獸名獬豸一角性忠見人鬥則觸不直者聞人論則咋不正者" p. 27– 28 of 980. Scanned by Chinese Text Project It is described in the Shuowen Jiezi as being "a cattle-like beast with one horn; in ancient times. It settled disputes by ramming the party at fault". SWJZ, "Radical 𢊁" quote: "𢊁：解𢊁，獸也，似山牛，一角。古者決訟，令觸不直。"
As an inherently just beast, the xiezhi was used as a symbol of justice and law. The Censorate of the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty eras, who were responsible for the monitoring of the civil service, wore the xiezhi as a badge of office. Among the common folk, the image of the xiezhi was believed to dispel evil spirits; a xiezhi might be carved on a lock to frighten off evil spirits. Similarly, military policemen of the Republic of China wear badges bearing the xiezhi and it is engraved on the gavels in the law courts of the China.
Schuessler points out that the animal name labels=no ~ labels=no is attested as early as in the Shang dynasty's and once referred to real animals, i.e. small deer which were hunted by the Shang kings yet whose identity has been almost forgotten. He then proposes an Austroasiatic etymology by comparing labels=no (Old Chinese: *dreʔ) to Mon language drāy (> Burmese language ဒရယ် da.rai "hog deer"), Old Khmer drāy > Khmer language ទ្រាយ triəy "stag" and draːi "Barasingha", whose Proto-Mon-Khmer ancestor was reconstructed by Shorto as * draaj (#1508).Shorto, Harry Leonard (2006) A Mon-Khmer comparative dictionary. Sidwell, Cooper, & Bauer (eds.). Canberra: Pacific Linguistics
Linguist Juha Janhunen (2011) counts the "real goat-like animal (perhaps an antelope)" underlying labels=no as one among many sources (besides the rhinoceros and others) which inspired the labels=no and notes that both the zhi and qilin were one-horned animals which could tell right from wrong.Janhunen, Juha (2011) "Unicorn, Mammoth, Whale" in Linguistics, Archaeology and the Human Past: Occasional Paper 12. Kyoto: Institute for Humanity and Nature, Indus Project Research. p 189 – 222 However, Janhunen thinks that the graphs 豸 and 廌, rather than being variants of each other, might have denoted different animals "but they became confused to the extent that both can be used in reference to the same range of vague folkloric and mythical beasts". Indeed, Shuowen Jiezi describes the 豸 as , SWJZ, vol. 10, radical 豸, quote: (豸：獸長𦟝行豸豸然，欲有所司殺形。); free translation: "(The character) zhi (stands for) wild beasts with elongated backbones that move flexibly, (when they) desire to kill their prey, they patiently wait and stalk (them)"; note: 行豸豸然 means literally "moving like a zhi"; from not one-horned cattle-like ungulates.
Schwartz (2018) identifies the 廌 as the antelope (labels=no).Schwartz, Adam (2018). "Shang Sacrificial Animals: Material Documents and Images". In: Sterckx R, Siebert M, Schäfer D, eds. Animals through Chinese History: Earliest Times to 1911. Cambridge University Press; 2018: 20–45.)
In Joseon Korea, the haetae was believed to protect against Structure fire. Sculptures of haetae were used in architecture (for example, at Gyeongbokgung) to ward off fire. A cartoon haetae named is the city mascot of Seoul.
In English, the haetae may be called "the unicorn-lion."
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