The Western Palace (西宮) and White Tiger or QiLin
A qilin of the Qing dynasty in Beijing's Summer Palace
Both of the Xiu for the Large Intestine reside in The Western Palace which is associated with autumn and metal. According to Walters, the White Tiger may have replaced the original palace of the Qilin (麒麟 ). The Qilin is often compared to the western Unicorn, as it is said to have the body of a deer, covered in scales, with a single horn. Most likely, this was an actual creature, resembling a deer, that has since died out and taken on magical connotations.
Supposedly, the Qilin appears only to the sage. It is a peaceful creature but will attack anyone who may try to harm the sage. When it attacks, it has outbursts of strength and flames come from its mouth. In the Chinese dances, the Qilin ranks highly and is considered the hardest dance to perform because of the weight of the costume on the head with the outbursts of power and energy.
Because the Qilin is purely vegetarian, it must have a larger colon to compensate for the cellulose in its diet, just as the rabbit does. The flames that are emitted from it’s mouth are highly suggestive of the Yangming aspect of the large intestine, as its yangming pair organ, the stomach, has a fire-spitting dragon as its metaphor.
The outbursts of power and erergy that are associated with the creature in Chinese dance can also be related to the large intestine in its outbursts of contraction that result in the removal of feces from the body.
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