Boyi

The Fearless Sheep

Sheep with nine tails, four ears and eyes on its back; wearing its hide banished fear.

Boyi is the sheep of Ji Mountain with nine tails, four ears and eyes set in its back. Wearing its hide was said to make a person fearless. Every impossible feature — the extra ears, the backward eyes — is an instrument of vigilance, a beast designed to see danger from every side.