Huoshu

Fire Mouse of the South

Mouse living in southern fire whose wool is woven into fire-proof cloth.

The fire mouse was said to live in the flames of the southern mountains, its long fur woven into cloth. Garments made from it could be cleansed in fire without burning — the famous fire-washed cloth brought from the western regions. The tale of the mouse and its fur became one of the most repeated wonders in Chinese encyclopedias of strange things.