Xiangliu

Xiangliu
An image of Xiangliu from Japan's Edo period
Chinese name
Chinese相柳 (相栁)
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinXiāngliǔ
Wade–GilesHsiang1-liu3
IPA[ɕjáŋ.ljòʊ]
Xiangyao
Chinese相繇
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinXiāngyáo
Wade–GilesHsiang1-yao2
IPA[ɕjáŋ.jǎʊ]
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetTương Liễu, Tương Lưu?
Hán-Nôm相柳
Korean name
Hangul상류
Hanja相柳
Transcriptions
Revised RomanizationSangryu
Japanese name
Kanji相柳
Hiraganaそうりゅう
Transcriptions
RomanizationSōryū

Xiangliu (/ʃæŋ.lj/), known in the Classic of Mountains and Seas as Xiangyao (/ʃæŋ.j/),[1] is a venomous nine-headed snake monster that brings floods and destruction in Chinese mythology.

Xiangliu may be depicted with his body coiled on itself. The nine heads are arranged differently in different representations. Modern depictions resemble the hydra, with each head on a separate neck.[2] Older wood-cuts show the heads clustered on a single neck, either side-by-side or in a stack three high, facing three directions.