Penghou
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Tobosha
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[[Image:SekienHoko.jpg|thumb|155px|right|The ''hōkō'' as imagined by [[Toriyama Sekien]]. ]]
The '''Pénghoú''' (彭侯) is a tree spirit from [[China|Chinese]] [[folklore]]. It is described in an old book called the [[Soushenji]] (搜神記, English "In Search of the Supernatural"):
:''The P'eng-hou in the [[Camphor Laurel|Camphor Tree]]''
:In the time of the First Ruler of Wu, Lu Ching-shu was Grand Protector of Chien-an Commandery. Once he dispatched a man to cut down a great camphor tree. Few strokes of the axe had fallen before blood suddenly flowed from the trunk. When it was finally felled, a creature with the face of a man and the body of a dog came forth.
:Ching-shu explained, "This is what is known as the ''p'eng-hou.''" He had it steamed forthwith and ate it. Its flavor was the same as dog-meat.
:The ''Pai-tse T'u''* says: "The spirit of trees is called ''p'eng-hou.'' It appears much like a black dog with no tail and can be steamed and eaten.
<nowiki>*</nowiki>The long lost tome of the [[Bai Ze]].
The ''Pénghoú'' (read in Japanese as '''Hōkō''') was included in the [[Konjaku Hyakki Shūi]], one of [[Toriyama Sekien]]'s collections of monster illustrations. Sekien gave it the same description as the Soushenji, as well as having it live in a thousand-year-old tree.
==References==
*{{cite book
| last = Gan
| first = Bao
| coauthors = Kenneth J. DeWoskin and J. I. Crump, Jr., translators.
| title = In Search of the Supernatural: The Written Record
| publisher = [[Stanford University Press]]
| date = 1996
| pages = p. 215
| id = ISBN 0-8047-2506-3 }}
*[http://www.nichibun.ac.jp/YoukaiCard/3200027.shtml Kaii*Yōkai Denshō Database: Hōkō]
*[http://park.org/Japan/CSK/hyakki/zukan/jyuui/kumo/houkou.html|CSK: Hyakki Yagyō: Hōkō]
{{China-myth-stub}}
{{Japan-myth-stub}}
[[Category:Japanese legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Chinese legendary creatures]]
[[fr:Houkou]]
[[no:Houkou]]
[[ja:彭侯]]