taotie

English

Alternative forms

• tao-tieh

Etymology

Borrowed from Mandarin 饕餮 (tāotiè).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /taʊˈtjeɪ/

Noun

taotie (plural taoties or taotie)

1. A motif depicting a gluttonous ogre, commonly found on Chinese ritual bronze vessels from the Shang and Zhou Dynasty.
   • [1964, Sherman E. Lee, “Chinese Art of the Shang and Chou Dynasties”, in A History of Far Eastern Art‎^[1], New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 49, column 1:

     The pot in figure 49 is very high-fired stoneware with a gray body burnt brown on the exterior where exposed to the flame. It has large t’ao t’ieh masks on the handles and a shape which resembles that of the bronze hsien.]

Translations

motif depicting a gluttonous ogre

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 饕餮 (zh) (tāotiè)

• Finnish: taotie -aihe
• Japanese: 饕餮 (ja) (とうてつ, tōtetsu)
• Korean: 도철(饕餮) (docheol)
• Russian: таоте́ n (taoté)
• Vietnamese: thao thiết (饕餮)