Talk:Kiringul

Change "Unicorn" -> "Qilin"
I think the mentions of a "unicorn" should be changed to "Qilin" - these are two very different animals that have very different connotations.

Disclaimer: The current citations do not mention that the unicorn is, or is not, a Qilin. However, this Wikipedia article currently does mention this ("According to the Revised Handbook of Korean Geography the king's unicorn - or Qilin..."), which may be from the note section of its cited article. Perhaps we should locate a citation that mentions the creature as a "Qilin", or better yet the original DPRK article, to verify this connection. From the context - Korean folklore - a unicorn does not really make sense, whereas a Qilin does.

While I will not pretend to understand these creatures' interpretations in their native folklore in depth, the Qilin, of East Asian descent, "...is said to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a wise sage or an illustrious ruler" (from its Wikipedia article) while the unicorn, of European descent, is "...a symbol of purity and grace" (also from its Wikipedia article). In my opinion, this alone is enough reason to distinguish between the two.

The original confusion may extend from the descriptions of the "Qilin" as the "Chinese unicorn", in an effort to relate to Western audiences. That being said, I would say that this article may describe the Qilin as a "Chinese unicorn" to help describe the Qilin to an uninformed audience (though a Wikilink alone may suffice), but use the term "Qilin" as that is what it is.

Note that this would mean the article title should be moved appropriately. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Michaelcomella (talk • contribs) 18:39, 22 December 2012 (UTC)


 * I believe that this article, which is cited in this Wikipedia article, is the official English language source of the DPRK. I will try look at the Korean language version to see if there is a distinction and that this, perhaps, is a mistranslation. Michaelcomella (talk) 19:24, 22 December 2012 (UTC)
 * I've wondered about this issue myself, but as I have no Korean language at all, I could not challenge the English-language sources, which, as you know, all say "unicorn". Lady  of  Shalott  20:58, 22 December 2012 (UTC)


 * The "qilin" or "kirin" animal is not a unicorn, and I don't think anyone ever suggests that it is the same as a unicorn.  It is an asian animal which is not directly equivalent to anything from the west or middle east culture.   It is often described as being like "a chinese unicorn",  because it has similar properties to the claimed properties of the "western" unicorn....  it is wise,  benign, non-violent (compared to, say, a dragon),  elusive,  and a sign of good luck.Eregli bob (talk) 07:28, 25 January 2013 (UTC)


 * This appears to be the original Korean article. It mentions "동명왕" (King Dongmyeong) and "기린" (Qilin). There is no mention of "일각수" or "유니콘", two Korean words for unicorn. With the context, it seems that it should really be Qilin, though keep in mind that I do not read Korean well enough to read the whole text (or honestly, any of it besides identifying individual words in isolation). If you do not feel my analysis is sufficient, we could try calling upon the Korea WikiProject once again to get another editor to check my work. Michaelcomella (talk) 01:51, 23 December 2012 (UTC)
 * Well I think that combined with what The Atlantic Wire said (ref in article) is enough for me. I think we at least need to mention that most English sources have said "unicorn". Lady  of  Shalott  02:19, 23 December 2012 (UTC)
 * It is a stunt by the Kirin Beer Company.  Kirin is the same as Qilin.Eregli bob (talk) 07:20, 25 January 2013 (UTC)

POV lingo
"The report attracted widespread international coverage for the apparently bizarre nature of the claim to have found a "unicorn lair", but subsequent reports suggested that the Korean terminology had been mistranslated."

I get that this is kind of bizarre, but using the phrase "apparently bizarre nature" seems terribly POV. Things aren't "apparent" to encyclopedias, nor do encyclopedias find things "bizarre". Right? 98.237.173.125 (talk) 01:41, 25 January 2013 (UTC)

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