The Wildman has been a part of the folklore of southern and central China for centuries. Apparently ancient Chinese literary works and folk legends include references to big hairy manlike creatures which live in the vast forests of the Quinling-Bashan-Shennongjia, a mountain region of central China (northwest Hubei province)

It seems that even Shennong, god-king of fable and father of husbandry and farming, was deterred by their altitude and had to build a scaffolding when he came here to collect medicinal herbs. The area even got its name from Shennong and the Chinese word jia meaning 'scaffold'.

Two thousand years ago, during the Warring States period, Qu Yuan (340-278 B C), the statesman-poet of the State of Chu, referred in his verse to 'mountain ogres'. His home was, significantly, just south of Shennongjia, in what is today the Zigui county of Hubei province.

In Tang dynasty times (A D 6I8-907) the historian Li Yanshou in his Southern Historydescribes a band of 'hairy men' in the region of modern Jiangling county, also in Hubei.

Later still, the Ch'ing dynasty poet, Yuan Mei (1716-98), in his book New Rhythms tells of the existence of a creature described as `monkey-like, yet not a monkey' in south-western Shaanxi province, Xianning county.

The first Chinese emperor, Hwang-Ti, builder of the Great Wall, may have had an unwitting hand in Yeti-making. According to an ancient legend, some people tried to avoid compulsory labour on the wall by taking to the forests and hiding there where, even after many generations, their descendants became wild, large and hairy but retained the power of speech.

They emerged periodically from the forest and enquired, 'Has the wall been finished yet?'. But, although the answer was 'Yes', they didn't believe it and returned to the forest where, alas, reality is about to catch up with them.