The flying squirrel eats mist and dwells in the forest. It flies and nurses, appearing as both beast and bird.…
The flying squirrel eats mist and dwells in the forest. It flies and nurses, appearing as both beast and bird.
The flying squirrel is mentioned in the Xunzi from the Warring States period. The "Encouraging Learning" chapter mentions its five limited skills: it can fly but not onto a roof, climb but not to the top, swim but not across a valley, burrow but not hide its body, and run but not outpace a man. This led to the idiom "The flying squirrel's skills are exhausted," meaning someone has reached the limit of their meager talents. However, Guo Pu of the Wei and Jin periods took a different view, praising it as a little immortal that lives on mist and dwells in the forest, untainted by the world.