Transcendent Pig

File:LargeTranscendentPigForConcordance.jpg

The Transcendent Pig, a.k.a "Chao." Artwork copyright Ursula Vernon, 2005. Click the image for a larger version

This most unusual creature -- if he is a creature -- is, in both nature and provenance, one of the most enigmatic in the entire field of errantry.

The first references to him on Earth occur in a rare few Chinese documents of the early X dynasty, where he is referred to as 卓越的豬 (the word "transcendent" can also be rendered as "remarkable").

...As might be expected of any being with such a peculiar, extensive, and clouded history, the Pig goes by many names and bears a host of epithets. He has been called "the Insoluble Enigma", ...