The Wildman of China: The Search for the Yeren
Supplement
I planned to add a table documenting modern sightings of the Chinese wildman (yeren) as an appendix to my scholarly monograph (Smith, 2021). I did not finish it in time when I sent my manuscript to Sino-Platonic Papers – the table (of 31 reported sightings from 1940-2007) is reproduced below with sources.
| Date of sighting | Location | Approx. distance of eyewitness(es) | Notes | References |
| 1940 | Gansu Province | ? | Alleged yeren corpse observed lying beside road | Green, 1984: 88-90; Dong, 1984: 175–176 |
| 1942 | Hubei Province | ? | Eyewitness (13 years old) claims soldiers captured a yeren | Jaivin, 1985: 30 |
| 1947 | Hubei Province | ? | Wren, 1984; Shackley, 1986: 86-87 | |
| 1950 | Shaanxi Province | 650 feet (200 meters) | No clear line of sight because of dense forest | Dong, 1984: 177 |
| 1950 | Shaanxi Province | ? | Alleged yeren infant and mother came “very close” | Dong, 1984: 177 |
| October 1964 | Sichuan Province | 100 feet (30 meters) | Mute eyewitness; communication by hand-signalling | Greenwell & Poirier, 1989: 49 |
| October 1964 | Sichuan Province | 300 feet (90 meters) | Greenwell & Poirier, 1989: 49 | |
| 1970 | Hunan Province | ? | Bord & Bord, 1984: 63 | |
| May 1975 | Hubei Province | ? | Eyewitness says alleged yeren was “standing not far” away | Bord & Bord, 1984: 64 |
| May 1976 | Hubei Province | 6 feet (2 meters) | Six eyewitnesses; Shennongjia forestry workers | Greenwell & Poirier, 1989: 48 |
| June 1976 | Hubei Province | 20 feet (6 meters) | Green, 1984: 90; Dong, 1984: 180 | |
| October 1976 | Hubei Province | ? | Alleged yeren spotted walking “dozens of meters” away | Dong, 1984: 181 |
| June 1977 | Shaanxi Province | 5-6 feet (1-2 meters) | Green, 1984: 90-91; Dong, 1984: 190 | |
| July 1977 | Shaanxi Province | 12 feet (3-4 meters) | A ditch seperated the alleged yeren and eyewitness | Green, 1984: 91; Janet & Bord, 1984: 66 |
| August 1977 | Sichuan Province | 50 feet (15 meters) | Dong, 1984: 186-187 | |
| August 1977 | Sichuan Province | 130 feet (40 meters) | Unreliable eyewitnesses, mainly reported hearing a sound | Dong, 1984: 187 |
| March 1978 | Guizhou Province | ? | Alleged yeren is said to have thrown wood on a campfire | Wren, 1984 |
| September 1979 | Hubei Province | 1-3 feet (1 meter) | Alleged yeren is said to have grabbed the eyewitness | Wren, 1984 |
| 1980 | Hubei Province | 4-5 feet (1-2 meters) | Green, 1984: 91 | |
| Feburary 1980 | Hubei Province | 200 feet (60 meters) | Jaivin, 1985: 38 | |
| Feburary 1980 | Guizhou Province | ? | Eyewitness claims to have caught a yeren in a trap | Wren, 1984 |
| May 1981 | Sichuan Province | 25-30 feet (8-10 meters) | Two eyewitnesses; both young children (8 years old) | Greenwell & Poirier, 1989: 49 |
| April 1981 | Sichuan Province | 10 feet (3 meters) | Greenwell & Poirier, 1989: 49 | |
| September 1981 | Hubei Province | 3300 feet (1000 meters) | Long distance sighting from peak of a mountain | Jaivin, 1985: 38 |
| September 1993 | Hubei Province | 90 feet (27 meters) | Zan, 2007 | |
| 1995 | Guangxi | 7-10 feet (2-3 meters) | Krantz, 1997-1998 | |
| 1995 | Guangxi | ? | Alleged yeren “somewhat farther away” than 2-3 meters | Krantz, 1997-1998 |
| April 1995 | Hubei Province | 1600 feet (500 meters) | The eyewitness says he used binoculars | Meldrum & Zhou, 2012: 58 |
| June 2003 | Hubei Province | ? | Eyewitnesses claimed to have seen a yeren run across road | Zan, 2007 |
| September 2005 | Hubei Province | 50 feet (15 meters) | Meldrum & Zhou, 2012: 58 | |
| November 2007 | Hubei Province | 164 feet (50 meters) | No clear line of sight; two alleged yerens behind shrubbery | Zan, 2007 |
Errata
On page 7, “50 percent” should read “over 50 percent” (Poirier estimated 52%).
On pages 2, 10 and 16, “A Brief History…” should read “A Brief Bestiary…”.
On page 16 there is a slightly incorrect title for a Grover Krantz paper (corrected below).
Bibliography
- Bord, Janet and Bord, Colin. The Evidence for Bigfoot and Other Man-Beasts, The Evidence Series in collaboration with ASSAP (Wellingborough: The Aquarian Press, 1984).
- Dong, Paul. The Four Major Mysteries of Mainland China (NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1984).
- Green, John. “The Search in China for Unknown Hominoids” in Markotic, Victor (ed.), The Sasquatch and Other Unknown Hominoids (Calgary: Western Pub., 1984), 87-99.
- Greenwell, Richard and Poirier, Frank. “Further Investigations into the Reported Yeren: The Wildman of China”, Cryptozoology 8 (1989): 47-57.
- Krantz, Grover S. “A New Yeren Investigation in China [1995]”, Cryptozoology 13 (1997-1998): 88-93; Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence (Surrey BC: Hancock House, 1999).
- Jaivin, Linda. “Is There a Wildman?”, Asiaweek (May 24, 1985): 26-39.
- Meldrum, Jeff and Zhou, Guoxing. “Footprint Evidence of the Chinese Yeren,” The Relict Hominoid Inquiry 1 (2012): 57-66.
- Shackley, Myra. Still Living? Yeti, Sasquatch and the Neanderthal Enigma (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1986), see also Wildmen (New York: Thames and Hudson, 1983).
- Smith, Oliver D. “The Wildman of China: The Search for the Yeren,” Sino-Platonic Papers no. 309 (2021): 1-17.
- Zan, Jifang. “Hubei Bigfoot–Fact or Fiction?,” Beijing Review (December 20, 2007).
Oliver D. Smith 