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 | ? | Yeren corpse was reported to have been lying beside road in Qinling. | Green, 1984: 88-90; Dong, 1984: 175. |
| 1942 | Hubei Province | ? | A child eyewitness claims soldiers supposedly captured a yeren. | Jaivin, 1985: 30. |
| 1947 | Hubei Province | ? | Wren, 1984; Shackley, 1986: 86. | |
| 1950 | Shaanxi Province | 650 feet (200 meters) | No clear line of sight to yeren because of the dense forest. | Dong, 1984: 177. |
| 1950 | Shaanxi Province | ? | Yeren infant and mother came “very close” to eyewitnesses. | Dong, 1984: 177. |
| October 1964 | Sichuan Province | 100 feet (30 meters) | Mute eyewitness; report was made by hand-signalling. Unreliable. | 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 | 30 feet? (10 meters) | Eyewitness says yeren was “standing not far” away. | Bord & Bord, 1984: 64. |
| May 1976 | Hubei Province | 6 feet (2 meters) | Six eyewitnesses (Shennongjia forestry workers) reported seeing a yeren at very close distance. | Greenwell & Poirier, 1989: 48. |
| June 1976 | Hubei Province | 20 feet (6 meters) | Green, 1984: 90; Dong, 1984: 180. | |
| October 1976 | Hubei Province | 100 feet? (30 meters) | 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 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, reported only hearing a strange sound. | Dong, 1984: 187. |
| March 1978 | Guizhou Province | ? | Yeren threw wood on a campfire. | Wren, 1984. |
| September 1979 | Hubei Province | 1-3 feet (1 meter) | Yeren grabbed the eyewitness. | Wren, 1984. |
| 1980 | Hubei Province | 4-5 feet (1-2 meters) | Green, 1984: 91. | |
| February 1980 | Hubei Province | 200 feet (60 meters) | Jaivin, 1985: 38. | |
| Februrary 1980 | Guizhou Province | ? | Yeren caught a in a hunters trap. | Wren, 1984. |
| May 1981 | Sichuan Province | 25-30 feet (8-10 meters) | Two eyewitnesses; both young children (about 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 of a yeren; from the 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 | 20 feet? (6 meters) | Yeren observed “somewhat farther away” than two or three meters. | Krantz, 1997-1998. |
| April 1995 | Hubei Province | 1600 feet (500 meters) | Eyewitness had used binoculars. | Meldrum & Zhou, 2012: 58. |
| June 2003 | Hubei Province | ? | Eyewitnesses claimed to have seen a yeren run quickly 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 yerens observed 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).
References
- 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 309 (2021): 1-17.
- Zan, Jifang. “Hubei Bigfoot–Fact or Fiction?,” Beijing Review (December 20, 2007).
Oliver D. Smith 