The Baize is a Chinese divine beast said to know every monster and anomaly under heaven. By legend it met the Yellow Emperor and named some 11,520 kinds of spirits and creatures, recorded in a bestiary called the Bai Ze Tu.
The Baize embodies the idea that to know is to ward off. From the belief that knowing a creature’s name and nature lets you escape its harm, the Baize stands as the progenitor of every bestiary and natural-history catalogue.