Chimimōryō (traditional Chinese and Japanese: 魑魅魍魎; simplified Chinese: 魑魅魍魉; pinyin: Chīmèi wǎngliǎng; rōmaji: chimimōryō) is a term that refers to monsters of the mountains and monsters of the rivers. The term originated in China roughly 2,500 years ago in ancient chronicles such as the Zuo Zhuan. It refers to various kinds of obake and things changed into yōkai. "Chimi" (魑魅) refers to the monsters of the mountains, and "mōryō" (魍魎) refers to the monsters of the river, and so the word "chimimōryō" is often used to refer to all monsters of the mountains and rivers. Furthermore, the word "minori" was also used for this. For this to be used to mean a "ripening" (minoru) oni has been used in various regions since ancient times.