Japanese macaque
Muqi's gibbons were usually drawn in nature, while Japanese macaques were often depicted among humans or human-made objects. Ohnuki-Tierney notes that gibbons "represented nature, which in folk Shintoism signified deities" and also "represented the Chinese art tradition ("kanga"), which in turn represented the Chinese, who were then the most significant foreigners". She posits four levels symbolized by Japanese macaque/gibbon contrast: Japanese/foreigners, humans/deities, culture/nature, and self/other..