 The term tengu and the characters used to write it are borrowed from the name of a fierce demon from Chinese folklore called tiāngoǔ . Chinese literature assigns this creature a variety of descriptions , but most often it is a fierce and anthropophagous canine monster that resembles a shooting star or comet . It makes a noise like thunder and brings war wherever it falls . One account from the Shù Yì Jì ( 述異記 , " A Collection of Bizarre Stories " ) , written in 1791 , describes a dog @-@ like tiāngoǔ with a sharp beak and an upright posture , but usually tiāngoǔ bear little resemblance to their Japanese counterparts . 
