The Chinese Gateway 5 



ing on mankind old age and all sorts of blessings: Chang 

 Kuo with his magic wand capable of fulfilling his every 

 wish; Ts'ao Kuo-k'iu with his castanets, by means of 

 which he performs magical feats; Chung-li Kuan with 

 his fan; Han Siang-tse blowing his flute; Lii Tung-pin 

 with a magic fly-whisk and sword on his back; the 

 beggar Li T'ie-k'uai with a calabash full of blessings; 

 Lan Ts'ai-ho with a flower-basket; and the fairy Ho 

 Sien-ku with the stem of a lotus, the sacred emblem of 

 purity. Compare the two sets of bronze images of the 

 Eight Immortals in Blackstone Chinese Collection, 

 Case 21. 



On the two outer columns are portrayed two Taoist 

 sages or hermits, one shouldering a branch with peaches, 

 which ripen but once in three thousand years in the 

 paradise of the goddess Si Wang Mu, and which confer 

 immortality on the adepts of Taoism, and two fairies with 

 miraculous fly-brushes. It was the belief of the Taoists 

 that contact with nature, a contemplative life in the 

 solitude of mountains, is conducive to purification, old 

 age, and speedy salvation; in this manner the soul ulti- 

 mately is capable of soaring heavenward on the wings 

 of a crane. Thus we see two recluses astride cranes 

 carried upward at the end of their earthly career. In 

 the lower portions of the outer pillars are figured the 

 gay twin genii of Union and Harmony; one, holding a 

 covered jar from which emanates a tree covered with 

 money ; the other, a lotus. These emblems are suggested 

 by punning, both the lotus and a jar being called ho, 

 and two other words ho being expressive of the notions 

 "union" and "harmony." 



Other Taoist symbols are illustrated in the panels on 

 the pedestals. One of these shows a crane soaring in 

 clouds above a pine-tree, — both being symbols of en- 

 durance and longevity — and a deer, which is emblematic 

 of high official dignity and good income. Another rep- 

 resents a phoenix alighting upon the beautiful Wu- 



[5] 



