222 Field Museum of Natural History — Anth., Vol. X. 



evident from this quotation what the Chinese author wants us to under- 

 stand in regard to the symbolic meaning of this ornament. " In poetry," 

 says Mayers (Chinese Reader's Manual, p. 41), "many covert allu- 

 sions to sexual pairing are intimated by reference to the inseparable 

 fellowship of the feng and the huang." In Fig. 121, this allusion is 

 undisguised in the osculation of the two birds and allows of the inference 

 that this pendant was plainly a lover's gift to his mistress. This sym- 

 bolism of the so-called phenix becomes more intelligible, if we say 

 peacock instead of phenix and derive, with the importation of this 

 bird from India into China, also this symbolism from India where (as 

 also later in Europe) the peacock played a prominent role in all matters 

 pertaining to love. 



In Fig. 1 20, the cloud-pattern over the head of each bird should be 

 noted, for the poet T'ao Yuan-ming (365-427) says: "The divine feng 

 dances among the clouds, the spiritual luan trills its pure notes " (Giles, 

 Adversaria Sinica, No. 1, p. 9). The work in Fig. 121 is praised as 

 "clever" (tsing Hang) in the Sung Catalogue and said to be a beautiful 

 object of the Tsin (265-419 a. d.) or T'ang dynasty (618-905 a. d.). 



In Fig. 122 the upper and lower face (a and b) of the ornament is 

 represented. Two hydras (shuang ch'ih) are winding around a per- 

 forated jade plaque rounded below and tapering at the upper end. The 

 design is of great elegance, and the editors do not suppress the remark 

 that the curves and wriggles of the monsters are true to life. 



The plant design in Fig. 123 is explained as "the fragrant herb" 

 (hiang ts'ao) which is designated also as yii ts'ung, lit. "aromatic onion." 

 Bretschneider has not identified this name. "This piece is admirable 

 and a beauty in its make-up; it may be a masterpiece of the San tai" 

 (Hia, Shang and Chou dynasties) . This definition is out of the question; 

 the design, I should say, betrays the style of the T'ang dynasty. The 

 carving is one-sided only. In the next Fig. 1 24, it is brought out alike 

 on both sides. A butterfly with wings outspread, leaning its antennae 

 over an oval-shaped ring; alleged to be Han. 



Figure 125 shows the design of a k'uei lung (Giles No. 6507) , a peculiar 



kind of dragon, coiled in the form of a spiral. The head is winding up 



into an elephant's nose likewise treated as spiral, and reminds one of the 



Indian makara (hippocamp) ; but it is more probable that the tapir is 



intended, for that animal was familiar to the art of the Han ("Chinese 



Pottery of the Han Dynasty," p. 152). 1 It is certainly not from the 



time of the San tai, as stated in the text, but not older than the Han 



period. 



1 It is also familiar, through the medium of Chinese models, to the Japanese 

 netsuke-carvers, as Plate 44 in A. Brockhaus, Netsuke, shows; for baku is the tapir 

 (written with the same character as the Chinese word for the tapir). 



