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



with layers of brown patches strewn in. The head with long beard 

 dropping on the breast is not unlike a dragon-head except the excessively 

 large ears and the indentated crest. A full set of teeth with four big 

 fangs is represented in the open jaws. The conventional character of 

 the whole design is manifest. A liberal use is made of the spiral — to 

 express the nostrils, the ears, the cheek-bones, the joints of the legs 1 and 

 the tail, and the curly bushes of hair covering the whole body. The 

 four feet stand out in high relief from the lower side and are each provid- 

 ed with four claws turned inward. As alluded to above, this piece is 

 clearly distinguished from all other jade carvings of the Han period in 

 that it is not a flat plaque like those, but a full realistic sculptured figure, 

 the other side not visible in the illustration being exactly the same as 

 the one on vieNv. 



Such pieces are exceedingly rare and exceptional, and it was a lucky 

 chance that I succeeded in securing this art -work from an old family of 

 official standing in Si-ngan fu. All Chinese there, competent to judge, 

 place its date in the Han period; and, judging from the material of 

 which it is made, a favorite jade of the Han time, and also from the style 

 of execution, there is no doubt that this judgment is correct. 



Unusual as is the workmanship of this carving, its dimensions and 

 weight are also remarkable. It measures 17 cm in length with a height 

 of 12.2 cm and a width of 6.7 cm, and weighs 4^ pounds. 



In all likelihood, the figure of this monster is to be identified with 

 the fabulous creature called p'i-sieh, the name of which means "some- 

 thing that wards off evil influences, a charm, an amulet." 2 De Groot 

 has shown that, because of the evil -dispelling attributes of the animal, 

 stone images of it were placed upon the tombs from the Han down to 

 the T'ang dynasty; stone pH-sieh in connection with stone unicorns, 

 elephants, horses and the like were erected in front of the mausolea of 

 emperors and princes; stone tigers, sheep, men, pillars, and the like 

 before those of officials. It is therefore no matter of surprise that also 

 miniature pH-sieh of precious jade material were entombed in the 

 graves of nobles during the Han dynasty; for the monster p'i-sieh was 

 a favorite conception for jade carvings, and one of these (Fig. 197) 

 derived from the Ku yil Vu would go as far back as beyond the Shang 

 dynasty, if we could trust the statement there made that "according to 

 a local tradition it was found in the grave of T'ai-k'ang (alleged b. c. 

 2 188-2 160), a farmer having struck against it with his hoe." Judging 

 from the design, as far as may be determined from these unsatisfactory 



1 Compare Laufer, Felszeichnungen vom Ussuri (Globus, Vol. LXXIX, 1901, 

 p. 70). 



2 Compare De Groot, The Religious System of China, Vol. Ill, pp. 1143 et seq., 

 and above p. 268 . 



