History of the Rhinoceros 95 



Kuo P'o states in regard to the same animal, "The horn is on the 

 nose and capable of being made into bows. Li Ling presented ten such 

 bows to Su Wu. 1 The animal mentioned in the Life of Se-ma Siang-ju 

 in the Shi ki (Ch. 117) is the kH-lin 2 kio tuan." 



The animal with a horn on its nose is the single-horned rhinoceros; 

 and the term tuan or kio tuan is a counterpart of the word monoceros of 

 the ancients, as alluded to by Ctesias, Aristotle, Pliny, Aelian, and others, 

 and which, according to the general consensus of opinion, relates to the 

 one-horned rhinoceros of India. Bows manufactured from the horn are 

 mentioned also in the Annals of the Kin Dynasty. 3 The allusion to 

 armor by Hing Ping is additional proof for se being a rhinoceros, for, 

 as we shall see, armor was not made in ancient China from the hides of 

 bovine animals. 4 



It is beyond any doubt that in those various definitions there is 

 plainly the question of a rhinoceros. We cannot get over the single 

 horn, whether placed on the nose, the head, or the forehead; 5 we can- 

 not get over the fact, either, that a conspicuous distinction between the 

 single-horned (se) and two-horned (si) species is made, — a fact which will 

 be discussed in full farther on when we have learned everything that 

 Chinese authors have to report anent the two animals; nor can we get 

 over the three toes which form a prominent characteristic of the rhi- 

 noceros, 6 but assuredly not of any bovine species. In fact, the Chinese 

 definitions, without pretension to scientific accuracy, which could not be 



the populace of Tonking {Ts'ien Han shu, Ch. 28 B, p. 17), which in connection with 

 it availed itself of flint, bamboo, and sometimes bone arrowheads. 



1 See Giles, Biographical Dictionary, pp. 450, 684. 



2 Regarding the k'i-lin see below, p. 113. 



3 Kin shi, Ch. 120, p. 3. Fossil rhinoceros-horn (from Rhinoceros tichorrhinus) 

 is still employed by the Yakut in the manufacture of bows (B. Adler, Int. Archiv 

 fur Ethnographie, Vol. XIV, 1901, p. 11). 



4 Regarding other Chinese notions of monoceroses see p. 1 14. Of later descriptions 

 of the rhinoceros, the one contained in Ying yai sh&ng Ian of 141 6 by Ma Kuan is the 

 most interesting. It is the most concise and correct definition ever given of the 

 animal outside of our modern zoology. "The products of Champa are rhinoceros- 

 horn and ivory of which there is a large quantity. The rhinoceros is like the water- 

 buffalo. Animals of full growth weigh eight hundred catties. The body is hairless, 

 black in color, and covered by a thick skin in the manner of a scale armor. The hoofs 

 are provided with three toes. A single horn is placed on the extremity of the nose, 

 the longest reaching almost fifteen inches. It subsists only on brambles, tree leaves 

 and branches, and dried wood." 



8 As already remarked by Cuvier, the only real animal with a single horn is the 

 rhinoceros. 



6 This statement reflects much credit on the observational power of the Chinese, 

 especially as it is not pointed out by any classical author in describing the rhinoceros 

 or unicorn. Al-Beruni (Sachau, Alberuni's India, Vol. I, p. 203) is the only early 

 author outside of China to make the same observation. Al-Beruni gives two different 

 and contradictory descriptions of the rhinoceros, apparently emanating from two 

 different sources. First, the animal is sensibly described from personal observation 



