History of the Rhinoceros ioi 



in the animal si; and this feature, combined with the single horns, is 

 sufficient flavor of the rhinoceros to guard from any rash conclusion 

 even one who has not considered the psychological foundation of these 

 sketches. 



From the fact that the animal se is drawn in the shape of an ox, 

 Mr. Giles infers that the word se does not denote the rhinoceros, 

 but "a bovine animal." Then, how about the word si? The animal 

 si (Fig. 6) is undeniably represented in the Erh ya Vu with the body of a 

 hog, — why not, to be consistent, also translate the word si by "swine"? 

 If a child who was invited to make a sketch of a whale should delineate 

 it in the shape of a fish, should we conclude for this reason that the whale 

 is a fish? To make use of an illustration for a far-reaching philological 

 and zoological conclusion, it is indispensable to ascertain the real value 

 of such an illustration, and to make a somewhat critical study of its 

 origin and basis. Mr. Giles is right in stating that there are illustra- 

 tions of the animal se that are purely those of an ox. The ill-reputed 

 San li Vu, for instance, stooped to this wisdom when the difficult task 

 arose of illustrating in the shape of a rhinoceros the target used by the 

 lords and ministers in the practice of archery, and spoken of in the 

 Chou li and I li. But what wonder ! Those illustrators who employed 

 the pure-ox design simply stood on the platform of the sober and incom- 

 plete definition of the Shuo wen, "The animal se is like a wild ox." 

 Nothing could be more convenient to the unthinking and mechanical 

 craftsman; this plain recipe freed him from the responsibility for the 

 horn. Anybody could outline an ox with two regular horns; and by 

 inscribing it se, the satisfaction at this achievement was naturally the 

 greater. 



It is incorrect, however, to say that the animal se, as outlined in T'u 

 shu isi ch'eng (Fig. 9), is the picture of an ox. In its general features it 

 resembles a kind of deer, as does likewise the animal si (Fig. 10). A 

 lengthy discussion of the "deer-like" rhinoceros follows below (p. 109). 

 Again, in Fig. 9, the draughtsman has taken particular pains to set off 

 distinctly three toes in the left front foot; and where is the bovine 

 animal with three toes? And where is the bovine animal with a single 

 horn, and with this peculiar shape of horn? As to Fig. 10, it presents 

 itself as an illustration of the legend that, while the rhinoceros is gazing 

 at the moon, the peculiar designs within its horn are formed (p. 147). 

 This notion exclusively refers to rhinoceros-horn, so that the animal here 

 intended can be no other than the rhinoceros. 1 



1 The two illustrations of T'u shu tsi ch'eng are derived, with a few slight altera- 

 tions, from San ts'ai t'u hui (section on Animals, Ch. 3, p. 7; Ch. 4, p. 12), where, curi- 



