io8 



Chinese Clay Figures 



rhinoceros si niu, which is not described. They had also standards 

 with designs of a three-horned animal (san kio shou) and the unicorn 

 (kio tuan), which was outlined "like a sheep, with a small tail and a 

 single horn on its crest." : 



In plastic art, 2 the rhinoceros has been carved from jade either as 

 the handle of a paper-weight or as the knob of a seal. 3 An example of 

 either kind is illustrated in Ku yii Vu p*u (Ch. 74, p. 1, reproduced in 



Fig. 12. 

 Ancient Paper- Weight of Jade surmounted by Figure of Rhinoceros (from Ku yU t'u P'u). 



Fig. 12; and Ch. 37, p. 11). The traditional reconstructions of the 

 animal are here faithfully preserved; the three toes (the third, of course, 

 is not visible) and the shape of the horn, though it is wrongly placed, 

 come somewhat near the truth. The manufacturers of ink-cakes 

 availed themselves of the same design for printing on the surfacejof 

 their products. The Ch'eng ski mo yuan (Ch. 13, p. 30) illustrates 

 "a spiritual rhinoceros" (ling si) with body of an ox, hump of a zebu, 

 cloven feet, snout of a pig, and horn on the front. 



1 Yuan shi, Ch. 79, p. 10 (K'ien-lung edition). 



2 Bushell (Chinese Art, Vol. I, p. 91) figures a bronze vessel of the type styled 

 hi ts'un, and describes it as being "shaped in the form of a rhinoceros standing with 

 ears erect and a collar round the neck." But this explanation conflicts with Chinese 

 tradition, according to which the animal hi is a sacrificial ox; and an ox is apparently 

 represented in this bronze. Neither is there a single or double horn, which would be 

 necessary to establish such a case. 



3 Seals surmounted by the full figure of a rhinoceros seem to make their first 

 appearance in the Han period (see Hou Han shu, Ch. 40, p. 5). 



