History of the Rhinoceros 



109 



The most curious item in the history of the iconography of the 

 rhinoceros is the illustration of the animal in the Cheng lei pen ts'ao 

 published in 1208 by the physician T'ang Shen-wei 1 (reproduced in 

 Fig. 13). Here we see the animal represented as a hairy and spotted 

 deer, its head being surmounted by a single curved horn, peacefully 

 chewing a bunch of leaves with a most innocent expression on its face. 

 The legend is si kio ("rhinoceros-horn"), all illustrations of animals 





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Fig. 13. 



Deer with Single Horn, labelled Rhinoceros-Horn, being an Echo of the Indian Legend of Ekacriiiga 



(from Cheng lei pen ts'ao, edition of 1523). 



in this work being named for the product yielded by them; and the il- 

 lustration is immediately followed by the description of the two animals 

 se and si, so that there can be no doubt that this figure, in the mind 

 of the author, is intended for the rhinoceros. It will certainly not 

 induce us to propose for the word si the new translation "cervine an- 

 imal;" but a rhinoceros of cervine character has really existed in the 

 imagination of the ancient world. The idea started from India, has 

 taken a footing in the classical authors, and long survived even down to 

 our middle ages. It is a fascinating story, deserving full discussion, 

 the more so as it has never been clearly and correctly set forth. Two 

 classical texts may first be quoted which fit well as an explanation to 

 our Chinese woodcut. Pliny (Nat. hist., VIII, 21) tells regarding the 

 Orsaean Indians that "they hunt the indomitable, fierce monoceros 

 (unicorn) which has the head of a stag, the feet of the elephant, the 



1 Regarding this work and its history see T'oung Pao, 1913, p. 351. 

 tion of 1523 from which our illustration is taken it is in Ch. 17, fol. 20 b. 



In the edi- 



