138 Chinese Clay Figures 



Li Shi-chen does not refer to Ko Hung, the famous Taoist adept of 

 the fourth century, 1 who is the first author to impart a fantastic account 

 in regard to rhinoceros-horn. He is likewise the first to set forth its 

 quality of detecting poison. His text is here translated, as given in 

 T'u shu tsi ch'eng. 2 



"Mr. Cheng 3 once obtained a genuine rhinoceros-horn of the kind 

 'communicating with the sky,' three inches long, the upper portion being 

 carved into the form of a fish. When a man carries such a piece in 

 his mouth and descends into the water, the water will give way for him 

 and leave a vacant space three feet square, so that he has a chance to 

 breathe in the water. 4 The horn 'communicating with the sky' has a 

 single red vein like a silk string running from the base to the tip. When 

 a horn filled with rice is placed among a flock of chickens, the chickens 

 want to peck the grains. Scarcely have they approached the horn to 

 within an inch when they are taken aback and withdraw. Hence the 

 people of the south designate the horn 'communicating with the sky' 

 by the name 'fowl-frightening horn.' When such a horn is placed on a 

 heap of grain, the birds do not dare assemble there. Enveloped by a 

 thick fog or exposed to the night dew, when placed in a courtyard, the 

 horn does not contract humidity. The rhinoceros (si) is a wild animal 

 living in the deep mountain-forests. During dark nights its horn emits 

 a brilliant light like torch-fire. The horn is a safe guide to tell the 

 presence of poison : when poisonous medicines of liquid form are stirred 

 with a horn, a white foam will bubble up, and no other test is necessary; 

 when non-poisonous substances are stirred with it, no foam will rise. 

 In this manner the presence of poison can be ascertained. When on a 

 journey in foreign countries, or in places where contagion from ku 



was the ivory of an animal which was found shortly after it had died a natural death; 

 least esteemed was that discovered in mountains many years after the animal's 

 death (Pelliot, Bulletin de V Ecole francaise d' Extreme-Orient, Vol. II, 1902, p. 166). 

 In Siam, the rhinoceros is still killed with bamboo pikes hardened in the fire and 

 thrust into its jaws and down the throat, as described by Bishop Pallegoix (Descrip- 

 tion du royaume Thai ou Siam, Vol. I, p. 75, Paris, 1854). 



1 He died in 330 a.d. at the age of eighty-one; see Giles (Biographical Dic- 

 tionary, p. 372); Mayers (Chinese Reader's Manual, p. 86); Bretschneider (Bot. 

 Sin., pt. 1, p. 42); and Pelliot {Journal asiatique, 1912, Juillet-Aout, p. 145). 



* Chapter on Rhinoceros (hui k'ao, p. 3), introduced by the author's literary 

 name Pao-p'u-tse, and the title of his work Teng sht p'ien, which is not included 

 in the Taoist Canon. 



3 Presumably Ch§ng Se-yuan, a relative and spiritual predecessor of Ko Hung 

 (L. Wieger, Taoisme, Vol. I, Le canon, p. 16; Pelliot, /. c, p. 146). 



4 It is interesting to note that this belief is still upheld in the modern folk-lore of 

 Annam: "Celui qui peut se procurer une come de rhinoceros et la sculpte en forme 

 de poisson, s'il la met entre ses dents, peut descendre sans danger, comme le rhi- 

 noceros ou le poisson, tout au fond de l'eau" (P. Giran, Magie et Religion Annamites, 

 p. 104, Paris, 1912). 



