History of the Rhinoceros 143 



are few in which the lines pass through from one end to the other. 

 These are pointed, and their designs are large and numerous. Those 

 with small designs are styled tao ch'a t'ung. 1 These two kinds are called 

 also 'bottomless jade cups.' 2 If there is not sufficient space for the 

 lines to pass through, and the white and black designs are equally 

 distributed, then the price is considerably increased, and the horn will 

 become the treasure of numberless generations. When I lived at 

 P'an-yii, 3 I made a thorough examination of what is current there con- 

 cerning rhinoceros-horn. There is, further, the to-lo-si, the largest 

 among the rhinoceros-horns, which may reach seven catties in weight. 4 

 This is the horn on the forehead of the male rhinoceros, which has 

 numerous designs in the interior conveying the impression of scattered 

 beans. If the stripes are deep in color, the horn is capable of being made 

 into girdle-plaques and implements ; if the stripes are dispersed and light 

 in color, the horn may be employed to advantage for the making of cups, 



at the Court of the Ming emperors (Ta Ming hut tien, Ch. 5, p. 30), and were allowed 

 to alternate with tortoise-shell girdles (Ming kung shi by Liu Jo-yu, Ch. 4, p. 3 b, 

 new ed. of 1910). Under the Yuan dynasty a bureau for works in rhinoceros-horn 

 and ivory was established. This was a sort of court-atelier, in which couches, tables, 

 implements, and girdle-ornaments inlaid with these materials were turned_ out for 

 the use of the imperial household. An official was placed in charge of it in 1263, 

 and he received an assistant in 1268; the force consisted of a hundred and fifty work- 

 ing-men (Yuan shi, Ch. 90, p. 5, K'ien-lung edition). According to Qazwlnl (1203- 

 83), the inhabitants of Sandabil (Kan-chou in Kan-su Province) were clad in silk 

 and adorned with ivory and rhinoceros-horn (J. Marquart, Osteuropaische und 

 ostasiatische Streifzuge, p. 87, Leipzig, 1903). De Goeje is inclined to think in 

 this connection of rhinoceros-horn set with gold and worn as amulet; but an instance 

 of such a mode of use is not known in China, and it rather seems that it is in this case 

 likewise the question of girdles decorated with plaques of ivory and rhinoceros-horn. 

 The Mohammedan authors were well aware of the fondness of the Chinese for this 

 material and its employment for girdles, and during the middle ages became the 

 most active importers of the horn into China. The Arabic merchant Soleiman writ- 

 ing in 851 relates that the inhabitants of China make from the horn girdles reaching 

 in price to two and three thousand dinars and more, according to the beauty of the 

 figure found in the design of the horn (M. Reinaud, Relation des voyages faits par 

 les Arabes, Vol. I, p. 29). Hafiz el Gharb, who wrote at the end of the eleventh 

 century, observed, "The most highly esteemed ornaments among the Chinese are 

 made from the horn of the rhinoceros, which, when cut, presents to the eye singular 

 and varied figures" (Ch. Schefer, Relations des Musulmans avec les Chinois, p. 10, 

 in Centenaire de I'Ecole des langues orientates, Paris, 1895). 



1 Tao, "to reverse;" ch'a, "to insert;" t'ung, "to pass through." 



2 Thus this phrase is explained in Giles's Dictionary, p. 1326 b (tenth entry). 



3 Playfair (2d ed.), No. 4927: one of the two districts forming the city of 

 Kuang-chou (Canton). 



4 Hirth and Rockhill (Chau Ju-kua, p. 233), relying onGerini, identify the coun- 

 try To-lo or To-ho-lo, as written in T'ang shu, with a country situated on the Gulf of 

 Martaban. The journey from Kuang-chou to that country takes five months. An 

 embassy with tribute came from there to China in the period Cheng-kuan (627- 

 650) , and emphasis is laid on the great number of fine rhinoceroses. See also Schlegel 

 (T'oung Pao, Vol. IX, 1898, p. 282) and Pelliot (Bull, de I'Ecole francaise, Vol. IV, 

 1904, p. 360). 



