150 Chinese Clay Figures 



The se si is the female of the rhinoceros which is termed also 'sand- 

 rhinoceros.' It has but a single horn on the crown of the head. The 

 natural designs of the horn are smooth, white, and clearly differentiated, 

 but it is useless as medicine, for the patterns on the horn of the male are 

 big, those on the horn of the female too fine. In the beginning of the 

 period Hung-wu (1368-1398) Kiu-chen 1 sent one as tribute, which was 

 called one-horned (monoceros) rhinoceros. The view of Ch'en Ts'ang- 

 k'i that there are not the two kinds of land and water animals, the view 

 of Kuo P'o that the rhinoceros has three horns, and the view of Su Sung 

 that the hairy rhinoceros is the male rhinoceros, are all erroneous. 

 The term 'hairy rhinoceros' is at present applied to the yak. 2 The 

 designs of the rhinoceros-horn are like fish -roe. On account of their 

 shape they are styled 'grain patterns.' 3 Inside of the latter there are 

 eyes, styled 'grain eyes.' If yellow decorations rise from a black back- 

 ground, the horn is 'standard throughout.' If black decorations rise 

 from a yellow background, the horn is 'inverted throughout.' If 

 within the decorations there are again other decorations, the horn is 

 'double throughout.' The general designation for these is Vung si, 

 and they are of the highest grade. If the decorations are spotted, as it 

 were, with pepper and beans, the horns are middle grade. The horn of 

 the black rhinoceros, which is of a uniform black color and devoid of 

 decorations, is the lowest grade. 4 If the horn of the rhinoceros 'com- 

 municating with the sky ' emits light, so that it can be seen at night, it is 



molli et tenui cute vestitae; reliquum corpus dura admodum et crassa, velut squamis 

 quibusdam crustaceis rotundis aspera." This is the reason why in some Chinese and 

 early European sketches the animal is covered with scales (see Figs. 3 and 11, and 

 Plate IX). 



1 Playfair, No. 1295 (1278): in Annam (compare above, p. 81). 



2 Li Shi-chen refers to the notes on this subject contained in the same chapter. 

 This remark renders it plain that it was the notion of "rhinoceros" which was trans- 

 ferred in recent times to the yak, and that the development was not in the reverse 

 order, as assumed by Professor Giles. 



3 This and the following sentences, commenting on the natural designs of the 

 horn, have been translated by S. Julien (in M. Reinaud, Relation des voyages faits 

 par les Arabes, Vol. II, p. 68). 



4 In the Memoirs on the Customs of Cambodja by Chou Ta-kuan of the Yuan 

 period, translated by P. Pelliot {Bulletin de I'Ecole francaise d' Extreme-Orient, Vol. II, 

 1902, p. 167), it is said that the white and veined rhinoceros-horn is the most es- 

 teemed kind, and that the inferior quality is black. The List of Medicines exported 

 from Hankow, published by the Imperial Maritime Customs (p. 15, Shanghai, 1888), 

 is therefore wrong in stating that the black and pointed horns are considered the best. 

 A valuation for the horn is not given there. According to a report of Consul-General 

 G. E. Anderson of Hongkong {Daily Consular and Trade Reports, 1913, p. 1356), 

 rhinoceros-horns are imported into Hongkong to some extent, the price ranging from 

 $360 to $460 per picul, or from about $1.30 to $1.65 gold per pound; they are largely 

 of African production, and imported from Bombay. According to L. de Reinach 

 (Le Laos, Paris, no date, p. 271), rhinoceros-horns have in the territory of the Laos 

 a market- value of 1 1 1-137 fr. the kilo, and rhinoceros-skins 60-70 fr. a hundred kilo. 



