152 Chinese Clay Figures 



"The work K'ai-yiian i shi l mentions the ' cold-dispelling' rhinoceros- 

 horn {pi han si), whose color is golden, and which was sent as tribute by 

 Tonking {Kiao-chi) } During the winter months it spreads warmth, 

 which imparts a genial feeling to man. The Po k'ung leu Vie 3 speaks 

 of the 'heat-dispelling' rhinoceros-horn {pi shu si) obtained by the 

 Emperor Wen-tsung (827-840 a.d.) of the T'ang dynasty. 4 During 

 the summer months it can cool off the hot temperature. The Ling 

 piao lu i b records the horn of the 'dust-dispelling' rhinoceros {pi ch'en 

 si), from which hairpins, combs, and girdle-plaques are made, with the 

 effect that dust keeps aloof from the body. The Tu yang tsa pien 6 



text of the official Annals is decisive, and it is easy to see that the word "live" could 

 have been altered into ' ' white ' ' by the suggestion of the white pheasant. The T'ang 

 leu tien, a description of the administrative organization of the period K'ai-yuan 

 (713-741) of the T'ang dynasty, ascribed to the Emperor Yuan-tsung (compare 

 Pelliot, Bulletin de I'Ecole francaise d' Extreme-Orient, Vol. Ill, 1903, p. 668), says 

 that "the white rhinoceros {pai se) is an auspicious omen of the first order" {shang 

 jui; quoted in Yen kien lei han, Ch. 410, p. 17 b). But as most of the creatures 

 appearing in the category of such "auspicious omens" are imaginary, it is more than 

 probable that this white rhinoceros owes its existence to pure fancy. The white 

 rhinoceros, therefore, does not rest on good evidence; and I am not convinced that 

 the Chinese were ever acquainted with such a variety. Moreover, the so-called White 

 or Square-nosed Rhinoceros {Rhinoceros simus cottoni) has not yet been traced in 

 Asia, but is restricted to Africa. It is described and illustrated by A. Newton 

 {Proceedings of the Zoological Soc. of London, Vol. I, 1903, pp. 222-224; see ibid., 

 Vol. II, 1903, p. 194), R. Lydekker (The Game Animals of Africa, p. 38, London, 1908), 

 and E. L. Trouessart (Le Rhinoceros blanc du Soudan, Proceedings etc., 1909, 

 pp. 198-200, 3 plates). A fine monograph is devoted to it by E. Heller, The White 

 Rhinoceros {Smithsonian Misc. Collections, Vol. 61, No. 1, Washington, 1913, 31 

 plates), embodying the results of Colonel Roosevelt's African expedition. As to the 

 "white" color, Mr. Heller observes, "The skins cannot under the most lenient cir- 

 cumstances be classed as white. They are, however, distinctly lighter than those of 

 the black species, and may on this account be allowed to retain their popular designa- 

 tion of white. Their true color is smoke gray of Ridgway, a color conspicuously lighter 

 than the dark clove-brown of their geographical ally, Dicer os bicornis." 



1 Matters omitted in the Annals of the Reign of K'ai-yiian (713-742) by Wang 

 Jen-yu, written during the Wu-tai period (907-960); see Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., 

 pt. 1, p. 156. 



2 The text is quoted in P'ei whi yiinfu (Ch. 8, p. 87 b) as follows: "The country 

 of Tonking sent a rhinoceros-horn of golden color, which was placed in a golden pan 

 in a hall of the palace; the warmth caused by it was felt by every one; the envoy said 

 that it was the cold-dispelling rhinoceros-horn." 



3 The complete title runs T'ang Sung Po k'ung leu t'ie; it is a cyclopaedia in 100 

 chapters arranged according to subject-matters dealing with affairs of the T'ang and 

 Sung periods (Ming edition in John Crerar Library, No. 786, in 96 vols.). 



4 The exact text is given in P'ei wen yiln fu. A sceptre of auspicious augury 

 {Ju i), made from a "heat-dispelling horn" in the possession of the same emperor, is 

 mentioned in Tu yang tsa pien (Ch. B, p. 12; see note 6). Another Ju i of ordinary 

 rhinoceros-horn is spoken of in Yiin sien tsa shi (Ch. 3, p. 5 b; ed. of T'ang Sung 

 ts'ung shu). 



5 See p. 142. 



6 An account of rare and curious objects brought to China from foreign countries 

 from 763 to 872, by Su Ngo in the latter part of the ninth century (Bretschneider, 

 /. c, p. 204; Wylie, Notes on Chin. Lit., p. 194). According to the passage in the 

 original text (ed. of Pai hai, Ch. c, p. 9 b), this girdle was in the possession of the 



