1 68 



Chinese Clay Figures 



As stated by a great number of commentaries, 1 the se kung were carved 

 from wood if rhinoceros-horn were lacking. Certainly, there could have 

 never been any want of bovine horns; and it is inconceivable that an 

 ox-horn should have been ever reproduced in wood. Fan Ch'eng-ta, 

 in his Kui hai yii heng chi, 2 has a note to the effect that "the people on 

 the seacoast make cups from ox -horn (niu kio pei) by splitting the horn 





va> 



m 



Fig. 23. 

 Bronze Rhyton attributed to Han Period (from Po ku t'u lu). 



in two and smoothing the edges to enable them to drink wine from them, 

 which appears as a survival of the ancient rhinoceros-horn goblets." 

 They did not carve their cups from ox-horn, however: they merely 

 split the latter, as the author advisedly says. 3 



1 See T'u shu tsi ch'eng, K'ao kung tien, sect. 197, kung pu. 



"- Edition of Chi pu tsu chat ts'ung shu, p. 14 b. 



3 It may be stated positively that a confusion of rhinoceros and ox horns (or 

 any other horns) is absolutely impossible, the two being entirely distinct organic 

 substances of different origin and structure; and we are quite willing to believe Chang 

 Shi-nan, the author of Yu huan ki wtn early in the thirteenth century, that an artisan 

 of Shuang-liu hien in Ch'eng-tu fu, who chanced upon the idea of making ox-horn into 

 rhinoceros-horn, was not very successful in passing off his ware, because it did not 

 exhibit any of the properties of rhinoceros-horn. The latter is indeed a unique product 



