372 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1900. 



He of the carp is Kin-Kao, "a sage wiio lived in northern Cliina about 

 tlie twelfth century. It it sai<l that he wandered over the i>rovince of 

 Chihli for two centuries, and then, taking leave of his disciples 

 with a promise to return l)y a certain day, he plunged into the river. 

 When the appointed time for his reappearance arrived, the pupils, 

 with a great multitude, assembled upon the banks, and, having 

 duly bathed and jnirified themselves, made offerings to him. At 

 length, in the sight of ten thousand persons, he sprang from the water 

 riding upon a carj). .After tarrying with his friends for a month he 

 again entered the river and was seen no more." ' 

 The sage on tlie tiger is perhaps Chii Ling-jen, a rishi of marvelous 



powers. 



He on the bundle of sticks is perhajts Damma, son of a king in southern 



India, "who," says Mr. Anderson in his catalogue, p. 511, "was the 



tirst Chinese patriarch. Hearrived in China A. D. 520,and established 



himself in a temple in Loyang. During nine years of his stay there 



he remained buried in profound abstraction, neither moving nor 



speaking, and when he returned to consciousness of his surroundings 



his legs had l)ecome paralyzed 1)y long disuse. In the Buisn-zo-dzn-i 



it is said he came to Japan A. D. 618, and died on Mount Kataoaka. 



The Chinese, however, maintain he died and was buried in China, 



but that three years after his death he was met traveling toward 



India, with one foot bare, and when his tomb was opened by the 



Emperor's order it was found empty save for a cast-off shoe." 



The dragon genius isCh'en Nan, a sage possessed of supernatural powers 



to cure the sick, transmute metals, travel enormous distances, etc. 



Passing through a place where the inhabitants were praying for rain 



he stirred a pool where he knew a dragon lived, with a long iron 



pole. So plenteous a downpour at once ensued that all the rivers 



were filled. 



172-175. Plates (4 small) of white Ming dynasty porcelain, decorated inside, the 



genius of longevity accompanied by the spotted stag, amid waves and clouds 



in deep blue upon brick-red waves. On the outside are the eight immortals 



venerated by the Taoist sect, in blue on vermilion waves. Mark as on 



last. The decoration shows them to have been intended to hold sweetmeats 



during birthday ceremonies. 



The eight immortals venerated In- theTaoists areChung-liCh'iian, Chang 

 Kiio, Lii Tung-pin, Ts'ao Kuo-ch'iu, LiTieh-kuai, Han Hsiang-tz'u, 

 Lan Ts'ai-ho, and Ho Hsien-ku. Though some, if not all, of these 

 personages had been previously venerated as immortals in Taoist 

 legends, it would appear from the K't--yu-tK'ityig-k'ao (chap. 34) that 

 their defined assemblage into a group of immortalized beings can 

 not claim a higher antiquity than the Yiian dynasty — that is, the 

 end of the thirteenth or beginning of the fourteenth century. 

 Chung-Ii Ch'iian is reputed to have lived under the Chow dynasty (B. C. 

 1122 to 256). Many marvelous particulars are narrated respecting 

 his birth and career, in the course of which he metTung Hua Kung, 

 the patriarch of the Genii, "who revealed to him the mystic formula 

 of longevity and the secret of the power of transmutation, and of 

 magic craft." He was eventually permitted to join the Genii, and 

 has ai)i)eared from time to time as the messenger of Heaven. He is 

 usually represented as a martial figure with a sword. 



' Anderson, Japanese and Chinese Paintings in British Museum, p. 236. 



