456 CHINESE FISHING 



500 B.C. took the place of our modern float : the moment the 

 Angler " saw it sink, he knew a fish was on." 1 



In the first century before and after the Christian era the 

 germ of Imperial ostentation and extravagance in tackle raged 

 virulently. Spreading, if not from China to Peru, at any rate 

 like silk 2 from China to Rome, it claimed among its victims 

 the Emperor Nero and the Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty. 

 The bacillus found the better host in Nero, who ^ fished with 

 golden nets drawn by purple ropes, while his brother of Asia 

 confined himself to angling from a boat with a hook of pure 

 gold, a line of white silk, and red carp for a lure.* 



But the commonality of one State, at any rate, ran no bad 

 second to the Imperial pair. " The people of Lu," we read, 

 " were fond of fishing : they used cinnamon bark for bait, 

 forged gold for hooks, which were variegated with silver or 

 green colours, while their fishing line was ornamented with 

 the feathers of the turquoise kingfisher." ^ Here perhaps, as 

 the bird fives on fish, we can detect a conscious or unconscious 

 touch of homoeopathic magic. 



Lures such as the natural or artificial fly obtain no record : 

 even now the Chinese and Japanese try most things before an 

 artificial fly. The baits consisted of worms, grain, fish, meat, 

 and cassia. The latter aromatic herb recalls the anglers of 

 Oppian and Pliny, who beheved in the attraction of fish by 

 the sense of smell. ^ 



In their unusual baits our authors suggest their confreres 

 of Greece and Rome. Thus in size of prey, and similarity of 

 bait, the author of the K'ung ts'ung tzii and Herodotus 



1 Apud Werner, op. cit., 277. 



2 In 325 B.C. Chinese silks were sold in Greek markets (Werner, op. cit.. 

 Table III.), while by the first century B.C. there was a brisk trade in them with 

 Rome, through Parthia. Cf. Pliny, N. H., XXIV. 8, and XXXIV. 41 ; Virgil, 

 Georg., II. 121 ; Horace, Epod, VIII. 15 ; Mela, III. 7 ". . . pretiosis vestibus 

 in omnes terrae partes mittere solebant," and Seneca's protest Ep. 90, "posse 

 nos vestitos esse sine commercio Serico. Pliny, XII. 41, estimates that for 

 luxuries from China, India, and Arabia, Rome was paying annually over 

 100,000,000 sesterces. 



3 Eutropius, VII. 14. 



* Han Wu Ku Shih, apud Werner, op. cit., p. 278. Imperial hunting and 

 fishing expeditions are described on the stone drums of the Chou Dynasty 

 c. 750 B.C. now at Peking. See Journal N.-C, R.B.A.S., N.S., VIII. 146-152. 



* Ch'iieh Tzil, apud Werner, p. 276. 



* Antea, p. 2j8. 



