Chapter LVI. 



FABULOUS CREATURES. 



No account of actually existing life within the limits of 

 the Chinese Empire could be complete which did not include 

 fabulous animals of various kinds, beasts, birds, fishes, and 

 reptiles, in which the Chinese believe quite as firmly as they 

 do in most of those referred to in preceding pages. Western 

 readers must not, in reading what is to follow, indulge too 

 freely their hilaritj', for they may well be reminded of their 

 own credulity in times gone by, when dragons were known at 

 Wantleyand a unicorn became an equal supporter with the 

 lion of British arms. Reading between the lines it will be 

 seen that in some of the following descriptions there is an ad- 

 mixture of fact and fable. Taking the subject under the heads 

 of beasts, birds, fishes, and reptiles, we come first to the beasts. 



Priority ought surely to be given to the dragon, that being 

 the symbol of Chinese nationalism. I think it quite possible 

 that the dragon might have been the off-spring of fright, 

 imagination, and bad drawing after an unexpected adventure 

 with an alligator. Later on the imaginary animal acquired 

 the power of rising into the air, and so became a flying 

 dragon, a symbol of power, as well as of strength and 

 wisdom. It is classed in China as one of the "four mar- 

 vellous animals," the other three being the tortoise, the 

 phoenix, and the unicorn. Such as follow, it will be noted, 

 rank amongst those that are not marvellous but merely 

 natural. 



There is the Che-lin, for example, known to everybody 

 acquainted with Chinese pictorial art and pottery. It belongs 

 to the deer family, but later ages provided it with a covv"s 

 tail, the forehead of a wolf, and the hoof of a horse. When 

 the Che-lin and the Phtienix walked abroad in the olden 

 times, then were the days of prosperity. Before the times 

 of Confucius even, this animal had become the symbol of 

 national well-being. 



Next we have the .Ma-hwa. This is a creature of the 

 monkey tribe, or rather of the apes. He is found in the 

 western parts of the Empire, particularly in Szechwan. 

 What he is specially noted for is his penchant for pretty 



