464 CHINESE FISHING 
“the first pre-Pelasgian piscator’’ from whom, in Sir O. 
Seaman’s witty verse, 
“From whom have sprung (I own a bias 
To ways the cult of rod and fly has) 
All fishermen—and Ananias !”’ 
or lest it seem to disqualify me for the character bestowed 
by Alciphron on an angler, of being one “ who would never 
even slip into misrepresentation,’’ I call no less a witness than 
Mr. S. Wells Williams, LL.D., late Professor of the Chinese 
Language and Literature at Yale College, and author of Tonic 
and Syllabic Dictionaries of the Chinese Language. 
From page 349 come ipsissima verba:) “The Bulletin 
Universel for 1829 asserts that in some parts of China spawn 
is carefully placed in an empty egg-shell, and the hole closed : 
the egg is then replaced in the nest and after the hen has sat 
a few days upon it reopened, and then placed in vessels of 
water warmed. in the sun, where it soon hatches! ’”’ 
De Thiersant, in his assertion that “‘ from time immemorial 
it has been the policy of the Government and officials to protect 
fishing in every way,’ and Mr. Yen in his that “ our ancient 
classics mention the appointment, several centuries before the 
Christian era, of special officials to rule over and protect our 
fishermen,’’ indicate that a Board of Fisheries came into exist- 
ence at an early date. 
The Chou Li, or The Rites of the Chou Dynasty (c. 1000 B.C.) 
point distinctly to wardens being appointed for fishing purposes. 
We read, in fact, of an official staff, called Fishermen attached to 
the Imperial Court: ‘“ They were entrusted with the fishing 
appropriate to each season, and made dams for catching fish.” 
Private fisheries, with some few exceptions such as the 
Imperial preserves, apparently were not allowed, or seem not 
to have existed. All waters were free and open to all citizens 
of ancient China. In modern times fishing belongs to the 
State, and licenses to fish, which are strictly limited in each 
canton, are obligatory. District magistrates are bound to 
care for and police the rivers: to put down fry in suitable 
streams: to enforce the laws, especially those dealing with a 
1 Op. cit., vol. I. 
