The Stone Age in China. 221 



THE STONE AGE IN CHINA. 



BY M. CHEVEEUL. 



The following paper is translated from Comiptes Rendus, 13tli 

 August, I860' : — 



" It is now the custom to designate by the expression c age 

 of stone ' those pre-historic times when men, not acquainted 

 with metals and the methods of working them, fashioned out 

 of hard stones implements such as hammers, chisels, knives, 

 hatchets, etc. A passage from the life of Confucius, by Pere 

 Amiot, printed at Paris in 1788, shows that the Chinese passed 

 through the stone age. 



" Confucius, so states his biographer, being in the kingdom 

 of Tchen, stayed at the house of a sage named Tcheng-Tsee, 

 when the king of Tchen perceived on the terrace of his gar- 

 den a bird of prey which seemed to have three wings, and a 

 strange mode of flight. The king ordered that the bird should 

 not be lost sight of, and should be brought to him alive or 

 dead. The bird soon fell lifeless on the steps before his palace. 

 The bird had only two wings, but the feathering of an arrow 

 that transfixed its body explained how it appeared to have 

 three ; and the extraordinary fact was that the arrow, quite 

 different from those then in use, was armed with a hard-pointed 

 stone instead of with iron, and its wood was peculiar. Tcheng- 

 Tsee, the friend of Confucius, was commanded by the king to 

 explain the matter, but being unable to do so, he spoke of 

 Confucius as one capable of fulfilling his majesty's desire. 

 Confucius, having recognised the bird as a sun, a kind of hawk, 

 whose peculiarity it is not to chase the birds it feeds upon, at 

 their love season, or when they are incubating, said, ' This kind 

 of bird of prey is a native of the land of Sou-chin, to the north 

 of Tartary ; it never comes to our climate. Inasmuch as the 

 arrow is armed with a piece of hard stone instead of an iron 

 point, it resembles that which Ou-ouang presented to the 

 prince in whose favour he erected into a kingdom the country 

 of Tchen, when, having extinguished the dynasty of Chang, he 

 gave the fiefs to his chief assistants in that glorious expedition. 

 This arrow was thirteen inches long, without reckoning its 

 stone armature, and was given as the sign of sovereignty of 

 him who was created King of Tchen. Seek, Sire, in your 

 armouries, and perhaps, in spite of the different revolutions 

 which have happened since the creation of your kingdom, the 

 arrow may still be preserved. If it can be found, let us com- 

 pare it with that which has occasioned the death of this bird, 

 and we may conclude from it that heaven favours your majesty, 



