-06 NOTES AND QUERIES 



Dr. Ferguson adds the following note on Ku K'ai Chih : 



As to the notes at the bottom of pages 103 and 



104, I am indebted to the Editor for his courtesy 



in allowing me to add further explanations. On 

 Ku K'ai Chih 1n7 t . , ,-,,,. 



page 1U3, it is necessary to use an and between 



Hsiao and Hsiang for they are the names of two distinct, though 



confluent, rivers. The Shan Hai classic refers to them as follows : 



& STrfB & m- 



The phrase on page 104 to which the Editor devotes a lengthy 

 note is admittedly obscure. I have offered what seems to me to be a 

 reasonable explanation from the artistic point of view but I am not 

 certain that it is correct or that some other may not be clear. My 

 only claim is that mine is a reasonable explanation. 



Mr. L. C. Arlington also writes on this subject : 

 I beg to send you a few Notes : Adversaria Sinica. Series II, 

 No. 1. 



The famous painting in the British Museum has received rather 

 severe treatment at the hands of Dr. Giles. The transcript of the 

 original text has unfortunately led Dr. Giles into several pitfalls 

 which probably would otherwise not have happened. A careful 

 checking of the original text with the ordinary style shows the 

 following discrepancies : — 



1. There should be no stop after Hua (]§£) in the sentence 

 beginning with fff f ^ $ 111 iD il . This however is immaterial. 



2. Ku ( jfp() should be Yen (§|) and therefore has nothing to do 

 with Ku Shao-lien. Yen means a "tablet" or "title," and the 

 sentence should read, "The tablet hanging in the Ching I Pavilion 

 had inscribed on it, 'The Four Beauties,' " which were kept in the 

 Pavilion. We do not find the meaning "Tablet" or "Title" in 

 Dr. Giles' Dictionary, for Yen. 



3. Dr. Giles fell into a trap by stopping at Erh ( j£ ) instead of 

 at Shang (*$£)• i.e. $\ 1& jjjjf, f£ "which I am enabled to enjoy in 

 secret delight." The "Four Beauties" of course is meant by the 

 emperor. 



4. Cheng Chun (JE^d) should be Cheng Fu ( jEfH) which gives 

 a slightly different meaning — "Unexpected good fortune," etc. 



5. Dr. Giles left untranslated one of the most important passages 

 in the text, viz., #*» ffi % & M ffl & i&- Dr. Giles in his Note, 

 (No. 14), says that "Some allusion is hidden in the words 'Filicitous 

 sword.' " This has put him off the track completely since the 



