Page 469 - Chinese pottery and porcelain : an account of the potter's art in China from primitive times to the present day

Motives of the Decoration 293

and on the palace porcelain the dragon and the phoenix (feng) fre-
quently appear together as emblems of the Emperor and Empress.

The feng'huang,^ a phoenix-like bird, is usually shown with
the " head of a pheasant and the beak of a swallow, a long flexible
neck, plumage of many gorgeous colours, a flowing tail between that
of an argus pheasant and a peacock, and long claws pointed back-
ward as it flies." It is the special emblem of the Empress. In archaic

designs there is a k'ueifeng or one-legged phoenix, a bird-like creature
terminating in scrolls, which, like the corresponding k'uei lung,
occasionally appears in porcelain designs. Another bird-like creature
scarcely distinguishable from the feng is the luan ; the former being
based, as it is said, on the peacock of India, and the latter on the
argus pheasant. Another creature of dual nature is the ch'i lin,

commonly called the kylin, which consists of the male {clii) and
the female {lin). It is in itself a composite animal with the " body
of a deer, with the slender legs and divided hoofs ; the head re-
sembles that of a dragon, the tail is curled and bushy, like that of
the conventional lion, and the shoulders are adorned with the

flame-like attributes of its divine nature. It is said to attain the
age of a thousand years, to be the noblest form of animal creation,

and the emblem of perfect good ; and to tread so lightly as to leave
no footprints, and so carefully as to crush no living creature." Its
appearance was the sign of the coming of a virtuous ruler. It is
important to note that the cliH lin is quite distinct from the Chinese
lion, and is also to be carefully separated from the other chimera-
like creatures known in Chinese art under the general title hai shou

or sea monsters.

The lion in Chinese art (shih or skih tzU, the Japanese shishi),
though of qualified ferocity in appearance, is in reality a peaceful,
docile creature who expends his energy on a ball of silk brocade,
the streamers from which he holds in his massive jaws. In general
aspect (Plate 95), in his tufts of hair and his bushy tail, he closely
resembles the Peking spaniel, who is in fact called after him the lion
dog {shih tzu kou). He is usually represented in pairs, the one
with one foot on a ball of brocade, and the other, presumably the
lioness, with a cub. The larger lion figures are placed as guardians
by the gates of Buddhist temples, from which function the lion has
earned the name of " dog of Fo " (i.e. Buddha) ; the smaller sizes,
usually mounted on an oblong base with a tube attached to hold an

^ A dual creature, the fSng being the male and the huang the female.