Page 119 - Chinese Porcelain Vol I, Galland

FABULOUS AND OTHER ANIMALS. 87

According to the astrologers, the star « of the Ursa Major
gave birth by metamorphosis to the first beast of this kind.
He is the greatest of four-footed creatures, representing the
masculine principle of nature, and is lord of all wild animals.
He is also called the King of Beasts, and the Chinese character
for is believed to be traceable his brow. He is
king upon
seven feet in length, because seven is the number appertaining
to Yang, the masculine principle, and for the same reason his
endures for seven months. He lives to the of
gestation age
one thousand years. When five hundred years old, his colour
changes to white. His claws are a powerful talisman, and
ashes from his skin, worn about the act as
prepared person,
a charm sickness. PeJc Hu, the white is the
against tiger,
name given to the western quadrant of the Uranosphere, and
metaphorically to the west in general."
Hare.— 244 " The hare
Franks, p. : is sacred to the moon,
where the Taoists believe it to live, pounding the that
drugs
form the elixir of life. It is stated to live a thousand
years,
and to become white when it has reached the first five hundred
The hare, often miscalled a rabbit, occurs on
years. porcelain,
both as a decoration and as a mark."
218 " T'u. as
Mayers, p. : This animal is reputed deriving
its from the vital essence of the moon, to the influence
origin
"
of which P. 219 The
luminary it is consequently subject." :
red hare is a beast of
supernatural auspicious omen, which
appears when virtuous rulers govern the empire."
Dragon.— See " Fabulous Animals."
Snake.—" Middle Kingdom," vol. i. p. 268 : " The variety
and numbers of both land and water, found in the
serpents,
maritime are exceeded in of tho
provinces, hardly any country
world ; very few of them are poisonous."
" ' !
One of the five animals which the Five Poisons
represent
" Charms A
(see "). large snake is at times used as a symbol for
the
dragon.
162 " JSTii Kwa, also entitled Nii Hi, had the
Mayers, p. :
body of a serpent and the head of an ox, and assisted her
brother, Fuh-hi, in invocations to the gods, besides which she
instituted the ordinance of marriage." By another account,
given by Sze-ma Cheng, she is said to have had the body
of a serpent and a human head.