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APPENDIX VII.
EXTRACTS FROM THE “PAN TSAOU KANG MU.”

The Kiao-Lung. (The four-footed coiled Dragon. The Iguanodon. —Eitel.)

This animal, according to Shi Chan, belongs to the dragon family. Its eye-brows are crossed, hence its name signifies “the crossed reptile.” The scaled variety is called the Kiao-Lung, the winged the Ying-Lung. The horned kind are called K‘iu, the hornless kind Li. In Indian books it is called Kwan-P’i-Lo.

Shi Chan, quoting from the Kwan Cheu Ki, says: “The Iguanodon (?) is more than twelve feet long; it resembles a snake, it has four feet, and is broad like a shield. It has a small head and a slender neck, the latter being covered with numerous protuberances. The front of its breast is of a red colour, its back is variegated with green, and its sides as if embroidered. Its tail is composed of fleshy rings; the larger ones are several. Its eggs are also large. It can induce fish to fly, but if a turtle is present they will not do so.

“The Emperor Chao, of the Han, when fishing in the river Wéi, caught a white Iguanodon. It resembled a snake, but was without scales. Its head was composed of soft flesh, and tusks issued from the mouth. The Emperor ordered his ministers to get it preserved. Its flesh is delicious; bones green, flesh red.”

From the above it may be seen the Iguanodon is edible.

The Crocodile

“The T’o Fish, we call it the Earth Dragon, and have correctly written the character. It resembles the dragon, its voice is terrible, and its length is a ch’ang (a hundred and forty-one English inches). When it breathes it forms clouds, which condense into rain. Being a dragon, the term ‘fish’ should be done away with.”

Shi Chan says the T’o character in appearance resembles the head, the belly, and the tail. One author says that an animal, which is identified with the crocodile, is found in the lagoons and marshes of the Southern Sea, at no fixed time. Its skin is made into drums. It is very tenacious of life. Before it can be flayed quantities of boiling water have to be poured down its throat. Another author states that the crocodile is of a sleepy disposition, with the eyes (nearly) always shut. It is of immense strength. It frequently dashes itself against the river bank. Men dig them out of their caves. If a hundred men dig them out, a hundred men will be required to pull them out; but if one man dig, one man may pull them out; but the event in either case is very uncertain. Another author states that recently there were found in the lakes and estuaries many animals resembling lizards and pangolins in appearance, which utter dreadful cries during the night, to the great terror of sailors. Shi Chan says crocodiles’ dens are very deep, and that bamboo ropes are baited in order to catch him; after he has swallowed the bait he is gradually pulled out. He flies zigzag, but cannot fly upwards. His roar is like a drum’s, and he responds to the striking of the watches of the night, which is called the crocodile drum, or the crocodile watch. The common people, when they hear it, predict rain. The nape of the neck is bright and glistening, more brilliant than those of fish. It lays a large number of eggs, as many as a hundred, which it sometimes eats. The people of the South appreciate the flesh, and use it at marriage festivities. One author states that the crocodile has twelve different varieties of delicious flesh; but the tail, like serpent’s flesh, is very poisonous. The crocodile’s flesh cures quite a host of diseases.

The Jăn Shé, or Southern Snake. (Mai-Teu-Shé = closed up (concealed) head snake.)

Shi Chan says: “This snake is a reptile (having a wriggling motion). Its body is immense, and its motion is wrig-wriggling (jăn-jăn)³¹⁷ and slow; hence its name, Jăn-Shé. Another author says its scales have hair like moustaches (jăn). It lives in Kwangtung and Kwangsi (literally, South of the Hills). Those that do not lift their head are the true kind; in this way they were called the ‘Concealed Head Snake.’”

Sung quotes T’ao Hung King to the effect that its habitat is in Tsin-ngan (Fukien), and also Su Kung, who says that it is found in Kwéicheu and Kwangcheu, towards the south, at Kaocheu and Hoün. At several places in the south of the Hills they are still found. Hung King says the large ones (in their coils?) are several fathoms in circumference. Those that walk without raising their heads are the genuine ones. Those that conceal their heads are not genuine. Its fat and gall can be mixed together. The large ones are more than a foot in diameter and more than twelve feet long. It is a snake, but it is short and bulky. Su Kung remarks that its form resembles a mullet’s and its head a crocodile’s. Its tail is round and without scales. It is very tenacious of life. The natives cut up its flesh into slices, and esteem it as a great delicacy. Another says: When steeped in vinegar the slices curl round the chop-sticks, and cannot be released; but when the chop-sticks are made of grass stems (mong’tso), then it is practicable.

Another says: “This snake is a hundred and forty-four feet long; it often swallows a deer. When the deer is completely digested, then it coils round a tree, when the bones of the deer in the stomach protrude through the interstices of the scales… If a woman’s dress is thrown towards it, it will coil round and will not stir.”

Shi Chan, quoting “The Wonderful Records,” says: “The boa is sixty to seventy feet long, and four to five feet in circumference; the smaller ones from thirty-six to forty-eight feet long. Their bodies are striped like a piece of embroidery. In spring and summer it frequents the recesses of forests, waiting for the deer, to devour them. When the deer is digested the boa becomes fat. Someone says that it will eat a deer every year.”

Another author says: “The boa, when it devours a deer or wild boar, begins with the hind legs. The poisonous breath of the boa comes in contact with the horns; these fall off. The galls, the smaller they are the better they are.” Another says: “Boas abound in Wang Cheu (Kwangsi). The large ones are more than a hundred and forty feet long. They devour deer, reducing the horns and bones to a pulp. The natives use the dolishos and rattans to fill up the entrance to its den. The snake, when it smells them, becomes torpid. They then dig him out. Its flesh is a great delicacy. Its skin may be made into a drum, and for ornamenting swords, and for making musical instruments.”

The Yu Hăng Chi says: “Rustic soldiers in Kwangsi, when capturing boas, stick flowers in their heads, which when the snake observes, it cannot move. They then come up to it and cut off its head. They then wait till it exhausts itself by its jumping about and dies. They then take it home and feast on it.” Compare Ælian [De Naturâ Animalium, lib. vi. chap., xxi.]: “They hung before the mouth of the Dragon’s den a piece of stuff flowered with gold, which attracted the eyes of the beast, till by the sound of soft music they lulled him to sleep, and then cut off his head.”

The Shan Hai King says: “The Pa snake can eat an elephant, the bones of which, after three years, are got rid of. Gentlemen that eat of this snake will be proof against consumption.” Kwoh P’oh, in his commentary, says the boa of to-day is identical with the Pa snake.

APPENDIX VIII.
EXTRACT FROM THE “YUEN KEEN LEI HAN.”

The Dragon. – Chap. I

The Shwoh Wăn says: “The dragon is the chief of scaly reptiles: in the spring he mounts the heavens, in the autumn he frequents the streams. This is favourable.” Again, “When the dragon walks he is called sah, when he flies he is a yao.”

The Kwang Ya says: “When he has scales he is a Kiao,³¹⁸ when he has wings a Ying-Lung,³¹⁹ when horns a Kiu-Lung,³²⁰ without horns a Chih-Lung.”

The Ming Wuh Kiai of the Odes says the dragon has horns at five hundred years, at one thousand years he is a Ying-Lung.

The P‘i Ya Kwang Yao says: “The dragon has eighty-one scales. This is nine times nine, nine is the yang (male principle). The dragon is produced from an egg, in which he is enfolded.” Again, it says that the Néi Tien says: “Dragon-fire comes in contact with moisture and there is smoke, with water and it is consumed (i. e. a man may extinguish it with water).”

The Fang Yen says: “Before the dragon has ascended to heaven he is a P‘an³²¹ Lung.” The Yih King says: “When his clouds move the rain falls, and the various things put forth their forms at the time he rides upon the six dragons and ascends the heavens.” “The first nine: The hidden dragon is inactive. The diagram indicates that the subtile ether is below. The second nine: When the dragon is seen in the fields it is profitable to meet the great man. The diagram indicates that virtue is extended. Fifth nine: The flying dragon appears in the heavens: The diagram indicates the great man creates.” Again, “The dragons contend in the wilds, their blood is azure and yellow.” Again, “Thunder is a dragon.”

The Yuen-Ming-Pao section of the Ch‘un ts‘iu says: “The dragons begin to speak, yin and yang³²² are commingled”; thence, it is said, the dragon ascends and clouds are multiplied. The Yih King, in all the diagrams, clearly says: “The summer winds arise and the dragon mounts the skies.”

In the Yuen-Shăn-K‘i of the Hiao King it is said: “Virtue approaches the fountains and the yellow dragon appears. It is the Prince’s image.”

In the “Tso-K‘i” of the Hiao King it is said: “The Emperor is filial, the heavenly dragon bears the plans and the earthly tortoise issues a book.” The Ho-t‘u says: “Yellow gold after one thousand years produces a yellow dragon, azure gold after one thousand years, the azure dragon; red and white dragon is also thus. Black gold after one thousand years produces the black dragon.”

The Twan-ying-t‘u says: “The yellow dragon is the chief of the four dragons, the true beauty of the four regions. He can be large or small, obscure or manifest, short or long, alive or dead; the king cannot drain the pool and catch him. His intelligence and virtue are unfathomable; moreover he ensures the peaceful air, and sports in the pools.” Again, it says: “The yellow dragon does not go in company, and does not live in herds. He certainly waits for the wind and rain, and disports himself in the azure air. He wanders in the wilds beyond the heavens. He goes and comes, fulfilling the decree; at the proper seasons if there is perfection he comes forth, if not he remains (unseen).”

The Shi Ki says: “The bright moon pearl is concealed in the oyster, the dragon is there.”

Books of the after Wei dynasty say, “Persia has three pools.” They narrate that a dragon lives in the largest, his wife in the second, and his child in the third. If travellers sacrifice, they can pass; if they do not sacrifice they encounter many storms of wind and rain.

Lü-lan asserts that Confucius said, “The dragon feeds in the pure (water) and disports in the clear (water).”

Sun-k‘ing-tsz says: “The accumulated waters form the streams, the Kiao-Lung is brought forth.” Han-Féi-shwoh-nan says: “Now as the dragon is a reptile he can be brought under control and ridden.³²³ But below his throat are tremendous scales, projecting a foot. If a man should come in contact with them he would be killed.”

Kwan-tsz says: “The dragon’s skin has five colours, and he moves like a spirit; he wishes to be small and he becomes like a silkworm; great, and he fills all below heaven; he desires to rise, and he reaches the ether; he desires to sink, and he enters the deep fountains. The times of his changing are not fixed, his rising and descending are undetermined; he is called a god (or spirit).”

Hwai-nan-tsz says: “The dragon ascends and the brilliant clouds follow.” Again, he says: “This Kiao-Lung is hidden in the streams, and his eggs are opened at the mound. The male cries above and the female cries below, and he changes; his form and essence are of the most exalted (kind). Man cannot see the dragon when he flies aloft. He ascends, and wind and rain escort him.”

The Tihing P‘ien says: “Wings beautiful grow for the flying dragon; hair soft like that of a calf on the ying dragon; scales only for the Kiao-Lung. Only in pools is found the Sien-Lung.” Chang-hang said: “How the Ts‘ang-Lung meets the summer and aspires to the clouds, and shakes his scales, accomplishing the season. He passes the winter in the muddy water, and, concealed, he escapes harm.” Pan-ku, answering Pin-hi, said: “The Ying-Lung hides in the lakes and pools. Fish and turtle contemn him, and he does not observe it. He can exert his skill and intelligence, and suddenly the clear sky appears. For this reason the Ying-Lung, now crouching in the mud, now flying in the heavens, appears to be divine.”

Lun-hang says, “When the dragon is small, all the fish are small; this is divine.”

Pao-pòh-tz says: “There are self-existent dragons and there are worms which are changed into dragons.” Again, he says: “Among the hills the Ch‘ăn day, called the rain master, is a dragon.” Hwai-nan-tsz said: “The Chuh-Lung is north of the goose gate concealed in the Wei-Ü mountain.” The Shan-hai-king says the god of the Chung-shan is called Chuh-Lung. When he opens his eyes it is day, when he shuts his eyes it is night. His body is three thousand li long.

The Shui-hing-chu says: “The Yulung considers the autumn days as night. But the dragon descends in the autumn and hibernates in the deep pools; how then can he say that autumn is night?” It also says: “There is a divine dragon in the vermilion pools at Kiao-chew. Whenever there was a drought, the village people obstructed the upper tributaries of the pool, and many fish died; the dragon became enraged at such times, and caused much rain.”

The Kwah-ti-t‘u says: “At the dragon pool there is a hill with four lofty sides, and within them is a pool seven hundred li square; a herd of dragons live there, and feed upon the many different kinds of trees. It is beyond Hwui-ki forty-five thousand li.” Again, it says: “If you do not ride on a dragon you cannot reach the weak waters³²⁴ of the Kwan-lun hill.”

The Poh-Wuh-Chi says: “If you soak the dragon’s flesh in an acid (and eat it), you can write essays.” Again, it says: “The Tiao-sheh is in form like a dragon, but smaller. It likes danger; hence it is appointed to guard decayed timber.” Again, it says: “The dragon lays three eggs. The first is Ki-tiao. He goes ashore and cohabits with the deer or deposits his semen at the water’s edge, where it becomes attached to passing boats or floating wood and branches. It appears like a walnut, it is called Tsz-chao flower, and constitutes what is mentioned in the Tao-ch‘u as dragon-salt.” Again, it says: “Below the dragon-gate every year in the third month of spring, yellow carps, two³²⁵ fish, come from the sea, and all the streams, with speed to the contest. But seventy-one can ascend the dragon-gate in a year; when the first one ascends the dragon-gate there is wind and rain. It is followed by fire which burns his tail, and then he is a dragon.”

The Shih-I-Ki says: “East of the hills of Fang-chang there is a dragon plain where there are dragon skins and bones like a mountain: spread out they would cover one thousand five hundred acres. To meet him when he sloughs his bones is like the birth of a dragon. Or it is said the dragons constantly wrangle at this place. It is enriched with blood like flowing water.”

The Shuh-I-Ki says: “In the P‘uning district there are the isles where the dragons are buried. Fu-loo says the dragons shed their bones at these isles, the water now contains many dragon-bones, in these mountains, hills, peaks, and gorges. The dragons make the wind and rain. There are dragons’ bones everywhere, whether in the deep or shallow places; there are many in the ground. Teeth, horns, vertebral columns, feet, it seems as though they are everywhere. The largest measure one hundred feet or exceed one hundred feet. The smallest are two feet or three or four inches. The bones are everywhere. Constantly when looking for anything they are seen.” Again, it says: “It is told of the Kuh mountains in Ki-cheu that when the dragon is a thousand years old, he enters the mountains and casts his bones. Now there is a dragon hill, from the midst of the hill issues the dragon’s brains.”

The K‘ié-Lan Records at Loh-yang³²⁶ say: “You cannot trust the hills in the west. They are too cold. There is snow both winter and summer. In the hills there is a pool where a bad dragon lives; long ago some merchants rested near the pool, until the dragon became enraged, abused, and killed them. A priest,³²⁷ Pan-T‘o, heard of it, and, leaving his seat to the pupils, went to the kingdom of Wuchang to learn the Po-lo-man incantations; he mastered them in four years, and returned to his seat. He went to the pool and invoked the dragon. The dragon was transformed into a man, repented, and followed the king. The king then removed.” Again, it says: “To the west of the kingdom of Wuchang there is a pool in which the dragon prince dwells. There is a monastery on the banks of the pool, in which there are more than fifty priests. Whenever the dragon prince does anything marvellous, the king comes and beseeches him, using gold, precious stones, pearls, and valuables, throwing them into the pool. Afterwards they are cast up and the priests gather them. This monastery relies upon the dragon for food and clothing and the means to assist people. Its name is ‘Dragon Prince Monastery.’”

The Ts‘i-ti records say there is a well in the city of Ch‘áng-ping at the brambles; when the water is disturbed a spiritual dragon comes and goes. So the city is called the dragon city.

The Shi-San-Tsin records say Ho-li has also the name Dragon Gate. Great fish collect below it, in number one thousand. They cannot ascend. If one ascends it is a dragon. Those which do not ascend are fish. Hence it is called the “Pao-sai-lung-man.” (Great carp ascend the dragon gate and become dragons; those which do not ascend prick the forehead and strike the cheek.) Again, it says: “The Lung-sheu mountains are sixty li long; the head enters the Wei waters, the tail extends to the Fan streams. This head is two hundred feet high; his tail descends gradually to a height of fifty or sixty feet. It is said that long ago a strange dragon came out from south of the mountains to drink the Wei waters. The road he travelled became mountain. Hence the name.”

The Kiao-Cheu-Kí says: “In Kiao-chi at Fung-ki-hien there is a dyke with a dragon gate; the water is one hundred fathoms deep. Great fish ascend this gate and become dragons. Those which cannot pass, strike the cheek and puncture the forehead, until the blood flows. This water is continually like the Vermilion pool.”

The annals of Hwa-yang say: “Only at Wu-ch‘ing district does the earth meet the gate of heaven; the dragon which mounts to heaven and does not reach it, falls dead to this place, hence when excavating you find dragon-bones.”

The I-Tung-Chi says: “Twenty li west of Lin-fung-hien is a stone dragon, among the cliffs is a rock like a dragon. In a year of drought wash it, and it rains.” Again, it says: “At Yen-T‘ang there is a pond called Smoky Pond; it is north-east of the city ten li. Its depth has never been ascertained. It is reported that long ago a man caught a white eel, and was about to cook it, when an old man said, ‘This is the dragon of the river Siang; I fear calamity will follow.’ The man was angry, and, regarding the words as vain, proceeded. The next day the whole village was submerged.”

The Kwoh-Shi-Pu says: “At the time of the spring rains the carp springs through the dragon gate and becomes transformed. At the present time, in Fan-cheu of Shansi, there is a cave in the mountains; in it are many cast bones and horns of dragons. They are collected for medicine, and are of five colours. It is recorded in the Chw‘en that north of the Wu-t’ai hills, below the terrace, is Azure Dragon Pool, about one-third of an acre in extent. The Buddhist books say five hundred evil dragons are confined (here). Whenever it is mid-day a thick mist gradually arises. A pure priest and candidates for the priesthood may see it. If a nun or females approach then there is great thunder, lightning, and tempest. If they come near the pool, he certainly will belch forth poisonous breath and they will die at once. Foreigners say that in Piolosz there is a spiritual dragon which goes and comes among the granaries. When a servant comes for rice the dragon vanishes. If the servant comes constantly for rice the dragon does not suffer it. If there is no rice in the granaries, the servant worships the dragon, and the granaries are filled.”

Yuin-Chu-Tsih records: “If one sees a dragon’s egg in the lake or river there will certainly be a flood.”

The Nan-Pu-Sin-Shu says: “The dragon’s disposition is ferocious, and he fears bees’-wax, loves jade, and the King-ts‘ing delight to eat the flesh of cooked sparrows. For this reason men who eat sparrows do not cross the sea.”

The Pah-mung-so-yen says: “The perverse dragon, when rain is wanted, sneaks away into old trees or into the beams of houses. The thunder god pulls him out.”

Wu-ch‘ăn-tsah-ch‘ao says: “There is a great dragon which sloughed his skin on the brink of the Great Lake. Insects come out from his scaly armour. Instantly they are transformed into dragon-flies of a red colour. If men gather them they get fever and ague. If men now-a-days see these red dragon-flies they call them dragon-armour, also dragons’ grandsons, and are unwilling to hurt them.”

Pi-shu-suh-hwa says: “In Suh-chan and Hang-cheu the twentieth day of the fifth month is called the day of the separation of the dragons. Therefore, in the fifth and sixth months, whenever there is thunder, and the clouds crowd together, if they see a tail bent down, and stretching to earth from among the clouds, moving like a serpent, they say, ‘The dragon is suspended.’”

Tsu-tz say: “The spiritual dragon leaves the water and dwells in the dry place, and the mole, crickets, and ants annoy him.”

Kung Sun Hung replied to Tung Fang Shoh, saying: “Before the dragon has ascended he is of a sort with fish and turtles; after he has ascended the heavens his scales cannot be seen.”

Siu Tsung Yuen answered an inquirer, saying: “The Kiao-Lung ascends to the heavenly fountain. He pervades the six regions (North, South, East, West, Above, Below). He moistens all things. Shrimps and the leech cannot depart one foot from the water.”

The Shwoh-Wan says: “The Kiao belongs to the dragon species. When a fish attains three thousand six hundred [years ?] it becomes a Kiao; on attaining this much the dragon flies away.” Again, it says: “[Dragons] without horns are Kiao.”

The P’i-Ya says: “The Kiao’s bones are green, and they can bring their heads and tails together and constrict anything; hence they are called Kiao. A popular name for them is ‘the horse’s lasso.’” Another author says the Kiao’s tail has fleshy rings; they are able to compress any creature, and then tear it with the head.

The Shuh-I-Ki says the eye-brows of a Kiao unite, and their uniting is a proof that it is a Kiao.

The Siang-Shu (Book of Physiognomy) says that when the eye-brows unite the epithet Kiao is applied, because the Kiao Shăn has crossed eye-brows.

The Yueh-kiu (Divisions of Seasons) says that the season of autumn is unfavourable to the Kiao.

The Kia-Yü (Family Discourses) says that if a stream contains fish, then no Kiao will stay in it.

Hwai-nan-tsze says that no two Kiao will dwell in one pool.

The Shan-Hai-King says the Kiao is like a dragon and snake, with a small head and fine neck. The neck has white ornamentations on it. The girth (?) is five cubits; the eggs of the capacity of three catties; and it can swallow a man.