The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1911-12-16
BEASTS OFFANCY
Chinese Worship the Dragon,
Phoenix and Unicorn.
REGARD THEM AS SACRED.
Strange Legends Connected With All,
Especially the National Symbol the
Dragon. Which Might Be the on
.or;ro Of Fright and Imagination.

| sprina Of Fright and Imagination.
In an interesting article on the fabu-
,ous beasts In which the Celestial be-
lieves a writer IN the National Review
OF China gives priority to the dragon.
This beast Is the symbol OF Chinese
nationalism. 1t il quite possible. he
says. that the dragon might have been
the offspring of fright, imagination and
bad drawing after an unexpected nd
venture with an alligator, Later on
the Imaginary animal acquired the
power Of rising into the air and so be-
came flying dragon. u symbol OF
power as well as of strength and wis
dom. 1t Is classed in China as one OF
the -four marvellous animals" the 9th
er three being the tortoise. the phoenix
and the unicorn. ~
There Is the chelin. known to every
body acquainted with Chinese pictorial
! art and pottery. 1t belongs to the deer
family. but later ages provided 1t with
cows tail. the forehead of wolf
and the hoof of horse. When the
chelin and the phoenix walked abroad
In the olden times then We're the days
of prosperity. Before the times OF
Coafucius even this animal had be-
come the symbol of national well be-
| ing.
Next we have the mahwa. This Is
creature of the monkey tribe. or.
rather, of the apes. He Is found I'm
the western part Of the empire, partic-
ularly in SZechuan. What he is spe-
cially noted for is his penchant for
pretty women. Whenever one of these
strays into his haunts he carries her
Off, makes her his wife and proceeds
TO lay siege TO her affections In way
which argues knowledge. lie loads
her with jewe.ry and fine clothes,
which he gets somehow or other by
stealing. and in time the woman be-
comes so fond Of him that she would
not leave him if she could.
No less wonderful is the jung or glib
bon OF Yangchow, in the province of
Kiangsu. The jung Is an extremely
large and agile ape, IL tyrant to his own
species. lie Is described as having
long yellowish red hair and Is said tn
be of cannibal turn OF mind. When
ever he wants meal the other mon
keys are made 10 sit around him I'm II
circle so that he may. by means of
pinchlns and poking, find out which of
them is the latest On the head OF the
selected he lays n stone. The rest are
then free to scamper off. the victim
only remaining and following its cap
tor. who doubtless looks at II as the
cook of the Nancy Bell looked at the
sole survivor:
Come here" says he. with proper pride,
Which his smiling features tell.
Twill soothing be IL | let you see
How extremely nice you'll small!'
The natural history of the Celestial
encyclopedia tells us that the monkey
nearest stream, into which the mon
key plunges, washes himself carefully
pulls out all his hair and then lies
down to he eaten.
The jihkih Is of the bovine family
There must also be connection be
tween 1t and certain pigs In the more
) poverty stricken districts of Ireland
} where the people are so poor that they
! can afford to kill only half pig at u
time-similarly with the jihkih. which
belongs 10 the province Of Kansu and
: should he extremely useful TO any Rus
sian invaders who may come along. fol
this remarkable animal provides IT.
| owner with one or two catties of meat
per diem. which when cut away II
completely replaced within twenty
four hours.
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