The Eureka sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1902-current, 1911-12-16
BEASTS OF FANCY.
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
sprinq Of Fright and Imagination.


In an interesting article on the fabu-
IONS beasts in which the Celestial be-
I lieves a writer in the National Review
of China gives priority TO the dragon.
This beast is the symbol Of Chinese
n~ationalism. 1t is quite possible. he
SAYS. that the dragon might have been
the offspring of fright, Imagination ana
bad drawing after an unexpected ad-
venture with an alligator. Later on
the imaginary animal acquired the
power Of rising into the dir and so be
came a flying dragon. a symbol OF
power as well as of strength and Wis
dom. Ii is classed In China as n OF
the -four marvellous animals the ON
err three being the tortoise. the phoenix
and the unicorn.
There is the ehelin. known TO every
body acquainted with Chinese pictorial
, art and pottery. II belongs TO the deer
family. but later ages provided 1t with
n cows tail. the forehead of a wolf
and the hoof OF a horse. When the
chelin and the phoenix walked abroad
in the olden times then were 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
a creature OF the monkey tribe. or.
rather, of the apes. He IL found In
the western part of the empire. partic-
ularly in Szechuan. What he is spe-
cially noted for Is his %penchant for
pretty M Whenever one OF these
strays into his haunts he carries her
off. makes her his wife and proceeds
to lay siege 10 her affections In a way
which argues knowledge. He loads
her with jewe.ry and hne 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 il 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. "A tyrant to his "
species. lie il described rs having
long yellowish red hair aud is said to
be of a cannibal turn Of mind. When
ever he wants n meal the other mon
keys are made to sit around him In u
circle so that he may. by means of
pinchlng and poking. find ont which OF
them is the latest. On the head Of the
selected lie lays a 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 a proper pride,
Which his smiling features tell
4" Twill soothing be IL / let you see
How extremely nice your smau''
The natural history Of the Celestial
encyclopedia tells us that the monkey
follows the jung until 1t reaches the
nearest stream. Into which the mon.
key plunges. washes himself carefully.
pulls ont all his hair and then lies
down to be eaten
The jihkih is of the bovine family.
There must also be n connection be-
tween it 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 n pig at II
time-similarly with the jihkih. which
belongs to the province of Kansu and
should be extremely useful TO any Rus.
sian invaders who may come along. for
this remarkable animal provides its
owner with one or two catties OF meat
per diem. which when cut away il
completely replaced within twenty
four hours.