Page:Brinkley - China - Volume 1.djvu/185

 frequently employed with successful decorative effect, one of its happiest shapes being seen when it is disposed circularly so as to form a medallion. But the Chinese have not shown as much taste as the Japanese in adapting the phœnix to decorative purposes. In the hands of the latter it is often idealised into a creation full of grace and symmetry; in those of the former, it is seldom more than a strange-looking bird. The decorator's fondness for it is due in some degree to superstition, for it is regarded as an emblem of national prosperity and the herald of a beneficent reign.

The tortoise (kwei), though occurring with tolerable frequency in the decoration of blue-and-white porcelains can scarcely be called a favourite design as compared with the dragon and phœnix. It is, however, the chief emblem of longevity, and as such occupies a place of importance in the painter's range of subjects.

The K’i-lin, Ky-lin, or fabulous unicorn, is, like the phœnix, a composite animal with the body of a stag and the bushy tail of an ox. It is generally depicted with flames playing round its shoulders and clouds supporting it, for as the divinest of animals, the emblem of perfect good, it is supposed to tread so lightly that the air is insensible of its foot-prints and no living creature, however fragile, is crushed by its hoofs.

The tiger (hu), least commonly used of the four fabulous animals for decorative purposes, is invariably depicted with very little realistic success. When most conventionalised it is almost tolerable, but as a rule the Chinese keramic artist shows conspicuous want of skill in delineating this "King of Beasts"