A Version of the Book of Vermilion Fish Author(s): A. C. Moule Source: T'oung Pao, Second Series, Vol. 39, Livr.

1/3 (1950), pp. 1-82 Published by: BRILL Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4527273 Accessed: 24/07/2010 08:15
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@ g r

sjt

+ X )

published

by the

Ijql

g % J#t

Shen

chou

kuo

A VERSION OF THE BOOK OF VERMILION FISH1)

BY

A. C. MOULE The gi* g 9 9 Chu sha yu p'qxis a little monographon red-and-whitegold fish, written apparentlyat Su-chou at the end of the sixteenth century,but not printeduntil I9I4 when it was includedin the supplementto the Mei shg ts'ungshg 2). A copy of the Mingdynasty, formerlyin the libraryof manuscript Ting Ping in the g Z 4 T'ou-fa Hsiang at HangX T is now in the NationalCentralLibraryat Nanking3). The *chou,
I) The plan of this article is to begin with a preface about The Book of Fermilion Fish and its author, to be followed by a long introduction which gives, first, versions of what -someChinese authors have written about gold fish from the eleventh century to the seventeenth; secondly, translations an.d extracts from a few European authors of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; and thirdly, some personal reminiscences of gold fish in China sixty years ago. Finally comes the attempted version of the book itself. I am -immensely indebted to Professor Gustav Haloun for the kindest possible help throughout. He actually copied out the whole text of two of the longest passages for me when I was

far from books in the war, and any bibliographical or biographical notes which may be found are almost entirely his. 2) It is the third item in the third volume of the tenth Collection, kuang she of Shanghai, shu shih tsang shu chih c.
g X @ @ + @
t * *

I9I4

(2nd edition

I928).

3) This is described in the Ting Catalogue *

I8

Shan pen
0;

fol. I3r, where it is noted that it is not included in ffi

I9

;
u

Chang shWhtsang shu shih chxng (cf. ibid. c.

g g

fol. 20r, and

Ts'u.ng shu shu mu hvi pien p. 379), and that it had been
R

in the library of @

Pao Shih-feng of 2

Tang-hu, or e 'J&yU

'jU P'ing-

hu. The Pao of P'ing-hu seem to ha^Jebeen connected with the Chang of K'un-shan by marriage. In the Nanking Library, to which the Ting Lit?rarywas transferred, the MS. W mrill be found in c. 26 fol. g8v of the Catalogue, where it is marked r X Fp i ,+ . Dr Yuan T'ung-li has kindly given me a copy of the manuscript.
I

T'oung Pao, XXXIX

A. C. MOULE

author dates the book simply jN E|3 ping-shenwithout other indication,and signs himself 88 Ch'ien-te,descendedfrom i@ R 0 * Yen po kou t'u. This was the pen-nameof ffi ;t 9 Chang Chih-hoof * * Chin-huac. A.D. 780. Fortunately the next item in the Mei shqs ts'ungshu is a little book about Tea ($ Ch'aching)by the same author,and here he gives the full date Wan-li ptng-shen,or I596, and signshimself ffi ChangCh'ien-te,with the pen-name >i * & Ch'uchueh sheng. In yet anotherlittle tract ( ^ t t P'ing hua p'u) he gives a second hao or pen-name,a ffi X ;t M#ngtieh chai t'u, which betrays again the same affectionfor ChuangTzu as appears at least twicein the text of the Chusha yu p'u itself. From the text we learn too that he lived in Su-choufrom I588, where he seems to have made a great name as an amateurbreederof vermilionfish, and was evidentlystill there in I596. Later in life he changedhis names, makinghis ming @ Ch'ou, tzu *: (*) Ch'ing-fu, and hao s Mi-an.He was greatlydelighted at obtainingin I6I5 an importantautographby s X Mi Fei (I05I-II07) and named his library w s " Pao Mi hsuan, using the wordsas yet anotherpen-nameor hao for himself.He was born, it is said, in I577 and died in I643, the son of Chang S t Ying-wEn (tzg 0 t Mao-shih), a collectorof calligraphy and paintings, of , I]J K'un-shan,who moved (perhapsin I588) to Su-chou 1).

i3z

fi

..

I)

The date of his birth, which is surprising in view of the dates which he mentions
I590, t ^ I596, g S

in this book-I588, Wei-hsiang

ffi

and of his death is taken from I nien lu hui psen, Wu Hsiu

g ffi + I925, + C.

ffi

"

Chang

t$

8 fol. 3r, where the

I878,

dates are taken from ming ta tz'S tien,

I925,

Hsx i nien lu,

c. 3, where no authority is given. Short notices of Ch'ou will be found in Chung kgo jetc
p. 923,

and of his father Ying-wen, ibid. p. 972 (repeated in [p

g ^ @ t jW W Chung kuo tsang shu chia *'ao lush, I929, fol. 87r). See aSso Ssu k'u ch'uan shu t3xng mu, CC. II3, I3V; I23, 7r-8v; I34, I3V. The father

Ying-wen,

was a great

friend

of

, Wang Shih-cheng

(I526-I590)

whose

THE BOOK OF VERMILION FISH

For my knowledgeof the book I am indebted to Professor GustavHalounof Cambridge, who very kindly drewmy attention to it as soon as a-copy of the Mei shu ts'gngshu was obtainedby the UniversityLibrarythere. The special interest of the book is that the authordoes not copy out what had been writtenby his predecessors or quote the poemsof Su Tung-p'o,but just tells us what his own beautifulfish were like and how he spent his quiet days watchingthem, at early dawn, in gentle wind, in drizzling rain, on moonlightnights; how he fed them, and shelteredthem from winter's frost, or summer'sscorchingsun. And he is the only author known to me who deals with the fish of Su-chou ratherthan with those of Che-chiang or Peking. He writes, as I have said, only about red-and-white fish1), mentioning purewhite fish only to condemnthem, and not so much as mentioningpure red, pure black, red-and-black, red-white-and-black, black-andwhite, or olive green.That he does not speak of protruding telescopeeyes, or of "eggfish"with shinyfinlessbacks,may be because those strange formswerenot yet known;for thereis no clearmention of them in the seventeenth centurywriters whowill be quoted below;whileof the upturnedsky-gazing eyes there seemsto be no sure evidence earlier than my own knowledgethat my brother and I knewthem at Hang-chou sixty-six yearsago. On the other hand there has been a sad falling off in tails since the sixteenth century. No modernwriter, Chineseor Western,seems to know
-

ffi

Chin yx fu (an elaborate and difficult composition which does not throw
M * R g

light on the history or forms of the fish) will be found in hui c.

I37. ffi 2}

Li tai fu

I) He does not use the familiar + also to notice that in the (

* g " ^

chin yu, 'gold fish', once. It is interestingi Su chog fu chih, ed.

s Q 9 I69I, I692, C. 22

) fol.

I3V, t

there is no chin yu, but only

t

chu yu, 'vermilion fish' ;

g

with the note: >*>

"There are

three kinds, red, white, and mottled. They are kept in bowls or jars as pets".

century

when

g-*

Hsieh

Cheng

(Wei)

wrote

much

admired

essay

on

the

A.. C. MOULE.

of a tail with morethan fourlobes, but Changis not alone at his date in speakingof five, seven,or even nine tails; the oddnumbers perhaps obtained by reckoning the two middle,andoftenconjoined, lobes as one. My interest in what the Chinesehave had to say about thesr gold fish was roused by a correspondence with Mr GeorgeF. Hervey,very well knownto gold-fish fanciers in England,to whom I owe not only my generalinterestin the subject,but directlyor indirectlyall that I know of the introductionof gold fish into Europe and of the Europeanliteratureabout them. Chinesegold fish, as we know them today with their quaintly patheticformsand beautifulcolours,are a comparatively modern productof Chineseskill. It is likely enough that, under the influenceof the Buddhistexhortations to set life free (t M fang sheng),peoplehad found naturallyred or yellow varietiesof the commonor other carp (,,X,,li or sp cht) to set free or, as one sceptichas said> to imprison in the stone-walled pools of monasteries ever sincesuch poolsweremade1) And indeed g * Tu Fu
I) is "To true an Le in According Lteh release text interpolation. Code d?s of tzx living Lieh to cthe 8 ( , on be A. Tz u hai t) New late Waley in s.v. fol Year's the

M
I2r Day third Ways that is

the

earliest E{.

reference

to

the JU date is M. de

custom @; of perhaps Groot, fifth the

i
a

t
of

t
goodness". but this

t
The passage J. of J.

creatures tzV See may also

proof B.C.,

century of the Thoxght, custom

Three says

I939,
is not

p.

258.

Mahaydna

pp.

IIO-I26,

heard

before

the

subject pools such (ed. other Su But Ss for pools

fish

Liang is in

shu said eighty-one k'an)

c. to

50 be

fol. about p]aces,

8v;

Nan A.D. cf. 4

shih 759

c. when

I9

fol. the

4v. Emperor

The

first decreed

official the lu

reference pronsion kung specified Hu chou, March wen among

to of chi

f
fol. tao,

9
I-3.
which The

/^
decree included 'jlg

t
seems Hang to

Ye have chou, is dated of

pu places

ts'ung Sj Yen's

c.

fol. Che (

3; C.
hsi

ffi
inscription

and

chou. a similar

T
had

t
been

g
in

B
the

22
75I,-cf.

760.
*

anonymous

inscription

engraved

autumn

4
pool

4
of the

Chin Yu

shWh ch'uan

1v (p.

c.

fol. n.

7v,

l is

4>

+
to

t
the fifth

'2ikg century.

and

the

I3

below)

attributed

THE BOOK OF VERMILION FISH

in an allegorical poem wherehe writes of "a greatfish comparable to a man in length, with vermiliontail and scales of yellow gold", may seem to have seen such giant golden carp as now adorn the temple pools1). In the ninth centurythere are severalmentionsof red or, once at least, gold-coloured carp. Thus G , go Po Chu-i (28 Feb. 77Z-Sept. 846) has these lines about the pond whichhe had lately made in front of his holidaycottageon the bordersof the modern Chiang-hsi province:
(7I2-770),

The sound of many waters in the Three Ravines, Or boundlessbreadth of the MyriadAcres Pool; These may not be comparedto the embroidery of ripples Movedby the breeze on my new pond. Small duckweedspreadsfloating over the surface, The new rushes stand up in orderedranks, With red carp of two or three inches, And eight or nine white lotus flowers. By the watersideI mean to make a path; I have just set some wattle-workto prop the bank. Alreadyby the visitors among the hills It has been named the White Family's Pool. Dr ArthurWaley very kindlytells me that Po had only one such cottage,and that it was built in the winterof 8I6-I7 on the slopes of the g; ,l g Hsiang-lufeng in the ,@ Lu mountains,about ten miles south-west of ^g g Hsun-yang(modernKiukiang)As Po left the districtin the winterof 8I8 and visited his cottage only once again, in 822, we may be fairly sure of the place and
I) t

ti I g g X

Tu Axng px shih chi c.

'iRw

fol. 2gv or
2>;
p]

ti
p

/+>
fljt

R
k

+
,t

Tu shao ling ch'xan chi c- 3 fol- 4Iros

)< he4

,wfiE".

4r,

# S ;4

00

H t *

A. C. MOUIJE

date (8I7 or 8I8) of this early mentionof golden carp kept in a private gardenpond for ornament) as we can hardlydoubt, even thoughsome of them may have been destinedlater to be fried1). For Po Chu-iis quoted as writingin anotherpoem which I have not traced, "On a portablestove in the prow of the boat I cook my rice and fry red carp."2) And Wen T^ing-yun (c. 860) writes, {'The sun's reflectionby its brightnessextinguishesthe golden colouredcarp."3) But the first mentionof gold fish ( + 2 chin yu) whichreally suggeststhat they werekept and caredfor seemsto date fromthe tenth centurywhen we read: "If gold fish eat the refuseof olives or soapy water, then they die; if they have poplarbark they do not breed lice."4)

I) g

^^

Ht

Z bX

%Su*btbtatgt**W*t1vFX

iS8J'*tzEdt#gAZZt,.,--t
/@Aw*tS#X4StZEEE@$

+ffAt'.
k

Ch'ang ch'ing chs, ed. 'g

I606,

C. 7

fol. 8; Chiu t'ang shu c.

I66

fol. 8v.

From the poem ,J ten feet square.

(ibid. fol. Ior) we gather that the pond was little more than

2) P'es wen yun /4 s- v 3)

ffi g

xb

i-

WeAn t'tng yun shWh chi (ed. SsWpu ts'ung k'an) c. 3 fol.

4) * , t X i Wu Zei hsiang kan chih in * $ ^ n Pen {s'ao hang mtf c. 44 fol. 24v. This anonymous work, formerly attributed to Su Tung-p'o, is now attributed to the monk
w W

Tsan-ning

(9I8-999).

The text may be found in

W
X sl t;

a more or less complete form in the following collections: sung ts'ung shu;
X ffi X * * *

T'ang
vx

Pao yen t'ang pi chi; ,

i Z

/g}

Shuo fu;

Hsieh yu ts'ung t'an; and

oJ

Wu ch'ao hsiao shuo.

The only one of these which is at my disposal, the Shuo fu, does not include the present passage.

THE BOOK OF VERMILION FISH

In the eleventhcenturygold fish, still, as far as we can judge, red or white varieties of the chi with no abnormalshapes, are mentionedby three well knownpoets and by othersof less fame. Su Tung-p'ohas a poem entitled "The West Lake revisited after an Absence-from Hang-chouof fifteenYears"whichbegins: <'I recognizethe golden chi fish of Nan-p'ing; comingagain and again I lean on the rail and throwthem the crumbsof my fruga} feast."1) This poem may be dated with some probability in I089 or IO90, for Tung-p'ohad been , t11 T'ung-p'anor Assistant Governorat Hang-choufrom DecemberI07I till some time in I074, and came back there as Governorfifteen years later in I089 2); and the scene was the Hsing-chiaoMonastery.The contemporary commentator Z " Sun Tao says: "In the pool of the Hsing-chiao Monastery on the Nan-p'inghill by the West Lake there are ten or morechi fish of a goldencolour.The monks with the remainsof their simplefare amusethemselveswith competitions,leaningon the railandthrowing in cakesandbiscuits."3) To Su Tung-p'owe are apparentlyindebtedfor our knowledge of an earliermentionof goldenchi. He writes:"Longago I read the poemby [Su] Tzu-meion the * 9 Liu-hoMonastery which says: 'Along by the bridge I waited for the golden chi. To the end of the day I lingeredlate alone'. I did not understand these
I)
#

*
ffi

Q
g

*M
t

i
*
& &

g
II33,

ttg
C. 8

tZ
fol.
IO; "

ffi S
sv

Chi chu feAnlei tung p'o hsien sheng shih (ed.

t
t

pu ts'ung k'an, facsimile of Sung print), Su wen chung kung shih chi, texts read 9 ai "love". fol.
I78I

(ed.

I835),

C. 3I

fol. 4v. For Q

shWh some later

2) Sung shWh c. 338 fol. 4r, sv; and Annals prefixed to the above collection of poems. 3) Chi chu fen lei . . . shih c.
8 IOV.

The ^

*:

Hsing-chiao ssu, founded

by the a S I k gt8g Wu yueh Wang Ch'ien Hung-shu in 972, was on the Nan-p'ing hill on the southern shore of the West Lake,f. , Xs MSp t i Hsien shun lin an chih, ed. I830, C. 78 fol. 8v where the pool and fish are not mentioned apart from this poem of Su Tung-p'o which is quoted in full.

A. C. MOULE

wordsat first, until I came as AssistantGovernor to Ch'ien-tXang, when I knew that in the pool at the back of the Monastery there were these fish like the colourof gold. YesterdayI strolledabove the pool again, throwingin cakes and biscuits for a long time. And indeedthey came out a little, but went back again without eating, so that I could not see them again From the time that Tzu-meiwrote the poem until now is more than forty years, and there was already the phrase 'lingeredlate'; so these fish have long valuedthemselves,for if they werenot slow to come forward and quick to retire and carelessof food, how could they have attained this age?"1) The point of this story is the reluctance of the fish to show themselvesand to take food (a reluctance which in the course of nine centuriesthey seem to have overcome), which was sometimesregardedas an almost miraculous appearance and disappearance, as will be seen below. Su Tzu-meihas left us also a line meaningperhapssomething
I)

iQ E

Tung p'o chih lin quoted in

Hui-hung
(I07I-II28),

Leng chai

yeh hua by

'

in flj

,:b

Hsi h chih c. 24 fol.

+ 4 Lin Tzu-jen
8

37r. The same story, without the last sentence, is quoted by g

(C. IIOO)

from

7i;

Hsien shengshth hxa in Chi chufen lei ... shih c.

w

fol.

IOV,

and in many subsequent works. B

0;
t

Su Shun-ch'in

(I008-I048)e

who seems to have been commonly known by his tzx + to have lived anywhere near Hang-chou before andbecameGovernorofHu-chouinIo42. 2e11 R E
X ff
I040

Tzu-mei, is not recorded when he lived in Su-chou

(vl. g) g 4 4>

or

Hislinesare:

ik

I04I,

. Tung-p'o, whose words would seem to date this poem about

the year I032, may have mistaken the date, or may have written his own note long after he left Hang-chou in I074, perhaps in I089; or perhaps Tzu-mei may have visited Hangchou several years before he resided in the region. cf. Sungshihc. 442 fol. 2V-5V. I have not found the poem, *
4 ffi t % 9

(v-l- t

or t;

) 4

4 in B

Su hsuehshih chi (ed. SsB pu ts'ung k'an), the only collection of his poems available.
Chiang Chih-ch'i (I03I-II04) has a poem on the same Pagoda pool ( 4*

allude to Tung-p'o's story in the words *

chin yu ch'ih), in which he refers to the shyness of the fish, seeming to n X ju tzVchen,"as if they valued themselves",-cf. Hsien shun lin an chWh c. 77 fol. IIr.

'g

contemporary o 3) bSiR78 t P Wen &ffi T'ung g (IXOI +

9-I

4O79) Z 4also fi has i fWp a bare +

THE BOOK OF VERMILION FISH

like "The silver chi is the beauty of fishes at dawn". And the -reference to the goldenchi 1). Tung-p'otoo has a secondreference which gives us anotherlocality. He merely says that he waited in vain for a friendby the "poolof the goldenchi" (chinchi ch'ih) which, as we gather from the long title of the poem, was near the Feng-shui Cave at Hsin-ch'#ngnear Fu-yang, up the river thirty-threemiles south-westof Hang-chou 2). In the twelfth centurywe read of golden chi in the pool of an ancient monasterynear Hu-chou in Che-chiangthus: "In theChing-sheMonasteryat Shang-ch'iangin Hu-chou there is a [statue of] Kuan-yin of the Ch' en dynasty (557-589) . The title of the monasterywas written by Shang Chung-jung. The three gates are a hundred feet high and are calledthe ThreeExcellences. Moreover in the pool are goldenchi, whichare seen once in several years. Thus a poem of Po Lo-t'ien (Chu-i) containsthe sentence: 'Thereis only the Ching-she Monastery at Shang-ch'iang, a place most worthyof a visit, whichI have not visited',referring namely to this." The author proceedsto quote the lines of Su Tzu-mei, addingthe note: "Thisalso has regardto their appearances being periodical,and so he says:'To the end of the day I waited for them'."3)
I) SU

hsueh shih chi c. 7 fol. Sr, 4

and P'ei wen yun fu s.v.

4> iRD .

gz

@|1 @

2) Su we^zchxng kung shih chi c. g fol. 3v,

X g WWW
e

tt

e -- H WK*'1MAtW=

. . . . bM,ep s

ffi-P144RsWt_kth4*|PU9ffi$

Rk AtXXtt

tZ9X

@tt

XoXtX"WRil"2*9+t't

IO

C. MOULE A.

to goldenchi alreadyquotedseem all to referto The references mentionof actualbreedbut the earliest provinceof Ch#-chiang, the as it was called of gold fish is at Peking,or 41 g Chung-tu ers writes:"Golden the Chindynasty.The authorof the T'ing shWh in in Chung-tu Fish: At the presenttime there are fish breeders Chi most can changethe colourof fish to gold. The chi are the who a and li are next to them. Manyscoop out stone to make prized, (i.e. on the pool,and place it betweenthe eaves and the lattice

H Z F'AB+t*9++XGg X W t

g t

X i

+*

tQW++guXxt
* t t ffi

tkao II64

9,

ffi

ffi

8,

Yun yg yang ch'xu,c.

(ed. M

Li tas

Ke Li-fang, c. I6 fol. I4v-I5r. Ke took his chin hxa, I770, XII), by g _IL t shxh the year of his death. The lines degree in II38 and dates his own preface in II64, shWh which does not mention the fish by Po Chu-i are the second couplet of a four-line stanza with "thus" ( jW ) just after or even the pool, so that, although they are introduced fish were there when they were written. the mention of the fish, they do not show that the Yu ti chi sheng,I22I, by ;gt * * The stanza is said to be preserved in the ;^
I $ t

WangHsiang-chih,whenceitwasincorporatedin
C.

g;

Po hsiang shan shih chi, I703,

39 j

fol.

IIV,

14

are still to be seen engraved 4: . The title has an undated note that the lines * g s by a note by the compiler, / on stone in Hu-chou; and the verse itself is followed g Shang-ch'iang hill in @ 9 Wang Li-ming: "The Ching-she Monasteryon the $ Chu-i, Po stone. on engraved authors Kuei-an hsien in Hu-chou contains poems by T'ang Shih-yuan all harreverses there."Lang and Ch'i, Ch'ien Chih-chou, Kao Li Po-yueh, The chapter on Hu-chou is missing shEng. followed by a shortened extract from the Yg ti chi in the Peiping National Library. I owe the in the modern MS. copy of the Yti ti chi shEng Waley, who writes: "If it is really by Po, reference to the Po hsiangshanshih chi to Dr 3t M Ts'ui and his friend i it probably dates from 825-6 when he was at Soochow tells me that according to the ChF Hsuan-liang at Hoochow." Dr Lionel Giles kindly ssWto a R yxan in c. 20, the monastery was changed from a + chiangttungchWh manfish with 9 contained and extent 847, and that the pool ( g: ) was half a mu in rain. for offered prayers were gold streaks on the back, which appeared when

THE

BOOK

OF VERMILION

FISH

II

verandah ?) to provide amusement. If you ask the secret they (the breeders) are silent and refuse to tell. Some say that they feed them on the little red insects from the foul ditch in the walled market; and that for a hundred days all fish are alike, first white like silver, next gradually yellow, then after a time gold. I have not had leisure to prove whether this is true or not. There are also, besides these, snow-white bodies with black spots, quite lustrous like varnish, and called tortoiseshell fish, whose markings are specially beautiful. When I-hsi was returning to Shu (i.e. Ssui-ch'uan)he filled three large boats with water which he had dipped out of the lake that he might stealthily take away more than two kinds of these beautiful gems. And since only Hang-chou men knew how to feed and breed them, he smuggled some of them also to go with him. When I examine the poem of Su Tzui-mei which says: 'At the Pine Bridge I waited for the golden chi; To the end of the day I lingered late alone'. and a poem by Tung-p'o also says: 'I know the golden chi fish of Nan-p'ing'; I conclude that gold fish already existed in chih-p'ing (IO64-IO67); but no doubt not in their present abundance." 1) So far we have found gold and silver fish half domesticated in the pools of Buddhist monasteriesin Che-chiang;and kept and bred (implying that they were kept as ornaments or pets in private houses) in Chung-tu in the north and also, apparently, in Hang-chou. Before we leave the Sung dynasty it remains to notice a famous
I) g
ii.

T'ing shih (ed. Ssfi pu ts'ung k'an, facsimile of Yuan print) c.

1200,

C. I2

fol.

The author

J. 3

Yo K'o lived from

II73

to

I240.

I cannot be sure that I

have rightly taken 2

JJ

I-hsi to be a man's name, and in any case I have not been

able to identify and date him. The lake is perhaps the West Lake at Hang-chou. For the 2 date Chih-p'ing the text reads Ch'eng-p'ing, certainly a misprint. Even this passage, though it tells first of the famous Gold Fish Pool of Peking, comes back to Che-chiang with the remark that "only Hang-chou men knew how to feed and breed them".

I2

A. C. MOULE

pool where the fish seem perhaps to have been wild; and quite definite evidence that they were bred and sold in Hang-chou and kept in the palaces and great houses there. The pool in question, which has found its way into Martini and so into Du Halde and other European books, is the 1 ' Lung t'an in Ch'ang-hua Hsien west or south-west of Hang-chou. In the Hsien sh/unlin an chih we read: "Ch'ien-ch'ingHill: Ts'enliao tzui has the phrase: 'This hill with its irregular lofty peaks crowns half the sky'. The top has an expanse of a thousand ch'ing. There is the Dragon Pool (Lung t'an) surroundedwith dense beds of reeds and rushes. In the pool the fish are gold and silver in colour. If one prays for rain there is immediate response. To the west is the So-lo cliff, where one tree of the so-toflower ( ?shorea)
. . .

grows luxuriantly

The flowers open in the early summer,

and the scent can be smelt for several li. Pyrus, daphne, and
hIang-ch'ing grow all over the slopes of the hill.
. .

. The poem

by

jJJ 0

Hu - of Hsin-an 'On being ordered by the TA-shou-

kung to catch gold and silver fish' says: 'The Ch'ien-ch'ing Hill is sixty li high; on it is a cold pool clear and fresh. A divine dragon came hither long ago to coil itself within. To make sweet rain for the people it was willing to rise up. All the fish follow it as it floats or sinks; gasping, shining brilliantly, like sun or moon in the deep; their natural shapes and substance superior to the common fins; either like beautiful jade, or like gold, or black, or red, or mottled; such as drive the painter to despair. For how many years they lay hid and few men knew; till one morning their
fame has stirred the metropolis'.
1)

Ak
1. a-aA ,t

ma

iht * RISt ril t rP*

-I 00 PR * c+

*afi 2zo

The gold-fish trade (

A w

yx erh hxo) is mentioned under the heading of

oj

THE BOOK OF VERMILION F1SI.

I3

Finally the author of the Meng liang lu, who describesHangchou as he had known it at the very end of the Sung dynasty, writes: "GoldISsh includethose of silver, white, tortoiseshell, and other colours."Then, after quotingboth the Su Tung-p'overses, he goes on: "So these fish existed in old days also. At the present time many of them are bred and kept outside the Ch'ien-t'ang Gate, and are brought into the city for sale. This is called the {little fish trade'. The palaces and mansionsof the great keep them in tanks and ponds.In the pool of Yu ch'uanby the Ch'ingchih mound there is an abundanceof large ones, and the clear water, bubblingspring,and great fishesswimming about are very lovely."1)

kS'U2MBRXAt W A $XA "| E#t9fl*

A-atFRSo JA W^Xpit: +,
g

Atati$t"+S g}#Z$i"SR>+'
I274

Hsien shun lin an chih, c.

(ed. I830),

C. 27

fol. I5r-

^ Ts'en-liaotzu is the monk t; 'iE Tao-ch'ien, c. I077. I have not identifiedthe poet Hu, but the date must be in the latter part of the twelfth century, as Kao Tsungabdicatedand retiredto the newly built Te shou kung in Hang-chou on 23 (24) July II62, and died there in II87. cf. Yg ti chi shengc.l. fol. 2V, t t Epi a d Chientaolin an chih,c. II70 (ed. Wx lin chang kuts'1+ng pien)c. I fol. I-2; Sung shWh c. 32 fol. 6v. s) ffi g g Mengliang lu, c. I280, C. I8 fol. I5V. The author, a f g Wu Tzu-mu,wrote this interestingbook after the fall of the Sung dynasty as a record of the luxury and splendour whichhe had knownin Hang-chou, or Lin-an,when it was the capital.The k k pS Ch'ien-t'ang Gate, probablythe oldest of the city gates, led, until it was destroyed underthe Republic, to the north-east cornerof the West Lake. hsiaochsngchi in the Wu lin chiushWh of about the same

I6r. I

date, c. 6 fol. I6r. The great pool of the i ^; Yu ch'uanto the north-west of the Lake, full of gold and other fishes two or three feet long, was "very lovely" at the beginningof this centuryand, we may hope, remainsso still. The pool seemsto date from c. 480, and the presence of gold fish there at the end of the twelfthcenturyis shownby this line of t jW Tao-chi: F ,^ + p st tt @ I only see the golden chi risingand sinkingthere".-cf. Lin an chihc. 38 fol. I.

I4

A. C. MOULE

As far as I know the fourteenthcentury adds little and the fifteenthnothingto our knowledge of gold fish in China), though it seems, as will be seen, to be likely that the evolution of the modernfancy fish beganat the very end of the fifteenthcentury; and so I give now in chronological order versions of the more importantpassagesfrom books of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, hampered unfortunately by thegreatobscurity of styleand. difficultyof technicalterms in some of the mostinteresting parts. I. "The seventh [kind of fishgis called @ ffi p'en yu, 'BowE Fish', and includesgold (the colouris reddishyellow; hence the name), jade (the colouris white like jade), tortoiseshell,crystal, blue. (The peculiarvarieties,like the 'plum-blossom spots', 'hornbill red', 'sky-and-land division' classes, are too many in name and coloursto be exhaustivelyknown).Thosewhospeak[of them] say that the fish came originallyfrom the river Mei2), and were naturally of the two colours red and white. Female and male [of these two colours] pair together and producemottled fish; if one takes a g t ch't-hgafish to pair with a white fish they will producebrightblue coloured fish; if againone takes a shrimp to pair with a fish then the fishes tails will be exaggerated like a shrimp's. Coming to those whichhave threetails or five tails, they are all the product of fanciersin modern times; before Hungchih (I488-I505) they did not exist."3)
I) This statement refers only to books, and takes no account of representations of gold fish which may exist in paintings or on pottery for which I have been able to make

no search. 3) *
C. I600, C.

2) i

Mei is a river in Ssu-ch'uan.

I687, C.

zkb

Jen ho hsien chih, chou), ed.

6 fol. 23r. This passage,

I549

except the first two notes in brackets, seems to be taken from Wan li hang chou fts chWh, 32 fol. I2r, and is not in the original Jen ho hsien chih,
I7), C.

(ed. Wx lin chang chin yu and @

I29,

ku ts'"ng pien pt
ffi

3 fol.

3IV,

where we find simply *

tjt

yin yu without note. Chinese . . Porcelain in the David.Collection, P1.

shows

a vase of c. I475 with 5 red fish. Of the 3 visible on the Plate, one seems to havethree tails; but as the whole fish is only 3/8 in. long, it is hard to be sure.

THE BOOK OF VERMIEION FISH

IS

2. "Gold Fish: Gold fish are not recordedin the books. The Shx p'u (c. IN240) takes it that they were only in the pool of the monasteryof the Liu-ho Pagoda; so the poem on the Liu-ho Pagodaby Su Tzu-meisays: 'Alongby the bridgeI waitedfor the golden cht; to the end of the day I lingeredlate alone'.Tung-p'o also says: 'I know the golden chi fish of Nan-p'ing'.After the Migration to the South (c. II30) they increasedand flourished. According to this they beganin the Sungand werebredat Hangchou. Nowadaysamong the Palace servantsat the two capitals, south and north, there are those who keep them. Moreover they are differentfrom those of Hang-chou,the red really like the colour of blood; but the taste, compared with the l0t fu or chi, falls far short of Hang-chou.And there are golden li which are also beautiful.With regard to the two fishes(i.e. the /" (orchi)and li), thoughsome are produced by breeding,yet there are who say that [if they are fed on] the little red insectsfromthe foul ditchin the market-place then the black ftf will changeto goldencolour. The T'ing shWh also says: 'At the presenttime &c. (Here follows a shortenedquotation of part of the passage given on p. I0, II above: ('At the . . . . to tell")'. Now at my nephew'shome there is a pond which commonlyhas none of this breed;but suddenly one day the whole pond was full of golden cht. Of this also I do not know the reason,and I fear that these last two stories are not true."1) 3. 'sGold Fish Class:OncewhenI was puzzledthat the coloursof golden fish should be varied, I made a thoroughexaminationof I) t 1!
ffi ffi

Ch' hsiu lei kao, c. 1568 (ed.

I775), by 13

Lang Ying gj

(I487-C. I570) C. 43 fol. 8-9. Lang was a native of Jen-ho, but lived near the g

Ts'ao-ch'iao Gate in Ch'ien-t'ang or the southern part of Hang-chou city, and was known as
|w W f

Ts'ao ch'iao tzu. He is said to have been working at this book in Ij66.

The 2

Shu p'u is by

Tai Chih (c. I240).

3i;

, The phrase immediately

following

is not in the TzV hsu fu and

T6

A. C. MOULE

the passagesin books on fish. The Shan has chingand the I wx chWh do not mentionthem. But when I read the Tzi hsixfg there was the saying: 'Net the tortoiseshell, hook the purplecowry'1), and 'In the Fish-weedCave place the five-coloured stripedfish'. So I knew that the colourshad been fromthe beginning naturally various, and that 'gold fish' was an intentionalgeneral name. Regardingthe fact that the classes contain good and bad it is said that the skill [to producethese] lies with t-he breeders, nor may this be completelyrejected.Now men's preferences change with time. First they prizedpure red and pure white. Later they have prized 'goldenheads', 'goldensaddles','embroidered coverlets', and 'seal-head red', 'wrap-head red', 'joined-gills red', 'headand-tail red', 'hornbillred', like the 'eight diagrams',like the 'colourof dice'. They also produced counterfeits. Afterwards they have prized 'ink-black eyes', 'snow-whiteeyes', 'scarlet eyes', 'purpleeyes', 'agateeyes', {amber eyes'; 'fourred [lines]'to (twelve red [lines]','two sixes of red [lines]',at the extremewhat is called stwelve white [lines]'; and 'piled up gold', 'inlaid jade', 'falling flowers','flowingwater', 'cut-off','red dust','lotusterrace', 'eight melon seeds'; varieties without number. In a word men have decreed names accordingto their fancy, followingthe varying appearances. With regardto 'flower fish'the commonclassilScation is mistaken,men not knowingthat the divinesortswereall at first flower fish', and have developedchangesin the course of time till they can scarcely be recorded;and thered-headedvarieties
I) t fl

Wenhsuan(ed. Ssu pu ts'ungk'an)c. 7 fol. 30v,

,@

has not been traced. The

*

og

Shan hai chingis an ancient geography book

X

dating perhaps from the early Han dynasty, with some parts possibly earlier. The

I wu chWh is probably the book of that title by 'j,4A; X

3mj Shen Ju yun

of the T'ang dynasty.

THE

BOOK

OF VERMILION

FISH

I7

all belong to the ordinary categories. Classificationby eyes, though it is preferableto [classification by] reds, is as it were exaggerated and must be imperfect; these do not include the whole fish. And also indeed that red avoids yellow, white avoids wax-colour, cannot fail to be observed. As for the blue fish and crystal fish, they are naturally creatures of pools and ponds which connoisseurs of fish do not deign to notice. As for the three-tailed, fourtailed, and many-tailed fish, they are all originally of one kind; their bodies are compact and stunted and their colours fresh and brilliant; they may be found in all classes. The gold bands (that is, tails) and silver bands, Kuang-ling, Hsin-tu, and Ku-su vie one with another in prizing them. Now fish are merely one kind of moving creatures, but they provide many proofs of how men prize the glitter of every passing fashion." 1)

9T

U X- Ao* 9J- MA Xt Hi m pon

A[]":sR

*":

:C%"*X

"

AX*t44Xt#*gttZb44 K* :i t_z#@#B%=GA

;XWAt/Et *t I5,1 1i
44*

44X

-f d

X{t//1

#xt]

T'oung Pao, XXXIX

I8

A. C. MOULE

4. "Collected Explanations: Shih-chAnsays, Of gold fish there

are severalkinds,namely AT li, `- chi, jJ ch'iu,and

ts'an.

The ch'iu and ts'an are specially difficult to obtain. Only the golden chi has long persisted. Formerly in ancient times they were little known. But the Po wu chih says, '[Gold fish] come from the P'o-sai river in Kung; in the head there is gold'; but this must be a mistaken report. The Shu i chi records that

Huan

Ch'ung (328-384) of the Chin, visiting Mount Lu, saw that in the

] T~ 3ixP i F;4} L }X9[omit e a tfiS W- [*]i rei Sfpq

dwh~ w

[F]4~~~~fi

[X][omit

R " g

XB

r Q

e
.

me [omit rest]
b g

lWords a t w t# # 1

ZHh fE
chin t'u shu chi ch'eng s.v.

and remarks in square brackets give the variants found in the text as printed in Ku

l>-l

K'ao p'an yii shih, shtu), c. 3 fol. 27r'-28r'. The author ,a

;! MS

ffi ffi

c. i590

(ed.

j;

Lung wei pi

fk T'u Lung was a native of Ning-po, and

I785;

took his chin shih degree in I577. Professor Haloun tells me that the edition of K'ao p'an T'u yii shih included in the Lung wei pi shu (c. I795) has a postscript by M a * Chi-hsu and a preface by

k*

"e

Ch'ien Ta-hsin, both dated

and that the

undated K'ao p'an yii shih was included in the first collection (IE

jFj)

of

certain, Jfl X Pao yen t'ang Pi chi, printed in i6o6. It seems to be probable, but not,LA. X the in included separately p'in, yui Chin that the k 'fip
ffi

RAi Pa

hung yu hsi ts'ung t'an of uncertain date, was originally an independent

work and only later included in the K'ao p'an yii shith. kuan by goldfish fanciers in the sense of a "band of colour" The use of the word * "tails", does. has escaped the notice of lexicographers; and the original gloss ,4 .j, below. The on p. given explanation convincing and more 23 not agree with the detailed whole passage is obscure, and in spite of the very kind help of Professor Haloun in some places much of the translation remains uncertain. Kuang-ling,

AJj

I Hsin-tu, and "

Ku-su represent Yang-chou,

Yen-chou in Che-chiang or Hsin-tu in Ssu-ch'uan (?), and Su-chou respectively.

THE

BOOK

OF VERMILION

FISH

I9

lake there were fish with red scales, which were namely these 1).. No one kept them domesticated before the Sung (960-I280), but now in every place people keep them in their houses for amusement.. They spawn on water-weed at the end of Spring; and they are fond of devouring their own young. They also change and are transformed. When first hatched they are dark-coloured, but after a time they turn red; there may be some also which turn white, and are called silver fish. There are also those which are mottled in various ways, red, white, and black. The taste of the flesh is short (4 tuan) and tough. The Wu lei hsiang kan chihl says: 'If gold fish &c. (as above, p. 6)'. There are also Red Fish;. but it is not clear whether they are of this kind or not. I now append them below.
"Addition:

)J

Red Fish.

"I note that the Pao p'o tzi' says: 'The Red River rises in the~ Chung-linghill in the Shang-lo District of the Metropolis (in Shanhsi) and flows into the Cho River. Red fish are produced in it. If you watch them ten nights before the summer solstice, when the fish swim at the side of the river there is sure to be a red light shining upward like fire. If a man cuts one and smears the blood on his feet, he can walk on the water' 2).

js I) 1
fish'. The

Po wu chih is a late reconstruction of a lost book of the third century.

Shu i chi is a reconstruction of a lost book by 3 J

Li Shih-chen seems to mean that these fish with gold inside their heads were not 'gold Fang of the early sixth century. I have failed to find the passage in the text in the 3M Lu both in Shanwei ts'ung shu. There seem to be hills named S t;Han tung and in Ssu-ch'uan; but I cannot trace the M of the true punctuation of the words.
2)

P'o-sai river, or even be sure"The

This is reproduced in the Shu i chi (ed. Han wei ts'ung shu) c. 2b fol.

igr0:

Tan shui (Red river) is at the foot of the 7f it river are red fish. If one wishes to catch the fish, he watches for the fish to rise, when there is red light like fire on the water. If he nets one and cuts it and smears the blood. on his feet, he can walk on the water as if treading on dry land."

Lung-ch'ao hill. In the

20

A. C. MOULE

"The Flesh (Nature and Taste): Sweet, salt, smooth, not

poisonous.

"Remedial Use: For Chronic Dysentery (Shih-ch6n) Prescription appended (new; one) 1): "To check and control Chronic Dysentery: If the disease is violent and the patient is likely to die, take one Gold-thread Ii fish weighing one or two catties, as in ordinary cures(?); use-an onion in salt sauce and be sure to add two or three candareens of powdered pepper. When it is well cooked place it in front of the sick man. If, when he smells it, he wishes to eat, let him eat his fill with the gravy as he pleases, and the root of the disease will then. be removed. There is evidence of frequent cures. ([taken from] I fang tse yao by Yang Kung.)'"2) 5. "The bodies of gold fish are like gold; one name is 'fire fish'. There are those with the whole body red, there are those with half the body red, there are those with irregular red spots, there are those with red lines on the back forming the patterns of the Diagrams, there are those with the head red and the tail white, there are those with the scales (sic) red and the body white; colours and forms every one different. In the cave at the foot of the Pi-chi hill there are Gold-thread fish. In Chung-tu there are tortoiseshell fish with snow-white bodies and black spots, polished like varnish, and like the markings of tortoiseshell, which are specially beautiful." 3)
i) The author gives an immense number of prescriptions taken from his predecessors, and adds many which he distinguishes as 'new'. These new prescriptions are not, as will be seen, necessarily his own discoveries, even when (as here) he appends his name.
2)

m Pin ts'ao kang mu, c. I590 (ed. I658), c. 44 fol. 25v0. The author,

4 Li Shih-chen, is said to have finished the book in I578, but it was not published until after his death. I have not identified Yang Kung or his

4;j

% I Jang tse yao.

3)

o}

ow

00

$ wK to

k}UT }-ct4sX<iassoM@t v;

M A o

&8;

sEN tvwr+>

wS >

THE BOOK OF VERMILION FISH 2I

6. "Of Bowl Fish there are gold, jade, tortoiseshell,crystal, blue, sun and moon eyed. (They are differentfrom the breedsof Pool Fish. The speciallystrangevarietiesincludethe classes'plumblossomspots', 'hornbillred', 'sky and land division',and cannot

,**g TS
m--

ZLo*'t*t
At*gffi@
t.s--=

to*tff1'B*ge,*8

s XE^ ^ff hj(>+\Zest

;H

<

Sw

q q

r,

>

?
..

_,

*i
.E

!
.S

.d

!v\<b =i==;n
s e .; r s--v

\
(;@!

;; -^

..

* !
6 . ..

1
r , ,. ' rs, < 5, *

L. o 9

..

. l

,jW Shan t'angssfi k'ao, I595, by

P'eng Ta-i; -

u R R Ko chihchingyuan, I735, C. 9I fol. 7r. The text also appears text in g III, c. 5 fol. S * San ts'ai t'u hui, I607, ,Y in - t without acknowledgement

here g ffi chin hsienyu, regarded fish ( fit 3gr.The Tx' hai gives the Gold-thread as a gold fish) as the name of a sea fish, euthyopteroma paragraph and in the preceding far Pi-chi hill may be in Yun-nanor perhapsin Ssu-ch'uan, virgatum. The a Z from the sea. The picture is reduced from San ts'ai t'u hui, I607, in the Library of Congress.

A. C. MOULE

be exhaustively known; there are golden bands, there are silver bands, and there are three tails, five tails, even seven tails. There have first been breeders since the Sung. Su Tzu-chan [i.e. Tungp'o] had once read in Su Tzu-mei's poem on the Liu-ho pagoda, 'Along by the bridge I waited for the golden chi; To the end of the day I lingered late alone', but did not understand the meaning of this. Later, when he was Deputy at Ch'ien-t'ang he saw the gold fish behind the pagoda. When he threw biscuits to bring them out, they did not eat but disappeared, and at last he understood the meaning of 'to the end of the day I lingered late'. So he said, The present is separated from Tzu-mei by forty years, but they are swimming about as of old. This may be called long life indeed. He also made the lines, 'I love the golden chi fish of Nan-p'ing; Coming again and again I lean on the rail and scatter the crumbs of my simple feast.' At the present time [gold fish] are universally kept in pleasure gardens for amusement. The EWanli harg choq fqs chih by Ch'en Shan says: Those who speak say (as above on p. Hung-chih
(I488-I505) I4) . . .

five tails, these are all the product of fanciers in recent times. In they did not exist, and this is sufficient proof of how things change with the times.) 1)" 7. "Gold Fish. "Who dyed the silver scales, amber, rich ? The light quivers on the drooping fins amid the reflected hibiscus. Where they leap in the clear pool ripples are born; The green weeds divide forming a frame for the gold within. The magic spring from the Bright Cave bubbles along the land, The very colour of the sky, the vault of heaven itself. All the fishes swimming aimlessly about together,
I) k

* g

g
fit

Ch'ien t'ang hsien chih, I609 (ed.

i

I7I8),

C.

8 fol.

27r.

The

g
I600,

Wan li hang choufu chih was published about the year

*

but I have not established the exact date, nor the dates of the author i
I4

Ch'en Shan. Cf. also p.

note 3, above.

THE

BOOK

OF VERMILION

FISH

23

Seem on tiptoe for a flight into the sky changed into red dragons.1)" 8. "The Gold Fish Pool: Long ago in the Chin
(III5-I234)

tsao ch'h). The there was the Fish-weed Pool ( Y' old Gazetteer says, Above the pool is a hall with a jasper pool at the side. The foundations of the hall cannot now be traced. The pool is deep. The inhabitants have bounded it with a bank; willows droop over it. The yearly breeding of gold fish has become.a trade. The breeds of fish:-the deep red are called gold, the lustrous white are called silver, snow-white bodies with ink spots or red bodies with yellow spots are called tortoiseshell. If the fish is gold, they prefer silver to encircle it; if the fish is silver, they prefer gold to encircle it. And they distinguish between bands ( kuan 'tubes') and hoops (i ku); a band, below the fins and above the tail, is that which encircles the body; a hoop, not reaching the fins, is that which encircles the tail. The fish include 'strange breeds' (white with vermilion on the brow is called Crane Pearl 2); vermilion body with white on the spine is called Silver Saddle; vermilion spine with seven white spots is called Seven Stars; white spine with eight red lines is called Eight Diagrams), and 'shrimp breeds' (such as Silver Eyes, Gold Eyes, Double Rings, Four Tails). The breeds are really transformed by feeding with the little insects from ditches. The fish first change to white,

Ku chin t'u shu chi chYng s.v.

i
2I

-k fiAThe author is

Chu Chih-fan,

c. i6io. The translation is, I fear, at best only approximately correct.

2)

It seems

to be possible that this is a slip for 9

O C
l*

ho ting

chu (cf. p.

above), or perhaps an abbreviation for j

ho ting chu

ch:u, 'hornbill red pearl'.

24

A.

C.

MOULE

after white yellow, after yellow red; none- are hatched out red. The diseases of fish are two, named lice and named plague (If they are thin and have spots, they breed lice; the remedy is to soak a new brick in dung and put it [into the water]. If the scales open out as if falling off, this is plague; the remedy is to rub with new blue calico). The [causes of] death of fish are three. If they swallow soapy water they attain the first death; or the refuse of olives, they attain the second death; or the juice of walnut husks, they attain the third death. When the sky is about to rain the fish come up to the surface with a smacking sound, and the bottom of the water steams like hot soup. Every year after the Cereal Rain (the - ji Ku yii festival, about 20 April) the fish are sold. The larger go to other pools or ponds, the smaller go to bowls or basins or glass jars, and can swim about actively all day. Every year at the height of summer visitors bring wine-jars and drink here, and toss in cakes and dumplings which the fish gobble up noisily. When the large ones have devoured the dumplings at last they go. I note that gold fish had not been heard of in ancient times. The Shu p'u says, Only the pool of the Liu-ho Monastery at Hang-chou has them. So Tu Kung-pu (a slip for Su Tzui-mei)wrote the lines, Along by the bridge I wait for the golden chi; To the end of the day I linger late for them. Su Tzuichan (i.e. Tung-p'o) says, I know the golden chi fish of Nan-p'ing. At the present time also people prefer the chi, and do not sell li. Yet no fish is so long-lived as the li. The golden ii are charming; their bodies are compact and very large, and if one throws dumplings they do not respond, and they swim very slowly, nor do they often leap out between the waves. All along the north side of the Pool there are more gardens and pavilions than dwelling houses, and to the south it faces the Altar of Heaven; a wide open view all round. Every year on the [Tuan-]wu day they race

X oWX o9s t S A bo*lUgffi%Ftok

TI-IE BOOK OF VERMILION FIStI

25

horseshere. tJj |* Hu Shih (c. I5I5) of Kuan-hsi(i.e. Shan-hsi) says, On Tuan-wuthey racehorses,a relicof the Hit-willow of the Chin and Yuan dynasties (III5-I368). Hit-willowis now named Shoot-willow 1). "[Poem] by X mGy T'an Yuan-li of Q k Ching-ling, 'Walkingto the Gold Fish Pool on a fine evening':..... "Song by I I t Wang Ying-i of s @ Ching-shan, 'Watchingthe fish at the Gold Fish Pool: . . . .)}2).
I) Hit-willow -(ch'i liu) or Shoot-willow (she liu) was a military exercise in which a rider shot an arrow at a willow tree as he passed it at full gallop.

2) +9^
MR o *
M A g

Ba

g
iYk

+k4mgSE0 *i'wo X t4 Z o MR t }* o + X 4 g o ^ i&Pffii

to#P 4g to k+m A Xo

mtcOW/*8

+cQn

HXoWi9Mgo/'t

wgoR 10iMotffifi>oR +ts XM t0tX 0 A + t + Mt o i SlJ g " f fR o t to RT i

Xto M2t*to+@*o }>A^o Mt4X
fi

to

94ggXo[A

i stffi H^*s
mMIJ A0n

m BOW+#iGyttHtMA#is @ /N E oN}1>]t R to [
t1%]%k*fXz%oJ'

N * N ffi g N X
MIJR0

wglJo*8o

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RlJ t o*toX8tsit8Mo8J8toX f g }SE o t # " C it S F o A 1X t o

PpW4totAXok

',}S""toaSSo

A. C. MOULE

9. "GoldFish: The namesand varietiesof fish are very many, but for garden ponds gold fish are regardedas the favourites, while blue ( * ch'ing, perhaps,'dark'or 'black')Ssh and white fish ranknext to them. Onlyli Eshand chi fish are good at being able to change colour, and the golden chi has long persisted

g R

X0W

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M0

g g H @ " g *

s +

sz;ttoitXit Wo B+"Ho
J;ftilOE9
4nX

toteSf3&fiES01cR H fiiX 9Q*g+ffi;^"9o +t>RA9P

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ilh

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"4

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XoatMM8ffitgoSiNfWgGt Yhos

9
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ffi t
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mSi t

s M
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tXo%RS A * "+ *
i>ffiffi0 * X Il

XbSo

SotP XQ 4 sitffiE

m QiZlMo g g wt
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iw

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t#It o
Xb
* + 6

@}A

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1flM
Zl

142

p
4X"t@
4

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ptio

"

wp

gR

P"&PX"9"@

X;Eo/e&SG'iBUtoW*^tAtGo

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f;jt

z Heg SFffi ,+^ A

s t
a0

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I635 (ed. G. I750)> by
tJ

t
X

'S0
ffi +

Ti ching chingStt lxeh,

Liu T'ung and

iE Yu I-cheng, c. 3 fol. 6r-7r.The Gold Fish Pool described

is the famous breeding establishment in the outer or 'Chinese' city of Peking.

THE

BOOK

OF VERMILION

FISH

27

beautiful. In antiquity there were none reared in earthenwarejars, and not until the Sung did anyone use jars in which to rear them. Now they are frequently kept by people as ornaments, and the fish themselves have become a kind, simply named 'gold fish'. Generally speaking most of the coloured fish reared in pools and ponds are of the li, chi, or blue classes of fish. But those which are named gold fish are specially valued, and men would not put them meanly into pools. Yet at ;5 M Shih-ch'eng 1) those who make a living by selling fish generally rear them in pools in order to extend their life. But if fish are in contact with mud they will not be red and bright. They must be reared in jars; and the best jars are those which are pointed at the bottom and wide at the mouth. New jars which have not yet been filled with water should always be rubbed with raw yam, and then, after the water has been poured in, they will grow moss and the water will be alive. In the very hot periods of summer and autumn the water must be changed once every other day, and then the fish will not be scalded and die, but will easily grow large. In readiness for the spawning time in the third month of Spring take several large male shrimps to cover them, and then the young fish produced will all have three or five tails. But half of the shrimp's claws must be removed and then the fish will not be injured. When you see the male fish hurrying round the jar and snapping, that is the time when the female is dropping eggs. She lets the eggs fall on to the weed. Take the weed into the sunshine to see if it has any eggs on it. They are the size of grains of millet and look transparent like crystal. Take this weed and put it by itself in a glazed earthenware basin, not allowing more than from three to five fingers of water, and put it in a place thinly shaded by trees. If they are completely shaded they will not hatch, nor will they hatch if they are exposed to
i) Perhaps a District in Chiang-hsi; but many places have, or have had, the name.

28

A. C. MOULE

fierce sunshine. After two or three days they will hatch out; but the fry must not be in the same place as the large fish for fear they may be eaten by them. After the fry are hatched out take the yolk of a hard-boiled hen's egg or duck's egg crushed very small with the fingers to feed them. Next, after ten days take some of the little red insects which are found in the stagnant water of canals to feed them; but it is necessary that the red insects shall have been kept in clear water; and you must not give them too many. After a hundred days or more the black ones will gradually change to speckled white, and then gradually to pure [white]; or first change to pale yellow and then gradually to pure red; and some of them will be particoloured,-all according to their changes. The fish with three tails or five tails, without scales, and with gold bands or silver bands are valued. Among the famous sorts are Gold Helmets, Gold Saddles, EmbroideredCoverlets, down to Seal-red Heads, Wrap-head Reds, Joined Gills Reds, Head-and-tail Reds, Hornbill Reds, Six Scales Reds, Jade Girdles, SurroundingSpots, Purple Lips, Like the Eight Diagrams, Like Dice Pips, which are much sought after. The eyes include black eyes, snow eyes, pearl eyes, purple eyes, agate eyes, amber eyes,-these differences. On the back of the body are four red [lines] to twelve red [lines], or twelve white [lines]; and Piled up Gold, Inlaid Jade, Falling Flowers, Flowing Water, Cut off Short, Red Dust, Lotus Terrace, Eight Melon Seeds,-varieties without number. To sum up, they have just been given names according to men's fancy. When they are thoroughly domesticated the fish will not avoid the sight of men, and can be called by clapping the fingers, and will come as soon as ever they can see you. As to the method of rearing, if the fish turn white and there is floating foam on the water, quickly change it for new water for fear it may hurt the fish. And by taking banana leaves

THE

BOOK

OF VERMILION

FISH

29

and roots broken very small and throwing them into the water it is possible to cure the fish. But if the fish are thin and come out in white spots, called 'fish wind' 1), promptly throw in liquidambar bark or white poplar bark, and they will be healed. Or take a new brick and bury it in dung and let it remain so for one night; take it out and dry it and put it into the jar, and this also may cure the wind. If there are frothy streaks in the water, or if the fish eat pigeon's dung, they are sure quickly to die; so you must use lumps of dung to cure them. If the fish fall ill through eating willow catkins by mistake, they may also be cured by the use of dung. Those that are offered for sale in Wu and Yiieh (i.e. in Chiang-su and Che-chiang) are for the most part golden li and golden chi, the largest being one or two feet long. These are reared in ponds. According as they have swum in muddy or clear water they are less or more valued as pets. Some also of the many-coloured variegated fish bred in the Phoenix Well (,%

) g4

Feng huangching)east of the

g

Feng chen

Kuan inside the city of

Hsin-feng hsien in Chiang-hsi,

or in the Yu ch'iian by the West Lake in Che-chiang, or in the

Great Well

Ta ching) north of the Wu shan (.% It,

in the city of Hang-chou), and in the Dragon Well which rises in Ch'ang-hua, have bodies three or four feet long, many coloured and mottled, with gold scales and bright eyes. If men are sent there in time of drought to pray for rain, there is generally an answer." 2) It has seemed better to give these extracts entire in spite of the many obvious borrowings and repetitions which they contain.
I)
2) K

feng, 'wind', is variously explained as madness or as paralysis.

*

j.

1I

Pi ch'uan hita ching, i688 (ed. I783),

c. 6 (on the rearing of

Birds, Animals, Fish, and Insects) fol 24r'-26r'. The author is Hao-tzu.

' jf

Ch'en

30

A. C. MOULE

It would be difficult to summarise them satisfactorily, and the very repetitions may have a significance. Thus the constant quotation of the lines by Su Tziu-meior Tung-p'o make it fairly certain that these are the most important allusions to gold fish to be found in classic literature. Of special interest perhaps is the connexion of gold fish with the dragon and prayers for rain, persisting from Tu Fu in the eighth century') to Ch'en Hao-tzui in i688, and enshrined in the use of dragon as an element in the names of several varieties, as will be seen, from the eighteenth century to the present time. The medieval Western travellers who visited China do not speak of gold fish, though there is little doubt, as has been shown above, that gold fish were domesticated in Peking before the end of the thirteenth century and so may have been seen by Marco Polo 2) and by the early Franciscan missionaries. Nor, apparently, are they mentioned by the first Portuguese traders or Jesuit missionaries in the sixteenth or early seventeenth century. The earliest Western account of gold fish which I have happened to find is by Martini (I6I4-I66I), written perhapsfrom observations made when he was stationed at Hang-chou (I646-I650) and was working there and up the Ch'ien-t'ang river as far as Lan-ch'i. He writes, "The hill of Ch'ien-ch'ing (Cinking, see p. I2 above) is near to Ch'ang-hua (Changhoa),and there is a lake there which, though not among the largest, yet covers quite two hundred acres of land. It is famous and renowned for the little gilded fish which are caught there, which the Chinese have for this reason
i) The poem by Tu Fu quoted on p. 5 above ends with the line

m*

,;

j "Though it is not yet become a dragon yet it has divinity". - with 4' W * reference to the great fish with golden scales. 2) Marco Polo mentions fish kept in the lakes in the Palace grounds both at Cambaluc and Quinsai; but in the first place certainly, and in the second probably, he means fish kept to be eaten. cf. Moule & Pelliot, Marco Polo I, pp. 2I0, 338.

THE

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FISH

31

named chin-yii, because the skin glitters, being somehow interwoven with threads of gold-the whole back sprinkled as it were with gold dust. They are no longer than a finger, and have a tail of three lobes, sometimes of two; and at times it is undivided (simple) and rather broad. They are a strange sight. The Chinese make much of them, and keep them with great care in their houses and pleasure-gardens, in specially made vessels. The great lords sometimes feed them with their own hands, and often play with them, as if the fish knew their masters and wished to show the pleasure and entertainment they received when they were honoured by their presence. One of these little fish is sometimes worth quite two or three gold crowns, especially if it has all the good points which the Chinese wish." 1) The independent account of gold fish by Louis le Comte S.J. is as follows: "I shall confirm to you, what possibly you may have read in the Relations (i.e. perhaps Thevenot, as above) touching the Fish they call the Golden and Silver Fish that are found in divers Provinces, which are a great Beauty and Ornament to the Courts and Gardens of great Persons. They are commonly of a fingers length, and of a proportionablethickness; the Male is of a most delicate red, from the head to the middle of the Body, and further; the rest, together with the Tail, is gilded; but with such a glittering, and burnisht Gold, that our real Gildings cannot come near it. The Female is white, its Tail, nay and one part of its Body, perfectly washt over with Silver; the Tail of both of them is not even and flat as that of other Fish, but fashioned like a Nosegay, thick and long, which gives a particularGraceto this pretty Animal, and sets it off, being besides perfectly well proportioned.
i) Description Geographiquede l'Empire de la Chine par le Pere Martin Martinius S.I. in [M. Thevenot] Relations de divers Voyages curieux . . . 3me Partie, Paris (pp. 1-2I6
I666), p. I40.

32

A. C. MOULE

"Those who would breed them, ought to have great Care, for they are extraordinary tender, and sensible of the least Injuries of the Air. They put them into a great Basin, such as are in Gardens, very deep and large; at the bottom of which they are wont to place an Earthern Pot turned upside down, full of Holes on the sides, that they may retire into it when it is very hot Weather, and by that means shelter themselves from the Sun. They likewise throw upon the Surface of the Water some particular Herbs that keep always green, and maintain the coolness. This Water is to be changed two or three times a Week, yet so that fresh Water may be put in, according as the Basin is emptied, which must never be left dry. If one be obliged to remove the Fish from one Vase to another, great care must be taken not to touch them with the Hand; all those that are touched dye quickly after, or shrivel up; you must for that purpose make use of a little Thred Purse, fastned at the upper end of a Hoop, into which they are insensibly ingaged; when they are once got into it of themselves, one must take heed of hurting them, and be sure to hold them still in the first, which empties but slowly, and gives time to Transport them to the other Water. Any great noise, as of a Cannon, or of Thunder, too strong a smell, too violent a motion, are all very hurtful to them, yea, and sometimes occasions their dying; as I have observed at Sea every time they discharged the Cannon, or melted Pitch and Tar l): Besides, they live almost upon nothing; those insensible Worms that are bread in the Water, or those small earthly Particles that are mixt with it, suffice in a manner to keep them alive. They do, notwithstanding, throw in little Balls of Past now and then;
i) Le Comte's only homeward-bound Van den Wyngaert Sinica Franciscana St Helena, or England, voyage was on an English ship in I69I-2 IV, p.
522-3);

(cf. A.

and this remark seems to show that there is nothing

he had witnessed the export of gold fish at that date. But whether they were destined to India, and whether they survived the voyage,

to show. See also p. 37 below.

THE

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OF VERMILION

FISH

33

but there is nothing better than a Wafer, which steep't, makes a kind of Pap, of which they are extream greedy, which indeed is very suitable to their natural Delicacy and Tenderness. In hot Countries they multiply very much, provided care be taken to remove their Eggs, which swim upon the Water, which the Fish most commonly eat: They place them in a particular Vase exposed to the Sun, and there they preserve them till the heat hatcheth them; the Fish come out of a black colour, which some of them keep ever after, but it is changed by little and little in other Colours 1), into Red, White, Gold, and Silver, according to their

different Kind: The Gold and Silver, begins at the extremity of the Tail, and expand themselves somewhat more or less, according to their particular Disposition."
2)

The next notice of gold fish which I have found is in a long letter from the Jesuit Giovanni Laureati (i666-1727) Zea, written from Fu-chien and dated 26 July
I7I4.

to Baron de It is as follows:

"The strangest fish beyond question is that which is called chinyii or gold fish. It is kept in little ponds with which the pleasurehouses of the Princes and of the great Lords of the Court are adorned, or in broad deep bowls with which the courts of the houses are often furnished. In these bowls they put only the smallest fish which can be found; the smaller and more delicate they are, the more beautiful they appear. They are of a soft and quiet red, and as it were powdered with gold dust, especially towards the tail, which has two, or three, points. Some are seen also of a silvery whiteness, and others which are white with scattered spots of red; and all are wonderfully lively and active. They love to play
i) For "Colours" we should perhaps understand some such word as specimens. original (in Du Halde) is dans les autres.
2)

The

Memoirs and Observations . . . . made in a late Journey through the Empire of China second edition, London,

by Louis le Comte Jesuit, translated from the Paris edition (I696);

I698, pp. II3-II4.

T'oung

Pao, XXXIX

34

A. C. MOULE

on the surface of the water. But their small size makes them s& sensitive to the least injuries from the air, or to even slightly rough shaking of the bowl, that they die easily and in great numbers. Those which are kept in ponds are of differentsizes, and are trained to come to the surface of the water at the sound of a clapper which the man who brings them their food rattles. The wonderful thing is that it is claimed that there is no need to give them anything in the winter, if one wishes to keep them in good condition. It is, certain that they leave them without food for the three or four months that the cold weather lasts. On what do they live? It is not easy to guess. One may conjecture that those which spend the winter under the ice find in the roots, of which the bottom of the pond is full, either little worms or other suitable food for their nourishment. But those which are taken from the courts and kept in a room for the winter, without anyone troubling to provide for their living, do not fail, when towards Spring they are put back in their old bowl, to play with the same vigour and activity . Besides the gold fish which I as they did the year before ... have describedto you there is another kind which closely resembles it in size, in activity, in colour, and lastly in shape. This fish is called Hua-hsien[yii] from the name of the little town of Ch'anghua hsien, in the jurisdiction of Hang-chou and situated on the degree of latitude. Near this town is a little lake which provides the fish of which I am speaking. Its scales are of a trans30.23

parent pale yellow, but their colour is much enhanced (relevent) by the reddish spots with which it is sprinkled over. It is of about the same length as the gold fish and its ways are almost the same, but its price is very different because of its extraordinary rarity. They place it in a bowl where they take great care to give it a certain amount of food every day. The bowl must be covered in the winter, but a little opening is left, either to change the water, or

THE

BOOK

OF VERMILION

FISH

35

to admit fresh air, or to allow the warmth of the room where it is to enter. One would say that this fish knew the person whose business it is to bring it food, so quick is it to come up from the depth of the water as soon as it knows he is come. I have known very great Lords take delight in feeding it with their own hand and spend two or three hours watching the agility of its movements and of its various little games. This fish is supposed to be very prolific. When the spawn is seen floating one ceases to change the water in the bowl, and collects the spawn with every possible precaution and keeps it carefully, and the heat of the weather never fails to make the
eggs hatch." 1)

Du Halde (I673-I743),

whose book is a compilation, need not

be quoted in full. Some of his paragraphs agree closely with Le Comte or with Laureati, and some seem to be based on Martini. He was specially surprised to learn that the fish were not fed in winter, and copies Laureati to that effect almost word for word. But when he comes to the lake near the Ch'ien-ch'inghill, though he seems to have seen Laureati's more plausible account and takes perhaps some details (e.g. the latitude) from it, he prefers to follow Martini, with some slight embellishment: "These fish, or at least the prettiest, are caught in a little lake in the Province of Che-chiangnear the small town of Ch'ang-huain the jurisdiction of Hang-chou, and at the foot of a hill named Ch'ien-ch'ing (Tsien
king) situated on the 30 degree 23 minutes of latitude. This lake

is small, and it is clear that it is not the source of all the gold fish which are seen in all the Provinces of China, as in those of Kuangtung and of Fu-chien, where these fish can easily be kept and bred." 2)
i) Lettres ddi/. et cur., XXIX, Italian).
2) I773,

pp. 64-67,

70-72

(French version of Laureati's tome I,

J. B. du Halde S. J. Descriptiont . . . . de l'Empire de la Chinte, Paris,

735,

p. 36. There is a brief mention of gold fish on p. I74 also.

36

A. C. MOULE

In his second tome Du Halde has an important addition to make. He begins, "Father le Comte, who has given a description of them, adds to what we have said some details which I must not omit", and then gives the original French of the passage of which I have given the old English version above. He proceeds: "New knowledge obtained from Chinese who deal in these little fish, making their livelihood by breeding and selling them, enables me to make some observations here.
"i.

Though very commonly they are not more than a finger's

length, yet there are some which are as long and as stout as the largest herrings.
"2.

It is not the colour, red or white, which distinguishesthe male

from the female. The females are known by various white spots which they have about the ears and towards the little fins which are near them; and the males, because they have these places bright and shining. [But see note on p 67.] "3. Though very generally they have the tail in the form of a 'nosegay', yet many have it exactly like those of common fish. "4. Besides the little balls of paste with which they are fed, they are given the yolk of a hen's egg boiled hard, and lean pork dried in the sun and minced very finely. Sometimes they throw watersnails into the bowl where they are kept, and the slime of these sticking to the sides of the bowl is a great treat for these little fish, which vie one with another eagerly to suck it up. Little reddish worms which are found in the water of certain pools are also a favourite food for them. "5. They rarely multiply when they are kept in bowls, because they have too little space. If one wishes them to breed he must put them in ponds, where the water is alive and in some parts deep. "6. When one has drawn water from a well to fill the bowl where the fish are, it must first be left to settle for five or six hours;

THE

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FISH

37

otherwise it would be too hard, and would do them harm. "7. If one sees that the fish are spawning and laying eggs, which happens about the beginning of May, he must spread weed over the surface of the water. The eggs stick to the weed, and when he sees that the spawning is ended, that is to say that the males no longer chase the females, he must take the fish out of the bowl to transport them into another; and expose the bowl full of spawn to the bright sunshine for three or four days. And after forty or fifty days, when the fry have a perceptible form, he must change the water. "These observations would be useful if some day someone

thought of carrying some of these little gold fish to Europe, as the Dutch have carried some of them to Batavia." 1) The passage about sea fish, especially those round the island of Ts'ung-ming, which precedes these additional notes on gold fish, is taken directly from a letter by Father Jacquemin in Lettres edif. et curieuses, XI,
I7I5;

but I have not traced the source of these seven

observations. The seventh, besides being in direct contradiction to the fifth, seems to be rather confused. It is, at least, more usual to remove not the parent fish but the weed with the spawn attached to it from the breeding bowl to a separate shallow pan, where the fry are hatched out by the warmth of the sun. In le Comte's original French, which is known to me only through this quotation, the only addition of any interest is in the passage about the fish's sensitiveness to noise or smell. It reads, "comme je l'ai souvent remarque sur mer ou nous en portions, toutes les fois qu'on tiroit le canon, ...." Whether le Comte had tried to carry

gold fish home with him to France or not, du Halde's last paragraph seems to show that he, or his source, had heard of no attempt to introduce them to Europe. If it is his own remark, it was written in France, perhaps about
i) J. B. du Halde Description

I730,

for in his Preface to Lettres e'dif. et

. . . . de la Chine, tome II, pp. I40-I42.

38 curieuses XX,
I73I,

A. C. MOULE

he writes that he had been engaged on his

great book for some years (depuis quelquesanne'es). When we pass from China to Europe the first possible mention of gold fish seems to be by Pepys, who wrote in May i665:
"28th. (Lord's day.)....

Thence home and to see my lady Pen,

where my wife and I were shown a fine rarity: of fishes kept in a glass of water, that will live so for ever; and finely marked they are, being foreign." 1) The footnote, "Gold fish introduced from China", is not supported by any evidence, and if these foreign fishes were really gold fish they evidently failed to live for ever, for gold fish are not heard of again in Europe before the eighteenth century, when they seem to be mentioned and drawn by James Petiver
(I663-I7I8),

naturalist and botanist of Aldersgate Street. In his

2,

Catalogus classicus vol. II, MDCCXI, p. Piscis Chin. cauda argentea 78.6 I87...

is the entry: "i86

aurea 78.7", and in his

Gazophylacii Decas 6, 7, 8, not dated, p. 8 col. 2: "Tab. 78.... 6. China Silver-tail, Cat. i86. 7. China Gold-tail, Cat. I87. Fish brought thence alive." 2) These cross-references, with the ani) The Diary of Samuel Pepys M.A. F..S...S . transcribed by Mynors Bright ... vol. IV,

with Lord Bra ybrooke's notes edited with additions by Henry B. Wheatley F.S.A.
I894,

p. 420. Lord Braybrooke's first edition, I825,

vol. I, p.

34I,

omits "home and" and

the footnote.

I owe this reference to Mr G. F. Hervey.

2) This is not the place to give a detailed collation of Petiver's works; but some account of them may be useful. Jacobi Petiveri opera historiam naturalem spectantia were published in two folio volumes in 1764, forty-six years after Petiver's death. These appear to consist of the remainders of various sheets (some in type and some engraved) printed and, presumably, published at various dates in Petiver's lifetime, bounld up together in two volumlies with new titles and sold as one work in 1764. For the present purpose it is enough to say that vol. I consists of Catalogus classicus 1, pp. Gazophylacii Decas 6-io, pp. Plates I-C, IOI-I56, composite, to
i-5,
I706; I-I2, I-4,

1709; Cat. class. II, pp.

i-Io,

1-4,

I7II;

undated; Contents of Plates CI-CLV, pp.

undated;

undated; etc. On the top margin of Plate ioi in the Cam-bridge copy aiid the sheets variously dated fromll i6g95

"this including I56 new" is written in pencil. There is a third, 8vo, volume which is also the two titles dated I695 anld this last
(I706) I702,

being the date of A Classical and Topical Catalogue of Decades ready to deliver to each Person? that deposits a Guinea".

which ends (p. 94) with an aninounicement of vol. II (Decades 6-io) of which "I lhave
5i-8o]

3o Tables [presumably

THE

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OF VERMILION

FISH

39

nouncement of

I706,

probably show that Plate 78, which includes

I706,

the two fish (perhaps the first pictures of gold fish, if gold fish they are, published in Europe), was already engraved in least by
I7II.

or at

The engraving and, perhaps, the drawing was by

a well known engraver who lived Sutton Nicholls (/1. I700-I740) near Petiver in Aldersgate Street. Petiver, who received many specimens from Correspondents abroad, does not say whither these fish had been "brought thence alive", nor whether he had seen them, alive or dead, himself; but those who assume that he had himself received them alive may well be right. And indeed the strange names, "silver-tail" and "gold-tail", may tempt one to guess that these fish may have been brought home alive by the German naturalist Kaempfer who returned from the East to Holland about the year I693 and thus describes the gold fish:
"Kingio, the Gold-Fish, is a small fish seldom exceeding a finger

in length, red, with a beautiful shining, yellow or gold-colour'd tail, which in the young ones is rather black. In China and Japan, and almost all over the Indies, this fish is kept in ponds, and fed with flies before their wings come out. Another kind hath a silvercolour'd tail." 1)
The sheets of the I764 vol. II, which does not here concern us, are mostly dated I7I5, i6, or I7, but one of the last ("The following Catalogue")is dated I693. The best collations of the whole work known to me are in the catalogues of The Books, etc. isnthe British Museum (Nat. Hist.) vol. IV, I9I3, and of the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. The general catalogue of the British Museum gives the I764 issue without indication of how the two volumes are made up. The unpublished German original i) E. Kaempfer, History of Japan, I727, p. I37. of this in the British Museum (Sloane 3060, fol. io8) reads: Kingjo, goldfisch, ein fischlein finger langte, roht und am schwantze gold farbig und glantzende, und alss er noch jung ist, schwartzlich. wirdt in Sina und Japan, itzo auch in Indien in wasser Kummen unterhalten, mussen mit jungen muicken die noch ungeflugelt, gefuttert werden. Es gibt eine andere art welche silber farbig ist. It will be seen that the tails are less prominent in the German than in the English, and as a fact Kaempfer does not seem to have been one of Petiver's many correspondents. I am obliged to the Master of Christ's College for help in this point.

40

A. C. MOULE

The efforts of scientific naturalists to fix the date of the first introduction of gold fish into England have been involved in a series of strange accidents. Bloch says that they were first introduced in
I6ii,

and had become common in I728

1).

But he is explicitly

quoting Thomas Pennant's British Zoology IJl, I776, p. 374, and Pennant on that page says not i6ii but "about I69I", and it may is a misprint. Pennant

be regarded as certain that Bloch's I6ii

in his turn gives no authority for his I69I; but Mr George Hervey has shown conclusively that it must have been Edwards, who claims Petiver as authority for his own "about Anno I69I", having by some slip changed Petiver's I7II into I691
2).

Thus all seventeenth century dates, with the possible exception of Pepys's I665, must go, and Petiver's brief "Fish brought thence alive" is the first known evidence of Chinese gold fish seen alive, as is generally assumed, in England
3).

For the first serious account of the introduction of gold fish into England and Europe we are indebted again to George Edwards, who writes in the same place: "They were not generally known in England till the year I728, when a large Number of them were brought over in the Houtghton Indiaman, Captain Philip Worth,
i) M. E. Bloch Ichthyologie ou Hist. Nat.. rade Chinoise, pp. III-II5,
1728,

..

des Poissons, Part III, I786, (La Do& eni

P1. 93, 94) p. II3: I1 fut apporte en Angleterre l'an I6ii, connu.

il y etoit deja generalement

A Natural History of Birds Part IV, I75I, P. 209: "The first Ac2) George Edwards count of these Fishes being brought to England may be seen in Petiver's Works, published about Anno I69I. See his Catalogue, i86, Piscis Chin. Caudd argentea, Plate 78, Fig. 6. and Catalogue I87, Piscis Chin. Cauda aurea, Plate 78, Fig. 7." We know that Petiver's Catalogus classicus is in fact dated MDCCXI (see p. 38 above), and Mr Hervey has pointed out how easily MDCCXI may become MDCXCI (I69I) 3) In a valuable 4I-53, III-I23 but appareintly unfininished The Aquarist Dec. I946, p. 286. "The Goldfish" (pp. article entitled

in The Hong Kong Naturalist, VIII, I937), of which I did not hear until century." No proof is quoted;

my own work was finished, R. A. Pereira writes on p. 4I that there is "ample proof to show that goldfish were reared in Enigland in the seventeenth that the seventeenth and in view of the silence of Petiver, Pennant, Edwards, Baster, and others it is possible cerntury is ineant for the seventeen-hundreds or eighteenth century.

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FISH

4I

Commander, & presented by him and Manning Lethieullier,Esq; to Sir MatthewDecker:Since which time they have been propagated in Ponds by several curious Gentlemen, in the neighbourhood of London, .... they have been propagated & greatly increased in the Island of St. Helena; from whence they are now brought . Those propagated by all our India Ships that touch there... with us are generally of a deader Colour than what are brought from China, or St. Helena." He says too that "the late Duke of
Richmond [CharlesLennox, I70I-I750]

had a large Chinese earthen

Vessel full of these Fish, brought alive to England". Job Baster

(I7II-I775),

an eminent physician and naturalist of

Zeeland in Holland, and author of what is, perhaps, the best monograph on gold fish to appear in Europe until at least late in the nineteenth century, has copied Edwards's account of the introduction of the fish into England with two small additions 1). He writes (p. 8I): "Some of these little fish were brought over by the English from China to the Island of St Helena, and thence in
I728

were the first conveyed to England (zyn de eersten in Engeland

gebragt) by Philip Worth, . . . they have been bred in England,

where they were put in ponds, and in this way (having also been sent to other parts of Europe) they are become well known." There is however some difficulty about this story of the introduction of gold fish in I728. Edwards and Baster agree, as has been seen, that the fish were brought to England by Philip Worth, captain
i) The referenices are to the Latini version of "Natuurkundige Beschryving vain den

Kin-yu, of Goud-vis." in Verhandelietgen uitgegeeven door de Hollandsche Maatsckappye der Weetentschappent, te Haarlem. Vol. VII Part I, Haarlem, I763,
pp.

215-246,

with onie folded and was re-

coloured and gilt Plate. This paper seems to have been written late in I762,

printed in Latin in Jobi Basteri Med. Doct., Acad. Caes., Societat. Reg. Lond., et Holland. Socii Opuscula Subseciva, &c. Tom. II Harlemi, I765, pp. 78-93, De Kin-yu, sive Carpione Aurato., with the same Plate, more brightly coloured but without the gold. My translation is from the Latin, with some variations translated from the Dutch inserted in brackets, or sometimes the actual Dutch inserted for confirnmation or variation of the Latin.

42

A. C. MOULE

of the Houghton, in I728; Baster adding that they came from St Helena, and Edwards saying explicitly that they came "in the Houghton". But from the List of the Marine Records of the late East India Company, I896, we learn that the Houghton, then commanded by Edward Gibson, left England in
I724

and re-

turned in I726 (the exact dates not known, because the log is lost). Philip Worth, in command of the Townshend, left on 29 September and returned on 2 June I727; and, having now been transferred to the Houghton, he sailed on 24 September 1728 and
I725

returned on 26 June I730, and again on 2I September I73I to return on 26 May I733. It is thus practically certain that no fish were brought to England in the Houghton, or by Worth in any ship, in I728; and we must suppose that Edwards and Baster, though they seem likely to have had access to firsthandinformation, were both mistaken. The year, however, we may suppose to be approximately correct. In a footnote to his Dutch edition Baster says that he thinks that gold fish first reached Holland in
I753

or I754, for the ponds

of "Wel.Ed.Geb. Heer van Rhoon" and "Heer Clifford";but in the Latin he omits the dates, saying that "Comes Bentinkius" and "Dominus Clifford"were the first to keep them, "but, as far as I know, they (the fish) have not yet bred". He then proceeds to give an account of his own fish and of their breeding: (p. 82) "In November I758, twelve of these fish having been brought to me from England, I put eight in one and four in the other pond in my garden. Except four, which after some days I found floating dead, I never saw them again. year
I759

In October of the following

I put another twelve which had been brought me in one

and the same pond (in which I had put the four at first). Through that very hard winter I happened several times, in calm sunshine, to see these little fish swimming about even under the ice, because

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FISI-I

43

the water was perfectly clear. In February I760 six others were brought to me, but two of them died after a few days. From these sixteen little fish all that I have have been bred. "In April and May they began to grow used to come out every day to eat the bread which was put into the pond for them as it floated on the surface. (p. 83) At the end of April they began to breed." And he gives an account of their antics at this time, and proceeds: "On the
I3

June

I760

(four or five weeks after the

pairing) I spied with the greatest joy a few tiny little fish 4 or 6 (drie o/ vier) lines long and blackish or dusky in colour. About six weeks later most of them began to get some shining silver or white spots between the dorsal fin and the tail, and as they grew older these spots ran together more and more until in October they formed a stripe of half a line wide. The little fish, being then nearly
'1/2

inch long, began to eat little crumbs of bread, having

apparently been fed till then on the water insects lurking in the weeds and on the sides and bottom of the ponds. During the very mild winter of I76I they sometimes came out on warm days, when I could not refrain from throwing them some bread, which however they did not eat so greedily as in summer. In June I76I, when they were a full year old, one or two here and there began to .change colour and to grow red on the belly. The numbers of these increased daily, just as also the red or gold colour daily grew brighter, the part between the head and the dorsal fin remaining black longest, whereby the gold shone so much the more brightly. In this second year of their age most of them (p. 84) obtained their gold and silver colours, a very few in the third year, and a great part remains permanently black, so that they have not even the least distinction nor any beauty, and have simply the look of a common carp or tench. "The way in which I am used to treat these little fish needs much

44

A. C. MOULE

less care than the Chinese employ, because I have learnt from experience that they are not so very tender and delicate. The fish in the ponds receive two or three slices of wheaten bread (een sneede of tzeee tarwe brood, in kleine stuk/es gebrokt) generally just before the evening, and in the summer devour it very greedily. In the winter they very rarely appear, except on bright calm days, and so they need very little bread. While the frost lasts I am careful to make holes in the ice twice a day and to insert a bundle of twigs. The rest, which for my pleasure I keep in a large white jar in the house, are supplied every other day with clean fresh rain-water, which is full of monoculi." In a footnote Baster says that he had found rain-water best; that clear river water, as from the Maas or Rhine, was also very good; but that water from ditches or canals in the inland towns caused the fish to lose colour and to die. This may be compared with the Chinese opinion given on p. 59 below. He then goes on (p. 85): "Drawings of these fish are given by Petiver [see above], (p. 86) George Edwards (Gleanings

of Nat. Hist. II, p. 309), Richter (Ichthyotheologie (sic) p. 95), and

Carl Linnaeus (Fauna Suecica Tab. II. p. 33I) who also adds a description, which however, being of a single specimen which was given to the Swedish Academy as a rarity, seems to me to be quite inadequate. And since I have this good fortune, that these little fish first, as I believe, in the Netherlands are continuing to live, are breeding, and multiplying in both the ponds in my garden, very frequent and convenient opportunity is offered me of examining their properties more exactly than others to whom this

has not yet happened." From this it seems to be certain that the scientific description and anatomy which follows is based on the observation and dissection of fish of his breeding. Of the twentysix paragraphs of the description I select these six: (p. 87) "8. Eyes nearly in the middle of the sides, a little nearer

THE

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FISH

45

to the point of the snout than to the gill-covers, projecting (in some specimens abnormally), spherical. Pupil roundish. Iris very narrow. (p. 88) "i8. Fins generally seven (or six if the dorsal fin is missing, or eight if it is double) without spines, namely two pectoral, two ventral, one each (dorsal,) anal, and caudal. The anal fin is often double, but this does not change the number of fins as the two rows of rays spring from a single row of roots. Only a few of mine are like this.
"19.

Dorsal fin sometimes very long formed of i8 or

2o

rays;

often very short, of 3 or 4, (and is not set always on the same place on the back; sometimes there are two dorsal fins;) often missing altogether. (p. 89)
"23.

Tail large, strong, sometimes forked, the lower lobe

very often a little longer (than the upper), and then supported on eighteen branching rays, excepting both the side rays; or threelobed, and then slightly convex in the middle, the several lobes pointed, not divided one from another except by the length of the rays, supported on forty-four rays. This three-lobed tail in some little fish is quite free, since they can spread it out like a fan and draw it together again like a paint-brush: in some this tail is as it were bound together in the middle, so that they cannot spread it out, but this part always remains upright; while in others only the lower part of the forked tail is double, the upper single. The reason of this three-lobed form is that the caudal fin is really double and that the upper edges of these fins are united 1). This became very clear to me in a little fish, which I keep in the tub, whose double caudal fins are only a very little, and very near to
i) Baster has the following note: (p.
9I

(d)) "There are several species of cyprinus Jacob

which rejoice in three-lobed tails. 'In the river Slein there are cyprini which have threelobed tails and are called by the fishermen Leidbraassein, or Leaders of the others. Theodor Klein Hist. Pisc. nat. prom. Missus V, I740, p. 62, Tab. XIII, fig. i."

46

A. C. MOULE

the body or trunk, united, giving the appearance, as the fish swims, of two tails bound together.
"24.

The size seems to vary much, for according to the story

of the Jesuits they rarely reach the size of a sprat in China. Some of mine in two years were six inches long, and those which I received from England two years ago have grown to the length of ten inches and more 1). So they seem to grow larger here than in China. (p. 90) "26. The colourvaries very much. Some are found which over the whole body have the colour of most resplendent gold or silver. Others are provided with an intense red colour, more often verging on gold, and then shine with the most sparklingbrightness between the dorsal fin and the tail. Others, as has already been said, change their gold colour into silver, and then are mottled with gold and silver spots...... And some are silver with all the fins red; and some whose back is red or gold but the belly silver; &c." Baster proceeds to give a list of thirteen different forms (species) which he had been able to distinguish after a close examination of at least a hundred fish of his own breeding. The distinctions are all based on the shape, size, and position of the dorsal, anal, or caudal fins. For example, "V. Golden Carp with finless, smooth back." or "IX. GoldenCarp with dorsal fin, single anal fin, trifurcate tail." Although his fish had protruding eyes, sometimes abnormally so, it did not occur to him to make a separate class of "telescopes", and eyes are not mentioned in the descriptions of these thirteen different forms. The essay ends with eight details of anatomy wherein Baster regarded his Carpio auratus as differing from other cyprinids. The folding Plate was engraved and lettered for the original Dutch
i)

In a footnote (Dutch p.

217;

Latin p. 8o) he says that he has fish more tharn twelve

inches long.

THE

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FISH

47

article in Acta Harlemensia VII, and when it was used again in Opuscula Subseciva, placed and described as Plate IX, it bore no actual number and retained the Dutch note, "N.B. De GOUDVISJES Fig. IV-IX waaren
2

Jaaren oud." It is signed

I. Rhodius del. et ad viv. Pinxit. and C.V. Noorde sculp. I762; and it shows, I. four small fry, II. fish about two inches long, III. four scales, natural size and enlarged, IV-IX. six larger fish, showing varieties of colour and of arrangement of fins. Another interesting contribution to the subject in the eighteenth century was Histoire Naturelle des Dorades de la Chine by Louis Edme Billardon de Sauvigny, Paris, I780. This was based on a Memoireor Notice which was written in Peking in
I772

and sent

the next year to Bertin in Paris, to be followed by a scroll containing Chinese paintings of ninety-two different fish. The energetic inquiries of Mr G. F. Hervey have resulted in the happy discovery that a copy of the Memoire, which may have been concernantles Chinois, and the meant to appear in the Me'moires original scroll are still safely preserved in the Library of the Natural History Museum in Paris. The paintings were engraved by F. N. Martinet, "Graveur du Cabinet du Roi", and it was proposed to publish them in monthly parts, each containing six Plates and from two to four leaves of letter-press by de Sauvigny; and in two forms, folio and quarto. The folio copy in the British Museum contains, after a preliminary general account of China (pp. 3-22), two pages only
(23, 24;

24

ending with a catch-word) about the

fish and thirty magnificent coloured Plates (I-30) showing fiftysix fish. The Paris Natural History Museumitself has only thirty-six Plates, while the Bibliotheque Nationale has no copy of the book 1).
i) Brunet Manuel du Libraire, 18I4, states that only 24 pages of letter-press and 48 Plates were ever published. Forty-seven of Martinet's fishes are well reproduced oIn reduced scale in F. Kuhn Der kleine Gold/ischteich,c. I932.

48

A. C. MOULE

On p. 23 the seven kinds of gold fish recognized in China are given as follows, the list taken directly from the French Notice:
i.

Kin-yu [+

Chin yii], proprement dit;

. . .

dans le dixde la

huitieme siecle apportee au Port de l'Orient, 'a l'Htel Compagnie des Indes;
2.

Ya-tan-yu [ I; Dragon;

Ya tan yii], ou 1'oeufde Canne;

pi M Lung ching yii], ou les yeux de

3. Long-tsing-yu [R

4. Choui-yu [J 9 Shui yii], ou le Dormeur; Chin t'ou yii], ou le Cabrioleur; 5. Kin-teou-yu [? +

6. Niu-eulh-yu[A* J f Nii erh yii], ou la Nymphe; 7. Ouen-yu[t ffi We~n yii], ou le Poisson lettre1).
Each of the Plates, except the first, has one of these names as a general title, and each fish has a special name in French. Four of the fish, those on Plates
i

and 5, have names in well engraved

Chinese characters also, which have strangely small relation to the French names. These are, I.
I.

Ct
j1
+

ff
3

Ts'uan hua li

wen yii; Le SOUCi.2.

( ffi Ch'ih chien li wen yii;

La Capucine; V. KIN-YU I.

Hui chung chin

wen yii; Le Charbonnier. 2. Pi, t'ou feng wei yii; Le Bleuet.

Ch'ing chin

As far as Mr Hervey's or my own inquiries have gone only one perfect copy of Sauvigny's Dorades de la Chine has been heard of.

As far as memory can be trusted Chinese gold fish were first seen by me when a pedlar of them came into my Father's garden Ma-so Hsiang in the city of Hang-chou more in the S'- )J t than sixty years ago. The fish were carried thus about the streets
i) The mistakes of the original (Niu-eubk-yu, &c.) have been corrected, and the Chinese

characters and English spelling have been added in square brackets.

TIIE

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for sale in two shallow wooden tubs, perhaps eighteen inches or more in diameter and not much more than six inches deep. Each tub was divided into four compartments by means of two moveable wooden partitions notched together at right angles in the middle, and was hung to the end of a wooden yoke or carrying pole by four cords which passed through holes bored in semicircular projections at the four quarters of the tub. Smart new tubs would be painted white inside, and the top edges red; but in course of time the paint was allowed to wear off. When the pedlar lifted the yoke on to his shoulder the tubs hung, I think, about a foot from the ground; and he was naturally obliged to walk slowly and smoothly so as not to spill the water or shake the fish. One of the tubs, the one behind the man's back, usually had a wooden cover perforated with holes; and the outfit was completed by a little wire dipper with bamboo handle, and a china cup or bowl into which a fish could be put for the customer's inspection. As he walked the pedlar would occasionally chant

J1 M_ mR

Mai chin yii e'rha. Large or valuable fish were seldom hawked about the streets in this way; but, large or small, the kinds offered were, apart from much variety of colour, generally these three:
I. ,% X

ffLung

yii or "Dragon Fish" (more fully

Lung t'ou ftengwei "Dragon head Phoenix tail"). These had

large projecting eyes, an erect dorsal fin, and a tail which was sometimes nearly, or even quite, as long as the body. The tail in all three varieties was set (as it appears to a layman) horizontally and divided into four lobes, but the longer tails were apt to be pliant and drooping. The colours I remember were reddish gold, white, white and intense red, and black (velvety blue black on the back, with a tendency to bronze on the belly). Occasional examples of red white and black or of red and black were, I think, transitory, the black destined to fade away.
T'oting Pao, XXXIX 4

50

A. C. MOULE

2.

Ch'ao t'ien lung or "Sky-gazing Dragon". These

had projecting eyes which looked, as the name implies, straight upward, or even slightly inward one toward the other. The tail was often rather short and stiff, and they had no dorsal fin.

3.

Tan yii or "Egg Fish". These had small natural eyes,

and often, but not always, a short stiff tail, and no dorsal fin. The colours which I remember best were reddish gold and olive green with a golden sheen. The better specimens have long flexible tails like those of the other fancy varieties. The bodies of all three varieties, but perhaps more especially of the Egg fish, were stout and broad, tapering from a point near the tail forwards, and with heavy deep bellies. The two middle lobes of the tail were sometimes united, so making "three tails" in all; but I do not remember any specimens of the "'five tails or even seven or nine tails" of which the older books speak. The three varieties described above are known, I believe, to English fanciers as Telescopes (and Moors), Celestials, and Egg fish respectively. On that first occasion my elder brother and I were allowed to buy one or two small fish which we kept, I think, in a large glass jam jar without conspicuous success. Later, I believe, we tried an earthenware basin, then a wooden box covered with zinc, and were at

last promoted to a proper gold-fish jar (I

bp chin yii kang).

t

These jars, which have been in use at least since the seventeenth century, are made specially for gold fish at the } I-hsing potteries. They are shallow pans of unglazed pinkish earthenware, with a narrow well at the centre into which droppings and dirt of any kind are naturally collected; so that a section of the side would form an ogee curve, and there is a more or less broad moulded rim round the top. We were told that the inside of a new jar must be rubbed with milk before it would be safe to put fish into it; an-d, as has been seen, rubbing with a yam is also recommended. No

THE

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FISH

5I

earth or sand was put into the jars as a rule; but floating water weed was often present, especially at the spawning season.

There were in those days three or four places in the city of Hang-chou where gold fish were bred and kept for sale; all in the Upper City, as it was called, that is to say the southern part of the city which was in the Ch'ien-t'ang District, while the northern part, or Lower City, was in the District of Jen-ho. One of these

breeding establishments was in the Lion Lane (4jj

to the
t

Shih-

tzui Hsiang), a turning to the south off the main street which led
sf

Wang-chiang (or

Ts'ao-ch'iao) Gate, and a

second was in the

gj

Hsing Kung Ch'ien between the

City Hill and what was then the walled Manchu Camp in the west of the city. Memory does not recall the situation of the other two places. They were all, I think, very much alike; an open yard with the owner's cottage at one end, all surrounded with a high wall of rammed earth, and with perhaps a few trees. Most of the yard was occupied with the characteristic gold-fish jars set neatly in rows of groups of four, with enough space between each group to allow of easy access. In some of these the water was green and opaque, but in the majority of them it was clear. Refuse and dirt were removed at least once a day by the use of a syphon. This was a bamboo pipe, open at the lower end and closed at the top by the natural knot of the bamboo, and with a small hole bored just below the knot. One would close this hole with his finger and plunge the pipe to the bottom of the jar. Then the hole was opened and the water rushed up into the pipe carrying all loose refuse with it; the hole was closed again and the pipe quickly lifted out and emptied on to the ground, care being taken to hold a wire net below the mouth of the pipe to catch any small fish which might have been sucked up by accident. Besides the jars or pans there was also a small but fairly deep pond, in which fish were

52

A. C. MOULE

kept. The fish were fed on daphnia, the "little red insects" of the books, which were locally known as "golden shrimps" ( & f chin hsia), and of which there was an endless supply in the stagnant ponds which abounded in the eastern part of the city. Near the house was a well for water supply, and some glazed jars to catch rain-water; and the various tools of the trade, nets, buckets, the shallow tubs described above, and carrying yokes. Over the outer gate of one of these gold-fish yards I seem to remember the words Chin Yii, Gold Fish, written not very large on the plain whitewash of the wall; but otherwise there was little advertisement and no ostentation about this curious but beautiful trade. My brother, Henry Moule, whose youthful drawing of one of the breeding establishments is here reproduced, and who in later years kept and bred gold fish with success in Hang-chou, tells me that the street pedlars were probably not the owners or breeders of the fish, but men who took them on sale or return and made what profit they could from them. He tells me too that common goldfish (that is to say those resembling the wild prototype in shape), which were unknown at Hang-chou in our early days, were introduced there again early in the present century. Besides the fancy gold fish which have been evolved, as we are told, from the domesticated red variety of carassius autratus ( Ff chi), we sometimes saw specimens of the golden variety of the common carp (&, 1i) offered for sale as food in the market, or swimming free in the West Lake.

THE

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FISH

53

A Gold-fish Yard in Hang-chou

_pp.
>iv--

THE

BOOK

e t..E ..*tR[M

OF VERMILION by

FISH

Ch'ien-tA Descendant of the Fisherman of the misty Waves My nature is steeped in quietness without other indulgences, and I am fond of being alone, and enjoy dipping water from a clear spring to nourish my vermilion fish, and often watch the delight of their coming out and going in, forgetting my weariness all the day long, whenever I reach the state of communion 1). Though Hui Shih found that since Chuang Chou was not a fish he
i)

That

is,

the communiion

of inaii with nature; the allusion is to

A JLj4

ga Shih shuo hsiin yii c. ia fo1. 38:

54

A. C. MOULE

did not know what fish enjoy 1); how could I say that? And so, having listened and looked a long time and soaked many dumplings to feed them, till my skill is increased, I have spent an idle day describing their appearance and forms together with the art of keeping them as pets, dividing the several matters into paragraphs, and have made a Book of Vermilion Fish as an offering to the likeminded. Preface in ping-shen on the sixth day of middle summer. Part I. The Description of Appearance and Form I It is only in Wu 2) that vermilion fish are at their best. Generally speaking they are so named because the colour is like the vermilion from Ch'en-chou. It is very necessary to keep this kind in bowls; and they are specially prized by experts. There are some which are of an inferior red or yellowish colour, namely what are commonly called golden chi, and these are a different kind which may just ornament a pond, but cannot be worth a tenth part of the vermilion fish, and decidedly must not be reared. II The connoisseurs of the land of Wu always make a point of rearing vermilion fish in their garden pools and at the best places in their lodges or pavilions to provide a beautiful sight. While I have made my home in the city from mou-tzi' (I588) until now those which I have seen are not less than several hundred thousands. Of the very special ones I ordered an artist to make exact drawings and collect them together; and since they are many I record them at random. There are some with white bodies and
_)
2) %

Nan hua cheit chiitg c. 6

Wu stands for

(I7

4 )|J

h *

) fol. i8r .

Su-chou; and so below.

THE

BOOK

OF VERMILION

FISH

55

the word wang (FE 'king') in vermilion on the top of the head 1); some with head and tail both vermilion and a jade girdle round the waist; some with head and tail both white and a golden girdle round the waist; some with half the body vermilion and half the body white, or one side vermilion one side white, making the skyand-earth (i.e. horizontal) division; some with the whole body pure white and a line of vermilion spots ruled along the back, forming the seven stars, or lucky clouds, or wave patterns; some with the whole body vermilion and the back spotted 2) with white colour to form the seven stars, or lucky clouds, or wave patterns; some with white body and on the top of the head a red pearl, or drugbottle gourd, or chrysanthemum, or plum blossom; some with vermilion body and on the top of the head a white pearl, or drugbottle gourd, or chrysanthemum, or plum blossom; some with white body and a vermilion lance, or a vermilion fringe, or amber eyes, or golden back, or silver back, or golden band, or silver band, or fallen flowers red carpeting the ground; some with vermilion and white mingled together like embroidery;kind after kind of changing patterns, it is hard to record them all. III To identify vermilion fish one always uses a white basin from Tz'i chou to put them in and look at them. Only if the basin and the water are both coloured red is it the genuine vermilion colour. If the red cannot colour the water, though it may be a bright red it is as it were a second colour.

I)
Ch'ing t t

&I

Yuan chien lei han c. 44I fol. 27r' quotes from the '

i lu, ioth century,

gE

dragons. Those which have the formal character

wang-character 2) Conjecturing A

i;

Ri "Many carp are transformed into

FP

]5 wang on their brow are called

rjJchieh chien.

carp. These are even more in contact with divinity."

0!I pei tien, as above, for the text

56

A. C. MOULE

IV If vermilion fish are kept in a pond some will be about two feet long and the colour will still be the brightest red, just as if reared in a basin. Some say that the golden chi in a pond are just vermilion fish which have swallowed mud and so the original fire colour has grown pale. They clearly do not know that the true vermilion fish, though reared in a pond, has never grown pale in colour.
V

The colour of vermilion fish, taking them all together, is ready in some like good Ch'en vermilion as soon as they are hatched, whilst some when first hatched are yellowish and do not change to vermilion until they have gone through frost and snow. They are both of one kind, a good quality for keeping in bowls. Those which are still of a yellowish colour after passing through frost and snow are golden chi, and should not be chosen or used on any account. And yet a certain number with beautiful markings and fine forms may be reared in a pond in the garden. VI Among bowl fish the pure white are absolutely useless. And yet there are some which will change in time to onion-white, to feits'ti colour, or to crystal. Examine them closely, and always minutely inspect the stomach 1). These are a valuable variety of the vermilion fish; but in less than a year or two they will revert to be white, unexpectedly, and as easily as coloured clouds are scattered, fragile as glass. VII The tails of fish are all two-lobed. Only the vermilion fish have
i) The meaning of yang. Fei-ts'ui
A

'2

is not clear. The priilted text has [

is usually taken to mean the colour of kingfisher feathers.

THE

BOOK

OF VERMILION

FISII

57

those with three tails, five tails, seven tails, nine tails, which ordinary fish have not. If the beautiful kinds are arrangedby tails, the substance of the body is not necessarily good, and so one must select from them to obtain the best. Amongst those which I myself bred at my home at one time in the ke'ng-yin year (I590) there were some with a vermilion wang character on the top of the head, some with a jade girdle, some with seven stars, some with lucky clouds, some with plum blossom, some with red or white fringes; and all with nine tails or seven tails. The fanciers in Wu were eager to seek my advice and swarmed like ants to admire; and they continued to do so for several months. VIII In the beauty of vermilion fish it is not only the colour to be admired, the tail, or the markings. The substance of the body is also different from ordinary fish. The body, whether long or short, must be fat and strong, and it is only the well developed and fine that can be classed. Neither the transparent and emaciated nor the delicate and thin please the fancier's eye. So I employ a boy to feed them every day, and I go round myself by his side examining their nature and selecting them. The fish which I breed are all large, fine, according to standard, bones and flesh well proportioned. I have thoroughly learned for myself the principles of the business, and when I look at those which the fanciers breed there are none like mine. Ix Fanciers who breed vermilion fish generally follow the example of the government in employing men of ability; and so in breeding they value quantity, but in selection they value quality. Every year in the summer one must buy several thousands and distribute them in several tens of jars to feed and keep them, daily

58

A. C. MOULE

removing the inferior ones; and when only one or two of every hundred are left, put them together in two or three jars to be reared. If you cherish them with special care, a complete set of the peculiar varieties will be the natural result.
X

To admire vermilion fish one must get up early at the moment of sunrise, before the embroidery of red clouds is dispersed, and while it lies like ripples on the clear pool among the green waterweeds, like the petals of Wu-ling falling one by one before his eyes 1). It must be a moonlight night, with the round spirit in mid heaven and her reflexion buried in the waves; from time to time the timid scales will splash about noisily all aware of what they see, and awake for it
2).

There must be a gentle breeze to

swing and sway the waves to tinkling notes; the fish swim out to hear, every whit they might be men. There must be fine rain, drizzling and drifting, weaving gauzy patterns on the waves, while the fish fly and leap racing to catch the nectar from the sky. As you look you will linger and refuse to go. Part II. Description of Keeping as Pets

i) The "petals of Wu-ling" is an allusion to the

yiian chi or "Story of the Peach-blossom Spring" by

t)I

j 'i,

T'ao hua

2) 1 amn not at all sure of the meaning of the words

J' J

T'ao Ch'ien (365-427).

P1. III), or of the words

A i

; jE

(see

&

below; or of one or two other phrases in

Liu Tsung-yuian (773-8I9), Li Shang-

this pretty but difficult paragraph. Two or three of the phrases may be found in well known poets, Li Po (701-762), Tu Fu (7I2-770), yin (813-858), and Wen T'ing-yuin (c. 86o).

For example, PE

Tu shih hsiang chu, c. I5 pu ts'ung k'an)

fol1. 2,

jI'

and (in SsA

;ffi
%

ffi ffi ffi

L.

Lii

shan shih chi c. 6 fol. I5r

1Jjj 1
Ji
4[f

Wen t'ing yiin shih chi c. 4 fol. 4VC '

MJ1,S A

BX$1.A

THE

BOOK

OF VERMILION

FISH

59

XI "Fishes forget one another in the rivers and lakes." 1) This is the happiness of fishes. But vermilion fish are unfortunately domestic creatures, not faring well with a niggardly supply of a spoonful of water; so every few days the water must be changed. As for the water, to take running water from a river or lake is best, and clear cold well water is next to it. What must not be used is water from the canals in a city. XII Every time one changes the water he must get up early, he must wash his hands, he must very gently use a cup to catch the fish, and must not touch them with his hand. If he touches them he will hurt the scales and fins; and if the scales and fins are hurt a fish will gradually day by day come to die, or, though it may not die, yet its natural energy is relaxed and its life is uncomfortable. Beware! beware! XIII A day or two after the water has been changed droppings and dirt will collect on the bottom, and one must use a knot of Hsiang bamboo 2) to make a syphon and from time to time draw out the dirt and remove it, so that there may be no cloudiness. If it is not drawn out till too late the colour will not then be bright and beautiful 3); so the rule of drawing out the dirt is one of cardinal importance. Some say that it is also good to throw in two or three water-snails to consume the dirt and droppings.
i)

Nan hkta chen chinlg c. 3 fol. I3r'. as mottled bamboo, of which the best sort grows, as is said, in

2) This is explained

Hsiang (in Hu-nan). Or the name may be equivalent to '

a mottled bamboo traditionally cl. Tz'ii lzai s.v. 3) This probably
,

74" j

Hsiang fei chu,

named after Hsiang fei, one of the daughters of Shun.

and the description of such a syphon on p. 5I above.

means the colour of the water, described in paragraph III above.

According to paragraph IV, the colour of the fish will not be affected by dirty water.

6o

A.

C.

MOULE

XIV These fish are naturally fond of the red water-insects, and so everv day one may catch a few to feed them. But he must not allow too many. If they have too many the bellies swell and they die. And not too few either; if they have too few the fish will not be in good condition and beautiful. If one wants them not to be afraid of him, every time he feeds them with those red insects he must first splash the water several times with his hand to attract them by the sound. They are sure to come rushing along to feed; and when they are thoroughly trained, the moment they hear the sound of splashing the water they will swim backwards and forwards to greet him. This is called cupboard love 1).
XV

The red insects in the water are most abundant in the summer and autumn. At the entrance of the winter and on through the spring they are a rare thing. At this time one must have a raw egg 2) beaten up small with a fine bamboo brush and then scattered round in small drops to feed them, and this is good. But in intense cold it will do no harm not to feed them. XVI In the fourth or fifth moon every year is the time when vermilion fish spawn. If the weather is likely to rain one must choose some clean water-weed and spread it evenly over the surface of the water in readiness. And when the eggs are scattered, then as soon as one finds a piece with eggs on it he must put it by itself
i) Hardly,
2)

perhaps,

fair versioin of #

shih hua "conversion

by feeding".

Other writers and commoin experience shUng "raw".

prefer a hard-boiled egg, but the word here states that it

is t

A paragraph in the "Daily Mirror", 7 July I948,

is possible to beat up a raw egg till it becomiies powder.

THE

BOOK

OF VERMILION

FISH

6i

in a small earthenware

vessel

to expose

them to the sun.

If he delays to take them out, all the eggs will be eaten up by the other fish. XVII When the fish first hatch out they are like needles or like thread and there is no need yet to feed them with anything. They cannot be fed until their length has reached four or five tenths of an inch and they have turned red, and then it must be with a few red insects. Be extremely jealous of feeding them too soon. If it is too soon it will hurt their stomachs and intestines, and this is the way to procure their death. XVIII All fish when they come to the summer enjoy rain but dread the sun; and vermilion fish all the more, because the volume of water in the jar is shallow and thin. Every summer day one must be ready to let the rains of the Apricot Season water them, or when the sun is high to set up a framework with blue coloured cotton curtains to shade them; and this is good. Otherwise, as soon as it is exposed to fierce sunshine, the water in the jar is hot as boiling soup and the fish which do not die are few.

XIX
These fish are not very much afraid of cold, and it does not matter if they are not stored away. But if they meet with extreme cold, then they are all completely frozen and most of them receive deadly damage. Every year in the mid-winter moon one must put them into a middle-sized earthenware vessel and dig a pit to place it in, take an inverted bowl to cover it, and heap up earth outside. If one waits till mid Spring of the opening year before taking them out of the pit, they will be perfectly safe.

62

A. C. MOULE

xx

Of the bowls which are commonly used for rearing vermilion fish the white ones fired at Tz'fi chou are the best. Those fired at I-hsing in Hang-chou may also be -used, but they are porous and are not good. I once saw a fancier who was using an ancient bronze bowl in which he kept several fish. The size was such as might hold two tan (nearly forty gallons), and the make was extremely ancient and simple, and it was covered all over with a grey green patina. I do not know for what the ancients used it, but now that it is taken to keep vermilion fish in it may seem to have found its right place.

T'OUNG PAO, Vol. XXXIX

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THE

BOOK

OF VERMILION

FISH

63

J. Baster, Beschryving

van den Kin-yu,

1763,

Fig. Vl [1.

Looking back over the vague descriptionsin the passages quoted we may infer from their general statements or their silence, and from the few more definite remarks, that there were no abnormal shapes or features before about the year
i2oo,

if then, and no

colours but red, white, or mottled red and white; - black and white first mentioned in the early thirteenth century. Then at the very end of the fifteenth century double tails or, as they are naturally called, three or four tails appear. The tails seem to have developed rapidly till at the end of the sixteenth century more than one author speaks of five, seven, or (once) nine tails. Of this curious feature no exact description is given, and it seems soon to have been lost again, so that in the eighteenth century three or four tails was the rule, and remains so to-day. Besides the general names chin yii or chin chi or chin li, the sixteenth and seventeenth century writers give long lists of fancy names. These are all descriptive of the nature or arrangement of the colours-and almost exclusively of various reds and white-of the body or tail or, sometimes, of the eyes. There is mention of the colour of the eyes, but no hint of protruding or dragon eyes, nor with all the talk of many tails is there any hint that they were abnormallylong; nor, though fins are mentioned, is there any hint of the finless back. The word dragon does not enter into any of these many fancy names. And again,

64

A. C. MOULE

though short stout bodies are described before the end of the sixteenth century, the word egg is not used to describe them. A change seems to have come with the eighteenth century. A fish without dorsal fin is shown in the T'u shu chi ch'etng,c.
I724,

and

in Europe Baster was breeding fish without dorsal fin and with protruding eyes (but as a rule with normal slender bodies) in
I76I.

As far as I know the words dragon and egg make their first appearance in the Jesuit Mdemoire and drawings of
I772,

and the

drawings show the telescope eyes fully developed; but the tails remain but little longer than normal and show three pointed lobes, and of the stout fish called oeuf de canne all have dorsal fins. If the fish were not named dragons until the eighteenth century, their intimate association with the dragon in popular belief appears, as has been said above, at intervals from the eighth to the seventeenth century. It will have been seen that no attempt has been made to trace the history of the fish later than the seventeenth century in Chinese books.

APPENDIX By the kindness of Mr George Hervey and of the Chief Librarian of the Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris it is possible to reproduce in black and white parts of the aforesaid long scroll which contains numbered paintings of ninety-two gold fish and to print for, I believe, the first time the Me'moire or Notice with which it should have come to Paris in
I773.

The following details of the

Notice and scroll and of their strange history I owe to the untiring kindness of Madame Duprat, the Chief Librarian mentioned above, who spent a long time searching in the Library of the French Academy through the
I2

volumes which contain the correspon-

dence of Bertin with the French missionaries in China.

THE

BOOK

OF VERMILION

FISH

65

The scroll is of paper mounted on silk, and measures 6.25 m. in length (of which about 30 cm. at the end are blank) by 405 mm. in width. The fish are all numbered, but have no names in Chinese or French, so that the names engraved by Martinet must be derived from some document or other source now lost. The Notice and scroll were at Canton, ready to be sent off, in January I773, when the scroll mysteriously disappeared. The arrival of the Notice without the scroll is acknowledgedby Bertin on I8 January I774; and he says that he will not publish it until the scroll is come. A fresh set of paintings on 37 separate sheets was made in Peking ("au naturel et tels qu'ils sont dans les viviers de l'Empereur"), and despatched in
I775.

The receipt of 35 (of the 37) sheets is

27

acknowledged by Bertin on

November I776; and in the mean

time the original scroll seems to have been found by P. Lefebvre at Canton, for Bertin says in the same letter that he had already received it. At the same time he asks P. Bourgeois to whom he shall send the duplicate set of paintings; but the reply has not been found, and the whereabouts of the 35 sheets is not known. This second set of paintings confirms the conjecture which Mr Hervey had made that Martinet must have had some second source, since several of his fish cannot be identified on the scroll. But the origin of the French and Chinese names of the fish remains unknown. The references given by Madame Duprat to the MSS. in the Library of the French Academy are as follows: No. i5i8 fol. I9-20; No. I522, i8 Jan. I774 p. 55; No. I524 fol. I4I; No. I522, 27 Nov.
I776 pp. iI6, II7.

The extant copy of the Notice is not the original, but one madeperhaps for Sauvigny-by someone who seems to have found the original rather hard to read and was quite unfamiliar with the spelling of Chinese words. The spelling of the Chinese names is
T'oung Pao, XXXIX 5

66

A. C. MOULE

very often wrong, and in two places French words have been supplied in another hand. In the present transcript the correct French spelling of the Chinese words is added in square brackets. There is no indication of authorship, and, if Sauvigny is right in saying that it was the work of a highly educated Chinese, it is remarkable that it should contain two mistranslations of Chinese words, both due to confusion of words of similar sound. Sauvigny's words might seem to indicate a man named "Ko" (i.e. gj , Kao Lei-ssui,Louis), who had been educated in France; but it is clear from a letter of I6 November 1773 and others that this Kao had been far distant from Peking in Hu-kuang since October I770 when the Notice was written in October I772 (cl. T'oung-paoI9I7, pp. 295, 332, 333, 34I), and MadameDuprat feels sure that neither Kao nor another Chinese named Yang (*
% t

Yang Te-

wang, Etienne) wrote the Notice. It is possible that P. Bourgeois himself was the author, or, more probably, P. Cibot. The Notice throws some light on the history of the developement of the fancy breeds. Thus, while it remarks that some egg-fish (ya-tan-yu) have no dorsal fin, all the fish which are specified as egg-fish on the scroll have the dorsal fin, combined with the stout body and small eyes; but those fish which are drawn without the dorsal fin have protruding eyes, and are expressly described as dragon-eyed (long-tsing-yu). This seems to show that the name egg-fish refers primarily to the egg-like outline of the body unbroken by protruding eyes; and that it is since that date that the absence of the dorsal fin has come to be an invariable feature of egg-fish, while the dragon-eyed fish without dorsal fin has been developed into the modern sky-gazer or celestial. The modern definition of an egg-fish is given by Shisan C. Chen who writes: "When a fish with round, plump abdomen has also a narrow

THE

BOOK

OF VERMILION

FISH

67
).
"1)

pointed head and no dorsal fin, it is called an egg-fish ( X apparently with reference to the Notice of manquent de dorsale." 2)

It is strange that Valenciennes should write of the ya-tan-yu,

I772

and the Chinese

paintings, "I1paralt, d'apres le dessin, que la plupart des individus The author of the Notice gives the actual date and provenance of two kinds, the dormeurs 3) and caprioleurs, which had been introduced about fifteen years before (i.e., c. I757) at Yang-chou on the Grand Canal, a city which has rivalled Su-chou and Hangchou as a home of luxury. And he provides, when he specifies the colours of eyes, one link with the fancy names of the sixteenth
i) "Variations in external Characters of Goldfish, carassius auratus" by Shisan C.

Chen ( a*

4i

Ch'en Cheng) p. 9 (in Contributionsfrom the biologicalLaboratoryof the

It is not my intention to deal with

Science Society of China vol I, No. r., Nanking, I925).

the modern scientific works on gold fish and their culture, but a few notes taken from this interesting and well illustrated paper may be given here: p. 3. Chin yii "means pop-

ularly the domesticated

form of one species of fish whose wild form is a kind of food fish and without

generally known in the markets as chi-yii." p. I7. "backs round, smooth, any indication of the dorsal fin. Such fishes are called 'dragon-back' by breeders and fanciers in China and are highly prized." p.
23

tlung pei) "The most reliable in-

dication of sex in goldfish is the presence of inany white tubercles along the first ray of the pectoral fins of male fish." p. 38. "According to my study there are only three differeilt forms of head. These are 'plain head', 'lion head', and 'goose head." He has explained elsewhere that only 'goose head' ( 0
ffi

e t'ou) has a constant meaning, the others varying

in different places. On pp. 42, 47 he makes special mention of 'bubble eyes'

shui p'ao yen) and of 'narial bouquet' ( 6a

(*

'i

HR

jung ch'iu). p. 48. The colours of gold dappled."

i828-i849,

fish are: "gray (wild), black, brown, bronze, blue, orange, white, spotted,
2)

G. L. C. F. Cuvier & A. Valencienlnes Histoire p. 84. Valenicienrnes was attached

Naturelle

des Poissons,

tome i6, I842,

to the Museum d'Histoire

Naturelle

where the extant copy of the Notice and the long scroll were preserved then as now; and when he says that the paintings of fish wrere "toutes disposees sur un lonlg rouleau" anid uses the faulty spellings kin-teon and nin-eubk-yu, it seems to be fairly certain that he refers to these documents. The duplicate paintings of s775 were on 35 leaves, not onl a Buit it seems more likely that the staterouleau. It is perhaps possible that he iincluded in le dessin some "beaux et elegans dessins chinois, qui m'ont ete donnes par M. Dussumier". ment is due to some small slip. 3) Mr G. F. Hervev considers that the dormeurs, which habitually lay oIn their backs, were fish suffering froiim deranged air-bladder, and not a distinct breed or variety.

68

A. C. MOULE

or seventeenthcentury which are otherwiseso much unlike the modernnames. The ogen-y, or fish with characters on their backs, seem to be quite different fromthe fish with the characterI wangon their heads of which ChangCh'ien-tespeaks (p. 55 above). With him there is no suggestion of faking;but these eighteenth-century fish, on which even a westerneye has no difficultyin reading X X e T'ien hsia t'ai p'ing or "Peace on Earth", are confessed and obvious fakes. Neitherthe Noticenorthe scrollgives the fancynames,including fourin Chinese characters, whichare attachedto the fish in Martinet's engravings, and it seems to be possiblethat there was once a list of namescorresponding to the numbered drawings, although no mentionof such a list has been found.The authoroften refers to "the booksX', but there is no sign that his readingwent beyond the extracts in the Ch'in ting kg chin t' shqx chi ch'eng,which he twice names. And it is strangethat, while he mentions goldfishmerchants and breeders, he says nothingof the famous"GoldFish Pool" which existed in Peking in the thirteenth century and, I believe, still flourishes today. The Notice follovvs:

Kiv-yv
ou Poisson l)ore, Dorade de Chine.

Ms. 5066

Nec Salomonin omni gloria sua vestiebatur Sicut unum ex ipsis(sic). Luc. I2. Le Niuen [Kiuen] ou rouleaupour qui est cette notice ne racontera pas en entier avec combiende richesseet de magnificence lecreateurs'est complu a embellirles Kin y?sou Poissonsque nousavons nomme Poissons dores, dorades de chine; mais il

T'oung Pao XXXIX,

Livr. I-3

CORRIGENDA A. C. MOULE,A Version of The Book of Vermilion Fish p. p. p. p. P. p. p. 68 line 2 from foot read a embellir 69 line 20 . . . . read dixieme siecle 70 line i6 .... read maniere 72 line 24 ... . read 'a la maniere 76 line 22 .... read Riviere 78 line 4 from foot read la fin 82 line 2 .... read Rivieres ...

..

maniere

maniere

THE

BOOK

OF VERMILION

FISH

69

pourra les mieux faire connoltre et entendre l'idee avantageuse qu'on en a dej'a. I1 euit fallu tripler ou quatrupler meme l'etendue de cette peinture pour y retunir toutes les varietes qu'offre cette espece curieuse de petits Poissons; encore ne les eut-on pas epuisees par ce que chaque annee en donne de nouvelles. Si cette annonce desespere les pensees orgueilleuses du Philosophiste, et les curiosit's insatiables du naturaliste impatient, elle consolera la piete du fidele qui fait ses delices d'admirer combien l'Eternel est grand
[2]

dans toutes les oeuvres de ses mains, et se plait a deployer dans un si petit Poisson comme

divinement sa toute-puissance

dans les voiutes immenses des Cieux. Salomon, certainement, ne fut jamais vetu avec autant de magnificence dans les plus beaux jours de sa gloire que le Kin ytu si longtemps inconnu et ignore. Nous avons eu la curiosite de chercher quand on a commence a le connoitre en Chine. On ne peut rien assurer 'a cet egard, si non qu'il n'en est pas fait mention dans aucun Livre, avant la grande Dynastie de Song qui commenSa en
95I;

encore ne sait-on

pas surement l'annee. Tout ce qu'on peut dire de plus suir; c'est que le Kin yu a ete celebre par un Poete, vers le commencement du dixieme siecle. On raconte fort diversement la maniere dont il a ete trouve, admire, puis porte dans les Jardins, dans les Parterres et jusques dans l'interieur des appartemens. Les deux

petits districts de gin-ho-hien et de kien-tang-hien se disputent la gloire de l'avoir decouvert, apparemment pour faire honneur aux Empereurs qui en font grand cas, et ont fait entrer le soin de le nourrir de leurs propres mains, dans leurs amusemens de tous les jours. Mais ce sont les appartemens des femmes oiu ils sont tant fetes et loues, [3] choyes et aime's, qui ont fait leur fortune et les ont repandus dans tout l'Empire. Malgre quelque soin qu'on en prenne la province du Tchee Kiang [margin: par
270I2'

a 300Io' Lat.N. & ii5

Long. Or.] qui est leur terre natale,

70

A. C. MOULE

est toujours l'endroit ou ils reussissent le mieux; aussi les faitelle entrer dans les presens qu'elle offre 'a 'Empereur, et dans les echanges qu'elle fait avec les autres Provinces, ou ils degenerent
peu a peu.

On ne connoit gueres en Europe qu'une seule espece de Kin yu, au moins que nous sachions. Les Chinois en comptent plusieurs especes, savoir
I0.

Le Kin yu ou Poisson dore proprement dit,

20.

qu'on a porte en france et que nous avons vuf 'a l'Orient dans le Jardin de la Compagnie des Indes: Le Ya-tom [tan]-yu, ou L'oeu4 de Canne: 30. Le Long-Tsing-ytt ou les veux de dragon:
40. Le Choni [Chouti]-yu, ou le dormeur: 50. Le Ken-Teon [Kin-

leou]-yu, ou le caprioleur:60. Le ATiu-Eubk [Eulh]-yu, ou la nimphe:

70.

Le Ouen-yu, ou le Lettre. Un habile naturaliste auroit am-

plement de quoi composer un volume, s'il vouloit decrire la forme, 1'organisation, la faSon de vivre, les inclinations, les differentes m'tamorphoses, la maniere de se propager et de croitre de ces petits Poissons; mais ces details, plus curieux qu'utiles, demandent des observation, des connoissances et des loisirs qu'un Missionnaire ne r4] sauroit avoir. Nous nous bornerons a toucher un mot de chaque espece de Kin-yu, et 'a indiquer les Numeros du Rouleau par les quels on pourra les reconnoitre et les distinguer. Si on souhaitoit quelque chose de plus, nous nous ferons un plaisir de repondre aux questions qui seront 'a notre portee. Le Kin-yu, ou dorade de Chine est conniu.Tout ce que nous en dirons, c'est qu'il est faux qu'il nmeure quand on le touche, comme il est dit dans plusieurs Livres. Nous en voyons ici dans notre maison, depuis bien des annees, qu'on a toujours pris 'a la main, pour les changer de Vase. Un domestique, 'a qui un des notres le vit faire par hazard, se mit 'arire, quand il lui dit qu'il les tueroit, et repondit froidement: je l'ai toujours fait. I1 est faux, par la meme raison, qu'ils expirent, des qu'ils ont la tete hors de l'eau. Nous-

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memes, nous en avons vu en sortir eux-memes, pour mordre le doigt de celui qui leur donnoit 'amanger et qui s'amusoit A les faire sauter, et a tromper leur avidite: quant a leur grandeur, comme tous ceux du Rouleau sont peints d'apres nature, on verra qu'il y en a de beaucoup plus grands que des Sardines. I1 y en a dans les Bassins et dans les Cannaux des Jardins de l'Empereur [5] qui ont un pied, un pied et demi, ou meme plus. Depuis le ier jusqu'au I4e numero inclusivement, tout est Kin yu. I1 est aise de conclure de leurs differentes couleurs et grandeurs, combien cette premiere espece offre de varietes. Les Ya-tan-yu, ou oeufs de Canneont ete ainsi appelles a cause de leur figure et taille courte, rondelette et renflee vers le milieu. Voyez les Numeros I5.I6.I9.2I.22.23 &c. II y en a parmi les yatan qui n'ont pas de nageoirs (sic) sur le dos. La nature leur en a rendu deux fort pres de la queue qui se colent l'une contre l'autre, 'aleur volonte, dans une direction perpendiculaire,et font ensemble le mouvement et l'effet d'un gouvernail de Vaisseau. Ce secours etoit necessaire 'a ce petit Poisson, pour dirigerses mouvemens, a cause du haut de son corps qui est assez lourd. Il lui etoit necessaire aussi pour monter et descendre dans l'Eau, comme il fait, la tete en bas. Le ya-tan, outre la singularite de sa figure, est encore bien remarquable par l'eclat, la variete et les nuances des couleurs dont il est peint. C'est le Poisson dore qui est le mieux dore. Nous en avons vu qui paroissoient etre d'or, et d'un or poli et resplendissant. Quand le soleil donnoit sur le Bassin [6] ou ils etoient, tous leurs mouvemens avoient un eclat et une grace singuliere. La dorure du ya-tan se soutient assez longtems hors de l'Eau. On nous en a porte un mort que nous avons ouvert avec un Canif. Son organisation interieure nous a paru absolument la meme que celle du Kin-yu ordinaire. Sa grosseur ne vient precisement que de l'epaississement de sa chair sur le dos et les cotes, ou peut-etre

72

A. C. MOULE

aussi de la plus grande quantite de graisse qui environne le long boyeau qui forme ses intestins. Les Long-Tsing-yit, ou oeil de dragons, ont reellement les yeux fort gros et en relief: ils debordent de la tete de plusieurs lignes, plus ou moins, selon la grosseur de la Dorade. L'enveloppe exterieure de cet oeil singulier, n'est qu'une extention de la belle et delicate menmbrane rouge et doree qui couvre le reste de la tete. L'organisation des muscles, nerfs, humeurs &c. nous a parfu la meme que celle des autres yeux, quand nous l'avons ouvert. Tout ce que nous avons remarque de particulier, c'est que la Prunelle paroit pres-que platte, et que l'humeur vitree est noire. Quant a une petite Boule ou perle qui s'est trouvee entre l'humeur cristalline et l'humeurvitree, et qui paroit etre le bout du Nerf optique, nous n'en dirons rien, [7] sinon qn'elle s'est d eachee assez difficilement: qu'elle est blanche comme du Lait, et d'une consistance assez ferme. Le Long-tsing-yut que nous avons ouvert, etoit un male et avoit de fort grosses laitances pour sa taille: nous avons distingue deux lobes dans le foye, un grandelet et allonge, d'une couleur de sang caille, et l'autre plus petit de beaucoup et vermeil; mais il n'y avoit qu'une vessie ronde et placee au bas du ventre, aupres de l'anus. C'est probablement la situation de cette Vessie, qui fait que ce Poisson, ainsi que le precedent, se tient dans l'Eau, la tete en bas, et remonte dessus en reculant. Ce n'est pas aussi que, comme le precedent, il ne nage, monte et descendea la maniere des autres Poissons; mais son allure est de se mouvoir et de se tenir la tete en bas. Cette posture, qui paroit si genante, vu l'oeconomie et l'ordre de l'organisation animale, lui est tres favorable, parceque, vivant de petits Vermisseaux qui sont dans la vase, elle lui rend moins penible la chasse continuelle qu'il leur fait. Tout se concilie, tout se raproche,tout vient aboutir au parlait, dit Thein-Tsee, dans les oeutvres de celui qui a tout fait. Si les dents

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T'OUNG PAO Vol. XXXIX

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T'OUNG PAO, Vol. XXXIX

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T'OUNG PAO, Vol. XXXIX

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(Scale:

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dans le gosier, sont un des caracteres specifiques du Kin-yu, le Long-Tsing est un veritable Kin-yut, et ne differe du Ya-Tan, que par la grosseur de [8] ses yeux. Voyez Nos 24.27.30.32.33.34. 38. &c. Nous ne serions pas etonnes qu'on se prevint en Europe, contre la grosseur singuliere des yeux de ce petit Poisson. Tout ce que nous pouvons dire, c'est qu'elle est plutot diminuee qu'exageree dans la peinture; mais est-ce de la nature, est-ce de l'art que ce petit Poisson a reSu des yeux si peu proportionnes avec sa taille? Nous ne pouvons repondre rien de positif et de garanti par un fait constate, 'a cette question. On nous a dit et assure que le Long-Tsing vient des oeufs du Ya-Tan, fecondes par le male de la Grenouille aquatique. Nous le trouvons repete a l'article des Kin-yu dans le I45e. Livre de la collection imperiale Kin Ting Kon [Kou] Kin Ton [Tou] Chon [Chou], et assure comme un fait. Du reste ce n'est pas la seule espece de Poissons mulets dont ii soit parle dans les Livres Chinois. Apres tout, pourquoi n'en seroit-il pas des Poissons, a cet egard, comme des oiseaux et des animaux? Si cel'a etoit vrai, neantmoins, on auroit peutetre, par Ia, un moyen d'expliquer bien des phenomenes qu' on n'a pas assez approfondis. Les yeux nionstrueux des Long-Tsing leur a valu d'etre tres recherches. Comme ils sont tres difficiles a elever et 'a nourrir, ils sont tres rares au prix des autres Kin-yu. Les beaux se [9] vendent jusqu'a
IO, I5

et meme

20.

Taels ou

onces d'argent la piece. lls ne faut pas qu'ils soient bien gros pour coufter une pistole. Quant 'a leur dorure, la vivacite des couleurs, la variete des teintes et des nuances, ils ne le cedent en rien aux Ya-Tan; mais leur allure est beaucoup plus pesante, plus serieuse et plus engourdie que la leur, et contraste plaisamment avec celle des Dorades communes. On appelle Choui-yt ou dormeur, une espece de Dorade qui se tient pres-que touj ours au fond de l'Eau, le ventre en haiut et

74

A. C. MOULE

comme couch' sur le dos. Voyez Nos 68. 72. 73. 86: il nage quelques fois au fond 'ala maniere des autres Poissons pour y chercher sa nourriture; il monte aussi quelques-fois en haut, mais c'est un etat penible pour lui et il va bien vlte se coucher sur le dos le ventre en l'air: il nage meme dans cette posture. Le Kin-Teon [Teou]-yu, ou Caprioleur est pour l'ordinaire arque dans sa longueur, par le raprochement de sa tete et de sa queue du cote de son dos. Voyez les NCs 80.55.66.70.52. Quand ce Poisson singulier veut nAger il replie sa tete vers sa queue, puis sa queue vers sa tee, et fait sans cesse le saut perilleux de haut en bas et de bas en haut, quelque fois aussi [IO] obliquement. Le Choui-yu et le Kin-teon [teou]-yu sont deux nouvelles especes de Poissons dores dont on ne trouve rien dans les Livres. Ils viennent de Yang Tcheon[Tcheou] dans le Niang [Kiang]-nan. Un des grands Mandarins de cette Province en fit presenter 'a l'Empereur regnant, il y a une quinzaine d'annees: ils plurent, et ils ont eu la foule des admirateurset des amateurs des Poissons dores. Ils sont l'un et l'autre tres difficiles 'a elever et 'a nourrir. Comme nous n'avons pas pAu constater par nous-memes ce qu'on en dit, nous n'avons garde d'envoyer des oui-dires qui pourroient n'etre que des fables. Le Nin-Eubk [Niu-Eulh]-yu, ou Nimphe, qu'on range parmi les Poissons dores, et 'a qui on fait ici le meme accueil, pourroit bien etre une espece de Truite, dumoins 'a en juger par la legerete de sa taille et par la beaute de ses couleurs qui lui ont fait donner le nom de Nimphe. Voyez Nos 37.65.66.67.69.78.79.85. Si le Nin Eubk [Niu Eulh] n'est pas si brillant d'or et d'argent que les autres Kin-yu, il n'en a pas besoin, pour etre un des plus beaux Poissons qu'on connoisse; les nuances, les teintes des Couleurs dont il est peint, peuvent disputer de delicatesse et de beaute avec les plus charmantes fleurs [ii] des Parterres; on diroit qu'il est

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fait pour le plaisir des yeux. Sa vivacite, son agilite et ses petits jeux dans l'Eau, sont charmants. On nous assure qu'il y en a qui ont plus d'un pied. Le Ouen-yu ou Lettre peut donner une idee 'a l'Europe de lindustrie chinoise, et faire soupSonner'aceux qui ne sont pas ancres dans leurs prejuges jusqu'oiuelle iroit si le Gouvernementne prenoit a tache de detourner l'attention publique de dessus tout ce qui n'est pas le bien public, et de l'avilir aux yeux de la multitude par ses mepris affectes et decourageants. Les Ouen-yn sont ainsi nommes parcequ'on a trouve le moyen d'ecrire sur des Nin [Kin]yu ordinaires un caractere ou Lettre chinoise. Voyez Nos 47,48.
50.60.6i.63.

Un oeil European aura de la peine a reconnoitre la

forme d'un caractere Chinois, dans les couleurs si irregulierement tranchees de ces petits Poissons; mais il est certain qu'un Chinois les voit, les reconnoit et les distingue. Quant a la maniere de le faire, qui meriteroit d'etre constatee, developpee, expliquee par differentes experiences, et peut-etre essayee sur des choses analogues, mais plus utiles, les marchands de Poissons dores en font un mistere comme de juste. En les payant fort chers pour avoir leur secret, on risqueroit encore de n'achetter qu'un [i2] mensonge. Nous n'avons pas voulu en courrirle danger, parcequenous n'avons pas le loisir de le verifier avant de l'envoyer; mais on nous a assure qu'on ne faisoit autre chose pour cela que delayer de l'Arsenic dans de l'urine de tortue, et peindre avec cette preparation sur un Poisson fort et robuste la Lettre qu'on vouloit lui faire porter. A l'instant, tout ce qui a ete touche par le pinceau change de couleur et ne s'efface plus. Si le Poisson croit, la Lettre ecrite croit avec lui, et c'est l'ordinaire, parceque cette experience 'tant fatale au plus grand nombre, on aime mieux la risquer sur des jeunes dont la perte est moins grande. Nous nous en reposons sur les Curieux, du soin de verifier si on nous en a impose.

76

A. C. M\lO ULE

Les sept especes de Kin-yu dont nous venons de parler sont toutes 'a Pe-King dans les Palais de l'Empereur et chez plusieurs Princes. Le dernier premier Ministre en faisoit elever une grande quantite. Ce n'est que le fretin 1) et le rebut encore du Palais qu'on vent au marche. les belles especes Long-Tsing-Choui-yu,

Nen [Kin] Teon et Onen you [yu] a moins que quelque confiscation subite ne les fasse sortir des grands Palais. Le faSon de propager, d'e'lever et de nourrir les Poissons dores est tres bien decrite dans les P.P.
[I3]

le Comte, Duhalde et pres-

que toins ceux qui en ont parle en ces derniers tems; il seroit inutile de la decrire en termes diffetrents; nous nous bornerons 'a observer quelques bagatelles qu'on sera peut-etre bien alse de savoir.
IO.

Les Poissons dores de toutes les especes aiment une Eau claire

et limpide. I1 faut, autant qu'on peut, ne les mettre que dans celle de fontaine ou de riviere; encore doit-on avoir l'attention d'y faire nager de la mousse, des Lentilles d'Eau et des autres herbes aquatiques, qu'il est bon de renouveller de tems en tems, dans les vases et dans les petits Bassins, parceque celles qui y croissent ou qui vieillissent sont moins apetissantes et moins saines pour ces petits Prisonniers, comme on le sait d'abord. Quelqu'exact qu'on soit a renouveller leur Eau et 'a la changer, elle se salit toujours. Les Chinois pretendent que les Pierres de Riviere, les plus poreuses sur tout, les plus pleines de crevasses et les Cailloux, contribuent beaucoup 'a lui faire deposer ses ordures et 'a empecher qu'elle ne s'embourbe. Ils mettent aussi des LimaSons d'Eau qui contribuent beaucoup 'a la tenir propre.
20.

I1 est de fait que les Poissons dore's se nourrissent tr es bien

avec du Pain 'a chanter et des herbes aquatiques souvent renouvellees, pour peu meme qu'ils soient gros, avec [14] des Vers de
i)

le Iretin is inserted in a different hanid, a blanik having beeni left by the copyist.

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terre. Nous avons v u^plusieurs fois des Kin-yu. de trois 'a quatre pouces manger des vers beaucoup plus longs qu'eux et fort gros. I1 leur faut du tems parcequ'ils machent en avalant; mais ils en viennent a bout. C'est un amusement de voir les camarades de celui qui a attrape le ver, courir apres l'extremite qui va flottant dans l'Eau, et lui, tromper leur avidite par des mouvements fort vifs en tout sens. Ceux cependant qui nourrissent des Dorades par Employ, ou par metier, disent qu'il ne faut leur donner 'a manger que les petits vers rouges qu'on trouve dans la vase des Mers et Eaux croupissantes; encore faut-il les avoir bien laves. I1 y a plusieurs petits Eunuques au Palais qui sont charges d'en aller chercher tous les jours, une certaine quantite. Vers sont certainement plus convenables aux petits Ces petits Poissons

dores, et nous soupconnons qu'ils contribuent beaucoup a rendre les couleurs des autres plus vives et leur dorure plus brillante.
30,

Les Poissons dor's sont de petits Prothees; ils changent

plusieurs fois de couleur. Ce n'est qu'apres trois ou quatre annees qu'elle est fixe et decidee, encore arrive-t-il qu'ils la perdent en partie ou meme en entier. Leur dorure s'efface aussi, [i5] reparoit, puis s'affoiblit et se fortifie. Un Bassin bien fourni de Poissons dores, est un Theatre dont les Acteurs paroissent sans cesse sous une nouvelle decoration. Nous trouvons dans les Livres Chinois qu'on peut varier et multiplier presqu`a l'infini les couleurs, les nuances, teintes de ces petits Poissons, si on a l'attention de melanger les especes, lors de leur propagation. C'est en cela, surtout que consiste l'habilite de ceux qui les elevent; aussi, sont-ils -parvenus a en avoir sans cesse qu'on n'avoit pas encore v^us.Nos oreilles d'ours, nos anemones, nos oeillets &c. offrent peut-etre des nouveautes moins singulieres et moins piquantes que ces en les avertissant petits Poissons. Nous abandonnons ce fait aux recherches et aux -reflexions des curieux et des naturalistes,

78

A. C. MOULE

cependant que 1'industrieChinoise pourroit bien aider la nature et faire une partie de 1'ouvragequ'on lui attribue. 40. Le Poisson dore est certainement un des Poissons dont la delicatesse semble annoncer une tres courte vie. II est de fait qu'il faut tres peu de chose pour lui donner la mort; mais pour ces petits Poissons comme pour les hommes, la raison, n'a ni compas, [I6] ni calcul, ni regles sures pour mesurer la longueur de leur vie. Elle ne peut pas dire le pourquoi de la brievete de celle des uns, ni le comment de la longueur de celle des autres. Celui qui a comptenos cheveux a compte aussi ces jolis Poissons. I1 n'y a gueres que ceux qui font metier de les faire eclore, de soigner leur premiere enfance et de cultiver leurs premieres annees, qui y reussissent. Les autres, au moins 'a Pe-King, reussissent 'a peine 'a en conduire quelques-uns jusqu''a la troisieme annee; il leur en meurt des. milliers, pour quatre ou cinq qu'ils sauvent. Quand les Nin [Kin]yu ont passe trois ou quatre hivers, des soins mediocres et des attentions tres bornees suffisent pour les conserver un grand nombre d'annees; nous trouvons dans les Livres, qu'ils vont jusqu'a quarante annees et meme davantage. On dit qu'il y en a au Palais, qui ont pres de cinquante ans. Nous en avons vu^qui avoient plus de douze ans, et dont on n'avoit pas efu grand soin: ils sont encore vivants, et vivront probablement bien des annees. Ce qu'il y a d'etonnant en cela, c'est que l'hiver est ici tres long et tres froid, et que ces petits animaux ne mangent rien, et sont comme engourdis pendant qu'il dure, c'est 'a dire pendant pres de six mois. Les Canaux, Bassins et Napes d'Eau du Jardin imperial de yuen ming yuen sont pleins de Poissons dores. D'es
[I7]

que le fin de l'autone arrive ils se rendent tous dans le grand Bassin qui est au milieu, et vont s'enfermer dans une espece de Puits de quatorze 'a quinze pieds de profondeur qu'on y a creuse expres, et sur le quel on a soin de rompre la glace tous les jours.

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Qui y conduit toutes les annees ces petits Poissons ? Qui les en fait sortir? la m6me main qui conduit les Grues, les Oyes sauvages du fond de la Tartarie dans les Provinces meridionales de Chine a la fin de 1'Automne, et les ramenne en Tartarie au Printems. dans les dorades, c'est qu'elles Ce qui rend cela plus e&tonnant viennent originairement du Tche Kiang ou elles n'ont pas ete dans le cas de craindre les froids tres violents de Pe-King. Du reste ce que nous racontons de leur rendez-vous general dans le grand Bassin, qu'on appelle la grande Mer, est un fait publie et notoire. Le celebre Le Tchin Tsetede la Dynastie des Song atteste qu'il en 'toit jadis de meme a Ksu [Kai]-/ong-/on [lou] qui 'toit alors la Capitale de l'Empire. Nous abandonnons 'a nos Phisiciens et 'a nos naturalistes le Soin [i8] d'expliquer comment un Poisson si petit et si delicat peut vivre si longtems sans prendre aucune nourriture.
50.

Nous l'avons deja dit, il faut le repeter. On nourriroit des

Poissons dores dans de grands vases de porcelaine, de Cristal, de terre vernissee, de marbre blanc, de pierre &c. dans des Bassins qu'on creuse dans les Parterres et dans les Jardins de plaisance, dans des Etangs, des Cannaux &c; mais il faut observer qu'on ne met dans Bassins, Etangs et Cannaux que les Kin-yu proprement dits, et encore quand ils sont dej'a grandelets. Les petits Kin-yu, les ya-Ton [tan], Tong [Long] Tsing, &c. ne reussissent que dans des Vases; mais plus ces Vases sont grands, meilleurs ils sont, et on les laisse au nord, dans les Cours et dans Les Parterres.Ceux qui font metier d'elever des Poissons dores les rangent par annees et par especes dans differents Vases. Les autres mettent ensemble plusieurs especes et plusieurs Generations pour augmenter lespectacle des jeux de ces jolis Poissons. Comme les petits Kin-yu coiutent fort peu, les plus pauvres en achettent, et pour jouir 'a leur gre de la vue de leurs vive volter et mouvements continuels,

80

A. C. MOULE

ils les suspendent en l'air, comme nous suspendons une Cage

[I9]

dans des Vases de Tieou [Lieou]-li qui est une espece de de (sic) verre fort ancien en Chine. Nous en sommes bien surs. Un Philosophe qui aura lu ce que nous avons dit du prix fou au quel la niode a porte les dorades Tong tsin [Long Ising], Ken tern [Kin teou] &c, ne manquera pas de demander comment ce fait public et avere peut se concilier avec les principes du Gouvernement Chinois, surtout ce qui a trait au luxe. Le voici: empecher absolument le luxe, est impossible dans un Empire comme celui de Chine; aussi la politique du Gouvernement n'y risc pas; mais il l'empeche de percer dans le Public, et surtout de franchir les limites qu'il a tracees pour separer les rangs et les conditions. Dans ce qui est cache aux yeux de la multitude il se borne 'a ne tolerer que ce qui n'augmente pas les consommations des choses necessaires, occupe l'industrie et tourne au profit du Peuple. Nous expliquerons ailleurs les grands sens que renferment ce peu de mots. I1 suffira d'observer pour ce moment que sous quelque point de vue qu'on examine le luxe pretendu d'achetter fort cher des Poissons dores, il se concilie tres bien avec les vues du Gouvernement.
[20]

Mais, a propos de Poissons. On a imprime depuis longtems

dans plusieurs Livres que les Chinois ont des Viviers et petits Etangs oiu ils elevent, nourrissent et engraissent 'a peu de frais les petits Poissons qu'ils font eclore avec les oeufs qu'ils vont pecher sur les Rivieres; on a imprime aussi que les
i) The copyist

-1) gagnent tres

has left a blank space here for a word which he could not read; and

it has been filled in by the same hand that wrote le fretin on p. 76 above, but this tinme he has written an illegible scribble. Madame Duprat suggests "Aloses", which is palaeographically possible but difficult to understand. refers to professional If, as seems natural, we may assume fish-farmers, it seems likely that the that the preceding sentence

missing word is "autres". There is the same contrast between ceux qui font mMtier . . . and les auttres on pages 78 and 79 above. I do not think that the existing scribble can be read as autres, but it is possible that the writer himself could not read the original, and what he has written has the number of strokes for autres and seems to begin with A.

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considerablement

au moyen d'un petit vivier de dix 'a douze

pieds en quarre; ce secret transporte4 en Europe vaudroit certainement mieux que tous les Poissons dores de Chine. On le sait, il a ete perfectionne, pourquoi differe-t-on 'a encourager vos pauvres Paysans, 'a le mettre en pratique. Rien ne contribuera tant a faire fleurir 1'agriculture, que les aisances et les profits qu'on procurera aux petits Cultivateurs. La politique de Chine ne s'est jamais meprise sur cet objet capital. Pour revenir 'a nos Poissons dores, la vue de la peinture suppleera 'a tous les autres details oiu nous ne pouvons pas entrer. Nous nous contenterons d'ajofuter en finissant
I0.

que les Kin-yu

changent de couleur presque toutes les annees, et que plus ils vieillissent plus elle devient forte et foncee. les yeux noirs, d'autres jaunes,
[2I] 20.

Qu'il y en a qui ont rouges, ceux-ci

quelques-uns

bleux, et ceux-laEgris.

30. Qu'il y en a qui ont les nageoires du

bout de la queue frangees, aulieu qu'elles sont d'une seule piece dans les autres. Cette singularite, dont on fait ici grand cas doit attirer 1'attention des Naturalistes. 40. Qu'on dit dans les Livres de Me'decine que le Kin-yu cuit avec du Gingembre sale et de 1'oil (?) 1), est un remede specifique contre la dissenterie inveteree. Cette recette suppose, comme on voit, qu'on peut trouver de grosses dorades d'Eau douce, qu'on en mange &c. et la supposition est vraie par raport 'a quelques Provinces du Midi 'a en croire les Chinois. Nous venons de nommer les Poissons dores Dorades d'Eau douce non pas que nous croyons que ce soit la meme espece que celle que nous connoissons en Occident, et qu'on puisse les ranger dans la classe des Dorades de Mer; mais le pays d'oiu sont venus les Kin-yu et l'industrie des Chinois nous feroient assez soupconner que ce petit Poisson vient peut-etre originairement
i) This word is smudged an-d illegible. The reference is to the passage in the Pen ts'ao kang mu tr.anslated an p. 2o above. T'ouing Pao, XXXIX 6

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A. C. MOULE,

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OF VERMILION

FISH

de la mer et a ete arrete dans l'eau douce lorsqu'il remontoit les Rivieres en hate 'ala maniere des Saumons, des Aloses, des Esturgeons. L'industrie chinoise peut aller jusques-la. ce qui nous a empeche de rejetter ce soup9on, c'est que ces Poissons si delicats sont desoles par de petits Poux, et qu'on les en delivre, en les frottant avec
[22]

de l'Eau salee; c'est aussi, qu'on les accoutume

tres aisement a l'Eau des Puits de Pe-King qui a beaucoup de sel, pourvuiqu'ils soient un peu grands, et que le changement ne se fasse pas tout-a?-coup.La question des Poissons de Mer qui peuvent vivre dans l'Eau douce meriteroit d'etre etudiee 'a cause des utilites qui en reviendroient. I1 est de fait que la Sole, qui est certainement le Poisson de Mer le plus poisson de Mer que nous connoissions, remonte fort haut dans le grand fleuve Kiang oiu on la peche, ainsi qu'il est dit dans la grande collection Kin Ting Kou Kin Ton [Tou] Chou. Qu'on ne soit pas etonne que nous n'ayons dit que peu de chose des Poissons dores Kin Teou, Chuei [Choui]-yuNiu-Eulh et Ouenyu. Nous avons peu de loisir, il n'en est pas parle dans les Livres; il n'est pas prudent de mander des Oui-dires, ni de copier des bruits populaires. Si nous pouvons etre 'a portee de les etudier par nous-memes nous nous ferons un plaisir de suppleer 'a nos
omissions.
/.

a Pe-King ce

27.

8bre I772.

Finally I thank Professor Duyvendak for very kind editorial help, the authorities of the British Museum (Natural History) for allowing me to use their microfilmof the above French Notice, and the staff of the CambridgeUniversity Libraryfor many kindnesses.