APPENDIX IX.
APPENDIX TO THE CHAPTER ON THE SEA-SERPENT.
The Shan.[331]
“The Shăn belongs to the snake species.”
“The Tsah Ping Shu (Work on Military Science) says: ‘In drilling an army,[332] when you arrange it like the Shăn expelling its breath, its appearance is like that of a snake, but the waist is large; below there are scales, running backwards.’
“One says that its form is like that of the Ch‘i-lung, which has ears and horns and a mane of a red colour. When it exhales its breath, it forms a cloud just like a palace or tower, looking as if its walls are moving in a cloud of mist, or like a weary bird flying above. This makes everyone feel very happy until the exhalation or snorting of the breath is finished.
“There is a popular saying about building a Shăn tower. When the sky appears to rain you can see a resemblance of it.
“The Shi-Ki (Book of Odes or Classical Poetry) uses the expression, ‘The Shăn’s breath forms a tower’; it is in allusion to this.
“At the present day it is said that the Chi (a pheasant or francolin[333]) and the snake copulate and produce the Shăn.