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Burmese opium weight: antique Bronze Qilin 314 g, Chinese mythology, 1600-1885 AD Although widely known as opium weights these bronze zoomorphic weights were used for the measurement of basic necessities throughout Burma (and also northern Thailand and Laos). A full set of weights normal consists of 10 pieces from very small sizes up the largest size known as a viss (around 1.6 kg) - although some later sets had additional larger weights too. The weights and measures system in Burma was carefully controlled and weights checked for accuracy. The production of these weights ended in Burma after the British took control of the country in 1885. Prices vary according to scarcity of the animal/mythical beast used, with rarer designs fetching higher prices. Some of the more recent Laotian weights use particularly uncommon and collectable designs. Weight: 314.59 g; Height: 70 mm; Base: 35 x 35 mm; Age: several hundred years old; Not attracted to the magnet; Provenance: private collection in St Petersburg, FL The qilin (English: /tʃiˈlɪn/ chee-LIN; Chinese: 麒麟) is a legendary hooved chimerical creature that appears in Chinese mythology, and is said to appear with the imminent arrival or passing of a sage or illustrious ruler.[1] Qilin are a specific type of the lin mythological family of one-horned beasts. The qilin also appears in the mythologies of other Chinese-influenced cultures. The earliest mention of the mythical qilin is in the poem 麟之趾; Lín zhī zhǐ; 'Feet of the Lin' included in the Classic of Poetry (11th – 7th c. BCE).[2][3] Spring and Autumn Annals mentioned that a lin (麟) was captured in the 14th year of Duke Ai of Lu (魯哀公) (481 CE); Zuo Zhuan credited Confucius with identifying the lin as such.[4][5][6] The bisyllabic form qilin (麒麟 ~ 騏驎), which carries the same generic meaning as lin alone, is attested in works dated to the Warring States period (475 – 221 BCE).[7] Qi denotes the male and lin denotes the female[8] (e.g. in Shuowen Jiezi).[9][10] Legends tell that qilin have appeared in the garden of the legendary Yellow Emperor and in the capital of Emperor Yao; both events bore testimony to the benevolent nature of the rulers.[20] It has also been told that the birth of the great sage Confucius was foretold by the arrival of a qilin.[1] Qilin generally have Chinese dragon-like features: similar heads with antlers, eyes with thick eyelashes, manes that always flow upward, and beards. The body is fully or partially scaled and often shaped like an ox, deer, or horse.[19][20] They are always shown with cloven hooves.[21] While dragons in China (and thus qilin) are also most commonly depicted as golden, qilin may be of any color or even various colors, and can be depicted as bejeweled or exhibiting a jewel-like brilliance.[22] The qilin is depicted throughout a wide range of Chinese art, sometimes with parts of their bodies on fire.[21]

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Bronze