The Star/Asia News Network
Saturday, Dec 15, 2012
KOTA BARU: A curio collector wants expert help to identify what he believes is a centuries-old Qilin, a mythical beast that is said to bring luck and prosperity.
Wan Mat Mat Zin, 57, who bought the one kilo bronze Qilin from a friend who works with a sand mining company a year ago, believes the statue is at least 600 years old.
"My friend was working on the suction pump house on the Kelantan river when the statue got stuck in the suction hose.
"He approached me as he knows I like to collect old things.
"I discovered it to be a Qilin and believe it had been at the bottom of the river for hundreds of years.
"I think Chinese junks plied between Kelantan and China in the 14th century and a Chinese ship sank in the Kelantan river. This Qilin may have come from that ship," Wan Mat said at his house here.
He also believes that other Chinese merchant junks laden with precious cargo could have sunk in the river during that era.
The Qilin is a mythical creature with the head of a dragon, antlers of a deer, skin and scales of a fish, hooves of an ox and tail of a lion.
Known also as a Chinese unicorn by the West, the Chinese believe it is a sign of the coming of a great scholar or a perfect ruler who will bring prosperity, serenity and an abundance of luck.
Wan Mat, who owns a welding shop, said he bought the statue from his friend for an undisclosed amount and was willing to part with it for the right price.
"I welcome anyone who can shed light on the statue's origins," he said, adding that he could be contacted at 013-917 7678.
