一切經音義 86.47

86.47

犀首 (The upper [character] is pronounced xi [xī]. The Kaosheng says: "The 犀 is the name of a beast." The Erya says: "The rhinoceros (xīniú) resembles a pig." Guo's commentary says: "The rhinoceros looks like a water buffalo, with the head of a pig, a large belly, short legs with three hooves, black in color, and having two horns: one on the crown and one on the snout. The one on the snout is the horn used for eating vessels." The Shuowen says: "The rhinoceros comes from outside the frontier in the Southern Seas; it derives from 牛 [ox] and an abbreviated 尾 [tail]." In the treatise it is written with 辛 as 屖, which is incorrect and not adopted here.)