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Lot Essay
The qilin issuing a jade book from its mouth recalls the dream that Confucious' mother had just before he was born. She dreamt that a qilin came to her door with a jade book in its mouth. The phrase lin tu yushu (qilin issuing a jade book) is used as a wish for the birth of an illustrous male child, as the qilin is believed to only appear before the birth of a sage. A carving such as this would have been given as a gift to a wealthy family on the birth of a male child.