Hanging belly and the summer heat

申王撝有肉疾，腹垂至骭。每出，則束以白練。至暑月，常苦熱。玄宗詔南方取冷蛇賜之。蛇長數尺，色白，不螫人，握之如冰。王腹有數約，夏月置約中，不複知煩暑。

King Shen, [Li] Wei [680-724] was afflicted with [excessive] loose flesh and had a belly hanging down to his calves. He wrapped it up in white silk whenever he went out. The summer heat was a constant torment for him. Emperor Xuanzong [of Tang, 685-762, ruling 712-756] bestowed on him cool snakes sent from the south by his order. These snakes were several feet long and white in colour; they did not bite people and felt like ice to the touch. With [the snakes] placed in the multiple belts that the king had around his belly, he was no longer troubled by the summer heat.

* From Feng Menglong 馮夢龍 (1574-1646), Gujin tangai 古今譚概 (Beijing: Zhonghua shuju), 237-238.

Jade snake from the Qing dynasty (1644-1912)

Image credit: National Palace Museum, Taipei

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