Poem about classification

[gynaikeion.livejournal.com]

Hi all, would anyone remember a poem that is more like a list, and that talks about classifying things, and the arbitrariness of it? There is a mention of Chinese something. Chinese classification? Sorry I cannot remember more. 

Comments

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

Is it possible you're thinking of Jorge Luis Borges's account, from an essay, of a fictitious Chinese tome called Celestial Emporium of benevolent Knowledge? One translation:

These ambiguities, redundancies and deficiencies recall those attributed by doctor Franz Kuhn to a certain Chinese encyclopaedia called the Celestial Emporium of benevolent Knowledge. In its remote pages it is written that the animals are divided into: (a) belonging to the emperor, (b) embalmed, (c) tame, (d) suckling pigs, (e) mermaids, (f) fabulous, (g) stray dogs, (h) included in the present classification, (i) frenzied, (j) innumerable, (k) drawn with a very fine camel’s-hair brush, (l) et cetera, (m) having just broken the water pitcher, (n) that from a long way off look like flies.

[gynaikeion.livejournal.com]

That's it exactly! Thank you so much.