40 The Diamond 



no relation to the name of the mountain in Sze-ch'uan, the stone hailing 

 from it, and the diamond-point coming from the West. 1 



Ko Hung informs us that "the Emperor Wen of the Wei dynasty 

 (220-226), who professed to be well informed with regard to every 

 object in nature, declared that there were no such things in the world 

 as a knife that would cut jade, and fire-proof cloth; which opinion he 

 recorded in an essay on the subject. Afterwards it happened that both 

 these articles were brought to court within a year; the Emperor was 

 surprised, and caused the essay to be destroyed; this course being un- 

 avoidable when he found the statements to be without foundation." 2 

 General Liang-ki, who lived at the time of the Emperor Huan (147-167), 

 is said to have possessed asbestos and "jade-cutting knives." 8 The 

 book handed down under the name of K'ung-ts'ung-tse 4 contains the 

 tradition that the Prince of Ts'in obtained from the Western Jung a 

 sharp knife capable of cutting jade as though it were wood. The poet 

 Kiang Yen (443-504) wrote a poem on a bronze sword, in the preface 

 of which he observes that there are also red knives of cast copper capable 

 of cutting jade like clayish earth, — apparently a reminiscence of the 

 passage of Lie-tse, only the latter's "iron" is replaced by "copper." 

 In the preceding texts the term kun-wu is avoided, and only the phrase 

 "jade-cutter" {ko yil tad) has survived. 



Toxicology of the Diamond. — Contrary to his common practice, 

 Li Shi-ch&i does not state whether the diamond is poisonous or not. 

 As to the curative powers of the stone, he asserts that when set into 

 hair-spangles, finger-rings, or girdle-ornaments, it wards off uncanny 

 influences, evil, and poisonous vapors. 6 On this point the Chinese 

 agree with Pliny, according to whom adamas overcomes and neutralizes 



1 Also Hirth (Chinesische Ansichten uber Bronzetrommeln, p. 20) persuaded 

 himself that this proper name is not connected with what he believed to be the 

 "kun-wu sword." It is difficult, however, to credit the theory that the name kun-wu, 

 as tentatively proposed by Hirth, could be a transcription on an equal footing with 

 Hiung-nu (Huns). Aside from phonetic obstacles, the fact remains that the Chinese 

 notices of kun-wu do not point in the direction of the Huns, but refer to Liu-sha in 

 Ta Ts'in (the Roman Orient). 



2 A. Wylie, Chinese Researches, pt. in, p. 151. 



s Yuan kien lei han, Ch. 225, p. 2; and Wylie, /. c, p. 143. 



4 The son of K'ung Fu, a descendant of Confucius in the ninth degree, who died 

 in 2 10 B.C. (Giles, Biographical Dictionary, p. 401 ) . It is doubtful whether the book 

 which we nowadays possess under the title K'ung-ts'ung-tse (incorporated in the 

 Han Wei ts'ung shu) is the one which he wrote (compare Chavannes, Memoires 

 historiques de Se-ma Ts'ien, Vol. V, p. 432). The passage referred to is quoted 

 in P'ei win yiin fu, Ch. 91, p. 21. 



6 The source for this statement doubtless is the Nan chou i wu chi, quoted on 

 p. 34, which ascribes this notion to foreigners. 



