70 The Diamond 



an animal product, have already been cited (p. 56). A few more cases 

 may here be added. In a.d. 86 moonlight pearls as big as fowl's eggs, 

 4.8 inches in circumference, were produced in Yu-chang and Hai-hun. 1 

 In the work Kuang chi, by Kuo I-kung of the sixth century, 2 are dis- 

 tinguished three kinds of pearl-like gems, — the gem mu-nan A*~$% 

 of yellow color, 8 the bright gem (ming chu 9$ J^ ), and the large gem 



resplendent at night (ye kuang ta chu ^^Di^.), all an inch in diame- 

 ter, or two inches in circumference, the best qualities coming from 

 Huang-chi; 4 these are perfectly round, and when placed on a plane 

 do not stop rolling for a whole day. 6 



1 Both localities are situated in the prefecture of Nan-ch'ang, Kiang-si Province. 

 This notice is given in the Ku kin chu of Ts'uei Pao (fourth century), cited in T'ai 

 P'ing yii Ian, Ch. 803, p. 6. 



2 Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., pt. 1, No. 376; and Pelliot, Bull, de VEcolefrancaise, 

 Vol. IV, p. 172. 



3 In another passage of the same work (cited in P'ei win ytinfu, Ch. 7A, p. 107; 

 and T'ai p'ing yii Ian, Ch. 809, p. 4b) it is said that this gem of yellow hue originates 

 in the eastern countries. In this case, the name for the gem is mo-nan J^^, which 

 appears to be a phonetic variant of mu-nan. The same form is found in the Ku kin 

 chu (Ch. c, p. 5 b; ed. of Han Wei ts'ung shu), where shut Jc nan is given as a syno- 

 nyme, and where it is remarked that the stone is yellow and occurs in the coun- 

 tries of the Eastern Barbarians. Aside from these indications placing the home of 

 the stone vaguely in the East, we have other accounts that attribute it to the 

 Hellenistic Orient. The Nan Yiie chi (by Sh6n Huai-yuan of the fifth century; 

 quoted in P'ei win yiin fu, Ch. 7A, p. 102 b) states that mu-nan are pearls or beads 

 of greenish color, produced by the saliva of a bird with golden wings, and that they 

 are prized in the country of Ta Ts'in. The Hiian chung ki {T'ai p'ing yii Ian, I. c.) 

 likewise informs us that Ta Ts'in is the place of production. The Annals of the T'ang 

 Dynasty ascribe mu-nan to Fu-lin (Hirth, China and the Roman Orient, p. 59); 

 and Ma Tuan-lin explains them as evolved from the coagulated saliva of a bird (ibid., 

 p. 80), — doubtless the echo of a Western tradition. The Shi i ki tells of an auspi- 

 cious bird living on the fabulous isle Ying-chou, and spitting manifold pearls when 

 singing and moving its wings. An exact description of the stone mu-nan is not on 

 record. The Pin ts'ao kang mu lists it among the precious stones of yellow color. 

 Yang Sh£n (1488-1559) identifies it with the emerald (written by him tsie-ma-lu 

 instead of tsie-mu-lu, see Notes on Turquois, p. 55). Fang I-chi, in his Wu li siao 

 shi (Ch. 7, p. 14), prrooses to regard it as the yellow yakut of the Arabs. These 

 speculations are recent after-thoughts of doubtful value. 



4 Regarding the location of this country see Chinese Clay Figures, p. 80. 



• T'u shu tsi ch'ing, chapter on pearls, hut k'ao, 1, p. 6 b. The latter statement 

 reminds one of Pigafetta's account regarding the two pearls of the King of Brunei 

 (west coast of Borneo), as large as hen's eggs, and so perfectly round that if placed 

 on a smooth table they cannot be made to stand still (see Hirth and Rockhill, 

 Chau Ju-kua, p. 159). — Li Shi-ch6n speaks of "thunder-beads" dropping from the 

 jaws of a divine dragon and lighting an entire house at night (see Jade, p. 64). These 

 are certainly not on a par with the other "prehistoric" implements enumerated by 

 him in the same text, as believed by de Visser (The Dragon, p. 88), but this matter 

 has crept in here by way of wrong analogy. These alleged thunder-beads are simply 

 a transformation of the snake-pearls of Indian folk-lore. 



1 



