Feb., 191 2. Jade. 99 



The best idea of the authentic shape of this jade tablet kuei will be 

 conveyed by the engraving on stone preserved on the Han bas-reliefs 

 of Wu-liang (Fig. 3 1 , reproduced after the Kin-shih so) where it appears 

 among "the marvellous objects of good omen" (fu jui) accompanied 

 by the inscription, "The black tablet: when the rivers and sources flow 

 and reach the four oceans in such a way that all waters communicate, 

 then it will appear." This sentence is doubtless prompted by the 

 alleged black jade tablet of the Emperor Yu (Shu king, Yii kung 38, 

 ed. Couvreur, p. 89), by means of which he is said to have obtained 

 control over the waters of the flood. The extraordinary feature of 

 this tablet is only the black-colored jade and perhaps also its ornamen- 

 tation, — a network of lozenges with dots in the centres. The editors of 

 the Kin-shih so refer to its identity with that on the pi-liu-li (Fig. 39). 

 They call it sie tou "slanting bushels" (tou, a measure of capacity). 

 The shape of this tablet is presumably derived from that of a spear. 



Pan Ku, the author of the Po hu t'ung, who died in 92 a. d., remarks 

 that the tablet kuei is pointed above and angular below, and that the 

 tapering part means the male principle yang, and the lower square 

 portion the female principle yin. This may hint at a possible original 

 phallic significance of this emblem, and such a supposition would be 

 corroborated by the two facts that the kuei with the grain emblem is 

 conferred by the emperor upon his consort, thus perhaps alluding to 

 their progeny, and that "the green kuei" is utilized as a symbol in the 

 worship of the East corresponding to the spring (Biot, Vol. I, p. 43 4). x 



There were also other shapes of kuei, as we see from the definition 

 of the Shuo wen that they are round above and angular below, and from 

 the two specimens of Wu in Figs. 32 and ^, both simply designated 

 as kuei, no further explanations being given. In Fig. 32, the upper 

 edge is concave, and in Fig. 33 it forms a straight line. It seems likely 

 that also these tablets are derived from knife-shaped implements. 



This type kuei is doubtless very ancient and may go as far back as 

 the Shang dynasty. At least, we hear in one report of jade tablets 

 buried in the grave of Pi Kan (twelfth century b. a). 



In the Mo chuang man lu 2 it is on record: "In the period Ch6ng-ho 



1 0n traces of phallicism in China see E. C. Baber, Travels and Researches in 

 Western China, p. 19 (Royal Geographical Society, Supplementary Papers, Vol. I, 

 London, 1886). 



2 In ten chapters, written by Chang Pang-ki about the middle of the twelfth 

 century. It contains a large collection of facts, supplementary to the nat onal 

 records; and although some incredible marvels occasionally find a place in the course 

 of the work, there is much to establish the author's reputation for depth of research 

 and penetration (A. Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 164). The work is 

 reprinted in the collection Shuo ling (30 Vols., 1800) a copy of which was procured 

 by me for the John Crerar Library of Chicago (No. 119). 



