IV. JADE AS WRITING-MATERIAL 



Jade cut into polished slabs was used as material to write upon in 

 ancient times, but its use was reserved to the emperor. It was a tablet 

 called Ving of rectangular shape to symbolize that the emperor should 

 give a "straight and square deal" to all affairs of the empire, and he 

 carried it in his girdle. The material for the writing-tablets of the 

 feudal princes and of the great prefects (called shu) was ivory; that of 

 the former was rounded at the top and straight at the bottom (i. e. 

 rectangular) to symbolize that they should obey the Son of Heaven, 

 that of the latter was rounded at the top and bottom to express that 

 they had only superiors to obey (Couvreur, Li Ki, Vol. I, pp. 682, 

 685). The general name for such tablets serving as official records 

 was hu (Giles No. 4926), apparently, as the composition of the char- 

 acter shows, made of bamboo originally; they were worn suspended 

 from the girdle belonging to the outfit of any young gentleman (Li ki, 

 Nei-tse, I, 2) and used as memoranda for jotting down any notes. In 

 general use during times of antiquity, they were reserved, at a later 

 epoch, for the organs of government and became at the same time 

 insignia of dignity. When an official had audience at court, he had 

 inscribed on the tablet what he had to say, and added what the emperor 

 replied or commanded. 1 From Yen Shih-ku we learn that the tablets 

 hu, at least in his time, were made also of wood; 2 it is evident that they 

 differed in shape, in their mode of use and official significance from the 

 contemporaneous bamboo slips and wooden boards used for writing. 



The notebook of jade was, accordingly, a prerogative of the emperoi, 

 but was used only during an abundant season; if the year was bad, he 

 abandoned it and adopted the common bamboo tablet of the ordinary 

 officials, wearing at the same time linen clothes; in the same way he 

 did not partake of full meals nor indulge in music, when no rain had 

 fallen in the eighth month (Li ki, Yii tsao I, 11). Jade, therefore, 

 indicated also in this case a symbol of plenty and luck. 



The fact that the emperor's memorandum was really made of jade 

 is expressly stated in the same chapter of the Li ki (Yii tsao II, 16). 



1,1 When the great prefect (tai-fu) had washed his head and bathed, his secretary 

 brought him the ivory tablet to write down his thoughts, his replies, and the orders 

 of the prince." Li Ki, Yii tsao I, 16. 



2 Chavannes, Les livres chinois avant l'invention du papier (Journal asiatique, 

 1905, p. 26, Note). It will be useful to add here jade and ivory to bamboo, wood, 

 and silk as writing materials. 



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