V. JADE IN RELIGIOUS WORSHIP— THE JADE 

 IMAGES OF THE COSMIC DEITIES 



In Chapter XVIII of the Chou li, dealing with the functions of the 

 Master of Religious Ceremonies (Ta tsung po), it is said: "He makes 

 of jade the six objects to do homage to Heaven, to Earth, and to the 

 Four Points of the Compass. With the round tablet pi of bluish (or 

 greenish) color, he does homage to Heaven. With the yellow jade tube 

 ts'ung, he does homage to Earth. With the green tablet kuei, he renders 

 homage to the region of the East. With the red tablet chafig, he renders 

 homage to the region of the South. With the white tablet in the shape 

 of a tiger (hu), he renders homage to the region of the West. With the 

 black jade piece of semicircular shape (huang), he renders homage to 

 the region of the North. The color of the victims and of the pieces of 

 silk for these various spirits corresponds to that of the jade tablet." 

 (Biot, Vol. I, pp. 434-435.) 1 



The Chou li, further, gives us information regarding the pieces of 

 jade to be placed in the coffin of a deceased member of the imperial 

 house. The Steward of the Treasury (t'ien fu) was in charge of these 

 treasures. "He fastens silken cords through the apertures with which 

 these six pieces are perforated. 2 These are the kuei, the hali-kuei 

 or chang, the circular disk pi, the jade tube ts'ung, the tablet in shape 

 of a tiger hu, and the tablet in shape of a half -circle huang. He removes 

 the circular disk pi from the tube ts'ung. These objects are thus 

 arranged to be deposited with the corpse in the coffin." The com- 

 mentary adds the following valuable remark to this passage: "When 

 the body is placed in the coffin, the kuei is to the left, the hsli-kuei is 

 at the head. The tablet in the shape of a tiger is to the right. The 

 tablet in shape of a half -circle is at the feet. The circular disk is under 

 the back. The jade tube ts'ung is on the abdomen. In this way, one 

 figures a representation of the fang-ming or brilliant cube which serves 

 as emblem in the sacrifices. The circular disk pi and the octagonal 



1 1 believe that this passage also explains the term Leu tsung, the Six Venerable 

 ones to whom Shun sacrifices in the Shu king (Ch. Shun-tien, 6), a term which has 

 been a great puzzle to all commentators (see their different opinions in Chavannes, 

 Se-ma Ts'ien, Vol. I, p. 61). Nobody, however, has thought of this series of Heaven, 

 Earth, and the four Quarters, which, in my opinion, would be an explanation to 

 make reasonable sense. 



2 The commentary is quite right in alluding to the pe-" itions in the two lower 

 ends of these pieces which in fact, as we shall see, occik arly all burial jades. 



