Feb., 1912. Jade. 125 



end; the interior is uniformly hollowed out into a cylindrical cavity, 

 into which the end of the axle would be run. 



Let us first examine the material of the Ku yii t'u p'u and see on 

 what ground the claims of this book are based. The six specimens 

 of this type there described are here reproduced in Figs. 41-46. They 

 are all headed "Wheel-hubs of the ancient jade chariot." The latter 

 (yii lu) was one of the five imperial carriages. The Ku yii t'u p'u has 

 been written rather carelessly, and faulty characters in it are not infre- 

 quent. Thus, the character kang here used in the word kang-t'ou 

 "wheel-hub" is unauthorized and not registered in K'ang-hi's Dic- 

 tionary; it ought to be wang (Giles, first ed., No. 125 17) or kang 

 (Giles, second ed., No. 5892). The description accompanying the 

 first piece (see text opposite) reads as follows: "The wheel-hub here 

 figured is two inches long and 1.3 inches wide. The color of the jade is 

 yellow with red spots evenly distributed. All over it is plain 1 and un- 

 adorned. After careful investigation I find that the Book on Chariots 

 (Ch'e king) says: 'Wheel-hubs adorned on the sides with jade 2 pieces 

 were the privilege of the sovereign's and the princes' carriages which 

 are identical with the ancient gilded carriages.' There are styles of 

 square ones, round ones, hexagonal and octagonal ones. The wheel- 

 hubs figured below are all ornaments of the nave of the ancient jade 

 carriage. Later than the Han and Wei periods there are none of this 

 kind (i.e. trey are all prior to the Han dynasty)." 



That this argumentation is weak, is self-evident. Nothing seems 

 to be known about the Book on Chariots here quoted which is not an 

 ancient recognized text, but probably a production of the Sung period. 

 In the Chou li and Li ki, on which we are bound to rely for the facts of 

 ancient culture, there is no such statement to be found (see below). 

 Then while in that quotation the jade ornaments are referred to the 

 gilded carriage (kin lu), the author or authors of the Ku yii t'u p'u 

 ascribe them, nevertheless, to the jade carriage (yii lu) ; these carriages, 

 however, were two distinct types, and the jade ornaments could have 

 belonged only to the one or to the other, as everything of this sort was 

 conscientiously and minutely regulated and nothing left to arbitrary 

 choice. The suspicion arises that the mere designation "jade carriage" 

 has allured the author to run after this will-o'-the-wisp. 



The jade in Fig. 42 is also stated to be yellow with red spots, and the 

 rectangular sides are decorated with bands consisting of hexagons (in 

 Chinese: "six-cornered balls"), a design called "refined and lovable," 



x The character p'o (Giles No. 9416) stands here for p'u (No. 9509). 



2 The word yii "corner, angle" does not make any sense; I presume that it is 

 mistaken for yii "jade." The whole quotation would not be to the point, if no 

 reference to the jade ornaments of the carriages were made. 



