Feb., 1912. Jade. 155 



such description have not yet turned up. If they existed, — and there 

 is no reason to doubt the correctness of Pan Ku's statement, — they 

 were certainly not identical with the jade disks pi having a round 

 perforation and representing only the image of Heaven. The clue to 

 their meaning is given by Pan Ku with the words that the services of 

 talented men were enlisted with them; in other words, they were tokens 

 of reward, or plainly money, and we thus come to the surprising result 

 that they coincided in shape with the well-known Chinese copper 

 coins (cash). For this reason, we have to take up this matter again 

 in speaking of the subject of jade money. 



The sovereigns of the Chou and Han dynasties were accustomed 

 to make contributions to the funeral of deserving princes and states- 

 men by presenting them with coffins, grave-clothes, jades and other 

 valuables for burial. The bestowing of the jade disk pi on the minister 

 Huo Kuang, together with pearls and clothing adorned with jade for 

 his grave, is mentioned in the TsHen Han shu (De Groot, The Religious 

 System of China, Vol. II, p. 410); but not "emeralds," as there trans- 

 lated, as these were unknown to the Chinese in the Han period. In the 

 Old World, the emerald occurs only in Egypt and in the Urals, and its 

 occurrence in India or Burma is not well authenticated (Max Bauer, 

 Precious Stones, London, 1904, p. 317). The Chinese made its ac- 

 quaintance only in recent times from India; in the " Imperial Dictionary 

 of Four Languages," it is called tsie-mu-lu (Manchu niowarimbu wehe 

 "greenish stone") corresponding to Tibetan mar-gad and Mongol 

 markat, both the latter derived from Sanskrit marakata, which itself is 

 a loan word from Greek smaragdos; to the same group belongs the 

 Persian zumurrud, to which the Chinese word seems to be directly 

 traceable. 



As jade was a valuable gift, it was also a valuable offering to the 

 gods. We saw that it was offered to the great deities of Heaven and 

 Earth. But on important occasions it was given to other gods too, 

 especially to the gods of the rivers, if their assistance was invoked for 

 the success of an enterprise. When, under the reign of P'ing Kung 

 (b. c. 557-532), the two states Tsin and Ts'i were at war, the troops 

 of Tsin were obliged to traverse the Yellow River. Sim-yen, holding 

 two pieces of precious jade attached to a red cord, invoked the Spirit 

 of the River in the following words: "Huan, the king of Ts'i, full of 

 confidence in his fortresses and denies, proud of the multitude of his 

 people and soldiers, has rejected our amity and destroyed the treaties 

 of peace concluded with us; he annoys and tyrannizes the state of 

 Lu. Hence, the last of your servants, our prince Piao is going to lead 

 the army of the vassals to punish him for his insolence. I, Yen, his 



