Feb., 191 2. Jade. 167 



right portion. The jade still appears enclosed in its matrix, a mass of 

 brown rock. At the lower end in our illustration an incision will be 

 noticed which is just large enough to admit the thumb-nail, and the 

 ring was doubtless grasped or carried in this way. On the lower face, 

 saw-marks are visible. 



It is hardly credible that a piece of this dimension and weight 

 should have been worn in the girdle. I am inclined to think that it 

 served a religious purpose. The Ts'ien Han shu relates that a jade 

 ring {yii huan) was placed in front of the 'soul-tablet in the ancestral 

 temple of the Han Emperor Kao-tsu (b. c. 206-195). 



The ring shown on Plate XXV in Fig. 6 (diameter 6 cm) is a unique 

 specimen, none like it being illustrated in any Chinese book. There 

 is a projecting ridge over the perforation on both faces, and on one 

 side, a segment is cut off from the circle in an almost straight line; 

 this edge is rounded, well polished and exhibits a milk-white color, 

 while otherwise this jade has a deep-brown-red agate-like hue. Dr. 

 O. C. Farrington, curator of geology, Field Museum, defines it as jadeite, 

 the specific gravity being 3.3. 



Figure 7 on Plate XXV represents a small flat ring of red agate (2.8 

 cm in diameter) covered all over under the surface with white stripes. 

 Mr. A. W. Slocom of the Department of Geology has examined this 

 specimen and arrived at the conclusion that these are clayish substances 

 already embedded in the stone at the time of carving, and that it is 

 impossible to adopt the view of the Chinese that they are due to the 

 effect of burial or underground action. 



Hitherto we have studied the tablets kuei and the disks pi. There 

 is also a type forming a combination of these two and therefore desig- 

 nated as kuei pi. The Chou li (Biot, Vol. II, p. 524) attributes to it 

 a length of five inches and says that it serves in sacrificing to the Sun, 

 the Moon, and the Stars. A good idea of the shape of this symbol will 

 be conveyed by our specimen in Fig. 6 of Plate XXIII, though it is 

 only a miniature edition of the Han period. 



It has the annular disk in common with the other pieces on the 

 same plate, but has in addition the so-called tablet kuei attached to it, 

 the whole being carved out of the same stone. The upper projecting 

 prong is the handle of the kuei, and its point is directed downward. It 

 will be seen from the illustration that it is carved in two sloping planes 

 joining in the centre, while it is flat on the lower face. On the circular 

 part, seven small circles are engraved, connected by lines; this is the 

 usual design representing the constellation of the Great Bear (Ursa 

 major) and points to the use of the object in star-worship. On the back 

 are roughly incised two rampant creatures with dragon-like bodies, but 



