Feb., 1912. Jade. 179 



The explanation for this invention of the Ku yii Vu p'u is not far 

 to seek. If we turn to the Po ku Vu (Ch. 26), we find there four 

 engravings of bronze antiquities (Figs. 86-89) styled k'ing "resonant 

 stones." It appears from this name that these objects are imitations 

 in bronze of the original jade sonorous instruments, of which we shall 

 have to speak later on. Here, the shapes and designs of these instru- 

 ments interest us in connection with the pattern of the Ku yii t'u p'u. 



Fig. 84. 

 Jade Carving of Tiger, Upper and Lower Faces, buried to the West of the Corpse. 



Here we observe in fact a fish monster with dorsal fins ending in a bird's 

 head in Fig. 87, and the bodies are filled with compositions of meanders 

 and spirals. Here, they are in their proper place with a significant 

 function, as these instruments were struck with a wooden mallet to 

 produce sounds "like thunder." Now the object in Fig. 88 is called 

 Chou ku k'ing, I. e. a resonant bronze plaque in imitation of a tiger- 

 shaped jade of the Chou dynasty. The Po ku Vu says that this k'ing 

 is made in the shape of a hu and therefore regarded as and called a hu, 

 that anciently these hu were employed in the worship of the Western 

 Quarter and derived their shape from that of a tiger, and that also in 

 the interior the figure of a tiger is outlined to characterize the nature 

 of this object. We certainly do not know in how far the drawing of 

 the Po ku Vu is correct, and if so, whether this bronze type represents 



